Author: News

Frankel’s Candala Burns Bright At ParisLongchamp

It is 16 years since The Aga Khan enjoyed the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches-G1 Prix de Diane double with Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar) and there was a genuine sense at ParisLongchamp on Sunday that he has a live prospect for a repeat. While the afternoon's G3 Prix de la Grotte winner Candala (Fr) (Frankel {GB}–Candarliya {Fr}, by Dalakhani {Ire}) can not yet be placed in the same bracket as that former luminary, the manner of her re-entry suggests that she is going to be one of the season's leading lights among her sex. Anchored with only the slow-starting G1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Rose Bloom (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) behind early by Mickael Barzalona, the 29-10 favourite who was last seen winning a Chantilly conditions event in September by four lengths delivered a telling surge in the straight to overhaul the 13-1 shot Minoushka (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) close home for a short-neck success, with the G3 Prix des Reservoirs winner Tulipa Chope (Fr) (Born To Sea {Ire}) a length away in third.

“I was impatient to see her back at the races, but equally I was not in too much of a hurry as the ground has been very bad so far and also it took her some time to come in her coat and blossom,” explained trainer Francis-Henri Graffard, who had earlier saddled the owner-breeder's Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) to success in the G3 Prix Noailles. “So a nice day like today with drier ground was ideal for a seasonal debut and it was the plan to use waiting tactics, as I know she can quicken. She had run well here first time out last year, won well on her second start and had always showed us good things. I'd imagine the Poule d'Essai will be next. She has every right to be at the start and it will be a test, but we also think that she'll stay further.”

According to France Galop, the winner's finishing splits were 11.94, 10.98 and 11.41 confirming that she has the acceleration to win the course-and-distance mile Classic in four weeks' time, which is notable considering her stamina-packed pedigree that points to her being much more of a Diane or Oaks filly. The early animator Cetera (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who was in front of Candala when they were second and third behind the unbeaten TDN Rising Star Bauhinia (Ire) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) on their debuts over this track and trip in August and who had been subsequently beaten four lengths by the Aga Khan homebred at Chantilly, set only moderate fractions. She was much slower than the Fontainebleau winner Ramadan (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) throughout, making it all the more meritorious that Candala was able to shut down that gap and hit the line hard.

Pedigree Notes
Candala, who becomes the 95th group winner for her illustrious sire, is the fourth foal out of the smart Candarliya whose expoits included successes in the Prix de Royallieu when it held group 2 status, the G2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil and the G3 Prix Minerve as well as a runner-up placing in the G1 Prix Vermeille. Tried as a stayer later in her career, she had the stamina to be placed in the G2 Prix Kergorlay twice and the G3 Prix de Barbeville and has produced the listed-placed Carini (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) who stayed a mile and a half despite being by his fast sire.

Candarliya is a full-sister to the listed scorer Canndera (Fr) and a half to the Laurel Turf Cup, Cape Henlopen S. and Listed Prix la Moskowa winner Canessar (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) who was also runner-up in the GII Belmont Gold Cup Invitational. The third dam Caribbeandriftwood (Woodman) is connected to the G2 Sandown Mile S. winner and G1 Prix d'Ispahan runner-up Wixim (Diesis {GB}).

Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
PRIX DE LA GROTTE-G3, €80,000, ParisLongchamp, 4-14, 3yo, f, 8fT, 1:44.21, vs.
1–CANDALA (FR), 126, f, 3, by Frankel (GB)
     1st Dam: Candarliya (Fr) (MGSW & G1SP-Fr, $534,189), by Dalakhani (Ire)
     2nd Dam: Candara (Fr), by Barathea (Ire)
     3rd Dam: Caribbeandriftwood, by Woodman
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. O-H H Aga Khan; B-Haras De S A Aga Khan SCEA (FR); T-Francis-Henri Graffard; J-Mickael Barzalona. €40,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-1, €62,000. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Minoushka (GB), 126, f, 3, Starspangledbanner (Aus)–Mouille Point (GB), by Motivator (GB).
1ST BLACK-TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK-TYPE. (€170,000 Ylg '22 ARQOCT). O-Ecurie des Charmes & Kin Hung Kei; B-Le Thenney & Pearl Champs Elysees (GB); T-Carlos & Yann Lerner. €16,000.
3–Tulipa Chope (Fr), 126, f, 3, Born To Sea (Ire)–Tulipe Rouge (Fr), by Panis. (€5,000 Ylg '22 OSASEP). O-Alain Jathiere; B-Alain Chopard & Cedric Boutin (FR); T-Stephane Wattel. €12,000.
Margins: SNK, 1, NO. Odds: 2.90, 13.00, 3.50.
Also Ran: Cetera (Ire), Sparkling Plenty (Fr), Julica (Fr), Rose Bloom (Ire), Monteille (GB), Nevercry (Fr). Video, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

