Home » Blog » Jamie Spencer » Jamie Spencer hopes his Queen can rule Lady at Newmarket
Jamie Spencer hopes his Queen can rule Lady at Newmarket
I ride Forever Excel in the first at Newmarket at 1.50 for Charlie Hills. She's ready to start but it will be a watching brief for her.
In the Royal Lodge at 2.20 I haven't a ride but I thought Douglas Macarthur was a bit disappointing at Leopardstown last time. He seemed to have every chance. Maybe making the running didn't suit him. Hugo Palmer's horse Best Of Days looks to be the big danger to him.
I'm really looking forward to riding Queen Kindly in the Cheveley Park at 2.55. Lady Aurelia has been very impressive in her three wins so far, and the only reason she isn't 1/5 is because the last time in France she only just won. However the ground was horrible at Deauville and you'd have to forgive any horse for not running their best on that ground. It was desperate and very shifty as it was the end of the meeting. Because Longchamp has been shut they've been racing a lot at Deauville all year.
She's been travelling a lot. She travelled to Ascot, then she travelled back to Kentucky. She then travelled from Kentucky to Deauville, and then from France over to Newmarket. So she's had loads of different bases whereas Queen Kindly has just been in her stable in Yorkshire all year. Whether that plays in my favour I don't know, but I'm hoping it will be a help. What I would also say about my filly is that physically she has changed every time I've ridden her. Each time she's looked stronger and more colt-like. She's getting rounder and she's improved physically all year. The first time I rode her was two weeks before Royal Ascot and she's changed enormously since then. You saw Lady Aurelia at Royal Ascot and she was basically like a bull. She couldn't really change a whole lot more. So it's all about how much my filly has caught up in the last three months. I think it will be a very interesting race. Lady Aurelia appears far superior to us all but I'd be surprised if I can't give her some kind of a race.
I'm so looking forward to this race. Since the declarations yesterday I've been looking at the draw, imagining how the race is going to pan out. It's obvious how Lady Aurelia is going to run, so trying to work out what the rest will do. I think I will give her a run for her money. I'd be pushed to say I'd definitely beat her.
The Middle Park is a good race. I thought Intelligence Cross looked impressive last time. He's an improving horse. He was a bit disappointing at Goodwood but I don't think he handled the track. He's the one to give Blue Point a run for it, although saying that Blue Point was very impressive in the Gimcrack. If he runs the same as that he'll be hard to beat.
I ride Banksea in the Cambridgeshire at 4.10. I'm drawn near the middle next to the favourite Third Time Lucky. He's had a reasonable season and been second a few times which means he keeps going up in the weights. On the upside he got no penalty for getting beat at Doncaster last time, so we'll give it a shot. I always feel you need a horse that gets a mile and a quarter. It's a straight mile and one and it's a big field. They get racing early, and so you need to have plenty of stamina. I won the race a long time ago so it would be nice to win it again.
I ride Parsnip in the 4.45. She ran very well in a Nursery at Leicester. The winner of that race just got beat in a Group Three last weekend. So the form has worked out. She's only got two pounds and her form has worked out. The step up to seven furlongs should suit. She's a half-sister to Kodi Bear so the trip should be a help.
« Shearer says: "Mourinho criticising players in public isn't wise"
Luke Morris talks his Saturday Newmarket Cambridgeshire meeting rides »
Jamie Spencer
Jamie Spencer is an Irish flat racing jockey currently riding in the UK. He has been champion jockey in both Ireland and Britain and has won four classics, two in each country.Spencer is widely regarded as one of the best, and most naturally talented, UK-based Jockeys. He is an advocate for the art of holding up horses late into the races, and then making use of their natural dash of speed. Jamie gives us the inside track on the world of racing each and every week with Coral.
Dan Skelton | 10.02.2017
Stabletalk: "He'll love the trip, love the track and love the ground"
Tom Scudamore | 14.03.2015
Scudamore says Cheltenham sensation was amazing
Alan Shearer | 16.08.2016
Shearer Says: "It will be close, but I think the Premier League trophy will go to Manchester"