With 11 group races across Ireland, France and Germany on Sunday, the only problem for onlookers is what to look forward to most and also where to look with at some stages only 10 minutes between some of the leading contests. Picking out the star turn is almost impossible, with Godolphin's elite 2-year-old Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) unable to hog the limelight from two Oaks winners who take each other on in Anapurna (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Star Catcher (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), and then there is the G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). It is a measure of the elevated standard in evidence that the clash between the G1 Melbourne Cup hero Cross Counter (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) and G1 St Leger hero Kew Gardens (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is not the main attraction.
In a season during which Godolphin have hit the heights with their 2-year-olds, Pinatubo is bordering on the exceptional already having put up a performance that almost guarantees champion juvenile status when taking Goodwood's G2 Vintage S. by five lengths July 30. That was an improvement on his impressive success in the Listed Chesham S. at Royal Ascot June 22 and Charlie Appleby is understandably optimistic as he bids to justify odds-on favouritism in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. “Pinatubo's form is faultless and we have been aiming him at this race since he won impressively at Goodwood on his latest start,” he said. “He has been very straightforward at home and we have been pleased with his preparation. He's not doing anything different to what he was doing earlier in the summer. He's not a brilliant workhorse, but he seems to produce his A-game in the afternoons. He is an exciting colt and I feel that they all have him to beat.”
While it is not exactly do-or-die, in some ways the National showdown with Pinatubo is vital for Ballydoyle who put the reputation of their star 2-year-old colts Armory (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Arizona (Ire) (No Nay Never) on the line. Ryan Moore is on the former, who treads a familiar path for the stable having won the G3 Tyros S. at Leopardstown July 25 and G2 Futurity S. over this course and seven-furlong trip last time Aug. 23. Arizona is a colt of considerable substance himself, having won Royal Ascot's G2 Coventry S. June 18 and he can easily be forgiven a comeback fourth on unsuitably heavy ground in the G1 Prix Morny at Deauville Aug. 18. “Armory is in good shape,” commented Aidan O'Brien, who has won this 11 times. “Nobody wants to see easy races–they all want to see the good horses clash. You win some and lose some. You learn if you have to improve or if you are good enough.”
At ParisLongchamp, the G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille stands at the centre of the “Arc trials” card and with the pair of 4-year-olds well short of the required standard this is set to be one for the Classic generation. John Gosden has run out of options to keep his aforementioned Oaks winners Anapurna and Star Catcher apart and Frankie Dettori has had to face the unenviable scenario of getting off his Epsom heroine in favour of Anthony Oppenheimer's Star Catcher. Her defeat of Fleeting (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot June 20 and G1 Irish Oaks at The Curragh a month later is probably marginally superior to Anapurna's eclipse of Pink Dogwood (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in the May 31 Epsom Classic but it would not have been an easy choice. Samuel de Barros's June 16 G1 Prix de Diane heroine Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) is also engaged and is remarkably one of a total of seven European Classic winners due to run on Sunday.
Meon Valley Stud's Mark Weinfeld said of Anapurna, “It has been a long wait since Epsom. We were originally going to run her in the Yorkshire Oaks, but there didn't seem much point when we saw Enable was going there. We're just hoping she runs well now, she's had a long break. I don't think she'll be staying in training, that's not the plan at the moment anyway. We haven't entered her in the Arc. We've got the Fillies and Mares race at Ascot on the agenda, but she's also got an entry in the Prix Royallieu as well.”
Anthony Oppenheimer said of Star Catcher, “She's going very well and I think her chances are pretty obvious–she's got a good chance. There are two Oaks winners there, lots of good horses, and they all seem to be rated about the same. She'll like the ground, she's really well, she's had a long rest and Dettori is riding. I've spoken to Frankie and he's very pleased with her at home, but it is a very difficult race–all the top fillies in Europe really, a very exciting race.”
Peter Brant's Sottsass is one of the most notable, having beaten Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) in convincing fashion in the 10 1/2-furlong G1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly when last seen June 2. While the form of that renewal is mixed, there has been enough subsequent evidence to suggest it was at least an average edition but with little serious opposition in the G2 Qatar Prix Niel this should be a stress-free reintroduction for the Rouget trainee. There may be more substance in the G2 Qatar Prix Foy, where TDN Rising Star Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) returns from battle in England to meet the Japanese interest Kiseki (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}). Unfortunate to be met with rain-softened ground when third in the June 19 G1 Prince of Wales's S. at Royal Ascot and the G1 King George and Queen Elizabeth S. at that venue July 27, Gestut Ammerland and Newsells Park's 5-year-old remains more than just an underdog for the Arc contender and an ideal warm-up here could be all-important.
Back at The Curragh, the G1 Comer Group Irish St Leger sees the return to the fray of Kew Gardens who is up to the trip over which he recorded his last success in Doncaster's St Leger 12 months ago. Runner-up in Epsom's G1 Coronation Cup when last seen May 31, he is unbeaten at further than a mile and a half but he will have to be at a peak to contend with Cross Counter. When they met in York's G2 Great Voltigeur S. last August, Kew Gardens was warming up for the Doncaster Classic under a five-pound penalty for his G1 Grand Prix de Paris success and was 1 1/2 lengths behind the Godolphin gelding as they filled second and third.
