Can The Real Auguste Rodin Stand Up In Irish Champion Stakes?

He has become something of an enigma, but Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) has the x-factor most dream of despite his sharp falls from grace and has the ball in his court ahead of Saturday's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. Adept on Epsom's lively surface either side of unequal struggles through the rain-dampened sod at Newmarket and Ascot, Ballydoyle's beau ideal has the aid of the current heatwave at a Leopardstown track that he has already mastered when on the rise as a juvenile. Whatever the reason for his white-flag moments in the 2000 Guineas and King George, this is a colt that has proven that he can truly shift when it rides on top and none will be finishing to greater effect.

Like all good Derby winners, Auguste Rodin has a nemesis in King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Ryan Moore has his sights on that rival above all others.”King Of Steel probably deserves to head the betting given the way he beat our Voltigeur winner Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) at Royal Ascot and backed that up with a good third in the King George, but don't forget Auguste Rodin beat him fair and square in the Derby and he showed a lot of speed to win that day,” he said. “My colt obviously has a big question to answer after his lifeless run in the King George, but if he returns to his Epsom form then he has a big chance.”

Aidan O'Brien added, “We're really happy with him, the circumstances are all different for this. It's a mile and a quarter, quicker ground, he's drawn in rather than out and we've been happy with him since Ascot. There are a lot of things different this time. Ryan felt him come off the bridle early last time and didn't take a chance, he took the decision to protect him rather than damage him, which definitely wasn't the wrong thing.”

Amo Racing's game-changing King Of Steel, who at this stage could be argued has the edge in their private dispute having run a bigger average over their two encounters, is one of the best big horses of recent times and Ascot's mile and a half on soft ground would not have been his bag either. At least he kept fighting in the wake of the older, more seasoned boys up ahead and this, a qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, is a golden opportunity to settle the argument once and for all.

Kevin Stott, who has been catapulted to the limelight by his partnership with this colossus, believes he is on the one with the bragging rights at present. “I wouldn't swap him for anything in the race and honestly believe he's the one they all have to beat,” he said on his William Hill blog. ” Going that slightly quicker tempo should allow him to get into a rhythm quicker and I can't wait to get back on board him again. He's been given plenty of time to get over his run in the King George and while it was a hard race, we think he'll have learnt a lot from it and I expect him to step forward mentally as much as anything here. He could easily go back to up in trip, but we feel this might be where he is at his optimum so the fact we haven't actually run him over it is something we are all really looking forward to.”

At this stage, the older horses hold sway after the big summer clashes and with the likes of TDN Rising Stars Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in here there is no guarantee that the Classic generation will win out. Nashwa is probably a dubious stayer at this distance and has the QEII written all over her, so Onesto looks the more intriguing given that he was less suited to the easier ground 12 months ago than Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). He has arguably shown more in one run in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois than that rival has in his major tests this term and this is undoubtedly the French colt's big moment.

Luxembourg has been so disappointing since his dynamic success in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup that it looks as if he is on the downward curve, while Shadwell's Alflaila (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) needs more than a fair share of Owen Burrows spell-casting if he is to jump from the G2 York S. to these kind of heights.

 

Is The Matron The Graveyard Of The Favourites?

Leopardstown's G1 Coolmore America “Justify” Matron S. is prone to surprise results, with five of the last six winners priced at 10-1 or bigger and two of them trading at 20-1 and 25-1. Perhaps it is the slight change of the season throwing the midsummer femmes fatales off track and bringing the autumn goddesses into their element, but this is a race where the formbook rarely holds water. With that in mind, The Aga Khan's G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and G1 Coronation S. heroine Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) is in the same boat that her opposing stablemate Homeless Songs (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was 12 months ago as she returns from her sojourn in this “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

Homeless Songs looked a “good thing” back then and faltered, much as Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) had done in the preceding renewals. This ground is as quick as connections of Homeless Songs would like, while Tahiyra needs to do more than she has in her last two races to justify short odds. Perhaps Juddmonte's unflinching Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) is the answer, given her relentless run of success in her native country, or the newly-blinkered Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never).

Tahiyra's jockey Chris Hayes thinks she has what it takes to hold on to her mantle of leading 3-year-old filly miler. “She just finds everything so easy–she finds going fast easy, she finds going slow easy and there are no issues or anything with her,” he said. “I've sat on her plenty and she has strengthened up quite well–she's a stronger filly than she was earlier in the year.”

