Tag: Andrew Balding

‘Ability To Switch Off,’ ‘Cruising Speed’ Should Benefit Classic Winner Kameko In Breeders’ Cup Mile

A Group 1 winner at two and winner of the G1 2,000 Guineas in 2020, 3-year-old Kameko will be making the trip across the Atlantic to contest the Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland. Trained by Andrew Balding, the son of Kitten's Joy will enter the Mile off a victory in the Group 2 Joel Stakes, held over a mile at Newmarket.

“The Joel Stakes was as good a performance as the Guineas, really,” Balding said in a Twitter video produced by At The Races. “To give them five pounds and a beating in good style, it again cemented to the world what a high-class achiever this horse is.”

For work rider, Joshua Bryan, the chance to send the horse to the United States for the Breeders' Cup has long been on his mind.

“He's got one strong burst where he could blow away a whole field in a matter of strides,” Bryan said. “I always thought he'd be a great horse in America. He's by Kitten's Joy, who is obviously great out there, and he's got that nice cruising speed to get him out of trouble in America. I think whatever surface out there he would thoroughly enjoy.”

Kameko was bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, and commanded the bargain price of $90,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September sale from agent David Redvers on behalf of Qatar Racing. Now a four-time winner from nine starts with earnings over $500,000, the colt returns to his home state to take on the best in the world.

Kameko will have to overcome 2019 Mile winner Uni, as well as several horses who've had his measure earlier this season. Circus Maximus and Siskin both finished ahead of Kameko in the G1 Sussex Stakes over a mile, but with the potential for firmer ground at Keeneland next weekend, the classic winner's team is feeling confident.

“To this date he's been my favorite work horse,” said Bryan. “I've rode a lot of good horses here at Andrew's, but he has that ability to switch off. He's almost asleep in behind, and you don't need to move on him. He knows when he's gotta join, and all you have to do is just pull the rein a tiny bit to the right or left, wherever you're going, and he just takes off. It's a feeling you long for as a rider; it's incredible, really.”

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Kameko To Tweenhills In 2021

This year’s G1 2000 Guineas scorer Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) will retire to Tweenhills Stud upon conclusion of his 3-year-old campaign this year.

In addition to the 2000 Guineas, Kameko won last year’s G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy. He was fourth in three consecutive Group 1s this summer before besting older horses in the G2 Joel S. and is set to run in the Breeders’ Cup.

Sheikh Fahad Al-Thani, chairman of Qatar Racing, said, “My brothers and I are delighted to own another superstar in Kameko, whose record-breaking 2- and 3-year-old campaigns will live long in our memory. We cannot wait to unveil him to breeders.”

Trainer Andrew Balding added, “Kameko is without doubt the best horse I’ve trained. He has all the attributes of a top-class miler and is a striking horse to look at. I feel very honoured to have had the opportunity to train a horse of such class.”

Kameko was a first British Classic winner for jockey Oisin Murphy, who said, “I felt from the very beginning that this could be a special horse. He’s the perfect model–he has size, durability and a great character. To ride, he has super balance, a great turn of foot and a good mind–you can put him anywhere in a race. He’s a machine.”

Kameko will run at the Breeders’ Cup and on his return will be paraded for breeders, along with other Tweenhills stallions, at Longholes Stud in Newmarket during the Tattersalls December Mare Sale. His 2021 stud fee and syndication plans will be announced in due course.

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Stradivarius Will Try To Regain His Crown In British Champions Long Distance Cup

The world's top rated stayer, Stradivarius stands out among the 15 entries still in the mix for the £300,000 (approximately US$350,000) QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup on Saturday, Oct. 17.

The exceptional 6-year-old, bred and owned by Bjorn Nielsen, won the Qatar Goodwood Cup for a record fourth time at Goodwood in July, having landed the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot for the third time the previous month.

Trained by John Gosden, Stradivarius has won a record 13 races that fall under the QIPCO British Champions Series umbrella, including the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup in 2018. He has run 13 times over two miles or further and been beaten just twice – when a length third to Order Of St George as a 3-year-old in the 2017 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup and when pipped a nose by Kew Gardens in last year's riveting renewal.

The opposition to Stradivarius is headed by two-time Comer Group International Irish St Leger winner Search For A Song. She will be having her first run over two miles but has hinted she will stay and her trainer, Dermot Weld, has been responsible for two previous Long Distance Cup winners in Rite Of Passage (2012) and Forgotten Rules (2014).

Andrew Balding has two possible challengers in Spanish Mission, fluent winner of the Doncaster Cup on his latest start, and the mud-loving Morando, whose exploits last season included an eight-length drubbing of Kew Gardens in the Boodles Diamond Ormonde Stakes at Chester.

Balding said: “Spanish Mission was very impressive in the Doncaster Cup last time but I would have thought he would be effective from a mile and a half to an extended two miles. He's a horse who historically has not wanted the ground too soft, so that's a concern for him. If the ground got pretty testing, we'd have to think twice about running him.

“Morando, on the other hand, loves it when the mud is flying. It would be a new venture going two miles with him but the way he's shaped in his races in the last two seasons suggests that two miles is well within his compass now and he goes well at Ascot.”

Fujaira Prince, trained by Roger Varian, was returning from a year off when an emphatic winner of the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot in June and followed up in the Sky Bet Ebor at York two months later. He chased home Search For A Song in the Irish St Leger last time out.

Aidan O'Brien has won the race three times with Fame And Glory (2011), Order Of St George (2017) and Kew Gardens (2019). This time he could be represented by Sovereign, winner of last year's Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby; Broome, who was a close fourth in last year's Investec Derby; and Dawn Patrol, third in this year's Irish Derby.

