She may have been a 50-1 outsider, but for her owners
Qualify (Fastnet Rock) was not such a shock winner of Friday’s Epsom Oaks
(Eng-G1).
Running in the colors of Spain’s Chantal
Regalado-Gonzalez, who bought Qualify last season after she had been running for
Louis and Kate Ronan, the filly caught the David Wachman-trained
One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) heroine Legatissimo (Danehill Dancer) near the line to score by a short-head
under Colm O’Donoghue.
Regalado-Gonzalez was unable to be at Epsom for the race, but her husband,
John Murrell, was present.
“We thought we had a chance in this race,” he said. “She has been terribly
unlucky in her last races. The Breeders’ Cup was an unbelievably bad draw and in
the two Guineas she had too much to do and finished terrifically in the Irish
Guineas from a long way back.
“She has been working great at home all the time. We are not that surprised
but very, very excited.”
Qualify joins 1991 heroine Jet Ski Lady as the biggest-priced winner ever of
the Oaks. The filly proved a smart juvenile with a maiden victory and success in
the Weld Park S. (Ire-G3) at the Curragh, but she could do no better than eighth of
13 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) to close out her two-year-old
campaign. The bay lass was well-beaten in the English and Irish One Thousand Guineas
(Ire-G1) at both Newmarket and the Curragh this spring.
Qualify awarded a fifth Epsom Oaks victory to her trainer Aidan O’Brien, who
also bred the filly with his wife, Anne-Marie, under their Whisperview Trading
banner. The O’Briens have a two-year-old full brother to the filly called Shogun
— owned by the familiar Coolmore Stud trio of Messrs Magnier, Tabor and Smith,
plus Anne-Marie — who will be running soon.
“It’s great for everyone at home, both on the breeding operation but also at
the yard. It’s a big team effort and we feel privileged to be part of it,”
O’Brien said. “We are lucky to have very high class, quality horses and
we knew she had ability because she worked like a good filly. I was afraid the
ground wouldn’t be quick enough for her today because she likes really hard,
fast ground. She was always very classy, as she proved
when winning the Group 3 at the Curragh last year.
“The plan was always to go
to Newmarket and then come here — (jockey) Joseph (O’Brien) looked after her when her
chance had gone at Newmarket and she ran really well in the Irish Guineas
although no one spotted that and talked about her afterwards. We were really
happy and we knew she would step up for going a mile and a quarter and even a
mile and a half. She’s by Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo mare and when the going
gets tough they usually deliver.”
O’Donoghue piloted Qualify to win his first Oaks as well as his first British
classic.
“She has always shown us a lot of
pace and is a well-balanced filly,” the 34-year-old O’Donoghue said. “The thing was just to get her to switch off
— because she shows so much pace, it was just to see if she would get the trip
but she saw it out really strong.
“She has traveled, she is well-balanced and I just wanted
to keep her relaxed and come with that clean, straight run. It’s the winning
post that matters.
“I wanted to keep her on an even keel and keep her running. I didn’t want
anything interfering with her because we were on the outside of the camber. She
has come home strong.”
Legatissimo, the 5-2 favorite, looked like she had put the
race to bed kicking for home two furlongs out to put daylight between her and
the rest of the field, but was denied in the shadows of the post. Trainer David
Wachman offered no excuses after the race.
“I’m absolutely delighted with that,” he said. “We’ve got
no excuses. I think we’ll drop her back in trip after this to either a mile or a
mile and a quarter.
“I’m delighted for Colm O’Donoghue as he deserves more big
race success,” Wachman added.
Two races earlier, Qatar Racing Ltd.’s Arod (Teofilo) produced a fine front-running performance to land the
Diomed S. (Eng-G3) by two lengths.
The 7-4 favorite pulled hard under jockey Andrea Atzeni in
the early stages as the pair dictated the pace but he eventually settled into a
nice rhythm and looked to be full of running as the field hit the two-furlong
marker. The four-year-old found plenty for his jockey when asked
and the pair surged clear to record a comfortable success from Custom
Cut (Polished Gem).
