Tag: Bay Bridge (GB)

Stellar Six Lined Up For Eclipse Clash

In what is shaping up as if it could be a vintage 2022 season, Saturday's G1 Coral-Eclipse S. has let nobody down with a high-class turn-out of six in what has historically been termed as the first “Clash of the Generations”. The Aga Khan's supplemented Prix du Jockey Club hero Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) was drawn in stall four on Thursday, next to Godolphin's more decorated fellow 3-year-old Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in five, with the race's possible pace angle Alenquer (Fr) (Adlerflug {Ger}) widest in six. Following the expected withdrawal of Ballydoyle's trio which included two who had produced career-bests under aggressive front-running rides in Galileo (Ire)'s High Definition (Ire) and Stone Age (Ire), the question of who will take up the mantle in the lead is open to question.

 

Bridging the Gap

Caught out in a tactically-run affair 17 days ago in the G1 Prince of Wales's S., James Wigan and Ballylinch Stud's Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) could be ridden closer to the pace this time with Ryan Moore sure to be keen to address the defeat at the hands of the expertly-ridden State of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) at Royal Ascot. While there is no guarantee that the Sir Michael Stoute-trained 4-year-old would have won had he pressed Joseph O'Brien's colt further out, there are significant grounds to suggest he would have been closer at the death. Provided the 10-pound weight-for-age gift he presents to the year-younger duo is not insurmountable, he appeals as the ideal type for this race especially given how demonstrative he was in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. over this course and distance May 26.

 

Faith Justified

James Wigan turned down overseas offers prior to selling a share in Bay Bridge to Ballylinch and believes his homebred has a strong chance of giving Stoute that seventh win in the race and hand him the overall record over Aidan O'Brien and Alec Taylor.

“Bay Bridge came back from Ascot bouncing and seems to be in rude health. I think the winner there was very cleverly ridden and stole a march on the others,” the owner-breeder told QIPCO British Champions Series. “I'm not saying we would have won if the race had been run differently, but he was beaten only a length and was still inching closer at the finish. If the race was run again I think we could have been closer still. It's probably the best Eclipse we've seen for a while, but he seemed to enjoy Sandown when he won the Brigadier Gerard.”

 

Egan Ready

Only third in this 12 months ago, Prince A A Faisal's Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) is back with a similar profile coming into it on his European bow and jockey David Egan is keen to resume his partnership with the 5-year-old. Whereas last term he was re-entering the fray after wins in the G1 Saudi Cup and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, this time he cuts a more enigmatic figure having last been seen finishing a distant last of the 14 runners who took part in the Riyadh bonanza Feb. 26.

“I felt the dirt maybe wasn't riding with the same consistency as it did the previous year. It was a lot warmer, which will affect the dirt surface, and maybe it was a negative for him on the day,” Egan suggests. “He didn't jump as well, we asked him to get a prominent position and the pace was fierce–the winner came from a long way back. Mr. Gosden said he also got a bit of kickback, which might have affected him.”

 

Clean Slate

Ignoring that Saudi Cup effort, Mishriff remains the foremost older horse in this line-up on achievement and Egan is happy that the homebred is back in a good place ahead of Saturday.

“I've sat on him a number of times over the last couple of weeks and he feels in good form and tuned up and ready to go,” he added. “People have possibly written him off before and he's bounced back better than ever on a number of occasions. He's an exciting horse in that sense, knowing he can do that. He's the highest-rated horse in the race on paper and on figures he's the one to beat. It's a small field, but it's a boutique field and you could build a case for any horse in the race. Mishriff has been in a lot of tactical battles and I wouldn't be worried about the tactical aspect. He's pretty straightforward and he's an older, more mature horse now and easier to ride in some respects. He'll be a lot more mature than the 3-year-olds, which will only be an asset to him.”

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State Of Rest Makes All In The Prince Of Wales’s

Wednesday's G1 Prince of Wales's S. came down to a display of supreme jockeyship, but it was not Moore or Dettori or even Demuro who provided it but Shane Crosse, whose masterclass from the front on the under-rated State of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) proved the difference in such a tight Royal Ascot encounter. The race is a qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland in November. While Frankie fumbled with the blindfold on Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) as the gates opened and lost all chance there, Crosse was out and in control quickly on the 5-1 shot with no pressure on the lead. Hard though the 10-11 favourite Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) chased in the straight, from the two pole it was a lost cause with Joseph O'Brien's flagship performer having too much of an advantage. At the line, there was a length between the accomplished G1 Cox Plate, G1 Prix Ganay and GI Saratoga Derby winner and the Stoute runner as they pulled 2 1/4 lengths clear of Grand Glory (GB) (Olympic Glory {Ire}), who justified her supplementary entry. “In the space of the last 12 months, this horse has done a lot. He has done it all and I am just over the moon,” Crosse said. “To get here and participate is a huge thing. To ride a horse like this in top-class races is a dream. You cannot describe it.”

