Charlie Hills is drawing inspiration from a tried-and-true route as he aims to document a classic British film first with Allayaali who will prepare for QIPCO One Thousand Guineas (G1) by galloping at Newmarket on April 13.
The same preparation was also used by Hills’ father, Barry, for Ghanaati, who won the One Thousand Guineas in 2009, while the coach, who helped oversee that schedule, trained his other half-sister. Allayaali’s mother was Just The Judge (IRE) on the Rowley Mile ahead of her runner-up- finishing in the 2013 Guineas edition, which she later built on by winning the Irish equivalent.
Two years later, Dutch Connection also galloped at Newmarket before placing his respectable seventh in the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1), and Phoenix of Spain did the same thing en route to his Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) win in 2019.
Hills has long planned to follow those same paths with Shadwell-owned Allayaali.
“Getting the horse up there worked, and if it’s not broken you don’t need to fix it,” he said. “I’m happy to do it again instead of going to a test race, especially for the chubby guys because it’s early in the year and you don’t want to necessarily give them a tough race. .”
Her two wins have been over 6 1/2 feathers and she was last seen finishing second in Godolphin Lifetime Care Oh So Sharp Stakes (G3) at Newmarket in October.
“We’ll get her there for a little bit of work on Wednesday. Then the plan is to get her to Guineas,” Lambourn-based The Hills, whose candidate is general 33-1, said. know. “She’s been doing great in the winter and her coat is wearing well at the moment. Hopefully it will warm up next week as we’ve had some very cold and frosty nights, but the Her summer coat is sure to match.”
Hills, who have had a bright start to 2022 and are operating at a 30% strike rate, added: “One question mark is whether she will stay in Guineas a mile, but you can say that about quite a few of them..
“She comes from the same family as Just The Judge and has become more and more like her as she gets older. She didn’t do much last year. She had a bad game in her career. Star Stakes are in Sandown, but we had a couple of reasons for that and she may have been unlucky not to win Oh So Sharp Stakes.
“After Just The Judge, we may have some unfinished business in One Thousand Guineas, so hopefully she can make it work.”
Frankie Dettori’s mount Inspire coached by John and Thady Gosden for Cheveley Park Stud, is the 11-4 favorite for One Thousand Guineas May 1, which takes place at Newmarket.
