Clever Cookie thrust Peter Niven into the big time at Ascot at the weekend, but the North Yorkshire trainer’s focus now turns sharply to Beverley on Tuesday.
The Malton-based handler saddles Sugar Town and Barwah in the Racing Again On Wednesday 12 August Handicap (5.05) over seven and a half furlongs, with hopes especially high for the former.
Niven said: “Sugar Town is in good form and ran well over seven (furlongs) at Thirsk a fortnight ago when she was third.
“She needs the ground on the quick side so hopefully she’ll get that at Beverley.
“The extra half a furlong won’t be a bother to her and she’s on a decent weight.
“Hopefully she’ll have her day soon as she deserves a change of luck.
“We don’t know a great deal about Barwah yet as we’ve only just got her from the sales and she’ll be having her first run for us.
“Her form was pretty good on the all-weather, though, so hopefully she could be one for the future.
“Beverley is a nice place to start her off.”
Clever Cookie was unable to provide the Clovafield trainer with a fairytale result in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Saturday, but he did not let the side down.
The seven-year-old gelding struggled to go with the protagonists for a long way, but he stayed on stoutly late on to finish fifth behind Postponed, beaten just over six lengths.
Clever Cookie is unlikely to contest the Qatar Goodwood Cup on Thursday, with a trip to York in August a more viable alternative for the popular son of Primo Valentino.
Niven said: “He’s come out the race grand and we’ve found something out about him – a mile and a half is too short for him these days.
“He did OK and wasn’t totally disgraced as he was only beaten about six lengths in a Group One.
“I also felt that tacky stuff on the back straight wasn’t totally to his liking.
“What he needs is genuinely nice ground – it’s only the press that have made out that he’s a heavy-ground horse.
“We’ll give Goodwood a miss as he was a bit light (on Sunday morning) and we’ll be aiming him at the Lonsdale Cup at York.
“Later in the season there’s also Donny (Doncaster Cup) and the Irish Leger and races in France.
“His big aim, though, as I’ve said all along, is the staying race at Ascot on Champions Day (Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup).”
Feature race on Beverley’s seven-race card is the eighth renewal of the Wilford Watts Memorial Handicap (4.30) – an extended one-mile affair held in memory of a local racegoer.
Co Durham handler Tracy Waggott has won the race three times since 2010 with Beverley maestro Shadowtime, but will this season be represented by two-times course-and-distance scorer Border Bandit.
A strong 13-runner field also includes Hulcolt, a winner at Beverley a fortnight ago for rookie handler Ivan Furtado, and the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Memorial Day.
Mick Easterby later attempts to win the Lady Jane Bethell Memorial Handicap (5.40) for lady amateur riders for a fourth consecutive year, this time with Beverley regular City Ground.
Engai provided trainer David Bridgwater’s daughter, Poppy, with a first winner under Rules in the Dorothy Laird Memorial Trophy two weeks ago on the Westwood and has also been declared.
The current going at Beverley is good to firm, with heavy showers forecast in the next 48 hours – though it is due to be dry on race-day.
