Weekly Wrap With Chris McGrath May 2 Edition

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The first Classic of the British season was supposed to be blitzed by Air Force Blue (War Front) but in the end, sooner evoked the two Spitfires flown over the Rowley Mile at the start of the afternoon. Certainly it requires no great leap of the imagination to picture the young trainer of Galileo Gold (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) as a Battle of Britain pilot. True, it was Frankie Dettori who did the actual steering on Hugo Palmer's own flying machine, the jockey extending his personal renaissance by artfully harnessing a strong tailwind. But if Dettori earned his wings long ago, the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas unmistakably took the dashing and supremely assured Palmer to a new altitude.

His arrival into the elite has been a breathless affair, no fewer than 90 yearlings having entered his Newmarket stables the winter following his Group 1 breakthrough with Covert Love (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}). But a still more adventurous sortie was already underway just 10 days after that €26,000 filly had won the G1 Irish Oaks, when Palmer saddled Galileo Gold to win a Group 2 race at Goodwood.

That was the colt's first start in the colours of Al Shaqab Racing, having initially changed hands for just €33,000 at Tattersalls Ireland September Sale. He would have cost rather more had his dam's half-brother Goldream (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) already graduated from handicaps to win two Group 1 sprints. At the same time, this connection would seem to lower still further the ceiling of Galileo Gold's stamina potential, his sire having mustered one or two respectable winners at 10 furlongs–courtesy of mares with staying genes–without remotely volunteering himself as capable of producing a winner of the G1 Investec Derby itself.

Nonetheless, Epsom is evidently under earnest consideration. In fairness, he will presumably race rather less freely now that he has got this comeback out of his system. And he was still able to find plenty under an attacking ride, his drift towards the stands rail sooner a matter of loneliness than fatigue, while it did seem as though he found seven furlongs round Longchamp a little sharp last autumn. In terms of his physique–gilded beforehand by an impressive gloss in his coat, despite the cold spring–he looks built to last beyond a mile while hardly in a classical Derby mould. Regardless, you can guarantee that an imminent sequence of Epsom trials, starting at Chester this week, will yield far more persuasive candidates strictly in terms of stamina.

Mixed Fortunes Behind the Winner…

Should Galileo Gold proceed to Epsom, he would leave the door ajar at a mile for the trainer who saddled Massaat (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) to chase him home at Newmarket. Owen Burrows is still newer on the scene than Palmer, this colt being only his 10th starter since taking over from the veteran Barry Hills at Sheikh Hamdan's Kingwood Stables above Lambourn. But however exasperated that as many as seven of them have now finished second, Burrows should be proud of his seasoned judgement in nursing Massaat forward this spring, ultimately rejecting a proposed trial in favour of a gallop at the Craven meeting. Burrows is a very different character from the extrovert Palmer, but his record as a team player with Sir Michael Stoute and then Hills qualifies him as an ideal type for his new role. Massaat has the physique and temperament to keep developing through the season but he is another–his dam Madany (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) was very quick–for whom 10 furlongs looks likely to prove the limit.

Massaat had palpably remained a work in progress when second to Air Force Blue in the G1 Dewhurst S. last autumn. Connections of that colt, hot favourite ever since, must find such cold comfort as they can from the fact that it is better for the champion juvenile to have run so unequivocally below form than to flatten out just behind the protagonists. Nor was he the only one to give Saturday's race a perplexing look: the only rival he managed to beat was the other Group 1 winner in the field, Marcel (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), who had looked outstanding in the paddock. And just in front of them was Stormy Antarctic (GB) (Stormy Atlantic), likewise a credit to his trainer beforehand. Perhaps he had simply failed to absorb the effort he put into that impressive trial just 16 days previously.

Conversely Ribchester (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) effaced the alarming impression of his own rehearsal, in France, with a fine effort in third. Another Yorkshire runner, Kentuckyconnection (Include), ran a remarkable fifth in blinkers and might now be an interesting project on dirt, while sixth home Zonderland (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) is a brawny type that may be worth trying in sprints.

Minding Relieves Air Force Blue…

Morale at Ballydoyle was restored in landmark fashion 24 hours later, Aidan O'Brien saddling his 250th Group 1 winner–and filling the podium–in the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas. Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) led a 1-2-3 for Coolmore's champion stallion, unlike her stablemate the previous day resuming seamlessly where she left off over the same track last autumn. She harnesses the class of her parents to an eminently obliging disposition, buoyantly opening up into the dip from a handy position. And that is just as well, if she is to warrant such short odds for the Investec Oaks, her dam Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer) being a dual Group 1 winner only at a mile.

Both her sire and damsire have long discouraged dogmatism about the stamina potential in their genes but the fact is that Minding won her maiden over six furlongs and some would argue that the runner-up, the portentously named Ballydoyle (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), shaped as a more feasible Epsom prospect in weaving through from the rear. The latter's sister, the Group 1 winner Misty For Me (Ire), did not seem to get home in the Oaks herself and duly dropped in trip to beat Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) next time. But she then rounded off her career by storming through late for a close third in the G1 Filly & Mare Turf at the Breeders' Cup, so perhaps there were other issues at Epsom.

Even Song (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), a half-sister to Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}), could yet strengthen the stable's Oaks hand after coming through traffic for third in the Listed Tweenhills Pretty Polly S on the same card. The winner Swiss Range (GB) (Zamindar) had won her maiden on tacky going at the Craven meeting but was practically raising sparks off this drying surface as she pounced from the rear, confirming John Gosden in his view that the sharper test of the G1 Prix de Diane will play best to her strengths.

Gosden had absorbed one or two setbacks over the weekend, above all Jack Hobbs (GB) (Halling), pulled up after a “wobble” in the G2 Dunaden at Overbury Jockey Club S. The G1 Irish Derby winner has matured into a most formidable specimen so it must be hoped that he can put this scare behind him, albeit it would have taken something special on the day–as Simple Verse discovered, in a perfectly creditable comeback–to hold off Exosphere (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}), who was an absolute revelation.

The champion trainer finished the meeting on a high after Swiss Range's swoop from rear was promptly replicated by Taqdeer (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) under a fine educational ride. This was only a handicap, but you will see this handsome colt's flaxen mane flying in far better grade before long.

Usherette Lights the Way…

The Group 1 success of Dariyan (Fr) (Shamardal) at Saint-Cloud on Sunday might formally warrant higher billing, but his sire potentially has a still better prospect in Usherette (Ire) (Shamardal) who had won the G2 Charm Spirit at Tweenhills Dahlia S. 20 minutes earlier. Andre Fabre was unreserved in his endorsement of a filly he had last year fast-tracked to Group 1 level on only her third start. Something evidently went amiss that day, as she then disappeared, but she has now won all three starts this time round and Fabre is already rating her among the best fillies he has trained.

 

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