Adaay to remember for Palmer as Scarlett sparks Ascot dreams
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Tue 14 Apr 2026
Hugo Palmer has high hopes for Adaay Of Scarlett after his taking debut in the Gabriela Rose London British EBF Novice Stakes at Newmarket.
The stable had already struck with their first two-year-old runner of the season and the Mehmas colt was sent off the 11-8 favourite to continue in the same vein under Oisin Murphy.
In a field of five he duly delivered, getting his head in front in eyecatching fashion when four and a quarter lengths clear of his nearest rival.
“When you win any maiden in the first few weeks of the season you’re only thinking about one meeting and when you win like that, you’re definitely thinking about it,” said Palmer of Royal Ascot.
“We’ll run again and try to go there unbeaten. We felt going into the race that he was sharp enough for five (furlongs) but he will improve for six, Oisin said he felt he would win going to post – it’s not often a jockey says that.”
Charlie Appleby’s Cerro Blanco showed ample promise when taking the first race of the new turf season at Newmarket, the Alex Scott Maiden Stakes.
Under William Buick he was the 4-9 favourite and travelled behind a wall of horses before switching out two furlongs from home to find enough room to surge a length and a quarter clear.
“We’ve never had this horse off the bridle yet, in an ideal world we wanted him to be able to see the dip and run at it but he was behind a wall of them,” said Appleby.
“There’ll be some marked improvement in that, that’s for sure. He’s showed us so much speed at home but the last thing we wanted him to do was face the breeze today – we’ll leave that for another day.
“He’s a big unit and it’ll be baby steps, there’ll be no bold jumps until he’s run in a novice.
“There’s no doubt about it, he’s got one hell of an engine, we just need to control his mind first!”
Richard Hughes’ Startled took another step forward to take the AR Legal Collections Handicap under William Buick at 15-2.
The victory was the third leg of a treble for Buick – who also won on Guineas hopeful Talk Of New York – with the three-year-old prevailing by a neck over.
Robert Cowell’s Jakajaro then justified his status as the 4-1 favourite in the Betway 4 To Win Handicap, coming home an easy winner when two and three-quarter lengths ahead of the runner up under Jamie Spencer.
James Tate’s Darn Hot Gallop defied her price of 22-1 to impress in the Betway Sportsbook App Handicap, cutting through the field to score under Hector Crouch and see her odds for the 1000 Guineas slashed from 100-1 to 50-1.
The concluding Betway Bet The Responsible Way Handicap then went the way of Andrew Balding’s Mister Winston, the 9-4 favourite and the second leg of a double for Murphy.
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