Conduit tops bill on absorbing evening card at Sandown Park

Great trainers are not so much defined by big triumphs as by the top races they have yet to win. Those races are few and far between where Sir Michael Stoute is concerned, and the horse which ended Stoute's St Leger drought last season now takes his first step towards the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. That is another rare prize that has eluded him.
Indeed, of the 32 championship races run in Britain each year, the only one to escape Stoute's clutches is the Middle Park Stakes. He also has a Champion Hurdle on his CV, courtesy of Kribensis, and while the likes of Dafayna won the Golden Jubilee Stakes before it gained group one status, the Newmarket trainer will almost certainly address such nit-picking before long.
Conduit, then, is the main attraction on a fascinating Blue Square-sponsored card at Sandown this evening. However, the four-year-old is up against it with the 7lb penalty he carries for winning the St Leger and Breeders' Cup Turf. He will be that much worse off with Campanologist, who bettered him at Royal Ascot last term, yet Conduit's rate of progress was such that few expect those placings to be confirmed.
Campanologist is another making his seasonal debut in the ten-furlong Brigadier Gerard Stakes and Saeed bin Suroor, his trainer, acknowledged the size of the task facing his colt. “It looks more like a group one race than a group three,” he said, “but Campanologist is in good order. I am hopeful that he will run a nice race.”
Also in the line-up are Cima de Triomphe, last year's winner of the Italian Derby now trained by Luca Cumani, and Pipedreamer, trained by John Gosden for the Thompson family's Cheveley Park Stud. Pipedreamer was touched off by Tartan Bearer on his own comeback at Sandown last month and connections are expecting another forward showing.
“He showed a good turn of foot that day and was perhaps unlucky to get caught,” Chris Richardson, managing director of Cheveley Park Stud, said yesterday. “He has progressed for it, receives weight from Conduit, and while Conduit is a top-class horse, he might benefit from racing over farther.”
Richardson reported that Phillipina, the Stoute-trained Oaks entry, did some pleasing work on the gallops yesterday. However, he said: “From our point of view, we are keener on the Ribblesdale Stakes because Epsom might just be a bit tough for her. She still runs a bit green and still works that way, too. The Thompsons enjoy Royal Ascot so much, and it has been a lucky meeting for them in the past.”
Stoute ruled out another Oaks candidate yesterday when he diverted Leocorno to the Ribblesdale Stakes. Like Conduit and Tartan Bearer, Leocorno is owned by Ballymacoll Stud, whose livery is also carried by Patkai at Sandown this evening. The four-year-old, ante-post favourite for the Gold Cup, will be a warm order in the Henry II Stakes after his processional victory at Ascot four weeks ago.
That was Patkai's second victory from as many starts over two miles. Among his opponents are Geordieland and Fiulin, both of whom excel on a sound surface, and Tastahil, whose connections are hoping for further rain.
Whatever the weather, Patkai should take plenty of stopping en route to a Royal Ascot prize that Stoute landed for the first and only time with Shangamuzo 31 years ago.
Source:The times