“He’s a horse that doesn’t like to be disappointed,” Atzeni said. “I had a good stride with him so I just let him go on. I
was more like a passenger than anything.
“He was a bit keen in front — I think I went a good one — but he
doesn’t stop and stays well. He was by far the best horse in the race so it was
good to get his head in front again. I was impressed with the way in which he finished the
race. I just let him stretch on. We know he stays a bit further so he was never
going to stop in that respect. I knew he was the best horse in the race so I
just let him do his thing.
“He deserves it. He is a beautiful looking horse and hopefully there will
be a lot more to come from him. He has such a high cruising speed — he will
probably stay a mile and a quarter but I think a mile, even a stiff mile, is his
trip at the minute.”
Fourth in last year’s Epsom Derby (Eng-G1), and recently third in
Newbury’s Lockinge S. (G1), Arod had just a conditions race victory and
a maiden win to his name, despite running several fine races in stakes company.
“He’s an exuberant horse, as he was at two and three,” trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam
said. “Last year I
was asked to train him for the Derby, which I did do, teaching him to
switch off and stay. He did stay, but in doing so I put him over the top after
the Derby — and the Juddmonte (International [Eng-G1]) was not his true running.
“This year we opted to let him bowl, let him stride, and
take him back to a mile. We decided to do that last year after the Juddmonte —
it was (owner) Sheikh Fahad’s idea, and while I wish I could say it was all my planning,
it wasn’t!
“I would like to have a go at a mile and a quarter with
him, but that might not happen until the back end of the season,” Chapple-Hyam
added. “I think he will
stay that trip — today he showed a big long stride, but he was always on the
bit.”
While his trainer mentioned the Queen Anne S. (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot, Qatar
Racing Ltd. Racing Manager David Redvers fears that will be too soon for Arod.
“We’ll see how he comes out of the race but Royal Ascot may
come too soon — if he’d have won here without coming off the bridle you would
have no fear, but this is a tough place to come even if you do win well,”
Redvers said.
“Hopefully he’ll be OK, but if not there are other targets later in the season.”
Trainer David O’Meara said runner-up Custom Cut could be headed to the York
S. (Eng-G2) on July 25.
Jeff Smith’s homebred Arabian Queen (Dubawi) kicked off the Investec Derby
Festival on Friday by making every post a winning one when running
out the four-length victress of the Princess Elizabeth S. (Eng-G3) at Epsom.
The 9-1 shot broke well under jockey Silvestre De Sousa and was quickly in pole
position as the pair dictated the pace from the front.
The three-year-old miss quickened well when De Sousa asked her for her effort two
furlongs from home and scampered clear to record a convincing success.
“She was very classy out there,” De Sousa remarked.
“She was the only three-year-old in the race but (trainer David) Elsworth was very confident about her chances when I was speaking to him this morning as
she won a Group 2 as a two-year-old. We thought we’d make the running if the
chance came up and she was very happy in front.
“I was always happy from the gates. She hit the gate well and I just squeezed
her to get her to the front. She traveled beautifully and came down the hill
very well. I just let her down before I gave her a squeeze and she quickened
well.
“Fair play to her, she enjoyed it and quickened up nicely. It was her first
run this year but she is so genuine and tough. She deserves it. She’s a lovely
filly and we’ll see more from her later on.”
Smith explained the absence of Arabian Queen’s trainer by saying Elsworth
was, “very busy, he told me!
“This is a great training performance because
ever since the Cherry Hinton (Duchess of Cambridge S. [Eng-G2] last July at
Newmarket) she’s had problem after problem, and in the end we had to have a
sinus operation,” Smith added. “But he’s got her back and she’s in the form she was for the
Cherry Hinton. We were desperately disappointed last year that she didn’t go on.
“Next stop is the (June 19) Coronation S. ([Eng-G1] at Royal Ascot), but she will get a mile and a half. She’s out of Barshiba
([Barathea] whom Elsworth trained for Smith to win seven races, including two Group
2s),
the whole family is full of stamina. It’s very exciting. She’s hosed up.”
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