Poetic Flare (Ire) | Horse Racing Free Tips

Palace Pier Faces Generation Clash at Deauville

Having missed the G1 Sussex S. due to a minor setback, Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is back in the picture as he defends his title in Sunday's G1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois at Deauville. More workmanlike than impressive when last seen in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot June 15, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's TDN Rising Star has a six-pound weight-for-age gift to present to Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) and will need to be at his best to contain Jim Bolger's hard-grafting 3-year-old colt miler supreme. Judged on his prior win in the G1 Lockinge S. at Newbury May 15, John and Thady Gosden's 4-year-old is the one to beat even allowing for the scintillating G1 St James's Palace S. victory of his Irish challenger. John Gosden is wary of the effects of his recent problem, however. “He had a blood disorder going into Goodwood and it just took a little time to get over it. We're just finding our way back, he's worked well in towards the race but you could do without those issues coming in the middle of the season,” he said of the bay, who bids to become the first since Spinning World to win consecutive renewals in 1997. “He won the Jacques le Marois last year, but it will be different conditions this year. It's dry and warm and it's a small but elite field. Like most horses, I think he just wants good ground, they can show their acceleration on good ground and that is absolutely his favourite.”

Poetic Flare, who also took the May 1 G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, has a definite achilles heel and that is ground slower than good with his defeats this term all on rain-eased going. Brushed aside by Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) in the Sussex on soft July 28, he destroyed the opposition on good-to-firm in the June 15 St James's Palace and with the sun beating down on Normandy conditions can work in his favour. Gosden has maximum respect for Poetic Flare and added, “He is a huge threat, obviously, I don't think he was entirely in love with the ground at Goodwood but he's a phenomenal horse and has put in such great performances–he's the top three-year-old colt. It's a very smart race but so it should be, it's the top mile race in France.”

Provided the first two run up to their best, it is difficult to see the winner coming from elsewhere especially as last year's runner-up Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) was disappointing when turned over on her belated seasonal bow in the Listed Lyric Fillies' S. over an extended 10 furlongs at York July 23. Ballydoyle's Order of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) was beaten over four lengths when fifth in the Sussex and his GI Breeders' Cup Mile victory is looking a notch or two below this level.

If there is a chance of upset, it could come from Godolphin's unexposed Midtown (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who was third on his seasonal return in the seven-furlong G1 Prix Jean Prat here July 11. He may be the pick of the Andre Fabre-trained duo, with Victor Ludorum (GB) (Shamardal) looking a touch exposed despite having enjoyed a confidence-boosting success in the G3 Prix Messidor at Chantilly July 18. “This has been the target for Victor Ludorum all year and it is very exciting to see him back over the straight mile at Deauville on good ground,” Godolphin's Lisa-Jane Graffard said. “It's obviously a very competitive group 1 and he will have to be at his very best, but we feel that he is. Andre couldn't be happier with Midtown's progress since the Prix Jean Prat. He has thought an awful lot of the horse since his debut last year and the only question mark is whether he is more effective on softer ground.”

Also on the card are a trio of group 3 contests, with the 10-furlong Prix Gontaut Hong Kong Jockey Club featuring Ecurie Jean-Pierre Barjon's progressive June 27 G2 Gran Premio di Milano winner Wally (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), the 12 1/2-furlong Prix Minerve hosting Ecurie Ama Zingteam's June 20 G1 Prix de Diane third Burgarita (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) and the Circus Maximus Prix Francois Boutin for 2-year-olds over seven furlongs seeing Lars Haase's July 21 Listed Prix des Jouvenceaux et des Jouvencelles winner Best Sixteen (Fr) (Penny's Picnic {Ire}) bid to continue his upward trajectory.

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Adayar Co-Leader in Longines WBRR

G1 Cazoo Derby hero Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) has joined dual French Classic winner and G1 Coral-Eclipse hero St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) on top of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings. Both are now rated 127 after the Godolphin silksbearer won the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S.

Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}), third behind St Mark's Basilica and Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) (121) in the Coral-Eclipse, moved up to a mark of 124 after running second to Adayar in the Goodwood feature. Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is in third at 125. Other horses ranked joined fourth with Mishriff are Australian sprinter Nature Strip (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}) and GI Whitney S. hero Knicks Go (Paynter).

Four horses are a joint seventh at 122-triple Grade I winner Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), G1 Dubai World Cup scorer Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace S. victor Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) and the injured Group 1-winning stayer Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}). Another mover in the rankings is G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby hero Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who added the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and is now up one point to 121. The well-hyped Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) entered the rankings at 120 after his 6 1/2-length win in the G3 Bonhams Thoroughbred S. Starman (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) is equal to that Shadwell colourbearer after a victory in the G1 Darley July Cup S., and improving filly Suesa (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) is also their equal after adding a group tally in the G2 King George Qatar S. For the full rankings, please visit www.ifhaonline.org.

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Sussex Test for Poetic Flare

At his best when the ground is on the quick side, Jim Bolger's G1 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace S. hero Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) has to deal with a testing surface as he faces up to his first test against the fillies and older horses in Wednesday's G1 Qatar Sussex S. Only sixth on very soft in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains at ParisLongchamp May 16 and a short-head second to Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) on soft-to-heavy in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh six days later, the homebred is more vulnerable than he would have been without all the rain that has arrived but Jim Bolger is undiminished in his belief in the homebred. “Poetic Flare has been very well since the St James's Palace Stakes. We're very happy with his work and he seems to be improving further,” he said. “He's only had a break in as much as he hasn't been racing, but he's a horse who I have to keep moving and so it hasn't exactly been a holiday.”

