Newcastle: Nashwa Looking to Get Back on Track in the Hoppings

Friday sees an above-average renewal of Newcastle's G3 Hoppings Fillies' S. as Imad Al Sagar's G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Nassau S. heroine Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) looks to start her 2023 campaign in earnest on the Tapeta. Disappointing when too fresh in the G2 Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud last month, the Gosdens have opted to go back to basics with one of the cream of last year's TDN Rising Stars. This is no foregone conclusion with Shadwell's G2 Dahlia S. runner-up and Listed Rothesay S. winner Al Husn (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in attendance, while the extended 10-furlong trip could bring out the best in another TDN Rising Star, last year's G1 Fillies' Mile third Bright Diamond (Ire) (El Kabeir).

Al Sagar's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe is hoping for a return to form from Nashwa. “She had hard races in the Opera and at the Breeders' Cup and really needed her first run back in the Prix Corrida,” he explained. “We wanted her to hopefully get back to her level with the plan then possibly being to head to the Nassau. Imad has shown patience, these fillies pretty much tell us when they are ready so it is a question of hopefully getting everything lined up in the right order.”

 

Weekend Action Shapes Up…
   Ahead of what promises to be an intriguing three days of action, The Curragh's G1 Yulong Pretty Polly S. will see nine fillies and mares in the line-up including Coolmore's 2022 G1 Prix Saint-Alary-winning TDN Rising Star Above The Curve (American Pharoah) and the highly impressive G2 Dahlia S. winner Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) from the George Boughey stable. The draw was also made for Sunday's G1 Deutsches Derby at Hamburg, with Gestut Karlshof's Straight (Ger) (Zarak {Fr}) in pole position after his five-length dismissal of TDN Rising Star Mr Hollywood (Ire) (Iquitos {Ger}) in Cologne's G2 Union-Rennen earlier this month. He is drawn in eight, with Wanja Soren Oberhof and Sebastian Weiss's Mr Hollywood, who had previously won Munich's G3 Bavarian Classic, in stall four. Liberty Racing 2021's G3 Baden-Baden Derby-Trial winner Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) has stall 16 to contend with, but six of the last 10 winners of the Classic were coming from double-figure stalls including his sire who was drawn 15 in 2014.

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Above The Curve Makes All For Prix Corrida Triumph, Nashwa Eclipsed In Fourth

Last term's G1 Prix Saint-Alary and G2 Blandford S. heroine Above The Curve (American Pharoah–Fabulous {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) encountered stellar opposition in Sunday's G2 Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud and halted a three-race losing streak with a pillar-to-post victory in the 10 1/2-furlong contest.

Coolmore and Westerberg's 'TDN Rising Star' was undone by Saint-Alary runner-up Place Du Carrousel (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and the reopposing Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) when third in October's G1 Prix de l'Opera before running seventh in both November's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and this month's G2 Mooresbridge S. on seasonal return last time.

The eventual winner was swiftly into stride and held sway at a comfortable pace. In command throughout, the 47-10 chance was shaken up when threatened at the top of the straight and stayed on relentlessly under a drive inside the final quarter-mile to hit the line strong with a two-length buffer from Mqse De Sevigne (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}). German raider India (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) kept on well to finish one length adrift third while 'TDN Risng Star' Nashwa, who held every chance turning for home, faded out of contention in the latter stages and finished another 1 1/4 lengths back in fourth.

“I am delighted to win this race for Joseph O'Brien and in these famous silks too,” said Maxime Guyon. “We used to ride together and know each other very well indeed. He said that she is a very straightforward filly with a huge action and to go on if nobody wanted the lead. She travelled beautifully and quickened well. She had the race in the bag quite early.”

Hollie Doyle, reflecting on a satisfactory return to action for G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Nassau S. heroine Nashwa, added, “She's a big, burly mare and I think she just got tired. She's grown a lot and has put on a lot of weight. She had a busy year last year and was coming back off her first proper break. She probably needed the run and I think she'll come on for it.”

