With Leading Light (Montjeu) off the scene,
Thursday’s Gold Cup (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot is there for the taking for the current crop of stayers, of which
Moyglare Stud’s Forgotten Rules (Nayef) is the obvious pick.
Only raced three times on the
flat, the five-year-old has been handled with great patience and tenderness by Dermot Weld,
and that approach has already reaped substantial benefits with wins in the British Champions Long Distance Cup
(Eng-G2) over two miles at Ascot in October and Navan’s 14-furlong
Vintage Crop S. (Ire-G3) in his May 17 return. On the latter occasion, the homebred raced
under a five-pound penalty but was able to retain his unbeaten record in a perfect tune-up
for this mission.
With the ground staying on the fast side, Forgotten Rules may still be taken out of the contest and connections were on Wednesday facing a nervous wait to see what course the weather or clerk of the course Chris Stickels take.
“I’ll
see what the ground is like tomorrow,” Weld said. “All I want is safe ground for all the horses. This is a race over 2
1/2 miles for older horses; It’s not like it is for sprinters.
I just want some kindness in the ground.”
One who will have no problems with the lively surface is Jon Kelly’s Mizzou (Galileo), another unexposed type over these extreme trips who signposted his above-average ability when accounting for Vent de Force (Hurricane Run)
in the two-mile Sagaro S. (Eng-G3) on April 29.
“Mizzou has been in
good form since he won the Sagaro and I am very happy with him,” said trainer Luca Cumani,
who has yet to win this particular jewel in the crown of the British racing
calendar. “I decided that he
didn’t need another run to get him to his peak for the Gold Cup. Fast ground would not be a
problem, as that is what he won on in the Sagaro, but the 2 1/2-mile trip is the big
imponderable. His style of racing — he’s so relaxed — suggests that he has every chance of getting
it, as does his breeding.”
Since his defeat in the Sagaro, The Fairy Story
Partnership’s Vent de Force has annexed one of this race’s other key pointers, the Henry II S.
(Eng-G3) over an extended two-mile trip at Sandown on May 28. In the Henry II, the runner-up was Chester Cup scorer Trip
to Paris (Champs Elysees) and there is a case to
make for this true stayer as he did not enjoy the best of runs at a vital part of the race.
Connections of dual Prix Royal-Oak (Fr-G1) hero Tac de Boistron (Take Risks)
must be ruing their ill fortune with the weather, as wherever Australian
Thoroughbred Bloodstock’s veteran goes it seems to bring out a dry build-up to
turn the ground against him. On the one occasion in the past year that he has
had his favored rain-softened surface at home in Chester’s May 8 Ormonde S.
(Eng-G3) over an extended 13-furlong trip, he met a very
smart rival in Clever Cookie (Primo Valentino) and failed by 1 1/4 lengths to give
that rival seven pounds.
France usually has a say in this race and Avaz Ismoilov’s Prix Vicomtesse Vigier
(Fr-G2) winner Bathyrhon (Monsun) is flying the
flag this time. Trainer Pia Brandt was second in the Duke of Cambridge S.
(Eng-G2) with her only
Royal runner, L’Amour de Ma Vie (Dansili), last year, and is full of hope for her
second challenger at the meeting.
“The Prix Vicomtesse Vigier was designed to bring Bathyrhon
on for Ascot and I think that it has done just that,” she said. “He made all the running
at a good pace, relaxing in front before kicking away from them at the finish. The Gold Cup
has been the plan ever since he showed that he could cope with the 2 1/2-mile distance
(when second) in the Prix du Cadran (Fr-G1) last October.
“His big strength is his turn of foot,
if it is used at the right moment. He can do it off a slow pace or from in front and not many stayers can quicken like he can — the jockey just has to be cool and wait.”
Ribblesdale S. (Eng-G2)
The appropriately named Pleascach (Teofilo),
which translates from Gaelic as “explosive,” will be a warm order to
register a second triumph for breeder-trainer Jim Bolger in Thursday’s Ribblesdale S.
(Eng-G2) on Ladies Day at
Royal Ascot, and is opposed by nine rivals in an intriguing renewal of the 12-furlong
contest coming back from victory in last month’s Irish One Thousand Guineas
(Ire-G1) at The Curragh.
The Coolcullen conditioner has forged a deserved reputation as an expert conditioner of rugged
individuals, which includes the likes of Finsceal Beo (Mr. Greeley) and 2011 Ribblesdale victress Banimpire (Holy Roman Emperor), and he has fostered a plan of
sending the latest product of his cradle-to-great emporium onwards to the June 27 Irish Derby
(Ire-G1) and July 18 Irish Oaks (Ire-G1) after this gig.
