BEL VIEW
Disappointing when only fourth in the Apr. 22 G2 Sandown Mile, Belardo (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) shot back into the limelight for the first time since winning the 2014 G1 Dewhurst S. with a replication of the telling burst of acceleration he had shown in that Newmarket feature in Newbury's G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S. on Saturday. Slowly away for Andrea Atzeni, the 8-1 shot waited in rear for the action to unfold and as the strong pace collapsed inside the final quarter mile made his move out wide. Reeling in the mare Euro Charline (GB) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) with 75 yards remaining, he asserted for a length success, providing a seventh winner in the race in the royal blue. “The last time I sat on him, it was the Dewhurst,” Atzeni said. “He's a good horse on his day and they went quick and he half fell out of the stalls, but that's him. He traveled good into the race and picked up well when he got a bit of daylight.”
Saturday, Newbury, Britain
AL SHAQAB LOCKINGE S.-G1, £350,000, NBY, 5-14, 4yo/up, 8fT, 1:38.18, g/s.
1–BELARDO (IRE), 126, c, 4, by Lope de Vega (Ire)
1st Dam: Danaskaya (Ire) (Hwt. 2-year-old Filly-Ire, G1SP-Eng & MSP-Ire), by Danehill
2nd Dam: Majinskaya (Fr), by Marignan
3rd Dam: Makarova, by Nijinsky II
(€100,000 Ylg '13 ARAUG). O-Godolphin & Prince A A Faisal; B-Ballylinch Stud (IRE); T-Roger Varian; J-Andrea Atzeni. £198,485. Lifetime Record: Hwt. 2-year-old Colt-Eur, 15-5-1-1, $1,187,626. *1/2 to Berling (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), GSW-Den & Nor, SW & GSP-Swe, SW-Eng, $443,993. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”voutesales-consultant”]
2–Euro Charline (GB), 123, m, 5, Myboycharlie (Ire)–Eurolink Artemis (GB), by Common Grounds (GB). (800gns Ylg '12 TATFEB; 13,000gns Ylg '12 TAOCT). O-Team Valor; B-Brian Liversage (GB); T-Marco Botti. £75,250.[bullet ad=”irt-shell”][bullet ad=”blandford-bloodstock-purchased-by-2″]
3–Endless Drama (Ire), 126, c, 4, Lope de Vega (Ire)–Desert Drama (Ire), by Green Desert. (45,000gns Wlg '12 TATFOA; €38,000 RNA Ylg '13 GOFORB). O-Sheikh Khalifa, Sheikh Suhaim, QRL; B-Knocktoran Stud & Bluehorse Breeding Ltd (IRE); T-Ger Lyons. £37,660.
Margins: 1, NK, 1 1/4. Odds: 8.00, 12.00, 8.00.
Also Ran: Limato (Ire), Toormore (Ire), Gabrial (Ire), Kodi Bear (Ire), GM Hopkins (GB), Dutch Connection (GB), Johnny Barnes (Ire), Mahsoob (GB), Barchan. Scratched: Arod (Ire).
On and off during his juvenile campaign, Belardo was very much on when storming to success in this track's Listed Washington Singer S. and in the Dewhurst from the subsequent G2 Celebration Mile winner Kodi Bear (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). Both performances came on soft and good-to-soft, with his below-par showings in fourth in both the G2 July S. and G2 Champagne S. on faster turf which he failed to operate on during his 3-year-old bow in the G3 Greenham S. over seven furlongs here last April. After finishing eighth in that Guineas prep, the bay waited for the rain-afflicted G1 Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh in May and was beaten less than two lengths in fourth there before running seventh in the G1 Sussex S. at Goodwood in July. His hood was taken off for the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville in August, where he was seventh, before blinkers were applied tackling six furlongs in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup in September. Showing he was not a sprinter when only eighth there, he improved his profile again with a third sporting the hood again in the G2 Challenge S. returned to seven at Newmarket eight days before finishing runner-up to Solow (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on Ascot's Champions Day. His return win in the Apr. 2 Listed Doncaster Mile offered hope that he was ready for a revival, but he made labored progress in the Sandown Mile to be two lengths off Toormore (Ire) (Arakan) in fourth and the question mark was back over his head once more. Dwelling from the gates here, he was helped by the stern pace set by his stablemate Barchan (War Front) and then Godolphin's apparent first-string Toormore and was just getting motoring as Euro Charline took control with two furlongs remaining. With the 3-1 favourite Limato (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}) failing to pick up Team Valor's starlet and Endless Drama (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) battling on but also unable to subdue her, it was Belardo who swooped out of her eyesight with the same irresistible surge that had sealed him 2-year-old champion status in the Dewhurst. “He salvaged his year by chasing home Solow at Ascot and that really told us to keep him in training,” trainer Roger Varian said. “I always kept the faith in the horse, as his work was outstanding at home and he's got masses of talent. We messed him around a bit last year, as we had him ready for races and then didn't run because of the firm ground and then tried him over six furlongs and he's not a sprinter. He'll certainly be trained for Royal Ascot [for the June 14 G1 Queen Anne S.]–that's where we'd like to be.” Euro Charline's trainer Marco Botti said of the runner-up, “She was travelling so well, but at the same time I thought she was going to get there too soon. Ryan [Moore] said he wished they'd taken him a bit further, but she didn't do anything wrong and she's a good filly. This year she's run three good races, but she probably deserves to win a group 1 in England now. I'll speak to the owners, but we'll probably skip Royal Ascot and head for the [G1] Falmouth S. [at Newmarket July 8]. Then she'll have a break and later in the season the Breeders' Cup will be the target.” Ger Lyons was both pleased and deflated after Endless Drama had put up another bold show and commented, “It was the same sort of feeling we had after the [Irish] Guineas–you'd take third in the morning, but now you're a bit disappointed. It was a hell of a run for his first time back after nearly a year off. He was caught a bit flat-footed when they quickened, but the positive to take out of it is Colin [Keane] reckons we'll get a mile and a quarter easy. That was a question that's been answered. There was a lack of races at home for him. I would have loved to have given him a run but the ground has been heavy for the races I could have run him in. We'll discuss it with the owners, but if the ground is kind you'd go to Royal Ascot and then give him a mid-season break with a view to going for a Champion Stakes either side of the [Irish] sea.” Henry Candy was left bemused with the first effort of Limato over this trip and said, “I don't think many questions were answered really. I think the main thing is we're not having winners in the yard at this stage of the season, which has been the same for the last few years. That's probably why the horse flattened out, over the fact that he didn't stay. Having said that, he started off like a sprinter again as he jumped well, but he didn't pull too hard. In short, we've got a lot of head scratching to do. He'll stay in the [G1] Diamond Jubilee [S. at Royal Ascot June 18] and the Queen Anne. We'll just have to see how he gets on. If the yard in general improves a lot, there'll be more belief that it was his condition today that got him beat and we'd be a bit more bullish about going over a mile again.” Belardo is out of the G1 Cheveley Park S. third Danaskaya, whose other black-type performers include the smart Scandinavian group winner Berling, while the next dam is the listed-winning and group-placed Majinskaya as a half-sister to the dam of the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp-winning champion Kistena (Fr). Danaskaya also has an unnamed yearling colt by Nathaniel (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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