The Weekly Wrap: Champions To Savour

[Wandering Eyes]

Six years after Frankel (GB) signed off in the Champion S., Cracksman (GB) emulated his sire to become only the second horse to win consecutively at QIPCO British Champions Day, his back-to-back victories in the same race coming at distances of seven lengths and six lengths respectively.

Soft ground in each of the last two years for the day that marks the end of the Champions Series certainly played to his strengths and made the manner of his wins visually impressive but, nonetheless, this should in no way detract from the career of a colt who has consistently been a credit to his connections and has assisted in marking a golden era for the Oppenheimer family’s Hascombe & Valiant Studs so soon after it was represented by Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}).

Having won his sole start at two, Cracksman was pitched straight into the Investec Derby Trial at Epsom for his 3-year-old debut, coping well with the course’s idiosyncrasies to earn a shot at the big race itself. Ironically in hindsight, it was the good to soft ground at York on Dante S. day which was cited as a reason for his non-appearance and Cracksman went straight to the Derby, briefly leading the field in the final furlong before going down a length to the fast-closing Wings Of Eagles (Fr) and Cliffs Of Moher (Ire).

It has become all too easy to knock the Derby form, but this correspondent will not be swayed in believing that the race continues to be the most important in the calendar. As unfashionable as it may be these days, a racehorse’s true ability can’t really be judged until his or her 4-year-old career (similarly stallions should not be judged until they have had at least three crops of runners) and in looking back at last year’s Derby field, the strength in depth is unquestionable.

True, the winner sadly retired on his next start when suffering a career-ending injury, having finished only half a length behind the winner, Capri (Ire). Separating the two Aidan O’Brien runners was Cracksman. Capri, who had finished sixth at Epsom, went on to add the St Leger to his Classic haul.

This season’s spring racing in Melbourne has already been enhanced by two of last year’s Derby colts—fifth-placed Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) has won Group 1 races at Meydan, Munich and Caulfield since then, while Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who finished eighth, won Saturday’s G1 Caulfield Cup and will carry top weight in the Melbourne Cup. Less than two lengths behind him at the weekend was Cliffs Of Moher (now racing as Thecliffsofmoher in Australia). And let’s not forget Rekindling (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}), who was 16^th of 18 in the Derby but progressed in astonishing fashion throughout the season to take last year’s Melbourne Cup.

Gosden’s Glorious Autumn
John Gosden may currently have an embarrassment of riches within his Clarehaven Stables but there is little to embarrass the newly crowned champion trainer in his handling of a clutch of his star names in the last few weeks.

At a Newmarket press call ahead of the Dubai Future Champions Day, members of the Fourth Estate were invited to see the ante-post favourite Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in his morning workout on Warren Hill.

It would have been easy for Gosden to have brought the juvenile out with a lead horse or two and cantered them separately to his main group but instead he treated us to a Group 1 walk of fame. At one stage, a quartet of colts fanning back down the hill was led by Cracksman and completed by Roaring Lion, Stradivarius (Ire) and the youngblood Too Darn Hot bringing up the rear—not a position he is accustomed to on the racecourse. Among the fillies were Enable (GB), Coronet (GB) and Lah Ti Dar (GB). All four colts went on to win a Group 1 on their next start—three on Champions Day—and of course the tale of Enable’s second Arc victory needs no retelling, while Coronet and Lah Ti Dar took second and third behind Magical (Ire) on Saturday.

With such a wealth of talented bloodlines at his disposal, Gosden should perhaps be expected to be delivering such results with frequency but bringing them all to the boil for their respective end-of-season targets is nevertheless an achievement worthy of recognition.

One Last Roar?
Of the above-mentioned, Roaring Lion apparently still has one last challenge to face on the racecourse, and it is one which his trainer will doubtless relish as he heads back to the colt’s birthplace to tackle the Breeders’ Cup—either the Classic or possibly taking on Enable in the Turf.

Whatever happens next there is little doubt that Roaring Lion will not be named Horse of the Year in Britain ahead of the start of his second career at Tweenhills next season—only his stablemate Stradivarius can challenge him for the title.

While some horses run in the Derby and can leave the rest of the season behind them, Roaring Lion used decent efforts in the Guineas and the Derby as a springboard for a staggeringly successful high summer and autumn, bouncing from Sandown to York to Leopardstown and Ascot with all the vigour of Tigger. Four Group 1 races are now his, perhaps a Grade 1 will come his way too, and it’s off to stud he must go. Oh how we’ll miss him.

While we await news of Cracksman’s stud plans—a job he is apparently anticipating with relish according to various comments from John Gosden this season regarding the colt’s growing interest in nearby fillies—at least 18 new stallions have already been confirmed in Europe for next year. They include three sons of America’s champion sire elect, Kitten’s Joy. Joining Roaring Lion in Europe will be the previous year’s Eclipse winner Hawkbill, who will presumably stand for Darley at either Dalham Hall Stud or Kildangan Stud, while Sheikh Hamdan’s five-time Group winner Taareef joins the roster at Haras du Mézeray.

