By Tom Frary
One of the genuine front-runners leading up to the June 2 G1 Epsom Derby, Bernard Kantor's Young Rascal (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) proved one of those colts for whom the occasion was all too much but there was cheer at Newbury on Saturday as he staged a successful return in the G3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup. Racing with enthusiasm tracking Mirage Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in second throughout the early stages, the May 9 G3 Chester Vase winner was alongside that rival and looking the better passing the two-furlong pole. Shortly after, last year's winner Desert Encounter (Ire) (Halling) joined in and looked to have the measure of both but as he floundered late it was Young Rascal who prevailed in a bobber with Mirage Dancer by a short head, with a half length back to Desert Encounter. “He loved the ground, you could see by his action, and he looked happy,” trainer William Haggas said of the 5-2 second favourite. “He ran in the Derby like his legs were tied together from flag-fall and it knocked the stuffing out of him. I thought he would stay, as he just keeps galloping.”
Young Rascal, who had won his maiden over this course and distance Apr. 21 before beating Dee Ex Bee (GB) (Farhh {GB}) and Hunting Horn (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) at Chester and flopping when a distant seventh in the blue riband, is to be kept away from group 1 action for the immediate future according to his trainer. “This horse is a strong galloper. He looked different today, he hasn't been like that at home and maybe it's racing he wants,” Haggas added. “This is the first time he has been in a race where he could run on soft ground. For me the right race is the [G2 Prix] Chaudenay [at ParisLongchamp Oct. 6] over a mile-seven, but it's only two weeks away. If it came up soft in Paris we would be very tempted to go. He is not in yet, but there is a supplementary on September 28. I think we will put him in. He is not in the Long Distance Cup [on Champions Day], I think that is a tough race for a three-year-old, but we could maybe go for the [G2 Prix du] Conseil de Paris [at ParisLongchamp Oct. 21].”
The winner is out of the multiple listed scorer and multiple group-placed Rock My Soul (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}) whose best effort was probably when third in the 2011 G3 Prix Allez France. A half-sister to last year's G3 Preis der Winterkonigin-winning juvenile highweight Rock My Love (Ger) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), her family also features the G1 Bayerisches Zuchtrennen and G2 German 2000 Guineas hero Turfkonig (Ger), the G2 German 1000 Guineas winner and G1 Prix de Diane third Tryphosa (Ire) (Be My Guest) and the G1 Premio Lydia Tesio heroine Turfrose (Ger) (Big Shuffle). The latter is in turn the dam of the G2 Hansin Cup and G2 Spring S. scorer Rosa Gigantea (Jpn) (Fuji Kiseki {Jpn}), while her full-sister Turfaue (Ger) produced the G1 Preis der Diana heroine Turfdonna (Ger) (Doyen {Ire}). Rock My Soul has a 2-year-old daughter of Motivator (GB) named Tilda (Ire) and a yearling colt by Camelot (GB). The latter caused a splash at the Arqana Deauville August Yearlings Sale last month when selling to M V Magnier for €560,000.
Saturday, Newbury, Britain
DUBAI DUTY FREE LEGACY CUP S.-G3, £60,000, Newbury, 9-22, 3yo/up, 11fT, 2:25.98, sf.
1–YOUNG RASCAL (FR), 126, c, 3, by Intello (Ger)
1st Dam: Rock My Soul (Ire) (MSW-Ger, GSP-Fr, $144,166}, by Clodovil (Ire)
2nd Dam: Rondinay (Fr), by Cadeaux Genereux (GB)
3rd Dam: Topline (Ger), by Acatenango (Ger)
(€215,000 Ylg '16 ARAUG). O-Mr Bernard Kantor; B-S.A.S. Ecurie Peregrine (FR); T-William Haggas; J-Jim Crowley. £34,026. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-0, $136,178. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mirage Dancer (GB), 132, c, 4, Frankel (GB)">Frankel (GB)–Heat Haze (GB), by Green Desert. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute. £12,900.
3–Desert Encounter (Ire), 129, g, 6, Halling–La Chicana (Ire), by Invincible Spirit (Ire). (32,000gns Ylg '13 TAOCT). O-Abdulla Al Mansoori; B-Tally Ho Stud (IRE); T-David Simcock. £6,456.
Margins: NO, HF, 3 3/4. Odds: 2.50, 2.00, 4.00.
Also Ran: Desert Skyline (Ire), Euginio (Ire), Wingingit (Ire), Extra Elusive (GB). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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