Godolphin | Horse Racing Free Tips

Proxy Looms Large in Lexington

While trainer Mike Stidham isn't fully closing the door on a run in the GI Kentucky Derby for his pupil Proxy (Tapit), Saturday the colt will divert from the big-stage preps in an attempt for a confidence builder as he figures a prohibitive favorite in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland.

A second-out graduate Nov. 26 at Fair Grounds, the Godolphin homebred repeated in an allowance there Dec. 19 before passing the class test with a good second in the GIII Lecomte S. Runner-up in the GII Risen Star S. after that, he couldn't quite progress further when an even fourth in the GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby last out Mar. 23.

“We felt like he was really going in the right direction with the intention of trying to make it to the Kentucky Derby, but that last race, it wasn't really that big step forward that we really needed to have confidence going into the Derby,” Stidham told TDN's Katie Ritz. “With Godolphin having the favorite in Essential Quality, it wasn't as important to kind of force Proxy into a race that maybe he's not quite ready for. We're not really thinking hard about the Derby right now. I've learned in this business you never say never, so I'm not going to say definitely no. If he really ran well in this race, came out of it really well, certainly we would have to consider it. But right now, we're not thinking along those lines.”

A trio of twice-raced 3-year-olds look like the most probable beneficiaries if Proxy stumbles. Swiftsure (Uncle Mo) debuted as an 11-10 favorite Nov. 27 at Fair Grounds and ran to the money with a wire-to-wire, open-length victory before repeating over three next-out winners in another convincing score Jan. 23 at Oaklawn. Noble Reflection (Liam's Map) sports the best Beyer in the field outside of Proxy, earning an 89 for a sharp 4 1/2-length maiden tally off a near seven-month layoff Mar. 7 at Oaklawn, and Bezos (Empire Maker) rebounded from a disappointing seventh in his universally-touted debut with a dominant 4 1/2-length triumph going a mile at Santa Anita Mar. 26.

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Micheline Faces Brown-Trained Duo In Saturday’s Jenny Wiley

Godolphin's homebred Micheline, winner of the Hillsborough (G2) at Tampa Bay Downs in her 2021 debut, and the graded stakes-winning duo of Etoile and Tamahere trained by Chad Brown headline a small but select field of six fillies and mares entered Wednesday for Saturday's 33rd running of the $300,000 Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1) at Keeneland.

The Coolmore Jenny Wiley, run at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, will go as the 10th race on Saturday afternoon's 11-race program with a 6:03 p.m. post time. First post time is 1:05 p.m.

Trained by Mike Stidham, Micheline closed 2020 with a victory in the Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs and then was runner-up in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana here last fall. Her victory in the Hillsborough represented her first graded stakes victory.

Luis Saez will have the mount and break from post one.

A racing rarity will occur Saturday when half-siblings Micheline and Proxy – whose dam is millionaire Panty Raid, winner of the 2007 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) at Keeneland – start in consecutive graded stakes for owner-breeder Godolphin.

Micheline, a 4-year-old daughter of Bernardini, will be looking for her first Grade 1 victory in the $300,000 Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1) at 1 1/16 miles on turf. In the day's previous race, the 3-year-old Tapit colt Proxy will bid for his first stakes win in the $200,000 Stonestreet Lexington (G3) at 1 1/16 miles on dirt.

Both are trained by Mike Stidham.

While they share immense talent, Stidham said the sister and brother have distinctive traits. Most notably, Micheline is claustrophobic in traditional housing, so she resides in a portable stall near Stidham's barn. At Keeneland, the special setup awaits her Thursday arrival from Florida.

Micheline also showed her talent sooner than Proxy did.

Micheline, who has earned $665,978 with five wins in 13 starts, flashed her brilliance before finishing third in her career debut in August 2019 at Saratoga.

“We took her to Saratoga for her first start, so that shows how much we thought about her,” Stidham said. “We very rarely run horses at Saratoga unless we are very high on them.”

Micheline fulfilled expectations by winning the Sorority at Monmouth Park a month later. She next was unplaced in her lone dirt start in Keeneland's Darley Alcibiades (G1).

Winner of the Honey Ryder at Gulfstream Park at 3, Micheline closed her sophomore season at Keeneland as runner-up in the Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana. In her first start of 2021, she won the March 6 Hillsborough (G2) at Tampa Bay Downs.

