By Sean Cronin
Crossed Baton debuted with a sixth, behind subsequent G2 Royal Lodge S. victor and G1 Racing Post Trophy runner-up Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy), in an Aug. 18 one-mile novice event at Newmarket. He shed maiden status over the same trip at Sandown in his only other juvenile start Sept. 15 and lined up for this black-type bow coming off a snug defeat of the dual stakes-placed Tigre du Terre (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) in a 10-panel all-weather heat at Kempton last time Mar. 31. Sent to the fore after the initial exchanges, the crowd's second choice made a smooth transition through Tattenham Corner and kept on relentlessly under ever-increasing persuasion inside the final quarter mile to hold the late surge of My Lord And Master (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) for a career high. He follows in the hoofprints of Christophermarlowe (Tapit), So Mi Dar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) to provide the John Gosden-Frankie Dettori axis with a fourth straight score in a contest elevated to listed level this year.
Crossed Baton is a half-brother to the 2-year-old filly Viadera (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) and a yearling colt by Mastercraftsman (Ire), and he is one of two scorers, and the leading performer, produced by a winning daughter of Listed James Seymour S. victress Quandary (Blushing Groom {Fr}), herself a half-sister to three stakes performers headed by G1 Prix du Moulin heroine All At Sea (Riverman). The homebred bay shares Quandary as a second dam with MG1SW sire Twice Over (GB) (Observatory), G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud victress Passage of Time (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and G1 Falmouth S. winner Timepiece (GB) (Zamindar).
Wednesday, Epsom, Britain
INVESTEC BLUE RIBAND TRIAL-Listed, £50,000, EPS, 4-25, 3yo, 10f 17yT, 2:11.35, gd.
1–CROSSED BATON (GB), 127, c, 3, by Dansili (GB)
1st Dam: Sacred Shield (GB), by Beat Hollow (GB)
2nd Dam: Quandary, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
3rd Dam: Lost Virtue, by Cloudy Dawn
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £28,355. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $52,089.
2–My Lord And Master (Ire), 127, c, 3, Mastercraftsman (Ire)–Affability (Ire), by Dalakhani (Ire). (65,000gns Ylg '16 TAOCT). O-T Bridge. £10,750.
3–Dee Ex Bee (GB), 127, c, 3, Farhh (GB)–Dubai Sunrise, by Seeking the Gold. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum. £5,380.
Margins: HD, 1 1/4, 2. Odds: 2.75, 5.00, 1.85.
Also Ran: James Cook (Ire), Simpson (Ire), Zabriskie (Ire), Miles Christianus (Ire), Technological (GB). Click for the Racing Post result. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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