Aidan O'Brien sees Kew Gardens as a stayer and said, “Kew Gardens is in good form. He went a little bit wrong on us, so we had to stop with him. He is back in good shape and is ready to start. He stays very well and gets a good trip. We were looking forward to going for the Gold Cup with him this year, because we thought he was a tailor-made Gold Cup horse. I would think he would get further than two miles and I don't know if he would be quick enough for the Melbourne Cup.”
After the Voltigeur, Cross Counter went on to annex the Melbourne Cup on his next start and there was no disgrace in his subsequent attempts to dethrone Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot June 20 and July 30 G1 Goodwood Cup. Charlie Appleby is relishing this test. “He's a horse who always travels well during his races and I think coming back to a mile and six will suit him,” he commented. “He's run two very solid races since he came back to Europe–finishing fourth in the Gold Cup and third at Goodwood. If he brings that level of form to the table on Sunday, he's going to be a major player. I'm hoping for a good run and hopefully it will be nice springboard before going back to Melbourne.”
This prize also features the 2017 G1 Irish Derby and G1 St Leger hero Capri (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who has failed to fire all season, and last year's Irish Derby winner Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) who has also operated at a more modest level since his finest hour. At the other end of the distance spectrum, the sprinters have their turn in the G1 Derrinstown Stud Flying Five with Martyn Meade trying to get that elusive top-level victory for Aquis Farm's Houtzen (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) before she retires. She was just 3/4 of a length behind Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) when runner-up in the G2 King George S. at Goodwood Aug. 2 and that form might be good enough. “Obviously she's had to adjust to a different training routine over here–in Australia they train them at the track, but she's actually probably well-suited to how we train here,” Meade explained. “She's not really a typical sprinter–she's pretty laid-back. Her run at Goodwood was excellent. I think the ground and track will be fine for her at The Curragh and she'll then likely go to the Prix de l'Abbaye.”
Eddie Lynam is an expert in this field and he has built Lady O'Reilly's 4-year-old Soffia (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) into a forthright sprinting star over the past four months. Going from a first black-type win in the Listed Sole Power Sprint S. over this trip at Naas May 19 to a narrow success in the six-furlong G3 Ballyogan S. here June 7, she made a leap forward with a 3 1/2-length defeat of the solid yardstick El Astronaute (Ire) (Approve {Ire}) in the G2 Sapphire S. over this track and trip July 21. As a result of that performance, she has the edge over last year's G1 Prix de l'Abbaye heroine Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) who was only third in this 12 months ago. “This has been the plan and it certainly helps we don't have to take on Battaash,” Lynam said. “It's going to be tough, but I'd be very happy with her.”
With Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) and Battaash out of the way, this may represent the ideal opportunity for Soldier's Call (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) to grab that Group 1 success he looks capable of. While he was only fourth behind Soffia in the Sapphire, he lost a shoe on that occasion and he is better judged on his performances either side when third in the G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot June 18 and runner-up in the G1 Nunthorpe S. at York Aug. 23.
Jessica Harrington's cast of 2-year-old fillies have carried all before them in 2019 and the Niarchos Family's unbeaten Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) looks to maintain the run in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. Getting going late to take the G2 Airlie Stud S. over six furlongs here last time June 28, she will benefit from this extra distance according to her trainer. “She's all set for it and you'd hope the step up to seven furlongs will suit her,” she said. “She's not run for a while. I hope she's the one to beat but you never know, because there are one or two in there who have just won maidens.”
Stamina for this trip on this stiff circuit is not guaranteed for the June 21 G3 Albany S. winner Daahyeh (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), who was runner-up to Raffle Prize (Ire) (Slade Power {Ire}) in Newmarket's G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. when last seen July 12. Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa's chestnut was staying on strongly up the hill there and trainer Roger Varian is hoping the distance will pose no problem. “I am hopeful of her staying the seven furlongs and very happy with her condition,” he said. “The Curragh should be no problem, but we have to find out about the seven furlongs and it is a stiff seven furlongs there. That said, she is a similar type of filly to Cursory Glance, who won the Moyglare for us in 2014, having also won the Albany. She boasts some of the best juvenile filly form and has strong credentials in the race, even if it is always a hot race at The Curragh.”
Also on The Curragh card is the G2 Moyglare “Jewels” Blandford S. where TDN Rising Star Goddess (Camelot {GB}) faces her toughest test having won the nine-furlong G3 Snow Fairy Fillies S. here Aug. 30. Her rivals include His Highness The Aga Khan's Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) who looked a potential Group 1 performer when capturing the G3 Give Thanks S. over 12 furlongs at Cork Aug. 17. She bids to provide Dermot Weld with a fourth consecutive renewal and a fifth since 2014. Team Valor's Loveisthehigherlaw (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) is one of the day's “dark horses” and it is difficult to gauge the level of her ability at present after promising wins in minor events at Cork May 10 and Killarney Aug. 22.
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