Outstanding milers Palace Pier and Poetic Flare, who fought out a thrilling finish to the G1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques Le Marois, jointly head the Cartier Horse Of The Year standings following the latest points update for the Cartier Racing Awards.
The Cartier Racing Awards were established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing. There are eight equine awards – the Cartier Horse Of The Year, the Cartier Older Horse, the Cartier Sprinter, the Cartier Stayer, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly, the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly.
The 31st annual Cartier Racing Awards will be awarded in November. Cartier continues its ongoing support with the presentation of the Cartier Racing Awards.
The John and Thady Gosden-trained Palace Pier and Jim Bolger's homebred Poetic Flare have each accrued 144 points following a thrilling race at Deauville, France, on Aug. 15.
Palace Pier came out on top with a neck verdict over Poetic Flare in a battle between the two leading milers of their generations, with the winner securing a fifth G1 success over the distance.
Other leading Cartier Horse Of The Year contenders include 3-year-olds Mother Earth (120), Snowfall (120) and St Mark's Basilica (120), who are all trained by Aidan O'Brien for Coolmore partnerships.
QIPCO 1000 Guineas heroine Mother Earth was a game winner of the G1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville on Aug. 3, whilst Snowfall continued her unbeaten season with a smooth success in the G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks at York on Aug. 19.
St Mark's Basilica was forced to miss his intended engagement in the G1 Juddmonte International at York on Aug. 18 and will now head for the G1 Longines Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Sept. 11.
Mishriff (108) captured his first domestic G1 prize when running out a stunning six-length winner of the Juddmonte International, where his rivals included Love (72) and Alcohol Free (96). Victory on the Knavesmire for the John and Thady Gosden-trained superstar follows success this year in the Saudi Cup and the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic.
Also in the Cartier Horse Of The Year running is Godolphin's Adayar (100), who became the first horse since his grandsire Galileo in 2001 to complete the Derby-King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes double when capturing the G1 midsummer highlight at Ascot. His stable companion Hurricane Lane (92), a dual G1 winner this term in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris, has 92 points.
Palace Pier also leads the way in the Cartier Older Horse standings ahead of Mishriff. The Aidan O'Brien-trained Broome has 80 points, along with Jerome Reynier's Skalleti.
Poetic Flare (144) is a clear leader in the Cartier Three-Year-Old category ahead of St Mark's Basilica (112), with Godolphin duo Adayar (100) and Hurricane Lane (92) challenging for the award.
Aidan O'Brien holds a strong hand in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly category with four of the top five contenders. Mother Earth and Snowfall are tied on 120 points, ahead of the Andrew Balding-trained Alcohol Free on 96 points. O'Brien is also responsible for Joan Of Arc (64), who finished third in the G1 Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood, and Santa Barbara (64), an easy winner of two G1 events in America this summer.
The Cartier Sprinter Award is wide-open with Archie Watson's ultra-consistent Dragon Symbol leading the way on 56 points. The three-year-old chased home Suesa (32) in the G2 King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood, before finishing third in the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York on Aug. 20 behind the Tim Easterby-trained Winter Power (32).
Starman (48) defeated Dragon Symbol and Oxted (48) in the G1 Darley July Cup and finished an admirable third in the G1 Larc Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville on Aug. 8. Campanelle, Dream Of Dreams and Gustavus Weston all have 32 points.
Subjectivist (60) remains the leader in the Cartier Stayer division following his success in the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot for Mark Johnston and owner Dr Jim Walker, although the 4-year-old will sadly miss the rest of the season due to a setback. Cedric Rossi's Skazino (48) recorded his third win of the campaign in the G2 Darley Prix Kergorlay at Deauville on Aug. 22.
G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup hero Trueshan and Spanish Mission, a narrow second to Stradivarius (24) in the G2 Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup on Aug. 20 at York, both have 36 points.
Points are also announced for the first time this year in the 2-year-old categories. The Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt division is currently headed by the Richard Fahey-trained Perfect Power (48), who followed up success in the G2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot with a smart victory in the G1 Darley Prix Morny at Deauville on Aug. 22, with Alan King's G2 Unibet Richmond Stakes winner Asymmetric (32) in third.
The Al Shaqab Racing-owned Ebro River (32) provided his sire Galileo Gold with a first G1 winner in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh on Aug. 8, a contest in which Go Bears Go (32) was third. Lusail (32) has won his last three starts for Richard Hannon, culminating in G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Gimcrack Stakes at York on Aug. 20.
The Andrew Balding-trained Sandrine leads the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly standings, having won the G3 Albany Stakes and G2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes. Kirsten Rausing's homebred was second to Zain Claudette (24) in the G2 Sky Bet Lowther Stakes at York on Aug. 19.
Agartha (24) has proven one of the success stories of the season for Joseph O'Brien. The daughter of Caravaggio broke her maiden tag in the G3 Frank Conroy Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown, before going on to land the G2 Debutante Stakes at the Curragh on Aug. 21.
Gavin Cromwell's Queen Mary Stakes heroine Quick Suzy (20) and Christophe Ferland's Accakaba (16), who remained unbeaten in the G2 Prix du Calvados at Deauville on Aug. 21, are others in contention for the award at this stage.
The Cartier Racing Awards are delivered through a tried and tested combination of points earned by horses in Pattern races (30%), combined at the end of season with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists/handicappers (35%) and votes from readers of Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph (35%).
The participation of the public plays a crucial role in determining the winners of each year's Cartier Racing Awards and gives horseracing fans the chance to put forward their favorite horses in a meaningful way.
In addition to the equine awards, the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit goes to the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special 16-strong Cartier Jury, has/have done the most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months.
The 10 most recent recipients have been John Gosden, Pat Smullen, Richard Hannon, Barry Hills, Team Frankel, Jim Bolger, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Jack Berry and Aidan O'Brien.
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