A Glorious Encounter As Spencer Shines

[Wandering Eyes]

A “Group 3 bully” was how trainer David Simcock described Desert Encounter (Ire) (Halling) after the 7-year-old had put Mirage Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the shade in Friday’s G3 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate Glorious S. at Goodwood. Paired with Jamie Spencer in a marriage made in heaven, last year’s GI Canadian International hero sat last early and was travelling notably strongly behind last year’s winner Mirage Dancer in the final two furlongs. Finally allowed to swoop by his rider, Desert Encounter, who was last seen finishing third in the July 11 G2 Princess of Wales’s S., brushed aside that 4-6 favourite and surged away for a comprehensive 2 1/4-length success. “I told Jamie just to have fun on him,” Simcock said of the generously-priced 15-2 shot. “I was surprised at Newmarket, as I thought he was not quite there that day but I knew he was there today. “August, September and October are the months for him–he’s been asked to dance some pretty tough dances and is quick to say no if it’s too tough. In this kind of race, with no 3-year-olds and with everything exposed he’s quite good.”

Desert Encounter’s first Group 1 test came in the 2017 Eclipse and he proved well up to the standard when third there, but in his next five outings at that level was unable to repeat the trick. Given a confidence boost when taking Windsor’s Listed August S. in August, he ran third in Newbury’s G3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup a month later before his Woodbine heroics. Third on his seasonal bow in the Mar. 9 G2 Dubai City of Gold, the bay beat no rivals in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic three weeks later and the G1 Prince of Wales’s S. at Royal Ascot on June 19 prior to his much-improved effort in the July 11 Princess of Wales’s S.

Simcock is planning the same path back to his title defence at Woodbine. “It will be Windsor [for the Aug. 24 Listed August S.] and/or Newbury [for the Sept. 21 G3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup] and then Canada,” he said. “He’ll go there with a good chance again.”

Teddy Grimthorpe was satisfied with the effort of Mirage Dancer and said, “The pace was a little bit muddling, but he was travelling well enough. He was produced with every chance and just found one too good. We will have a think about where we go next.”

Pedigree Notes

Desert Encounter’s dam La Chicana (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who also has the unraced 2-year-old filly Jadou (Ire) (Slade Power {Ire}) and a yearling filly by Vadamos (Fr), is a daughter of the G3 Princess Royal S. winner and G1 Prix Royal Oak runner-up Always Friendly (GB) (High Line {GB}). That makes her a full-sister to the G2 Grand Prix de Chantilly winner Allied Powers (Ire), the G2 Premio Ribot-winning sire Dane Friendly (GB) (Danehill) and G3 Craven S. third Eastern Sun (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).

Friday, Goodwood, Britain
L’ORMARINS QUEEN’S PLATE GLORIOUS S.-G3, £100,000, Goodwood, 8-2, 4yo/up, 11f 218yT, 2:34.75, g/f.
1–DESERT ENCOUNTER (IRE), 127, g, 7, by Halling
1st Dam: La Chicana (Ire), by Invincible Spirit (Ire)
2nd Dam: Always Friendly (GB), by High Line (GB)
3rd Dam: Wise Speculation, by Mr. Prospector
(32,000gns Ylg ’13 TAOCT). O-Abdulla Al Mansoori; B-Tally-Ho Stud (IRE); T-David Simcock; J-Jamie Spencer. £56,710. Lifetime Record: GISW-Can, G1SP-Eng & GSP-UAE, 28-9-4-7, $869,262. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mirage Dancer (GB), 127, h, 5, Frankel (GB)–Heat Haze (GB), by Green Desert. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute. £21,500.
3–Baghdad (Fr), 127, c, 4, Frankel (GB)–Funny Girl (Ire), by Darshaan (GB). (€300,000 Ylg ’16 ARAUG). O-Mohammed bin Hamad Khalifa Al Attiya; B-SCEA Haras de Saint Pair, Eric Puerari & Oceanic Bloodstock Inc (FR); T-Mark Johnston. £10,760.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1HF, HF. Odds: 7.50, 0.65, 2.50.
Also Ran: Aquarium (GB), Prince of Arran (GB). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

The post A Glorious Encounter As Spencer Shines appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article