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Irish-Bred Space Blues Proves For Godolphin In Saudi Turf Sprint

Despite a layoff since August, some 11th-hour rain and a minor delay to the start of the race, form rang true in the US $1,000,000 1351 Turf Sprint sponsored by stc when Godolphin's Charlie Appleby-trained Space Blues (IRE) asserted himself in the final 200m.

Ridden to perfection by William Buick, the compact 5-year-old son of Dubawi broke from barrier two and sat comfortably in the second flank as early fractions were carved out by Krispen (IRE) and Urban Icon (GB).

Always keeping an eye on the Allan Smith-trained defending champion Dark Power (USA) and jockey Frankie Dettori – galloping just ahead – Buick leaned the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest winner to the outside, joining Appleby stablemate Glorious Journey (GB) as they commenced four and five-wide rallies around the bend.

Hitting the stretch with a couple of lengths to find on the leaders, Space Blues accelerated nicely in the final 300m, overpowering last year's victor over the unique 1351m distance. The final margin was three-quarters of a length back to Dark Power, with a neck back to Urban Icon and Joel Rosario in third. The win was a bit of redemption for Appleby, whose Mubtasim and Glorious Journey were second and third to Dark Power in 2020's inaugural running.

Quotes:

Charlie Appleby, trainer, Space Blues, 1st: “Absolutely delighted with that. We knew he was a class horse coming into the race and he had a lovely draw. I could see (the ground) was a bit loose for him and our concern was that he might just spin a bit on it, but he's come back on the bridle turning in like a class horse and put the race to bed at the right time. He travels for fun, watching the race there. I'll be interested to see what William has to say because obviously Dubai World Cup night has to be taken into consideration.”

William Buick, jockey, Space Blues: “We had a great run through. He broke well and I didn't want to be too close to the pace. The pace was perfect. It wasn't too hot or too slow. I followed Frankie (Dettori) before the split in the straight. It was how I hoped the race would pan out. He was the best horse and I didn't want to go for any heroics. You'd imagine this would set him for the Al Quoz.”

Frankie Dettori, jockey, Dark Power, 2nd: “I had a good race. I got the cover and we ran pretty much the same race as last year. He ran well and I was delighted to have him back in great form. The winner is a Group 1 horse, let's not forget. There is just some water on the track, it still rides beautifully.”

Allan Smith, trainer, Dark Power: “Charlie's horse was always coming, but no disgrace for Dark Power. He ran a fantastic race and Frankie gave it a good run. It was pretty much copybook to last year. He ran a little bit with the choke out early on, but Frankie got him settled. He got into a nice rhythm around the bend and I was delighted with him. And good luck to Charlie. We'd done him last year and he's done us this year. We've been invited to the Dubai World Cup meeting for the Al Quoz and I suppose if anything that'll be his next move.”

Joel Rosario, jockey, Urban Icon, 3rd: “That was good – he broke well; it took him a little bit to get a position, but turning for home, for a second I thought he was going to go on, but there were strong horses coming at the end there, the first two. He ran good, though.”

Rest of jockey quotes:

James Doyle, jockey, Glorious Journey, 4th: “He ran a good race. He got a little bit restless in the gates so we started a little bit slow but we ended up being in a nice position. When Space Blues came past me I just struggled to keep tabs with him, but he ran well and it was a great result for the team.”

Adrie de Vries, Land of Legends, 5th: “I jumped well. I got on for the speed a little bit then I lost a bit of position. He came back good in the straight. He could do with a little bit further, he's a seven-furlong (1400m) horse. This was a bit short for him.”

Cristian Demuro, Momkin, 6th: “He ran good but he stopped a little bit.

Alexis Moreno, Krispen, 9th: “My horse had good speed but he did not finish well. The best horse won the race. Best of luck for everybody.”

