Aidan O'Brien has been uncharacteristically critical about the ground conditions at Ascot this weekend, questioning whether any stretch of the course was indeed good to firm. He then attributed Auguste Rodin's lacklustre performance in the King George to the softer conditions. Given the Ballydoyle pacemakers set off at a ferocious gallop, it seemed a strange tactical decision to keep Auguste Rodin so close to the pace, especially if the ground conditions were in fact softer than described? Anyway...
The keyboard warriors on X have fired plenty of criticism at Kieran Shoemark in recent weeks, shaming him for some unsatisfactory rides. But a big Saturday winner always helps; outriding his rivals from the front on Friendly Soul in the Longines Valiant Stakes would have given him a boost and silenced his critics - a nice performance from both horse and jockey. Despite his victory, Shoemark still languishes behind his main jockey room rivals in terms of 14-day win percentage, currently showing an 18% strike rate, with William Buick, Oisin Murphy and Ryan Moore with strike rates of 22%, 25%and 33% respectively.
Over at York the feature race on the racecard was the Sky Bet York Stakes, won by Alflaila returning as the 9/4 joint-favourite. Alflaila's love affair with York continues with 3 wins and a second place from his 4 career visits to the Knavesmire. Passenger came home in 3rd, a reasonable result given that he finished lame and was conceding weight all round. We definitely wouldn't be giving up on him just yet.