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| Let us begin with what has been happening in Europe the past week. There is so much that needs to be said about racing in America that a separate piece would make eminent sense. Epsom Derby preps are being held in quick succession and at the time of writing, there is one major prep left, the Dante Stakes at York to be run this week. York also hosts the Musidora Stakes, the final trial for the Oaks at Epsom on June 5. At Lingfield (in England) on Saturday, a Derby trial and an Oaks trial were held. The Oaks Trial, a race over 2300 metres, went to Midday, the 5-2 favorite. Sir Henry Cecil, the doyen of English trainers, has reason to smile now. The winning jockey was Tom Queally. Midday is an Oasis Dream filly. In the Derby Trial, the strongly fancied Age of Aquarius, from the Aidan O’Brien stable and the 8-11 chalk, had to pull all the stops to win by a neck over Montaff and Darryl Holland. John Murtagh was aboard Age of Aquarius, a son of Galileo. The last time a Lingfield Derby Trial winner went on to win the Derby at Epsom was in 1998. It was the Luca Cumani-trained High Rise. Olivier Peslier, the incomparable reinsman, was aboard High Rise. Chester held three days of racing last week. On Wednesday, the Chester Oaks was won by Perfect Truth, trained by Aidan O’Brien and ridden by John Murtagh. Perfect Truth, a 9-1 chance, is by Galileo out of Charroux by Darshaan. The Chester Oaks was a race over one mile three furlongs and 79 yards. I need a calculator to put it in metric terms. On Thursday, there was an upset in the 2400-metre Chester Vase. Colm O’Donoghue, the most affable guy you will ever find, made it all with Golden Sword, a 25-1 outsider. Aidan O’Brien trains Golden Sword. Finishing second was another O’Brien trainee, Masterofthehorse, ridden by John Murtagh and the 13-8 public choice. Golden Sword won by two lengths and the time was 2 33.8 seconds. Golden Sword is by High Chaparral, a Derby and Breeders’ Cup winner. Sitara by Salse is Golden Sword’s dam. Golden Sword is now a legitimate Derby prospect. At Lingfield on Friday, Frozen Fire, the Irish Derby winner in 2008, was the 8-11 favorite in the three-horse field that went postward in the Grade III Ormonde Stakes. Buccellati and William Buick won very easily. Andrew Balding trains Buccellati. Taking second was Scintillo, ridden by Richard Hughes. Frozen Fire finished last. In another race in the same card. South Easter took the Dee Stakes. The margin was a neck over Gitano Hernando who was a neck in front of Drumbeat, the 11-10 choice and Aidan O’Brien’s representative from Ireland. South Easter was a 6-1 chance. Here is news from Germany. At Cologne, the Schwarzgold-Rennen, a Grade III event for fillies, was won by Addicted, The winning rider was A Suborics. Addicted is trained by T Mundry. The 1600-metre race was run in 1 38.03 on soft ground. Addicted paid 79-10 on the tote. The German 2000 Guineas, the Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen, was run in the same program. Irian, the 3-2 favorite, came away victorious. Jockey Filip Minark rode. J Hirschberger trains Irian who is by Tertullian out of Iberi by Rainbow Quest. Let us switch our focus on to Ireland. On Sunday at Leopardstown, Colm O’Donoghue rode a smart race on Dixie Music, an Aidan O’Brien pupil, to win a 2000-metre maiden race. Trainer O’Brien also saddled the winner of the Grade II Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial. Fame And Glory, a 4-7 favorite, won by five lengths. Seamus Heffernan rode as John Murtagh was at Longchamp in Paris. Mourayan, ridden by Mick Kinane, took the runner-up berth. Fame And Glory, unbeaten in four starts, covered 2000 metres in 2 3.6 seconds. Fame And Glory is by Montjeu. The dam is Grayda who is by Shirley Heights. Fame And Glory moves into the (very) shortlist for the Epsom Derby on June 6. Galileo and High Chaparral won the Derrinstown Trial before winning at Epsom. Leopardstown also hosted the 1000 Guineas Trial. Mick Kinane steered the John Oxx-trained Baliyana, a 9-1 chance, to victory. The 7-4 favorite, Smart Coco was seventh of eight