Pleascach eyes Irish Derby after taking Curragh’s 1000
Guineas
Sent to Sunday’s Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) just 11 days after
winning the Blue Wind S. (Ire-G3) over a quarter-mile further at Naas, Pleascach
(Teofilo) justified the boldness of her breeder, owner and trainer Jim Bolger to
provide Coolcullen with another Curragh classic.
With a perfect pace scenario tracking a pair of her stable’s lesser lights,
the 11-2 second favorite was in front from the quarter-pole and saw off the 5-4
crowd’s choice, Found (Galileo), to prevail by a half-length. There was a brief
period of anxiety for Bolger, as the winner had to survive an inquiry into
possible interference to the runner-up in the finale.
“She spotted something and shifted left in the last 75 yards, but I wasn’t
worried as the runner-up was a long way away from me,” rider Kevin Manning
commented. “The pacemakers did a great job and I was able to do my own thing
with no one bothering me. It was a fast-run race at Naas and she had them all
stone- cold dead at the two pole there on ground she didn’t like. I felt she
would come on for that and doesn’t lack pace, as she’s a very versatile filly.
She’s won that well and I’d have no question about a mile and a half.”
Fourth on a testing debut in the six-furlong Grangecon S. (Ire-G3) here last
June, Pleascach built on the obvious promise of that effort four days later when
readily besting the listed performer Simply a Star (Giant’s Causeway) over an
extra furlong at Leopardstown. Splitting Bocca Baciata (Big Bad Bob) and the
subsequent Cheshire Oaks winner Diamondsandrubies (Fastnet Rock) when second in
the 10-furlong Salsabil S. at Navan April 18, the homebred stayed at that trip
for the Blue Wind and annihilated the smart Zannda (Azamour), who had previously
been a close second in Newmarket’s Pretty Polly S.
While most would have pointed at the middle-distance classics after that Oaks
(Eng-G1) prep, Bolger has always thought outside the box and diverted her here
with the Irish forecast mainly dry for once. Although the ground came right for
Pleascach, the draw of 15 was unfavorable, and it a short took time for Manning
to organize her from that wide posting. Soon perfectly positioned in third, she
was provided with a genuine tempo set by the predetermined stable rabbit
Mainicin (Teofilo) and even enjoyed the unexpected additional help of fellow
barnmate Steip Amach (Vocalised) just ahead.
Left in front and there to be shot at from the quarter-pole, she saw off the
smooth-traveling Bocca Baciata first before having to battle harder as Ryan
Moore delivered Found inside the final furlong. Despite veering into that
rival’s space late on, there was every chance for the hot favorite to claw her
back if she was able.
“It’s very satisfying and a great day,” Bolger said after the announcement
came from the officials that the result would stand. “It’s hard to win any big
race in Ireland, but to win a classic with one of our own is the stuff that you
dream about and it doesn’t happen very often. The ground was a big factor here
and the good ground was a requirement, even though she coped well when it was on
the soft side at Naas. We had a half-length to spare at the line and even with
drifting left, I don’t think the runner-up had any chance of beating her.”
Bolger is now eyeing an audacious tilt at the Irish Derby (Ire-G1) back at
this venue June 27.
“She’s very likely to go straight there and then to the Irish Oaks ([Ire-G1]
July 18) after that,” he said. “I’ve never run a filly in the Derby before, but
it has been won by a few fillies and she’s probably the best one over a mile and
a half that I’ve had. She’s better than most I’ve had.
“Entering her in the (Irish) Derby wasn’t so much what I thought about her,
it was really what I thought about the colts, with all due respect to our
neighbors. We think she’s very good — she’s right on that level with the colts.
She’s explosive, just like her name.”
Aidan O’Brien said of Found, “She got beaten, but ran a good race and it was
a big step up on the last day. It’s now a case of whether she goes up to an Oaks
trip, but the lads will decide on that over the next few days. Jim’s filly is
very good and she just got away from us and was gone.”
Pleascach becomes the sixth Group 1 winner for the Bolger homebred Teofilo.
Bolger purchased Pleascach’s dam, Toirneach (Toirneach), for $110,000 at
Keeneland September in 2006 through BBA Ireland and trained her to pair of wins.
Toirneach’s third dam produced the dam of Spain (Thunder Gulch), and Toirneach
is therefore similarly bred to that dual Grade 1 winner. Pleascach is
Toirneach’s third foal, and she has a two-year-old colt by Bolger sire Vocalised
named Brontide.