The post Frankel’s Candala Burns Bright At ParisLongchamp appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Calandagan Outpoints Noailles Rivals in Paris

Francis-Henri Graffard trainee Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}–Calayana {Fr}, by Sinndar {Ire}) finished 3-4-of-a-length behind Bright Picture (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) in Saint-Cloud's Listed Prix Francois Mathet last month and exacted revenge on that rival in Sunday's G3 Prix Noailles at ParisLongchamp.

The Aga Khan's homebred gelding was out twice as a 2-year-old, following up an Aug. 12 debut third at Deauville with a facile 10-length tally at Chantilly in October. Calandagan tucked in at the tail of the field after breaking from the outside stall and was urged closer once into the home straight. Making headway to launch his challenge with 300 metres remaining, the 13-5 second favourite gained an edge soon after and found extra under continued rousting inside the final furlong to defeat Bright Picture by an ultimately comfortable 1 3/4 lengths. Francois Mathet third Trafalgar Square (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) made it a gelding trifecta and ran on well in the closing stages to finish 1 1/2 lengths adrift in third.

“He had come on a lot from his first run this year and I was expecting a good performance,” revealed Graffard. “It was the plan to ride him [from behind] like that, as he can be keen, but he also has a strong acceleration. I like how he behaved when he was challenged by the favourite [Bright Picture], he dug in and found more. I have no idea what will be next. He is a gelding so Classics are not for him, but he is a Group winner now and that is a good point.”

Pedigree Notes
Calandagan, who becomes the 23rd pattern-race scorer for his sire (by Galileo {Ire}), is the second foal and leading performer from two winners produced by G3 Prix Minerve second Calayana (Fr) (Sinndar {Ire}), herself a granddaughter of Listed Prix Isola Bella second Clodovina (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}). Clodovina, in turn, is the dam of GI Belmont Derby Invitational runner-up Canndal (Fr) (Medicean {GB}). She is also kin to G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains-winning sire Clodovil (Ire) (Danehill), GSW GI Arlington Million third Colombian (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) and to the dam of G1 SA Derby hero Aragosta (SAf) (Rafeef {Aus}). The January-foaled homebred bay is half to a 2-year-old filly by New Bay (GB) and a yearling filly by Zarak (Fr).

Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
PRIX NOAILLES-G3, €80,000, ParisLongchamp, 4-14, 3yo, 10 1/2fT, 2:13.56, vsf.
1–CALANDAGAN (IRE), 128, g, 3, by Gleneagles (Ire)
1st Dam: Calayana (Fr) (GSP-Fr), by Sinndar (Ire)
2nd Dam: Clariyn (Fr), by Acclamation (GB)
3rd Dam: Clodovina (Ire), by Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. O-H H The Aga Khan; B-H H The Aga Khan's Studs SC (IRE); T-Francis-Henri Graffard; J-Stephane Pasquier. €40,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-1, €70,500. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Bright Picture (Fr), 128, g, 3, Intello (Ger)–Lucy The Painter (Ire), by Excellent Art (GB). 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (€72,000 Ylg '22 ARQOCT). O-Wertheimer & Frere; B-J P Carrington (FR); T-Andre Fabre. €16,000.
3–Trafalgar Square (Fr), 128, g, 3, Kendargent (Fr)–See You Always (GB), by Siyouni (Fr). 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (€80,000 Ylg '22 ARQAUG). O-Ecurie Hugo et Pierre Pilarski & Gousserie Racing; B-Ecurie X (FR); T-Patrice Cottier. €12,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 1HF, 2. Odds: 2.60, 1.30, 16.00.
Also Ran: Casapueblo (Ire), Sibayan (Fr), Black Run (Fr), Golden West (GB). Video, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

The post Calandagan Outpoints Noailles Rivals in Paris appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The Unscripted Delights of Anticipation Week

Newmarket's Craven meeting could just as well be called Anticipation Week.

