Tag Archive for: Lead Artist

Juddmonte juggling pack with leading milers

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Connections of Lead Artist are confident the Lockinge hero will put Royal Ascot disappointment behind him before the season is out.

The Juddmonte-owned four-year-old claimed Group One honours for the first time at Newbury last month and was consequently among the leading contenders for last week’s Queen Anne Stakes, but he was ultimately well beaten in seventh place.

“I think they just went far too slow, they crawled for four furlongs and then sprinted and Lead Artist is a horse we know stays beyond a mile,” said Juddmonte’s European racing manager, Barry Mahon.

“It just didn’t pan out for us on the day, but he’s a better horse than that, we know that, and we’ll get him back on track and see the best of him again.”

Where and when Lead Artist will bid to redeem himself is uncertain, with Juddmonte possessing an enviable hand in the mile division, with the Irish Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes hero Field Of Gold the undoubted top dog.

Lead Artist holds an entry in Goodwood’s Sussex Stakes, but is unlikely to head that way if that is the chosen target for his illustrious stablemate, while Harry Charlton’s Irish Guineas runner-up Cosmic Year must also be thrown into the mix.

Mahon added: “I don’t know where we’ll go with Lead Artist yet. There’s going to be a bit of juggling there with him and Field Of Gold and Cosmic Year and Jonquil as well.

“We haven’t quite worked it out yet, but we will as we go.”

Andrew Balding’s Jonquil is another looking to bounce back from an underwhelming performance at Royal Ascot, having seemingly found the six furlongs of the Commonwealth Cup too sharp.

Jonquil will step back up in trip
Jonquil will step back up in trip (David Davies/PA)

He was one of two Juddmonte-owned runners who failed to run up to expectations in that Group One contest, with the Ger Lyons-trained Babouche also well held.

“Babouche was disappointing, she was just too keen and you don’t get away with being that keen in a Group One in Ascot,” said Mahon.

“It was her second time in England and her second time doing that, so we’ll have to go back to the drawing board. We’ll probably keep her in Ireland for the rest of the year and see if we can get her back on track.

“Jonquil was just a bit of a square peg in a round hole – six furlongs was too short for him. Christophe (Soumillon) felt he came home great in the last half-furlong, but he said he needs a mile and we’ll try and find an opportunity.”

Carl Spackler adds truly international flavour to Queen Anne cracker

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North American and Australian horses have undoubtedly helped make Royal Ascot the spectacle it is over the last few years. Now it is almost a case of the best of both worlds with Carl Spackler an attention-grabbing runner in the opening race, the Queen Anne Stakes.

Three times a Grade One winner for Chad Brown in the States, the Lope De Vega five-year-old is now owned by Yulong Investments and with a new trainer in Ciaron Maher, meaning he will be a first Australian runner in a race superstar American mare Tepin won in 2016.

Connections feel they have the right type of horse to be competitive, with William Bourne, Maher’s bloodstock manager, saying: “The sample size (of international runners in the Queen Anne) isn’t huge, but his times really stacked up and just his temperament and attitude, he’s the perfect horse to travel – he’s an absolute dude and I think he’s going to run a big race.

“He’s a very straightforward horse, there’s not much to know – what you see is what you get. He’s got a great temperament, he’s like a kid’s pony, he’s made it so easy to bring him here, get him into the rhythm and train him. He’s definitely made life easy for the boss.

“It’s a red-hot race, there’s no hiding, you’re at Royal Ascot in a Group One so you’re under no impression you’re going to get an easy field. It is what it is, we think he’s a pretty good horse and hopefully he can show up on Tuesday.

“When you speak to English owners and trainers at the Melbourne Cup, the buzz is the whole week and this is very similar – great weather, a lot of people, a lot of hype. It’s a very international raceday and world class so just to even be here as a spectator or have a horse here, it’s a privilege and to have Yulong entrust us with the horse is just amazing.”

Lead Artist, Dancing Gemini, Rosallion and Notable Speech set a high standard for Carl Spackler to aim at, having filled the first four places in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.

With Sardinian Warrior a non-runner due to being off colour, John and Thady Gosden will rely on Lead Artist in Berkshire.

Lead Artist (pink cap) just got the better of Dancing Gemini in the Lockinge
Lead Artist (pink cap) just got the better of Dancing Gemini in the Lockinge (Steven Paston/PA)

John Gosden said: “I think the stiff mile at Ascot will suit him well rather than a slick mile and it’s a wonderful race.

“You have the first four in the Lockinge all turning up and will they finish in the same order, that will be the question.

“He got stuck in the ground at Sandown and he doesn’t like that. He likes what we got at Newbury in the Lockinge and what we’re hopefully going to get at Ascot on Tuesday.

