George Margarson taking on racing powerhouses at Royal Ascot with filly 'who could be even better than Lucky Kristale'

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Veteran trainer George Margarson thinks he has the second coming of Lucky Kristale tucked away at his Graham Lodge Stables and is running her against the big guns at Royal Ascot to prove it.

Troublesome Guest, a daughter of Kodi Bear, has not even won a race yet having finished an unlucky third to Jolivette on her debut at Newmarket last month, since when Margarson has elected not to run her again to keep her fresh for the royal meeting.

Margarson last trained a Royal Ascot winner when Young Mick won the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes 20 years ago and Ropey Guest has since gone close in the Buckingham Palace Stakes in 2022 at odds of 40-1, and his latest hope could be at even longer odds when taking on the likes of Aidan O’Brien and Wesley Ward in the Windsor Castle Stakes, which has been extended to six furlongs for the first time this year.

In 2013, Margarson trained Lucky Kristale to win four of her five juvenile starts including Group 2 victories in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket and the Lowther Stakes at York, meeting her one defeat when sixth in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Margarson may have trained just one winner this year but he is optimistic Troublesome Guest can serve it up to the more established names on just her second racecourse outing.

Lucky Kristale winning the Lowther Stakes at York in 2013 Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

He said: “I think Troublesome Guest could be even better than Lucky Kristale, especially as the two-year-old that she galloped with the other day finished a close third at Lingfield last night. She was 30 lengths clear of her in the piece of work and we plan to take her to Royal Ascot for the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes, which looks the right race for her as it’s six furlongs this year rather than five.”

Reflecting on her debut at Newmarket, the trainer said: “If the winner that day had been drawn where we were they wouldn’t have won as we were bang on the stands' rail. She had nowhere to go and twice John Egan tried to get her out but there was no space. She ended up going past the post on the bridle.”

He added: “We were going to give her another run but the ground has been quick enough everywhere in the past two weeks so we’ve just freshened her up at home since Newmarket.

"This filly is by Kodi Bear which is where she gets her speed from and we are very much looking forward to going back to Royal Ascot where we have had some near-misses in the past and we’re not going just for a day out.”

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