Custom Cut, Western Hymn, Master Apprentice score at
Sandown
On a roll last term when rattling off a trio of pattern-race successes, Custom
Cut (Notnowcato) defied
a penalty for the latest of those in Newmarket’s Joel S. (Eng-G2) to regain the
winning thread in Friday’s Sandown Mile (Eng-G2).
Coaxed to a peak by David O’Meara last summer, the Moyglare cast-off built
on
listed wins in Windsor’s Midsummer S. and Pontefract’s Pomfret S. when adding
Leopardstown’s Desmond S. (Ire-G3) over this trip in mid-August. Nine days after that
foray
back to his native Ireland, the bay turned back the challenge
of the subsequent Woodbine Mile (Can-G1) hero Trade Storm (Trade Fair) to win
the nine-furlong Strensall S. (Eng-G3) at
York before reverting to a mile to annex the Joel.
Disappointing when only eighth on his final outing in the
Queen Elizabeth II S. (Eng-G1) at Ascot on Champions Day, Custom
Cut proved that was a blip with this typically tenacious
effort in a renewal lacking the kind of potential it has
advertised in recent times. Always close to the early pace,
he was committed on the front end with over 2 1/2 furlongs
remaining by Daniel Tudhope and stayed on grimly as the
similarly penalized Here Comes When (Danehill Dancer) tried to make a fist of
it.
“He is every jockey’s dream, as he travels so well and
gives you everything,” Tudhope said. “He’s still an improving horse and this is
a good start
to this season. He had a hard campaign last year and you can put his final run
behind him,
as we went too hard early on that day and it probably took its toll on him. I
think Group 1s
are probably on the agenda and, as he switches off, it will give him every
chance of
staying a mile and a quarter.”
Connections are eyeing a tilt at the Lockinge S. (Eng-G1) at Newbury May 16, where he
is
likely to renew rivalry with the runner-up.
Western Hymn (High Chaparral), gelded since his fourth placing in Ascot’s Champion S.
(Eng-G1) in October,
returned to the scene of his success in last year’s Classic Trial (Eng-G3) to upset
his
more-fancied Newmarket rivals Postponed (Dubawi) and Cannock Chase (Lemon Drop
Kid) in the Gordon Richards (Eng-G3) at Sandown.
At home on
testing
ground when registering a workmanlike success on this card 12 months ago and
when
impressive in the Prix Eugene Adam (Fr-G2) at Maisons-Laffitte in July, the dark bay
had also
at times looked an awkward conveyance with his high head carriage. Sixth when
failing to
handle Epsom’s contours in the Derby (Eng-G1), he never threatened on his last two starts
when
fourth in the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano (Fr-G2) at Deauville in August and in the
Champions Day
feature, but arrived here with a gelding operation offering some hope that his
kinks had
been removed.
Settled in second early by Frankie Dettori as the favorite,
Postponed, led at
a sound clip, Western Hymn was edged ahead of that rival approaching the quarter
pole
and kept on despite the runner-up’s game persistence as Cannock Chase wilted on
this
comeback.
“He is a good horse and when he got there he ran around a bit, so he’s
got his own mind as well as an engine,” his rider said.
Trainer John Gosden
commented,
“He’s been off a long time and got stuck in bottomless ground at Deauville and
it was
pretty bad at Ascot in the big race there, so it’s good to have him back and see
him
running his race. I think the horse in front is a pretty good horse and it was
noticeable that
Postponed came back again when our fellow was idling in front, but having said
that he’s
beat him fair and square.”
Connections are looking at the Hardwicke S. (Eng-G2) at
Royal Ascot
June 20.
An upset ensued in Friday’s renewal of the Classic Trial. Sent off the
outsider of the quartet, having finished last of nine when put to
a proper test in the Criterium International (Fr-G1) at Saint-Cloud in late October, Master
Apprentice (Mastercraftsman)
made all to upstage his flashier peers and reward jockey David Probert’s
enterprise in this
Derby prep.
Earning a crack at the Saint-Cloud end-of-term highlight with an
all-the-way
maiden success over an extended mile at Windsor in early
October, the gray failed in his bid to dominate that
contest and faded out of the action in the last furlong.
Shadowed throughout by Snoano (Nayef) on this return, he had
begun to dispatch with that rival approaching the furlong
pole as Ballydoyle’s Cape Clear Island (Fastnet Rock) stayed on to
emerge as the sole threat. As Snoano cracked and the 4-6 favorite Commemorative
(Zamindar) proved a huge
disappointment well adrift, Master Apprentice kept finding
to cause the upset.
“He’s comfortable going a mile and a
quarter, so we’ll look at the Tercentenary S. ([Eng-G3] on June 18) at Royal
Ascot or, if he wants further, the
King Edward VII S. ([Eng-G2] June 19),” trainer Andrew Balding commented.
“We always felt he was
more a
Royal Ascot horse than an Epsom one. We got away with this ground today, but
he’s fairly
versatile with regards to that and he has a good engine.”
His rider added, “It
was quite a
smart performance in a tactical race and he put it to bed sharpish when I asked
him. Last
year going to a Group 1 was a big stretch for him, but the way he won there
suggests he’s
going to progress further.”
Master Apprentice is out of a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Lillie
Langtry
(Danehill Dancer).
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