Limato stays ahead of the field

Final 18 named for £350,000 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes

EIGHTEEN horses survived the five-day confirmation stage to go into Newbury’s £350,000 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes on Saturday.
Limato, trained at Wantage by Henry Candy, heads the ante-post betting market and the four-year-old will step up to a mile for the first time after showing impressive form last season when winning the Group Two Park Stakes over seven furlongs at Doncaster and finishing runner-up to champion sprinter Muhaarar in the six-furlong Group One Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.
Globetrotter Euro Charline is set for her first domestic start since finishing runner-up to Amazing Maria in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket last July, having previously won the Grade One Beverly D Stakes at Arlington in the USA.
Amazing Maria is also among the five-day confirmations, and two of the first three home in last year’s race are again poised to line up with Godolphin’s runner-up Toormore and third-placed Arod being saddled respectively by Richard Hanmon and Peter Chapple-Hyam.
Lambourn’s Clive Cox has Kodi Bear in the lists after winning the Group Two Celebration Mile at Goodwood this year.
Saturday’s seven-race thoroughbred card will be followed by the Group Three ARO Cup for Purebred Arabians at 6.05pm and Newbury also races on Friday with its Starlight Charity Raceday, concluded by the Inter-Stable Starlight Charity Race, which takes place after racing at 5.50pm.