ENCKE ROBS CAMELOT OF TRIPLE CROWN GLORY

Click above to watch Encke defeating Camelot in the St Leger Stakes (Gr1)
(Photo : Daily Mail - Footage : Shalakhani)

LADBROKES ST LEGER STAKES (Gr1)
Doncaster, Turf, 2937m
15 September 2012

History waited on him, but was ultimately disappointed as Camelot (GB) (Montjeu) failed in his Triple Crown bid in yesterday’s G1 Ladbrokes St Leger Stakes won by Godolphin’s outsider Encke (Kingmambo). Ballydoyle’s class act brought mass appeal to Doncaster’s Town Moor and the sell-out crowds left largely deflated, as Camelot tried in vain to reel in the 25-1 winner and Mickael Barzalona in the final yards.

With the defeat, Aidan O’Brien missed out on becoming the first trainer to win all five British Classics in the same season. The Irishman remained philosophical after the Wise Dan at Saratoga Adam Coglianese event. “He ran a great race, but just got beat,” O’Brien said. “It’s disappointing for everybody, but that’s racing. It wasn’t what we thought it was going to be - it was a steadily run race and he just stayed on rather than quickened.”

Encke arrived at Doncaster with one of the lowest profiles of all of Godolphin’s past St Leger heroes, having won a 10-furlong handicap by a half length at Sandown off an official handicap mark over 30 pounds below Camelot’s only three starts ago July 6. Beaten a nose by Frankel’s brother Noble Mission (GB) (Galileo) on his belated first pattern-race appearance in the G3 Gordon Stakes over 12 furlongs at Goodwood July 31, the bay was third behind Thought Worthy (Dynaformer) and Main Sequence (Aldebaran) in a renewal of the G2 Great Voltigeur that was effectively a meander-and- sprint affair.

Ranked here as the Gosden pacemaker, Dartford (Giant’s Causeway) failed to set the fast fractions expected, Encke appeared to be traveling as well as Camelot, who had steadily crept between rivals from rear inside the final three furlongs.

Whereas Joseph O’Brien took a moment to gather the favorite at the quarter pole, Barzalona seized the day and Camelot’s rider quickly went from ice-cool to panic as his mount failed to pick up instantly. Encke was in the clear by the time Camelot found top stride and the nine slaps with O’Brien’s whip were not enough to bring out the familiar pizzazz of the previously unbeaten colt.

This was a sixth St Leger victory for Godolphin, which places Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s operation joint-second on the all-time list.

“This horse would rank with the very best of our winners - it was a great effort,” Racing Manager Simon Crisford commented. “Mickael rode a beautiful race and when he kicked at the two pole, he put the race to bed.”

Winning trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni revealed afterwards that he had little faith in Encke’s Classic bid. “He ran a good race in the Voltigeur, but I thought that was him and he was no more than that,” he explained. “I thought he had no chance today and told Mickael to save him and try and be placed, but he’s tough and kept going. In fairness to Mickael, he has always liked him and told me he had the class.”

Crisford added, “We put a line through his run at York and Mahmood had been very happy with his work in the build-up to the Leger and Sheikh Mohammed gave the green light to run him. We weren’t sure about his stamina going into the race, but he’s quite stoutly bred, so we thought it wouldn’t be a problem. What we loved about that race was the turn of foot he showed, which stands him in good stead for next season and he will stay in training. I would imagine it’s very unlikely he’ll run in the Arc, but we will see what Sheikh Mohammed wants to do. I would imagine he will have a plan geared around next summer. This is one of the great races of the British calendar and we have been very lucky to win it six times. We went into the race thinking we probably wouldn’t beat the favorite, but definitely fancying a piece of the pie and Mickael gelled really well with him today as we told him to keep an eye on the pacemaker and ride accordingly.”

Camelot’s trainer Aidan O’Brien was dealing with the fall-out of the shock, which brought to an end the dream of the Triple Crown John Magnier had described as a “no-brainer” to chase minutes before the race. “I thought the pace was going to be strong and I should have run a pacemaker or two,” O’Brien explained. “He was where I would have wanted him to be and he had to relax him going this distance, but he just tanked a bit early and had to take his time down the straight. He didn’t quicken like he did in the Guineas and Derby, but that was liable to happen as he was going a bit further than his distance.” As for what is next for Camelot, O’Brien added, “The thing that was going on in my head was that, if he was staying in training next year, he wouldn’t run any more this season, but the lads will make that decision.”

