Ignored by the jockeys of the leading fancies as well as the punters in
Thursday’s Craven (Eng-G3), Kool Kompany (Jeremy) enjoyed a perfect uncontested
trip under the wily tactician Richard Hughes as most of his rivals pulled away
their chances waiting for him to fold.
With the unexposed brigade struggling to change gear in behind, the
battle-hardened front runner had only Nafaqa (Sir Percy) to worry about late on
but always had that rival’s measure as the 2-1 favorite Moheet (High Chaparral)
stayed on in encouraging fashion without looking likely to threaten.
One of the blue-collar juveniles of 2014, Kool Kompany earned early
black-type when taking the Rochestown S. at Naas in early June and by the end of
that month had rebounded from a disappointing 12th placing in Royal Ascot’s
Coventry S. (Eng-G2) to regain the winning thread in the Railway S. (Ire-G2) at
the Curragh. After a win in the 5 1/2-furlong Prix Robert Papin (Fr-G2) at
Maisons-Laffitte in July, the dark bay was second to Dick Whittington (Rip Van
Winkle) in the Phoenix S. (Ire-G1) back at the Curragh in August before finally
feeling the effects of an arduous campaign when sixth in York’s DBS Premier
Yearling S. 11 days later.
Signing off with a fifth in the Middle Park S. (Eng-G1) after a relative
holiday on Future Champions Day here at Newmarket in October, he entered this
seemingly as a backnumber racing beyond six furlongs for the first time under a
Group 2 penalty.
“He likes to be up there handy and have a bit of room, so it worked out
beautifully,” his rider commented. “When this track is riding firm and you have
a bit of a tailwind, you can really bowl along and they are hard to peg back
like the horse in the European Free yesterday. I had it easy to the three, he is
a tough horse and there were some inexperienced horses behind me.
“He keeps popping back up, despite us overlooking him in the yard and he had
a huge amount of experience and has a huge constitution. You won’t get an easy
lead in the (Two Thousand) Guineas (Eng-G1) and it might be tough for him to get
a stiff mile, so maybe France or Germany might be better.”
Kool Kompany is the second feature-race winner in the space of four days for
the late Irish National Stud sire Jeremy after another of his three-year-old
colts, Success Days, upset the Ballysax S. (Ire-G3) at Leopardstown Sunday.
Also Thursday, Astaire (Intense Focus) likewise used his early speed to good
effect to land the Abernant S. (Eng-G3).
Despite his two-year-old exploits when winning the Gimcrack S. (Eng-G2) and
Middle Park in 2013, Astaire always gave the impression he would be able to hold
his own during the difficult sophomore season for sprinters and confirmed that
with a second in the Duke of York S. (Eng-G2) last May. Contesting the four
major British sprints thereafter, he was unable to land a blow on each occasion,
running sixth in the Diamond Jubilee S. (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot, 11th in the
July Cup (Eng-G1) here and Haydock Sprint Cup (Eng-G1) and 10th in the Nunthorpe
S. (Eng-G1) at York.
Run down late on by Naadirr (Oasis Dream) on his four-year-old bow in the
Cammidge Trophy over this trip at Doncaster March 28, the bay faced nothing with
that progressive profile here and with the help of conditions highly beneficial
to front runners was able to register another pattern-race success. Soon at the
head of affairs, Astaire had only the similarly prominently placed Watchable
(Pivotal) to concern him where it mattered but drew on his extra element of
class to prevail.
Now at the grand age of seven, the ultra-consistent French Navy (Shamardal)
delivered arguably his most impressive display to date in the Earl of Sefton
(Eng-G3), again showing he has more than enough ability to slap down the younger
brigade.
Making it pattern-race win number three in Epsom’s Diomed S. (Eng-G3) last
June, the bay was rolling back the years to his salad days when successful in
the 2010 Prix des Chenes (Fr-G3) at Longchamp and the following year’s Select S.
(Eng-G3) at Goodwood. Absent from Derby Day until the start of November, the
homebred showed no ill effects when returning with a seventh black-type win
overall in the Ben Marshall S. over a mile here and again demonstrated his
potency when fresh on this seasonal bow.
Held up early traveling strongly, French Navy was angled wide by William
Buick to swoop on Arod (Teofilo) just before the furlong pole and surge clear
before idling close home.
“He seems to be getting better and that was an impressive performance,”
trainer Charlie Appleby said. “He built up so much confidence last year and
wintered well and he proved me wrong with regards to the ground today. He tells
me when he’s ready to run and there are an array of options for him.”
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