Baron Samedi (GB) | Horse Racing Free Tips

Joseph O’Brien Quintet Bound For Sydney Autumn Carnival

Trainer Joseph O'Brien intends to send a string of five horses to compete Down Under at the Sydney Autumn Carnival, Racing.com reported on Tuesday.

The quintet, which consists of G3 Ballyroan S. runner-up Cleveland (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), winner Temple Of Artemis (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), triple group winner and Group 1-placed Baron Samedi (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}), G3 Irish St. Leger Trial hero Raise You (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Statement (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), who won the G3 Concorde S., are supposed to be among the nominations–released later in the day–for The Championships at Royal Randwick on Apr. 1 and Apr. 8.

Intended for the A$2-million G1 Sydney Cup over 3200 metres are Cleveland and Temple Of Artemis, both part-owned by the Williams family of G1 Melbourne Cup fame, as well as Baron Samedi. Raise You is also likely for the Sydney Cup, but has also proven effective over slightly shorter trips. Statement is targeting the A$600,000 G1 Coolmore Classic on Mar. 11, followed by the A$1-million G1 Queen of the Turf over a mile on Apr. 8.

“Cleveland will either run in the [G1] Tancred [S. on Mar. 25] ahead of the Sydney Cup, or straight into the Sydney Cup. We'll play that by ear,” Nick Williams told Racing.com. “By all reports he's in terrific form at home, his two runs for us have been nothing but outstanding.

“His last run for us at the Curragh, the Irish Cesarewitch, we gave the winner Waterville (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) plenty of weight (8kg).

“Whilst if he were to run in the Tancred, he'd be out of the weights, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was to run well.”

Prior to his Sydney Cup attempt, if he gets into the field, Temple Of Artemis is aiming for the A$200,000 G3 N.E. Manion Cup over 2400 metres at Rosehill on Mar. 18 or if not, the A$300,000 G2 Chairman's Quality going 2600 metres on Apr. 1.

“He was a very immature 3-year-old and we gelded him late last year,” Williams said. “Joseph tells me he's taken several steps forward, he's a work in progress. He is rated 96 over in Ireland, it will take a bit of work to get him into the Sydney Cup, but you never know.

“He's an exciting stayer for the future and he's a brother to [2015 G1] Gold Cup runner-up Kingfisher (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).”

They will enter quarantine this week, and will arrive in Sydney on Feb. 25, alongside the William Haggas-trained foursome of Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}), Purplepay (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}), Earl Of Tyrone (Ire) (Australia {GB}), and Protagonist (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

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Irish St Leger For Baron Samedi

Three-time group winner Baron Samedi (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire})'s long-term goal is the G1 Comer Group International Irish St Leger, trainer Joseph O'Brien has revealed. A winner of the G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris last fall, the 4-year-old gelding returned this spring with a smart win in the G3 Vintage Crop S. at Navan on Apr. 25 and added the GII Belmont Gold Cup S. Stateside on June 4. In his latest run, he was fifth in the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud on July 4.

“Baron Samedi has the Irish St Leger as his main target and may have a run before then,” said the County Kilkenny trainer. “If he does run before it will be in the Irish St Leger Trial.”

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Santiago Back For Vintage Crop

With Ascot's G1 Gold Cup now less than two months away, the road to the prestigious feature of the Royal meeting begins on Sunday as Ballydoyle's Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) returns in Navan's G3 Vintage Crop S. Last seen finishing fourth in the G1 St Leger at Doncaster in September, the G1 Irish Derby hero races under a penalty for his triumph in that Curragh Classic last June and faces one who has already been in the mix in the 2 1/2-mile marathon in Master of Reality (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) who was third to Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) in 2019. “My colt was obviously very good when winning the Queen's Vase and Irish Derby and he ran up to that level in defeat in the Goodwood Cup and the St Leger afterwards,” Ryan Moore commented. “He didn't end up running when he travelled down to Australia in the autumn, but he is clearly a top staying prospect this year and this looks an ideal starting point for him.”

Master of Reality's trainer Joseph O'Brien also has Baron Samedi (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) engaged and he is untried at staying trips having signed off last term with a career-best success in the 11-furlong G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris at ParisLongchamp in October. “Master of Reality has been a super horse for us, most notably going close in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and the Melbourne Cup in 2019. He tends to improve with racing, so he is highly likely to improve on whatever he does here. We're looking forward to another exciting season with him,” their trainer said. “Baron Samedi was a revelation last year, transforming from looking very moderate to winning five races in a row including a Group 2 at Longchamp. We think he might be able to stay a bit further this year and how he copes with this longer trip will be our main focus here. He should improve from whatever he does and we are excited to see how he runs.”

Preceding the Vintage Crop is the 10-furlong Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Salsabil S. for Oaks prospects, with Aidan O'Brien relying solely on the highly-regarded Willow (Ire) (American Pharoah). A daughter of the multiple Group 1-winning Peeping Fawn (Danehill), she was off the mark at the third attempt over a mile at Leopardstown in October and will be tested against a clutch of unexposed fillies with similarly unexposed status. They include Moyglare Stud Farm's Port Sunlight (Ire) (Harzand {Ire}), who looked a stayer of note when scoring with authority in a mile maiden on testing ground at Gowran Park in October. She is re-opposed by the RacehorseClub's Create Belief (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}), who was third on that occasion and who has since gone back to the same course and distance to get off the mark.

Click here for the group fields.

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