Stidham said Proxy's ability was not as evident early as his sister's was.

“Proxy is one of those horses who did everything right but not anything real flashy,” Stidham said. “He was never a 'wow' horse going into his first start.”

Proxy earned his first victory in November at Fair Grounds in his second start and next was second in the Lecomte (G3) and Risen Star (G2) Presented by Lamarque Ford. A winner of two races from six starts – all on dirt – with earnings of $227,700, he comes into the Stonestreet Lexington off a fourth-place effort in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds.

“After the Lexington, we will see how he runs and decide where we go from there,” Stidham said.

Brown will be going for his fourth consecutive victory and fifth overall in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley when he sends out Etiole, owned by Peter Brant, Mrs. M.V. Magnier and Mrs. Paul Shanahan, and Tamahere, owned by Swift Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables.

Etoile will be making her first start since winning the E.P. Taylor (G1) at Woodbine in October. A Group 3 winner in France before coming to North America, she will be ridden by Javier Castellano and break from post four.

Tamahere, winner of the Sands Point (G2) in her U.S. debut in October, will be making her first start since finishing sixth in the Matriarch (G1) at Del Mar. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount and will break from post two.

Brown's winners in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley are Ball Dancing (2015), Sistercharlie (IRE) (2018) and Rushing Fall in 2019 and 2020.

The field for the Coolmore Jenny Wiley, with riders and weights from the rail, is: Micheline (Saez, 118 pounds), Tamahere (FR) (Irad Ortiz Jr., 118), Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Tyler Gaffalione, 118), Etoile (FR) (Castellano, 120), Maxim Rate (Umberto Rispoli, 118) and La Signare (FR) (John Velazquez, 118).

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Dubawi’s Philomene All Class In the Penelope

There was every reason to believe that a genuine future star of the 2021 Classic season was on display at Saint-Cloud on Tuesday as Godolphin, Ecurie des Monceaux and Ecurie Skymarc Farm's Philomene (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) made light work of the G3 Prix Penelope over the 10 1/2-furlong Prix de Diane distance. Off the mark by a short neck from the subsequent G1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Tasmania (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}) in a debutantes contest over a mile at ParisLongchamp in September, the Andre Fabre-trained half-sister to the G1 Irish Oaks heroine and G1 Prix de Diane runner-up Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and the G1 MacKinnon S. and G2 Ribblesdale S. heroine Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was not asked an early question by Mickael Barzalona sauntering in fourth. Making up ground on the leaders with ease as they worked over to the stand's rail, the €1.625million 2019 Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale topper drew alongside Incarville (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and into the lead passing the furlong pole. Hand ridden to score ears pricked by 2 1/2 lengths from that rival, there was the same margin back to Philomene's Listed Prix Rose de Mai-winning stablemate Anasia (GB) (Intello {Ger}) in third to add ballast to the form. “I'm delighted with the way she has run–she had a lovely action and is a really nice filly,” Fabre said of the 4-5 favourite. “I will target the Diane with her and she will have a race in between, but it's too early to say where. She is the only one of the family to have won as a 2-year-old and while she was not that precocious, she has class.”

As the Godolphin website stated, the result also served as a landmark for Dubawi who was becoming the first British stallion to sire 200 stakes winners. Her jockey added, “I was very impatient to see Philomene back on a racetrack and I am very happy with the way she won today. I am sure she will come forward plenty for it. She is a good filly with a lot of class and is very easy to handle, so that will be a very good point in the big races. Andre Fabre knows exactly the way to bring these fillies along. Philomene broke her maiden last year, beating a promising horse, and we have our fingers crossed that she can keep on improving.”

Philomene was big news before she even set foot into the Deauville sales ring, being the eighth foal out of Skymarc Farm and Monceaux's Listed Prix de la Seine winner Prudenzia (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) who has achieved significant renown as a broodmare. Her first offering was an instant hit, with the high-class but also quirky Chicquita capturing the aforementioned Curragh Classic having found only Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) too strong in the Diane. That effort followed a remarkable run-out into the hedge when a surefire winner in a conditions event at this venue, but there was no sign of that kind of wayward tendency as she matured. Eventually snapped up by Coolmore for €6million at the 2013 Goffs November Mares Sale, she went on to finish third in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. and is now the dam of the G3 Silver Flash S. third Secret Thoughts (War Front).