While this renewal showcased the remarkable distance that racing has come since the last century in terms of international competition, there is possibly still a sense that achievements overseas can be overlooked in the Royal Ascot analysis. State of Rest had been at inflated odds before a late gamble thrust him back to 5-1, which was in hindsight an insult given that he had faced the thrust of battle on contrasting surfaces in the States, Australia and France. Having outgunned Anamoe (Aus) (Street Boss) and Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}) at Moonee Valley in October, State of Rest was probably only in his comfort zone dealing with the French contingent in the Ganay at the start of May and connections felt that his subsequent third three weeks later in The Curragh's G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup could be bettered. Running the final three furlongs there faster than the first and second Alenquer (Fr) (Adlerflug {Ger}) and High Definition (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), he was always going to be dangerous let loose on the lead.

State of Rest may have clocked a moderate overall time for the race, especially given how the ground has allowed for some rapid outcomes over the first two day, but his finishing effort up the straight was that of a top-class performer and a rematch with the still-promising runner-up will be fascinating to witness. Remarkably, this was Joseph O'Brien's first Royal Ascot winner as a trainer and it is fitting that it arrived 10 years after he won this aboard another Cox Plate hero in So You Think (NZ). “It's very special. It's been a long time coming,” he said. “We've had a lot of horses run well here. It's special to get a winner here and not only a winner, but to win a race like the Prince of Wales's Stakes is hugely special. We have a great team of owners and a special horse.”

“We had a good chat with Shane and decided to make the running. It could not have worked out better. He got the fractions perfect,” he added. “State of Rest is a very tough horse. He is very versatile and I take some of the blame myself for not using him enough last time, but it was a great run. We knew coming here today that we had a live chance of winning the race and I'm just pleased that the horse has proved himself. It is a huge day and I am very proud of everyone. This is what it is all about. We love the game, we are born and bred into the game. It is all we know. To have a big winner here is what we do it for.”

Paul Cashman of Rathbarry Stud, part-owner of the winner, said, “Things did not go to plan in the Tattersalls Gold Cup–the ground was not on our side that day. It was Joseph's plan to go forward. He knew from furlong to furlong what he wanted and that is how it panned out. It doesn't always work like that, but they had the confidence and the horse to do that. Joseph said he was unlucky in the spring of his three-year-old career. He pulled a muscle in the spring and did not have a Guineas campaign, so was a second half of the season horse. So for me he'd been under the radar for a race like this. I thought he should have been half the price he was.”

“It's just a very proud week to be an Australian,” Henry Field told TDN AusNZ on the win. “It was absolutely fantastic. It was a crack-hot field with the top-class middle distances European horses and Japanese horses. It means a lot because he has shown he is the best mile-and-a-quarter horse in the world. It has taken a long time for us to step into this part of the market and find a middle distance horse to stand at stud, but after his Cox Plate win we took a leap of faith and I think that after today's [Wednesday] result that decision has been very much vindicated.

“He's a star horse. He's won Group 1s in America, France, obviously the Cox Plate and now Royal Ascot–that is quite the record. He has got one of the strongest syndicates of owners we have ever put together for a horse and it includes some breeders from New South Wales, Victoria and New Zealand, so it's just a great thrill and many of them are here–it's a day we will never forget.”

“I was actually talking to Chris Waller before the horses came to Ascot and how the week could be a big one for Australia,” Field added. “We have seen the Japanese horses travel round the world and really vindicate the power of their racing. So, to see a horse like Nature Strip (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}) win the [G1] King's Stand [S.] on Tuesday, and not just win but blow his rivals away, and then our Cox Plate winner, albeit a horse trained in Ireland, prove he is the best mile-and-a-quarter horse in the world, I think all this is very important for Australian racing to showcase to the world how powerful our product is.

