Tag: John and Thady Gosden

Kingman’s Epictetus Upsets Fellow TDN Rising Star Nostrum At Goodwood

George Strawbridge's homebred 'TDN Rising Star' Epictetus (Ire) (Kingman {GB}–Thistle Bird {GB}, by Selkirk) had finished of the board in his three latest starts and returned to form with a bang to deny fellow Rising Star Nostrum (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in Friday's G3 Bonhams Thoroughbred S. at Goodwood.

Last term's G1 Futurity Trophy second, who annexed Epsom's Listed Blue Riband Trial on sophomore return, was swiftly into stride from the inside gate and raced under a firm hold in third through the early fractions as Nostrum set the tone up front. Nudged along soon after passing halfway, the 6-1 chance was ridden to go second approaching the final furlong and swept by that rival inside the final 100 yards to prevail by a length from the odds-on favourite in ultimately snug fashion. Charles Hills trainee and G1 2000 Guineas fourth and G1 Irish 2000 Guineas fifth Galeron (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) was best of the remainder and finished 1 1/2 lengths further adrift in third.

“Epictetus showed plenty of speed over a mile at two and we thought he was a horse who would progress to 10 furlongs this year, but that did not pan out,” explained Thady Gosden. “He has run good races, but not what we thought that he was capable of. It was a perfect ride from Frankie. He broke well, sat him on the fence and followed Ryan [Moore]. Nostrum is a very smart horse, but Frankie gave our horse a brilliant ride. Epictetus ran a very good race last year [in the Futurity Trophy] at Doncaster when second to a future Derby winner on soft ground. He rolls his knee a little bit and is bred to like a little bit of give in the ground. It is slightly less tacky today and a bit more good to soft.” Looking ahead, Gosden continued, “There is a mile race back here, the [G2] Celebration Mile, which fits in well.”

Dettori, who extended his winningmost record in the race to seven, added, “We tried Epictetus three times over 10 furlongs and we always had an excuse. John and Thady found this race over a mile and the favourite looked very hard to beat. I had a good passage and, once I got the gap [inside the final quarter-mile], it was up to me to do the rest. Ryan wasn't stopping and my horse showed a turn of foot. Now we've got the distance right, we can concentrate on mile races. He is ready to go up in grade and the Celebration Mile in three weeks springs to mind. There are lots of races in the autumn at Newmarket, and maybe over Arc weekend. He has beat a decent field today in style and we can make big plans.”

Reflecting on the performance of Nostrum, Sir Michael Stoute's assistant James Savage commented, “Ryan thought that he had the race in the perfect place four out, picked up the pace to the two and he thought the race was for us. He said that the last 100 yards felt like he had a puncture and the horse didn't get home. We have always thought that he would handle ease in the ground, but I think maybe that dead ground has just probably caught him out in the last stages. It is very different ground to the [Newmarket] July meeting. We just felt he didn't hit the line today, so we will give him a good check over and re-group. He is a very, very good horse and we are not going to lose any faith in him. He will have all the best entries and we will just have to get it right next time. He will be an even better horse next year.”

Pedigree Notes
Epictetus, the fifth foal of seven foals, is one of five winners produced by G1 Pretty Polly S. heroine Thistle Bird (GB) (Selkirk), herself a half-sister to dual Group 3-winning G1 Cantala S. second McCreery (GB) (Big Bad Bob {Ire}) out of the dual stakes-winning G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest third Dolma (Fr) (Marchand De Sable). Thistle Bird was a 750,000gns purchase, carrying Epictetus, at Tattersalls' 2019 December Mares fixture and has also produced last term's G3 Valiant S. victrix Jumbly (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), the hitherto unraced 2-year-old colt Burrito (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and a weanling colt by Frankel (GB). The May-foaled bay's stakes-placed third dam Young Manila (Manila) is kin to a trio of stakes performers headed by MGSW G2 Prix de Royallieu victrix Fabulous Hostess (Fabulous Dancer).

 

Friday, Goodwood, Britain
BONHAMS THOROUGHBRED S.-G3, £100,000, Goodwood, 8-4, 3yo, 8fT, 1:41.04, sf.
1–EPICTETUS (IRE), 129, c, 3, by Kingman (GB)
1st Dam: Thistle Bird (GB) (G1SW-Ire, MGSW & G1SP-Eng, G1SP-Fr, $577,634), by Selkirk
2nd Dam: Dolma (Fr), by Marchand De Sable
3rd Dam: Young Manila, by Manila
1ST GROUP WIN. O/B-George Strawbridge (IRE); T-John & Thady Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £56,710. Lifetime Record: G1SP-Eng, 8-3-2-0, $234,588. *1/2 to Jumbly (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), GSW-Eng & GSP-Ire, $164,451; and Bullfinch (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), SP-Aus, $214,235. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Nostrum (GB), 129, c, 3, Kingman (GB)–Mirror Lake (GB), by Dubai Destination. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms (East) Ltd (GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute. £21,500.
3–Galeron (Ire), 129, c, 3, Camacho (GB)–Society Gal (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (€45,000 Ylg '21 GOFOR). O-Teme Valley & Aura Racing; B-Gigginstown House Stud (IRE); T-Charles Hills. £10,760.
Margins: 1, 1HF, NK. Odds: 6.00, 0.67, 14.00.
Also Ran: Knight (Ire), Bold Discovery, Docklands (GB), Montesilvano (Ire).

