Andrew Balding delighted with strong start at Newbury Racecourse thanks to Jonquil performance
Kingclere trainer Andrew Balding was delighted with his weekend at Newbury.
He secured five race wins across Friday and Saturday, as the Flat season made its long awaited return to Newbury Racecourse.
For Balding, this was a great way to kick off the season.
“It’s always nice to get some success at your local track,” he said.
“It was one of those days where, happily, everything seemed to go right.
“It was a nice way to start the season.”
Perhaps the standout from Balding’s haul of wins is Jonquil.
The Juddmonte owned horse won the Group 3 Greenham Stakes on Saturday in a performance which caught the attention of many in the industry.
As a result, his odds for the Betfred 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket have been cut to 12/1, having previously been priced as a 50/1 long-shot.
Balding isn’t certain of his plans yet, but was equally impressed with Saturday’s showing.
“It’s a little bit of wait and see,” he admitted.
“The owners have got other horses that might be suitable for the race.
“We’re in the French Guineas as well, there’s Royal Ascot coming up and there’s races for him there.
“There are more trials this week at Newmarket.
“We’ll watch those and see where he fits in the picture.”
Point of Contact would go on to win later in the day, with Cheltenham Handicaps the plan from here onwards.
Divina Grace was another winner at Newbury, taking home the John Porter stakes from odds of 14/1.
“I think that was probably the height of her potential,” he said.
“If you’d said at the beginning of the season we’d win a group three, that would have been job done.
“So anything else now is really a bonus.
“She’ll duck and dive in the fillies’ races, but she’s achieved everything we could hope for at the moment.”
Another who impressed was Furthur, who beat the favourite at 4:19 to win the Maiden Stakes.
“He’s a lovely horse because he’s one who will stay further,” Balding revealed.
“But he’ll take it step by step.
“The likelihood is that we’ll start him in a handicap next time.
“We’ll see how we go from there, but he could end up being a smart stayer.”
Such a strong start will have filled Balding’s yard with confidence, with the trainer looking to improve yet again after a strong outing last year.
“Group One races are what we try to win, and we won two last year,” he said.
“It would be nice to increase that score this year.
“But really we go into each season to do better than the last.
“That’s entirely down to the number of winners and prize money.
“We won a lot last year, so it’ll be tough to beat, but we’ve made a good start.”
