Tag Archive for: Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes

Shadow Of Light sparkles in easy Middle Park triumph

/in /by

Shadow Of Light made short work of his rivals to register a superb success in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket.

The Charlie Appleby-trained son of Lope De Vega was second favourite in the betting behind Whistlejacket on the back of two wins and a staying-on second in the Gimcrack at York.

Godolphin’s 11-4 chance was ridden by William Buick for the Group One and settled at the back of the field of six early on.

While others made the running, he was always well placed and two furlongs from home eased his way into the lead to then canter to a wide-margin victory, beating odds-on market leader Whistlejacket by four lengths.

Shadow Of Light was cut to 10-1 from 33-1 with Paddy Power for the 2000 Guineas and is also 6-1 favourite for the Commonwealth Cup with Coral.

Appleby said: “I wouldn’t have said he was unlucky in the Gimcrack by any stretch but we all know it is a big step up to that level and he learned plenty from there.

“As a physical, he has maintained it, but mentally he jumped forward so much from that run and we came here quietly confident today.

“You could say ‘why did you have him in the Mill Reef last week and pull him out’, well we pulled him out because of the heavy ground and at the time I just thought we’d be confident coming here today with the favourite to beat, but last week we’d have been an absolute certainty on sensible ground.

“When the ground started drying out, we felt it suited us more than the favourite to be honest.”

He went on: “Aidan (O’Brien) has dominated this year but they’ve got strength in depth, as you would expect for an operation like that, but we’ve punched our weight.

“People might say we’ve been abroad a lot but that is only because I felt that is where I felt those horses would be competitive. I’ll go where I think I can win, I don’t want to go anywhere just to make up the numbers and please everyone else.

“I read the focus might be coming off the UK but of course it’s not, if I’ve got the horses to win here, I’d rather win here.

“It’s less travelling for me and the horses but if we have to go further afield to do a job, that is what we’ll do, but I’m pleased with the way we are finishing the season off.

“We’ve got some nice two-year-olds, which is what you want going into next year, and hopefully a few of the three-year-olds, like Ancient Wisdom and Arabian Crown, will be nice horses to campaign next year in England.”

O’Brien said of the beaten favourite: “He’s a very fast horse and Ryan (Moore) just felt that he could have done with going a bit faster in the first half of the race, that’s what he felt.

“He’s very consistent and there’s a possibility we might look to take him to America now.”

Vandeek wows to stay unbeaten in Middle Park

/in /by

Vandeek demonstrated his class with a tremendously impressive victory in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket.

The Simon and Ed Crisford-trained Havana Grey colt came into the race unbeaten having landed a Nottingham maiden, the Richmond at Goodwood and the Prix Morny throughout the year.

He was the heavily-backed 5-4 favourite under James Doyle and left the stalls a touch slowly before being tucked in behind rivals in the early stages of the race.

When a gap appeared Doyle guided him through it and from there he accelerated readily to leave the whole field behind him and triumph by two and a quarter lengths from Task Force, with River Tiber a head further back in third.

“He’s beautiful with a wonderful temperament and all of the talent to match,” said Simon Crisford.

“He’s very fast and very good, but the way he was walking around the paddock with his ears pricked, half asleep, is a great testament to his whole preparation from his breeder through to his preparation as a breeze-up horse.

Vandeek landing the Middle Park
Vandeek landing the Middle Park (Tim Goode/PA)

“That race took a lot of winning today, the Prix Morny was an exceptional race. When he hits the front he does tend to idle a bit, he looks around a bit, but I couldn’t see anything running him down so I was pretty hopeful in the last 100 yards.”

Of the chances of stepping up to a mile the trainer added: “I don’t know whether we need to try to do that, he’s a champion over this distance and I think we’re going to let the horse tell us as much as he can and we’ll take it from there.

“He’s a tall, leggy horse and he stands over a lot of ground, he could easily go further.”

Vandeek holds an entry for the Dewhurst back at Newmarket on October 14, and Crisford will be guided by the horse in making a decision regarding his involvement.

He said: “Never say never, I think the person that will decide whether he comes back for the Dewhurst is the horse himself. If he tells us he wants to come here then we will.

“We came here pretty confident, we knew we had something special. He’s been working exceptionally well and he’s been such a kind horse to go with it, everything was great.”

Reflecting further, Crisford said: “We were second with Jash when Ten Sovereigns beat us so I was scared Aidan O’Brien was going to hunt us down again, but we came here pretty confident and we knew we had something special. He had been working exceptionally well and he is such a kind horse to go with it.

“It didn’t appear to be quite as smooth visually as we’ve seen before. When he hit the front he was idling a bit, but he came here in fantastic condition and we thought he could win and he did.

“It was a little bit (of a concern when he was slowly away) as that wasn’t part of the plan we said beforehand. We said the pace would hold up so we didn’t want to get too far back whatever happened. He has been slow away before but that is him as he is so laid back and he is half asleep in those stalls.

“We can’t keep him awake. He was flat out asleep today until noon today. We couldn’t get him up to come to the races. His mind is so good, which is important as it makes our job easy.

“This is something really special. He is one of the best two-year-olds in the world and has never let us down.

“When you come with an unbeaten Group One winner into another championship race you always want to deliver and it was very important we saw him at his best today. Not just for him and his future, but for everyone who backed him as he was a well-backed favourite.

“This is a Group One and this is extra special. We will only come back here if everything’s the same as today. Never say never, who knows.”

Ralph Beckett, meanwhile, had plenty to take from the effort of Task Force.

“I’m really pleased. He is a horse that we have crept here with, as you can see he is not the finished article by any means,” he said.

“This is a horse that has done it all on his own as we have not been keen to turn the screw on him. I think it is unlikely he will show up in the Dewhurst, but I’m really pleased with what he has done today. He has split two very good horses, so I’m delighted.

“He handled it very well today, better than I thought he would. He learnt again today. I’d say on the back of today I’d be keen to turn up here on the first weekend in May (2000 Guineas) and you might not see him again until then.”