Tag: Royal Patronage (Fr)

Nathaniel’s Desert Crown Storms Into Derby Contention

The G1 Cazoo Derby just got much more interesting after TDN Rising Star Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}–Desert Berry {GB}, by Green Desert) injected much-needed adrenaline into the mix by registering an impressive success in Thursday's G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante S. at York. Sir Michael Stoute may have tried to hide the light of Saeed Suhail's once-raced colt under a bushel, describing him as “workmanlike” at home, but the news about him had nevertheless spread like wildfire through Newmarket and now we know why. Impressive enough on his winning debut in the extended mile maiden at Nottingham in November won in recent times by Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) and Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), he was out of the ordinary here tackling proven group winners after a glitch in his spring training.

Switched off towards the rear by Richard Kingscote, the 7-2 joint-favourite was moved to the front with minimal encouragement passing two out and despite veering right stamped his class on affairs. At the line, the Strawberry Fields Stud-bred 280,000gns Book 2 purchase had 3 1/4 lengths to spare over Royal Patronage (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), with Bluegrass (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) offering Ballydoyle a line into the form 2 1/2 lengths further behind in third. In doing so, he drew Stoute level with the late Sir Henry Cecil on a joint-record seven winners of this prestigious Derby trial. “He is possibly still a little bit green, but he's a very relaxed individual and I don't see a mile and a half being a problem,” the winning rider said. “I moved him a little earlier than I would have ideally liked, but he was shrewd. I was in front plenty long enough and we were just rolling around a little in the finish. He's had a little shout on the way to the start, so you'd like to think there could be more to come.”

Following on from Galileo's rampant week, his son Nathaniel has helped to put the Derby even more out of the grasp of any sire not directly imbued with his rarefied genes. Either the sire or sire's sire of the top seven quoted at present, the late Coolmore great could come to dominate the 2022 Blue Riband like no other year and if it is Desert Crown on top of them all it will surprise nobody after this. Not even his trainer, who has made choosing his words carefully an art form, couldn't water this one down. “He surprised me actually,” he said. “You'd have to be very happy with that performance–he was very professional, as it's only his second race. I wasn't confident, as we only just got him up to a race after a minor setback in February. We'll find out if he stays at Epsom, but I'd be very hopeful it wouldn't be a problem. His temperament isn't a problem, he's a very relaxed horse.”

“He has to go there with a very sound chance. He is a beautifully-balanced horse, so hopefully he'll handle that aspect as well,” Stoute added. “That was a big leap up. He was impressive in his maiden, but as he got behind with the hold-up and behind schedule we had to do what we did and he didn't let me down. Other than Workforce, all my Dante horses had had a previous race early in the season so that was very encouraging.”

Royal Patronage is not certain to go to Epsom according to Mark Johnston. “You're never delighted with second, but it's nice to be back in the game,” he said. “I'd like to watch it back, as just as we started to make our move it got a little bit tight in front of him. He wasn't exactly checked, but maybe the winner got a run on us, I'm not sure. We ran in a mile in the Guineas, having previously planned to come here and go to Epsom. We talked ourselves into a mile for the Guineas and the one thing we know now is that's wrong. We've got lots to think about regarding where he goes next. It could be France, but it could still be Epsom.”

The winner's dam, who captured a mile maiden on Lingfield's Polytrack, was bred exclusively to Archipenko until Desert Crown, with her best performer to date being the G3 Premier Cup winner Archie McKellar (GB), known in Hong Kong as Flying Thunder. Her 2018 colt Cu Chulainn (GB) was a 425,000gns purchase by the Hong Kong Jockey Club at the Book 2 Sale as a result of his full-brother's exploits, but failed to make his mark for Brian Meehan.

This is a Juddmonte family, with the third dam Binary (GB) (Rainbow Quest) responsible for the operation's prolific producer Binche (Woodman). She is responsible for the G1 Prince of Wales's S. hero Byword (GB) (Peintre Celebre) and the four-times grade I-winning Proviso (GB) (Dansili {GB}). When bred to Galileo's Frankel (GB), she threw the G2 Prix Eugene Adam scorer Finche (GB) and the recent Listed Prix Lord Seymour winner Baratti (GB). Desert Berry's 2-year-old filly is by Al Kazeem (GB), while she also has a yearling son of Study of Man (Ire).

