Derby Winner Serpentine Scores At Eagle Farm, Will Target The Melbourne Cup

Former Coolmore partners' runner Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who won the 2020 G1 Derby at Epsom, ran out a three-quarter length winner of an Eagle Farm handicap for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott on Saturday and is targeting the G1 Melbourne Cup in November, according to co-trainer Gai Waterhouse.

“Serpentine, the 2020 English Derby winner, greeted the judge in determined fashion at Eagle Farm today on his road to the Melbourne Cup,” the First Lady of Australian Racing tweeted.

Now racing for an ownership group, the chestnut gelding had placed second in the G3 Archer Hotham S. at Flemington for the training duo last October, but was down the field in the 2022 Melbourne Cup in November. He covered the 2200 metres of the Robbie Fraad Open H. in 2:19.97, with his final 600-metre split a sharp :34.32 (video).

 

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O’Brien Gives Update on Goodwood Team

Aidan O'Brien will send a strong Ballydoyle challenge to the Qatar Goodwood Festival next week, and has a trio of colts ready to step forward in the G1 Qatar Sussex S.-Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and Battleground (War Front). Runner-up in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot, the MG1SP Lope Y Fernandez won the Listed Heritage S. at Leopardstown in April. GI Breeders' Cup Mile hero Order Of Australia was last seen in action taking the G2 Minstrel S. at The Curragh on July 18 and Battleground, a Group 2 winner, exits the G1 Prix Jean Prat on July 11 with a ninth-place run.

O'Brien said of the Coolmore partners' runners, “Order Of Australia has come out of the race [on Sunday] well. He cantered today and yesterday and he's very well. It's very possible that he could go. Obviously when he only ran at the weekend, we'd like to get him back in full work for four or five days and do the right thing for the horse.

“We have the choice of running here or going to the Lennox S., but at the moment we're thinking of the Sussex. He worked this morning and we were very happy with him.”

He added of Battleground, “He ran a very big race in Ascot. He was a little bit disappointing the last day, but he was drawn out on a wing and he's a horse that likes to get cover.

“We've been very happy with him since and we think Goodwood will suit him–we think he'll leave that run behind him and come right back to his Ascot run and better. It's very possible that he could go to the Sussex as well.”

The G1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup S. could also feature three from Rosegreen, with 2020 G1 Derby hero Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), 2020 G1 Irish Derby victor Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) and June 27 G2 Comer Group International Curragh Cup winner Amhran Na Bhfiann (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) all likely to start.

“We think coming back to two miles will help Santiago and Amhran Na Bhfiann the same,” said O'Brien. “There's a chance that Serpentine will run as well. We were thinking two of the three, we just haven't decided yet which two.”

O'Brien's G1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas one-two Empress Josephine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire} and Joan Of Arc (Ire) (Galile {Ire}), who subsequently won the G1 Prix de Diane, both hold an entry in the G1 Qatar Nassau S.

“The two fillies we were training for it [the Nassau] are Joan Of Arc, who won the Diane, and Empress Josephine,” said O'Brien. “Joan Of Arc has been progressing lovely all season and we've been looking at this with her for a good while. Empress Josephine could step up to a mile and a quarter to run [in] it as well. That's not definite, but it's very possible.”

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Enable Faces History; O’Brien Arc Runners Scratched

She is here. She made it. Relax, breathe easier. All the personnel linked by her journey from Juddmonte foal to Clarehaven thoroughbred icon have their work complete. There is only Frankie now in the human chain that connects to the wondermare whose very name evokes positivity and entitlement. At 4:05pm Parisian time, Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) brings closure to her epic odyssey against a suitably dramatic climatic backdrop. As if she has summoned the trinity of gods of the wind, the rain and the clouds to frame her historic bid for that tantalisingly elusive third G1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. We are in the era of the super fillies and mares and the representative of the leading global producer of racehorse greatness is the template for all who follow after.

Twelve months ago, the bay with more than a just quantity of Northern Dancer-Sadler’s Wells-Galileo blood was denied the improbable hat-trick by a combination of factors. Similarly wet ground and a peaking Fabre project in Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) robbed her of the ultimate accolade and a year on the obstacles are both the same and different. While the going cannot be used as an excuse for a daughter of the easy-ground specialist Nathaniel who boasts two King Georges, an Arc and a Yorkshire Oaks on a surface softer than good, there is always the possibility of a dormant threat among the opposition.

