The Flat season will begin to gain pace at Newbury today with an early-season clash between Albert Einstein and Zavateri in the Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes.
Live on Sky Sports Racing, the Group Three is often informative and high class, and this year looks to be doubly so as Eve Johnson Houghton’s three-time Group winner heads the market.
After taking a novice, the July Stakes, the Vintage Stakes and the National Stakes, Zavateri ended the term when finishing a not-disgraced fourth in the Dewhurst.
He returns to action at Newbury, whereas Albert Einstein has already made his seasonal debut when sixth in the Listed Gladness Stakes.
It was a somewhat disappointing comeback for a horse so highly spoken of by trainer Aidan O’Brien, leaving a return to form required if he is to begin to fulfil the promise hinted at by an unbeaten juvenile campaign that was cut short due to injury.
Alparslan won a Leicester novice and a valuable sales race at the Curragh last season before finishing sixth in the Dewhurst for Karl Burke, who said: “I’m very much looking forward to seeing him run, he’s been working well. His work partner all winter has been I’ll Be Back, who won very impressively under a penalty at Leicester on Monday.
“He’s a lovely horse and deserves to run in a trial.
Whether he’s good enough and whether he’ll stay a mile we’re not sure, but we’ll learn a lot after Saturday.”
He added: “It was a good run in the Dewhurst and he didn’t really handle the undulations of Newmarket.
If he runs well this weekend, he could possibly be one for France (French 2000 Guineas).”
On the same card is the Group Three Dubai Duty Free Stakes, where Owen Burrows’ Touleen makes her first appearance of the term, and although the John Porter field may be missing a certain Constitution Hill there are still plenty of smart contenders with Convergent, Pride Of Arras and Al Aasy all set to run.
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