In the driving rain and the heat of battle, His Highness The Aga Khan’s
Shareta put her experience to maximum effect to outlast The Fugue in Thursday’s Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks.
Runner-up
in the June 24 Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud when last seen, last year’s Arc
runner-up was in front initially under Christophe Lemaire before letting Was
take over on the home turn. Eventually wearing down that
rival and The Fugue in the final yards, the 2-1 second choice beat the latter by
a neck.
“She’s a great filly and typically suited to this kind of race,”
trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre commented. “We know she stays well, and many times
in France, the straight has been too short and she hasn’t had time to
accelerate.”
De Royer-Dupre has developed an expertise second to none in nurturing
The Aga Khan’s less-precocious talents down the years, and Shareta was just the
latest in a long line of projects at the start of last season. Tried in the Group
1 Prix de Diane in June 2011, the homebred bay managed a respectable seventh, beaten
just over four lengths in that Chantilly classic before taking the listed Prix
de Thiberville over 12 furlongs at Longchamp the following month and then the Group 3
Prix Minerve over a half-panel further at Deauville in August.
Having proved so
effective from the front in those two starts, she was unable to hold on in the
Group 1 Prix Vermeille back at the Bois de Boulogne and was third there in September
before outdoing her stable companion Sarafina and
finishing runner-up in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe over the same track and
trip. She was unable to get to the front when seventh in the Grade 1 Japan Cup at
Kyoto in November, and positive tactics failed to work on her return when third
under a penalty and over an inadequate 10-furlong trip in the Group 3 Prix Allez
France at Chantilly April 30.
Settled behind in the Group 2 Prix Corrida over an extra 100 meters at Saint-Cloud
May 28, her finishing effort came too late as she was nosed out of the win by
Solemia there. Back to front-running in the Grand Prix de
Saint-Cloud, she was outrun late on by Meandre, but still
managed to beat the two other fillies in the line-up Galikova and Danedream.
After setting steady fractions for the first half of this contest, she was
passed by Seamie Heffernan, who was intent on ensuring a stiffer stamina test on
Group 1 Epsom Oaks heroine Was rounding for the home straight. As the field crossed over
to the stands’ rail, it quickly boiled down to a three-horse contest with Was
holding on grimly as The Fugue closed in out wide and Shareta wound up into high
gear on the fence.
The Fugue looked as if she would shade it inside the final eighth, but
Shareta was able to stay on past the favorite in the final yards and was firmly
on top at the line.
“In the Arc last year, the ground was very firm and we had a lot of pace in
the race, which is what we needed for our filly, and as Danedream won the (Group
1) King
George the other day, it was top-level form,” de Royer-Dupre explained. “I
always felt she had the ability to be up there with the best of the fillies, but
we have to see about the colts. If the ground is too soft at the end of the
season, it will be not be the best for her.
“Christophe let her go to
the front, and she won because she stays. It is possible that she will go for
the Prix Vermeille (at Longchamp September 16) and the Arc if the ground is
right. She’s not a filly for America, as her action is too long and the track at
Santa Anita is too short.”
The Fugue’s trainer John Gosden was philosophical in defeat.
“She ran a great race and there are no excuses,” he offered. “She prefers
quicker ground and so will be aimed at the Breeders’ Cup, as she’ll get it
there.”
Gosden had endured a worse blow earlier on the card in the Group 2 Lowther
Stakes, as his even-money favorite Newfangled lost her action in the opening
stages and had to be pulled up with an injury. A potential superstar who had
dominated the Group 3 Albany at Royal Ascot, the juvenile filly was taken for a
scan for a suspected pelvic fracture.
While drama unfolded with Newfangled, Rosdhu Queen went on to post a
front-running victory.
Rosdhu Queen has been asked some serious questions in a short space of time
so far in her career, but has answered every call admirably and continued her
momentum by securing this prestigious affair for her Yorskhire-born owner and
trainer Steve Parkin and William Haggas, respectively. Sharp when off the mark
over five furlongs at Ripon July 21, the bay demonstrated the same
professionalism when following up in Newbury’s Listed St Hugh’s S. over slightly
further and was reappearing here just six days after that effort.
In front from
the outset, she was traveling strongly on the front end. As Richard Hughes began to squeeze inside the final quarter, the
leader began to veer right, but kept finding late to ward off Baileys Jubilee.
“Plan A was to drop her in, as she was always doing a bit too much at
Newbury,” Hughes said. “She hit the gate really fast and I wasn’t going to
interfere with her after that as she was on a nice, even keel. She wasn’t keen
and I got a soft lead. Initially when I went for her, she looked about, but as
soon as I gave her a smack, she galloped all the way. At the furlong pole, I
didn’t think I’d get home, but at the winning post I thought I could have gone
another 100 yards. I was impressed, because she did it the hard way and did it
well. She is a very quick filly.”
“We weren’t planning to lead,” Haggas said, “but he let her bowl along
and he did right not to pull her along. I didn’t see her as a Guineas filly this
morning, but I’ll have to look at it.
“She’s in the Cheveley Park Stakes (Group 1 at Newmarket September 29) and I’ve put her in
the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp (Group 1 on October 7) also,” Haggas continued.
“She’ll
probably run in the Flying Childers Stakes (Group 2 at Doncaster September 14) next with a
penalty, which will negate her sex allowance, but there is no point going
backwards. Lots of Invincible Spirits train on extremely well, but I don’t think
we’ll be waiting for next year with her.”
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