Frankie is aware of the obstacles in the way of the mare who is so close to his heart. “For me, if I can win the third Arc, it is all for her. I will work hard to try to achieve that for her as I want her to be remembered as one of the all-time greats,” he explained. “She can only be called that if she wins a third Arc. She came so close last year and we will now roll the dice again. I actually don’t feel as nervous, as last year we were going for three in a row. Now that she has been beaten in the race last year, it takes a bit of pressure off. She has stayed in training for one reason and one reason only, and that is for a third win in the Arc.”

“She picked up a third King George along the way which was great, as that was another record, and I think John has got Enable in the best condition he can. I think we have her where we want her,” her rider added. “There is a lot of rain forecast at the moment and it depends how much we get. For sure it will be soft and it could be the extreme of very soft. That would put stamina into the equation and Stradivarius could come into the picture. He bolted up in the Ascot Gold Cup on soft ground and he is doing really well at the moment, so he would be a big threat which we have to respect. Enable is in a good frame of mind, though. She is aggressive at home, which is always a good sign with her. She seems in a good place.”

John Gosden added, “She travelled fine and everything has been fine. It’s just a shame about the ground. She prefers the easy side of good, so she can show her class, but it is going to be a bit of a slog. It is drying up now and it is tacky, but you might get another shower or two. It is Longchamp, by the River Seine–it is deep. We’re here and we’re trying. Let’s hope she gets a great run round and if she wins, marvellous, if she doesn’t, she couldn’t have done more for racing. These great racemares, they give everyone so much pleasure to see and race.”

(The quartet of Ballydoyle Arc runners were withdrawn late Saturday evening due to contaminated feed.)

As easy as it is to imagine a scenario where Frankie has time to glance around at the furlong pole as she careers towards impressive victory, the mind’s eye can also envisage a decisive home-straight surge from the likes of the aptly-named In Swoop (Ire) (Adlerflug {Ger}). Western Europe’s weather is currently so dire it could come down to a question of who can swim and the G1 Deutsches Derby hero certainly can. Or can Enable’s comrade Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) with all those Wildenstein staying genes come through as he did in his sensational 10-length G1 Gold Cup success? Just as Enable’s campaigning had led to this juncture, so Bjorn Nielsen’s elite stayer seems to have been steered in this direction with fateful accuracy. Left out of the Arc picture until this year, the best of his kind since Ardross (Ire) who went so close in 1982 has not taken the easy option but can it pay off? As Robert Frost penned, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

“Enable’s got a pal in there called Stradivarius and he’s a similar, wonderful, consistent performer at Group 1 level. It’s a pleasure to have them both there,” Gosden said. “If he handles the ground, he will run a big race. Frankie has called me and said it’s pretty desperate ground, so I’m going to go to the inside but there are three races before us. May the best horse win, whoever it is.”

Then there is the Fabre factor, with the inclusion of Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) so leftfield it is almost too bizarre to ignore. Andre is the undisputed King of the Arc and he continues to defy the perceived “knowledge” well into his seventies. Few who witnessed the highly-talented 4-year-old’s powerplay in the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp over a mile could have foreseen a tilt at this great stamina test, but when it comes to the master of Chantilly we all bend. No doubt he has seen something in the conditioning of Godolphin and Ballymore Thoroughbreds’ imposing bay that makes this a gamble worth taking. The very fact that he is here is confirmation of where the race still stands in the pantheon of monuments globally. Of the nine French-trained winners since the turn of the millennium, Fabre was responsible for a trio and he is generally the first port of call when it comes to home pride. Persian King also has the assistance of “PC” in the saddle and last year’s Arc weekend demonstrated just what an advantage that can be.

Domestic hopes also reside with Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Raabihah (Sea the Stars {Ire}) from Southern France’s guru Jean-Claude Rouget and the former has vital experience of combat in this particular arena. Toughing it out when third as a still raw 3-year-old in the mud last year, Peter Brant’s flag-bearer has just 1 1/4 lengths to make up on Enable from 2019. It is worth bearing in mind that Waldgeist was beaten further by her in 2018 before emerging stronger a year on to reverse the form. If he is successful, Sottsass will be the first winner of the “new” G1 Prix du Jockey Club to prevail in this since its distance was diminished to 10 1/2 furlongs in 2005. He is the stable’s number one, with Shadwell’s Raabihah untried on ground slower than good-to-soft and needing a significant upgrade on her latest second in the course-and-distance G1 Prix Vermeille Sept. 13.

