Hear the full interview
From 22:05 in Monday’s episode of Nick Luck Daily. Press play to start at the interview.
Hugo Palmer is “hugely” looking forward to running two horses in Friday’s Bahrain International Trophy, the kingdom’s first international Group 1.
Palmer runs Saratoga Derby winner Glacius and Diomed Stakes winner Seagulls Eleven. “It’s always exciting to have a runner in a Group 1,” he told Nick Luck. “I think this is the first time since the inaugural Commonwealth Cup that I’ve had two runners in the same Group 1. We’ve been involved with the Turf Series in Bahrain pretty well since its inception, winning it a couple of times, so to have two runners in the inaugural Group 1 in the kingdom is wonderful.”
Glacius improving at home
Glacius made all to win the Saratoga Derby in August and was then a narrow second in the Nashville Derby. “He was brilliant at Saratoga, for all that he would probably need to find a new level of form to win this race,” Palmer said. “Saratoga was nine and a half furlongs, the Nashville Derby was ten and a half furlongs, and we just felt the extra furlong and the weight he carried for winning his Grade 1 cost him that day. He was only a narrow second, and he ran very, very well.”
He thinks Glacius is still getting better. “He worked at Wolverhampton a couple of weeks ago, and Michael Metcalfe, who has ridden him all year, said to me, ‘You’ll think I’m stupid, but today’s the first day he’s actually felt like a good horse,’” Palmer said. “So we feel he’s improving at home, but obviously he’s got to show it on the track.”
“You’ll think I’m stupid, but today’s the first day he’s actually felt like a good horse.”
Work rider Michael Metcalfe on Glacius
Seagulls Eleven ‘forgave us’
Palmer admitted Seagulls Eleven was not right when he ran poorly at Goodwood. “His scope was clean, his blood was good, but we just weren’t quite feeling it,” he said. “He was going to be a short-priced favourite or second favourite in a 200-grand race, so there was no reason not to go, but I wasn’t totally happy. The owners said, ‘Right, let’s roll the dice,’ and it didn’t work. But he came back to himself very well, he forgave us, and he ran brilliantly in Paris.”
In Paris he was beaten two necks by Wimbledon Hawkeye, who is likely to be favourite on Friday. “On the body of his form, he’d be a surprising winner of this race,” Palmer said. “But there is scope to see some improvement, because it’s only his second run at the trip. For all that George Scott says, ‘Don’t be so stupid, Wimbledon Hawkeye won the Dollar on the bridle,’ we don’t have a lot to find with the favourite mathematically, and I think he’s very unexposed at ten furlongs.”
No need to cut their own throats
With plenty of pace in the race, Palmer will not force either horse to lead. The draw is on Wednesday evening. “What Seagulls Eleven doesn’t like is being crowded, so I’d be nervous of him being drawn one,” he said. “I’d almost rather see him drawn wide, so that if he can’t lead, he can relax and breathe.”
“With Glacius, we only went forward at Saratoga because we couldn’t see any other obvious pace in the race, and Luis Saez is a particularly good judge of pace and a front-running jockey,” he added. “There’s no compulsion to go forward on Friday. The local horses tend to go forward in Bahrain, and there could be quite a lot of competition for the pace, so I certainly wouldn’t want to add two more horses to that burn-up.”