Lightning Strikes A Chord
Roaring Lion’s retirement to Tweenhills will perhaps overshadow his fellow new recruit there but Lightning Spear (GB) should certainly be given plenty of consideration by breeders. Not only is he an impressive physical specimen instantly reminiscent of his own redoubtable sire Pivotal (GB)—whose sire-of-sires credentials have been taken to a new high by Siyouni (Fr)—but he appears to have a rock-solid temperament.

From my home in the middle of Newmarket I spend many mornings wandering about on the heath and pass David Simcock’s string regularly. Lightning Spear is unmissable, and certainly his apparently impeccable behaviour may owe plenty to the riding skills of the trainer’s wife, Jennie. But for a 7-year-old entire to be still as focused on the job of being a professional racehorse as Lightning Spear is a huge credit to the horse as well as to the Simcocks, who took charge of him after his 4-year-old season. Such an equable temperament should be highly desirable in a future stallion, along with the fact that he has continued to perform with such credit over six racing seasons.

Sands Can Shift
When Sands Of Mali first came to prominence last year by winning the G2 Gimcrack S., he had a few people scratching their heads over his pedigree. Bred by Simon Urizzi, he has Alain Chopard’s Haras des Faunes stamped right through him. His sire Panis and broodmare sire Indian Rocket (GB) are both residents past and present of the farm based just outside Pomerol in the Bordeaux region. The current roster has Kheleyf, Vale Of York (Ire) and Indian Rocket’s son Captain Chop (Fr) alongside Panis and it will soon include Born To Sea (Ire), who is being relocated from Ireland.

The Chopard emphasis has always been on speed, though one of his best known graduates internationally is the now Australian-based Gailo Chop (Fr) (Deportivo {GB}), who has recorded both his Group 1 wins over 10 furlongs.

Sands Of Mali, however, fit the Faunes default perfectly, and he appears to be as hardy as he is fast. He started this season by winning the G3 Prix Sigy at Chantilly on April 13, going on to take the G2 Sandy Lane S. at York in May before chasing home Eqtidaar (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) when runner-up in the G1 Commonwealth Cup. He’s been farther down the field in three Group 1 sprints since then but bounced back with aplomb to defeat no less a rival than Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in Saturday’s G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint.

He should know the Ascot straight well by now. After being bought by Con Marnane for €20,000 at the Osarus September Yearling Sale held not far from Haras des Faunes, he was sent to the first breeze-up of the season, Tattersalls Ireland’s sale, held at Ascot racecourse.

Matt Coleman, who selected him from the sale for the Cool Silk Partnership, recalls, “He was a tall, leggy, shell of a horse really and he toed out. As he has matured this year he has turned into a magnificent specimen. His chest had broadened and he no longer turns out, he is now perfectly correct.”

Despite not being the perfect physical specimen in his juvenile days, Sands Of Mali impressed Coleman and Peter and Corinne Swann of the Cool Silk Partnership, who were on hand to see him breeze.

The agent adds, “He was the first horse to breeze in Europe that year and he breezed over the same strip over which he won on Saturday. We watched all the breezes and at the end we turned to each other and agreed that the first horse we had seen was the best. It was a good thing that Peter and Corinne were there as I’m not sure I’d have been able to convince them to buy a son of Panis over the phone.

“It’s fantastic for them as they’ve had success with horses like Prince Of Lir (Ire) and Darkanna (Ire) but this is their first Group 1 winner. Of course there has been plenty of interest in him from different studs but if he stays in training a long-term hope would be to go to Sydney next year for The Everest.”

Dance Backs Doncaster
Forgive me if you’ve heard this one before—and you will have if you’re a regular Weekly Wrap reader—but a personal concern is the increasing marginalisation of Doncaster racecourse. Its place in the Arena Racing portfolio may be a factor, but at this rate, the home of the oldest Classic appears to be in danger of being erased from playing any meaningful part in the racing programme.

There’s no doubt that Champions Day has an increasingly important role in Britain’s late season but we must not be fooled into thinking that the Flat season ends there. It begins at Donny with the Lincoln meeting, and it ends back in Yorkshire with the November Handicap, on which day champions were formerly crowned. This weekend sees the final Group 1 of the British Turf season, the Vertem Futurity Trophy, backed for many a year by the Racing Post but now under new sponsorship, thanks to John Dance, who has enjoyed a stellar season with his four-time Group 1 winner Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}).

“Vertem Stockbrokers is all about building something for the future,” said Dance when his company’s association with the race was announced. “In our business we aim to provide growth and protection to clients’ assets, and in terms of this sponsorship, not only are we supporting the future stars of the sport, but we are equally delighted to be helping Doncaster develop the future heritage of this historic race by reinstating ‘Futurity’ in its title.”

Let’s hope others take a similar view of Doncaster’s worth, but in the meantime we send our congratulations to this season’s champions named at Ascot on Saturday: Silvestre de Sousa, Jason Watson, John Gosden and, for the 13^th time as champion owner, Godolphin.

 

 

 

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