Tag: G1 Commonwealth Cup

Charm Spirit’s Shaquille Wins The Commonwealth Cup

To do everything wrong and still win the G1 Commonwealth Cup comfortably, Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}–Magic {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) must be among an elite brigade of sprinters to have come to Royal Ascot down the years. Although the pride of the Julie Camacho and Steve Brown stable had obvious credentials entering Friday's six-furlong feature, after blowing the start and losing several lengths all appeared lost. That was factoring against the abundance of talent Martin Hughes's homebred possesses and the calm of Oisin Murphy after he had asked for a 11.28 second-furlong split to get him onto the tail of the field.

Conjuring an incredible effort down the outer, the 9-1 shot threw in sectionals of 11.43, 11.24 and 11.63 to give the front-running Swingalong (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) and Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) something to think about. As that duo started to pay for their efforts in the closing 50 yards, the Listed Carnarvon S. scorer overhauled them and continued his surge to the line to beat Little Big Bear by 1 1/4 lengths. Last year's G2 Lowther S. winner Swingalong stuck on for third, 3/4 of a length away.

Camacho admitted that she had given up hope instantly after the winner's disastrous start. “I thought, 'well that's it' but then I thought, 'he's going to be placed' and then 'oh my God, he's going to win', so I am a bit speechless,” she said. “He was good, wasn't he? We never thought we would train a group one winner, not at Royal Ascot anyway, and for Martin who bred him. We've got his mother at home, his siblings, and dad looks after the stud, so I'm sure he was screaming at home. It's massive.”

 

Suffering just the one reversal when last of 11 tried over seven furlongs behind Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in York's G3 Acomb S. in August, Shaquille's biggest problem all along has been his stalls behaviour which led to his withdrawal from Newcastle's All-Weather 3 Year Old Championships Conditions S. on Good Friday. Again tricky at the start of a Newmarket handicap at the Guineas meeting, he was still able to dominate and earn a second tilt at black-type company in Newbury's Carnarvon where he was better from the stalls and dominated from the front.

Had he broken on terms here, it is probable that he would have been an impressive wide-margin winner and Oisin Murphy had a far less stressful ordeal. “As the stalls opened, he went up into the air and took his time coming back down to the ground,” he explained. “It's very hard to do that in a 1200 metre race and win. I thought the race was almost over and you just have to hope they've gone too fast and will slow down at the end and I got to the back of Ryan quite easily without having to go for him.”

“I had to sustain an effort from quite a long way out. It really was a tremendous task that he managed to overcome,” Murphy added. “He's a tough, top-class animal. It's an astounding performance. I've had a fantastic comeback and brilliant support from so many people. To get on the scoresheet today in a group one is a brilliant feeling, but I feel for James Doyle. If Noble Style had not run, Shaquille was going to be his ride so thank you to the connections for letting me ride him.”

Aidan O'Brien said of Little Big Bear, “He ran very well. I think he is a sprinter and we will be looking forward to the July Cup.” Swingalong's trainer Karl Burke commented, “It was a fantastic run and Clifford [Lee] gave her a great ride. I knew the run in the French 1000 Guineas was wrong–she did not stay the mile, but equally she would not have won over six furlongs that day. She will stay another half furlong, so we are thinking of the [G1] Prix Maurice de Gheest.”

Pedigree Notes
The unraced dam Magic (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has genuine sprinting gold in her blood, being a daughter of Cheveley Park Stud's supercharged G2 Flying Five scorer and G1 Golden Jubilee S. and G1 July Cup-placed Danehurst (GB) (Danehill). This is the family of the G1 Cheveley Park S., G2 Lowther S. and G3 Sirenia S.-winning European champion 2-year-old filly Hooray (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and the G2 Cherry Hinton S. winner and G1 1000 Guineas third Dazzle (GB) (Gone West) who was making her debut when winning the Windsor Castle here in 1996. Also related to the meeting's G2 Hardwicke S.-placed Mighty (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), her yearling colt is by Cable Bay (Ire).

Friday, Royal Ascot, Britain
COMMONWEALTH CUP-G1, £600,000, Ascot, 6-23, 3yo, 6fT, 1:13.15, g/f.
1–SHAQUILLE (GB), 128, c, 3, by Charm Spirit (Ire)
1st Dam: Magic (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Danehurst (GB), by Danehill
3rd Dam: Miswaki Belle, by Miswaki
1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Hughes, Rawlings & O'Shaughnessy; B-Martin Hughes & Michael Kerr-Dineen (GB); T-Julie Camacho; J-Oisin Murphy. £340,260. Lifetime Record: 7-6-0-0, $539,370. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Little Big Bear (Ire), 128, c, 3, No Nay Never–Adventure Seeker (Fr), by Bering (GB). (€320,000 Ylg '21 ARAUG). O-D Smith, Mrs J Magnier, M Tabor & Westerberg; B-Camas Park Stud & Summerhill (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £129,000.
3–Swingalong (Ire), 125, f, 3, Showcasing (GB)–Pilates (Ire), by Shamardal. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (120,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum; B-Mount Armstrong Stud. (IRE); T-Karl Burke. £64,560.
Margins: 1 1/4, 3/4, HD. Odds: 9.00, 0.91, 66.00.
Also Ran: Ocean Quest (Ire), Rumstar (GB), Queen Me (Ire), Shouldvebeenaring (GB), Mischief Magic (Ire), Noble Style (GB), Lezoo (GB), The X O (Ire), Marbaan (GB), Sakheer (Ire). Scratched: Cold Case (GB).

