Second only to Golden Horn (Cape Cross) in the Epsom Derby (Eng-G1) June 6,
Jack Hobbs (Halling) proved that form to be by far the strongest in Europe when
inflicting a heavy defeat on the home contingent and upholding the form of the
blue riband with Storm the Stars (Sea the Stars) in Saturday’s 150th renewal of
the Irish Derby (Ire-G1) at the Curragh.
Always traveling with prowess under William Buick, the 10-11 favorite was
going almost too well in Godolphin’s royal blue in early stretch as the Epsom
third Storm the Stars had everything else in trouble. When the button was pushed
with 1 1/2 furlongs remaining, the dark bay duly opened up to score by five
lengths, with Giovanni Canaletto (Galileo) faring best of the domestic runners a
full 5 1/2 lengths away in third.
“He’s a great horse and he was even better than at Epsom,” his rider said.
“He’s improving all the time and he’s been handled brilliantly by John (Gosden).
He’s a late-maturing horse who is really coming to himself now and it went
pretty smoothly.
“Races have come thick and fast for him and he’s had to learn how to run fast
quickly. He’s got better with every run; he’s a horse with a great turn of foot.
He’s a quick horse that stays. It means so much to Sheikh Mohammed and all of us
in the team who work so hard.”
Six months to the day after he had been introduced in a Wolverhampton maiden,
Jack Hobbs was making himself a household name in Kildare and were it not for
his stable companion Golden Horn would be an unbeaten and unchallenged dual
Derby winner. Allowed the chance to fully exploit his ridiculously lenient
handicap mark over 10 furlongs at Sandown April 24, he defied even the most
optimistic expectations there by surging to a 12-length score over rivals who
have since shown smart form in similar races.
In the May 14 Dante S. (Eng-G2) at York he was no match for Golden Horn, and
Gosden was wondering if his physique meant that he was being asked too much too
soon but he continued to thrive prior to the Derby and was sent there to
re-oppose the Oppenheimer colt. Traveling arguably better than his barnmate
coming down Tattenham Hill, he was again swamped late on but finished clear of
the remainder in a show of domination from the Gosden stable.
Despite the ground coming up quick at this meeting, which has often been
plagued by unfavorable weather in recent times, and his conditioner’s continuing
misgivings that he was asking too much of such an imposing and unfurnished
individual, Jack Hobbs arrived at the Curragh full of bounce and showed that
zeal in the early stages.
Held on to by Buick in third as Storm the Stars and Giovanni Canaletto
provided the tow, he was sent between that pair turning for home and it was
there that the Curragh faithful witnessed the visible spark that lights his
fire. Buick was keen to hold back for a while with Storm the Stars covered and
the rest struggling in behind and, when the question came inside the last
quarter-mile, the Godolphin flagbearer was quick to reply.
For Gosden, the current campaign keeps getting better, as his star colts set
the bar too high for their contemporaries.
“It was genuine good-to-firm ground and it’s nice to see the form from Epsom
working out so solidly,” he said. “He traveled really well and William just
waited after he came at the head of the straight, and I loved the way he
finished off his race. The second horse has run a blinder and he was third at
Epsom.”
Gosden confirmed Jack Hobbs would now enjoy a break.
“We’ll put him away now and go for the Prix Niel ([Fr-G2] at Longchamp
September 13) and then on to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe ([Fr-G1] at Longchamp
October 4),” the conditioner said. “He needs a holiday. He’s a big, rangy horse
and he just needs some time to fill out.”
Also at the Curragh, Painted Cliffs became the first stakes winner for
freshman sire Canford Cliffs in the Railway S. (Ire-G2).
After his first success in this with King of Kings in 1997, Aidan
O’Brien captured all bar two of the next 12 renewals, but had been without a
winner since 2009 as he loomed near Dr. Vincent O’Brien’s record of 14. Step
forward the underestimated Painted Cliffs, who was fitted with blinkers after
running eighth on debut in the course-and-distance maiden won by stable
companion and subsequent Coventry S. (Eng-G2) runner-up Air Force Blue (War
Front) May 24.
Off the mark in a Leopardstown maiden again at this trip June 18, the bay
stepped up markedly and add further weight to the opinion of the current crop of
Ballydoyle juveniles. Tracking the free-running leader Log Out Island (Dark
Angel) in second under Ryan Moore, he was sent ahead with a quarter-mile
remaining and stretched clear as the favorite Rockaway Valley (Holy Roman
Emperor) made only labored progress past the tiring longtime leader.
