Tag: G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S.

Prince Of Lir’s Live In The Dream Wins The Nunthorpe

   It was a case of carpe diem at York on Friday, as Steve and Jolene De'Lemos's Live In The Dream (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}–Approaching Autumn {GB}, by New Approach {Ire}) carried some of the minnows of the racing world aloft on his shoulders with a sensational front-running display in the feature G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S.

Rapid from the gates, rapid throughout the first three furlongs and ruthlessly determined for the final two, the kingpin of Adam West's small Epsom base strained every nerve and sinew to lift the little-known Sean Kirrane to a momentous triumph. A length behind was last year's heroine Highfield Princess (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), with another 3/4 of a length back to fellow headline-maker TDN Rising Star Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) in third as the big guns wilted in his wake.

“I never thought it was possible to win. We were laughing about there being six places and how his odds were so skinny,” West said of the 28-1 winner, who now has his ticket to Santa Anita having mastered this “Win and You're In” contest. “I think we'll go to the Breeders' Cup, as I think he's 10 pounds better on a turning track. That's a big statement, but I do. He can get a breather round a bend, whereas on these straight courses he usually can't but he just nicked enough today.”

“We were going to take him for a race at Del Mar but we costed it, we're not a big yard and it was too expensive to go. Trying to make ends meet to try to get that money together and both get him over there and get him back is just all taken care of and it's some rollercoaster.”

Starting his ascent in the ratings with a brace of handicap wins last spring, Live In The Dream managed a second in Sandown's Listed Scurry S. on his black-type bow last June but was on the shelf come August with no sign that he would ultimately be able to mix it at this level. Despite that, the extremities of the sprinting and staying divisions still remain open to the possibility of these rare David and Goliath moments and this was another to add to a small yet precious collection.

In each start during this transformative season, he had carried Kirrane who had a three-pound claim for the gelding's two wins at Lingfield and Pontefract in March and April and it has proven a partnership made in heaven. Wearing his heart on his sleeve every time, the chestnut who was a bargain £24,000 buy at the 2020 Goffs Sportsman's Sale was worn down late by Vadream (GB) (Brazen Beau {Aus}) in Newmarket's G3 Palace House S., by Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) and Wednesday's handicap winner Equilateral (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) in Haydock's G2 Temple S. and when fourth in the Listed Prix du Cercle at Deauville in August.

This time, the pace-favouring flat track at York and the good-to-firm ground presented the ideal scenario for his unflinching style of racing and by the time he had put in second and third-furlong splits of :10.21 and :10.46 he had already dragged most into an outright brawl. From there, it was merely a case of how tired he would finish off but his closing effort was comfortably enough to see it out and give York's revered Ebor Festival one of it's most heartwarming stories in recent times.

“It's a surreal feeling and it hasn't really sunk in yet, it just feels like winning another race at the moment,” the 22-year-old Kirrane said. “The feeling in the last 60 yards when I could hear the cracks of the whips behind me but I knew I wasn't going to get caught was like nothing I've ever felt before. A massive amount of credit goes to the horse, he's really stepped up this year and it's been an incredible journey for all of us.”

“Adam has produced this horse brilliantly in top form today,” he added. “He needed the run out in France last time in a listed race, as he'd had a month off. It brought him forward perfectly. Every time you go out on him you quietly fancy him, as he is so effective over a fast five and York can play into the hands of front runners on this ground. We make lengths out of the gate and ride him aggressively, but he has a turn of foot as well. We try to take them off their feet in the closing stages, but today I was able to keep him on the bridle longer than I ever have as nothing ever came to me at the furlong pole. When I took him off it he found another gear again.”

For West, the outcome represents a major turning point for his 45-strong stable which like so many others of its size is struggling with the financial climate at present. “I never thought anything like this would happen,” he said. “For seven years I've been training and we've had him from a yearling and the journey has been incredible. It's a really tough game at the moment and you look at how things are and you think 'is this a future?' and then you get something like this and it changes everything.

“Epsom is the perfect mix of town and country for me, I can be out with my ferrets in 20 minutes one way and out in town with my owners 20 minutes the other. The owners in that tight-knit community have been fantastic. All this week and the last six months Epsom has been quoted saying it needs a Group 1 winner and they have just had one. The BHA do their best to govern and mind us as trainers, but realistically unless you are on the top, top scale, training is not a viable option. But money is not why any of us do it, we do it because we love the animals and we love the whole sport.”

John Quinn said of the 7-5 favourite Highfield Princess, who put in her customary honest effort, “The winner got away and well done to them,” he said. “She's run a fantastic race and she's a horse of two lifetimes. As long as she's alright we'll go to the Curragh [for the G1 Flying Five], that's the plan.”

Archie Watson said of Bradsell, “Probably the draw has worked against us, because the winner has blazed a trail and stuck on really well and that has probably favoured Highfield Princess in our battle for second. He's run a huge race and I would imagine he'll go to the Flying Five, [that] will be next. The Abbaye would probably be my less-favoured race, I would prefer to go Ireland and then America, but we'll see.”