“I’m of the opinion that Sottsass is on much better terms with himself at this stage of the season,” Rouget commented. “This year, I haven’t managed to get him in the same condition as he is in now, owing to a racing calendar which has been perturbed by the pandemic. However, neither have I wished to go overboard, so as to ensure that that he’s a fresh horse come the Arc, which has always been his objective. Raabihah is similarly in peak condition. Our only question mark is the ground. This isn’t in the sense that she would be inconvenienced by a heavy track–we simply don’t know, because she has yet to tackle very soft conditions.”

ParisLongchamp’s card kicks off with the G1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, where Marie McCartan’s Jun3 20 G2 Coventry S. winner and Aug. 23 G1 Prix Morny runner-up Nando Parrado (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) steps up to seven furlongs for the first time. Now that Ballydoyle’s St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) has been withdrawn, the Clive Cox runner faces an easier task and his trainer commented, “I’m very pleased, because he is in excellent form and it gives me confidence knowing that he will handle the conditions–that is a great plus, given the weather forecast.”

French representation had looked weak there and only slightly better among the fillies assembled for the G1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac before the O’Brien defections, but with John Oxley’s Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}) now scratched France’s main contender King’s Harlequin (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) comes firmly into the equation. Racing in the Sangster silks, she has to turn around the form of her defeat when third to Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) in the G2 Prix du Calvados over seven furlongs at Deauville Aug. 22. Fev Rover’s syndicate manager Nick Bradley said, “She’s in serious form at home. I spoke to Richard [Fahey] on Friday morning and she’s a lot more professional than when Ben [Curtis] last rode her at Sandown.” King’s Harlequin at least has course-and-distance winning form, having subsequently beaten ‘TDN Rising Star’ Harajuku (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Coeursamba (Fr) (The Wow Signal {Ire}) in the Sept. 10 G3 Prix d’Aumale. The latter was bought on Saturday evening for €400,000 at the Arqana Arc Sale by Haras du Saubouas on behalf of Mohamed Fahad Al Attiyah.

The G1 Prix de l’Opera Longines is another race to lose out due to the O’Brien withdrawals, with the fascinating rematch between the July 5 G1 Prix de Diane one-two Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) now shelved with the former’s trainer Donnacha forced to bypass the contest. The Niarchos Family’s G1 Coronation S. heroine Alpine Star has since run Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) to 3/4 of a length when runner-up in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois on heavy going at Deauville Aug. 16 and will relish the step back up in trip. Not that the Opera was a two-horse race, as one of the best renewals of recent times also sees Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s unbeaten June 14 G1 Prix Saint Alary and Aug. 22 G2 Prix de la Nonette winner Tawkeel (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) line up alongside The Aga Khan’s impressive Prix Vermeille heroine Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal). Tawkeel’s trainer Jean-Claude Rouget said, “She doesn’t share that characteristic that has bedevilled other members of the same family that I’ve trained, in the sense that they’ve made flying starts to their career which they haven’t backed up,” he said. “She, on the contrary, has done nothing but progress and each time she has astonished me.”

Alongside Love, the card is also missing another celebrity due to the ground in Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) who was understandably removed from the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp Longines picture having flopped when 14th in similar conditions 12 months ago. Impressive when successful on that occasion, Bearstone Stud’s Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead) was back to winning ways in The Curragh’s G1 Flying Five Sept. 13 and on the face of it might only have to reproduce that form to bring up back-to-back successes. “It was soft ground last year and she won it well,” jockey Tom Eaves said. “She has come out of Ireland well and we are looking forward to Sunday. She’s in good form and came to herself at this time last year.” This is far from a strong edition of the five-furlong sprint and the Flying Five runner-up Keep Busy (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) and fifth Make a Challenge (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) look the most realistic threats.