Pedigree Notes
Above The Curve is the third of six reported foals and one of two scorers produced by an unraced sibling of eight black-type performers headed by MG1SW sire Giant's Causeway (Storm Cat). She is a full-sister to G3 Irish 1000 Guineas Trial and G3 Weld Park S. third Thinking Of You and her dam Fabulous (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who was bred to Justify last year, has the unraced 3-year-old filly Deadly Nightshade (Justify) and a 2-year-old filly and yearling filly by Justify to come. Descendants of the April-foaled bay's MGSW second dam Mariah's Storm (Rahy), herself kin to G1SP sire Panoramic (GB) (Rainbow Quest), also include MG1SW sires Gleneagles (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Decorated Knight (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), Classic heroines Joan of Arc (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Marvellous (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), MG1SW distaffer Happily (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and elite-level performers Vatican City (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Coolmore (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Taj Mahal (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Sunday, Saint-Cloud, France
PRIX CORRIDA-G2, €130,000, Saint-Cloud, 5-28, 4yo/up, f/m, 10 1/2fT, 2:14.17, gd.
1–ABOVE THE CURVE, 126, f, 4, by American Pharoah
1st Dam: Fabulous (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Mariah's Storm, by Rahy
3rd Dam: Immense, by Roberto
O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Westerberg; B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt (KY); T-Joseph O'Brien; J-Maxime Guyon. €74,100. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Fr, GSW-Ire & SP-Eng, 9-4-1-2, €444,496. *Full to Thinking of You, MGSP-Ire. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Mqse De Sevigne (Ire), 126, f, 4, Siyouni (Fr)–Penne (Fr), by Sevres Rose (Ire). O-Baron Edouard de Rothschild; B-SC Ecurie de Meautry (IRE); T-Andre Fabre. €28,600.
3–India (Ger), 126, m, 5, Adlerflug (Ger)–Ivory Coast (Fr), by Peintre Celebre. O-Gestut Ittlingen; B-Gestut Hof Ittlingen (GER); T-Waldemar Hickst. €13,650.
Margins: 2, 1, 1 1/4. Odds: 4.70, 8.10, 4.10.
Also Ran: Nashwa (GB), Baiykara (Fr), Romagna Mia (GB). Video, sponsored by TVG.

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Middleton Fillies’ S. First Up For Star Filly Nashwa

Dual Group 1 winner Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who took the 2022 G1 Prix de Diane with Hollie Doyle aboard, is pointing toward the May 18 G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Middleton Fillies' S. at York for her 4-year-old bow.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden for Imad Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud, the bay is in good form, and, if the ground is unsuitable at York, she could be re-routed to the G1 Lockinge S. at Newbury two days later.

“She stays in training and has wintered well,” said Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Nashwa's owner Imad Al Sagar. “She hasn't done much and probably at this stage we're aiming at the Middleton at York and then we would see how we go from there.

“The mile-and-a-quarter races would be her initial targets anyway I would imagine, but I suppose if the ground came up very soft for some reason at York and if the ground was all right at Newbury she might divert to the Lockinge. At the moment though, the plan is to look at the Middleton and Imad is happy with that plan.”

Third in the G1 Oaks at Epsom last spring, she eked out a short neck victory in the Chantilly Classic and made it two top tier races on the bounce with a 1 3/4-length score in the Nassau S. at Goodwood in July. A too-good-to-lose second in the G1 Prix de l'Opera on Arc Day Nashwa ran fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Keeneland in November. Trips to France for the G1 Prix Jean Romanet, as well as clashing with males in open Group 1s are on the table for later in the season.

“There's the Prince Of Wales's, Eclipse and Juddmonte if you are being really brave,” Grimthorpe continued. “Otherwise, there are nice races in Deauville and all those nice fillies races all around the Nassau which she won last year as well, so there is a good programme for her.”

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Doyle Anticipating Return Sooner Than Expected

Top jockey Hollie Doyle, who has been recovering from an elbow injury suffered in a fall at Wolverhampton on Jan. 17, could be back in action before previously thought. The 26-year-old rider was expected to be out for several weeks, but has been rehabilitating at Oaksey House in Lambourne since the injury and increasing her chances of an earlier return.

“I saw a specialist yesterday and he said things couldn't be any better for the stage we are at,” she told Sky Sports Racing on Friday.

A six-time Group 1-winning rider, who was the first female to win a Classic aboard Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Prix Du Diane last year and is the retained rider for owner Imad Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud, said she has a four- to five-week timeframe to return but hopes to be back in the saddle sooner.

“I'm hoping within the next few weeks I'll be back on track,” Doyle said. “I dislocated my elbow and ruptured both ligaments around my elbow–and fractured it as well–but thankfully it put itself back into place which was good and I haven't had to have it operated on.

“Worst case scenario is another four or five weeks off, but I'm hoping to be back sooner than that.”

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