Also at the Curragh, O’Brien’s hotpot Giovanni Canaletto (Galileo) was
overturned by the filly Curvy (Galileo) in the Gallinule S. (Ire-G3), likely
putting him out of the mix for Epsom.
Bred to be a classic contender, Curvy kept smart company at two but three
maiden starts yielded no better than a debut fourth placing, and it was not
until the fitting of cheekpieces on her sophomore bow that the half-sister to
Power began to transform. Having won a brace of 10-furlong handicaps at Navan
April 18 and May 17, the dark bay from the stable of the One Thousand Guineas
(Eng-G1) heroine Legatissimo (Danehill Dancer) moved forward again to upstage
the colts in this Derby (Eng-G1) trial.
Settled in second early tracking Prince Gagarin (Dubawi), she managed to
battle ahead of that rival passing the furlong pole as Ballydoyle’s Epsom hope
Giovanni Canaletto was being wound up down the outer. As he bore down on her
nearing the line, Curvy pulled out extra to ward off his challenge and lead home
a Coolmore one-two that was not entirely expected beforehand.
“She was always a nice filly last year, but was big and weak and has been
progressive this season,” trainer David Wachman said. “I always thought she
would be capable of this level and she is very straightforward, but pulls
herself up in front. She could go for the Ribblesdale S. ([Eng-G2] at Royal
Ascot June 18) and likes this ground.”
O’Brien was not championing the Derby claims of Giovanni Canaletto
afterwards.
“It looked like Epsom might come a bit quick for him and maybe the best thing
might be to go to Royal Ascot or come back here for the Irish Derby, but there
is a lot to be decided.”
In addition to her half-brother, Curvy has another Guineas winner in her
immediate family. Her dam is a half-sister to the dam of Two Thousand Guineas
(Eng-G1) scorer Footstepsinthesand and Phoenix S. (Ire-G1) winner Pedro the
Great.
Two years on from his defeat of Camelot in the Tattersalls Gold Cup (Ire-G1),
Al Kazeem (Dubawi) came full circle Sunday with a typically tenacious fourth
top-level success and first since returning from a failed spell at stud.
Runner-up to Cirrus des Aigles (Even Top) in the 10-furlong Prix Ganay
(Fr-G1) at Longchamp last time May 3, the seven-year-old started just minutes
after his Ganay conqueror had flopped uncharacteristically in the Prix d’Ispahan
(Fr-G1), but he proved that consistency is its own reward by upstaging a trio of
much younger rivals.
Settled in third by James Doyle early as Postponed (Dubawi) led, the bay was
asked to join the action as the ultimately disappointing The Grey Gatsby (Mastercraftsman)
tackled the longtime leader inside the last quarter-mile. As that 11-10 favorite
began to lose momentum, Al Kazeem muscled his way between the pair with a
furlong remaining and battled gamely as the closer, Fascinating Rock (Fastnet
Rock), launched his challenge out wide.
For Doyle, the win had a rare emotional depth coming on the horse that
provided his first in this category in 2013, and on whom he had captured the
Prince of Wales’s S. (Eng-G1) and Eclipse (Eng-G1) in the same year before
upstaging him aboard Noble Mission in the Champion S. (Eng-G1) in October.
“He’s done everything for me and standing here two years ago, it was a new
thing for me so I can’t speak highly enough of the horse,” he commented. “The
ground today was perfect. He doesn’t need any jar in it and I just felt it was a
bit holding in France the other day and he got a bit stuck. He showed his class
and traveled so well and when I got a gap I knew he’d take a bit of beating. He
has even perhaps quickened up a bit these days — at the three (pole) I was
cantering all over them.”
Trainer Roger Charlton added, “He’s amazing, looks amazing, is brave and all
you need in a good racehorse. I’m lucky to have one as good as that and to have
him back from stud. I’d say it’s my proudest moment. As long as he’s enjoying
himself, he’ll keep going and one day I’m sure he’ll go back to stud. It’s a
great credit to his constitution that he never runs a bad race. He’s never
looked at another filly and just gets on with his work.
“He’ll probably go next for either the Hardwicke S. ([Eng-G2] June 20) or the
Prince of Wales’s S. ([Eng-G1] June 17) and as he’s won a Group 1 here,
he’ll probably go for the Prince of Wales’s. A horse like him is good for
racing. Jumpers are around for a long time and having him has to be good for
racing.”
Fascinating Rock’s conditioner Dermot Weld said, “He ran the race of his life
and I’m very proud of him. If we’d got a drop of rain last night, I think he’d
have won as he just changed his legs once or twice in the last furlong and it’s
cost him the race. He’s a Group 1 horse and has always been so consistent.”
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