Kelleway bullish as Qatar hero Global Spectrum completes preparations for bet365 Craven Stakes
11th April 2019 – Global Spectrum is set to put his unbeaten record on the line when he contests the bet365 Craven Stakes, the highlight of the second day of the three-day bet365 Craven Meeting, at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse next Wednesday (17th April).
A £60,000 Group 3 event for three-year-old colts and geldings, the bet365 Craven Stakes is run over a distance of one mile and has attracted 20 entries. It is a key trial for the first Classic of the British season, the Group 1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas, run over the same course and distance on 4th May.
Trained in Exning, just outside Newmarket, by Gay Kelleway, Global Spectrum did not see a racecourse until late last November but made up for lost time with a pair of victories on Kempton Park’s polytrack surface.
He then jetted out to the Arabian Gulf to plunder the Al Biddah Mile at Al Rayyan Racecourse in Qatar – the same race that Tip Two Win landed prior to finishing second in the 2018 renewal of the QIPCO 2000 Guineas.
His potential opponents include the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere hero, Royal Marine, alongside Arctic Sound, successful in the Group 3 Tattersalls Stakes on the Rowley Mile last September.
Trainer Richard Hannon, who has won the bet365 Craven twice in the last five years, has four entries including the Darley Dewhurst Stakes fifth, Kuwait Currency, while two Irish colts are engaged – the Listed winner, No Needs Never, from the Joseph O’Brien yard, and the Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy third, Western Australia, who is trained by Joseph’s father, Aidan.
Next Wednesday’s other Group 3 contest is the £60,000 Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes. This has 13 entries led by Kevin Ryan’s Brando, who will be bidding to lift this six furlong contest for the third successive year.
The running order at this year’s bet365 Craven Meeting has been altered due to ITV Racing’s coverage on Good Friday. ITV 4 will carry four races from Tuesday and Wednesday next week and as a result, the bet365 Craven Stakes will take place on Wednesday, 17th April. Please visit www.newmarketracecourses.co.uk for full details of each day’s running order.
Gay Kelleway, trainer of Global Spectrum, said:
“Global Spectrum did his final piece of work before the bet365 Craven yesterday morning, quickening away from his usual lead horse. He is happy and relaxed and his jockey, Gerald Mosse, is convinced that he has improved since he got back from Qatar.
“I’m pleased to hear that the race has as many as 20 entries. It sounds crazy but I want a big field as that would mean a genuine pace and no messing around.
“We’ve re-routed him here rather than a race at Longchamp on Sunday because the French race has cut up into a small field. I’m sure if he runs well in the Craven I will be under pressure to go for the Guineas but I’m 50-50 at the moment between that and its French equivalent – he will go wherever I think he has the best chance.
“He’s a very good horse and is easy to train – he doesn’t have any complications or require any gadgets. Fast ground plays to his strengths and he will definitely stay further than a mile in time.”