 

Pedigree Notes

Live In The Dream's unraced dam Approaching Autumn, who is also responsible for the Listed Scarbrough S. runner-up Live In The Moment (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}), is a daughter of the Listed Pinnacle S.-winning middle-distance performer Autumn Wealth (Ire) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}). A descendant of the GI E. P. Taylor S. and G2 Sun Chariot S. winner Braiswick (GB) (King Of Spain {GB}), she has an unraced 2-year-old colt by Proconsul (GB), a yearling filly by Elzaam (Aus) who was a €27,000 purchase by Sam Hoskins at the Goffs November Foal Sale, and a filly foal by James Garfield (Ire). Joe Foley's Ballyhane Stud acquired Approaching Autumn for 35,000gns out of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale in 2022.

 

Friday, York, Britain
COOLMORE WOOTTON BASSETT NUNTHORPE S.-G1, £533,750, York, 8-25, 2yo/up, 5fT, 0:56.87, g/f.
1–LIVE IN THE DREAM (IRE), 139, g, 4, by Prince Of Lir (Ire)
         1st Dam: Approaching Autumn (GB), by New Approach (Ire)
         2nd Dam: Autumn Wealth (Ire), by Cadeaux Genereux (GB)
         3rd Dam: Prickwillow, by Nureyev
   1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN, 1ST GROUP 1 WIN.
(€4,000 Ylg '20 GOFFEB; £24,000 Ylg '20 GOFSPT). O-Steve &
Jolene de'Lemos; B-Lorna Doyle (IRE); T-Adam West; J-Sean
Kirrane. £302,690. Lifetime Record: 18-6-2-2, $538,881. Werk
   Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree,
   or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Highfield Princess (Fr), 136, m, 6, Night Of Thunder (Ire)–
Pure Illusion (Ire), by Danehill. (29,000gns RNA Ylg '18
TATDEY). O/B-Trainers House Enterprises Ltd (FR); T-John
Quinn. £114,756.
3–Bradsell (GB), 137, c, 3, Tasleet (GB)–Russian Punch (GB), by
Archipenko. TDN Rising Star. (12,000gns Ylg '21 TATSOM;
£47,000 2yo '22 GOFTY). O-Victorious Racing; B-Mrs D O'Brien
(GB); T-Archie Watson. £57,432.
Margins: 1, 3/4, HF. Odds: 28.00, 1.40, 4.50.
Also Ran: Makarova (GB), Regional (GB), Equality (GB), Khaadem (Ire), Get Ahead (GB), Nymphadora (GB), Twilight Calls (GB), Queen Me (Ire), Ladies Church (GB), Dramatised (Ire), Big Evs (Ire), Tees Spirit (GB), Aesop's Fables (Ire). VIDEO.

 

The post Prince Of Lir’s Live In The Dream Wins The Nunthorpe appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

York: Highfield Princess Back on the Knavesmire to Defend Nunthorpe Crown

   Friday sees the G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S. take centre stage at York with the returning heroine of last year Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) the star turn in the line-up for the Win-and-You're-In contest ahead of the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Emphatic 12 months ago when dismissing the 2-year-old The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), the John Quinn-trained 6-year-old has to do it all again with another juvenile Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) lurking with his 21-pounds weight-for-age swing.

Having come up short against the revitalised TDN Rising Star Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) in the G1 King's Stand S. and finished third in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S. at the beginning and end of Royal Ascot, there was a question mark over whether the formidable mare retained her level of last season. Having brushed off those doubts when regaining her dominant aura in the G2 King George S. at Goodwood earlier this month, she returns to the track at which she also won the 2022 G2 1895 Duke Of York S.

“It's a spicy race,” Quinn said. “When a three-year-old wins a King's Stand you have to sit up and take notice and the two-year-old is a Royal Ascot winner and a Goodwood winner and looks really tough, hardy and mature, so they are two and something else could pop up who at their best could be in the mix. Goodwood was very good, so we're hopeful anyway. She's done so much and people expect plenty from her, but she seems in good nick and she loves this place, which is all you can ask.”

Bradsell, who also went through a fallow period after his G2 Coventry S. success last June, was remarkably having his first try at this five-furlong trip when upstaging Highfield Princess at this year's Royal Ascot but he has to do it on the flat, fast strip which offers such a contrast to the Berkshire venue. “We thought he might not have as much early speed as the Australian sprinters, but he showed more speed than ever before and really thrived down in trip,” Hollie Doyle said of the King's Stand performance. “He's our flagbearer at Archie's and it's great to be going to the Nunthorpe with a live chance again.”

The Mick Appleby-trained Big Evs, one of the key members of his remarkable sire's first crop, has been added at a cost of £40,000 following his Listed Windsor Castle S. and G3 Molecomb S. successes with his connections hoping they have timed it right with that huge weight concession. Clipper Logistics' TDN Rising Star Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) won the G2 Queen Mary S. last year and the G2 Temple S. on her 3-year-old bow and this could be ideally poised if she can put a disappointing effort in the King's Stand behind her.