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Shadwell Runners Set for Summer Races

Shadwell's G2 Darley S. winner Alflaila (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) will make his long-awaited return from injury in the G2 Sky Bet York S. at York on July 24, trainer Owen Burrows revealed. The 4-year-old was sidelined late last year while training for a start in Bahrain in November.

“He has had his rehab back at Shadwell and touch wood it has all gone well,” Burrows said. “We have had plenty of time to prepare him and there was the listed race at Newbury on Saturday or this race, and we'd have had a penalty in the listed race, so we thought we'd have a punt and see how he fared in the Group 2.

“He won the [G3] Strensall at York, so he is a track winner and it would be nice to get him back on the track.”
Alflaila has been entered in the G1 Juddmonte International on Aug. 23.

Burrows has Group 1 winner Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) running in the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S. on the same day, while G1 Prix d'Ispahan winner Anmaat (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) will head to the sidelines with a foot abscess, which also ruled him out of the G1 Coral-Eclipse S. earlier this month.

“Losing good horses [through injury] is what I think they call 'character-building',” Burrows quipped. “With Anmaat now likely sidelined for the rest of the season, I think I've done enough character-building for now.

“Hukum is in good form, though. It will be a big weekend for us, that's for sure.”

Shadwell decided not to supplement Al Asifah (GB) (Frankel {GB}) into Saturday's G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks at the Curragh. The 3-year-old John and Thady Gosden trainee was a runaway winner of a Goodwood listed event in June, before finishing a sixth behind Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot on June 22.

“We have left her alone since Ascot,” Angus Gold, racing manager to Shadwell, said. “We will just give her a little bit of time and will bring her back gently later in the season.

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Newmarket: “I’ve No Doubt She’s Got Enough Toe.” Falmouth Speed Test For Nashwa

Whether or not connections of Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) allow the G1 Pretty Polly S. heroine to run in Friday's G1 Tattersalls Falmouth S. at Newmarket, the elephant in the room is the supplemented Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) who could just be ready for a reinvention at the July Festival. Not seen at this trip since the 6 1/2-length Haydock novice success that earned her TDN Rising Star status, the apple of Imad Al Sagar's eye has been as far as 12 furlongs when a creditable third in the Oaks before apparently settling into a niche at or around a mile and a quarter with wins in the G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Nassau S.

While it is on the face of surprising that she is winless since the latter contest, there has been a creeping feeling that the intermediate trip is too far for her now that she has filled her substantial frame. That was no more obvious than last time, when she had Al Husn (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) beaten until tying up in the last handful of the extra 42 yards added to the 10 furlongs of Newcastle's G3 Hoppings Fillies' S. Attempts to curb her enthusiasm have proven fruitless even for the ultra-skilled hands of Hollie Doyle and it would be no surprise to see her allowed to rock and roll from the front on a track that strongly favours that approach.

“She has grown and developed a lot over the winter [and] is a really big, burly mare now,” her rider and number one fan explained. “I think she has taken a time to come to hand and has taken a few runs to get straightened out, really. It seems the obvious route to go down after her last two runs and I've no doubt she's got enough toe. Time will tell, because this is a different ballgame.”

 

Via Sistina Part Of Falmouth Quandary

With so many fillies going down in trip, this is a far from straightforward renewal of the Falmouth, but then this is a race which can throw curveballs such as Prosperous Voyage (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) at 16-1 last year upsetting Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Like Nashwa, Via Sistina is another sharpening up at a mile having beaten the aforementioned Al Husn by six lengths in devastating fashion when the rain came to Newmarket on the weekend of the Guineas Festival. That rampage over the nine furlongs of the G2 Dahlia S. outshines her subsequent triumph in the Pretty Polly and the fact is that the less give in the surface the less advantage she has.

“There are very few horses in training that can be favourite for Group 1 races over various trips and I think she has that versatility in that she stays and has got plenty of boot,” trainer George Boughey said. “She showed a proper turn of foot in the Dahlia and I think over a mile she would be equally as effective. It is a bit of a question mark coming back to the mile as she hasn't ever been there, but for her career going forward we want to try and keep some speed in her.”

 

 

Is This One For The Closers?

With the memory of last year still fresh, it is hard to see anything other than Prosperous Voyage going forward again and with the increasingly free-going Nashwa here alongside another who has set the pace before in the G2 Duke of Cambridge S. runner-up Random Harvest (Ire) (War Front), this could be a case of the leaders setting it up for the finishers. Via Sistina fits that bill, but if the ground is too lively then the likes of the G1 Coronation S. runner-up Remarquee (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Juddmonte's Sandringham H. winner Coppice (GB) (Kingman {GB}) come into the equation. There is no telling what the plan is in Ryan Moore's mind for Ballydoyle's Never Ending Story (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), another reverting to a mile after a hit-and-miss season which includes a second to Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) in the G1 Prix de Diane which puts her in the mix.

