Tag Archive for: Adelaide River

Flight Plan is smooth sailing for Tudhope at Leopardstown

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Flight Plan provided Danny Tudhope with another winner on Irish Champions Festival weekend when making all the running in the Dullingham Park Stakes.

Tudhope had won what used to be run as the Boomerang Stakes in 2017 on David O’Meara’s Suedois and prior to that in 2015 on Custom Cut. This time he teamed up with Karl Burke.

Flight Plan (15-2) ran in the Guineas earlier in the season and had been set some stiff tasks, but he dominated throughout in the Group Two and had the race won over a furlong out, easily keeping 2-1 favourite Buckaroo at bay by a length and a quarter.

Tudhope said: “We have finally found the way to ride him.

“We have always loved this horse and it has just taken us a bit of time to figure him out, that’s the way to do it on him.

“I was surprised at that actually (getting a relatively easy lead), I had to get a good start as he didn’t break very well the last day in York. That was my main aim today, just get out and get on with it.

“He’s got a beautiful action on him and he strides out, and he’s a lovely horse with a big engine.”

Adelaide River enjoyed his day in the sun, as Ryan Moore shone from the front in the Paddy Power Stakes.

Second in the Irish Derby to stablemate Auguste Rodin and in the Grand Prix de Paris to Feed The Flame, he was the 11-8 favourite for the Group Three event.

As proved the case all day, being in the front rank was the place to be and Moore dictated it to a nicety.

In contrast, Jim Crowley had to come from the back on Al Aasy and while he made relentless ground in the final furlong, he went down by half a length.

“I’m delighted. Ryan said if he had a choice of 10 or 14 (furlongs) he’d definitely go 10 on him because he relaxes but he does quicken,” said winning trainer Aidan O’Brien.

“He’s a lovely big horse and we’ve always viewed him as a ‘next-year horse’.

“We always thought he was kind of like Duke Of Marmalade, as he’s after competing in big ones and getting very close in them but he’s such a big horse that he’s definitely going to have to be a way better horse next year.”

Or whether he could be a horse for Australia’ he added: “It might be a bit soon for him this year, he could go next year. He’s a big horse and if we had the choice we’d probably wait until next year.

“He’s after having a few tough races in second so it was nice for him to come here, and Ryan was able to dictate his own pace on him.

“He said he did quicken very well but just got a bit lonely in the last half a furlong. He was very happy.”

Kitty Rose (3-1) emerged as a possible contender for next year’s 1000 Guineas with a striking performance in the Ballylinch Stud Irish EBF Ingabelle Stakes for Natalia Lupini.

Billy Lee’s mount took over early in the straight and won by two and a half lengths from the favourite Content.

“We always thought we had a nice filly on our hands. Obviously, first time out you hope everything goes well, we were hoping for a nice run but she won impressively at Naas,” said Lupini.

“Today she was very impressive again, when she picks up she just keeps galloping and she’s very honest.

“The lads are looking at the Guineas with her, next year she’ll be a stronger filly. She won’t have any problems over a mile as well.

Adelaide River could be given King George ticket

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Aidan O’Brien has not ruled out Adelaide River joining stablemate and dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot.

Adelaide River produced a fine runner-up effort when beaten a length by Feed The Flame in the Grand Prix de Paris at ParisLongchamp on Friday evening.

The son of Australia, who was eighth in the Derby and then runner-up in the Irish Derby to Auguste Rodin, stuck to his guns admirably having kicked under Ryan Moore a furlong and a half out in the mile-and-a-half contest. John and Thady Gosden’s Oaks winner Soul Sister was a neck behind in third.

O’Brien said: “He ran a fine race. We were very pleased with that. He stayed on well and Ryan was very happy with him, so we’re delighted.

“We’ll see how he comes out of it, but he is still in the King George. We will see how things go over the next few days, but he ran well and we’re very happy with him.”

Auguste Rodin remains the 9-4 favourite with Coral for the all-aged middle-distance event, with Adelaide River unchanged at 25-1.

Feed The Flame floors Adelaide River and Soul Sister

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Feed The Flame ran out a stylish last-to-first winner of the Grand Prix de Paris at ParisLongchamp, denying Adelaide River and Soul Sister in a thrilling finish.

Dropped right out by Cristian Demuro, the Pascal Bary-trained Kingman colt had last been seen finishing fourth to Ace Impact in the Prix du Jockey Club over an extended 10 furlongs and was supplemented for this mile-and-a-half feature.

Racing more in mid-division were Aidan O’Brien’s Adelaide River – runner-up to Auguste Rodin in the Irish Derby – and John and Thady Gosden’s Oaks heroine Soul Sister.

When Ryan Moore elected to make his move on Adelaide River it looked like Kieran Shoemark had him covered on Soul Sister, but as the pair locked in battle Feed The Flame was produced to perfection by Demuro to run them both down.

A length was the winning margin from Adelaide River, with Soul Sister another neck behind in third.

Of Soul Sister, Thady Gosden told Sky Sports Racing: “She’s run a very good race. The winner looks an exceptional colt. He quickened by the whole field from arguably the worst position in the race, like a proper horse.