Where the Abbaye lacks depth, there is a fascinating renewal of the G1 Qatar Prix de la Foret to bring the top-level action to a close as Godolphin’s Earthlight (Ire) (Shamardal) returns to the course and distance of his easy win in the Sept. 13 G3 Prix du Pin. Not out of second gear when beating the fellow Andre Fabre-trained Tropbeau (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), last year’s G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S. winner has come off worse in the draw than the winner of the last two renewals of this, One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}). “Earthlight is in the best form he has been in all year,” Andre Fabre said. “Mickael commented after his last piece of work that he feels better than ever, both mentally and physically. He is a laid-back horse, but with a devastating turn of foot and I am hopeful of a very good run here. My only concerns are around the level of form of the 3-year-olds this year.”

At home on easy ground, Lael Stable’s One Master looks as good as ever, but was 3 1/2-lengths second to Ross Harmon’s Safe Voyage (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) in the Aug. 22 G2 City of York S. and there is no obvious reason for her to reverse that. Safe Voyage, who also acts on deep ground, has since won Leopardstown’s G2 Boomerang Mile Sept. 12 and has the extra stamina that may be a prized asset in these conditions.

Click here for the group fields.

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No Love In Rain-Hit Arc

With France blighted by persistent rain and more in the forecast, there will be no Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in Sunday’s €3,000,000 G1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as the withdrawal of the G1 1000 Guineas, G1 Epsom Oaks and G1 Yorkshire Oaks heroine left 14 to attempt to mount a challenge to Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). As well as being graced with that news, Juddmonte’s superstar mare also drew a favourable berth in five as she looms ever closer to her historic bid for a third renewal of the ParisLongchamp feature. Her stablemate Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) fared far worse from the draw and Bjorn Nielsen’s champion stayer will exit from stall 14 with only the supplemented Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) positioned wider. Ballydoyle’s streamlined force also includes the likely pace-setter Sovereign (Ire) in 10, Japan (GB) in 11 and Mogul (GB) in three, with Ryan Moore now switching to the latter of the remaining Galileos. Jean-Claude Rouget’s duo Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Raabihah (Sea the Stars {Ire}) will break from four and two respectively, while Andre Fabre looks for a ninth renewal with the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp hero Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) in seven as he tries the longest trip of his career.

Sottsass, who was third last year, is bidding to fulfil a long-held ambition of owner Peter Brant who said, “I can only say of any race in the world, I would most like to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, mostly because it’s kind of the European championship in many ways. He’s won on all different kinds of grounds–soft and firm. I think he broke the track record for the French Derby and he won impressively beating Persian King, who’s proven himself to be a very good horse. It’s a very good field and I think he’s an excellent horse. I think Jean-Claude Rouget has really pointed the horse to this race and as he does many times, he picks a spot that he’s going to run to. He’s a very sound horse, I don’t think he’s been overtrained or undertrained and I think he goes to the race well. Last year the grass was a bit new and it wasn’t a really good course to run on. I think Enable suffered running on that course, but there were great horses in the race and it was a great race.”

Gestut Schlenderhan’s G1 Deutsches Derby hero In Swoop (Ire) (Adlerflug {Ger}), who has been the subject of a gamble after the ground turned testing, is drawn in one and bids to become the first winner from that rail draw since Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar) in 2008. Showing the same dramatic surge of acceleration to be second in the Sept. 13 G1 Grand Prix de Paris as he had when taking the July 12 Hamburg Classic, the lightly-raced homebred was reported in rude health by trainer Francis-Henri Graffard. “His whole family–as well as his sire–adored soft conditions, so hopefully he isn’t a complete outlier,” he told the Racing Post. “There was some cut in the ground at Lyon when he ran there in June and he ran well. He had his final gallop on Monday morning on a very soft track and it didn’t bother him, so I don’t expect it to be a problem. He needed the run last time and has come forward plenty since then. I’m very happy with the shape he’s in.” Jockey Ronan Thomas also told the Post, “The Grand Prix de Paris was a very interesting race, as it brought together the various form lines of all the European Derbys. He’s a big horse and wasn’t completely comfortable coming down the hill on fast ground, but once he found his stride he finished in quite remarkable fashion, especially in the final 200 metres. In his work so far, he hasn’t struggled with soft ground and he has remained very well-balanced, while his action is more fluid than on quick ground.”

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