Solid Stone must go close but will need watching in the preliminaries

6.30 Windsor
Racing Welfare Royal Windsor Stakes (Listed) | 1m | 3yo+ | Sky Sports Racing

Sir Michael Stoute has made a blistering start to the 2021 season and has struck with seven of his 15 runners aged four or older on their reappearance. So what went wrong when Solid Stone failed to fire on his seasonal return in a Listed race at Ascot just at the end of last month?

It is evident Stoute’s older horses are forward so fitness shouldn’t have been an issue, and Solid Stone goes well fresh anyway having twice won after breaks of at least 160 days.

You have to go back to before the start of the race to find the answer, because Solid Stone got himself in a right mess. He played up in the preliminaries and went to post awash with sweat.

When taking that into account, it is fair to argue his two-length fifth behind the reopposing Oh This Is Us wasn’t a bad start, but it will be interesting to see if Solid Stone handles the preliminaries better this time. He is definitely one to keep an eye on in the paddock if the Sky cameras provide that coverage.

Oh This Is Us sprang a 66-1 surprise in that Ascot race, but appeared to benefit from a pace collapse when coming late and fast under Tom Marquand on a day when waiting tactics paid off in several races on the straight track. It is questionable if this race will set up quite so well.

There is no obvious pace angle and it could get tactical, so it will be interesting to see which of the six riders goes to the front. Maybe Jamie Spencer on Brentford Hope will be the one.
Analysis by Graeme Rodway

What they say

Richard Hughes, trainer of Brentford Hope
He was up at Doncaster to run at the Lincoln meeting but the ground turned out to be too quick. Hopefully it's going to be soft enough here. He didn't stay a mile and half when we tried last season so he starts at a mile here, but we might venture up to a mile and a quarter later in the season.

Ed Walker, trainer of Stormy Antarctic
He ran a solid race behind Global Giant at Kempton last time. That was not his best but still wasn't a bad comeback run all the same. He's in fine form right now and the rain will have really helped his chances. He's run well at Windsor before and we're hoping for a big run; it looks a good spot for him. If I could design a race for him it would probably be over nine furlongs, like when he finished behind Persian King last season. That said, a stiff mile should suit him well.

Ed Crisford, co-trainer of Syrtis
He's ready for his first run of the year since joining us from Andre Fabre. The softer the ground, the better – he looks in great order.
Reporting by Tom Ward

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