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Gifts Of Gold Gives Godolphin Saudi Double

There was little in Gifts Of Gold (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire})'s recent form to suggest that a win against top marathoners was on the cards, but a surface switch and the addition of cheekpieces as well as a few furlongs proved just the tonic for the Saeed bin Suroor-trained 6-year-old gelding to score an upset victory in the $2.5-million 3000 metre Red Sea Turf H. in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Settling about two lengths off the moderate early tempo set by the defending champ and Group 1-winning stayer Call The Wind (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Gifts Of Gold was kept off the fence by Pat Cosgrave as the field passed the stands for the first time. The dark bay dropped back slightly down the backstretch and was floated out further by Cosgrave on the run into the third and final bend, with Spanish Mission (Noble Mission {GB}) on terms with him on the rail and Secret Advisor (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) rallying to split them. Four-wide at the top of the straight as Call The Wind called it a day, Gifts Of Gold collared Making Miracles (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who had inherited the lead from Call The Wind, at the 300 metre mark as Spanish Mission kicked on from his inside position and Secret Advisor continued to make up ground. Gifts Of Gold was never truly threatened once he made the front, however, staying on to win by 1 1/4 lengths from Spanish Mission, with Secret Advisor a neck back in third. Red Verdon (Lemon Drop Kid) grabbed fourth. The win marked a double for Godolphin, which had won the stc 1351 Turf Sprint a race earlier with Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

“This was the plan since January when racing started in Dubai,” said winning trainer Saeed bin Suroor. “I thought he would be the perfect horse. He's a big strong horse and he ran well. The pace of the race wasn't that fast and that suited him and he finished the race off really well.

“Pat is good jockey and he has won big races for us in Australia, England and Germany. We're happy. We will take him back to Dubai and maybe he will go for the [G2 Dubai] Gold Cup on Mar. 27]. I'm sure he will improve some more.”

Cosgrave added, “That was great. Hopefully we're not finished yet. He was 110 there in a handicap so you have to think he's a horse for the [G1] Melbourne Cup maybe next year. He relaxes good and he has that turn of foot which is perfect for Melbourne.”

Ryan Moore said of Spanish Mission, “He ran a nice race, you must be happy with that first run of the year.”

Gifts Of Gold made his Dubai Carnival debut last year, his best finish in four starts that campaign being a third in the Listed Dubai Racing Club Classic over a mile and a half. The bay dropped down to 2000 metres to win a Chelmsford handicap on Aug. 27, and was last of four in the G3 Legacy Cup S. He made his seasonal and dirt debut in the one-mile G2 Al Maktoum Challenge R1 on Jan. 21 and was last, beaten forty-plus lengths.

Pedigree Notes

A €280,000 purchase from the 2015 Goffs November Foal Sale-the same sale at which Godolphin purchased its four-time Group 1 champion Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) for €1.1-million-Gifts Of Gold is out of the unraced Sanna Bay (Ire) (Refuse To Bend {Ire}), who was already responsible for the listed-winning Dusky Queen (Ire) (Shamardal) and the multiple graded stakes-placed Achnaha (Ire) (Haatef). Sanna Bay is a half-sister to the G3 Sweet Solera S. winner Albabilia (Ire) (King's Best) and the Laurel Futurity third Brainy Benny (Ire) (Barathea {Ire}). She has a yearling filly by Kodiac (GB).

RED SEA TURF H. (Cond.), $2,500,000, King Abdulaziz, 2-20, 4yo/up, 3000mT, 3:14.24, gd to fm.
1-GIFTS OF GOLD (IRE), 128, g, 6, Invincible Spirit (Ire)-Sanna Bay (Ire), by Refuse To Bend (Ire). (€280,000 wnl '15 GOFNOV) O-Godolphin; B-Paul Hyland (Ire); T-Saeed bin Suroor. £1,094,890. Lifetime Record: SP-UAE, 13-4-3-1, £1,143,591. *1/2 to Dusky Queen (Ire) (Shamardal), SW-Eng, $157,962; and Achnaha (Ire) (Haatef), MGSP-US & GSP-Ire, $224,655.
2-Spanish Mission, 128, h, 5, Noble Mission (GB)-Limonar (Ire), by Street Cry (Ire). ($125,000 yrl '17 KEESEP; 60,000gns RNA 2yo '18 TATAPR) O-Team Valor LLC & Gary Barber; B-St Elias Stables LLC; T-Andrew Balding. £364,963.
3-Secret Advisor (Fr), 132, g, 7, Dubawi (Ire)-Sub Rose (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). O-Godolphin; B-CEA Haras de Saint Pair (Fr); T-Charlie Appleby.
Margins: 1 1/4, NK, 1. Also Ran: Red Verdon, Making Miracles (GB), Mildenberger (GB), Mirinaque (Arg), New Show (Ire), Prince Of Arran (GB), Mekong (GB), Call The Wind (GB), Barbados (Ire), Arctic Sound (GB).
Click for the Racing Post result. VIDEO.