“This guy is trained by Joseph, who is a child prodigy and has an extraordinary brain. One of the greatest parts of investing in this horse is being able to pick Joseph's brain over the phone and I don't think I've ever spoken to a smarter younger man in the horse business. But to see both the Australian sprinting and middle-distance form stack up as it has this week, it's a week that Australians should be really proud of and it is really important for the future of our industry. It's just a very proud week to be an Australian. ”

Added Field, “Fingers crossed Artorius (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) can give us something to celebrate on Saturday, but if he doesn't we will all be cheering on Home Affairs (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) for Coolmore.”

Sir Michael Stoute was far from downcast following the end of Bay Bridge's sequence and said, “The race didn't pan out brilliantly for him, but he ran a very big race and we're absolutely delighted. We haven't run him on fast ground before, but that didn't inconvenience him–there was no problem there. Whether we stick at 10 furlongs or go to 12 furlongs, no decision will be taken for a little while.” Lord North was in a race of his own for much of the contest, left several lengths behind after the blindfold had become caught in the bridle, while the G1 Tokyo Yushun and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) failed to fire on another disappointing day for Japan here. “When I asked to go, he didn't have the same acceleration as last time,” rider Cristian Demuro explained.

State of Rest's unraced dam Repose (Quiet American) is now the property of Juddmonte and their recent acquisition takes on even greater import following this latest confirmation of their unerring shrewdness. Also responsible for the G3 Blue Wind S. winner Tranquil Lady (Ire) (Australia {GB}), she is a daughter of Monaassabaat (Zilzal) who captured the Listed Virginia S. before producing the listed winners Prince Alzain (Street Sense) and Echo River (Irish River {Fr}), with the latter also second in the G3 May Hill S. She is also the second dam of the G2 Royal Lodge S. and G2 Vintage S. runner-up Artigiano (Distorted Humor).

The third dam is the 16-times-winning dual GI Vanity H. heroine and champion It's In the Air (Mr. Prospector), whose descendants include the triple group 1-winning Champion S. hero Storming Home (GB) (Machiavellian), the GI American Oaks heroine Music Note (A.P. Indy) and her G1 Dubai World Cup-winning son Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), plus the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner Musical Chimes (In Excess {Ire}). Repose's 2-year-old filly Double Scoop (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) was a €180,000 purchase by Anthony Dutrow at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale, while she delivered a filly foal by Sea the Stars (Ire) this year.

State of Rest will stand at Rathbarry Stud, Ireland and shuttle to Newgate Farm, Australia upon his retirement.

Wednesday, Ascot, Britain
PRINCE OF WALES'S S.-G1, £1,057,500, Ascot, 6-15, 4yo/up, 9f 212yT, 2:07.79, g/f.
1–STATE OF REST (IRE), 128, c, 4, by Starspangledbanner (Aus)
1st Dam: Repose, by Quiet American
2nd Dam: Monaassabaat, by Zilzal
3rd Dam: It's in the Air, by Mr. Prospector
(45,000gns Wlg '18 TATFOA; 60,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-State Of Rest Partnership; B-Tinnakill Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-Joseph O'Brien; J-Shane Crosse. £599,708. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Aus & Fr, GISW-US & G1SP-Ire, 12-5-1-3, $3,808,013. *1/2 to Tranquil Lady (Ire) (Australia {GB}), GSW-Ire. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Bay Bridge (GB), 128, c, 4, New Bay (GB)–Hayyona (GB), by Multiplex (GB). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O-James Wigan & Ballylinch Stud; B-London Thoroughbred Services Ltd (GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute. £227,363.
3–Grand Glory (GB), 125, m, 6, Olympic Glory (Ire)–Madonna Lily (Ire), by Daylami (Ire). (€18,000 Ylg '17 AROYRG; €2,500,000 5yo '21 ARQDEC). O-Haras de Hus; B-Elevage Haras de Bourgeauville (GB); T-Gianluca Bietolini. £113,787.
Margins: 1, 2 1/4, HD. Odds: 5.00, 0.91, 16.00.
Also Ran: Shahryar (Jpn), Lord North (Ire). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

 

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Bay Bridge At The Centre Of Wednesday’s Royal Ascot Action