Anticipation is climbing the steps of a venerated football stadium for a night game to find the floodlights blazing and the grass slick and lush.

It's the bounce of the England cricket team down the pavilion steps to start an Ashes series. It's checking your tickets the day before Wimbledon tennis starts or standing just after dawn beside the first tee at an Open Championship or Masters.

It's not about what you know. It's about all the things you don't know. Or don't know yet, because there is no script. A venue, a tradition, a hum of expectation, yes, but no script. Unlike cinema or the theatre, nobody wrote what you are about to see. You scan the horizon of pleasures still to come with a preferred outcome, certainly, but no guarantees.

In books and films the whodunnit is already decided. In sport the who-will win-it is a thing of intrigue. It's the unknowable.

What I'm describing here, in racing terms, is 'Craven week,' the Newmarket fixture that ends the strange hiatus between the Lincoln meeting at Doncaster and the 'real' start of a Flat racing campaign, on the Rowley Mile course. 

It's not about what you know. It's about all the things you don't know. Or don't know yet, because there is no script.

The Grand National meeting bisects the cutting of the start-line ribbon at Donny and the unleashing of the first wave of Classic contenders at Newmarket, in a week when everything feels possible, and dreams are unbruised by reality.

And in Flat racing, anticipation week is centuries old. The Craven was first run in 1771 and evolved over two hundred years into the pre-eminent 2,000 Guineas trial. In 1869 it was reduced from 10 furlongs to eight. Eight years later it was restricted to three-year-olds. 

Modern training is a scientific, data-driven trade, so colts often go straight to the Guineas without a prep run. City of Troy and Rosallion – the first two in the market – will arrive on May 4 without form in the book as three-year-olds.

Yet the Craven is still the race that tells you spring has sprung, the Classic race scramble has begun, and that 2024's contenders are about to be reclassified as champs, nearly-horses and also-rans.

In the history of the colts' Classics, the evidence trail still starts with the Craven. Six years ago Masar beat the odds-on Roaring Lion and went on to win the Derby. Roaring Lion proceeded to win four Group 1s. Curiously the last horse to compete the Craven-2,000 Guineas double was Haafhd in 2004, an anomaly that is due correction. Eminent (2017), Native Khan (2011) and Adagio (2007) are among those for whom winning the Craven was largely an end, rather than a beginning.

No modern Craven meeting has produced a more lasting declaration than that of Dancing Brave in 1986. His defeat of Henry Cecil's pair Faraway Dancer and Mashkour was emphatic enough but the ground was too soft to offer a promise of the beauty to come: victories in the 2,000 Guineas, Eclipse, King George and Arc to earn an official rating of 141, the highest ever awarded to a horse at that time.

The first big fillies' trial of the season, the Nell Gwyn Stakes, can also be revelatory. In a mini golden era from 1984 to 1986 it was won by Pebbles (1,000 Guineas, Eclipse, Champion Stakes, Breeders' Cup Turf), Oh So Sharp (1,000 Guineas, Oaks, St Leger) and Sonic Lady (Irish 1,000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes, Sussex Stakes, Prix du Moulin.)

The British crave spring and hints of summer delights particularly keenly. It feels as if it has been raining in the UK since November. Racing folk ask Craven week to lift the grey blanket off their heads. They want equine coats to gleam and the sun to glint off silks. Trainers, stable staff and jockeys will see hints from the gallops tested on the racecourse. Lazy types will be transformed and 'morning wonders' may flop when they step on the track.

With Craven week, there are clues and promise but no certainties. After Newmarket the auditions roll on to Newbury, to the Greenham and Fred Darling. The two Guineas races come less than three weeks after the Newmarket and Newbury trials – a timetable more compressed than you might imagine, considering that these are three-year-olds emerging from hibernation.

Everything is up for grabs, and everyone wants to grab it, especially after a gruelling, soggy winter. The not knowing is part of the thrill. There are champions on the scroll of Nell Gwyn and Craven winners but there are also winners you struggle to remember. It's not possible for a 'bad' horse to win either race, but eminently possible for the victory to lead nowhere. Twelve months ago Indestructible beat The Foxes in the Craven but has not won since.

In Anticipation Week stars will emerge, reality checks will abound, hopes will be dashed and question marks will be scattered. But the 2024 Flat season will be in full swing. It's not just the horses who burst from the stalls at Newmarket. We do too.

 

The post The Unscripted Delights of Anticipation Week appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights