Gold Cup Bid On The Cards For Golden Horn’s Aston Park Winner Haskoy

Further underlining the merit of last year's G1 St Leger, Juddmonte's Haskoy (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) got up late to register a winning return in Saturday's G3 Aston Park S. at Newbury and enhance her claims in next month's G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. Demoted from second to fourth in the Doncaster Classic, which was coming up quickly after her success in York's Listed Galtres S. in August, the homebred only just made this gig after what her trainer Ralph Beckett described as a “tough Spring” and was held up behind the early leaders with Frankie Dettori keen to let her build into a steady rhythm.

Taking time to wind up, the 5-2 second favourite arrived with strength in the final 100 yards as the past TDN Rising Stars Israr (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) and Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) duked it out. At the line, she had edged it by a short head from the Shadwell runner, with Ballydoyle's Bolshoi Ballet continuing his return to old form a head away in third. “She hasn't really thrived all Spring–she got upset when we were trying to fit the tongue-tie beforehand and wasn't having that, so I was concerned that we were in a hole,” Beckett said. “She was a little fresh and still a little green in behind horses, so she's a pretty special filly to have done that. She made up a lot of ground in the last 100 yards–when she stayed as well as she did in the Leger on only her third start and with her pedigree, I'd have no real concerns about where we go. The Gold Cup is a possibility–we'll see nearer the time. That entry was how we felt about her beforehand and we still do.”

Introduced only in late July in a Wolverhampton novice, Haskoy has gone where her talent allows the whole way and it was significant that her trainer moved so fast with her following that seven-length debut win. Impressing Ryan Moore and just about everybody else in the Galtres, the bay was supplemented to the St Leger and ran the proverbial blinder only to lose out to Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) before being stripped of second by the officials having crossed the path of Giavellotto (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}).

Emily Dickinson (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who was fifth in the Leger, had already done enough to suggest that the form was solid but it was Friday's G2 Yorkshire Cup that confirmed we are dealing with a strong renewal of the oldest Classic. More so, it looks an edition stacked with the kind of “Cup” horses that the British public have come to love once more. Only one filly has won the Gold Cup since Dr Vincent O'Brien's Gladness in 1958 and that was The Queen's Estimate (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}), so it is particularly exciting that Haskoy is a leading challenger in this year's contest.

Pedigree Notes
It was on this card six years ago that the dam Natavia (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), a rare purchase at that phase for the operation when a 600,000gns Book 1 graduate, powered into the Oaks picture when dominating the Listed Haras de Bouquetot Fillies' Trial. Although she was last in that Classic and failed to win again, the memory of that performance remains vibrant and Haskoy is a significant first foal. Kin to the G1 Sun Chariot S. heroine Spinning Queen (GB) (Spinning World) and to the dam of the GIII Jimmy Durante S. scorer Tezzaray (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), she is a granddaughter of the important broodmare Lady Blackfoot (Ire) (Prince Tenderfoot).

Under that third dam are the likes of the GII  Budweiser International hero Alrassaam (GB) (Zafonic) and the GI Hollywood Derby-winning fellow sire Labeeb (GB) (Lear Fan) as well as the latter's GII Arlington H. and GII San Luis Obispo H.-winning full-brother Fanmore who was also runner-up in the GI Arlington Million and GI Hollywood Gold Cup. Natavia also has the 2-year-old filly Silver Sixpence (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a yearling daughter of Siyouni (Fr) and colt foal by Too Darn Hot (GB).

Saturday, Newbury, Britain
AL RAYYAN S. (REGISTERED AS THE ASTON PARK S.)-G3, £100,000, Newbury, 5-20, 4yo/up, 12fT, 2:32.33, gd.
1–HASKOY (GB), 125, f, 4, by Golden Horn (GB)
                1st Dam: Natavia (GB) (SW-Eng), by Nathaniel (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Our Queen of Kings (GB), by Arazi
                3rd Dam: Lady Blackfoot (Ire), by Prince Tenderfoot
1ST GROUP WIN. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms (East) Ltd (GB); T-Ralph Beckett; J-Frankie Dettori. £56,710. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $193,029. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Israr (GB), 128, c, 4, Muhaarar (GB)–Taghrooda (GB), by Sea The Stars (Ire).
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O/B-Shadwell Estate Company Limited (GB); T-John & Thady Gosden. £21,500.
3–Bolshoi Ballet (Ire), 128, h, 5, Galileo (Ire)–Alta Anna (Fr), by Anabaa. O-Mrs J Magnier/M Tabor/D Smith/Westerberg; B-Lynch-Bages & Rhinestone Bloodstock (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £10,760.
Margins: SHD, HD, 1 3/4. Odds: 2.50, 7.00, 10.00.
Also Ran: Yibir (GB), Kemari (GB), Old Harrovian (GB), Gaassee (Ire).

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Bahrain International Trophy Attracts 43 Entries

A total of 43 entries have stood their ground for the £600,000 G3 Bahrain International Trophy on Friday, Nov. 18. Several nations are represented with entries: Britain (16), Ireland (6), France (5), UAE (7), Bahrain (3), Germany (3), Norway (1), Turkey (1), and Sweden (1). The race allows a maximum of 14 entries.

Shadwell's G3 Strensall S. hero Alflaila (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) has earned an automatic berth in the race for trainer Owen Burrows, and he returned to take Saturday's G3 Darley S. at Newmarket. Other entries of note include the Group 1 winners Sisfahan (Fr) (Isfahan {Ger}), who won the German Derby for Henk Grewe and GI Belmont Derby hero Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is one of three for the Aidan O'Brien/Coolmore partners axis. William Haggas has a pair set to start, including G2 Prix Eugene Adam victor My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}).

Shaikh Salman bin Rashed al Khalifa, Executive Director of the Bahrain Turf Club, said, “We are very happy with the quality of horses entered for this year's renewal of the G3 Bahrain International Trophy. Some of the best trainers from around the world have once again supported the race.

“Last year was the first time the race was run with Group 3 status, and it saw three high-class horses fight out the finish. With the race now a key date in the international racing calendar, we firmly believe that the race will continue to progress through the grades with our ultimate goal to have Bahrain host its first international Group 1 race.”

For the full list of entries, please go to the Bahrain Turf Club website.

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Bolshoi Ballet Pays Fitting Tribute to Late Galileo with Belmont Derby Win

BOLSHOI BALLET (IRE) (c, 3, Galileo {Ire}–Alta Anna {Fr}, by Anabaa) paid fitting tribute to his lat superstar sire Galileo by becoming his latest top-level scorer in the GI Belmont Derby Saturday. He also provided his connections–Coolmore, Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore–with a GI Belmont Oaks/Derby double following Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB})'s victory in the Oaks earlier in the day. Favored at even-money, the bay bided his time back in seventh as Hard Love (Kitten's Joy) dictated terms through a :24.61 first quarter and :51.34 half-mile. Advancing two wide on the backstretch, the 'TDN Rising Star' dug deep in the lane, rolling clear late for a 1 1/2-length score over Tokyo Gold (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}). Kicking off this term with a win in the G3 Ballysax S. Apr. 11, Bolshoi Ballet romped in the G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial May 9, but failed to fire when seventh as the favorite in the G1 Cazoo Derby June 5. Lifetime Record: 7-4-0-1.

O-Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Westerberg; B-Lynch Bages & Rhinestone Bloodstock (Ire; T-Aidan O'Brien.

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This Side Up: Grass Looking Greener on the Other Side

I don't know which is the greater compliment, the one extended across the continent or the one across the ocean. Putting them together, however, the hosts of the GI Belmont Derby Invitational can feel confident they must be doing something right.

This race has now obtained such stature that the most exciting turf sophomore in the land has had to join the recent defections from the Bob Baffert barn in order to take part–even though Du Jour (Temple City) represents a partnership comprising Debbie Lanni and Baffert's own wife, Jill. With Baffert suspended by NYRA, the significance of this colt's transfer to Bill Mott won't be lost on anyone locally. Very few, however, will be aware of quite how seriously the maturing East Coast turf program is being taken by the most powerful stable in Europe.