   At the beginning of 2022, it would have taken an almighty leap of the imagination to envisage Sir Michael Stoute having one of the best years of his career but within the space of just over a month from mid-May it has become a reality. Quite what Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) can go on to achieve is anybody's guess and the non-believers are rightly in a minority where the Derby hero is concerned, but in Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) Newmarket's longstanding doyen has another to take to the world stage. Judged on his emphatic return success in the May 26 G3 Brigadier Gerard S., Sandown's key 10-furlong launchpad that the head of Freemason Lodge has harvested down the years, the 4-year-old who represents James Wigan and Ballylinch Stud is heading to the toppermost of the poppermost. Kept at a light simmer last term, the son of Ballylinch's rising star sire came violently to the boil last time. For Bay Bridge, read Mtoto (GB) or Pilsudski (Ire) or, more recently, Poet's Word (Ire) (Poet's Voice {GB}). He was that good. The G1 Prince Of Wales's S., a 'Win And You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, is his first reckoning on Wednesday.

 

Is This The Breakthrough?

   Surprisingly, Japan is without a Royal Ascot winner and have fared no better than sixth from the eight that have tried to date, but that could have been so different six years ago when A Shin Hikari (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) went to post as the 8-13 favourite for this race only to falter and finish last. In a year where it feels like the tide has finally turned for the nation's fortunes on the international stage, it is another son of the late, great sire that comes forth this time in Shahryar (Jpn), Hideaki Fujiwara's G1 Tokyo Yushun and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner. Yasuhiro Matsumoto, manager of Northern Farm, is full of hope. “As a horseman, I want to win races in the UK with Japanese horses,” he stated. “It is a dream and a real honour for us to have runners at Royal Ascot. Many people think the Arc is the pinnacle, but I think many of the best sire-making races are in the UK.”

 

The International Playground

It is a measure of how far this contest has come since it was shifted to Group 1 status in the millennium year that it contains winners of top-level prizes in Dubai, Japan, the States and Australia as well as France and Britain despite there being just five runners. The only one to prevail in this company on British soil is Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), whose success in the COVID Prince of Wales's two years ago was followed by an outright win and dead-heat for first in the last two renewals of the G1 Dubai Turf. He could be suited by a potentially tactical affair, which may not apply to State of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) who has a Cox Plate to boast of and at this stage is on a par with the 2011 winner of this race, So You Think (NZ). They met last time when State of Rest was a place ahead of Lord North in third in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh on May 22, but John Gosden believes there is the prospect of a reversal. “I think that he raced a bit too close to the strong pace at the Curragh and the one mile and two and a half furlongs there just stretched him a bit,” he explained. “He's a grand horse, but he needs to be ridden a little differently to Ireland.”

 

Back To Earth

In the G2 Duke of Cambridge S., last year's 1000 Guineas and G1 Prix Rothschild heroine Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) bids to provide Aidan O'Brien with a first edition and get on track again after misfiring when seventh in Newbury's G1 Lockinge S. May 14. On what could be a big day for New Bay, his daughter Saffron Beach (Ire) re-opposes the Ballydoyle stalwart having galloped her into submission in Newmarket's G1 Sun Chariot S. in October. There is also the unknown quantity that is Cheveley Park Stud's Bashkirova (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who is here just 10 days after her G3 Princess Elizabeth S. win, and 'TDN Rising Star' Sibila Spain (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) who came of age last time when winning the G2 Prix du Muguet at Saint-Cloud May 8.

 

A Day Of Contrasts

   While the future stayers get their chance in the 14-furlong G2 Queen's Vase, the G2 Queen Mary S. and Listed Windsor Castle S. provide for the fast juveniles. Roger Varian has a live contender for the Vase in KHK Racing's unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), while Wesley Ward may have suffered a demoralising reversal on day one but in Stonestreet's sensational Keeneland winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Love Reigns (U S Navy Flag) he has the archetypal Queen Mary filly. Looking for a landmark fifth renewal, he is in reach of Fred Darling's record of seven winners of the five-furlong contest and if he keeps bringing radically fast types like this daughter of Coolmore's first-season sire he could even get there in this decade. “Every horse that kind of engaged her, she just exploded away from them,” Ward warned.