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Cheveley Park Glory For No Nay Never’s Alcohol Free

Like last year’s G1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park S. winner Millisle (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) beaten in the G3 Dick Poole Fillies’ S. at Salisbury Sept. 3, Jeff Smith’s Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) made a similar step forward to prove fastest where it mattered in Saturday’s fillies’ feature at Newmarket. Quickly able to head the fast-breaking G2 Lowther S. winner Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}), the heavily-supported 7-2 second favourite was there to be shot at on the front end throughout but was able to ward off threats on all sides as Oisin Murphy asked for maximum effort. At the line, the bargain €40,000 Goffs November Foal Sale purchase had half a length to spare over the 5-2 market-leader Miss Amulet, with Umm Kulthum (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) just a further head away having been well beaten by the runner-up in the Lowther. “Andrew [Balding] has done a top job with her, because he’s had to carefully manage her training regime as she’s very generous at home,” Murphy explained. “We’ve a class of horse in the yard at the moment that we’ve never had before. She certainly fits into the 1000 Guineas category for next year, because she hits the line well and also relaxes. She’s a super filly.”

Off the mark over this trip on debut at Newbury Aug. 15, Alcohol Free was only 3/4 of a length behind the vastly-more experienced Happy Romance (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) from a wide draw when second in the Dick Poole also at this distance. Evidently improved in the interim with the money down on the bay who opened up in the betting at 6-1, she showed why by rapidly mastering her pace rival Miss Amulet who had exited the stalls with remarkable alacrity. Soon after the start, Alcohol Free was the one to aim at and despite her relative inexperience was able to remain there ahead of a strong field. Along with the eventual second and third, she also had in her wake her ultra-game Salisbury conqueror, the previously unbeaten G3 Albany S. and G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. winner Dandalla (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) and the high-class Sacred (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}).

Balding has had a year to remember and in all reality could have an even better 2021. “She didn’t have a great draw at Salisbury, she showed a bit of inexperience and we knew she would come on for that,” he said. “At the end of the day, Happy Romance was likely to be one of the favourites and we only had a couple of lengths to find on her. We had the option to run in the Rockfel, but Jeff was keen on going for the group one and he was dead right. She has been on a fast-track really, as she only started faster work about three weeks before she ran and we went to the races not knowing quite what to expect as she was the first two-year-old filly we had run. She won very easily there and the next logical step was to go for the Dick Poole and she showed enough there to warrant coming here.”

As far as the 1000 Guineas is concerned, the Kingsclere handler is keeping an open mind. “She should stay, I would have thought,” he opined. “She relaxes well and acts better with a bit of cover. Oisin was intent that he couldn’t see any pace in the race and he didn’t want to be too far back. I’m well past giving him instructions and he did a fantastic job. For the yard, this is fantastic as Jeff has been with us a long time, both with dad and as a big supporter of ours, so it is great to get him a group one winner again. She won’t run again this year. We will see how she does in the spring and we will make a decision nearer the time whether she runs in a Guineas trial. She is obviously good enough to go to the Guineas, so we don’t need to go to a trial to find out–it’s just whether she would benefit for a run in the spring.”

Alcohol Free’s dam Plying (Hard Spun) was a dual winner at slightly further than this trip in the Sheikh Mohammed silks for the Henri-Alex Pantall stable. Initially a $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga August Yearling purchase, she was let go by Darley for just €12,000 to BBA Ireland at the 2013 Arqana December Sale and five years later was the property of Jossestown Farm for €21,000 at the Goffs November auction. Alcohol Free is her second black-type performer alongside the Listed Prix le Fabuleux winner Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), while the second dam is the Listed National S.-placed Nasaieb (Ire) (Fairy King) who produced the G2 Flying Childers S. and G3 Princess Margaret S. third Kissing Lights (Ire) Machiavellian). Nasaieb is a half-sister to the G3 Solario S. scorer Raise a Grand (Ire) (Grand Lodge) from the family of the champion Numbered Account (Buckpasser). Plying’s yearling daughter of Starspangledbanner (Aus) was bought by Pegasus Bloodstock for €40,000 at this year’s Goffs February Mixed Sale and is due to sell during Thursday’s session of the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale @ Doncaster. She also has a colt foal by Dandy Man (Ire).

Saturday, Newmarket, Britain
JUDDMONTE CHEVELEY PARK S.-G1, £220,000, Newmarket, 9-26, 2yo, f, 6fT, 1:10, gd.
1–ALCOHOL FREE (IRE), 126, f, 2, by No Nay Never
1st Dam: Plying, by Hard Spun
2nd Dam: Nasaieb (Ire), by Fairy King
3rd Dam: Atyaaf, by Irish River (Fr)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (€40,000 Wlg ’18 GOFNOV). O-J C Smith; B-Churchtown House Stud (IRE); T-Andrew Balding; J-Oisin Murphy. £124,762. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $172,609. *1/2 to Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), SW-Fr. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Miss Amulet (Ire), 126, f, 2, Sir Prancealot (Ire)–Shena’s Dream (Ire), by Oasis Dream (GB). (€1,000 Wlg ’18 GOFNOV; £7,500 Ylg ’19 TASAYG). O-Mrs Doreen Tabor; B-Ringfort Stud (IRE); T-Ken Condon. £47,300.
3–Umm Kulthum (Ire), 126, f, 2, Kodiac (GB)–Queen’s Code (Ire), by Shamardal. (£75,000 2yo ’20 GOFARQ). O-Saeed bin Mohammed Al Qassimi; B-Tally-Ho Stud (IRE); T-Richard Fahey. £23,672.
Margins: HF, HD, 1 1/4. Odds: 3.50, 2.50, 9.00.
Also Ran: Happy Romance (Ire), Dandalla (Ire), Illykato (GB), Zoetic (GB), Sacred (GB). Scratched: Aloha Star (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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