Moyglare Stud's Fiona Craig warned that Homeless Songs may yet be taken out of the Matron. “Homeless Songs is in good shape, she might be a week or two short and if Leopardstown don't water and it stays as hot and sunny as this and the ground is fast she probably won't run, but she's declared and we'll just see,” she said.

 

Can Shaquille Get Away With A Slow Start Again?

Saturday's third Group 1 is at Haydock and with the heat unrelenting the Betfair Sprint Cup is to staged on unusually fast ground which will not daunt connections of the seemingly-flawless G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup hero Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}). That said, his tendency to gift rivals a headstart might catch up with him eventually as it did the habitually stalls-wary Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). In terms of sheer ability, the Camacho colt has a healthy advantage over a collection of sprinters that have found many ways to undermine their reputations.

Shaquille has undergone stalls schooling with specialists Craig and Jake Witherford and Camacho's husband and assistant Steve Brown is hoping they have got to the bottom of that particular quirk.

“You'd rather we had a conventional situation, but we haven't in his last two races. We've acknowledged that we had a problem, we've tried to do something about it, we're pleased with what happened at home and we hope to see that on the track on the day,” he said. “He looks really fit and well and everything has gone to plan. We planned four good bits of work, which he's done, and we haven't missed a day with him–I don't think we can have any gripes about his preparation at all.”

If there is one unknown in the line-up it is Peter Harris's Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) and while his last two wins in Deauville's Listed Prix Moonlight Cloud and G3 Prix de Meautry leave him with a bridge still to cross, he is at least a young colt on the up with confidence high. One of the older brigade who has been at times frustrating is Cheveley Park Stud's talented Sacred (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), but she is at least still unexposed at this trip with her four outings over six resulting in a narrow second to Khaadem (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in Royal Ascot's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S. in June. She will love the flat track, fast surface and fast pace and this could be her day at last.

Sacred's jockey Tom Marquand said, “Going back to a flat six furlongs on fast ground should be right up her alley and hopefully we will see her back to where she was before. She has shown on so many occasions that she belongs at this level. Hopefully she can get the job done on Saturday.”

 

The Supporting Cast

This is one of the European season's finest weekends and Saturday's action is boosted by the appearance of Ballydoyle's TDN Rising Star Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S., a “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf; and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) in the G2 Dullingham Park S. on the Leopardstown card. There is also Kempton's G3 September S., which sees the high-class Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) tackle a mile and a half for the first time, and G3 Sirenia S. where TDN Rising Star Eben Shaddad (Calyx {GB}) puts his reputation on the line for Prince Faisal bin Khaled and Najd Stud and the Gosdens.

 

Sunday's Fixtures Set

Sunday's Curragh card and the ParisLongchamp Arc Trials fixture were firmed up on Friday, with Aidan O'Brien suggesting that the stable's big 2-year-olds City Of Troy (Justify) and Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) could line up in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. Declared alongside each other in opposition to the G1 Phoenix S. hero Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), the pair of TDN Rising Stars would make for a stellar clash.

“It's possible they could both run,” O'Brien said. “Obviously City Of Troy would prefer the ground to be quick, whereas Henry Longfellow handles an ease but they are both in good form.” The stable's multiple Group 1-winning stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is one of five in the G1 Irish St Leger, while their unbeaten TDN Rising Star Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) heads the nine fillies engaged in the G1 Moyglare Stud S.

Last year's G1 Flying Five heroine Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) has nine to beat in her repeat bid, while in Paris the eight fillies confirmed for the G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille include the starlets Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) and Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Jean-Louis Bouchard's G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero Feed The Flame (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is back in the G2 Qatar Prix Niel.

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Shaquille Will Be One Of The Highlights Of The ARC Malton Open Day

The annual ARC Malton Open Day, featuring trainer Julie Camacho's dual Group 1-winning sprinter Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), has been set for Sept. 10.

Part of the National Racehorse Week initiative, the Malton Open Day–organised by racing charity Racing Welfare–sees 11 trainers, including Camacho, open their yards to the public. In addition, a new partnership with York Racecourse for 2023 lets visitors continue their family day out at the racecourse's YorkMix Family Sunday Raceday. There will be regular appearances by popular children's character, Bluey, throughout the day, as well as free bouncy castles and free face painting for children. Proceeds of ticket sales will go towards Racing Welfare's wide-ranging support services for everyone working in the industry. Combined tickets for both the ARC Malton Open Day and the YorkMix Family Sunday Raceday are available to purchase at the early bird price of £15 with all under 18s free. Entry to the Malton Open Day only costs £7.50. Prices will increase to £17.50 and £10, respectively, beginning on Sept. 1. For more information, and to purchase tickets, please visit the Malton Open Day website.

