Derrynane | Horse Racing Free Tips

International Cast Eye Royal Meeting

Entries from nine countries appear on course for the eight Group 1 races at Royal Ascot, headlined by the world's three highest-rated sprinters: Nature Strip (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}) (Australia, 124), Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) (USA, 121) and Home Affairs (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) (Australia, 120). The Australian pair–who may face Golden Pal in the G1 King's Stand S. or contest the G1 Platinum Jubilee S.–are joined by fellow Australian invader Artorius (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) (Anthony & Sam Freedman), set to run on the final day of the meeting.

Last year's G1 Everest winner Nature Strip has annexed eight Group 1 victories, including the G1 T J Smith S. at Randwick Apr. 2. Home Affairs took the G1 Lightning S. at Flemington in February. The race has been a key stepping-stone for Australia's five Royal Ascot winners–Choisir, Takeover Target, Miss Andretti, Scenic Blast and Black Caviar all winning the five-furlong King's Stand.

“We have nominated both Nature Strip and Home Affairs for the King's Stand S. and the Platinum Jubilee S. This is to keep our options open as anything can happen with horses but we should have an exciting Royal Meeting, that is for sure,” said Chris Waller's assistant trainer and racing manager Charlie Duckworth. “Nature Strip has just come back into the stable after a short break following a busy racing preparation, while Home Affairs is back in work and going well. The plan is for both horses to do the majority of their work on home soil prior to travelling to England.”

Standing in the way of the Australian runners in the King's Stand is Golden Pal, sparkling winner of last fall's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. The four-year-old kicked off this season with a win in the G2 Shakertown S. at Keeneland Apr. 9.

“Golden Pal is doing great, he really is,” said trainer Wesley Ward. “It was a powerful performance from him in the Shakertown–but it was a comeback and I really think his next run is going to be something special. He is a once in a lifetime horse–certainly the best I have ever had–and I think he will stamp that with his performance at Ascot if he runs like I am expecting him to.

“Physically, he is an awesome specimen now and mentally he is really coming into his own. I am just so excited to get him back over there.”

Also slated to contest the Royal meeting for Ward, Platinum Jubilee S. contender Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) will bid to join a select group of horses to have won three different Royal Ascot races in successive years. The 4-year-old captured the G2 Queen Mary S. in 2020 and last year was second past the post in the G1 Commonwealth Cup before the placings were reversed due to interference.

“Barbara Banke [owner] and her team are so excited to get Campanelle back over there,” added Ward. “She had a strong performance on her comeback win at Keeneland the other day. If you watch that race against some of the fastest fillies in the country, what she did was pretty impressive.”

Representing Japan in the G1 Prince of Wales's S., G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner, Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) may accompanied from Japan by fellow Group 1-winning contender Grenadier Guards (Frankel {GB}), who will target the Platinum Jubilee.

Hideaki Fujiwara, trainer of Shahryar, said: “I discussed with the owner [Sunday Racing Co Ltd] about future plans after Shahryar won the Dubai Sheema Classic and we agreed that the next target for Shahryar must be the races with the highest profile in the world. I believe the Prince of Wales's S. is the ideal spot for the horse.”

There are 16 entries representing the USA at today's Group 1 entry stage. Among them is a host of runners trained by Graham Motion (Spendarella (Fr) (Common Grounds {GB}), G1 Coronation S. and Sy Dog (Slumber {GB}) (G1 St James's Palace S.) in addition to Brad Cox (Caravel (Mizzen Mast) (G1 King's Stand S.) or G1 Commonwealth Cup). Christophe Clement, who is responsible for last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), is targeting the Coronation S. The 3-year-old filly is owned by celebrity chef, Bobby Flay.

Clement said, “All options are open for Pizza Bianca after her second at Aqueduct last weekend. I am yet to have a discussion with the owner and suspect we will make a decision in the next two or three weeks. There is another stakes race in four weeks at Pimlico that she could go for and then from there you can go to Ascot. The filly will tell us what she wants to do but at the moment all options are wide open.”

Clement may also be represented by Slipstream (More Than Ready) and stakes winner Derrynane (Quality Road).

“Slipstream is very much on course for the Commonwealth Cup,” he confirmed. “He won [the Listed Palisades S.] impressively at Keeneland in April and I don't think I will run him back before Ascot. This horse has a very good mind and goes on any ground. He is very mature as well having been a good 2-year-old last year. I think he is a good horse.”