“He looked smart coming into this and was supplemented like our filly, he’s probably one of the best mile-and-a-half horses around at the moment. She’s run a very good race in defeat to him.

“There’s options back with the fillies now, we’ll see how she comes out of it and probably do that.”

Bookmaker reaction was positive about Feed The Flame for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – a race the decorated Bary has still to win.

“He was remarkable today. The Qatar Prix du Jockey Club came a little soon for him. He’s a very, very good horse, and 2,400 metres is his true distance,” Bary said.

“He’s very calm and always takes a little time to find his feet. However, when he does so, look at the way he accelerated! We’ve been patient with him – he didn’t run at two, and Jean-Louis Bouchard (owner) has been rewarded.

“He’ll run in the Qatar Prix Niel before heading to the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.”

Demuro added: “When I asked him to quicken, he picked up in two strides. He went very fast!”

‘Collector’s item’ Auguste Rodin aiming to set the record straight at Epsom

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Aidan O’Brien puts forward a Betfred Derby trio at Epsom on Saturday headed by the eagerly-awaited Classic comeback bid of Auguste Rodin.

The Ballydoyle trainer has always spoken extremely highly of the colt – a horse he describes as a “collector’s item” as he is out of the top mare Rhododendron and by the late sire Deep Impact.

His two-year-old campaign matched his pedigree as he won a maiden by two lengths before taking the KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown and the Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster.

As a result he was well-fancied for the 2000 Guineas after a Triple Crown bid was mentioned in early spring dispatches, but at Newmarket the three-year-old was denied an ounce of luck and trailed home in 12th after his race was scuppered early on.

That defeat did little to dissuade O’Brien of his ability, however, and the Derby was immediately lined up as a next outing after the Guineas run was dismissed.

Auguste Rodin winning the Vertem Futurity Trophy
Auguste Rodin winning the Vertem Futurity Trophy (Nigel French/PA)

“There were a lot of factors at Newmarket that we couldn’t control, but they happened and that was it, but we didn’t see anything to suggest we shouldn’t adhere to our original plan,” he said.

“That was always going to be the way, when we were running him over that shorter trip things had to happen. Every single beat had to go his way and obviously it was the complete opposite, every single beat went the opposite way. We were delighted he came out of the race so well, really.

“He’s a real beautiful moving horse, so the soft ground was always going to be a worry, and the trip was always going to be plenty short for him. He did need a clear run and when Little Big Bear got galloped into, he wiped out Ryan (Moore) and then Ryan ended up getting stuck in a pocket and there was no pace in the race.

“There’s so many things that went wrong, and we were going to fly out and that all changed, we couldn’t go two days out and we had to go the morning of (the race). All of those factors, either one of them could have been detrimental by themselves but it seemed they all landed on him on the day.

“He’s always been very special from day one, his movement and everything about him. Nothing has changed our minds about him, the Guineas went wrong and we put it down to a non-event for him. We’re just looking forward to seeing how we’re going to run like everybody else.”

Auguste Rodin after his Doncaster victory
Auguste Rodin after his Doncaster victory (Nigel French/PA)

The step up in trip to a mile and a half is expected to be of benefit to Auguste Rodin, as is the good ground that will be a contrast from Newmarket’s soft going on Guineas weekend.

O’Brien said: “Auguste Rodin was never going to run again over a mile anyway. He was always going to step up, he very much has a middle-distance pedigree.

“He’s a beautiful moving horse and good ground will be what he’d always prefer.

“He’s a very athletic horse, he’s close coupled, a very good mover – he wouldn’t break glass, the way he moves. We’re very happy with him physically, he’s in good form. He’s nice and fresh and we think he’s fit, that’s all you could hope for really.”

Of the horse’s exceptional pedigree, with his parents having won 14 Group races between them, O’Brien added: “Auguste Rodin is a collector’s item. He’s out of Rhododendron, probably one of the best Galileo mares ever, and by Deep Impact, one of the greatest Japanese stallions ever.

August Rodin working on the Curragh ahead of the Guineas
August Rodin working on the Curragh ahead of the Guineas (Healy Racing/PA)

“He’s very unique and rare. When you get a horse that’s bred like that, looks like that, moves like that and has the ability he has is very rare, very unusual.”

Auguste Rodin will be joined in the race by two stablemates – Chester Vase runner-up Adelaide River and Dee Stakes winner San Antonio.

Of those two, O’Brien said: “Adelaide River, he’s a straightforward horse. He ran in Chester, the ground got soft and we don’t think he’s a soft ground horse.

“He’s an Australia out of a War Front mare and that would all suggest better ground. We think he does stay, he’d be happy to go forward and be ridden handy. He’s experienced and we’ve been happy with him.

“The other horse, San Antonio, he won his first race this year in Dundalk and then he went to Chester on soft ground. He’s never run this far but it will be interesting as well, his dam was second in the Irish Oaks and he’s by Dubawi so he’s a straightforward, honest horse too.”