“We liked him before he ever ran, but he disappointed the first day and
Joseph said he was very idle and babyish,” his trainer said. “We put the
blinkers on him at Leopardstown to help him concentrate and I wasn’t sure if it
was just a bad race or that the blinkers worked. Ryan said he’s a very nice
horse. He likes him. Maybe we could leave the blinkers off him in future.”
Painted Cliffs’s dam is a half-sister to Excellent Art (Pivotal), who won the
St. James’s Palace S. (Eng-G1) in 2007 in the same colors.
England
Aeolus (Araafa) returned to the winner’s circle for the first time in nearly
13 months in Saturday’s Chipchase (Eng-G3) at Newcastle.
Campaigned by Ed McMahon at two and three, Aeolus quickly showed
above-average ability and followed an impressive York nursery success with a
second to Night of Thunder (Dubawi) in the Doncaster S. in October 2013. After
an authoritative first black-type score in Haydock’s Sandy Lane S. over this
six-furlong trip last May, the chestnut had only been seen three more times that
term, with a fourth in Deauville’s Prix de Meautry (Fr-G3) on testing ground his
finest effort in August.
Switched to Ed Walker’s yard for his four-year-old campaign, he started
inauspiciously with a tame fourth in the Spring Trophy over seven furlongs back
at Haydock May 9, but regained his old verve here on the quickest surface he had
encountered for over a year. Anchored in last early, Aeolus was always
comfortably in touch traveling strongly and, when delivered with a sustained run
towards the stand’s side, gained a slight lead a furlong out and held the
three-year-old Mattmu (Indesatchel) and last year’s winner, Danzeno (Denounce),
in a three-way go.
“First time out for us, he really disappointed at Haydock but he’s been a
different horse since and has completely woken up and switched on,” Walker said.
“He’s been training really well, but we haven’t been able to run because of the
ground. We just about got away with the ground today and we were worried it was
going to be too quick. He needed every yard of that trip and he’s so
ground-dependant, so we have no major plans and we’ll take our chances when they
come.”
At Newmarket, the sophomore Markaz (Dark Angel) overturned his elders in the
seven-furlong Criterion S. (Eng-G3).
Making his black-type debut when second after a tardy start behind Maftool
(Hard Spun) in the Somerville Tattersall S. (Eng-G3) over this trip on the
Rowley Mile in September, Markaz returned at three a different proposition and
proved too buzzy early on when fourth to Limato (Tagula) in Ascot’s six-furlong
Pavilion S. (Eng-G3) April 29. Not showing any vast improvement next time when
third in the May 16 King Charles II S. returning to this trip back on the other
course in this town, the gray was tried again at six when fourth a fortnight
later to Adaay (Kodiac) in Haydock’s Sandy Lane S. (Eng-G2).
Breaking well to race in second early, he showed greater maturity here after
taking over with 1 1/2 furlongs remaining and maintained his momentum to stay
out of reach of the closer Hors de Combat (Mount Nelson).
“We thought the ground might be too fast for him, but the bit of rain they
had last night made all the difference,” Shadwell representative Richard Hills
said. “Dad (trainer Barry Hills) knows Dark Angel really well and this one is an
out-and-out galloper and very honest. If he is to go back to six, he’ll need a
bit of cut in the ground and there is not a lot for him now so maybe he needs a
break. In the autumn, we’ll be looking forward to getting him on ground with a
bit of cut in it.”
Germany
Admirably consistent in pattern-race company without being able to break
through at the peak level, Odeliz was racing for the 13th consecutive time in
group company, having made the first three on seven occasions. Second to Just
the Judge (Lawman) in the E. P. Taylor S. (Can-G1) at Woodbine in October, the
chestnut came here on the back of a third in the Princess Elizabeth S. (Eng-G3)
over an extended mile at Epsom June 5 and emerged with a deserved first win in
this sphere in Saturday’s Franz-Gunther von Gaertner Gedachtnisrennen (Ger-G3)
at Hamburg.
Confidently ridden by Adrie de Vries, she was settled against the fence in
sixth early and needed a gap to appear approaching the last furlong, as she was
traveling clear best of all. Slicing between a pair of rivals soon after, she
was in front with 100 meters remaining and had too much class for Evita Peron
(Pivotal) in the run to the line.
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