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Dancing Prince Gives Japan, Lemaire a Saudi Four-Bagger

by Alan Carasso

Sent off the betting favourite in international markets on the strength of his form at home, Dancing Prince (Jpn) (Pas de Trois {Jpn}) made all the running beneath a white-hot Christophe Lemaire to give both the country and rider a fourth victory on the Saudi Cup undercard in the G3 Riyadh Sprint.

Soon in front from a favourable draw, the last-out winner of the G3 Capella S. at Nakayama in December, showed the way in advance of longshots Beehive (GB) (Fountain of Youth {Ire}) and Rudy Trigger (Arg) (Cosmic Trigger {Arg}), as Good Effort (Ire) (Shamardal) took the trail from fourth. Nursed along on the turn while easily retaining the call, Dancing Prince kicked further clear in upper stretch, with Good Effort emerging as the lone possible danger, and hosed up to score by daylight. Chain of Love (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), in a bit tight between the commonly owned Gladiator King (Curlin) and Switzerland (Speightstown) nearing the straight, finished well for third, while defending champion Copano Kicking (Spring At Last) ran on admirably to complete a Japanese 1-2-4 finish.

“This is unbelievable,” said Lemaire, the perennial leading rider in Japan. “I knew this was a very good horse and it's easy when you are riding good horses. I'm so happy for connections. I have been in Japan for two years with the restrictions and no travel, so I was fresh tonight. My horses were just too good tonight. I don't know what to say.”

Pedigree Notes:

Dancing Prince is the lone stakes winner for his sire, a 15-year-old son of the late Swept Overboard (End Sweep) and three-time Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed over turf sprint trips, who stands at Lex Stud on the island of Hokkaido.

Dancing Prince's dam, who won just $7,000 from four trips to the races, has pedigree appeal of her own, as she is a half-sister to Durandal (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), a three-time Japanese champion who posted the most important victory of his career in the 2004 G1 Mile Championship, defeating the Lemaire-ridden two-time champion Dance in the Mood (Jpn) (Sunday Silence).

Little Bessing was barren to Logotype for 2019 and was retired from stud duties thereafter.

Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia
RIYADH CUP PRESENTED BY SAUDIA-G3, $1,500,000, King Abdulaziz, 2-26, 3yo/up, 1200m, 1:10.26, ft.
1–DANCING PRINCE (JPN), 126, h, 6, by Pas de Trois (Jpn)
1st Dam: Little Blessing (Jpn), by Bubble Gum Fellow (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Sawakaya Princess (Jpn), by Northern Taste
3rd Dam: Scotch Princess, by Creme dela Creme
O-Chizu Yoshida; B-Shadai Farm; T-Keisuke Miyata; J-Christophe Lemaire; $900,000. Lifetime Record: GSW-Jpn, 13-9-1-1, $1,976,462. *1/2 to Princess Memory (Jpn) (Swept Overboard), SW & GSP-Jpn, $1,751,240. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Good Effort (Ire), 126, h, 7, Shamardal–Magical Crown, by Distorted Humor. O-Abdulla Al Mansoori; B-Rabbah Bloodstock Limited; T-Ismail Mohammed; J-Jim Crowley; $300,000.
3–Chain of Love (Jpn), 121, m, 5, Heart's Cry (Jpn)–Fair Ellen, by Street Cry (Ire). O-Koji Maeda; B-North Hills Co Ltd; T-Michihiro Ogasa; J-Ryusei Sakai; $150,000.
Margins: 5 3/4, 3 3/4, NK.
Also Ran: Copano Kicking, Sunset Flash (Ire), Switzerland, Gladiator King, Faz Zae (KSA), Mortajeh (KSA), Dolma (KSA), Beehive (GB), Rock Sound (Ire), Rudy Trigger (Arg). Click for the Racing Post chart. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.

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Good Effort Repeats In Golden Rose Stakes At Lingfield

Last year's winner Good Effort maintained his unbeaten record at Lingfield Park in Lingfield, England, with a repeat success in the six-furlong Listed Betway Golden Rose Stakes, a Fast-Track Qualifier for the £150,000 Betway All-Weather Sprint Championships.