However, Pleascach — who was acquired by Godolphin after her classic triumph — faces no straightforward task, and her mettle will be fully tested stepping back up in trip here.
“Jim is very happy with her and she has obviously got classic-winning form,” Godolphin’s John Ferguson
said. “We feel this trip is within her compass and we’re looking forward to seeing her run.”
One of those bidding to pounce is the Susan Magnier colorbearer Curvy (Galileo), who was winless in
three juvenile starts but has been a revelation since being fitted with cheekpieces this
term. Stepping up from a brace of Navan handicap wins earlier in the campaign, the David
Wachman trainee usurped the boys when gamely succeeding in last month’s Gallinule S.
(Ire-G3) at The Curragh, and appears to be on a steep upward trajectory.
“Curvy is in good form and we’re very happy with her at home,” Wachman
confirmed. “We think she’ll get the
mile-and-a-half, you don’t know until you try, but hopefully she will. She’s a
good-actioned filly, so hopefully the ground will be fine. It’s a good
race, there’s an Irish Guineas winner in it, so we’ll see what happens.”
John Gosden has garnered one prior edition — with Michita (Dynaformer) in 2008
— and the Newmarket conditioner gets a chance to scratch that seven-year itch with a trio of runners, which includes Normandie Stud’s once-raced homebred Gretchen (Galileo), who recovered from a slow start before bounding to an impressive debut score at her local track last month.
Luca Cumani’s resume has yet to include this distaffers’ test, but Highclere Thoroughbred Racing’s Pamona (Duke of Marmalade) is a live contender for the Newmarket-based Italian. Having shed maiden status in
taking fashion at the expense of another Gosden representative, Entertainment (Halling), when attempting seven furlongs of Newmarket’s Rowley Mile for the second time
last October, she had that rival in arrears once more when a promising third in Newbury’s
listed Fillies’ Trial in her seasonal return last month.
“Pamona is in very good form and is a filly that we are excited to see
running over a mile-and-a-half for the first time,” Highclere’s Harry Herbert
said. “I think she has got to improve 10 or 12 pounds again, which she has
done in each race so far, but she could well find that for the step up in trip. Luca’s
horses are in great form, so we hope she can be competitive. We really like her as she has got a
great attitude and goes on any ground.”
Sir Robert Ogden’s homebred Pandora (Galileo) backed up an early-season debut
win at Doncaster by hitting the board in York’s Musidora S. (Eng-G3) last month, and that form received a timely boost at the weekend when Star of
Seville (Duke of Marmalade) was victorious in the Prix de Diane (Fr-G1) at Chantilly.
As with many in the field, she is no forlorn hope.
“This race has always been the plan for
her and we’re really looking forward to it,” trainer Charlie Hills stated. “I think she
goes there with a live chance; a mile-and-a-half will suit her, and she’ll love the fast
ground.”
Norfolk S. (Eng-G2)
If there is a certain thing this week, it is that
Richard Hannon will be walking off with the Norfolk S. (Eng-G2) on Thursday with either of his precocious
stable stars Log Out Island (Dark Angel) or King of Rooks (Acclamation).
The former, who dealt the first major blow to the reputation of subsequent Coventry S.
(Eng-G2) winner Buratino (Exceed and Excel) when upstaging that colt by 5 1/2
lengths in his sole start over this track and trip on April 29, has been acquired by
Godolphin. Buratino went on to be five-lengths second to Al Shaqab Racing’s recent purchase King
of Rooks in the May 28 listed National S. over this trip at Sandown. That race also featured Tuesday’s
listed Windsor Castle S. respective second and third Areen (Kodiac) and Steady Pace (Dark Angel), as well Handytalk
(Lilbourne Lad), the colt who had split Log Out Island and Buratino in an Ascot conditions race
on April 29.
At this stage, not even Hannon knows who sits above the other and the truth will be laid bare on Ascot’s turf.
“We think they are two smart two-year-olds and I would not like to
hazard a guess as to which is the better,” he commented. “They are the two
top-rated colts in the race, they are drawn next to each and we can’t split
them, so we’d happily settle for a dead-heat.
“Obviously, Buratino has given the form a timely boost,”
Hannon added. “All I know is that both ours have plenty of speed and I just hope we are
standing in the winner’s circle with at least one of them.”
Of the unexposed ones who could be able to get within
hailing distance of that duo, the Cool Silk Partnership’s Jazz Legend (Scat Daddy) is worthy
of consideration. Displaying impressive raw speed in his May 29 debut to win over this trip on
good-to-soft ground at Haydock, the bay looked a professional there and this
surface should bring out improvement.
