Newmarket Faithful Anticipate Vintage Middle Park Showdown

[Wandering Eyes]

Newmarket’s “Future Champions Day” is not for another fortnight, but the track stages a renewal of the G1 Juddmonte Middle Park S. on Saturday that would befit that title in its own right. While the six-furlong highlight has generally come to live in the shade of the Dewhurst of late, there will be deflation all around if none of the latest protagonists do not slot into the same category as the likes of the race’s best recent winners Oasis Dream (GB), Dream Ahead and Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never). A trio of unbeaten colts from France, Britain and Ireland in Earthlight (Ire) (Shamardal), Mums Tipple (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) and Siskin (First Defence) respectively will be pitched against each other and a far-from outclassed remainder who boast wins in the G2 Gimcrack S., G2 Champagne S., G2 Richmond S. and G3 Round Tower S.

Earthlight hails from the Andre Fabre stable successful in this in 1990 and 1992 with Lycius and Zieten and it is notable how focused the Chantilly maestro is when opting to send horses to this Suffolk venue. Like fellow Godolphin luminary Pinatubo (Ire), he is a prolific son of Shamardal with abundant speed but stamina on the dam’s side who has so far demonstrated the kind of versatility that marks out only the very best. After wins at Maisons-Laffitte June 19 and Deauville July 2, the homebred exceeded at the latter course during its month-long festival when winning the July 28 G3 Prix de Cabourg by four lengths and a heavy-ground G1 Prix Morny by a neck from what will probably be the G1 Cheveley Park S. winner in Raffle Prize (Ire) (Slade Power {Ire}) Aug. 18.

Fabre has this week outlined that he has concerns about how Earthlight will handle the undulations of this track and the bay will have to be alert and going forward running downhill during that crucial final quarter-mile surge. He was also wondering on Friday whether he might be found wanting against more speed-orientated rivals. “Hopefully the draw is okay and I think the ground should be fine for him after the bit of rain they’ve had in Newmarket,” he said. “That is not a concern. There are some other very good horses in the race. Our horse is in good condition and everything is fine, so we hope for the best. The likes of Siskin and Mums Tipple look like they may have a little more speed than him, as he is the type of colt who might be able to stay a bit further next year.”

Like Earthlight, Mums Tipple is also unproven on this type of terrain having produced a remarkable effort on York’s flat straight when winning the Aug. 22 Goffs UK Premier Yearling S. by 11 lengths. What he did beforehand at Ascot is also commendable, as he beat Shadwell’s subsequent Listed Flying Scotsman S. scorer Molatham (GB) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) and other subsequent winners in a novice contest July 26, but this is another dimension for Marian Lyons and Patricia Zanelli’s bargain purchase.    Richard Hannon also saddles Cheveley Park Stud’s Gimcrack and Champagne-winning TDN Rising Star Threat (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), who will adore a strong tempo if it comes about. With Mums Tipple the type to be on the front foot, a potential Ballydoyle pacemaker in the useful King Neptune (War Front), and his forward-going Aug. 1 Richmond conqueror Golden Horde (Ire) (Lethal Force {Ire}) in attendance a searching gallop is a likely scenario.

Their trainer Richard Hannon said, “They both deserve their chance. It’s fabulous–it’s going to be one of the best Middle Parks we have seen for years. It will be a very intriguing race. Mums Tipple is the horse with the ‘wow’ factor, but Threat is the horse that has been there and done it at group-race level with a penalty and he shouldn’t have a problem coming back in trip. It is nice to have two good bullets to fire. There is the French horse to worry about and Siskin and all sorts of others. It’s lovely to be part of it, but you want to win it and I’m very hopeful that one of them will go there and win.”

Khalid Abdullah’s Siskin has gone from the May 24 Listed Marble Hill S. to the June 29 G2 Railway S. to the Aug. 9 G1 Phoenix S. with a lethal mix of high-class ability and unshakeable temperament and yet he is only third favourite with the bookmakers at present. That may underestimate the race’s ultimate professional and he is another who has gone on differing surfaces, overcoming soft ground when beating TDN Rising Star Monarch of Egypt (American Pharoah) in the Phoenix. He will relish the slick surface and Ger Lyons will be a disappointed man if he does not make his significant presence felt.

His owner-breeder’s racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe said, “I think this is the best two-year-old race of the season so far in terms of strength in depth. It’s very solid and you could make a good case for nearly every horse in the field–it will take a lot of winning. Siskin is in good form and has been straightforward–Ger is very pleased with him. We decided not to run him in the National Stakes as we were worried the ground might go too soft and we also felt sticking to six furlongs was the right call at this stage. I think Siskin would prefer good, fast ground to be seen at his best. There hasn’t been much rain in Newmarket so far, so I don’t think we’ll be using that as an excuse.”