 

More Rising Stars

Another 'TDN Rising Star' in the Queen Mary is Clipper Logistics' impressive Newmarket maiden winner Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), who according to Karl Burke is in a league of her own as far as pace is concerned. “Her figures for her first run at Newmarket were pretty good and I'm adamant and convinced she's come on from that,” he said. “She's as quick as I've trained anyway, so we'll see.” Adding intrigue to the contest, there are a total of five others from the first crop of Havana Grey (GB), James Garfield (Ire) and Tasleet (GB) who had such a breakthrough moment on Tuesday. They include the Listed National S. winner Maria Branwell (Ire) by Rathbarry Stud's James Garfield and Havana Grey's Salisbury and Windsor winner Katey Kontent (GB), who looked special last time. In the Windsor Castle, Ballydoyle's 'TDN Rising Star' Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) looks to hold the aces following his impressive Naas maiden success while the Roger Varian-trained Leicester novice scorer Bolt Action (Ire) (Kessaar {Ire}) is one of the more intriguing home-trained contenders.

Click here for the group fields.

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Lighting the Torch at Royal Ascot

Charlie Appleby calls it “the Olympics” and few would challenge that claim. Royal Ascot has been too long enmeshed in the fabric of British culture to be anything other than a truly special occasion, but in the Platinum Jubilee year it has even greater allure, a higher purpose. Four of the top nine horses in the World's Best Racehorse Rankings, including the one who sits atop, will be here this week and several more that have yet to reveal themselves as members of that exclusive club. We will know them all by the end of Saturday, but before then all the currently unknown scenarios will go through this meeting's glorious process of exposure and development. There will be formalities, probably as soon as the very first race, but also surprises and the whole range in between as the pick of the Thoroughbred population are at stretch over this hallowed land. All ages, both sexes, several nations, all racing styles. There will be time to marvel at rapidity of the fast-twitch kind, at the long-drawn-out sagas of the staying races, the dynamic poise of the milers and life at the cutting edge for the middle-distance maestros. There is a leading Australian sprinter, an ingredient much missed at the meeting in recent times, the now-customary U.S. contingent and the normal heavy representation from Europe's major operations both entrenched and newly-formed but with the same appetite.

Reach For the Stars

With temperatures set to soar and freedom of movement fully restored, the pinnacle of the English racing scene is back where it belongs in the public consciousness. Of course, where that is concerned the key event could actually come on Thursday with Reach For the Moon (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) who is much the most likely source of The Queen's 25th Royal Ascot winner in the G3 Hampton Court S. It is fair to say that without a success in those colours the week will have a hole in it, whatever the achievements of Baaeed (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), Nature Strip (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}), Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) and Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), so it is in the lap of the gods as to how that plays out. In the final analysis, The Queen has long proven her ability to deal with reversals and her appreciation of the week's parade of luminaries runs deep enough to counter any personal disappointments.

Paying Homage

If it is to be the perfect week, then surely there can only be one outcome to the opening G1 Queen Anne S. and that will be Baaeed's private eulogy delivered to his late owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan. With little in the way of threatening opposition on Tuesday, the key factor will be how far the forecast 1-5 shot can put himself out of reach in the World Rankings and how much he can bridge the still-sizeable gap to Frankel's elevated level. When horses get this far in advance of their peers, they are in some ways racing their own ghosts and with normal improvement from Newbury's G1 Lockinge S. May 14 he looks to put the fear into the crop of 3-year-olds looking for a potential fight in next month's G1 Sussex S. Fittingly, Baaeed's heritage goes back to The Queen's Height of Fashion (Fr) (Bustino {GB}), the remarkable fount of such glory for Shadwell Estate following the transaction between the ruling monarch and the Maktoum family kingpin back in the 1980s.

Select Crew For Haggas

   After Baaeed there are just two other Somerville Lodge representatives on day one, but they are a potentially formidable duo in their own right in Sunderland Holding's May 19 Listed Heron S. winner My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) and Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's May 22 G2 Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen (German 2000 Guineas) winner Maljoom (Ire) (Caravaggio) in the G1 St James's Palace S. The former would be providing his owners with a breakthrough Royal Ascot winner if he can get to Godolphin's 2000 Guineas hero Coroebus and there was much to like about the way he subdued Reach For the Moon at Sandown in a race that is becoming increasingly important as a stepping stone to this prestige event. Without Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}) took the Heron in 2018 before annexing this, while a year later King of Comedy (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) narrowly missed out on the double. He is drawn on the verges of acceptability in seven, with the last nine winners housed either in that stall or lower, whereas Maljoom has stall eight but is a habitual slow-starter so was unlikely to gain any advantage drawn towards the rail. He is a strong-finisher, however, as he proved in Cologne and it would be a huge shot in the arm for the German Classic if he is to overturn the English Guineas winner here. The form that the Haggas stable is in at present, it couldn't be written off. “They are two improving young three-year-olds and it's a very prestigious race, so they are entitled to have a shot,” their trainer said. “They've got a lot to find to beat Coroebus, but they are going the right way. Maljoom would be the faster of the pair, but My Prospero will stay well.”

