Waterloo Bridge upsets Norfolk; Time Test impresses in
Tercentenary
Making his fifth run after breaking his maiden at Tipperary on June 4, the
“He’s a very fast horse,” O’Brien said. “He loves a really fast-run race on
“He wants a fast pace, like all those Zoffanys. Fast horses go on fast
Moore, who upped his Royal Meeting win total to eight with two more later on
“To be fair to this horse, he has probably never run on quick ground before,”
|
“Waterloo Bridge is a good horse. He traveled the whole way, he picked up and
then he had a little look when he got to the front. It’s a big crowd, a big
stand and things — he has never seen that before. He looks great and has been
produced in terrific shape. I had confidence. It speaks a lot about Aidan’s
knowledge of his horses, what an unbelievable trainer he is. This horse traveled
like the best horse in the race and when I asked him to go and win, he did it
really well.”
O’Brien was complimentary of Moore.
“Ryan is an unbelievable rider — everyone knows he is probably the greatest
rider we have seen for a long, long time,” O’Brien said of Coolmore’s first-call
jockey. “We are delighted and privileged to have him working with us — first of
all he is an absolute gentleman, he is 100 percent straight and genuine and a
great judge of pace. He is fully committed — a real professional in every way.”
Trainer Richard Hannon suffered the agony of watching two strongly-fancied
colts from his yard finish second and third in the about five-furlong Norfolk.
Log Out Island, a 13-8 chance ridden by William Buick for Godolphin, and 11-8
favorite King Of Rooks (Acclamation), the mount of Frankie Dettori in the
colours of Al Shaqab Racing, chased home Waterloo Bridge in that order.
At the furlong marker, Log Out Island was narrowly holding his stablemate,
but neither horse could hold the late challenge of the winner, who had the
benefit of greater experience and was taking part in his fifth race.
“I thought he ran great,” Buick said of the runner-up. “He has only had one
run in his life, and it is very tough coming here off that, so I’m very happy
with his performance.”
Log Out Island finished strongly and continued galloping after the race,
delaying his return to the winner’s enclosure, but Buick said: “He got lit up by
the other two (winner and third) chasing him all the way and took a while to
pull up.”
That willingness to keep going at the end of a high-class race suggests a
longer trip will suit Log Out Island, and Hannon confirmed that will next on the
colt’s agenda.
“I think Log Out Island will definitely go six furlongs in future, while the
other horse (King Of Rooks) is quick, and probably went too quick, which set it
up for the winner.”
The about 1 1/4-mile Tercentenary (Eng-G3) for three-year-olds featured a
smashing performance from Time Test (Dubawi), who powered home to win by 3 1/4
lengths as the 15-8 favorite.
Owned and bred by Khalid Abdullah, Time Test is trained by Roger Charlton and
was ridden by Frankie Dettori, for whom it was a 51st Royal Ascot winner.
“He did a very good bit of work the other day and George Baker, who rode him,
said ‘this is a Group 1 horse,'” Charlton said. “I don’t think George says
things like that unnecessarily and I never like to get too carried away because
there are a lot of disappointments in this game, but Time Test certainly has
progressed really well.
“Last year, we were a bit fragile mentally and there was a bit of sweating
between his legs today, but he was brilliant. Frankie said that you could put
him anywhere in the race, the ground wasn’t too firm — he loves it — and all
the great positive things that give you the chance to win more races.”
Time Test improved his record to 5-3-2-0 while making his first attempt in a
Group stakes. Peacock (Paco Boy) finished second, three-quarters of a length
better than Mustadeem (Arcano) in third.
“There was never a bead of sweat on him (in the preliminaries),” Charlton
said. “You can’t work out what goes on in horses’ heads, but we’ve taken our
time with this horse and the owner has been patient, and we’re rewarded with a
nice horse. He’s got a fantastic pedigree — every day Dubawis win great races,
and if he develops as tough as (stablemate) Al Kazeem (Dubawi) we’ve got a lot
to look forward to. He’s got more speed than Al Kazeem, but we’ll see.”
Charlton was asked where Time Test will go next.
“I think we will stay at a mile and a quarter for now — he has plenty of
speed,” the trainer noted. “The problem here is that there aren’t any
progressive races for three-year-old colts and you are immediately having to
take on older horses, because there isn’t such a thing as a Group 2 race for a
three-year-old between now and the end of the year. There are in France, so
maybe we will go there — we will wait and see.
“He’ll certainly have an entry in the Juddmonte International (Eng-G1) at
York, for obvious reasons (the race is sponsored by the horse’s owner/breeder),
and maybe by then he’s up to it, maybe not. I think his temperament is tested on
a big day like and he came through it extremely well. He should progress — if I
train him properly — and I’d like to think he’ll be in training next year. He’s
got a great cruising speed and is just the right horse for a jockey who is at
the top of his game and riding full of confidence.”
Dettori scored his second winner of the 2015 meeting aboard the improving
colt.
“I had plenty of room. I had lots of horse left, I thought I’ll risk it, just
go the outside, keep it simple and collect the money! It was as simple as that,”
Dettori said. “What a lovely horse. You could put him wherever you want. What he
showed today, not many horses can do, when he can travel and quicken like that.
It felt like a dream — beautiful, moved great, had a great turn of foot — spot
on.”
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com