The Million Is Won By Stradivarius

Few believed the inaugural £1million bonus put up by Weatherbys Hamilton would be landed, but Bjorn Nielsen's Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) had the ideal blend to make it happen and he finished the job off with guts and determination in Friday's G2 Lonsdale Cup at York. Without the zip he showed in the May 18 G2 Yorkshire Cup, but with all the gameness he displayed when following up in the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot June 21 and July 31 G1 Goodwood Cup, the 4-11 favourite sat off the early pace and looked in trouble for a spell midstraight. Sticking to his guns to overhaul Count Octave (GB) (Frankel {GB}) approaching the furlong pole, the chestnut earned a 1 1/2-length success to provide his hedge-fund trading and investing owner-breeder with the best kind of return. “Impossible,” Nielsen said, referring to the realisation of the bonus dream. “Brilliant trainer, brilliant jockey. To win just one leg of the incentive is huge, they are all prestigious races. To win four, first of all you need a tremendous horse, but you also need an enormous amount of luck and a very talented trainer to bring the horse to a peak four times in a season.”

A product of Nielsen's longtime love affair with breeding horses with the Derby in mind, Stradivarius is cut from rare cloth. He is a throwback to the kind of stayer heralded right up to the mid-eighties, the type that saw the public flock to these great British tracks. Alycidon, Levmoss, Sagaro, Buckskin, Gold River, Le Moss and Ardross are just a selection of names, but by 1990 Timeform was stating, “The time is up for the Cup races in their traditional form, or so it seems.” That doom-laden judgement was quickly proven wrong as the popular Double Trigger, Persian Punch, Kayf Tara, Classic Cliche and Yeats revived the scene and now the big Cup races–the Ascot Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup, Lonsdale Cup and Goodwood Cup–are back in the hearts and minds of the fans and the racing and breeding industry. Charles Hamilton, chief executive of Weatherbys Hamilton, summed up the general feeling as he reflected on the outcome of the series finale. “The purpose of the WH Stayers' Million has been to act as a talisman for the stayers and Stradivarius' achievement has shone a light on these trojans of the turf in a way that we didn't dare hope when we launched the initiative,” he said. “The Million is only one strand of a wider effort to increase the appreciation of these great horses and to stress the importance for breeders to keep producing them, and we could not be more proud of the part that we are playing in this.”

Stradivarius has the chance to emulate his own achievements next year, which his owner-breeder suggested would be his program, but it is doubtful that any other horse will be able to match them for some time. The mark that his first three wins had left on him was visually evident in his performance here and Dettori was quick to confirm that he was below his best. “He didn't feel as good as he did at Ascot–he was a bit lethargic and it was only his class that got him through today,” he said. “He was a little bit below-par, but once he's got a target he'll go and pick anything up. When he eyeballed Count Octave, I knew he'd win but he was laboured today. He has had four very hard races.”

John Gosden added, “Full marks to the owner, he's passionate about breeding and puts a lot of time and effort into it, so he deserves it. It's an extraordinary achievement. The horse has a lot of determination, but also a lot of class. He had to fight–it was like the 15th round for Muhammad Ali or Joe Frazier. If you had told us early on he would be a Cup horse I'd have laughed at you, but he's got over every hurdle and went deep into the locker today. After the first leg we were only thinking of Ascot, after that then it became a real possibility, then of course, after Goodwood we were only ever going to be thinking of it. When it was announced we thought it was a great incentive, but would be very hard to do, so I'm thrilled to do it in the first year. He'll have a nice freshen up and a rest now–he deserves it. This is great for everyone at home. It's not just because of the bonus, everyone loves this horse anyhow and it's like Christmas coming early.”

Count Octave, who also finished second to Stradivarius in last year's G2 Queen's Vase, was running a career-best and trainer Andrew's wife Anna Lisa Balding said, “He ran a fantastic race and hopefully that might get his rating up a bit and get him to Australia [for the Melbourne Cup]. Oisin [Murphy] has given him a lovely ride and the horse behaved so well today as well. Sometimes he's a little bit on it. It was a helluva run and luckily we didn't ruin the party!”

Stradivarius's success brought wide-reaching acclaim, with BHA director of international racing and racing development Ruth Quinn paying tribute. “Stradivarius has lit up this season and reminded us all of why we love quality stayers here in this country. British racing is working hard to reignite that love affair with the staying breed and investing heavily in the race programme and other incentives to encourage the owning and breeding of these horses, which form such an important part of the fabric of our sport.” The Thoroughbred Breeders' Association chairman Julian Richmond-Watson added, “A number of high-class horses have emerged from the qualifying races, and we hope that this encourages more owners and breeders to produce and race these type of horses, which the TBA's work has proven are vital to the diversity of the breed and British racing.”

The dual listed-placed dam Private Life (Fr) (Bering {GB}) has four black-type performers in all including the G3 Bavarian Classic and G3 Furstenberg-Rennen-winning German highweight Persian Storm (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}). She is a granddaughter of the 1976 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., Epsom Oaks and Prix de Diane heroine Pawneese (Ire), which connectes her to the G1 Melbourne Cup and G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin hero Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}). This is the Wildenstein family of the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero and leading sire Peintre Celebre (Nureyev).

Friday, York, Britain
WEATHERBYS HAMILTON LONSDALE CUP S.-G2, £225,000, York, 8-24, 3yo/up, 16f 56yT, 3:29.69, g/f.
1–STRADIVARIUS (IRE), 132, c, 4, 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: MG1SW-Eng, 13-8-1-2, $1,727,075. *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–Count Octave (GB), 129, c, 4, Frankel (GB)">Frankel (GB)–Honorine (Ire), by Mark of Esteem (Ire). O-Qatar Racing Ltd; B-Qatar Bloodstock Ltd (GB); T-Andrew Balding. £48,375.
3–Idaho (Ire), 129, h, 5, Galileo (Ire)–Hveger (Aus), by Danehill. (750,000gns Ylg '14 TATOCT). O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Hveger Syndicate (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £24,210.
Margins: 1HF, 4HF, 2HF. Odds: 0.35, 14.00, 7.00.
Also Ran: Desert Skyline (Ire), Red Verdon, Sir Chauvelin (GB), Max Dynamite (Fr), St Michel (GB), Petitioner (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.