 

The post Charm Spirit’s Shaquille Wins The Commonwealth Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Ardad’s Perfect Power Takes The Commonwealth Cup

Confirming his position as the chief three-year-old sprinting colt, Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) came out on top in a highly-competitive G1 Commonwealth Cup on Friday. Successful in the G2 Norfolk S. at last year's meeting, the subsequent G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S. winner had been seventh in the 2000 Guineas following his success in Newbury's seven-furlong G3 Greenham S. Apr. 16 and started as the 7-2 joint-favourite back sprinting. Settled halfway down the field initially by Christophe Soumillon racing far side, the Richard Fahey-trained bay gave his familiar surge to take over from TDN Rising Star Flotus (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) passing the furlong pole and win by 1 1/4 lengths from Flaming Rib (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) who denied Flotus by half a length.

 

The post Ardad’s Perfect Power Takes The Commonwealth Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Loughnane Reveals Plans For Stable Stars

Trainer David Loughnane has pencilled in some big-race engagements for his stable stars Hello You (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Go Bears Go (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}) in the coming months.

The former, an Amo Racing colourbearer, won the G2 Rockfel S. at Newmarket in September and was not disgraced when fifth in a close finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 5. Also placed in both the G3 Albany S. and G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S. earlier last year, she is being pointed toward a 1000 Guineas trial and has been entered in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas at The Curragh in late May.

Another Amo Racing luminary with co-owner P Waney, Go Bears Go took second in the G2 Norfolk S. at Royal Ascot, before added the G2 Railway S. at The Curragh to his ledger in the summer. Third in the G1 Phoenix S. in August, the bay was fourth in Newmarket's G1 Middle Park S. on Sept. 25 and was a puzzling seventh in the G1 Dewhurst S. on Oct. 9. The colt bounced back with flare in his juvenile finale, missing by a half-length in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar in November. Loughnane is opting to keep Go Bears Go at sprint trips, and Royal Ascot's G1 Commonwealth Cup is an early-season goal. If all goes well, the colt's long-term aim is another trip to the Breeders' Cup, which will be held at Keeneland in 2022.

“Hello You and Go Bears Go have both looked fantastic on their winter holidays, they've grown and strengthened loads and turned into what we hoped they would,” he said. “We always felt they were going to be nicer 3-year-olds and they certainly look like they've developed into that. They're coming along really well and we're really excited for the season ahead.

“They gave us a great times last year, some of our biggest and best days in racing so far and we feel there's definitely more to come and that's great for the team and for everyone involved.

“Hello You will be targeted at a Guineas trial and Go Bears Go, his long-term target will be the Commonwealth Cup and hopefully back to the Breeders' Cup at the end of the year, so we'll just map things out around those.”

The post Loughnane Reveals Plans For Stable Stars appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Autumn Group 1 Targets For Ebro River

Al Shaqab Racing's Ebro River (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}), who won the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. at The Curragh in August, is likely to step out in the G1 Middle Park S. over six furlongs at Newmarket on Sept. 25. Third in Sunday's G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. behind Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}) on Sunday, the colt is also possible for the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp on Oct. 3 or the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in November.

“I think it's fair to say Ebro River is not as good over seven furlongs as he is over six, and we're certainly not looking to step him up to a mile next year–we don't see him as a Guineas horse,” said trainer Hugo Palmer. “There is a well-documented and straightforward path to the Commonwealth Cup, which has been designed for horses like him.

“He doesn't need soft ground by any means, but what he doesn't want is firm ground. The Middle Park is the most obvious option for him. The alternative is the Jean-Luc Lagardere [at ParisLongchamp], and we're very keen on taking him to the Breeders' Cup to run in the Juvenile Turf over a mile.

“I think a very sharp mile round Del Mar, round two turns, will suit a horse who is already Group 1-placed over the stiffest seven furlongs in Europe.”

Kept plenty busy since a sixth-place debut at Newmarket in April, the colt was making his eighth start of the year in the National S. He'd also claimed a Sandown listed at the end of May.

The post Autumn Group 1 Targets For Ebro River appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights