In Saturday’s 200th running of the Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1), Mrs. John
Magnier’s HENRYTHENAVIGATOR (Kingmambo) collared 11-8 favorite New Approach
(Galileo [Ire]) with
about one furlong to go, and after a royal tussle, just subdued the hitherto
unbeaten champion by a nose. The pair served up a true clash of the global
titans, with Henrythenavigator representing Coolmore and New Approach sporting
the colors of Princess Haya, the wife of Sheikh Mohammed. Both colts drew well
clear of the remainder of the field as they dueled to the finish on the hallowed
Rowley Mile at Newmarket, and neither one gave an inch.
New Approach broke sharply and soon took command, while the 11-1
Henrythenavigator settled near the rear of the field in the opening stages. The
favorite’s remorseless gallop had 13 of his rivals toiling, except for
Henrythenavigator, who was artfully maneuvering into a contending position with
Johnny Murtagh. As New Approach ratcheted up the tempo and opened up by two
lengths, Henrythenavigator burst through between horses. The Aidan O’Brien
trainee quickly closed in, drew alongside New Approach and thrust his head in
front. The pacesetter rose to the challenge and fought back, but
Henrythenavigator did just enough to prevail by a whisker in a final time of
1:39 on the good ground.
“Aidan told me to drop him in and reserve his energy early on,” Murtagh told
PA Sport. “At the furlong marker I thought I was going to win, and while the
second battled, my horse is a class horse.”
“With it being his first run (of the season), we were a little worried as the
horses have been coming on from their first runs, but he has always been an
exceptional horse at home,” said O’Brien, who scored his fifth victory in this
English classic. “Johnny said he got tired towards the end, as most of our
horses have on their first runs.
“His speed carried him into the race, and Johnny rode him like he couldn’t
get beat,” O’Brien added. “It was a strong-run mile, and when he was able to get
tired and still win, you would have to be very impressed.”
In an unfortunate postscript for Murtagh, he was ruled to have used his whip
too many times without giving Henrythenavigator time to respond. Accordingly,
the jockey was suspended for two days and will sit out on May 18 and 19.
It was another four lengths back to 100-1 shot Stubbs Art (Hawk Wing),
followed by the 4-1 Raven’s Pass (Elusive Quality) in fourth. Godolphin’s
colorbearer, Ibn Khaldun (Dubai Destination), wound up a disappointing 10th as
the 7-2 second choice.
Henrythenavigator now boasts a 5-3-1-1 mark. Last season, he captured the
Coventry S. (Eng-G2) at Royal Ascot, but failed to run up to his best in his
final two juvenile outings on soft ground. Henrythenavigator finished second in
the Phoenix S. (Ire-G1) to the filly Saoirse Abu (Mr. Greeley) and third to New
Approach in the Futurity S. (Ire-G2).
Bred by Western Bloodstock, Henrythenavigator is out of Irish highweight
Sequoyah (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells). He is a full brother to Irish Group 3 winner
Queen Cleopatra, who placed in both the Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) and
Prix de Diane (Fr-G1). Sequoyah is herself a full sister to Listen, the Irish
highweight juvenile filly of 2007. This is the family of Irish Two Thousand
Guineas (Ire-G1) hero and highweight Saffron Walden (Sadler’s Wells), German
highweight Dolphin Street (Bluebird) and Canadian Grade 1 queen Insight (Fr)
(Sadler’s Wells).
Henrythenavigator and New Approach are likely to meet again in the May 24
Irish Two Thousand Guineas at the Curragh.