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

REDOUTE'S CHOICE TO SHUTTLE TO HARAS DE BONNEVAL

Click above to watch an insert on Redoute’s Choice (2010)
(Photo : Arrowfield Stud : Footage - GG Trader)

REDOUTE’S CHOICE (AUS)
Danehill (USA) - Shantha’s Choice (AUS)

The Aga Khan Studs announced yesterday that twice Australian Champion Sire Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) will shuttle to Haras de Bonneval in France for the 2013 Northern Hemisphere season and will stand for a fee of €70,000.

Aged 16, Redoute’s Choice has stood at Arrowfield since his retirement to stud in 2000 where his fee this season is AUS$137,500.

Georges Rimaud, manager of the Aga Khan Studs in France said, “We are very excited to have Redoute’s Choice on our stallion roster for 2013 and we will be sending at least 15 of our own mares to him. In recent years Royal Ascot has proven that the Australian sprinting thoroughbred is comparable with the best in the world. Redoute’s Choice is the dominant stallion in Australia and he has already, from limited exposure, sired major winners from mares by European stallions such as Kingmambo, Caerleon, Last Tycoon, Rainbow Quest and Nureyev. This is a wonderful opportunity to send Northern Hemisphere mares to one of the best stallions in the world today, and he will undoubtedly have a strong and lasting impact on the European bloodstock industry.”

Arrowfield’s John Messara, (who is a part owner of Way West here at Summerhill), stated, “We are particularly delighted with this arrangement not only because His Highness the Aga Khan and some of the world’s most influential breeders will support Redoute’s Choice, but also because we already have the comfort of a strong working relationship with the Aga Khan Studs through our mare ventures.”

Redoute’s Choice’s best international performer to date has been his globetrotting Group One winning juvenile son Musir, who has won at Group One level in South Africa, Group Two level in Turkey and Dubai and finished third to Excelebration (Exceed And Excel) in the Hungerford Stakes (Gr 2, 7f) at Newbury last year. Redoute’s Choice will join Sea The Stars (Cape Cross), Dalakhani (Darshaan), Azamour (Night Shift), Sinndar (Grand Lodge) and Siyouni (Pivotal) on the 2013 Aga Khan Studs stallion roster.

Extract from ANZ Bloodstock News

CAMELOT THE FAIRYTALE

Camelot with Joseph O’Brien aboard…
(Photo : Herlad)

INVESTEC DERBY (Group 1)
Epsom Downs, Turf, 2400m
2 June 2012

Geoff Lester - Aidan O’Brien, who has sent out five seconds since he last won the G1 Investec Derby with High Chaparral in 2002, might still have 24 entries for the Blue Riband Classic, the Group 1 Invested Derby at Epsom on June 2, but the record-breaking Ballydoyle trainer had eyes only for G1 2000 Guineas winner Camelot (Ire) (Montjeu) when he unveiled his team of superstars at a press open day Monday morning at the famed training center.

Asked whether he was confident that Camelot, who came from last at Newmarket, would have the stamina for the mile and a half, O’Brien said: “Being by Montjeu, you would have to be optimistic that he will stay, but there are also serious Danehill and Kingmambo traits in Camelot, and he has always been a horse with tremendous speed.”

O’Brien continued, “Epsom is a unique atmosphere and can get to many horses, and, while Camelot is a calm individual and very relaxed, like so many with such an explosive burst of acceleration he has lots of nervous energy, so we have to be careful with him, and he won’t do too much more work before the big day.”

Joseph O’Brien, who will be 19 next week, celebrated his first British Classic success on Camelot at Newmarket, and his father admitted that both he and his wife Anne-Marie will be the proudest parents in the world if he happens to win at Epsom.

“We are enjoying what is a fairytale with Joseph riding these big winners, but I don’t even want to think about how I would feel if the dream became reality at Epsom,” he said. “It could all have ended in disaster in the French Guineas on Sunday when Furner’s Green took a fatal fall passing the winning post.”

“Camelot has been a special horse from day one,” O’Brien said of the likely Derby favourite. “We were very nervous before the Guineas, especially as we knew that Joseph was going to drop him out and ride him like a doubtful stayer. Joseph wanted him to learn at Newmarket, and what I liked was the way that Camelot came through the gaps between horses and put his head down and fought. Camelot has the looks, the pedigree and the presence, and he reminds me of a dressage horse in that his movement is perfection.”

