'At home he has been fast enough to lead Group 1 horses over a mile'

This stable tour was originally printed in the Racing Post Weekender on Wednesday, May 26. Buy the Weekender every week for top stable tours and great insight from weekly columnist Ed Walker.

“A very nice team sheet” is how Hugo Palmer describes his string of two-year-olds for this season.

He adds: “We have an exciting squad which includes four Galileos, two Dubawis and a Frankel among them. Add to that I was very proud to send out Galileo Gold’s first winner as a stallion in Ebro River.

“He is a very exciting first-season sire and will always be held in the highest regard here having enjoyed a golden summer in 2016, winning the 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes for us.

“I’m excited about the youngsters who look very promising and my job is to keep them healthy and produce them spot on at the right moment.”

Palmer is keen on increasing the quality rather than the quantity and believes he has done just that this year. He says: “The older horses look strong this season and our Classic generation have some very promising ones among their number.”

He is happy with how the stable has weathered Covid and the subsequent economic fallout for his team, but is concerned the prize-money issue is getting out of hand, describing it as “disgraceful”.

He says: “Last year we won the Northumberland Plate with a £25,000 first prize, yet Alan King won it 12 months earlier picking up almost £92,000.

“I know we seem to complain endlessly about prize-money but it has become increasingly serious and it has to be tackled urgently. I have been very fortunate to have the backing of some very supportive owners, but things have to change for the future of the sport.”

Despite these concerns Palmer is full of optimism for his team and believes “the next few weeks could be quite exciting for us”.

Older horses

Acquitted
4 bb g Night Of Thunder – Blameless
I have been a little frustrated with him as after he ran very well on his debut this season in the Spring Mile at Doncaster we went to Ascot hoping for a bold show in the Victoria Cup, but it never happened. I know we can improve on that and we may try him in some headgear next. He doesn’t want fast ground, which is not going to be a problem for now so we will go to Royal Ascot with either the Buckingham Palace or the Royal Hunt Cup as possible targets.