Marvellous result in Irish 1000; Mission accomplished in
Tatts Gold Cup
Flying under the radar ahead of Sunday’s Group 1 Irish One Thousand Guineas,
Derrick Smith’s Marvellous emerged clearly best in what amounted to a war of
attrition for the fillies in testing ground to forge a sixth renewal for Aidan
O’Brien’s Ballydoyle stable.
Racing at the back throughout the early stages, the 10-1 shot, who came into
this off a lengthy break having finished sixth in the March 30 Leopardstown One
Thousand Guineas Trial, steadily wore down Lightning Thunder and, after gaining
the lead passing the furlong marker, strode away for a three-length success.
“You would have to be very pleased, as it was only her third run and was in
deep ground,” jockey Ryan Moore commented. “She was drawn towards the outside
and was a long way back, so had to do it the hard way. I was taken off my feet
after a furlong and couldn’t really hold my spot, but when I asked her she did
pick up and I think she was just pretty inexperienced during the race. She
should get further and I’m sure she’d be a better filly on nicer ground.”
Ballydoyle appeared to possess a clutch of above-average fillies at the start
of the year, with Tapestry and Bracelet leading the way before failing to make
any impact in the One Thousand Guineas at Newmarket. In the background, Palace,
Wonderfully and Marvellous were working toward this classic with no obvious
stand-out form claims, and the latter had the least to offer in that respect.
Seen just twice so far, the relative of Giant’s Causeway had followed an
encouraging if labored debut win over the subsequent listed scorer I’m Yours
with a less-than-auspicious first sophomore start in the seven-furlong
Leopardstown One Thousand Guineas Trial.
By halfway, the portents were hardly strong that she was going to produce the
type of performance at the business end that would make her an authoritative
classic winner as Moore niggled to close on the leaders. Answering every call as
the race came down to a dour staying test, she made ground on the outside and as
the yards wore on she was gradually coming into her own as Lightning Thunder
became the final target. Grinding past her passing the furlong marker and into
the clear, she entered the June 6 Epsom Oaks picture with the field strung out
again as they had been in the colts’ race 24 hours earlier.
John Magnier revealed that she was far from a forlorn hope beforehand.
“Aidan fancied her and, in fact, I think he even asked Joseph to ride her but
Joseph picked the other one (Palace),” he explained. “It wasn’t that much of a
surprise and her pedigree would indicate there could be more to come to come.
She will probably get a mile and a half and I couldn’t see any reason why she
shouldn’t run in the Oaks if all goes well, but we’ll have to listen to what
they all say over the next few days.”
The trainer backed up that plan. “She coughed a bit after Leopardstown and
had a bit of a break, but had been working nicely and with the ground looking
like it would be nice at declaration time Joseph decided to ride Palace,” he
said. “When it turned, it went in her favor and she looks like she’ll get
further than a mile.
“The plan was to come here and then on to Epsom and she’ll definitely get a
mile and a quarter and maybe a mile and a half. I would imagine she won’t ever
want firm ground, as for them to handle ground like that they must like a little
ease.”
With Kildare spared none of the abundant rainfall that is blighting the
summer, Khalid Abdullah’s Noble Mission had the right ingredients to dominate
the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup one race earlier, and set the flag flying above
Warren Place for the first time since the sad departure of Sir Henry Cecil last
year.
Hammered into even-money joint-favoritism with Magician, the homebred full
brother to Frankel led from pillar-to-post en route to a 1 1/4-length verdict
over that rival to add the all-important top-level victory to his recent
pattern-race successes, all accomplished on testing ground.
“It’s a huge win and a great tribute to everyone at Warren Place,”
Juddmonte’s Racing Manager Teddy Grimthorpe said. “It’s big for us and a special
day and I think he’s just secured himself a stallion box.”
Always highly regarded by the late Sir Henry without showing the same
dynamism as his full sibling, Noble Mission had no classic on the agenda in 2012
but still managed to best the subsequent St Leger hero Encke in Goodwood’s
Gordon Stakes over 12 furlongs. After a series of defeats, he was allowed a
confidence boost in the Tapster Stakes back over that track and trip last May
but could not step up when fourth in Royal Ascot’s Hardwicke in June and
Longchamp’s Prix Dollar in October either side of a third in the Rose of
Lancaster over an extended 10-furlong trip at Haydock in August.
After another eclipse on his seasonal bow in the John Porter over 1 1/2 miles
at Newbury April 12, he was asked a different question by James Doyle in the
10-furlong Gordon Richards at a rain-soaked Sandown April 25. Sent straight to
the lead there, the hooded bay ground down the much-lauded Telescope to win by
nine lengths, and while it was down to 2 1/4 lengths when they met again in the
Huxley at Chester May 8, there was a further eight lengths back to last year’s
winner Danadana, which marked it as a performance out of the top drawer.
Always in complete control under Doyle here, he upped the ante at the head of
affairs on the home turn with Joseph O’Brien already sending out distress
signals on Magician in his wake. Left alone to idle and gawk at the open expanse
of the Kildare venue, he let his sizeable advantage be dwindled by Ballydoyle’s
representative and the game mare Euphrasia.
Grimthorpe commented, “We fell upon the plan to go from the front at Sandown
because of needs, but it worked again at Chester so we thought we must try it
again here. We need to sit down and have some good thoughts about him now, but
he’s had four quite tough races so we have to give him a little bit of a
breather but that’s up to Jane.”
For Lady Cecil, the result was predictably emotional following the previous
win for the stable supplied by Shiva when the Tattersalls Gold Cup was first
promoted to its current status in 1999.
“It’s great for all the staff at Warren Place and we’ve achieved our aim to
win a Group 1 and raise the flag for Henry,” she said. “I’ve almost 30 horses
for Prince Khalid and without them you can’t do it. We hadn’t thought past this,
but he’s in the Eclipse Stakes (July 5) at Sandown.”
Aidan O’Brien was not disappointed by the effort of Magician afterward and
suggested he would have preferred not to put him through the slog in the testing
ground.
“The reason we ran is the race got a yellow card from the Pattern Committee
last year and was in trouble of losing its Group 1 status,” he said. “A Group 1
for older horses is seriously important for us in Ireland and so he had to run.
“The ground meant he was going to be far from his best and I told Joseph to
look after him with one eye on Royal Ascot and fast ground for the Prince of
Wales’s Stakes (June 18). It served a purpose in that respect and I don’t think
it bottomed him, so we’ll look forward to him next time. He’s a beautiful mover
who doesn’t rise his feet at all and Joseph said after a half-furlong he was
beaten. It was pure guts and determination that kept him going, so we’re
delighted and there are plenty of other days.”
Ballydoyle had a happier result in the Group 3 Gallinule. Adelaide was hot
property to provide Aidan O’Brien with a 13th renewal of this Derby trial, and
duly made no mistake to remain in line for a possible tilt at one of the
upcoming middle-distance classics.
After making a successful debut in the mile maiden at Leopardstown in which
the dual group scorer Fascinating Rock was fifth, the bay went down by just a
half-length to Free Port Lux in the 11-furlong Prix Hocquart on his return at
Longchamp May 11. Settled in third early by a confident Joseph O’Brien, the bay
took over from the longtime leader Mekong River and Boqa with 1 1/2 furlongs
remaining and quickly stamped his authority on affairs.
Aidan O’Brien was noncommittal about the classics, saying, “We could go to
France on Sunday for the Prix du Jockey Club, but the trouble is if you are
drawn high at Chantilly over a mile and a quarter it’s very difficult. If he
doesn’t go, I’d imagine he’ll go to Royal Ascot for the King Edward VII Stakes
(June 20).”
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