Sangster expects Simmering to sparkle over the summer

Simmering is backed to come to the boil later in the summer having gone close to opening Ollie Sangster’s Royal Ascot account when second in the Albany Stakes.

Sangster has made a fine start to his career, training out of the historic Manton yard his family name is synonymous with, saddling Inquisitively to finish third at last year’s Royal meeting before knocking on the door once again this time around.

Although beaten on debut at York, Simmering has always been held in high regard, and with Jamie Spencer sporting the famous Sangster silks aboard the daughter of Too Darn Hot, she was sent off a 9-1 chance for the Group Three which opened Thursday’s action at Ascot.

She made stylish progress from a position towards the rear of the field and although at one stage it may have appeared a race-winning burst, she was denied by Aidan O’Brien’s Fairy Godmother who had navigated a wall of horses in the hands of Ryan Moore to strike late in the day.

“We were delighted and were hopeful going into the race, she has always worked very well and we’ve always thought highly of her,” said Sangster.

“Jamie rode her work two weeks ago and loved her. We weren’t really surprised and we just bumped into a very talented filly in Fairy Godmother.

“Take nothing away from the winner, she came from a very difficult position and won well, but she had already ran twice.

“We had only run the once and I think she is only going to keep improving – she came from quite far back herself.”

It was a performance that indicated there could be many big days ahead for Simmering and although still a maiden, Sangster is eyeing some exciting options moving forwards.

Spencer pinpointed York’s Group Two Lowther Stakes as the perfect summer target when dismounting at Ascot, while a more immediate proposition is Newmarket’s Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, a race won by Albany scorers Dandalla and Sandrine in 2020 and 2021 respectively and also captured by 2022 Albany runner-up Mawj on her next start.

Sangster continued: “I just want to let the dust settle but the first thing Jamie said when he hopped off her was she would be tailor-made for something like the Lowther. She travels very strongly and has a lot of speed – that was Jamie’s initial thoughts.

“I won’t be rushing her out in the next few weeks and she would have had a hard enough race at Ascot.

“The Duchess of Cambridge is a possibility, we will see how she goes over the next couple of weeks, but I will probably wait a little longer with her. It’s often a nice race and often doesn’t have a crazy big field so it is a possibility.”

It was high-class filly Shuwari who helped put Sangster on the map during his first season in the training ranks and it was somewhat fitting it was his one-time Classic hope who the trainer was attending to while discussing his latest hot prospect.

Second in both the Rockfel Stakes and Fillies’ Mile at the back-end of 2023, Shuwari missed out on her shot at 1000 Guineas glory having suffered a setback in the early stages of the season.

Connections have had to show patience in her recovery and are still optimistic the talented daughter of New Bay could return to the track later in the year.

“I’m hand-walking her right now, that’s the schedule we’re on right now and I’m walking her,” added Sangster when asked about his star filly’s progress on Sunday. “Maybe we will get her back for the autumn.”

He went on: “She’s doing really well and things are going the right way, it’s just a lengthy process. Hopefully, if things keep going well, then she might be back for an autumn campaign.”