Cuis Ghaire Storms Home to take Albany Jim Bolger and Kevin Manning hit the target as Cuis Ghaire came home best of all to justify 8-11 favouritism in the Albany Stakes, the opening event on day four of Royal Ascot. Her supporters were made to suffer as the odds-on shot looked in trouble with two furlongs to run as Penny´s Gift and Ares Choix both seemed to be going better. However, Manning did not panic and coaxed a strong finish from his mount, who responded for pressure to get on top inside the distance and provide the Derby-winning jockey with his first winner at the meeting. Penny´s Gift was a length and three-quarters away in second, while 25-1 chance Danidh Dubai had to settle for third. The winner was handed a quote of 10-1 by VC Bet for next year´s 1000 Guineas. "She´s always impressed me in her three races to date because she is not a six-furlong horse really," said Bolger . "But because she is so precocious, we thought we would pick up a couple of races along the way before we moved on to the serious stuff. "I knew she would come home well as she already needs seven furlongs or a mile but somebody told me Galileo had never had a winner over six furlongs, so we thought we´d do something about that. "You won´t see her over six furlongs again though. She´ll probably go for the Debutante Stakes at the Curragh and then the Moyglare." When told that his charge had been made favourite for the 1000 Guineas next year, Bolger added: "I don´t know much about ante-post betting as you know, so I´d leave all that to those who do know." Manning added: "She was caught a bit flat-footed when they quickened up but when she hit top gear she really picked up." Assistant trainer Richard Hannon jnr said of Penny´s Gift: "She didn´t cost a lot of money but has given her owners a great day out and I thought we had the winner beat at one point. "She´s in a few of the sales races and I would imagine she could go for the Super Sprint." Bruce Raymond, racing manager for Jaber Abdullah, who owns Danidh Dubai, was also pleased with the effort of that Mick Channon-trained filly. "Mick expected a big run like that and this filly had been working well," Raymond said. "She will get seven furlongs but doesn´t need that to win, and we could look at races such as the Lowther for her."