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Space Blues Up For Turf Sprint Win

The favourite and headline act Channel Maker (English Channel) may have been upset in the card-opening Neom Turf Cup, but that was not the case 35 minutes later, with last year's G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest victor Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) obliging at short odds for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby. Stalking the pace just off the fence, Space Blues and William Buick sat on the heels of last year's winner Dark Power (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) down the backstretch. Space Blues had about three lengths to make up upon turning for home and he was briefly seamed in by his stablemate Glorious Journey (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), but when daylight appeared so did Space Blues, charging down the middle of the track to overhaul Dark Power in a well-timed ride and win by three-quarters of a length, with longshot Urban Icon (GB) (Cityscape {GB}), a now locally trained 320,000gns buy from the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale last year, holding on gamely after pressing the early pace to be third.

The winner of his lone start at two, Space Blues picked up his first black-type win, with Urban Icon a neck behind in second, in the Listed Surrey S. going seven furlongs at Epsom at three. He built on that promise to be second in the G3 Jersey S. and G1 Prix Jean Prat and third in the Maurice de Gheest before season's end, and after kicking off his 4-year-old campaign with a nondescript seventh in the G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint, Space Blues truly blossomed upon his return to Europe last summer. The chestnut went unbeaten in four starts, taking Haydock's Listed Spring Trophy S., the G3 Prix de la Porte Maillot and the G2 Lennox S. all over seven furlongs before dropping down to 6 1/2 for a career-best victory in the Maurice de Gheest over the dual Group 1 winner Hello Youmzain (Fr) (Kodiac {GB}). Space Blues was defying a more than six-month layoff to keep his winning streak alive on Saturday.

“Absolutely delighted with that,” said trainer Charlie Appleby. “We knew he was a class horse coming into the race and he had a lovely draw. I could see [the ground] was a bit loose for him and our concern was that he might just spin a bit on it, but he's come back on the bridle turning in like a class horse and put the race to bed at the right time.

Buick added, “We had a great run through. He broke well and I didn't want to be too close to the pace. The pace was perfect. It wasn't too hot or too slow. I followed Frankie [on Dark Power] before the split in the straight. It was how I hoped the race would pan out. He was the best horse and I didn't want to go for any heroics. You'd imagine this would set him for the [G1] Al Quoz [Sprint on Mar. 27].”

Pedigree Notes

Space Blues is the sixth foal out of the G2 Challenge S. scorer Miss Lucifer (Fr) (Noverre), who was bred by Sheikh Maktoum's Gainsborough Stud. Miss Lucifer's first foal was Godolphin's Shuruq (Elusive Quality), who ran at the Dubai World Cup Carnival for Saeed bin Suroor in 2013 and 2014 and won the G3 UAE Oaks, G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 and G3 Burj Nahaar before going on to take the G3 International Istanbul Trophy in Turkey. Shuruq has gotten off to a good start at stud in America, her first two foals being the Grade III-placed Javanica (Medaglia d'Oro) and the listed-winning and dual Grade I-placed Antoinette (Hard Spun), while she has a 2-year-old filly by Medaglia d'Oro and a yearling colt by Uncle Mo. Featuring under Space Blues's third dam High Spirited (Ire) (Shirley Heights {GB}) is the G1 1000 Guineas victress Virginia Waters (Kingmambo) and G1 Matron S. winner Chachamaidee (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}). Miss Lucifer has a yearling filly by Dark Angel (Ire).

