Tag: Swingalong (Ire)

Charm Spirit’s Shaquille Wins The Commonwealth Cup

To do everything wrong and still win the G1 Commonwealth Cup comfortably, Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}–Magic {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) must be among an elite brigade of sprinters to have come to Royal Ascot down the years. Although the pride of the Julie Camacho and Steve Brown stable had obvious credentials entering Friday's six-furlong feature, after blowing the start and losing several lengths all appeared lost. That was factoring against the abundance of talent Martin Hughes's homebred possesses and the calm of Oisin Murphy after he had asked for a 11.28 second-furlong split to get him onto the tail of the field.

Conjuring an incredible effort down the outer, the 9-1 shot threw in sectionals of 11.43, 11.24 and 11.63 to give the front-running Swingalong (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) and Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) something to think about. As that duo started to pay for their efforts in the closing 50 yards, the Listed Carnarvon S. scorer overhauled them and continued his surge to the line to beat Little Big Bear by 1 1/4 lengths. Last year's G2 Lowther S. winner Swingalong stuck on for third, 3/4 of a length away.

Camacho admitted that she had given up hope instantly after the winner's disastrous start. “I thought, 'well that's it' but then I thought, 'he's going to be placed' and then 'oh my God, he's going to win', so I am a bit speechless,” she said. “He was good, wasn't he? We never thought we would train a group one winner, not at Royal Ascot anyway, and for Martin who bred him. We've got his mother at home, his siblings, and dad looks after the stud, so I'm sure he was screaming at home. It's massive.”

 

Suffering just the one reversal when last of 11 tried over seven furlongs behind Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in York's G3 Acomb S. in August, Shaquille's biggest problem all along has been his stalls behaviour which led to his withdrawal from Newcastle's All-Weather 3 Year Old Championships Conditions S. on Good Friday. Again tricky at the start of a Newmarket handicap at the Guineas meeting, he was still able to dominate and earn a second tilt at black-type company in Newbury's Carnarvon where he was better from the stalls and dominated from the front.

Had he broken on terms here, it is probable that he would have been an impressive wide-margin winner and Oisin Murphy had a far less stressful ordeal. “As the stalls opened, he went up into the air and took his time coming back down to the ground,” he explained. “It's very hard to do that in a 1200 metre race and win. I thought the race was almost over and you just have to hope they've gone too fast and will slow down at the end and I got to the back of Ryan quite easily without having to go for him.”

“I had to sustain an effort from quite a long way out. It really was a tremendous task that he managed to overcome,” Murphy added. “He's a tough, top-class animal. It's an astounding performance. I've had a fantastic comeback and brilliant support from so many people. To get on the scoresheet today in a group one is a brilliant feeling, but I feel for James Doyle. If Noble Style had not run, Shaquille was going to be his ride so thank you to the connections for letting me ride him.”

Aidan O'Brien said of Little Big Bear, “He ran very well. I think he is a sprinter and we will be looking forward to the July Cup.” Swingalong's trainer Karl Burke commented, “It was a fantastic run and Clifford [Lee] gave her a great ride. I knew the run in the French 1000 Guineas was wrong–she did not stay the mile, but equally she would not have won over six furlongs that day. She will stay another half furlong, so we are thinking of the [G1] Prix Maurice de Gheest.”

Pedigree Notes
The unraced dam Magic (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has genuine sprinting gold in her blood, being a daughter of Cheveley Park Stud's supercharged G2 Flying Five scorer and G1 Golden Jubilee S. and G1 July Cup-placed Danehurst (GB) (Danehill). This is the family of 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) who was making her debut when winning the Windsor Castle here in 1996. Also related to the meeting's G2 Hardwicke S.-placed Mighty (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), her yearling colt is by Cable Bay (Ire).

Friday, Royal Ascot, Britain
COMMONWEALTH CUP-G1, £600,000, Ascot, 6-23, 3yo, 6fT, 1:13.15, g/f.
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
1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Hughes, Rawlings & O'Shaughnessy; B-Martin Hughes & Michael Kerr-Dineen (GB); T-Julie Camacho; J-Oisin Murphy. £340,260. Lifetime Record: 7-6-0-0, $539,370. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Little Big Bear (Ire), 128, c, 3, No Nay Never–Adventure Seeker (Fr), by Bering (GB). (€320,000 Ylg '21 ARAUG). O-D Smith, Mrs J Magnier, M Tabor & Westerberg; B-Camas Park Stud & Summerhill (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £129,000.
3–Swingalong (Ire), 125, f, 3, Showcasing (GB)–Pilates (Ire), by Shamardal. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (120,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum; B-Mount Armstrong Stud. (IRE); T-Karl Burke. £64,560.
Margins: 1 1/4, 3/4, HD. Odds: 9.00, 0.91, 66.00.
Also Ran: Ocean Quest (Ire), Rumstar (GB), Queen Me (Ire), Shouldvebeenaring (GB), Mischief Magic (Ire), Noble Style (GB), Lezoo (GB), The X O (Ire), Marbaan (GB), Sakheer (Ire). Scratched: Cold Case (GB).

