Cosmic Comeback Diverted to Kempton as Ground Dries Out for Classic Trials

[Wandering Eyes]

An unusually dry March, with those conditions carrying on into April, will be causing headaches for trainers and clerks of courses alike, and it is one reason that we will be seeing the return of Juddmonte's Cosmic Year (GB) (Kingman {GB}) at Kempton instead of in Saturday's G3 Greenham Stakes.

The colt's trainer Harry Charlton has taken advantage of the BHA's interactive race programme, which saw the installation of an extra 7f novice contest this Wednesday evening, in order to give the half-brother to former stable star Time Test (GB) an important prep run on the road to the 2,000 Guineas. 

“He's in good nick and he's ready,” Charlton told TDN after working a group of horses at Kempton on Tuesday morning. “We've had the Greenham in mind all winter – that was the target. This novice race wasn't even in the calendar, but when we looked at the weather and then saw that this race had popped up we thought it might suit.”

He added of Newbury, which stages the two-day Greenham meeting this Friday and Saturday, “We walked the course on Sunday and we wouldn't have run him on that day on the track, but that is not to say that Newbury won't have it right by Saturday. But we had to make a decision about Kempton by Monday. [Newbury's clerk of the course] George Hill has been very helpful and he has a plan that realistically it's going to be good to firm, good in places for Friday, and I don't think they'll water on Friday night, so it's likely to be good to firm on Saturday. 

“It's not that he can't run on that ground, but I didn't particularly want to run him first time out on that ground. It's a long old year.”

The 15 entries for the Greenham Stakes, one of two Classic trials on Newbury's Saturday card, along with the Fred Darling Stakes, include two other Juddmonte colts: Jonquil (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who joined Andrew Balding's stable upon the retirement of Sir Michael Stoute, and the G3 Solario Stakes winner Field Of Gold (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), trained by John and Thady Gosden.

Charlton continued, “On top of that, Jonquil was always going to run for Andrew and then John decided to enter Field Of Gold there instead of for the Craven. We came to the conclusion that, given the ground and three possible Juddmonte runners, we were the one with the alternative – we have the option of going to a novice whereas they don't – so it was a combination of factors really.”

He added of Cosmic Year, who won his sole start at Sandown last September by six and a half lengths, “I would have loved to run him in the Greenham as we would probably have learnt more. We don't really know what we are up against at Kempton but we'll see. 

“He did win well last year. I don't think we necessarily expected him to do what he did because he'd never been allowed to go past a lead horse at home. He'd aways worked on the bridle so you're unsure of what you will see off the bridle. The second [Rock d'Oro] had run well first time out and has gone on and won in America, and the third [Quai De Bethune] won well at Kempton and got a mark in the 90s, so there is some substance to it.”

Cosmic Year is currently around 8/1 third-favourite for the 2,000 Guineas on May 3.

“We've been very happy with him all winter,” Charlton said. “He's moving great and we're excited to get him going. The Guineas market is a bit unique. People somehow almost get bored by horses that they saw run six times at two and may forget that eight or so in the Guineas have won Group 1s. People are always looking for something new and that brings in these lightly raced horses, and whether they are right or wrong, I don't know. We'll find out in the next month.”

Beckhampton is also home to another well-related Kingman colt in Kikkuli (GB), the half-brother to Frankel (GB) and the final foal of their celebrated dam, Kind (GB) (Danehill), who was trained by Charlton's father, Roger.

Winner of the Alex Scott Maiden at Newmarket last spring, and subsequently runner-up in the G3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot, Kikkuli is being primed to return in the Listed Spring Trophy at Haydock on May 10.

“He is in good form and has done very well physically. We'll be hopeful that he can step up on what he did last year,” said the trainer. 

Another Juddmonte representative, the six-year-old gelding Okeechobee (GB) (Time Test {GB}), who was last seen winning the G3 Gordon Richards Stakes almost a year ago, is also about to resume.

Charlton said on Tuesday, “Okeechobee worked this morning at Kempton and is headed for the Listed race at Kempton [Magnolia Stakes] on 21 April.”

