Monday Musings: A Star Is Born

A star is born. That’s right, another from that dastardly Aidan O’Brien nursery, especially if your name is Gosden anyway, writes Tony Stafford. I noticed John, the elder of that father-son combine, bravely smiling straight after his hotpot Ombudsman had been mugged close to home by Ryan Moore and Delacroix in the 50^th edition of the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park on Saturday.

Coral had done a splendid promo job, obliterating the previous 90 years’ existence of a race that has always been the province of Classic-standard horses. You wouldn’t get Doncaster, for example, minimising the St Leger’s two centuries’ plus existence for the minor detail of this year’s sponsor.

The racecard on Saturday listed previous winners, from Wollow in 1976 to City Of Troy last year, and that caused me to a momentary – “he wasn’t”.

Surely Wollow I thought was earlier than that, but no of course it was Wollow’s sire, Wolver Hollow, both colts trained by Henry Cecil, that had won the race in 1969. The 1976 champion, Italian-owned, was ridden by Frankie’s father, Gianfranco.

As me and my friend Dick McGinn, who sadly died of cancer a few years ago in Australia after emigrating there, waited at home to see the superb mare Park Top we thought would win that 1969 race, when along came Wolver Hollow and Lester Piggott to give the future Sir Henry his first big win. It was also my final losing bet as a single man – at that stage!

Everyone, including my parents, were already in place as best man Dick and I quickly left the house and sprinted down to St John-at-Hackney Church for my wedding. On arrival, as he searched his pockets for the ring, we learnt that the bridal car was on its third circuit! Sorry dear, better late than never!

I got rather excited last week about a ride in a handicap chase at Uttoxeter. Many were equally enthralled by Ryan Moore’s performance on Delacroix, whose chance coming to the furlong pole looked so remote that one exchange punter managed to secure £2 at 330/1!

But the last furlong at Sandown can seem almost as far as not-yet-forgotten Towcester where a ten-length lead over the last fence wouldn’t guarantee success up its Himalaya-like gradient. Sandown isn’t so steep, but when they’ve gone a solid pace and set out for home early enough, as William Buick did on impressive Royal Ascot winner Ombudsman, that can often be a recipe for disappointment.

While not disagreeing with the general view of Ryan’s latest Group 1 masterclass, he did have a more than willing ally in Delacroix. Neither jockey nor trainer seemed to have expected the sudden burst of speed he unleashed from 150 yards out, when coming from last in what seemed like a flash.

He certainly did flash home, passing all five opponents, including Classic winners Ruling Court (Charlie Appleby, 2,000 Guineas), and his stablemate Camille Pissarro (Prix du Jockey Club) in that final half-furlong. His display in the winner’s enclosure when he promised either to trample or squeeze into the rails anyone silly enough to get on the smaller than usual line in the winner’s photo, suggested he had the energy to have gone round again.

Reduced to an onlooker in the Derby after a troubled run as the race panned into another O’Brien/Coolmore colt in Lambourn’s favour - and that horse lost nothing in reputation by following up at the Curragh – now the more lucrative ten-furlong route for a future stallion is wide open for Delacroix.

The Gosdens and their other big owning connection, Juddmonte, could have taken Irish Guineas and superb St James’s Palace winner Field Of Gold to the Sandown race, but that superb grey colt is firmly on target and odds-on for the Sussex Stakes next month at Goodwood.

Then it will be off to York for the Juddmonte should all go to plan close to the Solent and another of those long sponsorships, at York, where the Juddmonte International will have a massive place in their affections. Watch out, that’s where they will undoubtedly be encountering Delacroix.

Who knows? Just a year on from City Of Troy’s disappointing showing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, by November time, Delacroix might have forced his way into earning a similar challenge and finally win the race for O’Brien. It’s 25 years if you can believe it since the Iron Horse, Aidan’s 2000 Coral-Eclipse winner Giant’s Causeway, agonisingly failed by only a neck to hold off Tiznow at Churchill Downs.

These days, the old “keeping themselves to their own” breeding policy between Coolmore and Godolphin is no more. According to my chosen source of record, Delacroix is one of ten produce of Godolphin’s prime stallion Dubawi among the Ballydoyle three-year-old division and there are also 13 juveniles. His dam is the champion international miler Tepin, making him a fantastic out cross for all those Galileo mares.

Delacroix’s success will make this autumn’s auctions for his yearlings even more a competition between the two prime powers in racing, although of course Godolphin has all the home-breds of Dubawi it wants.

To counterbalance that, Coolmore’s star, the 300k a pop Wootton Bassett has five representatives among Charlie Appleby’s team of juveniles, but none of the Classic generation. The former French-based sire hadn’t yet announced his true talent before switching to Ireland for the 2022 breeding season.

Meanwhile, the principal Godolphin buying team of Anthony Stroud and David Loder will equally be scanning the sales to see which of the Wootton Bassetts is to be targeted. Loder, I heard from Charlie Appleby on Saturday, has had some successful surgery on his eyes and he’ll be seeing them coming, according to Charlie, from a mile off!

Sandown otherwise had a nice, varied programme backing up the big race and it was only by a neck that William Knight’s nine-year-old Sir Busker failed to match Delacroix’s last to first effort with a flying second at 22/1 in the finale. In his case there were seven horses to pass from last place a furlong from home, but as Brandon Wilkie brought him wide with that rattling finish, they were just foiled by the James Tate-trained Flying Frontier, whose trainer was quizzed afterwards.

Stewards habitually want to know why horses run better than expected, perform worse than expected or are beaten favourites. That’s racing, gents or ladies. I know that Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds’ syndicate owners of Sir Busker have had seven wins including at Royal Ascot, from 58 runs and 660k in earnings.

His later career was hampered by a freak injury when turf flicked up into an eye at Meydan but he came back as bravely as ever and can be a force in these handicaps for a while longer. I would hope the handicapper refrains from raising his mark above 100 once more, but sentiment isn’t much part of their make-up.

Dubawi is also the sire of another of Saturday’s winners, the Richard Hannon-trained Classic, running in the colours of Mrs Julie Wood. He won a £63k handicap in great style earlier on the card, making all under Sean Levey.

Mrs Wood normally recruits her horses in foal sales, but made an exception with Classic, sold as a yearling by Newsells Park Stud for 260,000gns, a price she would never expect to pay for a foal. On the way he won on Saturday there will be much more to come from him.

- TS

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