By Sean Cronin
Stepping up from a June 5 debut second at Ripon to garner Royal Ascot's June 20 G2 Norfolk S. in his only other start last time, Shaikh Duaij Al Khalifa's A'Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) maintained a rich seam of form and justified odds-on favouritism with a snug victory in Sunday's G2 Darley Prix Robert Papin at Deauville. The bay was steadied at the break and settled off the pace towards the rear through halfway in the straight 5 1/2-furlong dash. Making smooth headway out wide inside the final quarter mile, the 3-5 pick kept on strongly under mild urging in the closing stages to prevail by an ultimately comfortable 3/4-of-a-length from My Love's Passion (Fr) (Elvstroem {Aus}). “He showed an impressive turn of foot there so we might come back here for the [Aug. 18 G1] Prix Morny and that is under strong consideration,” revealed trainer Simon Crisford. “He's really straightforward, a very easy colt to deal with and he has a nice turn of foot. Luckily, he has all the right attributes and is a very good racehorse. I think a really hard-run five furlongs is a really good trip for him and six [furlongs] shouldn't be too much of a problem either. He's in the [Aug. 23 G1] Nunthorpe S. [at York], but I'm not sure he should be taking on the likes of Battaash at this stage of his career. He's also in the [Aug. 9 G1] Phoenix S. [at The Curragh], and the Morny, and he'll take in one of those Group 1 races next time.”
A'Ali is the second and latest foal bred from Motion Lass (GB) (Motivator {GB}), herself a half-sister to MG1SP G3 Darley S. victor Enforcer (GB) (Efisio {GB}) and Listed Gleaming S. runner-up Canaveral (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}). A'Ali's third dam Willowy Mood (Will Win), herself a dual Grade III winner, is kin to the stakes-winning duo Chillon (Pass the Tab) and Transgogo (Transworld) and to Antoinetta (Inverness Drive), who in turn is the dam of five black-type performers headed by MGSW GIII Tropical Park Derby victor Ok By Me (With Approval) and GIII Royal Palm H. winner D J's Rainbow (Tom Rolfe).
Sunday, Deauville, France
DARLEY PRIX ROBERT PAPIN-G2, €130,000, Deauville, 7-21, 2yo, c/f, 5 1/2fT, 1:04.38, g/s.
1–A'ALI (IRE), 128, c, 2, by Society Rock (Ire)
1st Dam: Motion Lass (GB), by Motivator (GB)
2nd Dam: Tarneem, by Zilzal
3rd Dam: Willowy Mood, by Will Win
(£35,000 Ylg '18 GOUKPR; £135,000 2yo '19 GOFBRE). O-Shaikh Duaij Al Khalifa; B-Tally-Ho Stud (IRE); T-Simon Crisford; J-Lanfranco Dettori. €74,100. Lifetime Record: GSW-Eng, 3-2-1-0, €138,789. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–My Love's Passion (Fr), 125, f, 2, Elvstroem (Aus)–Amber Two (GB), by Cadeaux Genereux (GB). (€10,000 Ylg '18 AROCT). O-Passion Racing Club; B-Patrick Chedeville (FR); T-Yann Barberot. €28,600.
3–Jolie (Fr), 125, f, 2, Power (GB)–Elettra (Fr), by Literato (Fr). O-Torsten Raber & Janina Burger; B-Enrico Ciampi & Paul Nataf (FR); T-Andrea Marcialis. €13,650.
Margins: 3/4, 1 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 0.60, 26.00, 6.10.
Also Ran: Fan Club Rules (Ire), Istanbul (Ire), Classy Moon, Rayong (GB), Fantastic Diamond (Fr), Salar Island (Ity), Dutch Chop (Fr). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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