Santiago Back For Vintage Crop

With Ascot's G1 Gold Cup now less than two months away, the road to the prestigious feature of the Royal meeting begins on Sunday as Ballydoyle's Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) returns in Navan's G3 Vintage Crop S. Last seen finishing fourth in the G1 St Leger at Doncaster in September, the G1 Irish Derby hero races under a penalty for his triumph in that Curragh Classic last June and faces one who has already been in the mix in the 2 1/2-mile marathon in Master of Reality (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) who was third to Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) in 2019. “My colt was obviously very good when winning the Queen's Vase and Irish Derby and he ran up to that level in defeat in the Goodwood Cup and the St Leger afterwards,” Ryan Moore commented. “He didn't end up running when he travelled down to Australia in the autumn, but he is clearly a top staying prospect this year and this looks an ideal starting point for him.”

Master of Reality's trainer Joseph O'Brien also has Baron Samedi (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) engaged and he is untried at staying trips having signed off last term with a career-best success in the 11-furlong G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris at ParisLongchamp in October. “Master of Reality has been a super horse for us, most notably going close in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and the Melbourne Cup in 2019. He tends to improve with racing, so he is highly likely to improve on whatever he does here. We're looking forward to another exciting season with him,” their trainer said. “Baron Samedi was a revelation last year, transforming from looking very moderate to winning five races in a row including a Group 2 at Longchamp. We think he might be able to stay a bit further this year and how he copes with this longer trip will be our main focus here. He should improve from whatever he does and we are excited to see how he runs.”

Preceding the Vintage Crop is the 10-furlong Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Salsabil S. for Oaks prospects, with Aidan O'Brien relying solely on the highly-regarded Willow (Ire) (American Pharoah). A daughter of the multiple Group 1-winning Peeping Fawn (Danehill), she was off the mark at the third attempt over a mile at Leopardstown in October and will be tested against a clutch of unexposed fillies with similarly unexposed status. They include Moyglare Stud Farm's Port Sunlight (Ire) (Harzand {Ire}), who looked a stayer of note when scoring with authority in a mile maiden on testing ground at Gowran Park in October. She is re-opposed by the RacehorseClub's Create Belief (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}), who was third on that occasion and who has since gone back to the same course and distance to get off the mark.

Click here for the group fields.

The post Santiago Back For Vintage Crop appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘Song’ Out of Vintage Crop Due to Ground

Group 1 winner Search For a Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a dual G1 Irish St Leger heroine, will not participate in Sunday's G3 Vintage Crop S. due to unsuitable weather and ground. The 5-year-old was most recently in action on Oct. 17, running second in the G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup.

“We hoped to run Search For A Song in the Vintage Crop on Sunday and while she has never been better in her life, with the dry weather and ground we couldn't take the chance running her,” said Kris Weld, assistant to his father Dermot. “We'll wait for another few weeks and see.”

Sear For a Song's stablemate Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), who produced a thrilling turn of foot to capture the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland in November, is also in good form. However, the Aga Khan homebred does not have a definite reappearance date yet. She won all four starts in 2020, starting with the Aug. 8 G3 Give Thanks S. followed by the G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille on Sept. 13 and the Oct. 4 G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines prior to her Keeneland score.

“Tarnawa is very well. There isn't really a plan with her yet, and boring and all as it sounds, we'll be guided by her,” said Weld. “She is still on her break, but will be back shortly.

“The reason she is being kept in training is to have a go at the Arc and we'll see if she's up to it or not–please God she is.”

The post ‘Song’ Out of Vintage Crop Due to Ground appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘Zoe’ Camp Considering Vintage Crop

Trainer Tony Mullins is pointing Group 1 winner Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) to the Apr. 25 G3 Vintage Crop S. at Navan. The grey, who won last season's G1 Prix du Cadran and was fourth in the G1 Prix Royal-Oak in later October, ran an uncharacteristic ninth in the Listed Noblesse S. on Apr. 3.

Mullins said, “We had a suspicion that she was in season, but we brought her to the vet this morning and she wasn't. She's coming into season now, so whether that unsettled her, I don't know. I'd say it was a combination of ground and trip and it being her first run of the season. Joey [Sheridan] said she was just going as fast as she was able to most of the time.

“We'll wait for a bit of rain. We're still looking at the Vintage Crop, but if the rain doesn't come she won't run. She's in good form and we're just hoping that things will improve for the run.”

The post ‘Zoe’ Camp Considering Vintage Crop appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights