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Forty-Two Strong Field Entered In The Visit Malta Hungerford Stakes At Newbury Racecourse
Entries were yesterday revealed for the Group 2 Visit Malta Hungerford Stakes at Newbury Racecourse on Saturday 16th August. Run over seven furlongs, forty-two were entered in the Group 2 contest which is open to horses aged three years and above with total prize money on offer of £150,000.
Among the initial entries are some star names, such as Richard Hannon’s Rosallion, who could drop back to seven furlongs after being beaten a nose in the Group 1 Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, also holds an entry.
Charlie Appleby has three entries, including last year’s 2,000 Guineas winner, Notable Speech, who would be having his first career start over seven furlongs. He is joined by stablemate, Shadow Of Light, who was third in this year’s 2,000 Guineas before dropping back down to six, then seven furlongs for his subsequent two starts.
Several old campaigners could come back for more, including the seven-year-old Jumby (E. Johnson Houghton), who has a good track-record having won the race in 2022, and finished third last year. Another season raider is the John and Thady Gosden-trained Audience, who won the Group 1 BoyleSports Lockinge Stakes at Newbury last season, as well as the Group 2 HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes at Goodwood. However, he has not matched that level in his five-year-old season yet.
Ralph Becket’s Kinross could come seeking to push his total earnings past the £2million marker. The eight-year-old son of Kingman outperformed his 10-1 odds last time out at Haydock when beaten a head in the Group 3 Betfred John Of Guant Stakes at Haydock in May.
Winner of the Group 3 Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury and runner up of the French 2,000 Guineas, Jonquil (A.M. Balding) holds an entry. The son of Lope De Vega is one of thirteen three-year-olds with entries in the Group 2 feature race. Of the younger generation, notable entries include Irish 2,000 Guineas runner up, Cosmic Year (H. Charlton) and the 25-1 runaway winner of the Group 3 Jersey Stakes runaway at Royal Ascot, Noble Champion (E. Walker). Other runners who could benefit from the three-year-old weight allowance include Jersey Stakes runner-up, Spy Chief (J&T Gosden), and Andrew Balding’s Listed winner, Formal.
