Mark Johnston confident Lumiere and Buratino can handle 1,600m of English Guineas

Mark Johnston is in little doubt that both Lumiere and Buratino will stay the 1,600 metres of the English Guineas after the pair worked over the distance at Newmarket, England, before racing on Thursday.

William Buick riding Lumiere in a gallop before racing at Newmarket racecourse on April 14, 2016 in Newmarket, England. (Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images)

NEWMARKET // Mark Johnston is in little doubt that both Lumiere and Buratino will stay the 1,600 metres of the English Guineas after the pair worked over the distance here before racing on Thursday.

Lumiere, a strapping grey, is on course for the 1,000 Guineas on May 1 after the filly of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, worked here with Deodoro, a maiden winner, under William Buick.

Buratino, the only horse to have beaten Aidan O’Brien’s Air Force Blue last season, also worked along the Rowley Mile under James Doyle in tandem with a handicapper called New Caledonia and remains on course for the 2,000 Guineas on April 30.

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Neither horse has run over a mile previously, but after a winter off both have strengthened up and went about their business in considerable style.

Buratino won last season’s Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot from Air Force Blue but lost the rematch in the Phoenix Stakes in Ireland before he found Al Shaqab’s Shaala too good in the Middle Park.

He is by Australian sprinter Exceed And Excel, but has shown he has the ability to cruise through his races before hitting the accelerator.

“On pedigree you might question him but the way he ran in the Middle Park, albeit he was beaten by an out-and-out sprinter, he was doing his best work at the finish and if they had gone further he would have troubled him,” the trainer said.

“His style of racing gives us confidence, as he switches off completely and just pings.

“Regarding Lumiere, physically and on pedigree she is bred to get every inch of it.

“If you didn’t know anything about her, and looked at her, you would think she is a middle distance horse.

“If you look at the Cheveley Park last season, she didn’t win it by far but they came and joined her and may have even headed her so it looked that she would go another two furlongs.”

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