Bay City Roller Eyes Group Two Glory: Unbeaten Colt Targets Doncaster's Betfred Champagne Stakes After Gritty Chelmsford Win.
Bay City Roller is poised for a quick ascent in class after preserving his unbeaten streak at Chelmsford on Thursday, with Doncaster's Betfred Champagne Stakes being a probable next step.
Following a victorious debut at Sandown in late July, the New Bay colt secured his second win as an odds-on favorite in Essex, although he had to exert more effort than anticipated to fend off Ralph Beckett's promising debutant Rock d'Oro.
Bay City Roller's trainer, George Scott, expressed satisfaction with his colt's performance and is now considering a move up to Group Two level at Town Moor.
He commented, 'I just felt like he needed a bit more match practice before stepping into Pattern company and he certainly got that.
'He had to do it the hard way, making the running on the all-weather, and Callum (Shepherd) admitted that if he rode the race again, he'd have kicked on. He left the door slightly open for what is clearly a very nice prospect and they both got their noses bloodied.
'It was job done really, so onwards and upwards. I'm thinking of the Champagne probably, as that gives us just over two weeks, and that will be very much a crossroads as to which direction he heads in.'
'You've got the Lagardere, you've got the Dewhurst, there's the Futurity Trophy back at Doncaster, or there's the Goffs Million sales race in Ireland. They're all on the table, but at this stage we still don't quite know where he sits in the pecking order.'
'He's come out of Chelmsford good, we'll go to the Champagne and where he goes after that will all depend on how he runs.'
While the ground was quick during Bay City Roller's debut at Sandown, Scott believes he might perform even better on a softer surface.
He added, 'I'm absolutely convinced that he wants cut in the ground. I think he kind of won despite the ground at Sandown and if it got soft at Doncaster, I really don't think it would be an issue for him.'
'His dam (Bloomfield) won on soft ground and he's by New Bay, whose progeny perform well on soft surfaces. He has a round action and we've worked him on soft ground before and he's simply a different horse.'
