Long held in high regard by the Charlie Hills team,
Chriselliam put some indifferent recent form behind her on Friday to peak in Newmarket’s
Group 1 Fillies’ Mile.
Having flopped in the Prix du Calvados going seven
furlongs on August 17 at Deauville and finished
second in the Ascendant Stakes over this trip at Haydock on September 7, the 28-1
outsider was held on to early by
Richard Hughes and tanked along in rear. Allowing 7-4 favorite Rizeena first run and a brief lead with a furlong remaining, the bay
daughter of Iffraaj swooped on
the front end passing that marker and on to a comfortable length success for
owners Willie Carson, Emily Asprey and Christopher Wright.
“She’s a filly we
have always
liked and has always worked lovely,” Hills said. “She’s got a good
temperament and
things haven’t come off for her earlier in the year for whatever reason. She’s a
big filly with
a great cruising speed and stride and we might look the Breeders’ Cup for her.”
“It wasn’t a surprise, as Charlie has always said she works as good as
Kiyoshi,” co-owner Carson said. “She went to Deauville and we were so
disappointed. We didn’t know what happened there, but Hughesie did a great job
today — he slightly disobeyed orders and was further back than I told him, but
I’ll give him a pat on the back for that.”
Ninth in her May 24 debut over six furlongs at Haydock, Chriselliam returned
after a break to open her account in
decisive fashion going a panel farther at Warwick on July 11 before her
disappointing effort when ninth in the Prix du
Calvados. Upped to a mile for the Ascendant, she looked to have matters in hand
before tiring late on rain-softened ground and losing out to the unbeaten
Richard Hannon-trained colt Chief Barker.
Not instantly in love with the switch to more dramatic hold-up
tactics on Thursday, Chriselliam was rank until succumbing to Hughes’ tender handling and was
able to
conserve energy in a pocket behind the similarly patiently-ridden Rizeena, with
only
Godolphin’s Ihtimal behind. As the early crawl led to the
inevitable final surge, the Irish pair of Avenue Gabriel and Ballybacka Queen gained first run, but Rizeena quickly brushed them
aside before
being overhauled by the surprise winner.
“It was a little bit stop-start, but
not that much
of a sprint as two-and-a-half down there were a lot of horses off the bridle and
we
quickened well to the line with Rizeena,” Hughes remarked. “Willie Carson
said the only
thing he could come up with from the Deauville run was that she had too much
daylight
for the whole race, so I was very conscious to get cover and was sitting a long
way out of
my ground as a result.
“Luckily, Rizeena was in front of me and she was the one
to beat and I felt I was going to
win from halfway. I rode Chief Barker when he beat her last time and with the
turn of foot she showed that day I
thought I was in with a sneaky chance. She is an ideal Guineas candidate — she
moves and settles well and loves
the track, so there are no qualms.”
“When she was beaten at Haydock last time, Gerald Mosse
rode her and he said he’d got there way too soon because he didn’t think she
would change gear that quickly and
she should have won,” Hills added. “We’ll see how she is in the next couple of weeks, but it is
either America or prepared for
next year’s classics.”
One race before the Fillies’ Mile, Soft Falling Rain was positioned close to the strong early
pace in the Group 2 Joel Stakes set by
the Two Thousand Guineas runner-up Glory Awaits before being sent
to the
front by Paul Hanagan with 2 1/2 furlongs remaining. Grinding away on the uphill
climb to
the line, he cracked the smooth-traveling Montiridge to win with a deal of
authority.
“I was very impressed, but the big difference today was the ground,
as at
Newbury it was very sticky tacky and he changed his legs so many times,” Hanagan
said. “He is a
handful,
but he loved that ground today.”
Soft Falling Rain excelled in his native South Africa when capping a dominant
juvenile campaign with a win in
Turffontein’s SA Nursery, and also in Dubai when annexing the February 14 UAE
Two Thousand Guineas and
March 30 Godolphin Mile. It was therefore a slight disappointment that he lost
his
unbeaten tag in his European introduction when runner-up to Gregorian
in Newbury’s Hungerford Stakes, but the imposing bay reportedly needed that
seven-furlong contest on August
17.
Trainer Mike de Kock is prepared to aim high now.
“It
is a relief to
win for Sheikh Hamdan as he is sponsor, but he deserves it as he has been very
patient with the issues we have
had with the horse,” the horseman explained. “He’s got a lot of speed and is a very fast
horse who gets a mile.
“He’s a horse
who you have to be careful doesn’t do too much in the mornings and he’d be one
of the few horses I’ve seen who
can stride eight-and-a-half meters or more for a good four furlongs. That’s what
sets him apart — not only is he fast,
he can hold his speed. Dubai was about sheer guts and courage and I like to
bring them on with racing, so he
came on plenty from Newbury.
“Today, luckily he had the speed in the race and
everything went right, so we’ve
got to go for the (October 19, Group 1) Queen Elizabeth II S. (at Ascot) now. It will be
the best against the best there and
let’s see how good he is. As he’s racing in the Northern hemisphere now,
relatively he’s six months behind the rest
and so we would be very tempted to keep him in training, especially if he
doesn’t get a Group 1 under the belt as
he is capable, I think. I’m sure that Sheikh Hamdan would be pretty keen for
that as well.”
Miss France was a notable runner for Andre Fabre at the venue he enjoys a
winning visit to on occasion, and the Dansili
bay duly upstaged the home team with a smooth first black-type success in the
Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes to begin the group action at Newmarket on Friday.
Only
ninth in a six-furlong debutantes
event at Deauville at the start of August, Miss France enjoyed the step up to a mile
when graduating in a conditions race at
Chantilly at the end of that month to earn this overseas trip. Restrained early
racing freely in the hands of Mickael
Barzalona, the 7-2 second choice tracked the ultimately disappointing 11-10
favorite Radiator, and let Lightning Thunder slip
away
on the far side to gain a comfortable advantage as a result. Never panicked, the
cool rider
nursed her down the “dip” and alongside that rival with 100 yards remaining and
used
hands and heels to get her to the line in front.
There was an inquiry called
into the bump
the winner gave the second near the post, but the result was left unaltered.
“She can be a
bit babyish and green still but next time she’ll do it the right way,”
Barzalona explained. “Like most
of Andre Fabre’s horses, she is beautiful-looking and is nice and strong. This
was good
experience and she will be a top-class filly. Soft ground won’t be a problem for
her and she
is up to classic grade next year.”
“She
came here as we thought she would be suited by the stronger pace and better
ground,” added Anthony Stroud, representing owner Ballymore Thoroughbred Ltd. “I think they will be thinking
the Guineas. It’s up to Diane (Wildenstein) and Andre.”
The runner-up’s
conditioner Olly Stevens told PA Sport, “I’m
disappointed, but not overly so — she’s still a good filly. We will consider the
(October 12, Group 2) Rockfel Stakes (at Newmarket)
and she is in the (October 6, Group 1) Prix Jean-Luc Lagerdere (at Longchamp). We are not
worried about racing her against
the colts — she beat them in a conditions race. I’d quite happy put her away for
the winter as well.”
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