Prudenzia's third foal was Truth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), bought by Minster Stud for €580,000 at last year's Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale and the dam of Divertissement (Ire) (Shalaa {Ire}) who also contested this race but ran as if something was amiss in last. In 2015 she threw the amazingly consistent Magic Wand, who aside from winning the MacKinnon was also placed in nine other top-level races across the globe. Her next progeny was the G3 Prix de Royaumont third Je Ne Regretterien (GB) by Galileo, while her 2-year-old colt by that giant was the top-priced colt at last year's Arqana Deauville September Yearling Sale when selling to MV Magnier for €2million.

Her half-sister Pacifique (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) took the G3 Prix de Lutece and was emulated in that feat by her daughter Paix (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) last term, while another of her half-siblings is English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) who captured the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial last June before failing to hit the expected heights. The fourth dam Souk (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}) is the ancestress of the Sadler's Wells sensation Alexandrova (Ire), who like Chicquita annexed the Irish Oaks having dominated the Epsom Classic, and the G1 Melbourne Cup hero Rekindling (GB) by that former Coolmore monarch's son High Chaparral (Ire).

Tuesday, Saint-Cloud, France
PRIX PENELOPE-G3, €80,000, Saint-Cloud, 4-6, 3yo, f, 10 1/2fT, 2:15.68, gd.
1–PHILOMENE (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Prudenzia (Ire) (SW-Fr), by Dansili (GB)
2nd Dam: Platonic (GB), by Zafonic
3rd Dam: Puce (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN. (€1,625,000 Ylg '19 ARAUG). O-Godolphin, Ecurie des Monceaux and Ecurie Skymarc Farm; B-Ecurie des Monceaux and Ecurie Skymarc Farm (IRE); T-Andre Fabre; J-Mickael Barzalona. €40,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, €52,400. *1/2 to Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), Hwt. Older Mare-Ire at 11-14f, G1SW-Ire, G1SP-Eng & Fr, $859,094, & to Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Hwt. Older Mare-Ire at 7-9 1/2f, G1SW-Aus, GSW & MG1SP-Ire, GSW-Eng, MG1SP-Fr, MGISP-US, G1SP-HK, $4,702,433. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Incarville (Fr), 126, f, 3, Wootton Bassett (GB)–Ilhabela (Ire), by Azamour (Ire). O-Gerard Augustin-Normand; B-Naji Nahas (FR); T-David Smaga. €16,000.
3–Anasia (GB), 126, f, 3, Intello (Ger)–Sosia (Ger), by Shamardal. O/B-Wertheimer et Frere (GB); T-Andre Fabre. €12,000.
Margins: 2HF, 2HF, 3. Odds: 0.80, 5.70, 2.40.
Also Ran: Stormy Pouss (Fr), Divertissement (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.

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Philomene the Focus at Saint-Cloud

Saint-Cloud stages the first Pattern-race Classic trial of 2021 on Tuesday, with the G3 Prix Penelope featuring Godolphin, Ecurie des Monceaux and Ecurie Skymarc Farm's exciting Philomene (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). A half-sister to the G1 Irish Oaks heroine and G1 Prix de Diane runner-up Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and the G1 MacKinnon S. and G2 Ribblesdale S. heroine Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the Andre Fabre-trained filly was the €1.625-million topper of the 2019 Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale and was off the mark by a short neck from the subsequent G1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Tasmania (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}) in a debutantes contest over a mile at ParisLongchamp on her sole start in September.

Godolphin's Lisa-Jane Graffard said, “Philomene is a quality filly who has wintered well but is from a late-maturing family, so Andre Fabre expects her to continue to improve. She has only one run under her belt and goes straight into this Group 3 as the least-experienced in the field.”

Others who step out on the Prix de Diane trail are Al Shaqab Racing and Coolmore's unbeaten Divertissement (Ire) (Shalaa {Ire}), who has two provincial wins behind her and is the chosen representative of Jean-Claude Rouget, and the Wertheimers' Anasia (GB) (Intello {Ger}). Another Fabre trainee, she took the 10-furlong Listed Prix Rose de Mai here Mar. 11 and sets a decent standard for her stablemate to meet.

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