Vintage Brut aims to add to Easterby's impressive record in Two-Year-Old Trophy

Racing UK Two Year Old Trophy (Listed Race) (Class 1) | 6f | 2yo | ITV4/RUK

Tim Easterby is looking for his fifth win in Redcar’s feature race of the year, and should have a good chance of recording it, with the useful Vintage Brut spearheading his duo alongside outsider Ugo Gregory.

Winner of the National Stakes at Sandown, Vintage Brut has shown all the makings of being a classy sprinter, having narrowly missed out by a neck in the Harry Rosebery Stakes at Ayr last month and not being disgraced when eighth in the Flying Childers at the St Leger meeting.

Watch the replay of Vintage Brut's National Stakes win here

The colt would relish some rain having posted his best performances with cut in the ground and, while the step up to six furlongs poses questions, Easterby is confident in Vintage Brut’s chances.

He said: “He’s been in good form this year and I’m very happy with him. The only unknown is whether he’ll get six furlongs, but I’m feeling confident because he’s been off the bridle in a lot of his runs and been kicking on well, so he should have a good chance.

“A fifth win here would be great. It’s my local track, it’s a nice race and the money’s very good. Things should be in our favour.”

Can Red Balloons do the business to retain Trophy for Fahey?

Richard Fahey runs four in his bid to keep possession of the prize he won with Darkanna last year.

After a convincing win at the Ebor meeting over this distance, Red Balloons stands out as his main contender and Fahey is confident the filly will be competitive.

He said: “It was nice to see her go and do it last time and we've kept her fresh for this since. With a rating of 96, I'd hope she's right there at the finish in this company.”

Running alongside her will be Wasntexpectingthat, Lightning Attack and Kodyanna, with the last-named seemingly having plenty of ability after finishing third in a Group 3 at Deauville in July.

Kodyanna struggled at Ayr two weeks ago on heavy ground but has proven herself a formidable filly and deserves respect on previous runs.

Fahey said: “She was a bit of a disaster in the Firth of Clyde at Ayr last time but wasn’t far off Red Balloons at York and we still have faith. Getting back on better ground will help I suspect.”

Can James Watt overcome the draw to score for Bell?

Michael Bell’s quality over quantity approach with two-year-olds this year has certainly paid dividends, but James Watt's berth in stall five might prove a real issue for his youngster to overcome.

Bell has had 14 winners from just 89 juvenile runners this term and has spent the last two months preparing James Watt for this after being tailed off at Glorious Goodwood.

However, the colt may have been drawn on the 'wrong' side, with four of the top contenders for the prize grouped together. Beat Le Bon, Swissterious, Red Balloons and Vintage Brut will occupy stalls 17-20 while James Watt is drawn on the other side of the track, and Bell admits that may have an impact on his runner.

He said: “He looks like he’s drawn on the wrong side with all the fancied runners on the stands' side, which isn't ideal. But he’s been trained for the race and should run very well.”

What the others say

Richard Hannon, trainer of Beat Le Bon
I've a lot of time for this horse and really fancied him last time at Newbury but he was probably still a little ring-rusty and may not have fully seen out the trip as he travelled like the winner two furlongs out, so we’re going down to six furlongs and I hope it does the trick. He’s a very smart colt.

Richard Fahey, trainer of Lightning Attack and Wasntexpectingthat
They'll both need to improve a fair way to get seriously involved, although Wasntexpectingthat ran a massive race at Doncaster and if there's a drop of rain around then that would help him out.

Karl Burke, trainer of Swissterious
He’s in good order and ran very well behind a well-regarded horse last time at Doncaster in Khaadem. If he puts up a similar performance he should be very competitive.

James Given, trainer of Orange Blossom and Ginvincible
Orange Blossom has only really run on quickish ground, which hasn’t really suited her, so any rain will help. She’s been progressive and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her improve again with some ease in the ground. We weren’t expecting Ginvincible to get in. It would be a big surprise if she was to really challenge but hopefully she can run well.

Andrew Balding, trainer of Strict Tempo and Pass The Gin
Strict Tempo’s sister was third in this last year and we felt there was a bit of symmetry there. She's in good form and along with Pass The Gin gets in off a low weight because of their sires, so hopefully they can both run well.

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