 

 

Grand Prix

The Gosdens have a strong chance of a Group 1 double on Friday, with Lady Bamford's Oaks heroine Soul Sister (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) the fly in the colts' ointment in ParisLongchamp's Grand Prix de Paris. Partnered by Kieran Shoemark for the first time, the homebred faces Ecurie Jean-Louis Bouchard's TDN Rising Star Feed The Flame (GB) (Kingman {GB}) who was fourth in a hot G1 Prix du Jockey Club; the G3 Prix Hocquart winner First Minister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who was beaten by Feed The Flame in the spring but who hails from the stable of the 13-times successful Andre Fabre; and Ballydoyle's Adelaide River (Ire) (Australia {GB}) who brings the G1 Irish Derby form into sharper focus.

“It's a competitive field and we're getting three pounds off the colts,” Shoemark said. “This is a tough task and it is the first time a filly has ran in the race for 10 years, so it is something that doesn't happen very often but John and Thady Gosden have her in good order and hopefully we go there with a good chance.”

 

Star Of Mystery Takes Aim At The Duchess of Cambridge

Charlie Appleby's opening fixture of the July Festival was a mixed bag on Thursday, so a big effort from TDN Rising Star Star Of Mystery (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) would be welcome in Friday's G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. So impressive over this course and distance in the Listed Maureen Brittain Memorial Empress Fillies' S., this comes quick enough but with a disappointing turnout of only four her claims are obvious. “Star Of Mystery came out of her recent win in good order and this looks a natural progression for her,” he said. “A couple of her rivals bring Royal Ascot form into the race, which always warrants respect, but she looks the one to beat based on her Empress Stakes display.”

Those Royal Ascot runners will not include Highclere Thoroughbred Racing's G3 Albany S. third Soprano (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), who was ruled out on Thursday due to a medication administration error, but the filly who followed her home in fourth there steps out on Friday. Amo Racing's TDN Rising Star Persian Dreamer (Calyx {GB}) is the form threat to Godolphin's favourite and trainer Dominic Ffrench Davis is hopeful.

“Persian Dreamer ran a blinder and she was the last horse off the bridle,” he said. “I think if she had been drawn on the other side she would definitely have been in the first three, but she ran very well and has come out of the race well. Any rain would be appreciated because she does like to get her toe in a little bit. She's a lovely filly and I think she is going to stay further. She will get seven and a mile next year and I think she will get seven later this year. I think she is going to be a very classy filly if we can keep her in one piece.”

 

Little Big Bear Still In The July Cup

Aidan O'Brien is leaving a decision on the participation of Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) in Saturday's G1 July Cup at Newmarket until later in the week after declaring last year's G1 Phoenix S.-winning champion juvenile. One of only nine engaged in the six-furlong feature, the TDN Rising Star had been a doubt for the contest after suffering a bruised foot but his inclusion means that Rossa Ryan has been booked for his G1 Commonwealth Cup conqueror Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}). The G2 1895 Duke of York S. winner Azure Blue (Ire) (El Kabeir) and Marc Chan's G1 British Champions Sprint S. hero Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) are other notables in the smallest field for the July Cup since 1997, when Compton Place (GB) (Indian Ridge {Ire}) caused a 50-1 shock.

 

 

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Emily Upjohn Exits Eclipse Well, King George Still The Aim

Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who ran a strong second to Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G1 Eclipse S. earlier this month, has emerged from the race in good order and will continue preparing for the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S. on July 29, co-trainer John Gosden confirmed on Thursday.

The G1 British Champions Fillies And Mares S. winner, who won the G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom on her seasonal bow, was giving her rival seven pounds on the day.

Gosden, who trains with his son Thady, said, “After a race like that you take stock, but I couldn't be more thrilled. She's in great form with herself, I had to canter her again quickly.

“I'm very pleased with her and there's no reason at the minute why she wouldn't go to the King George.”

One of the filly's rivals, 2022 Derby hero Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), is not certain for the race after recovering a setback which kept him out of the Royal Ascot meeting, and trainer Sir Michael Stoute said, “We don't know if we will get him ready in time [for the King George]. He is back in fast work, so we will decide closer to the time. It's a little bit tight time-wise.”

Gosden also confirmed plans for another of his stable stars in Mostahdaf (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), who was ranked second in the world on the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings on Thursday. The 2023 G1 Prince of Wales's S. hero will point to the G1 Juddmonte International S. at York on Aug. 23.

“He goes to the International, he should enjoy York as he likes to play around before the races like Stradivarius used to,” he told Racing TV.

“We've had to space his races, he ran in the [G3] Neom Cup in Saudi which he won in February, he came back and then went to the [G1] Sheema Classic in March, in which he took on the world champion in Equinox (Jpn) and tried to race with him, which is a mistake.

“He came back to a mile and a quarter and showed us what he could do in the Prince of Wales's in which he was very impressive. He came out of it super, he's very full of himself every morning.”

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