“He made a very good impression at Haydock on
ground that was probably against him,” trainer James Given said. “He traveled well
through the race, was the last horse off the bridle and quickened up well, so I think
faster ground at Ascot will really suit him. He has to improve as other horses in the race have
probably achieved more than him, but we are hoping for progression and he deserves his
place.”
Charlie Hills saddles another with as-yet untapped
potential in Shanghai Glory (Exceed and Excel), who scored by 3 1/2 lengths at
Nottingham on May 19.
“The form of the race he won is working out well and this very
straightforward horse has been in great form at home since,” his trainer said.
Tercentenary S. (Eng-G3)
Rossetti’s famed Bocca Baciata was the first of the
artist’s works to contain a lone female and, appropriately for Ladies Day, that painting’s
namesake Bocca Baciata (Big Bad Bob) is the sole distaffer in Thursday’s Tercentenary S.
(Eng-G3) at Royal Ascot.
Purchased for €230,000 as part of the Gerry Oldham dispersal in 2013, Flaxman Stables’s sophomore bagged one of three starts as a
juvenile and opened this season in hot form when lowering the colors of Pleascach
(Teofilo) in the April 18 listed Salsabil S. at Navan. She relinquished that hold next time,
finishing fifth as Pleascach gained revenge in last month’s Irish One Thousand Guineas
(Ire-G1), and comes back here bidding to become the first filly to succeed since the event’s recalibration in
2002.
“After she ran in the Guineas at the Curragh, the general consensus was that she should step back up in trip,” racing manager Alan Cooper
revealed. “(Trainer) Jessica (Harrington) has been very pleased with her so let’s hope
the plan comes to fruition. Her form is very good, whichever way you look at it, and she has traveled over to Ascot very well. We’re hoping for a good show.”
Leading the boys’ brigade is Juddmonte’s likely favorite Time Test (Dubawi), who has finished no worse than second in four starts and goes postward off an
impressive score in last month’s London Gold Cup H. at Newbury. A revitalized Frankie
Dettori gets the nod for the Roger Charlton incumbent, who is out of the
operation’s 2006 Criterium de Saint-Cloud (Fr-G1) victress Passage of Time (Dansili).
“He came out
of his last race very well and we were delighted with how he won at Newbury,”
Charlton remarked. “There is a field of 14, which appears on the larger side for the race. With
this size of field and a few front runners, there should be a generous pace, which should suit
him. He has a tremendous cruising speed and showed a good turn of foot, and
hopefully that will stand him in good stead.
“Last year he was beaten at Sandown by Lathanarch and
we were disappointed by the way he behaved, but that form doesn’t look too bad now
after Latharnach was second to Gleneagles (in Tuesday’s St James’s Palace S.
[Eng-G1]).”
Richard Hannon trainee Peacock (Paco Boy)
will induce a shower of top hats if providing The Queen with a popular victory. Runner-up in
the April 15 listed Feilden S. at Newmarket, that form received a mighty boost when his
conqueror on the Rowley Mile, Golden Horn (Cape Cross), went on to claim
bloodless victories in the Dante S. (Eng-G2) and Epsom Derby (Eng-G1). He returns off a win in the May 30
listed Fairway S. back at Newmarket.
“Peacock’s Feilden second looks pretty smart
after Golden Horn went on to win the Derby, so we’d be hopeful of a bold run for The
Queen,” Hannon said. “He got back on track in listed grade at Newmarket and his form is
rock-solid.”
Taking momentary leave of Coolmore duties, Ryan Moore is
reacquainted with Disegno (Fastnet Rock). Having been in the plate when
third in a stellar renewal of the Feilden at Headquarters, the rider was aboard
Smuggler’s Cove (Fastnet Rock) when The Niarchos Family’s homebred bay narrowly lost out
to Not So Sleepy (Beat Hollow) in a bobbing finish to last month’s listed Dee
S. at Chester.
“The (soft) ground was terrible for him at Chester last time– he needs
it fast,” Alan Cooper insisted. “Hopefully, given how the ground has been
riding, it should be in his favor this time. He has been progressing and wasn’t
beaten far by Golden Horn first time out. Sir Michael (Stoute) has always rated him highly so we are hoping that
he delivers what we have always felt he is capable of.”
Runner-up in Sandown’s Classic Trial (Eng-G3) and Longchamp’s Prix Hocquart
(Fr-G2), Cape Clear Island (Fastnet Rock) seeks compensation for a
troubled effort in the May 31 Prix du Jockey Club (Fr-G1) at Chantilly. Trainer
Aidan O’Brien’s son Joseph
O’Brien renews his partnership with the Derrick Smith colorbearer for the first time this
year.
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