Coronation Stakes Ante-Post Preview: More to come from Maqsad

The winner of the Irish 1000 Guineas has gone on to win the last two renewals of the Coronation Stakes, so it is no surprise to see dual-Guineas winner Hermosa a short-priced favourite for this year’s renewal. She was reportedly set for the Prix de Diane over a mile and a quarter next, but connections have said that she has come out of the Irish 1000 Guineas in great form and therefore have decided to aim here instead.

She fully deserves to head the betting, too, given that she has by far and away the best form among the entries, her tenacious win at Newmarket more than bettered by her romp in the Irish equivalent last time. The latter race was run in a very good time also, leading just as she did at Newmarket but this time impressing with the style she put distance between herself and the remainder of the field when asked to quicken two furlongs from home. Again, her strength at the finish was evident and she should have no problem staying a mile and a quarter when the time comes.

A Guineas double for Hermosa! She backs up her win at Newmarket with the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas under Ryan Moore, giving @Ballydoyle an 8th success in the race! 🙌🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/6q7G5EVcUj

— The Curragh Racecourse (@curraghrace) 26 May 2019

The impeccably-bred, unbeaten and highly promising Jubiloso falls into the ‘could be anything’ category, about as impressive as it gets when winning a minor event by seven lengths under a penalty at Newbury last time. She looked a Group 1 filly in the making on that occasion, putting the race to bed in a matter of strides having travelled powerfully beforehand, and the runner-up has since come out and franked the form. However, she is priced largely on potential, and it’ll be some feat to win a race of this nature after making her racecourse debut only at the end of April.

Another unbeaten filly is Castle Lady, who is trained by Henri-Alex Pantall in France, and put her name in the mix for this when winning the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (the French equivalent of the 1000 Guineas) at Longchamp last time. She didn’t achieve much more on the figures than when winning her trial beforehand, but it is encouraging that she still found a way to win, and she deserves plenty of credit for how far she has come since making her debut in March. More will be needed to trouble the principals here, but she remains unexposed, and seems sure to improve further still.

One that stands out at this stage as being overpriced is Maqsad, who was sent off at just 4/1 for the Oaks at Epsom recently, but patently failed to stay the mile and a half trip having tanked along for a good portion of the race. She’d been notably impressive when blowing away an admittedly below-par field in the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket on her previous start and, after Epsom, it’s now clear that she’s going to prove best at distances at up a mile and a quarter. This race looks the obvious next step for her, given her trainer William Haggas has stated that she has seemingly been getting faster at home, and she showed on her return at Newmarket that she is effective over a mile (pulled nine lengths clear of the remainder with another smart type).

The Roger Varian-trained Qabala made a winning reappearance in the Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket and went on to finish one and a quarter lengths third to Hermosa in the 1000 Guineas on her next start. She is best not judged on her below-par effort behind the same rival at the Curragh last time, subsequently found to have scoped badly post-race. Whether connections will turn her out again here remains to be seen, but either way she remains a filly with potential and is up to making her mark at this level.

Pretty Pollyanna finished much closer to Hermosa on her seasonal reappearance at the Curragh, beaten only four lengths in second. She was one of the top two-year-olds last season, and shaped encouragingly having missed the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket after failing to impress connections in a crucial piece of work beforehand. Pretty Pollyanna is entitled to come on for that and bridge the gap with Hermosa, but she isn’t sure to overturn the form, that rival appearing to be progressing at a faster rate of knots.

On paper, this ought to go the way of Hermosa, who has the strongest form of these and has the scope to progress further, too. However, there isn’t anything about her price which is exciting, therefore an each-way bet on Maqsad looks the play. She will be much happier dropped back in distance and remains a filly of interest given the impression she made on her two starts before the Oaks.

Recommendation

Back Maqsad each-way at 14/1 in the Coronation Stakes