Thursday, York, Britain
AL BASTI EQUIWORLD DUBAI DANTE S.-G2, £175,000, York, 5-12, 3yo, 10f 56yT, 2:09.46, gd.
1–DESERT CROWN (GB), 128, c, 3, by Nathaniel (Ire)
     1st Dam: Desert Berry (GB), by Green Desert
     2nd Dam: Foreign Language, by Distant View
     3rd Dam: Binary (GB), by Rainbow Quest
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN. (280,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT). O-Saeed Suhail; B-Strawberry Fields Stud (GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute; J-Richard Kingscote. £99,243. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $128,524. *1/2 to Archie McKellar (GB) (Archipenko), GSW-HK, $513,497. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Royal Patronage (Fr), 128, c, 3, Wootton Bassett (GB)–Shaloushka (Ire), by Dalakhani (Ire). (62,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT). O-Highclere Thoroughbred Racing – Woodland Walk; B-Emma Capon Bloodstock (FR); T-Charlie & Mark Johnston. £37,625.
3–Bluegrass (Ire), 128, c, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Quiet Reflection (GB), by Showcasing (GB).
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-D Smith,Mrs J Magnier,M Tabor,Westerberg; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £18,830.
Margins: 3 1/4, 2HF, 2. Odds: 3.50, 3.50, 7.00.
Also Ran: Dark Moon Rising (Ire), Kingmax (Ire), White Wolf (Ire), El Bodegon (Ire), Magisterial (Ire). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

 

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All Is Well At York As Dante Leads Thursday’s Card

It's May, it's sunny, it's the Dante meeting in the county of England known as “God's Own Country” and we have a Sir Michael Stoute Derby plunge horse about to appear. While the kingpin of Newmarket is still prepared to train racehorses, there will continue to be moments like these and this time the bearer of the Freemason Lodge standard is the unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in Thursday's G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante S. Bred at Gary Robinson's Teversham-based Strawberry Fields Stud, Saeed Suhail's 280,000gns Book 2 purchase looked a real prospect when winning the extended mile maiden at Nottingham in November won in recent times by Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) and Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). At 11-1 that day, it is safe to say the bay exceeded expectations but there will be far less mileage in his odds here after all the hullabaloo which has surrounded him of late. Stoute, who has the chance to equal the record of seven Dante winners set by his friend and rival, the late Sir Henry Cecil, has spoken of a setback which ruled out an earlier run and this trial has only just come around in time.

“Sir Michael is bringing him along very gradually, a month ago you certainly wouldn't have been thinking of winning any Derby but he's coming to hand now,” Saeed Suhail's racing manager Bruce Raymond said. “One thing about our horse is he'll stay very well and whatever he does in the Dante, he'll improve a lot for. He'd have to run well, but if he gets beat it doesn't automatically mean he wouldn't run in the Derby. He will be a decent horse in time.”

 

Will Experience Count?

While Desert Crown lacks seasoning, at the other end of that spectrum is Nas Syndicate and Tony O'Callaghan's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud and G3 Prix de Conde winner El Bodegon (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), whose defeat of Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and company in the latter contest looks stronger all the time. Trainer James Ferguson missed the chance to saddle a runner in the 1000 Guineas, but he is well on track to be involved in the G1 Cazoo Derby and all bar Highclere's G2 Royal Lodge S. and G3 Acomb S. winner Royal Patronage (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) have to improve to get to his level.

“He's the only Group 1 winner in the field and we've beaten the Derby favourite,” Ferguson said. “Stone Age looks progressive and has obviously done very well from two to three, but on paper you've got to be very happy with what we've got here in the yard.”

Jason Hart said of Royal Patronage, “His Acomb win here was good and there was no fluke in it–he has a great attitude and this course plays to his strengths.”