“It was fast ground when Poetic Flare won at Ascot and it might well be that he's better on that better ground, but he seems to handle all going and he's pretty good on soft too,” he added. “My preference would be for good ground, but I'm not much given to worrying anyway. Whatever it is, I'll take it. I'm very happy with my horse and I don't worry too much about anybody else's.”

How the fillies stack up against the colts remains to be seen, but TDN Rising Star Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) are among the elite of their sex and their own private duels have seen them win one apiece. Jeff Smith's Alcohol Free was in front of Rockcliffe Stud's homebred on ground similar to this in the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot June 18, but she was only third as Snow Lantern prevailed in the G1 Falmouth S. at Newmarket July 9. Snow Lantern's trainer Richard Hannon had been considering the G1 Nassau S., but opted to stick with her proven route for now. “The decision to run here was in part ground-led, but we wanted to keep her at a mile,” he said. “She is learning to settle now and we don't want to upset her equilibrium.”

“If she gets beaten and is not good enough, we can give her a break and come back in the [G1] Sun Chariot in six weeks' time,” Hannon added. “She's doing nothing wrong over a mile and going a mile and a quarter on this ground might have been a bit of a stretch. If she relaxes, she'll get a mile and a quarter but we can do that next year. Sky Lantern was beaten here in the Prestige, where she looked like winning all the way but was a little bit weak as a 2-year-old. This filly is very versatile and if she got beaten I'd rather it was that she didn't handle the track than she was not good enough. This is soft and then some, but she showed she handled the ground at Ascot.”

Oisin Murphy knows Alcohol Free inside out and is hoping that the easing in the ground will help her in her rematch with Snow Lantern. “Alcohol Free is in great form and any rain won't inconvenience her,” he said. “I was pleased with her when I rode her on Saturday and hopefully she'll run a big race. She won't have any problems with the track at Goodwood. She prefers to meet the ground and the first half of the race at Goodwood is going uphill and then it's practically flat in the straight which will suit her fine.” Trainer Andrew Balding added, “It looks like conditions should be ideal. The turning track seemed to suit her really well when she won at Royal Ascot, so I think Goodwood will suit her really well. At Newmarket in the Falmouth it wasn't the plan to make the running and she rather set it up for the others. Hopefully if there's some sort of pace to aim at, she's got a fairly electric turn of foot.”

Ballydoyle's duo are the GI Breeders' Cup Mile first and third Order of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), with the former coming back to winning form in the seven-furlong G2 Minstrel S. on contrasting ground at The Curragh July 18. Lope Y Fernandez was runner-up in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot last time June 15, which represented his fifth placing at the highest level, and whether he can prevail at last in this company is a matter of how strong the 3-year-old milers are. “We are looking forward to Lope Y Fernandez and we think he's come forward again since Ascot,” Aidan O'Brien commented. “We are very happy with him. He's very straightforward and is progressing well. Order of Australia has come out of his win at the Curragh very well and the Sussex Stakes is a race which could suit him.”

Representing the form of Ascot's G2 Summer Mile July 10, Juddmonte's Tilsit (First Defence) and Abdulla Belhabb's Century Dream (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) were first and second there with the former looking a cosy winner. Successful in the G3 Thoroughbred S. over this track and trip 12 months ago, Tilsit is one who has crept under the radar and as a lightly-raced relative of Kingman (GB) warrants respect. “He's probably come out of Ascot the best he's come out of any race–he's in great form,” Tilsit's trainer Charlie Hills said. “He won a group 3 at the meeting last year, so we know he handles the track.”

In the G3 Markel Molecomb S. for the fastest of the juveniles, Clarendon Thoroughbred Racing's Fearby (Ire) (Havana Gold {Ire}) holds pole position after his five-length success in the Listed Dragon S. over this five-furlong trip at Sandown July 2. Golden Horde carried the AlMohamediya Racing silks to success in the G2 Richmond S. two years ago and are carried by another Clive Cox-trained colt in Chimgan (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), who was strong at the finish on his winning debut at Nottingham July 5. The G3 Whispering Angel Oak Tree S. is a wide-open affair, with the June 17 Buckingham Palace H. and July 4 Listed Queen Charlotte Fillies' S. scorer Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) one of the more progressive fillies in the line-up for the seven-furlong contest.EST

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Poetic Flare Pleases Bolger Ahead of Sussex

Dual Group 1 winner Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) is giving all the right signals to his trainer Jim Bolger just seven days out from the G1 Qatar Sussex S. on July 28. A winner of the G3 Killavullan S. as a juvenile, the hulking bay returned to take the Listed Ballylinch Stud “Red Rocks” 2000 Guineas Trial S. at Leopardstown on Apr. 11, and battled to a thrilling win in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 1. Although unplaced in the French equivalent on May 16, he pushed stablemate Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) all the way to the wire when second in the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh on May 22. The colt added another Group 1 laurel with an impressive 4 1/2-length victory in the G1 St James's Palace S. at Royal Ascot in June.

“Poetic Flare has been very well since the St James's Palace S.,” said Bolger. “We're very happy with his work and he seems to be improving further. I was expecting and hoping for him to win at Ascot but possibly not as spectacularly as he did.

“I felt from the spring of 2020 that he would be our best 2-year-old and as things transpired, he could only partially prove that. I did view him all along as my Guineas horse so it was very pleasing that he could prove that this year.

“He handles soft ground but he's better on good ground. He is very well balanced, so I don't think Goodwood holds any problems for him. He's a heavyweight in every regard and is over 500kg. He has a great appetite for eating and for working, he's just like his sire Dawn Approach in every way.”

Bolger added, “He has one more bit of work to get through and will then arrive at Goodwood on Monday. It's a very special race and a race I've not won before.”

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