Carlton House on the Drift After Knocking Near-Fore Joint
- By A.J. Ryder on May 31, 2011 17:14 GMT
After dominating the ante post market since his dramatic score in the Group 1 Dante Stakes, Carlton House (Street Cry) is seeing some serious price fluctuations as punters cope with fall out from a recent update from connections.
Owned by the Queen and carrying a 211 record in his three career attempts, Carlton House was out for a routine canter on Monday when he supposedly knocked a near-fore joint. An x-ray was taken and it revealed that the injury was not serious enough to jeopardize his entry in the much-anticipated Epsom Derby.
Speaking to the media, the Queen's racing adviser John Warren declared that “Carlton House was found to have a small amount of filling in his near-fore joint at evening stables last night, following a routine canter yesterday.”
Playing down speculation that the near-fore joint issue could create further complications, Warren spoke to Racing UK and stated “It could be the equivalent ofa footballer straining his ankle. It was not evident in his cantering yesterday that he actually took a false step or anything and the horse is sound this morning.” He also emphasized that the important work for Carlton House was already finished and that his overall form was good and he was rapidly approaching readiness for a potentially career-defining run this Saturday.
The news prompted several bookmakers to raise his price to around 2/1 ante post for the Group 1 Epsom clash, which anchors this weekend's meeting. Several have clipped him down to 7/4 now that Warren has cooled speculation of a potential withdrawal.
The Queen is looking for an ultra-rare Derby/Royal Wedding double in 201 and it will be particularly interesting to see where the three-year-old son of Street Cry winds up following a victory at Epsom.
Bookmakers have confirmed that money continues to come in for Recital (Montjeu) and Ed Dunlop's Native Khan (Azamour) who finished third to Frankel (Galileo) in the 2000 Guineas. He opened his account for 2011 with a high-profile score at odds-on in the Group 3 Craven Stakes.