 

More Thunder Forecast

Night of Thunder (Ire) has already delivered a stunner at this meeting in Highfield Princess (Fr) and he is represented by the favourite in Thursday's G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Middleton Fillies' S. Heading Newtown Anner Stud Farm's duo is the Ger Lyons-trained impressive Listed Noblesse S. winner Thunder Kiss (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}), who has been patiently handled by her trainer and gives the impression she is ready to produce something special. She is met by the Stoute duo Ville de Grace (GB) (Le Havre {Ire}) and Noon Star (Galileo {Ire}), with the former narrowly denied in Newmarket's G2 Dahlia S. over nine furlongs May 1, her latest honest and consistent effort. Juddmonte's 'TDN Rising Star' Noon Star is still an unknown quantity, but she has to be better than her workmanlike success in the Apr. 26 Listed Nottinghamshire Oaks.

“Hopefully she'll have progressed, she was off the track for a long while, so you'd hope there would be natural progression from the last run to this one,” Barry Mahon said.

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The Return Of The Native

Since Charlie Appleby took up the mantle at Moulton Paddocks in 2013, Godolphin's fortunes on British soil have been back on the rise and there is no greater exponent of that trend than Saturday's G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas leading light Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). The way Appleby's runners have been sweeping up the Spring's black-type contests so far this term is reminiscent of the days when Henry Cecil's Warren Place was at its height and provides further evidence that Ballydoyle has a heavyweight of mutual prowess to trade blows with in these times. Native Trail, who may have been compromised if anything by having only seven furlongs to run over at two, looks the proverbial “good thing” that the yard's Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) turned out not to be in this two years ago.

Simon Rowlands, in his excellent “Sectional Spotlight” feature on attheraces.com, is clear as to the hot favourite's advantage over his peers. “What sets him apart most is [a] giant stride, of a magnitude usually seen only in champions,” he stated in his most recent piece, having measured it at “a peak of 27.3 feet when 24.5 feet is the global average for flat horses”. He calls this “monster territory” and that is what the other 14 Guineas pretenders are up against.

 

Leading The Chase

OK, so what gets near the huge-striding royal blue colossus? Maybe Ballydoyle's G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy winner Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who with his similarly unbeaten tag is at least a worthy opponent. His electric finishing surge in a weak-looking renewal of the G2 Beresford S. provoked memories of the race's recent winners Sea the Stars (Ire), St Nicholas Abbey (Ire) and Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and he is undoubtedly the chief threat to Native Trail. Aidan O'Brien has taken on clear division-leaders Xaar (GB), Dubawi (Ire) and New Approach (Ire) in the past and managed to subdue them in this, so he knows more than most what it takes to down champions not hailing from the Rosegreen pantheon. There is every chance Luxembourg is a rare talent. Professional but not scintillating at Doncaster, he gave us a glimpse of his material in the Beresford where it was notable how old hand Seamie Heffernan reacted. Not renowned for his tendency to hype, he was abuzz in the winner's spot on that occasion.

 

According To Ryan

Another who errs on the side of caution when in analysis, Ryan Moore's unspoken gestures are often the ones to focus on and it is surely the case that almost nobody expected him to side with Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}) over Luxembourg. Famously a man of few words, his Betfair blog can be read as a subtle warning. “We expect him to make his presence felt,” he said of the Westerberg flag-bearer as he prepares to halt Team Godolphin's momentum. Interestingly, he had insight to offer on the speed aspect of the race, Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}). “I think the faster 2-year-olds were some way inferior to their staying counterparts,” he states.

 

The Coroebus Dilemma

Godolphin's burgeoning talent Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) is here very much on merit, but seems to be viewed as a longer-term prospect in the shadow of Native Trail and this education will not be lost on him. If he had one major weakness at two it was his painful honesty, seen most tellingly as he ripped off passing halfway in the G2 Royal Lodge S. before being eventually dragged back by Royal Patronage (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). Held on to for longer over the same course and distance in the G3 Autumn S., the bay who bears a resemblance to his sire has significant ground to make up on Native Trail on every score and it will be James Doyle's task to play the waiting game drawn as far away from his stablemate as is possible.

 

Winter Bloomers

Few would have predicted that Eydon (Ire) (Olden Times {GB}) and Checkandchallenge (GB) (Fast Company {Ire})–from contrasting ends of the ownership and training spectrum in Prince Faisal and Roger Varian and Andrew Hetherton and William Knight respectively–would be live Guineas outsiders when making their all-weather debuts in the colder months. The former was beaten in a Newcastle novice Feb. 19 before taking a huge leap forward in the nine-furlong Listed Feilden S. at Newmarket, while the race's fairytale horse Checkandchallenge was all style in Newcastle's Listed Burradon S. David Egan rates Eydon, whose state of wellbeing has forced connections' hands into putting him in this picture. “We went a slow pace in the Feilden, he had to show a lot of speed to get into the race and he did everything with ease.”