“I have also nominated a very fast filly called Derrynane. She is top-class but needs the ground on the firmer side. Similarly with Pizza Bianca, there is a stakes race for her [in the US] in late May and we may go there before deciding about the Commonwealth Cup.”

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Waterville Lake Stable Set For First Breeders’ Cup With Juvenile Turf Sprint Contender Derrynane

New York-based owners Waterville Lake Stable will enjoy the Breeders' Cup spotlight for the first time when they send out their Empire State-homebred Derrynane in the Grade 2, $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint on November 5 at Del Mar.

Waterville Lake Stable is owned by Richard Leahy in partnership with John W. Meriwether and Tim Tully, all of which are stakeholders in Waterville Golf Links in County Kerry, Ireland, where their name derives. Many horses that race under the Waterville Lake Stable banner are a nod to the ownership group's familiarity with Ireland. Derrynane is named after Derrynane Beach, located on the Ring of Kerry.

Trained by Christophe Clement, Derrynane, a bay daughter of Quality Road, was a winner at first asking with a two-length victory going 5 ½ furlongs in a state-bred maiden special weight on July 22 over good Mellon turf at Saratoga. Following a distant fifth in the open Bolton Landing one month later over a yielding turf at the Spa, Derrynane was an ultra-impressive winner of the five-furlong Woodbine Cares on September 19, which prompted her connections to consider the Breeders' Cup.

“We were very pleased with her run first out,” Leahy said. “When she ran her second race in the Bolton Landing, it was over a bog, and we knew that she was far better than that. Given the timing and the weather, we went to Woodbine and she won quite easily.”

Derrynane is the first progeny out of the graded-stakes placed Hard Spun mare Portmagee, who captured the License Fee in 2017 following a third in that year's Grade 3 Intercontinental, both at Belmont. Portmagee, named after a village near Waterville Golf Links, is currently in foal to More Than Ready.

“From early on, she was extremely good looking and did everything right,” Leahy said of Derrynane. “She seemed very well balanced and well put together. The mother was extremely attractive and well balanced, also. She had a good personality and demeanor. The mother was a sprinter but we never thought there was any reason she couldn't go further.”

The relationship between Leahy and Clement extends over two decades, linking up via former NYRA chairman Peter Karches, who owned horses with Clement at the time. In addition to Waterville Lake Stable, Leahy also owns horses with Clement under his Oak Bluff Stable moniker of which he is the standalone owner.

Leahy and Clement have enjoyed success with Waterville Lake Stable-owned graded stakes winners Mariensky, Strike It Rich and Derrianne as well as New York-bred stakes winners Miss Valentine, Sea Foam and Celtic Sky.

As Oak Bluff Stable, Leahy and Clement have campaigned the graded-stakes placed Therapist, a multiple stakes winner against New York-breds and open company.

“With Christophe the horse always comes first, we like that,” Leahy said.

Leahy speaks high volumes of the New York-bred program.

“I think the New York bred program is a sensational one,” Leahy said. “It's lucrative and in my mind, you're only a van ride away from the best stallions in Kentucky. There's no reason if you have a good mare that you can't produce a competitive horse in New York. It's not easy to win these races. They're competitive races as well. Over the years I've been doing this, the New York-bred horses have gotten more and more competitive.”

Leahy said he is looking forward to the possibility of going to the Breeders' Cup with Derrynane. While it would be a first Breeder's Cup endeavor for Leahy, it would be a second for Waterville Lake partner John Meriwether, who owned Buckhar – the 13th-place finisher of the 1993 Mile.

“We're very excited about her future,” Leahy said. “It's really special. Hopefully, she has a long career ahead of her. I was talking to Christophe's son Miguel the other morning and he was very excited about her breeze last week.”

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Clement: No BC Decision Yet For Gufo, Pizza Bianca Possible For BC Juvenile Filly Turf

Trainer Christophe Clement was gallant in defeat after Otter Bend Stables' Gufo finished third as the favorite in Saturday's $500,000 Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Guided by regular pilot Joel Rosario, Gufo displayed his usual rear-of-the-field tactics as defending non-consecutive Joe Hirsch winner Channel Maker established command through the early stages. Approaching the far turn, Rosario gave the 4-year-old Declaration of War chestnut his cue and he responded quickly, powering to the front nearing upper stretch. But Rockemperor came with a sweeping wide move in the final furlong-and-a-half and drew away to a two-length score.