The Stand-Off

Royal Ascot's metamorphosis from its rather staid past format into the up-to-date celebration of versatility it is now was helped in large part by the arrival of the sprinting megalith Choisir (Aus) back in 2003 and by the onslaught of Wesley Ward's raiders from 2009 onwards. Internationalisation really took hold of racing from the end of the last century and there is no way back from here, so it is apt that the G1 King's Stand S. boils down to an Australia-US drag race. Ward has placed Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) on a pedestal and he has been gifted a favourable high draw in 13 and a slick surface not always a guarantee at this meeting in recent times. Irad Ortiz is charged with getting the minutiae of pace-setting dead right and perhaps his best chance is if he can stay out of range of the Australian slugger Nature Strip. His is the direct line to glory and he has to not falter, as he did in York's G1 Nunthorpe S. in August. “He's a fast horse, so he's going to break like he always does and we'll just try not to go too fast early,” Ward said. “Whether it was Irad or Frankie Dettori or Lester Piggott on this horse, it's just a question of easing him back after the break and for the first three eighths you just want to go as easy as possible because whoever is going to be up there with him is going to pay the price. The thing about bringing Irad over here to ride this particular horse is he knows the horse very, very well and the horse responds well to him–they're undefeated.”

And It's No Nay Never

From the end of the last century, Royal Ascot has played regular host to some big names with dirt pedigrees and there is something in the turf that seems to sit well with the Storm Cat sire line. Through the 2001 G3 Norfolk S. winner Johannesburg, to Scat Daddy's No Nay Never, Caravaggio, Lady Aurelia, Sioux Nation and Acapulco, the meeting has come to represent something of a target for outrageously precocious juveniles with a power edge over their generation. No Nay Never's 2013 success in the Norfolk, when it was a group 2 as it is now, was won the hard way and he is a sire of precious material that Coolmore have profound belief in. At this stage of the 2022 season, he accounts for a ream of early Ballydoyle winners and Blackbeard (Ire) is front and centre as he spearheads the stable's quest for a 10th renewal of the G2 Coventry S. His 3 1/2-length dismissal of Moyglare's classy Tough Talk (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) in The Curragh's G3 Marble Hill S. May 21 is a standard-setting piece of form and with a draw in 14 he will be hard to subdue. “He is very professional and exciting in equal measure,” Ryan Moore stated on his betfair blog.

All the Right Amo

Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing operation has been a notable fast starter with the 2-year-olds in 2022 and the Coventry sees Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) kick off a potentially big Royal Ascot week for the relatively new enterprise. Successful in Doncaster's Brocklesby on the first day of the flat season in Britain Mar. 26 before adding a Newbury conditions race to his tally on the Lockinge card May 14, he has had Richard Hannon in typically excitable form of late. Amo's racing manager Emily Scott is keen to take a step back from the hype now. “He goes there with a great chance. I think the horse has got to do the talking now, but it's going to be very exciting,” she said. “We do have a few chances each day this week, but he is certainly the one we're taking there with highest expectations, I would say.”

First-Crop Promise

Often one of the meeting's most intriguing contests, the Coventry provides the first real test for the leading progeny of the first-season sires who have shaped the initial juvenile scene and none have made a mark so profound as Whitsbury Manor Stud's Havana Grey (GB). His Andrew Balding-trained colt Holguin (GB) is a longshot, having been beaten convincingly by Persian Force at Newbury, but much shorter in the betting is another member of a first crop in Victorious Racing Limited's Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}). Earning TDN Rising Star status with a nine-length success in a York novice over this six-furlong trip May 21, the son of Shadwell's Nunnery Stud resident takes high rank among Archie Watson's youngbloods, while Dalham Hall Stud's Harry Angel (Ire) has Michael O'Callaghan's deeply promising May 14 Navan maiden scorer Harry Time (Ire). As far as Sioux Nation is concerned, it's safe to say that there will be stronger chances for Coolmore's aforementioned freshman than the 100-1 maiden Lakota Blue (GB) as the week goes on.

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