INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
JUNE 13, 2015
A truly international week in store
by Geoffrey Riddle for TDN
Thanks to Wesley Ward’s troop of 10 horses that have arrived in
Britain, Royal Ascot next week is set to be the most international that there
has ever been. After a numerically strong challenge in Dubai on World Cup night
in March, American trainers have embraced the five-day Royal meeting, which
starts on Tuesday, like never before.
Graham Motion’s Miss Temple City (Temple City), George Weaver’s
Cyclogenisis (Stormy Atlantic) and Art Sherman’s California Chrome (Lucky
Pulpit) make up a team of 13 U.S. challengers. They form the backbone of a
20-strong raiding party from outside of Europe.
What can the Americans expect?
Bookmakers Paddy Power have priced up how many winners Ward
might achieve and make exactly one winner their 5-4 favorite. He is 8-1 to
register three or more winners with the Irish firm.
Finnegan (Unbridled’s Song) looks Ward’s best opportunity of
adding to his wins at the meeting with Jealous Again, Strike the Tiger, No Nay
Never and Hootenanny (Quality Road). Finnegan will be Ward’s first runner of the
week when he takes his chance in the Coventry S. (Eng-G2). The colt won a maiden
over five furlongs at Pimlico last month in 56.78s, which was 0.74 off the time
achieved by Ben’s Cat (Parker’s Storm Cat) a day earlier in a listed turf sprint
on slightly better ground.
He looks good, but Finnegan could well be left in the wake of
Jim Bolger’s Round Two (Teofilo) who won the listed Marble Hill S. at the
Curragh three weeks ago. It was a smart performance to beat Washington DC
(Zoffany), Aidan O’Brien’s favorite, by two lengths and there was no hiding the
admiration that trainer Jim Bolger had for his colt afterwards.
Post-race comments can often be taken with a pinch of salt, but
not these.
“If you wouldn’t get excited by him you wouldn’t be alive,” he
said.
A California Chrome success at Ascot would be a fairytale for so
many reasons. Should he prevail in the Prince Of Wales’s S. (Eng-G1) on
Wednesday he will avenge the previous defeats at the meeting of Kentucky Derby
(G1) winners Omaha in 1936 and Animal Kingdom two seasons ago.
Work rider Robbie Mills revealed at Rae Guest’s stables on
Thursday that California Chrome has finally got the hang of racing right-handed,
and it does not look the deepest field so connections can go in to the race
confident of making an impression.
Dermot Weld’s Free Eagle (High Chaparral) has shown in four
starts that he has superstar potential, but he missed the Tattersalls Gold Cup
(Ire-G1) due to a head cold and has yet to be fully proven at international
Group 1 level.
He could well be the real thing, but he looks a weak favorite at
3-1 and the Japanese could well re-write the script with Spielberg (Deep
Impact). Japan have never had a winner at Royal Ascot, although Agnes World went
close when second to Nuclear Debate in the 2000 King’s Stand S. (Eng-G2).
Spielberg’s turn of foot proved far too potent for dual Japan
Cup (Jpn-G1) and Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) winner Gentildonna in the Tenno
Sho (Jpn-G1) in November. The Deep Impact colt finished ahead of the mare again
when third to Epiphaneia (Symboli Kris S) and Just A Way in the Japan Cup a few
weeks later. Although only fifth on his reappearance in April, Nobutaka Tada,
racing manager for owner Hidetoshi Yamamoto, has stated the race at Hanshin on
unsuitably soft ground was simply a prep race for the trip to Britain. He looks
a big price with the British bookmakers at 12-1.
Wesley Ward’s Hootenanny returns to Ascot in the inaugural
Commonwealth Cup (Eng-G1) on Friday. The race for three-year-old sprinters looks
one of the most competitive contests of the entire meeting. Timeform rate
favorite Limato (Tagula) on a par with speedy filly Tiggy Wiggy (Kodiac) at 121,
with Hootenanny on 119. As a contrast, supplemented American challenger
Cyclogenisis has a Timeform rating of just 109p.
Tiggy Wiggy could well run on Tuesday in the King’s Stand S.
(Eng-G1), for which she holds an entry, so with Limato suffering his first
defeat on his sixth start in the Sandy Lane S. (Eng-G2) a fortnight ago this
could well be at the mercy of Ward’s challenger.
William Haggas’s Adaay (Kodiac) beat Limato at Haydock and
relished the fast pace when he scythed through late on from the back of the
field to win by a length. He could well be improving in what looks likely to be
a big field and he looks a big price at 8-1 with the British bookmakers.
Geoffrey Riddle is the international racing correspondent for
The National in the U.A.E. and editor of Racinguk.com.