Click here for the group fields.

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Native Trail To Face 14 In The Guineas

Godolphin's unbeaten champion juvenile Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) heads a field of 15 for Saturday's G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, with William Buick on board as expected leaving the fellow Charlie Appleby-trained Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) to be ridden by James Doyle. Drawn at opposite sides, the G1 Vincent O'Brien National S. and G1 Dewhurst S. hero Native Trail is in 15 with his G3 Autumn S.-winning stablemate in one with a field split always a possibility in this race. Ballydoyle's unbeaten G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy winner Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) will break under Ryan Moore from stall four, with the operation's TDN Rising Star Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in 11 with Aidan O'Brien snapping up Frankie Dettori. The master of Rosegreen withdrew Glounthaune (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), while the three others taken out were Angel Bleu (Fr)  (Dark Angel {Ire}), Bayside Boy (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) and Dr Zempf (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}). Looking for a pace scenario at this stage, it could be that low numbers are the place to be with Highclere Thoroughbred Racing's Royal Patronage (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who beat Coroebus in the course-and-distance G2 Royal Lodge S., set to exit from stall six. Another high-profile runner drawn low is Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S. winner Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) in three.

Saturday, Newmarket, post time: 15:40
THE QIPCO 2000 GUINEAS STAKES (CLASS 1) (GROUP 1) (BRITISH CHAMPIONS SERIES)-G1, £500,000, 8f 0y
1 Berkshire Shadow (GB) Dark Angel (Ire) Berkshire Parts & Panels Ltd No1 Fanclub Andrew Balding Jason Watson 126
2 Boundless Ocean (Ire) Teofilo (Ire) Mrs J. S. Bolger J. S. Bolger Kevin Manning 126
3 Checkandchallenge (GB) Fast Company (Ire) Mr A. Hetherton William Knight Daniel Tudhope 126
4 Coroebus (Ire) Dubawi (Ire) Godolphin Charlie Appleby James Doyle 126
5 Dubawi Legend (Ire) Dubawi (Ire) Dr Ali Ridha Hugo Palmer Tom Marquand 126
6 Eydon (Ire) Olden Times (GB) Prince A. A. Faisal Roger Varian David Egan 126
7 Light Infantry (Fr) Fast Company (Ire) Never Say Die Partnership David Simcock Jamie Spencer 126
8 Lusail (Ire) Mehmas (Ire) Al Shaqab Racing Richard Hannon Pat Dobbs 126
9 Luxembourg (Ire) Camelot (GB) Westerberg/Mrs J Magnier/M Tabor/D Smith Aidan O'Brien 126
10 Native Trail (GB) Oasis Dream (GB) Godolphin Charlie Appleby William Buick 126
11 Perfect Power (Ire) Ardad (Ire) Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum Richard Fahey C. Soumillon 126
12 Point Lonsdale (Ire) Australia (GB) D.Smith,Mrs J.Magnier,M.Tabor,Westerberg Aidan O'Brien 126
13 Royal Patronage (Fr) Wootton Bassett (GB) Highclere T'Bred Racing – Woodland Walk Charlie & Mark Johnston Jason Hart 126
14 Tacarib Bay (GB) Night of Thunder (Ire) Mr J. R. Shannon Richard Hannon Sean Levey 126
15 The Wizard of Eye (Ire) Galileo Gold (GB) O Humphrey A Favell R Humphrey J S Moore J. S. Moore John Egan 126

Breeders: 1-Cheveley Park Stud Limited, 2-J. S. Bolger, 3-Meon Valley Stud, 4-Godolphin, 5-Rabbah Bloodstock Limited, 6-Nawara Stud Limited, 7-7mme 1barbara Moser, 8-Tally-Ho Stud, 9-B. V. Sangster, 10-Le Haras D'Haspel, 11-Tally-Ho Stud, 12-Epona Bloodstock Ltd, 13-Emma Capon Bloodstock, 14-J. R. Shannon, 15-M. Phelan

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