“He was in need of the race at Sandown and he came there travelling nicely, it was just on that ground he struggled to get home. He turned that round and it wasn’t a huge surprise. Did I think he would win? Probably not, but I did think he would run a huge race.”

Notable Speech won last year’s 2000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes and Charlie Appleby expects him to take a good step forward from his Lockinge reappearance.

He told the Godolphin website: “Notable Speech comes into this in great order and we are looking forward to seeing him on the straight track at Ascot.

“The Lockinge was his first start of the year and he has definitely come forward for the run. Conditions are there to suit him and it looks a fantastic race to kick off the meeting.”

Keane seeking perfect Ascot start for Juddmonte

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Colin Keane is looking to start Royal Ascot with a headline double when the big meeting gets under way on Tuesday.

Newly-appointed to the role of retained rider for the Juddmonte operation, the six-time Irish champion jockey can expect to be busy all week, not only in the famous colours of the late Khalid Abdullah but also in demand with many other owners and trainers.

And the opening afternoon could prove a huge one, with John and Thady Gosden’s Lockinge winner Lead Artist in action in the curtain-raising Queen Anne Stakes and stablemate Field Of Gold odds-on for what promises to be an epic renewal of the St James’s Palace Stakes.

Keane will be riding Lead Artist in a race for the first time, after Oisin Murphy did the steering at Newbury.

He said: “He was very good in the Lockinge. He feels like a very straightforward horse, a good mover who feels fit and well.

“It was the first time I had seen Lead Artist when I rode him last Wednesday and he looks a very straightforward type. He seems in great nick and I’ll be looking forward to getting on him in the Queen Anne.”

Field Of Gold had to settle for the runner-up spot behind Ruling Court in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, but made no mistake in the Irish equivalent. He meets the Charlie Appleby-trained Ruling Court once more, with Aidan O’Brien’s Irish Guineas winner Henri Matisse adding further spice.

Keane said: “Field Of Gold was very good at the Curragh. A stiff mile will suit him well and he’s growing up in his races and feels very relaxed and straightforward. I couldn’t have been more happy with what he did.”

Colin Keane celebrates with Field Of Gold
Colin Keane celebrates with Field Of Gold (Niall Carson/PA)

Like Keane, Juddmonte’s European racing manager Barry Mahon is hoping to see Lead Artist open the batting for the team in style.

“Our week gets off to a big start and he’s in good form and has come out of the Lockinge well,” he said.

“He’s reopposing a lot of the same horses and albeit some of them were having their first run at Newbury and could improve, we’re hoping the track and ground will suit Lead Artist.

“He’s a beautiful colt and a magnificent specimen and we’re hopeful he will give a good account of himself.”

Colin Keane familiarises himself with Lead Artist ahead of Queen Anne

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Lead Artist will face some familiar rivals as the Lockinge winner headlined 11 confirmations for Tuesday’s Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The opening contest of the 2025 fixture is one of the highlights of the week, with the John and Thady Gosden-trained Lead Artist set to clash again with Newbury second Dancing Gemini, third-placed Rosallion and the fourth Notable Speech.

Both Notable Speech and Rosallion were Classic winners last year, taking the English and Irish 2000 Guineas respectively, and while John Gosden expects the pair to improve for their seasonal bows, he is backing Lead Artist to again make his presence felt.

He said: “Rosallion and Notable Speech are both going to come on for that Lockinge run and it is as good a Queen Anne as I have seen in a long time. Now those two have a race under their belt, it’s quite a humdinger to start the meeting with.

“Lead Artist has matured a lot mentally, which some of us do as we get older, and I like his enthusiasm as you can put him anywhere in a race, even though handy is where we would all like to be.”

Lead Artist has not run since that neck defeat of Roger Teal’s Dancing Gemini, but enjoyed a racecourse gallop at Newmarket on Wednesday morning under owner Juddmonte’s new retained rider Colin Keane.

Oisin Murphy was in the saddle for last month’s Lockinge and Gosden felt it was a worthwhile exercise for Keane to get a feel for his mount ahead of the Group One.

He added: “It’s been a long time since the Lockinge so it’s great to come here and of course there has been not much rain, so we have been pretty much stuck on the all-weather all spring.

“Colin hasn’t ridden him before and maybe hasn’t seen him before, so it was good he could come here and get a feel for him.

“He does hold his condition really well and he’s a well-covered, powerful horse. But that comes from the sire line and they do hold their condition incredibly well.

“We’ve been pleased with him and he’s had a nice blow here which should set him up nicely for next Tuesday.”

The Gosden team has a powerful second string in Sardinian Warrior, who was just denied in the Prix d’Ispahan last time out while last year’s second Docklands, the supplemented Carl Spackler, Lake Forest, Diego Velazquez, Quddwah and Cairo are also in the mix