Jonquil enters the Guineas picture with Greenham win

Juddmonte's Jonquil emerged best in a fascinating Gr.3 Greenham Stakes at Newbury on Saturday (12th April).

Taken from the Thoroughbred Daily News, 13th April 2025, by Tom Frary:

Labelled a TDN Rising Star after his debut at Sandown in August, the homebred relation of Frankel tracked Rashabar towards the stand's side throughout the early stages. Mastering that rival with a furlong and a half remaining, the 8-1 shot, who was switched to Andrew Balding following the retirement of Sir Michael Stoute, asserted under Oisin Murphy to beat that rival by a length and a half, with two lengths back to Saracen in third.

Whereas the preceding Fred Darling was a demanding test throughout, this was more about finishing speed with Jonquil demonstrating his ruthless pace at the close with a final three-furlong split of :34.42.

Jockey Oisin Murphy was not 100% convinced that the 2,000 Guineas trip is a given afterwards: "I would imagine he'll go for the [2000] Guineas if he's healthy but he's a very fast horse - if he gets amile it'll be exciting," he said.

"His work was excellent and Ryan [Moore] liked him last year, so that was exactly what we hoped it would be. Rashabar is a really good horse and he cruised up to him on only his third start. He's the perfect specimen of the modern racehorse. If you think of the likes of Auguste Rodin and all those champions, they're not overly-big but this lad is big enough."

Andrew Balding appeared to lean towards Newmarket afterwards: "He looked a smart horse for Sir Michael last year on debut and things didn't quite go to plan second time. I think everyone connected with the horse previously was sure that Doncaster run was just a blip and they always had a very high opinion of him. He arrived at Kingsclere before Christmas, so it's been a while and he's done plenty of work."

"We're thrilled to win a race like this and it looks like a mile will suit him," he added. "He's settled through the race, hit the line strong and I couldn't be happier. He's a very well-balanced horse and I wouldn't have thought Newmarket would be a problem if we decide to go there. We'll wait to see what next week's trials bring and he's in the English and French Guineas."