Kon Tiki Guineas Dream 'Alive For Now'

Cosmic Year won't be the only Classic aspirant in action at Kempton on Wednesday, with plenty of potential on show among the dozen runners for what looks a red-hot fillies' novice earlier on the card, writes Adam Houghton.

For context, six of the 12 runners arrive having won their most recent start, including two daughters of Night Of Thunder (Ire), a stallion who is enjoying an exceptional run of results with his three-year-olds in Europe. Already this year he's been responsible for 15 individual winners from that age group, including a string of impressive debut scorers, with the likes of Sunly (GB) and Gladius (Ire) adding their names to that list in the last few days alone.

Of Night Of Thunder's Kempton runners, Life Is Beautiful (GB) appeals as a likely market leader for John and Thady Gosden, lining up over the same course and distance as when making a winning debut of her own back in November. Lady Bamford's homebred looked better the further she went on that occasion, ultimately winning by three quarters of a length, and her entries in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix de Diane suggest she is held in high regard by her powerful connections.

That all points to Life Is Beautiful being a formidable opponent on Wednesday, but one trainer who is not backing down from the challenge is Jane Chapple-Hyam. She saddles an unbeaten Night Of Thunder filly of her own in Kon Tiki (GB), who justified short odds in good style when making a successful debut in a 7f fillies' novice at Wolverhampton in December.

“On a tight track like that, she found a good turn of foot with a furlong to run,” Chapple-Hyam said of that win. “It was impressive for a big filly to be able to do that. She's wintered well and she's come on in strength, so we're hoping for a good performance at Kempton.”

 

Kon Tiki wins at Wolverhampton in December | Racingfotos

 

But did the Newmarket trainer expect the competition to be quite so strong?

“I think so, because the availability of races at this point in the season is a bit limited,” she explained. “It's a very competitive race and it was a toss of a coin whether we went here or to a trial like the Nell Gwyn.

“Do you want to run in the Nell Gwyn on good-to-firm going for your second start and not have the experience that the others in that race will have? Probably not, so I think we've taken the sensible route by going for the novice.”

A 220,000gns purchase at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Kon Tiki is the second foal out of the G3 March Stakes winner and G2 Lillie Langtry Stakes second Maid Up, whose first runner, Champagne Prince (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), has a BHA rating of 107 after his exploits on the all-weather for owner Peter Harris and Chapple-Hyam this winter.

“Champagne Prince is unusual for a Lope De Vega,” Chapple-Hyam said of the colt who can count December's Listed Wild Flower Stakes at Kempton among his five career wins. “He's stocky and strong, he's not tall and lean. You wouldn't think he's a colt, because he's very laid back.

“He's totally different to Kon Tiki, and their characters are totally different as well, but they're both lovely horses. That's what attracted Mr Harris when he purchased Kon Tiki, because he had Champagne Prince and he thought that was a good omen.”

Both that pedigree and the way Kon Tiki shaped at Wolverhampton suggests she'll relish the step up to 1m at Kempton, with her trainer not ruling out the prospect of her staying further still as the season progresses. First and foremost, however, Chapple-Hyam is keen to get Kempton out of the way before considering future plans with a filly thought worthy of a 1,000 Guineas entry. 

Night Of Thunder, of course, is already responsible for the short-priced favourite for that race in Desert Flower (Ire) as the Darley stallion seeks a first British Classic winner, back at the scene of his most famous success in the 2,000 Guineas of 2014, when inflicting the sole career defeat on Cosmic Year's sire, Kingman, at odds of 40/1.

Kon Tiki is trading at even bigger odds for her possible Classic assignment as things stand, but that could all change if the bubble is still intact after a race not to be missed at 5.40pm on Wednesday.

“She's in there [the 1,000 Guineas] as, what, a 66/1 shot, and that's probably about right,” Chapple-Hyam summed up. “I'm sure the staff have all had a bit of a nibble, because we've had a cold winter and you have to look forward to something.

“I have belief in her, but you find out what you've got on the racetrack, don't you? The dream is still alive for now, but it could be all over once they go over the line tomorrow night – who knows?”

 

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