Rizeena lives up to Brittain’s expectations in Moyglare
Stud
Trying seven furlongs for the first time on Sunday,
Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum’s Rizeena justified trainer Clive Brittain’s lofty opinion of
her by winning The Curragh’s Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes. In the process, the
filly also earned an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
Turf on November 1 at Santa Anita.
Successful when going five furlongs in the June 19 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot
and placed over six in both the July 12 Duchess of Cambridge at Newmarket and
August 18 Prix Morny at
Deauville, the 9-2 shot swooped from rear under James Doyle to upstage 13-8
favorite Kiyoshi in the final 100 yards, and hit the line with ears
pricked three parts of a length ahead of that subsequently-demoted rival.
“I’ve said for some time that
this filly was in the class of Sayyedati, who won this race for me before, and she
certainly is,” Brittain said. “She has never stopped improving and could be exceptional.”
Brittain declared Rizeena was in the league of his past
stars Pebbles, Sayyedati and Crimplene when the juvenile daughter of Iffraaj
came back into Sandown’s winner’s
enclosure after the National Stakes on May 30. That statement was upheld when she added the Queen Mary to
her tally at the Royal meeting, and her subsequent reversal under a penalty at
the hands of Lucky Kristale in the Duchess of Cambridge at Newmarket’s July meeting was a surprise at the time.
It was
put into better light after that rival subsequently added York’s Lowther under her own penalty.
Staying
on best of all in the Prix Morny, Rizeena looked in need of Sunday’s extra distance on that occasion, and entered this
contest with valuable experience behind her as she took on the lightly-campaigned and much-vaunted Kiyoshi and Tapestry.
Held up off the honest pace set by the two other of Ballydoyle’s Galileo trio Perhaps and Wonderfully, she enjoyed a clear passage out wide, which was something denied Joseph O’Brien and Tapestry as Kiyoshi
bumped her and kept her in a pocket with a quarter-mile remaining.
As Kiyoshi took over a furlong later, she was a
sitting duck for her fellow British raider, and duly succumbed soon after as Tapestry stayed on when in the
clear.
“It’s been a big week and this is a good end to it,” the newly-appointed Juddmonte number one jockey James Doyle
remarked. “She ran a cracking race against the colts in the Morny, having got a
bit of a knock early on which took her out of her rhythm, and the step up to seven
obviously suited.
“I thought they’d go a really strong tempo, as Tapestry looked like a galloper,
but they didn’t go that fast for the first couple of furlongs and when the pace lifted, I
got shuffled back further than I had aimed. I was on a filly with a good turn of foot, so I
wanted to be patient and not ask her questions too quickly. There is a lot to look at here and
she propped on the line, but there was no problem.
“In my view, she is going to be a better
three-year-old, as she’s a bit leggy and tall. She seems to be getting better and a mile won’t pose a problem.”
Brittain revealed the mechanics behind Rizeena’s progress.
“She started racing off a weight of 460 kilos and she was 475
before she got on the plane, so she has put on 15 kilos in a normal routine exercising every day,” he said. “We
knew they were going to put a lot of pace into the race and I was confident we’d stay, so I knew if James got her into
a rhythm, which is important, she would finish, and that is what she did.
“Until I speak to Sheikh Rashid, I
don’t know where she’ll go, but she has an entry for the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes
(at Newmarket on September 28), and I also put
her in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac (at Longchamp on October 6). I think she’ll get a mile if we need to, but the
temptation is to go back to the Cheveley and take on the filly who beat her at Newmarket.
I know she’ll get the mile and this was an important race in my heart.”
Tapestry was placed ahead of Kiyoshi after
an inquiry concluded that she had been hampered by the runner-up and that cost her the place, but Aidan O’Brien
was not downhearted.
“She ran very well and when she was starting her run she was cut off, but came home very
well,” he said. “She’s a big, rangy filly and we are taking her along gently.”
Rizeena hails from a productive female family.
Champion filly Serena’s Song appears under her fourth dam, Imagining, while up closer are
Grade/Group 2 victors Doubles Partner and Puissance De Lune, the latter of whom
is the current Melbourne Cup favorite.
Earlier on Sunday at The Curragh, Great White Eagle lived up to his
connections’ expectations when making his black-type debut in the Group 3 Round
Tower Stakes.
Settled in the rear by Joseph O’Brien from his wide draw, the bay
juvenile son of Elusive Quality raced up the center of the track and made smooth progress around rivals before being driven to lead with a
furlong remaining. Despite the attentions of the filly Remember You in the run to the
line, he was always comfortably holding her at bay without setting off any fireworks.
“He
relaxed and quickened up well,” O’Brien said. “It wasn’t ideal that I had to come
up the middle on my own, but I didn’t have much choice. He’s a nice horse and hopefully
he can progress. He has plenty of pace, but I don’t see why he shouldn’t stay a bit
further.”
The bay colt captured his initial race in a six-furlong Naas conditions race
on August 5 for trainer O’Brien.
“He could go for either the Group 1 Vincent O’Brien Stakes (at The Curragh
on September 15) or the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes (at Newmarket on October 12), and we’ll ask him to
come forward next time, having let him coast into this. He has great pace and
shouldn’t get any further than a mile,” the horseman said.
The O’Brien father-son duo would go on to take the Group 3 Dance Design once
race before the Moyglare Stud with Say. Patiently ridden in this spot, the
Dynaformer sophomore tracked the
ultimately disappointing favorite Along Came Casey in fifth and, after quickening by that
rival approaching the furlong pole, took command en route to a decisive first black-type
score.
“She had a very good run over this course and distance behind Dank and went to
the line strong,” her rider said. “I think this trip is her best and she’d be entitled
to take her chance in Saturday’s Group 1 Matron Stakes (at Leopardstown), as she’s a tough filly who
likes fast ground.”
Say has been highly tried by her trainer this term,
with a busy summer campaign featuring two unplaced efforts in the May 31 Epsom Oaks and
June 30 Pretty Polly Stakes, and a second to Dank in the Kilboy Estate Stakes over this track and trip
on July 21. Third behind Along Came Casey in the Augist 14 Hurry Harriet Stakes over slightly farther at Gowran Park, the bay ran into a
potentially top-class rival in Our Obsession when runner-up to that Oppenheimer
homebred in York’s Galtres Stakes over 12
furlongs last out on August 22.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com