By Tom Frary
Having sent the pundits jumping up and down when registering fast fractions en route to a five-length Newmarket debut success, TDN Rising Star Calyx (GB) (Kingman {GB}) justified the boldness of John Gosden to come to the G2 Coventry S. just 10 days after that effort by supplying another Juddmonte spectacular at Royal Ascot. Always travelling with vigour behind Cosmic Law (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Indigo Balance (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) on the stand's side, the heavily-supported 2-1 favourite surged clear of his group under Frankie Dettori from two out and at the line had a length and a neck to spare over the far-side bosses Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) and Sergei Prokofiev (Scat Daddy). A total of 6 1/2 lengths in front of the nearest peer on his side in Blown By Wind (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Calyx rates as a serious Coventry winner in anybody's book and Gosden is aware he has something special on his hands. “We've won this race before, but he does make you get up in the morning,” he said. “His father was exceptionally talented and Calyx has all of those attributes.”
Calyx could hardly have given his Royal Ascot-winning sire a greater lift-off when towering over his rivals up the July Course as he himself had done on his debut five years earlier. Earning similar plaudits all round after that ostentatious display, he had exited the encounter in such ebullient mood that his normally cautious handler was forced into running here. Despite his racecourse inexperience and the fact that he would have to cope with this tempestuous atmosphere while still raw, Calyx was the only one the punters wanted to know and long-time ante-post favourite Sergei Prokofiev went on an outward drift in the market as a result. Quickly away like the pure natural he is, the Juddmonte homebred had an ideal target up ahead as the Woodcote winner Cosmic Law set off in the clear but that rival was unable to take him much further than halfway. Frankie faced a quandary there, but he really had no other choice than to let his mount go at the point that Ryan Moore was well adrift and in a pocket on Ballydoyle's main contender across the way. Delivering the same propulsion he had on debut, Calyx was soon beyond recall and although Sergei Prokofiev made up notable ground late on it was just as significant how the Newbury maiden winner Advertise performed over there too. The recent Phoenix Thoroughbred acquisition outstayed the eventual third to make up a classy trifecta of colts who are already almost certainly of group 1 standard in a strong renewal of this ever-prestigious affair.
“I think the high draw might not be the best draw, as in the Queen Anne low numbers were first, second and third, so I couldn't believe that Calyx hung on like he did,” Gosden continued. “It was a tough ordeal for him to race on his own on just his second start. If he had horses to race with him, I think that would have been better. It was a big achievement and he is worth more than the winning margin of a length to say the least. He's a bit of show-off and I have to give him a bit of time now. His father never ran until July, whereas this boy has been out in June.” Attentions were naturally turned towards the 2000 Guineas afterwards and Gosden was not ruling out that possibility for the speedy and precocious winner. “I don't see why not,” he said when asked about the mile Classic. “He's rateable and was relaxed enough early here and has a good bit of scope. At the moment, let's see if we can win a [G1] Prix Morny [at Deauville Aug. 19] with him and then we will think about stepping up a bit later on. He's a lovely horse to be around. Like his jockey, he is a bit full of himself.”
Frankie Dettori, who was recording the first part of an opening day treble from three rides and his 57th Royal winner in the process, was also smitten. “He's pretty special. He's still a bit green, a bit quirky, but he has a real natural talent,” he explained. “My two lead horses kind of ran out of petrol and Calyx was going so easily that I had to make my own way home because it is very hard to judge how close the other side are. To be able to put the race to bed between the three and the one is pretty spectacular. Lady Aurelia over five furlongs was sensational, but over six furlongs he is right up there.”
Martyn Meade was delighted with the performance of the runner-up, who won on his side, but was left wondering what might have been had the field not split. “He's run a fantastic race, because he's a horse for another day,” he commented. “It's a bonus to be able to run him so early in the summer and he will have learned a lot from that. Whether he was drawn on the right side or not doesn't matter now, but it's quite difficult if the runners split and you are racing away from the horse who is making the running. When it came to the race on our side of the track he did it well. He showed a bit of greenness, but what he did is the sign of a good horse–he's not just a two-year-old who came here for a day in the sun, but is a horse with a future. I'm quite a believer in taking things slowly, but we'll see how he is at home–maybe the way he went here suggests we should go again and we will certainly consider it.”
Interestingly, Calyx's dam Helleborine (GB) (Observatory) also flashed notable talent at two and looked a potential star when winning the G3 Prix d'Aumale, but after finishing second in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac never reached those heights. Her full-sister was the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup heroine African Rose (GB), but she produced another exciting juvenile in the G3 Princess Margaret S. winner Fair Eva (GB) (Frankel {GB}) who also failed to go on at three. His second dam, the G3 Lancashire Oaks third New Orchid (Quest For Fame {GB}) is a half-sister to Distant Music (Distant View), who captured the G1 Dewhurst S. in his first season but despite showing smart form at three was also unable to break through in the major league again. Helleborine's colt foal is by another Royal Ascot sensation in Muhaarar (GB).
Tuesday, Royal Ascot, Britain
COVENTRY S.-G2, £150,000, Ascot, 6-19, 2yo, 6fT, 1:13.51, g/f.
1–CALYX (GB), 127, c, 2, by Kingman%20(GB)#tot">Kingman (GB)
1st Dam: Helleborine (GB) (GSW & G1SP-Fr, $218,924), by Observatory
2nd Dam: New Orchid, by Quest For Fame (GB)
3rd Dam: Musicanti, by Nijinsky II
'TDN Rising Star' 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN.
O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-John
Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £85,065. Lifetime Record:
2-2-0-0, $119,609. Werk Nick Rating: C+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Advertise (GB), 127, c, 2, Showcasing (GB)–Furbelow (GB), by
Pivotal (GB). (£60,000 Ylg '17 GOUKPR). O-Phoenix
Thoroughbred Ltd 1; B-Cheveley Park Stud Ltd (GB); T-Martyn
Meade. £32,250.
3–Sergei Prokofiev, 127, c, 2, Scat Daddy–Orchard Beach,
'TDN Rising Star' by Tapit. ($1,100,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP).
O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Anderson
Farms (Ontario) Inc (ON); T-Aidan O'Brien. £16,140.
Margins: 1, NK, 1. Odds: 2.00, 10.00, 3.00.
Also Ran: Vange (GB), Shine So Bright (GB), Ninetythreetwenty (Ire), Blown By Wind (GB), Gee Rex (Ire), Cosmic Law (Ire), Dubai Legacy, Getchagetchagetcha (GB), Shaybani (Ire), The Irish Rover (Ire), Midnight Sands, Pogo (Ire), I Am A Dreamer (GB), Barbill (Ire), Boa Nova (Ire), Alfie Solomons (Ire), Burj (GB), No Needs Never (Ire), Indigo Balance (Ire), Kuwait Station (Ire). Scratched: Fox Champion (Ire).[bullet ad=”anderson-farms-bred-raised-sold”][bullet ad=”irt-shell”][bullet ad=”ontario-bred”]Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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