Into The Sky Eyes Group 2 Success In Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes

Jim Boyle has his sights set on a breakthrough Group victory with his promising maiden winner, Into The Sky, who is one of eight runners declared in the Group 2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes (In Honour Of Geoff Lewis) at Newbury Racecourse on Saturday 20th September. The feature of the Dubai Duty Free International Weekend is scheduled for 3:15 on a seven-race card, with ground conditions currently reported as ‘Good To Soft (Soft In Places)’. Restricted to two-year-olds, the prestigious six-furlong contest now boasts an increased prize fund of £125,000.

The favourite, Into The Sky, was supplemented for the race by trainer Jim Boyle, at a cost of £6,250, after the colt made a sparkling impression on debut at Newbury in August.

Sent off as an 80/1 outsider that day, Into The Sky delivered a seven and a half-length demolition, taking up the lead from early on and recording five consecutive sub-12 second furlongs en route to victory. While the result came as no surprise to Boyle, he was still very taken with the performance. He noted: “The sectional guys were drooling over him really, and the time figures were right up there with some of the best performances this season, which is very gratifying. Those figures don’t lie, so that was always nice to have your visual impression backed up with the stats.”

On describing the reaction of long-standing owners Pam Wilson – for whom this was a first winner – and Roland Stanbridge, Boyle said: “Shell-shocked, I think is the word I’d use for it. Well, I think straight after the race they couldn’t believe it, you know the joy and that feeling of euphoria that’s what we’re all in the game for.”

Interest in the son of Starman flooded in following the race, with several major operations approaching connections. With current owners opting to retain their involvement, they agreed to a shared ownership with Doreen Tabor, wife of Michael Tabor. Boyle said: “The phone didn’t really stop for two or three days after that. So, lots of potential offers on the table and we’re delighted that the Tabors came in with an offer to buy 50% of the horse and leave him in the yard, which is the absolute perfect scenario for us all.”

That win secured Into The Sky’s eligibility for the £50,000 bonus – on top of the total prize fund – should he land the Group 2 contest on Saturday, courtesy of new incentives introduced by Newbury Racecourse.

Boyle remains confident heading back to Newbury, this time over a straight six furlongs, commenting: “It seemed sensible to bring him back to Newbury. It’s a very prestigious race. The drop back in half a furlong given the manner of his victory was unlikely to be an issue. He’d put the race to bed from an early stage. So clearly looks to have enough tow to be able to cope with the half furlong step back. And if we were going to launch him into Pattern company, that looked the logical race to do so.”

Boyle sees no reason to deviate from the tactics that proved so effective on debut. Boyle explained: “I mean, the tactics first time around were just to keep things simple, let him jump out, educate him, see where he lands and go from there. And I think we’ll do exactly the same – we’ll leave it up to Pat Cosgrave to ride him as he finds him and hopefully, we can see a similar result.”

With Wise Approach now out of contention, Charlie Appleby and Godolphin are represented by one runner in Words Of Truth. Since undergoing a gelding operation earlier in the season, Words Of Truth has shown marked improvement winning at Ascot in July before following up with a decisive victory at Newmarket last month, where he defeated previous winner Watcha Snoop. The Hugo Palmer-trained Watcha Snoop reopposes on Saturday and both horses remain progressive types with the potential to make further strides at this level.

Rock On Thunder, trained by Kevin Ryan for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, brings valuable Group-race experience, having finished second in the Listed Rose Bowl Stakes at Newbury before putting in another solid effort to take the runner-up spot again in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes at York.

Among the slightly more exposed contenders are Flying Comet, Rydale Frosty and Sands Of Spain, who each remain open to progression.

Karl Burke, a two-time winning trainer in the race, sends out Gold Queen Kindly.