European Road concludes with Cardinal Conditions Stakes

The Cardinal serves up a rematch from another recent European Road event, the Mar. 2 Road to the Kentucky Derby Conditions S. at Kempton, where Godolphin’s Blue Trail scored a photo-finish decision over Harrow and Find. 

The Kempton race was held around a right-handed mile on Polytrack, while Chelmsford’s mile is left-handed on the same kind of surface. With the Cardinal worth points on a 30-12-6-3 basis, it will decide the European Road leader.

Blue Trail seeks his third straight win for trainer Charlie Appleby. Runner-up to stablemate Stormy Ocean in his Newcastle unveiling Jan. 13, he romped at Southwell 12 days later and followed up in the thriller at Kempton, despite a tardy start. William Buick rides the Teofilo colt who is out of a full sister to 2012 Dubai World Cup (G1) star Monterroso.

The Andrew Balding-trained Harrow just missed at Kempton in his sophomore debut, and his smart form as a juvenile must be respected. The winner of three straight last summer, capped by the lucrative Weatherbys race at Doncaster, Harrow was third in the Somerville Tattersall (G3) at Newmarket to future Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) victor Modern Games. The gray gets his color from sire El Kabeir, a Scat Daddy stallion who was on the Derby trail himself for a time in 2015.

Find, from the yard of John and Thady Gosden, is another who was resuming from an absence last time. The son of Frankel was second to the talented Lusail and Bayside Boy in a pair of novices, then broke through with a six-length score at Yarmouth. Find regressed in his final two outings in the fall, but gelding him apparently helped, since he turned in a much more representative effort at Kempton. 

Mr Professor, hero of Pontefract’s Silver Tankard S. last fall, wintered in Dubai. His best result during the Carnival at Meydan was a second in the Feb. 4 Jumeirah Classic. Upon his return to Europe, the Alice Haynes pupil was eighth in the Prix Omnium II in France. But Mr Professor won his only start on the Polytrack, a Kempton nursery in September. He now adds cheekpieces and reunites with Silvestre de Sousa, who rode him to his Silver Tankard win.

Dark Moon Rising has raced exclusively on turf so far. The Kevin Ryan trainee broke his maiden at Beverley and missed by a nose while carraying top weight in a Haydock novice. Last seen placing third in an Oct. 9 nursery in his backyard at York, Dark Moon Rising is a grandson of Dubawi and Bernardini. 

Atheby, still a maiden after seven starts, wheels back from a seventh in a Kempton nursery this past Saturday.

You can watch and wager on TwinSpires.com, with the Cardinal scheduled to go off as the seventh race (1:45 p.m. ET).