“It was a non-event at Ascot, we thought we were drawn on the wrong side,” the owners' racing manager Joe Foley said. “Danny [Tudhope] came in and said he looked up two furlongs out and they were a long, long way behind. Also the ground was quite dead on the first day of Ascot and she needs fast ground, hence we missed the King George at Goodwood. She has been working very, very well, so it'll be interesting to see where she stands with the proper group one sprinters now that she is a mature three-year-old and is getting her ground.”

 

TDN Rising Star Johannes Brahms Heads Gimcrack cast…
In the G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Gimcrack S., Ballydoyle are represented by TDN Rising Star Johannes Brahms (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), still exciting and unexposed having chased home Big Evs in the Windsor Castle over an inadequate five furlongs. Ryan Moore already knows all about the impressive Listed Dragon S. winner Kylian (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who may have been compromised by Goodwood's soft ground when third in the Molecomb, so major market support for the Aidan O'Brien raider will be significant.

“I rode Kylian in the Molecomb and we didn't see the best of him there,” Moore said. “He may be the one to beat, up in trip, but Johannes Brahms is a colt with improvement in him. He already brings a good level of form to the table, winning over sic furlongs on his debut and then chasing home Big Evs stepped down to five in the Windsor Castle, and he is a horse I like.”

This is always tough and the presence of the G2 Vintage S. winner Haatem (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire}) and Clipper Logistics' highly-regarded Newmarket novice scorer King's Gamble (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) are another two to stand out. The latter, who is trained by Ralph Beckett, earned a supplementary entry with his performance on debut and Joe Foley explained, “He's a horse that we will probably step up to seven soon, but Danny Tudhope thought he showed a lot of speed at Newmarket that Friday and the sectionals backed that up, so we thought we would give the Gimcrack a go.”

 

Courage Mon Ami On Retrieval Mission In The Lonsdale Cup…
Another who failed to shine at Goodwood's Qatar Festival was Wathnan Racing's G1 Gold Cup hero Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who became like so many others lost in the backwash behind Quickthorn (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the G1 Goodwood Cup. Having learned from that experience, connections will possibly be looking for a change of tactics in Friday's G2 Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup. John Gosden is hoping the 4-year-old can put up a fight this time. “We all know the Goodwood Cup was an interestingly different sort of race and not dissimilar to the Lonsdale last year, really,” he said. “He couldn't get a run and then when he did get a run, the race was over. So, he had what I call a nice racecourse gallop, really!”

Quickthorn, who had given forewarning to his Goodwood rivals with a 14-length beating of Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in this 12 months ago, is the enviable mount of Tom Marquand who understands just how fast to go throughout the early stages of these staying contests. “In the Lonsdale, he pretty much ran away with me if I'm honest,” he admitted. “I was going to make the running, but I didn't intend to go that fast and he was doing too much really. But he's a lot more measured now and at Goodwood he never felt as though he was going that quick. Hughie [Morrison] has done an amazing job having Quickthorn right on the day so far and he's no one-trick pony. Far from it. He doesn't have to make the running, so long as he finds a rhythm and is in his comfort zone and he only has to beat horses he has beaten before.”

The post York: Highfield Princess Back on the Knavesmire to Defend Nunthorpe Crown appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Marshman Suffers Season-Ending Pelvic Injury

G3 Prix Sigy hero Marshman (GB) (Harry Angel {Ire}) has suffered a suspected pelvic injury after returning sore from a tune-up breeze last week for his intended outing in the G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S. and will be out for the rest of the season.

Conditioned by Karl Burke, the colt had won three of his nine career jumps and found his first Group black-type victory at Chantilly earlier this season in April when annexing the Prix Sigy. He had last been seen finishing eighth in Sandown's G3 Coral Charge S. in July but hopes were high as the return to York would've meant a return to a course at which he'd already put in two credit-worthy performances.

“He went for a breeze early last week and came back sore,” explained Nick Bradley, managing director of Nick Bradley Racing. “We sent him for a bone scan and it's not conclusive, but it looks like a suspected pelvic injury. I think that will be him done for the year. We'll bring him back next year. Three can be a hard age for sprinters, so we'll try again at four.”

The post Marshman Suffers Season-Ending Pelvic Injury appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Big Evs Supplemented to Nunthorpe Challenge

Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), winner of the Windsor Castle S. and later the G3 Jaeger Lecoultre Molecomb S., has been supplemented to the G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S. at York on Friday with Andrea Atzeni set to ride. Jason Hart, who was onboard for those two victories, maintains his partnership with three-time Group 1 winner Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night of Thunder {Ire}). Big Evs will be the only 2-year-old in contention.

“It's [been] a long time since a two-year-old has won the Nunthorpe [Kingsgate Native, 2007]. So, yes, it's a big ask for him, but hopefully he's going there with a very good chance at the weights. Jason doesn't ride as he is on Highfield Princess. Andrea Atzeni rides,” said conditioner Mick Appleby. “He's in good order. He did a good piece of work this morning and he'll probably have one more piece of work on Wednesday. I'm delighted with him.”

The post Big Evs Supplemented to Nunthorpe Challenge appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights