totesport.com Pontefract Castle Fillies’ Stakes (Listed Race)

Ryan Moore journeys north on a Sunday to Pontefract and has a decent book of rides, none better than the four-year-old ALWAYSANDFOREVER who has been brought along in typically patient fashion by master trainer Luce Cumani who saddled Connecticut (2015) and Loving Things (2016) to land this prize.

This filly was beaten just half a length by subsequent Group 2 Ribblesdale winner Coronet on her only start as a juvenile, then wasn’t seen for a year until winning a match at Brighton. She was again absent for eight months before running well to be third at Wetherby in May, then bolted up in a three-runner event on her handicap bow at Windsor last time. The 7lb rise in her mark may still underestimate her ability and she is fancied to land the spoilswith a suspicion she may well be a genuine pattern race performer in the making.

Isabel De Urbina was in receipt of 3lb from Titi Makfi when the pair were separated by just half a length in a listed event at Goodwood in May, so off level weights there should be little between them once again. The former was a respectable fourth in a Group 3 last time, while the latter has placed in two more listed events and both should be there or thereabouts once again.

Cribbs Causeway could be a danger on her good third in the Group 3 at York in May last month where she finished two lengths ahead of Isabel De Urbina, but she ran a shocker last time finishing last in the Group 3 Pinnacle Stakes at Haydock and was never going a yard. Maybe there was a genuine excuse for that effort, and she is given a chance to redeem herself. Wingingit and Jet Streaming are both held on lines through Isabel De Urbina, but the fact their respective handlers pitch them in again suggests they may have prospects of getting closer. It would be a surprise though if either was good enough to score.