By Tom Frary
Amazingly for a Ballydoyle juvenile ridden by Ryan Moore, Sioux Nation (Scat Daddy) was allowed to drift to 14-1 for Thursday's G2 Norfolk S. but he turned that logic on its head to provide his late sire with another success at the Royal meeting. Settled last of the quartet racing on the far side opposite the remainder who were led by McErin (Trappe Shot), the imposing bay whose starting price was determined partly by his seemingly disadvantageous low draw and latest effort when sixth of seven in the Listed Marble Hill S. on testing ground at The Curragh May 27 made his move approaching the final furlong. Taking over from that small pack's leader Frozen Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) passing the furlong marker, he asserted while drifting left late on and hit the line a half-length ahead of the 13-2 joint-favourite Santry (Ire) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) who surged clear of McErin's group. “I would have been better off on the other side, as there were more horses and I would have got more of a lead but this horse would have won on either side,” Moore said. “Luckily, we had speed where we were and we were kind of always ahead. I wouldn't read too much into the track or the draw–this is a very good colt. When you see how big he is, he needed his first run and then the ground has gone against him.”
Thursday, Royal Ascot, Britain
NORFOLK S.-G2, £100,000, ASC, 6-22, 2yo, 5fT, 1:00.88, g/f.
1–#@SIOUX NATION, 127, c, 2, by Scat Daddy
1st Dam: Dream the Blues (Ire), by Oasis Dream (GB)
2nd Dam: Catch the Blues (Ire), by Bluebird
3rd Dam: Dear Lorraine (Fr), by Nonoalco
O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Fethard Bloodstock (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien; T-Ryan Moore. £56,710. Lifetime Record: 5-2-1-1, $89,189. Werk Nick Rating: First SW from this cross. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″][bullet ad=”irt-shell”][bullet ad=”us-bred-ky-bred”]2–Santry (Ire), 127, c, 2, Harbour Watch (Ire)–Babylonian (GB), by Shamardal. (€24,000 Ylg '16 GOFSPT). O-Ray Flegg, John Bousfield & Steve Ryan; B-Peter Molony (IRE); T-Declan Carroll. £21,500.
3–Cardsharp (GB), 127, c, 2, Lonhro (Aus)–Pure Illusion (Ire), by Danehill. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum; B-Godolphin (GB); T-Mark Johnston. £10,760.
Margins: HF, 1HF, 3/4. Odds: 14.00, 6.50, 8.00.
Also Ran: Frozen Angel (Ire), It Dont Come Easy (Ire), True Blue Moon (Ire), McErin, Koditime (Ire), Consequences (Ire), Havana Grey (GB), Billy Dylan (Ire), Nine Below Zero (GB), Pilkington (GB), Viscount Loftus (Ire), Gift In Time (Ire), New Empire (GB), Poorauldjosephine (GB). Scratched: Rock of Estonia (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Sioux Nation started out over this trip with a debut third on a yielding surface at Naas Apr. 9 before running second to Brother Bear (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in a 6 1/2-furlong Leopardstown maiden May 7. Sent to Cork 12 days later to open his account in emphatic fashion over six furlongs, he beat only one rival in the Marble Hill at a rain-afflicted Curragh during Guineas weekend but gained Ryan Moore's admiration in the process. His size and stride and the drop back to five furlongs on this rapid summer surface brought out the quality that his rider felt despite the unfavourable underfoot conditions last time and he delivered a first Ballydoyle juvenile winner at the Royal meeting in 2017 and another for his much-missed sire after Lady Aurelia, Caravaggio, No Nay Never and Acapulco. “Ryan loved him the last day at The Curragh and said he was pure raw pace. He's a big powerful, fast horse so we were looking forward to this,” Aidan O'Brien commented. “He's a speed horse and a sound surface is always best for them. Ryan wanted cover on him and did a marvellous job to get it in a group with just three others. He's a massive horse and to be doing this at this time of his career is incredible, really. He's a horse everyone at home loved from the first time he worked. Scat Daddy was a really great stallion and put pace into them. He was about pure speed and he's a massive loss.”
Santry was the clear winner of his group and reigning champion jockey Jim Crowley was clearly upset with the way the race panned out. “If the other horse had been my side, we'd have won,” he declared. “My horse just gets to the front and thinks he's done enough. He always had everything beat on the stand's side, unfortunately he had nothing to battle with. He's a very good horse and he handled the ground well.” Santry's trainer Declan Carroll added, “He will go further, I will have a chat with Jim and we'll see how he comes out of this race. He's a nice horse, I am proud of him. We are just a bit unlucky.” Charlie Johnston, son of trainer Mark Johnston, said of Cardsharp, “He ran super race. After he got beat here at on his second start we thought he'd definitely want six furlongs, but after he then showed so much speed when he won at Beverley we decided to reroute and drop back to five. He can run over five or six and there are plenty options going forward. He's a fun two-year-old for the summer, that's for sure.”
Sioux Nation is the second foal out of Dream the Blues, successful on her only start at Redcar in 2011 for the Kevin Ryan stable. She is a daughter of the highweight sprinter Catch the Blues (Ire) (Bluebird), successful in the G3 Ballyogan S. and third in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup and who is also a half to the dam of the G1 Prix Morny third and Spanish champion 2-year-old colt Vladimir (Ire) (Kheleyf) and the G3 Prix de Cabourg scorer My Catch (Ire) (Camacho {GB}). Her 2016 colt is a full-brother to Sioux Nation, while she has a colt foal by Declaration of War.
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