In what looked like a competitive contest, the well-supported 11/8 favorite raced at the head of affairs alongside Exalted Angel before settling proceedings in a matter of strides swinging off the home turn.

Good Effort was clear entering the final furlong and stayed on strongly to score by two and a quarter lengths from the 2019 winner Judicial. Soldier's Minute was a short-head further back in third in a blanket finish for the places.

This was the fourth success in as many starts at Lingfield Park for Good Effort, who also captured the Listed Betway Kachy Stakes in 2020.

Ismail Mohammed's assistant trainer Jose Santos said: “Good Effort is a horse we have always believed is the best All-Weather sprinter in the UK.

“He is a real natural sprinter and hopefully connections decide to keep him here for the All-Weather Championships.

“He doesn't have that much mileage for a six-year-old and I think he still has plenty to offer.”

Winning rider Jim Crowley said: “Good Effort is a handy horse, isn't he?

“He gets a bit lonely in front having killed the race off on the bend. I had to keep him up to his work because Jose [Santos, assistant trainer] said to me that he pulled up in Dubai when Frankie rode him and just got caught.

“He is one of those horses who wins his race at halfway. He is very fast and whether it's five or six furlongs, he has enough boot for both. I remember riding him work in Dubai and being impressed with him that day.

“He has won in France and run well in Dubai, and he didn't run too badly in Belmont last time. It just didn't quite work out for him because they went slow out there, which is unusual for an American sprint.

“It's just a question of whether he stays here for the All-Weather Championships or goes on his travels again, but it will take a quick one to beat him around here.”

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Following Sea Dominant In Vosburgh, Earns Spot In BC Sprint

Following Sea gave sire Runhappy his first graded stakes winner with his multi-length score in the Grade 2 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. With this victory, the 3-year-old colt earns a fees-paid, guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Though the field numbered only four, the Vosburgh featured Firenze Fire, last-out second in the Grade 1 Forego, where he attempted to bite eventual winner Yaupon multiple times down the stretch at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Baby Yoda, who earned a 114 Beyer Speed Figure in his last start, also at Saratoga. The six-furlong G2 was all Following Sea, though, improving off of his third-place finish in the G1 H. Allen Jerkens at Saratoga and a second via disqualification in the G1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. After Firenze Fire broke through the gate and was reloaded, the short field broke cleanly, with Firenze Fire grabbing a short lead in the race's opening strides. Jockey Joel Rosario sent Following Sea to the lead within the first furlong and, from there, had no trouble holding off the multiple graded stakes winner.

Maintaining a one-length lead throughout, Following Sea kicked away as the field hit the stretch, stretching his lead out to three lengths before Rosario powered him down. At the wire, the son of Runhappy was 4 3/4 lengths to the good, with Firenze Fire second and Baby Yoda third. Good Effort (IRE) was fourth in his American debut. The final time for the six furlongs was 1:09.20.

Following Sea paid $7.00 and $3.10. Firenze Fire paid $2.50. With only four horses in the field, no show betting was offered. Find this race's chart here.

The G2 Vosburgh is a Win and You're In event for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, to be contested Nov. 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. Winners of Breeders' Cup Challenge Series races earn a free guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the corresponding Breeders' Cup event.

“I thought he ran great. We just wanted to take advantage of the outside post and see how everything unfolded. He really took all the strategy out of play in the first 50 yards. He broke great, put himself right on the front and it seemed like he was in hand throughout,” trainer Todd Pletcher said after the race. “We left the paddock with the idea that we won't take anything away that comes easily. If he breaks well, that's great. If he gets in a speed duel, that's okay, too. So, I said to use judgment and it looked like he made a decision pretty easily. When he made the lead that easily, I was pretty confident. He looked like he kicked on pretty well and Joel [Rosario] wrapped up on him pretty late.”

“I just helped him out of there. It looked like he broke really well and he put himself on the lead. I thought he liked that and he ran a big race,” jockey Joel Rosario told the NYRA Press Office after the Vosburgh. “Todd just told me to ride him the way it came up. He broke sharp and I asked him a little bit to get a position. If somebody else goes, I could sit second but I decided to go to the lead because I was there. He ran really well.”