Racing Welfare's Head of Community Engagement, Adam Ferguson, said, “We are thrilled to offer the public such a wonderful opportunity to get up close with some of North Yorkshire's finest equine stars, and thanks go to the trainers for their support in opening their yards to the public. The partnership with York Racecourse this year really does make the Malton Open Day the ultimate family day out, and we look forward to seeing lots of racing fans of all ages enjoying the numerous activities whilst helping raise much-needed funds for our charity.”

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Shaquille Working Toward Haydock’s Sprint Cup

Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), a dual Group 1-winning sprinter in the colours of Hughes, Rawlings, and O'Shaughnessy, will shortly begin his fast work in preparation for the G1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Sept. 9.

Trained by Julie Camacho, the 3-year-old is eight-for-seven and claimed both the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and the G1 July Cup S. in July.

“Shaquille is in really good form,” said Camacho's husband and assistant Steve Brown. “We purposely gave him a quiet couple of weeks after Newmarket which was always the plan. “He looks well and it has freshened him up. He has regrouped nicely and is back cantering.

“We are very pleased with him. He is a very straightforward horse at home and he will do his first bit of fast work on Saturday. We are all systems go to Haydock and we're looking forward to it.”

Of the colt's autumn plans, Brown added, “I would think the obvious route would be to go to Champions Day [in October]. We've obviously had a little bit of interest in the possibility of going abroad [to the Breeders' Cup] this year, but I think we will be staying at home and probably go to Ascot.

“We'll go a step at a time, but it will have been a long year by then and he's still a 3-year-old and we have to be mindful of that.”

Co-owned by joint-breeder Martin Hughes, Shaquille has generated plenty of attention regarding a future stallion career.

“There has been lots of interest in him,” Brown said. “We have directed that down to Martin. He's waded through it and I think he's keen to do something more towards the end of the year, really.

“He said pretty early on it was something we'd discuss at the end of the year and we should just get on and enjoy the racing for now in the short term. There are lots of scenarios, but he's been wonderful whatever happens.”

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Charm Spirit’s Shaquille Brilliant In The July Cup

There have been many super-sprinters that have won Newmarket's G1 July Cup, but probably none that have managed to do as much wrong as Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}-Magic {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) as he placed himself among the very best in Saturday's renewal. Up in the air as the stalls opened and slowly away again as he had been in Royal Ascot's G1 Commonwealth Cup, Julie Camacho and Steve Brown's freakishly-talented 3-year-old was quickly telling Rossa Ryan that he wanted to assume top dog status. Lesser mortals would have had little left for the July Course's steep climb to the line having blown by the turbo-charged Art Power (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) at halfway, but Martin Hughes's homebred occupies different territory to most.

Threatening at the business end was Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who had enjoyed a far more favourable trip and as a G1 Prix de la Foret winner had the stamina to make Shaquille pay for his early exertions, but the 5-2 joint-favourite simply dispelled that challenge for his closing act. At the line, he had 1 1/2 lengths to spare over the 28-1 outsider Run To Freedom (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), another Henry Candy special who grabbed the silver medal from Kinross late on by a short head.

“He's some horse to do that and it was just an incredible performance taking on the older horses,” Ryan said. “I tried to settle him in behind, but he wasn't having it. I was out of control really and I had to make a move in the middle part of the race–I had no option. Nine times out ten that would be a disaster, but he has just got a lot of ability and that is the long and the short of it. I just let him blow out and grab his wind and he just went away. Two out, he kicked and he stayed going. I saw someone out of the corner of my eye and he kicked again for me at the half-furlong pole and picked up all the way to the line. He's something else.”

 

Shaquille, whose light was hidden under a bushel until his barnstorming all-the-way success in Newbury's Listed Carnarvon S. in May, has fast become the sprinting category's standard-setter and his impressive sectionals at Royal Ascot suggested he could be ultra-slick on this fast track. His scintillating 10.70 and 10.64 second and third-furlong splits took him past Art Power, who has made his trade by dominating the early parts of most of his races, as the other joint-favourite Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) backed out quickly. Unrelenting thereafter with splits of 11.03 and 11.33, the damage was done and it was just a case of holding him together on the climb to the line.

