Second Million For Stradivarius At York

Stradivarius | Racing Post

It looked simple on paper and it turned out to be just that as Bjorn Nielsen's Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) swooped to garner a second £1million Weatherbys Hamilton bonus in the sponsors' G2 Lonsdale Cup at a sun-baked York. Only three rivals collected on the Knavesmire to take him on and it was predictably Dee Ex Bee (GB) (Farhh {GB}) who took it up with Frankie poised silently in third. Ballydoyle's 3-year-old Il Paradiso (Galileo {Ire}) harried the leader in the straight to great effect, but the chestnut staying supremo was merely allowing them to play it out ahead. All of his successes at this venue have come with him finishing on the stand's side and his maestro rider opted to again send him that way to afford his faithful a better view. Swooping by the warring duo approaching the furlong pole, the 4-9 favourite was soon into a decisive advantage and hit the line under hand riding with 1 1/4 lengths to spare over Dee Ex Bee, in the process breaking the second track record of three on the day.

There were no tears this time from Frankie, but he was in the same ebullient mood as he pondered the latest chapter in his personal summer of love. “I used all my tears yesterday, but these horses are special to ride–people get so attached to them,” he said. “He's just too good and my only job is to get him into a position where he can fire his turn of foot. I'm just a passenger.”

Unbeaten in nine starts since finishing third as a raw 3-year-old in the G2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup, Stradivarius makes up a remarkable millionaire's row at Clarehaven Stables with the prolific gaining of group 1 titles turned into an art form. Surmising what makes up a champion like him is not an easy pursuit, but the homebred obviously has a perfect storm of credentials. Alongside his natural appetite for racing and winning is the basic material of his pedigree, with the brilliance of the Wildenstein creations Peintre Celebre and Pawneese (Ire) seeping through the generations and amalgamating perfectly with that handed down by the great Sea the Stars.

If a few onlookers gauged that his G2 Yorkshire Cup-G1 Gold Cup-G1 Goodwood Cup-G2 Lonsdale Cup streak came a touch easy in 2018, nobody could argue that his repeat this term has been anything of the kind. The line-ups at Royal Ascot June 20 and Goodwood July 30 were the finest available, with the only missing notable being the reigning G1 St Leger hero Kew Gardens (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in each. Both were also staged on slow ground which always compromises his action, but he still proved able to overcome adversity. At this stage, the only things that can beat him are the ever-present threat of injury and the arrival on the scene of a better racehorse, but due to his inbuilt tendency to employ only the bare minimum required at the end it will take something from another dimension to bottom his reserves.

Bjorn Nielsen was too emotional to provide an in-depth interview immediately afterwards, but Gosden was typically composed and said, “They have gone steady and then really picked it up a long way out. Dee Ex Bee is an honest horse and they've broken the track record, but he was still able to travel into the race–he's just a cool character. Frankie came closer to the grandstand so the horse could wave, but when he hits the front and Frankie eases up on him he is very quick to drop the lot. The great stayers have one thing in common–they can cruise and cruise and then pounce and he has that acceleration. He'll be a tired horse, but by Sunday morning he'll be rearing on his hind legs which is his party trick.”

Given time to compose himself, Nielsen added, “I've said before that I started out trying to breed a Derby horse and I've ended up with him, but you couldn't have a horse better than him, even if you won a Derby. He's a rare beast, to win what he has. He never makes it easy, you never know what he has left. A three-pound penalty is a lot over two miles and Dee Ex Bee gives his all every time, but he comes up trumps every time. This year he's a lot stronger, I thought he won the Gold Cup fairly comfortably and he didn't give us as much of a fright here today as he did last year.”

“In winning his second successive Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers' Million, Stradivarius has risen magnificently to every challenge that he has had to face over the last two seasons,” said Charles Hamilton. “As importantly, he has led the huge resurgence of interest in the stayers that was always our grand design. Stradivarius has given these great warriors just the tonic they needed and although he may singlehandedly have done his best to put us in the poor house, the quality of the fields that the Million has engendered has definitely been another highlight of the series. It will be fascinating to see what more Bjorn Nielsen's diminutive prize fighter can achieve, but to have a stayer as one of the most popular horses in training once again, says it all and more.”

Mark Johnston was forced to hold up his hands again as he held court about the three-times runner-up Dee Ex Bee, “What can you say? He's run a good race again,” he said. “We'll go for the [Sept. 13 G2] Doncaster Cup next.” Aidan O'Brien said of Il Paradiso, who missed out on second by a nose as he tried to make a 12-pound concession from Dee Ex Bee count, “I'm very happy–we're delighted with his run. I'm not sure where we'll go next. He's a horse that obviously stays very well and he would have an option of going for the [Sept. 14 G1] St Leger [at Doncaster]–we'll see about that, but it's definitely an option. Stradivarius is just a great horse, isn't he?”

Stradivarius is the last living foal out of the dual listed-placed Private Life (Fr) (Bering), whose three other black-type performers include the G3 Furstenberg-Rennen and G3 Bavarian Classic winner Persian Storm (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}). The family features the high-class G1 Melbourne Cup hero and sire Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), the aforementioned G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero and leading sire Peintre Celebre, while the third dam Pawneese annexed the Epsom Oaks, Prix de Diane and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. to be crowned a champion.

Friday, York, Britain
WEATHERBYS HAMILTON LONSDALE CUP S.-G2, £225,000, York, 8-23, 3yo/up, 16f 56yT, 3:27.06 (NTR), g/f.
1–STRADIVARIUS (IRE), 132, h, 5, by Sea the Stars (Ire)
1st Dam: Private Life (Fr) (MSP-Fr), by Bering (GB)
2nd Dam: Poughkeepsie (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
3rd Dam: Pawneese (Ire), by Carvin II
(330,000gns RNA Ylg '15 TATOCT). O/B-Bjorn Nielsen (IRE); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £127,598. Lifetime Record: 18-13-1-2, $3,102,450. *1/2 to Persian Storm (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), Hwt. 3yo-Ger at 9.5-11f & MGSW-Ger, $121,198; Rembrandt Van Rijn (Ire) (Peintre Celebre), GSP-Eng, $167,081; and Magical Eve (Ger) (Oratorio {Ire}), SP-SAf. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Dee Ex Bee (GB), 129, c, 4, Farhh (GB)–Dubai Sunrise, by Seeking the Gold. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum; B-Godolphin (GB); T-Mark Johnston. £48,375.
3–Il Paradiso, 117, c, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Famous (Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire). ($300,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Mt Brilliant Broodmares II LLC (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien. £24,210.
Margins: 1 1/4, NO, 16. Odds: 0.40, 3.00, 20.00.
Also Ran: Falcon Eight (Ire). Scratched: Magic Circle (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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