STC 1351 TURF SPRINT (Cond.), $1,000,000, King Abdulaziz, 2-20, 4yo/up, 1351mT, 1:20.03, gd to fm.
1-SPACE BLUES (IRE), 126, h, 5, Dubawi (Ire)-Miss Lucifer (Fr)
(GSW-Eng, $193,403), by Noverre. O/B-Godolphin; T-Charlie
Appleby. £437,956. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Fr, GSW-Eng, 14-8-
3-1, £820,329. *1/2 to Shuruq (Elusive Quality), Hwt. Older
Mare-UAE at 7 to 9.5f, MGSW-UAE, GSW-Tur, GSP-Eng,
$484,000.
2-Dark Power (Ire), 126, g, 7, Dark Angel (Ire)-Sixfields Flyer
(Ire), by Desert Style (Ire). (€80,000 yrl '15 GOFSEP; 50,000gns
RNA HRA '17 TATNOV; 42,000gns HRA '18 TATOCT) O-Al
Adiyat Racing; B-Mr Guy O'Callaghan; T-Allan Smith. £145,985.
3-Urban Icon (GB), 126, h, 5, Cityscape (GB)-Fauran (Ire), by
Shamardal. (21,905gns yrl '17 TATSEP; 340,000gns RNA HRA
'19 TATOCT; 320,000gns HRA '20 TATOCT) O-Prince Faisal Bin
Khaled Bin A/Aziz; B-Minster Stud; T-Fahad Saad. £72,992.
Margins: 3/4, 1/4, 3/4. Also Ran: Glorious Journey (GB), Land Of Legends (Ire), Momkin (Ire), Avalina, Larchmont Lad (Ire), Krispen (Ire), Royal Dornoch (Ire). DNF: Captain Von Trapp.
Click for the Racing Post result. VIDEO.

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Classic Winner Balanchine Dies

Balanchine (Storm Bird-Morning Devotion, by Affirmed), who became the first Classic winner for Godolphin and Frankie Dettori when winning the 1994 G1 Epsom Oaks, has died aged 30. The chestnut mare had been pensioned from breeding duties for the past seven years and lived out her days at Sheikh Mohammed's Gainsborough Farm in Versailles, Kentucky.

Bred by Robert Sangster's Swettenham Stud, Balanchine was campaigned by Sangster during a 2-year-old campaign in which she won her two starts by a combined 10 lengths. Purchased thereafter by Sheikh Mohammed's elder brother Sheikh Maktoum, Balanchine was among the first cohort of horses wintered in Dubai by the Maktoum family, and her success in the season that followed spawned a programme within the operation that is still in place today. Beaten a short head in the G1 1000 Guineas, with the influential broodmare Coup De Genie a neck back in third, Balanchine regrouped to win the Oaks next out by 2 1/2 lengths over Deep Impact (Jpn)'s dam Wind In Her Hair (Ire) (Alzao), with Frankie Dettori aboard in the Godolphin blue. Balanchine's most memorable win, however, came three weeks later when she shipped to Ireland to take on the colts in the G1 Irish Derby. Traveling third on the inside early back in the Sheikh Maktoum silks, Balanchine moved into the two path and up to take the lead shortly before they straightened, getting first run on Sheikh Mohammed's favoured King's Theatre (Ire). That G1 Racing Post Trophy winner, who went on to beat older horses in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. next out, proved no match for the filly Balanchine, who drew clear to win by 4 1/2 lengths. That proved Balanchine's final win; she ran three times at four, her best finish being a second behind the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Carnegie (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) in the G3 Prix Foy.

Frankie Dettori, who was just 23 at the time that he won two Classics aboard Balanchine, reflected on his partnership with the mare in a 2019 interview with Horse Racing Ireland.

“I was over the moon after I'd won my first Classic on her at Epsom, and I thought the next step would be the Irish Oaks,” Dettori said. “But Sheikh Maktoum and Sheikh Mohammed were never short of a challenge and they decided to race against the colts in the Irish Derby. I thought 'God, this may be a step too far.' Obviously, I was proven wrong, because she won.

“It was my only Irish Derby win, and I was only 23, so I was ecstatic and delighted, and it was a massive feat for a filly. She was a one-off. It was a bold call to make a run against the colts, and that was, I guess, the stepping stone for what Godolphin is now. She was the start.”

Balanchine's best produce was the French Group 2-placed Gulf News (Woodman). Her half-sister Red Slippers (Nureyev), however, has been an influential producer for Godolphin. She foaled the G1 Prix de Diane victress West Wind (GB) (Machiavellian) and Eastern Joy (GB) (Dubai Destination), the dam of five stakes winners headed by the dual G1 Dubai World Cup scorer Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}).

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