runners. Baliyana ran 1600 metres in 1 39.9 seconds. Dalakhani is Baliyana’s sire. Balanka by Alzao is the dam. The Aga Khan owns Baliyana. We now go to France. The scene is Longchamp in Paris on Sunday. Silver Frost, Christophe Soumillon up, won the Poule D’Essai Des Poulains-the French 2000 Guineas. Eleven ran in the 1600-metre race on ‘good’ ground. Y De Nicolay trains the winner. Silver Frost, winner of the Prix de Fontainbleau, franked that form. Soumillon lay ninth early and had the lead with 300 metres to go. Two lengths behind in second was Le Havre, the Prix de Djebel winner at Maisons Laffitte. Naaqoos, the top French freshman, was a neck away in third. Westphalia, John Murtagh up, was fourth. Silver Frost is by Verglas out of Hiddensilver out of Anabaa. The French 2000 Guineas was worth 221,903 pounds to the winner. The other big race on Sunday at Longchamp was the Poule D’Essai Des Pouliches, the French 1000 Guineas. Elusive Wave won it with Christophe Lemaire. Elusive Wave made it all and had plenty to offer when challenged. J C Rouget trains Elusive Wave. Rouget’s Tamazirte ran second with Ioritz Mendizabal. The 12-10 favorite, Fantasia was a disappointing third. A striking winner of the Nell Gwyn at Newmarket, Fantasia had good position but the filly had no response when let loose by Frankie Dettori. Dettori had ridden the Italian Derby winner on Saturday in Rome. Elusive Wave is by Elusive City out of Multicolor Wave by Rainbow Quest. On Saturday at Cappannelle Racecourse in Rome, the Godolphin runner, Mastery was triumphant in the Grade II Derby Italiano. Twenty one ran. Mastery, ridden by Frankie Dettori, won by a length and a half. Mastery was prominent all the way and struck the front with less than 200 to run. Mastery was a 5-2 chance in the 2200-metre race. Godolphin won the Italian Derby in 1998 with Central Park and again with Mukhalif in 1999. Mastery is by Sulamani, a multiple Grade I winner. Trainer Saeed Bin Suroor said, “he (Mastery) has run a big race. It was a tough contest on fast ground and he did it really well. We are looking at the English Derby. Mastery needs to be supplemented.” Overdose, the Hungarian star, will miss the Temple Stakes on May 23 at Haydock Park. Overdose, unbeaten in 12 outings, has had an abscess removed from an injured front left foot. Overdose is likely to return to training before month’s end and begin preparing for his Royal Ascot engagement. It is interesting to note that Overdose’s jockey uses the colors of the Hungarian flag. This is a ‘must read’ item from England. Moonlit Path, a six year-old jumper owned by Queen Elizabeth II, has tested positive for a banned medication. Trainer Nicky Henderson has been charged for breaching two medication rules. A hearing will be held in June. Trainer Henderson said this in his defence. “Substance concerned was administered by my vet entirely in the interest of the horse’s welfare, which is paramount. No intention to enhance the performance and it’s worth pointing out that the race in question was won by us with the odds-on Ravello Bay.” Investec, an investment bank, will sponsor the Epsom Derby for five years. A deal has been struck. The 2009 Derby Festival will be held on June 5 and June 6. Epsom went through a 38 million pound re-development program recently. Bradley Fried, CEO of Investec, made a statement. “We are delighted to be joining Epsom and the Derby Festival at the beginning of a new era. We know that, together, we will be able to make a great event even better.” Finally, a Grade I race was run at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan on Sunday. It was the 14th NHK Mile Cup. Jo Cappuccino, a gray sophomore colt, won it. Tokyo is a left handed course. The winning jockey was K Fujioka. The trainer is K Nakatake. The race was run in 1 32.4 and the winner was a 38-1 longshot. The favorite, the 23-10 Break Run Out, was unplaced. It was Jo Cappuccino’s first win in Group I company. It was the first Group I win for the jockey and the trainer. The race carried a purse of 196,360,000 yen. One US dollar gets 90 yen. |
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