Clement expressed some uncertainty regarding pointing Gufo to the $4 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. He earned an automatic entry into the race when capturing the Grade 1 Resorts World Sword Dancer on August 28 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“Gufo ran a great race. He came back a little stiff from his race yesterday, but not bad,” Clement said. “We'll live to fight another day. The winner was impressive. No decision has been made yet. I'll have to see how he comes out of it a week-to-10 days before we commit to the Breeders' Cup.”

In rounding out the Joe Hirsch trifecta, Gufo maintained a never-off-the-board record in a baker's dozen starts, which include victories in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational last October and the Grand Couturier in July at Belmont. He was a respective second and third in his first two starts of the year in the Man o' War and Manhattan, both Grade 1 races at Belmont.

One race prior to the Joe Hirsch, Clement saw his maiden-winning juvenile filly Gal in a Rush display a devastating turn of foot to run second at 29-1 odds in the $150,0000 Grade 3 Matron.

“She ran huge. It was a very good performance, I loved the way she ran,” Clement said. “She was out of it in last, swung out four or five wide, and showed a great turn of foot. Unfortunately, she did not win but I loved the performance.”

Not all was lost on Saturday for Clement, who saddled a trio of winners on the program. In the second race, he sent out impressive first-time starter Shad Nation for owners Wonder Stables, Madaket Stables, and Golconda Stable. The daughter of Cairo Prince earned a 73 Beyer for a 1 ¾-length victory going 1 1/16 miles over the Widener turf.

“She's a nice filly,” Clement said. “She never showed that much on dirt all summer long so we switched her back on turf, and moved her to Saratoga in early September. All of her works have been nice. Every single one of them. She's obviously a very nice filly with the way she won yesterday.”

Clement said Shad Nation could target the $100,000 Tepin on November 28 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

“At the moment, if she trains well, the Tepin would make sense. But you have to deal with the ground and that kind of thing,” Clement said.

Clement also saddled West Point Thoroughbreds-owned Phantom Smoke and Voodoo Zip to respective victories.

Phantom Smoke, a son of Ghostzapper bred in New York by Kathleen Schweizer and Daniel Burke, defeated winners for the first time in a six-furlong allowance event over the inner turf.

Voodoo Zip scored a third lifetime win with a narrow victory going six furlongs over the inner turf at allowance optional claiming level. The son of City Zip has never finished off the board in a dozen lifetime starts.

On Sunday morning, Clement worked Grade 1-placed juvenile filly Pizza Bianca over the inner turf in :50.02. Owned and bred by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, the daughter of Fastnet Rock was second in the Grade 1 Natalma in September at Woodbine after a first-out victory at Saratoga.

Clement said Pizza Bianca is possible for the $1 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on November 5 at Del Mar.

“At the moment, we're not for sure, but she will train [like we're running in] the Breeders' Cup,” Clement said.

Clement also stated that Waterville Lake Stable's New York homebred Derrynane, winner of the September 19 Woodbine Cares, will point to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

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Diamond City Best In Ontario Racing Stakes, Derrynane Gets Woodbine Cares Win

Diamond City, under Emma-Jayne Wilson, took the $130,750 Ontario Racing Stakes, while Derryane, with Joel Rosario in the irons, won the $126,750 Woodbine Cares Stakes Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

The Ontario Racing, for two-year-olds, and the Woodbine Cares, for two-year-old fillies, were each contested at five furlongs on the Inner Turf.

A chestnut son of Shackleford, Diamond City, trained by Mark Casse for D.J. Stable LLC, was the 4-5 choice in the Ontario Racing.

The Kentucky-bred settled just off the early pace before taking a narrow lead at the stretch call.

Diamond City, who came into the race off a pair of third-place finishes to launch his career, drew away in the late going to win by 1 ¾-lengths in a time of :57.68 over firm ground.

Bred by Canvasback Thoroughbreds, he paid $3.60 for the win.

Derrynane, sent on her way as the 8-5 choice, powered by the leaders in mid-stretch to record an impressive 2 ¾-length triumph for trainer Christophe Clement and owner-breeder Waterville Lake Stable.

The daughter of Quality Road was patiently handled by Rosario as Fulminate set the early tone, but Derrynane loomed a major threat as the field made the turn for home.

Once the bay filly struck front, it was simply a question of what the margin of victory would be.

The final time over firm going was :57.04. Derrynane returned $5.50.

It was the second win from three starts for the New York-bred, who won her debut this July at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Former champion jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva, who was feted early as the recipient of this year's Avelino Gomez Memorial Award earlier in the afternoon, made the trophy presentation.

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