 

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Showcasing’s Swingalong Surprises In The Lowther

That Karl Burke collected in Thursday's G2 Sky Bet Lowther S. at York was a surprise to nobody, but the fact that it was with the 25-1 stable second-string Swingalong (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) as Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) finished out of the frame certainly was. On the pace from the outset racing up the centre under Clifford Lee, Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum's 120,000gns Book 2 graduate who had scored by six lengths on her third start over this six-furlong trip at Ripon at the start of the month was marginally behind her G2 Queen Mary S.-winning stablemate overall. Just before the furlong pole, that even-money favourite was starting to feel the pinch about to enter unknown territory but Swingalong was coming on strong and found the line a neck in front of the Kevin Ryan-trained Queen Me (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Remarkably, the runner-up was just failing to become the fourth generation winner of this prize for Jaber Abdullah after her dam Queen Kindly (GB) (Frankel {GB}), second dam Lady Of The Desert (Rahy) and third dam Queen's Logic (Ire) (Grand Lodge). There was a further 2 1/2 lengths back to Matilda Picotte (Ire) (Sioux Nation) as Dramatised ended up fifth. “She was green on her first couple of runs and has improved a lot since Ripon,” the winning jockey said. “I kept it simple and all she did was gallop to the line–it wouldn't surprise me if she gets seven next year.”

 

Introduced over five furlongs at Nottingham at the beginning of June, Swingalong was five-lengths second to the subsequently disappointing All The Time (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) before moving up to this distance after a six-week break for a Newbury maiden July 15. Shaping like a stayer there, the chestnut was flat-footed before keeping on into fourth behind the subsequent G3 Molecomb S. winner Trillium (GB) (No Nay Never) but next time at Ripon she cut a dramatically different figure showing speed from the get-go and romping to a confidence-boosting success. Had it not been for the significant shadow cast by Dramatised, the evidence of that performance allied to the fact that she represented the Burke stable replete with classy 2-year-olds would have seen her sent off significantly shorter than her insulting starting price and there was no fluke about this powerful display in a time two seconds faster than the unbeaten colt Streets Of Gold (Ire) (Havana Gold {Ire}) managed over the same trip in the closing nursery on Wednesday.

“She's got a huge stride and has only just filled into her frame,” Burke said of the winner. “She's got a lot stronger over the last six weeks. I know it was a different class of race, but she had them all beat after two furlongs at Ripon and I knew then we were on the right track so I said straight away we'd come here. At the time I didn't think she'd be good enough to beat Dramatised, but the difference was one stayed and one didn't. The Cheveley Park looks the obvious next step, but I'll talk to connections. I think she will stay an extra furlong, but she's got a lot of natural speed so I think we'll use that and not step her up just yet. All dreams are still alive at the minute.”

Of Dramatised, he added, “To be fair to Danny [Tudhope], all along he had his doubts. He rode her work over six furlongs two weeks ago, but I wouldn't have it that she wouldn't stay. Danny was right and I was wrong. She'll revert back to five furlongs now. I was never that keen on the Nunthorpe for her, but I suppose the only saving grace is that we didn't find out she didn't stay in France in the Prix Morny. Luckily, I made an entry in the Abbaye this week with Danny putting that element of doubt in my mind and she could go there and then to the Breeders' Cup.”

Kevin Ryan said of Queen Me, “It was a great run and lack of experience midway through the race probably just cost her. She'd only had the one start and did it very easy first time. Unfortunately we haven't been able to get another run into her, which we would have liked, through no other reason than the ground being so firm. We wanted to mind her and run her on nice ground so we waited to come here. We've always liked the filly and she'll progress again from that. We'll go home and sit on the fence, but she's proved now she's up to this level and galloped all the way through the line, which is always a good sign.”

Swingalong's dam Pilates (Ire) (Shamardal), who won over a mile, is fittingly a half to the useful filly Knavesmire (Ire) (One Cool Cat) who took the Hilary Needler Trophy when it held listed status. The family includes the Listed Abernant S. winner Splice (GB) (Sharpo {GB}), who produced a past Lowther S. winner in Soar (GB) (Danzero {Aus}) who also captured the G3 Princess Margaret S. before producing the G2 July S. runner-up Konchek (GB) (Lethal Force {Ire}). Splice is also responsible for the smart dual listed scorer Feet So Fast (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) who is the second dam of the group 3-winning Scandinavian champion Entangle (GB) also by Pivotal. Pilates's son of Profitable (Ire) sells at the upcoming Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, while she also has a 2022 colt by New Bay (GB).

Thursday, York, Britain
SKY BET LOWTHER S.-G2, £267,500, York, 8-18, 2yo, f, 6fT, 1:10.80, gd.
1–SWINGALONG (IRE), 128, f, 2, by Showcasing (GB)
     1st Dam: Pilates (Ire), by Shamardal
     2nd Dam: Caribbean Escape (GB), by Pivotal (GB)
     3rd Dam: Soluce (Ire), by Junius
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN. (120,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum; B-Mount Armstrong Stud (IRE); T-Karl Burke; J-Clifford Lee. £151,699. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-0, $191,700. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Queen Me (Ire), 128, f, 2, Dubawi (Ire)–Queen Kindly (GB), by Frankel (GB).
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Jaber Abdullah; B-Rabbah Bloodstock Limited (IRE); T-Kevin Ryan. £57,513.
3–Matilda Picotte (Ire), 128, f, 2, Sioux Nation–Hallie's Comet (Ire), by One Cool Cat. O-Matilda & Kilmichael Racing Partnership; B-Mighty Universe Ltd (IRE); T-Kieran Cotter. £28,783.
Margins: NK, 2HF, NK. Odds: 25.00, 20.00, 11.00.
Also Ran: Mawj (Ire), Dramatised (Ire), Maria Branwell (Ire), Lady Tilbury (GB), Glenlaurel (Ire), Kerindia (Ire), Sweet Harmony (Ire), Lady Hollywood (GB), Kinta (Ire), Desert Illusion (Ire). Scratched: Miami Girl (Ire). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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