Lyons added, “I think that Siskin is as well as we have ever had him–we couldn’t be happier with him. He’s a very straightforward horse and thus far everything has gone to plan. I will be very surprised if either the course at Newmarket or travelling outside Ireland for the first time bother him–my only concern is the opposition. What Mums Tipple achieved at York was seriously jaw-dropping and I have huge respect for Earthlight, the other group one winner in the field, who is in the hands of one of the best trainers on planet Earth.”

The Middle Park comes 35 minutes after the G1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park S., where the aforementioned Raffle Prize bids to stake her claim to champion juvenile filly status following her wins in the G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot June 19 and G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. on the July Course here July 12. Earthlight proved her master in the Morny, but only by a neck and she had the group 2 winners Golden Horde, Arizona (Ire) (No Nay Never) and A’Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) in arrears and the subsequent G3 Prix Eclipse winner Devil (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) beaten stone-cold in last.

Charlie Johnston said, “She’s had a phenomenal year and was just touched off in France last time. If she runs up to the level of her last three runs, she should really win, to be honest. She’s proved she’s versatile ground-wise. I think she’d prefer top-of-the-ground as she has so much speed, but she has won a Queen Mary in soft ground and finished a close second in a Prix Morny in very soft ground, so you can’t say it’s a problem for her. If anything, we’d have liked the race to have been two or three weeks ago as she was screaming out for a run at home and we’ve just had to keep a lid on her. She seems in the same form she was in during the summer and if she runs up to her best she should be very hard to beat.”

Andre Fabre has a line on Raffle Prize and it is significant that he puts up Lady Bamford’s Tropbeau (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) against her. Smooth and authoritative when taking the seven-furlong G3 Prix Six Perfections and G2 Prix du Calvados at Deauville July 27 and Aug. 17, she will need to press on from the outset to make her stamina count. “I’ll be delighted if she can finish in the first three,” Fabre said, “I think she is a good, sweet filly and her form is good–the filly she beat easily at Deauville won a listed race at Maisons-Laffitte on Wednesday. The drop back to six furlongs may be a bit sharp for her, but I am hoping that she will make up into a Guineas filly. This should be a good rehearsal with next year in mind.”

Clipper Logistics’ G2 Lowther S. winner Living In the Past (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {Ire}) also likes to bowl along on the front end and she comes into the equation after her defeat of Liberty Beach (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) in that Aug. 22 York contest. Trainer Karl Burke commented, “She worked very well earlier in the week and we’re looking forward to seeing her run. I just hope the ground doesn’t go soft.” Ballydoyle’s duo include Etoile (War Front), a relative of Pour Moi (Ire) who managed to win the G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies’ Sprint S. on her sole start at Naas May 19 and remains an unknown quantity.

Newmarket’s card begins with the G2 Juddmonte Royal Lodge S., where Qatar Racing’s Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) steps up to a mile after a strong-finishing second to Positive (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) in the G3 Solario S. at Sandown Aug. 31. Denied a nose on that occasion, he will have more time to organise here and trainer Andrew Balding has some smart juveniles to measure him against. “Obviously it was a smashing run last time at Sandown,” he said. “We’re delighted with the way he’s come out of the race. The extra furlong should suit him. I think he’s developing into a really nice horse and hopefully he’ll run a big race.”

Fitri Hay’s Highland Chief (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) has not been seen since finishing third behind Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) and Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in the Listed Chesham S. over seven furlongs at Royal Ascot June 22, but the Paul Cole stable won this in 2013 with Berkshire (Ire) (Mount Nelson {GB}) who was also coming off a lengthy break after that same race. “He’s in great form. He’s strengthened and is looking good,” the trainer’s son Oliver said. “He’s working well, he’s fit and should put up a good performance. He got knocked over in the Chesham, otherwise he’d have been closer. The mile should suit him. He should run a big race and he’s an exciting horse.”

Also featuring are the Sept. 7 Listed Ascendant S. first and second Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) and Sound of Cannons (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) who may be underestimated. They both have faster ground to contend with here, but Pyledriver scored on a surface that was officially firm on debut at Salisbury July 13 and may be one of those versatile types. “In my opinion, he wants faster ground,” trainer William Muir said. “PJ [McDonald] said the feel he gave him was that of a top-class horse. He’s 16.1 and only a frame of a horse. When he fills it completely and strengthens up, he’ll be a very nice horse. We said we’d give him one more run and we’ve decided on this.”

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