Talk Of New York bolsters Appleby’s Guineas hand

Talk Of New York strengthened Charlie Appleby’s potential Betfred 2000 Guineas hand with a comfortable victory in the Federation Of Bloodstock Agents EBF Conditions Stakes at Newmarket.

Just hours after galloping two of his potential challengers for the first colts’ Classic of the season on the Rowley Mile in Distant Storm and King’s Trail, the Moulton Paddocks handler sent out Talk Of New York – the shortest priced of his four Guineas contenders.

A runaway winner on his Kempton debut in October before being beaten at short odds at Meydan in February, the Wootton Bassett colt was an 8-11 shot to bounce back on home soil and did so in some style in a first-time hood, readily going through the gears under William Buick and finishing off well up the hill to beat Lost Signal by three lengths.

“We needed to get back on track, today was a day where we were just focused on relaxing him and if he got beat he got beat,” said Appleby.

“We wanted him to settle and race the right way for future, and we’ve ticked two boxes in that he settled and then he went and won.

“Today we’ve dropped back in trip and applied the hood. The hood has made a big difference at home, if anything a bit too much but I didn’t want to be too confident today in taking the hood off.

“I was happy to leave the hood on and if it meant that he got beaten because he was too settled then so be it.

“Next time I’ll take that hood off.”

Talk Of New York was left as an unchanged 6-1 shot for the 2000 Guineas by Paddy Power, who offer 8-1 about King’s Trail, 10-1 about Distant Storm and 12-1 about Hidden Force, who will test his credentials in the Craven Stakes on Thursday.

Appleby is in no rush to finalise his potential team for the May 2 showpiece, adding: “We’ve had a few horses gallop this morning and this fellow is definitely in the mix with them all.

“I was just on the phone with connections and they are happy for us to let the dust settle for a week.

“We were on the comeback trail with this horse after having the wind taken out of our sails in Dubai, it just never worked from the moment we got him off the plane to the moment we got him back on it.

“He was under-trained and too fresh. This was a rebuilding process but what we’ve seen there, I liked – the way he travelled, the way he handled the dip.

“People might have expected to see that acceleration but that was seven furlongs with a hood on. He is 100 per cent in the Guineas mix, but there’s two and a half weeks to go yet and in this game that is a long time.”