Enzeli wins eased down

Enzeli turned last night's Saval Beg Stakes into a procession and earned himself the chance to continue a Group One family tradition in the Ascot Gold Cup.

A half-brother to the Irish Oaks heroine Ebadiyla and the Moyglare winner Edabiya, Enzeli was a rather weak 5 to 2 favourite but there was nothing weak about the way he powered up the straight to win by an eased down three lengths from Risk Material and San Sebastian.

"He seems to have improved," was the typically understated view of John Oxx who believes that better ground than Enzeli was used to last season was in his favour.

"He's in the Gold Cup at Ascot and we are thinking of it but he hasn't had the smoothest preparation. We wanted to run at Listowel and that was cancelled, we wanted to go for the Shergar Cup but the ground got too fast, so he could go now for the Henry II at Sandown on Monday week. The extra half mile at Ascot would be unknown territory but you never know," Oxx added.

Some fancy races were also mentioned as possible targets for Warrior Queen after her ultra-impressive debut in the maiden. It was a first juvenile filly winner of the season for Aidan O'Brien and he admitted that Warrior Queen is high up in the Ballydoyle pecking order.

"She has everything. Speed, scope, a really lovely filly. Maybe she'll turn out to be a Moyglare filly," O'Brien said of Warrior Queen who is from the family of Storm Bird and Pas De Reponse.

In contrast, Zilina is a sprint specialist but she proved her speed yet again with a smooth neck defeat of Dane River in the May Handicap. "She just gets five furlongs and that's about it but if she is waited with she will pick up," was trainer Con Collins view.

Union Project wasn't able to break his duck at Dundalk earlier in the month but he did it at Leopardstown with an all-the-way defeat of Eternal Night and Hierarchy in the Regine Maiden, while Colonel George and John Cullen came out on top in the amateur hurdle despite the late challenge of Honey Trader.

Willie Supple, fresh from his Lockinge victory on Fly To The Stars on Saturday, sprang a 12 to 1 surprise with Royal Barathea in the Sandyford Handicap, beating off Michael Kinane on Slighty Swift by the minimum margin.

Mary Reveley avoided the agonies of seven years ago as she reached a seasonal century for the third time at Kelso yesterday.

In 1992 Britain's most successful woman trainer was left high and dry on the 99 winner-mark.

But Arctic Fox scraped home by a short-head in the Booker Foodservice Novices' Chase.

Martin Pipe edged closer to Paul Nicholls in the race for this season's title of champion jumps trainer. Pipe started yesterday £23,810 adrift of his rival but after wins for Enipeus, Indian Jockey and Strong Tel at Worcester clocked up £8,113.50 plus place money from four of his other seven runners he reduced the gap to £10,142.50. Nicholls did not have any runners yesterday.