Global Weekly Review - 25.04.16

Toormore's gutsy win in the G2 bet365 Mile at Sandown Park (UK) on Friday augurs well for Godolphin in the forthcoming feature mile races on the British calendar, particularly as Belardo, another carrying the famous Royal Blue colours, also finished strongly from a long way back for an encouraging fourth.

Trainer Richard Hannon, who beforehand felt Toormore would need the run, was pleasantly surprised and quickly earmarked Newbury's G1 Lockinge Stakes and the G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot as immediate targets for this ultra-consistent and hardy miler.

But this has been an eventful and informative week on the Global scene. Two major Classic contenders emerged in the shape of the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Midterm, who will be aiming for the G1 Investec Derby, and the John Gosden-trained So Mi Dar, targeting the G1 Investec Oaks, while the triumph of Werther in Hong Kong's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Sunday stamped him as an international campaigner in the making.

It would have been disappointing had Midterm (by Galileo, out of Midday) not been able to gallop. But history shows that impeccable bloodlines are no guarantee of racecourse prowess, so it came as welcome relief to see this athletic colt get the better of Algometer at the end of a prolonged battle to land Sandown's G3 bet365 Classic Trial and retain his unbeaten record.

Stoute reported Midterm to be quite lazy at home, but the fight and determination the colt displayed in the final furlong brings him into contention for Epsom on the first Saturday in June. He and Algometer pulled eight lengths clear of the others in what might prove one of the defining races of the three-year-old season.

So Mi Dar, a filly by Dubawi out of Dar Re Mi, is another blue blood, so it was also pleasing to see her get the better of the colts and establish her Classic claims in Epsom's Investec Classic Trial, a conditions race that curiously does not attract the interest of owners and trainers one might expect.

Runner-up Humphrey Bogart and third Viren's Army are useful at best, so another outing before the Oaks will be required to accurately assess So Mi Dar, who, like Midterm, boasts a record of two starts for two wins.

In recent years, racing has been lacking a truly international globetrotter, who could travel the world and regularly compete at the highest level. But ever-competitive Hong Kong may have uncovered one in Werther, the winner of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin.

Werther, a son of Tavistock, is New Zealand-bred but made his name when racing in Australia. He caught the eye of Hong Kong trainer John Moore, who bought him and took him to the Northern Hemisphere to win the G1 Hong Kong Derby and, at the weekend, the G1 QEII Cup.

Moore would like to bring Werther back for the G1 Champions and Chater Cup at Sha Tin on May 22 -- and then have a crack at the G1 Cox Plate in Melbourne in October.

Werther was brilliant on Sunday, coming from back in the field with a devastating sprint in the straight to win by four and a half lengths from Military Attack, a long-time top performer in Hong Kong.

Hugh Bowman, who rode Werther, said: "The reason you haven't seen that turn-of-foot (previously) is because I have been riding him more tactically aware. I've had him up close. I've had him travelling a bit stronger than I did today.

"This time, I allowed him to relax, and we've seen the best of him," he added.

Bowman would find himself in an awkward position if Werther makes it to Moonee Valley for the next running of the G1 Cox Plate. He is also the regular jockey for Winx, the defending champion.