“I just wish he'd do things right,” Camacho said after becoming the first female trainer to exceed £1million in prizemoney in a season. “I keep saying I wish he'd do everything right. He drives us mad. It is just nice that people in the north can have a bit of success, because there are some really good trainers in the north and if we can get the ammunition, we can do well with them. We will probably go to Haydock, although we will put him in at Deauville [for the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest]. Steve will discuss it with Martin [Hughes]. I'm only a very small part. Steve plays a bigger part than I do.”

Brown said, “Oisin was quiet with him at Ascot, but Rossa chose to get close to the pace early and I thought we were doing too much from a fair way out, but to pick up from that you have to say he is a special athlete. He seems to be fluffing his lines a bit at the start. We hoped Ascot was an exception, but he's getting something in his mind–it's possibly the rug.”

“It has been a slow process,” Brown added. “You go back to last December and we were at a cold Wolverhampton on a Saturday night, I believe, so we didn't see the talent at this level immediately. All-Weather Championships day was a disaster and we were forced down a different route. At home, he is a lovely character, very laid-back and doesn't put a foot wrong but doesn't immediately show his talent. We would have three or four horses who would comfortably work better than him. At some point I wouldn't mind giving him a couple of quiet weeks to let him strengthen. He is still a baby, for all he is a talented one. We will have a chat over a cup of tea.”

Henry Candy said of Run To Freedom, “He's a very able horse and we knew he could do that, he showed it at Salisbury and when second behind Kinross in the Champions Sprint last year. You can never quite rely on him, which is why he starts at these ridiculous prices but the ability is there. I wouldn't be surprised if he was able to win one before the end of the year. We'll go to Haydock and we'll go to Ascot in October.”

Ralph Beckett has seven furlongs on the agenda for Kinross again for the immediate future. “I'm really pleased, it's a shade on the easy side for him going six here,” he said. “He'll go to Goodwood [for the G2 Lennox S.] and then probably York [for the G2 City Of York S.] and Longchamp [for the G1 Prix de la Foret] and then back to six for Ascot [for the G1 British Champions Sprint S.].”

Pedigree Notes
Shaquille is the third foal out of the unraced dam Magic (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of Cheveley Park Stud's top-class sprinter Danehurst (GB) (Danehill) whose eight black-type wins included the G2 Flying Five, G3 Premio Umbria, G3 Prix de Seine-et-Oise and G3 Cornwallis S. Also second in the G1 Golden Jubilee S. and third in this race in 2002, one of her other Galileos was the listed scorer Birch Grove (Ire).

Danehurst is kin to the G3 Prix Penelope winner Humouresque (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and to the dam of this year's G3 Commonwealth Cup Trial S. runner-up The X O (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), while the family also includes the G1 Cheveley Park S., G2 Lowther S. and G3 Sirenia S.-winning European champion 2-year-old filly Hooray (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and the G2 Cherry Hinton S. winner and G1 1000 Guineas third Dazzle (GB) (Gone West). Magic's yearling colt is by Cable Bay (Ire), while she also has a colt foal by Iffraaj (GB).

Saturday, Newmarket, Britain
PERTEMPS NETWORK JULY CUP-G1, £628,500, Newmarket, 7-15, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:11.68, g/s.
1–SHAQUILLE (GB), 128, c, 3, by Charm Spirit (Ire)
     1st Dam: Magic (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
     2nd Dam: Danehurst (GB), by Danehill
     3rd Dam: Miswaki Belle, by Miswaki
O-Hughes, Rawlings, O'Shaughnessy; B-Martin Hughes & Michael Kerr-Dineen (GB); T-Julie Camacho; J-Rossa Ryan. £356,422. Lifetime Record: 8-7-0-0, $1,006,040. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Run To Freedom (GB), 134, h, 5, Muhaarar (GB)–Twilight Mistress (GB), by Bin Ajwaad (Ire). O-Godfrey Wilson; B-Mrs C R D Wilson (GB); T-Henry Candy. £135,128.
3–Kinross (GB), 134, g, 6, Kingman (GB)–Ceilidh House (GB), by Selkirk. TDN Rising Star. O-Marc Chan; B-Lawn Stud (GB); T-Ralph Beckett. £67,627.
Margins: 1HF, SHD, 1 1/4. Odds: 2.50, 28.00, 4.00.
Also Ran: Art Power (Ire), Khaadem (Ire), Azure Blue (Ire), Vadream (GB), Little Big Bear (Ire). Scratched: Emaraaty Ana (GB).

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