By Tom Frary
By the time 'TDN Rising Star' Star Catcher (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) went to post, Frankie Dettori was already riding like it was 1996 and he transferred that golden feeling down the reins to Anthony Oppenheimer's homebred in Thursday's G2 Ribblesdale S.
There were four Gosden fillies in this prestigious affair, but the fates have always been kind to the meeting's winning-most jockey and it was inevitable he would be on the right one. Riding throughout with the kind of total assurance that owning a day like this brings, the darling of this venue, who would go on to write another remarkable chapter in his story with a four-timer, stayed a few lengths off the strong pace. Sent to the front with two furlongs remaining, the 4-1 second favourite who was third in the Listed Haras de Bouquetot Fillies' Trial S. at Newbury last time May 18 stayed on powerfully to deny the G1 Epsom Oaks third and 7-4 favourite Fleeting (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) by 1 1/2 lengths, with fellow 'TDN Rising Star' and Gosden trainee Sparkle Roll (Fr) (Kingman {GB}) 1 1/4 lengths away in third. “This 48-year-old kid takes this to another level, like a Wimbledon semi-final and final,” Gosden said of Dettori. “He's riding quite beautifully.”
Star Catcher earned 'Rising Star' status with an emphatic 4 1/2-length success on soft ground in the same 10-furlong Newbury maiden Apr. 12 won by future Oaks heroines Eswarah (GB) (Unfuwain) and Dancing Rain (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and last year by her stablemate Lah Ti Dar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). Interestingly, like her accomplished stablemate Anapurna (GB) (Frankel {GB}), she had finished out of the frame on an all-weather debut, this time on Chelmsford's Polytrack five days before Christmas, but like that Oaks heroine has subsequently made giant strides.
After her defeat behind Queen Power (Ire) (Shamardal) in Newbury's Fillies' Trial, Dettori had put the blame at his own door for not making it more of a test and it was notable how Star Catcher was almost climbing on the back of that free-going rival here. When let loose, she had too many guns for that high-class Stoute trainee over the extra quarter-mile, who paid for her early exertions late on with Fleeting and Sparkle Roll staying on stronger. Fleeting, who was supplemented after her stellar finale in the May 31 Epsom Classic, looked as if she would subdue Star Catcher in the final furlong, but the Oppenheimer homebred gave extra to stamp her authority on one of the strongest renewals of this race in some time.
“We planned this after she won her maiden in April,” Gosden explained. “When she broke her maiden at Newbury, Frankie came straight off and said 'don't run her in the Oaks, go to the Ribblesdale'. He said 'she's not got the strength for the Oaks'. He was proved right and we planned this all along. They went too slow in the listed race at Newbury and Frankie said she'd stay, don't worry about it. She ran a nice race. It was one of those things not to be tempted by the Oaks and wait.”
Aidan O'Brien said of Fleeting, “We are very happy, she ran very well. She has come from a long way back, but I think she probably wants better ground. She is a nice-ground filly and it was much better in the Oaks. It was tough going out there, but she ran well. On soft ground, a mile and a half is far enough, she doesn't want to go any further. We will see how she is and how she comes out of it.”
Qatar Racing's racing manager David Redvers said of Sparkle Roll, “Ground is the key to her and she found the ground too quick at York [when seventh in the G3 Musidora S.]. The question is whether she wants to go further at this stage. She's a big filly and if you look at her stride and the manner in which she gallops you would think it might be worth chancing it, but she is by Kingman. She could run in the [G2] Park S. [at Doncaster Sept. 14] and she'll have an autumn campaign, but there's not a filly we own who I'm more looking forward to running as a 4-year-old. She's still such a big baby.”
Pedigree Notes:
Star Catcher's dam Lynnwood Chase (Horse Chestnut {SAf}) is now responsible for three individual Royal Ascot winners, with Pisco Sour (Lemon Drop Kid) and his full-brother Cannock Chase both taking the G3 Tercentenary S. Pisco Sour went on to add the G2 Prix Eugene Adam to his tally, while Cannock Chase was successful in the GI Canadian International. The listed-placed second dam Lady Ilsley (Trempolino) produced the G3 Ballycorus S., G2 Jebel Hatta and G3 Al Rashidiya-winning sire Lord Admiral (El Prado {Ire}) who was also placed in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. Also from the family of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Action This Day (Kris S.) and the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Drefong (Gio Ponti), Lynnwood Chase also has the unraced 2-year-old filly Maurimo (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a yearling filly by Frankel (GB) and a 2019 colt by Time Test (GB).
Thursday, Royal Ascot, Britain
RIBBLESDALE S.-G2, £215,000, Royal Ascot, 6-20, 3yo, f, 11f 211yT, 2:33.52, sf.
1–STAR CATCHER (GB), 126, f, 3, by Sea the Stars (Ire)
1st Dam: Lynnwood Chase, by Horse Chestnut (SAf)
2nd Dam: Lady Ilsley, by Trempolino
3rd Dam: Sue Warner, by Forli
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. 'TDN Rising Star' (240,000gns Wlg '16 TATFOA). O-A E Oppenheimer; B-Hascombe & Valiant Studs (GB); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £121,927. Lifetime Record: 4-2-0-1, $170,907. *1/2 to Cannock Chase (Lemon Drop Kid), GISW-Can & MGSW-Eng, $680,268; and Pisco Sour (Lemon Drop Kid), GSW-Eng & Fr, $412,610. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Fleeting (Ire), 126, f, 3, Zoffany (Ire)–Azafata (Spa), by Motivator (GB). (€50,000 Wlg '16 ARQDEC; €100,000 Ylg '17 ARAUG). O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Fernando Bermudez (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £46,225.
3–Sparkle Roll (Fr), 126, f, 3, Kingman (GB)">Kingman (GB)–Ysoldina (Fr), by Kendor (Fr). (€750,000 Ylg '17 ARAUG). 'TDN Rising Star' O-Kin Hung Kei, Qatar Racing & Laurent Dassault; B-Aliette & Gilles Forien (FR); T-John Gosden. £23,134.
Margins: 1HF, 1 1/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 4.00, 1.75, 11.00.
Also Ran: Queen Power (Ire), Love So Deep (Jpn), Frankellina (GB), Fresnel (GB), Shambolic (Ire), Fanny Logan (Ire), Peach Tree (Ire), Altair (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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