Royal Marine and Zakouski are fancied to duke it out for the big race at Newmarket, but Skardu should not be overlooked
A blue-on-blue head-to-head is the main attraction on the second day of the Craven meeting at Newmarket, as Godolphin’s two principal trainers field the first two names in the betting for the week’s feature event, the Craven Stakes.
This race was, of course, won by Masar 12 months ago, less than two months before Charlie Appleby’s colt became the first Derby winner in Godolphin’s royal blue colours. Appleby’s representative on Wednesday afternoon is the once-raced Zakouski, who took a novice event at Kempton in November, while his cross-town colleague in the Godolphin operation, Saeed bin Suroor, fields the more experienced Royal Marine, who took the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp on Arc day last year.
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