Bred by owner Spendthrift Farm, Following Sea is out of the Speightstown mare Quick Flip, a black-type stakes winner. The 3-year-old colt has three wins in six lifetime starts, for career earnings of $513,020.

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Equibase Analysis: Good Effort The One To Catch In Vosburgh

Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh Stakes is a “Win & You're In” for the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Although only drawing a field of five, there is not one horse entered who is without a chance to succeed. Since the group is small, I'll dispense with the normal listing of their qualifications and cover all five horses in detail.

Good Effort (IRE) has won eight of 29 career races, all on turf or all-weather. However, he has run big races on dirt, specifically when missing by a neck in a 13 horse field this past March in the Group 3 Mahab Al Shimaal Stakes in Dubai on a left handed course like the one at Belmont. Overmatched in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Stakes after that, Good Effort (IRE) rebounded to miss by three-quarters of a length in a group 3 stakes in the U.K. after making the lead and holding on until very late in the race. Overmatched once more in the Group 1 Darley July Cup Stakes and the Group 2 King George Qater Stakes, the latter run at five furlongs on grass, Good Effort (IRE) rebounded to lead from start to finish in a very fast six and one-half furlong race in France on all-weather last month.

From January through November 2020, Good Effort (IRE) won four straight races, in three of the four making the lead shortly after the start and easily holding the front to the end. Adding blinkers to insure he does the same as in Europe and Dubai, considering he earned very consistent ™ Equibase® Speed Figures of 108 to 110 in his top efforts, Good Effort (IRE) has a shot to surprise the local contingent and win this year's Vosburgh Stakes in front running fashion.

Following Sea cuts back from seven furlongs to six furlongs which may be the key to a top effort. He finished third and well behind the top two finishers in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes in August, but those two horses (Jackie's Warrior and Life is Good) both won their next starts in top stakes company. Before the Jerkens, Following Sea finished third when trying two-turns for the first time in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes, an irrelevant experiment in my opinion. Prior to the Haskell, Following Sea won easily by six and one-half lengths at Belmont and prior to that he won by five and three-quarter lengths at this six furlong trip, earning a career best 110 ™ figure good enough to win this race. Cutting back to his best distance gives Following Sea a good shot to do just that and he's another likely to be a bit ignored in the wagering compared to others in this year's Vosburgh.

Firenze Fire is likely to be favored on the strength of his big effort at the end of August in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes. In the Forego, Firenze Fire went head-and-head with eventual winner Yaupon for the final quarter mile, even trying to bite his foe multiple times in the stretch run. That effort earned a strong 112 figure, similar to the 113 figure earned two races before that when second in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud Stakes at Belmont. Winner of the 2020 Vosburgh with a 116 figure, Firenze Fire shows up with his “A” game nearly every time he runs and must be respected as a contender.

Baby Yoda is one of two three year olds in the field, the other Following Sea. He is the most lightly raced horse in the group, having run four times, but he has improved markedly in each race, starting with an 84 figure effort, then 91, then 97 and finally 111 in his most recent race. That most recent effort on September 4 was visually impressive as Baby Yoda easily drew off to a four and one-quarter length victory. Trainer Bill Mott knows this young horse still has improving to do and that is why he puts him in a stakes race for the first time, as that 111 figure matches up well with the 112 figure Firenze Fire earned in the similar Grade 1 Forego Stakes one week before Baby Yoda's last win.

Jalen Journey has won eight of 16 career races including three of nine at this six furlong trip. All four of his stakes tries in the U.S. were excellent efforts, starting with a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint Stakes in June 2019 in which he led late and missed by less than a length to a top sprinter in Diamond Oops. Since returning from Dubai in May of this year, Jalen Journey has finished first or second in all four races, most recently when crossing the line second but moved up to first in the Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash Stakes when the winner was disqualified for interference. That effort earned a 108 figure and just prior to that Jalen Journey earned a career-best 111 figure, another effort on par with the best of this group

Top Win Contenders:
Good Effort (IRE)
Following Sea

Vosburgh Stakes – Grade 2
Race 5 at Belmont Park
Saturday, October 9 – Post Time 2:45 PM E.T.
Six Furlongs
Three Years Olds and Upward
Purse: $250,000

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