Kevin Stott’s Blog: It’s So Farhh, So Good this season!

It’s been another great week – I was delighted to ride a double at Windsor on Monday and now have 50 winners for the season within reach.

With a busy weekend ahead at Ascot, hopefully I can get a few more winners on the board to reach that half century and keep them coming for the rest of the summer.

Ascot, Friday

Majestic Beauty kicks off Friday’s rides for me in the Fillies’ Maiden (3.00pm). This filly is by Havana Grey and was purchased at the Breeze Up sales for £90,000. I’ve ridden work on her at Alice Haynes’ since and she went really nicely. This is a pretty hot starting point, debuting at Ascot, but the fact that she was a Breeze-Up horse means that she does, at least, have some racecourse experience, albeit on her own. The ground being soft remains to be a bit of a question for her, but then it does for all the runners.

Next I’m riding So Farhh So Good in the Dual Fillies’ Maiden (3.35pm). I rode her on her racecourse debut last year at Lingfield. She ran a really nice race for fourth place over a mile. Stepping up in trip to a mile and quarter here should help her improve further. The ground isn’t likely to be an issue for her because her sire, Farhh, seems to produce stock that are versatile with all kinds of going. It’s a competitive little field, but I don’t think we have to be world-beaters to win this. She has a good chance.

In the six furlong handicap (4.10pm) I’ll ride Sterling Knight. He’ll enjoy having some cut in the ground and he won last year on good, soft and heavy, so is pretty versatile. He won’t mind the slower going here. His seasonal return was at Doncaster in April, where he ran fourth, and he’ll improve for having had that run. He’s certainly got a solid chance. Chairmanoftheboard looks to be the main danger, but we’re drawn quite close to him (stall nine to his stall seven), which is good news.

Love Affairs follows in another six furlong handicap (4.45pm). She’s got the blinkers back on for this, which should help her bounce back from a disappointing run last time out on the all-weather at Chelmsford. Otherwise, she’s been a consistent filly, winning and placing four out of five runs for Clive Cox last year, and she returned this year straight into Listed company in France. This handicap is probably more realistic for her and she should be competitive off a mark of 82 now. She jumps out of the stalls nice and quickly and likes to make the running, which should play to her advantage now she’s back on the turf.

My final ride on Friday is Ludo’s Landing in the mile handicap (5.20pm). This is one I’m really looking forward to. He ran respectfully at Beverley last week on soft ground and steps up slightly in trip for this, which should help him improve a bit. We’ve seen that he can handle the slower ground so hopefully he can run a solid race. He should have a real chance in this – in fact, all the runners in this should have one.

I think I’m going into Ascot on Friday with five live chances, so let’s hope for the best!