It is barely a month since 'TDN Rising Stars' Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) arrived at Epsom as reputedly the premier 3-year-olds of their sex at Ballydoyle. In the event, both proved disappointing and others in the yard have meanwhile advanced through the ranks. Nonetheless both retain a credibility that will focus much European attention on their performances on Saturday–just as NYRA hoped, when inaugurating the Belmont Derby and Oaks in 2014, and the Turf Triple a couple of years ago.

The kudos vested in any colt that starts at such short odds for the Derby can certainly survive a single performance (not least over such an idiosyncratic track) that transparently fell short of his rehearsals. Indeed, it is often better to run unequivocally below form than to settle for the kind of supporting role that might expose a horse's limitations. But the stakes for Bolshoi Ballet are clearly high.

Santa Barbara, for her part, began her campaign under an awful burden of expectation for a filly that had contested a single maiden. In the meantime her remarkable dam had produced a second consecutive Breeders' Cup winner, and Santa Barbara was clearly reckoned to be cut from similar cloth to Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}). Making her favorite for Classics on only her second and third starts proved too extravagant, though she was beaten only a neck by a much more seasoned rival in another Group 1 since Epsom. Shipping here, with just 10 days between races, suggests that Santa Barbara is now really being put through the boot camp after her leisured adolescence.

To hope for two such important reputations to be renewed here is a tribute to the way these races have bedded down since their launch, shortly after the arrival of Martin Panza at NYRA.

Heritage is the lifeblood of our sport, and around the world we've all seen it discarded by marketing folk without cultural antennae, clumsily conflating tradition with stagnation. And not every innovation in New York's historic race program is going to work this well. Plenty of people, for instance, grieve the absorption of the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. into a mega-card capped by the GI Belmont S.; while donating the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup to Saratoga feels like Robin Hood robbing the poor and giving to the rich. But this regeneration of the turf program was an exceptionally far-sighted response to a growing need.

Everyone in our business talks a good game about turf racing. Racetracks are doing their bit, not just at the apex but through the pyramid. But the American bloodstock industry is not responding where it counts, at ringside. The commercial market's terror of turf stallions is a massive problem. Even proven ones are undervalued and newer ones, however eligible, tend to be dismissed with contempt. As a result, we have a roaring trade in European imports–and nowadays not just proven runners but also yearlings–to farm inflating U.S. purses.

I'm always complaining about the obtuseness of European breeders about dirt blood, but it's a two-way street and cynical, fast-buck trading across the freshman sire window is no way to build a sustainable breed. Let's not forget that turf tends to be a less punishing surface; nor that the welfare of each individual racehorse is increasingly entwined with the viability of our whole sport.

That was the key message drawn this week by colleague Dan Ross in an outstanding two-part interview with the reliably uninhibited Dr. Rick Arthur, who has just retired as California's equine medical director (Click here for Part 1, here for Part 2). It seems to me that too many horsemen employ vets as a pharmaceutical bag-of-tricks, in effect as a means of pushing the margins of regulation. Vets should enter the barn for one reason, and one reason only: to protect the horses housed there.

Baffert, inevitably, featured in several questions and Dr. Arthur indicated a fairly candid distaste for his aggressive works, not least when emulated by others with lesser stock. The world certainly looks a different place since Baffert saddled not only Medina Spirit in the Derby but also Du Jour on the undercard.

Several powerful owners have meanwhile removed horses from his care, but we should not put words in their mouths and Baffert's prohibition from NYRA tracks is doubtless a pragmatic consideration for some, regardless of any other disquiet they may have. To see Du Jour join the exodus to fulfil his potential reminds us that this whole drama is not just playing out in headlines and courtrooms. Human lives are being lived by human beings, out of that limelight but never out of that shadow. At some point, over a coffee or a glass of wine, a husband and a wife and a friend have addressed a dilemma on the margins of the professional and the personal. Du Jour's granddam, remember, is a half-sister to Ghostzapper and City Zip: there's a place at stud in play here.

But then it only looks essential for Du Jour to run at Belmont because NYRA recognized that their turf program needed an overhaul. Doing that has, in turn, incentivized the breeding industry to behave in a fashion that will better serve the welfare of the Thoroughbred. That's the ultimate imperative, after all. And, guess what, it's the same one that requires those who push the boundaries to be policed and punished.

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