As for his rising star stable jockey, O’Brien offered, “Joseph has never known anything but horses from the moment he could walk. He used to sit in the back of the jeep with me on the gallops in the mornings before he went to school, and then he would ride out every weekend. He has been involved in all the discussions about the horses from an early age, and he has been with us in the good days and the ordinary days. Joseph rides out every morning, and our other three children have also starting riding out, but we all know nothing else. We don’t do holidays - apart from when we go to the Breeders’ Cup!”

“We are all very excited about the Derby, but it is a long time since we have won (39 losers since High Chaparral), and many a year we have come home feeling very humble. We have done everything we can, and now we can, but hope and pray that Camelot is good enough.”

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

UNBEATEN CAMELOT CONQUERS QIPCO 2000 GUINEAS

Click above to watch Camelot winning the QIPCO 2000 Guineas…
(Image : BBC - Footage : Videos Replay)

QIPCO 2000 GUINEAS (G1)
Newmarket, Turf, 1600m
5 May 2012

Sent off the 15-8 favorite, Derrick Smith’s unbeaten Camelot (GB)(Montjeu) duly delivered to provide his late sire with a first mile Classic win after a pulsating climax to yesterday’s G1 Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. Settled off the pace racing among the group towards the stand’s side, the G1 Racing Post Trophy hero sliced between rivals to lead with 150 yards remaining and held off French Fifteen (Fr) (Turtle Bowl) to score by a neck, with another French raider Hermival (Ire) (Dubawi) 2 1/4 lengths back in third.

“He has a lot of class and speed and I was always happy,” commented jockey Joseph O’Brien after showing panache beyond his years when steering his first English Classic winner. “He was nice and relaxed and, although I didn’t get the best of runs through and was very far back, I always felt like I was getting there. He might have got a bit tired in the last 100 yards, but it was his first start of the season, and he will be a lot better going further.”

“We knew that Camelot had a lot against him statistically, but we always thought he was very special,” trainer Aidan O’Brien said after greeting his sixth winner of the Classic. “He’s out of a Kingmambo mare who is out of a Danehill mare and has strong crosses of both of those in him as well as Montjeu, so that’s why we were worried about the soft ground. I had a view of what Joseph should do on him, as I was worried about him riding a horse for pace like that in that ground, but I’m glad I didn’t say anything now. He said he’d be closer to last than first at halfway and I’m glad I bit my tongue. I felt I destroyed St Nicholas Abbey in this race two years ago, and it’s only now that he’s starting to get his brilliance back, so I learnt a lot from that. The way it always is we go home and the lads will speak about it, but the Derby will be something to talk about. You’d imagine, the Derby would be a very suitable race for him.”

Extracts from Thoroughbred Daily News

A FORCE FOR RECKONING

Click above to watch the 2010 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
(Image : Zimbio - Footage : Dubai Racing)

“WORKFORCE HEADING TO JAPAN”

I first met Teruya Yoshida, the present master of his family’s famous Shadai Farm, when we were fellow speakers at an Asian Racing Conference in India in 1995. As we embarked on our aeroplane, he asked me about several aspects of my speech relating to South Africa. In the course of the conversation, we got onto the topic. Starting with his father, of how Zenya had so influenced breeding affairs in Japan to the degree that it had become a world force. I probed him on the subject of what instigated their purchases of the mile and a half winners of the English Derby, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which were fundamental elements in the Shadai stallion band. Teruya was quick to respond. For centuries, these races were the proving grounds for the great stallions of Europe, but since the advent of the likes of Sir Ivor and Nijinsky from America, the emphasis among European breeders was on speed. These “Derby” types, whose metier was a mile and a half, and which had served as the foundations of the breed for so long, became surplus to their requirements.

In other words, the Japanese simply stepped into the space so long occupied by the best breeders in Britain, Ireland and continental Europe. However, the Japanese needed as a result to re-write a race programme which would suit the progeny of these horses, and so they came to revere the 2400m plus event as the testing ground for the best horses in Japan. At a time when the third leg of the British Triple Crown, the St Leger (contested at 2800m or a mile and three quarters) had so lost its lustre that few horses which had completed the Guineas / Derby double, even bothered to subscribe for it, the Japanese developed a new and healthy respect for the winner of their St Leger, and even for those horses that excelled in their Group Ones at 3000m, such as the excellent Sunday Silence stallion, Manhattan Café. The key is class, and most good horses, whatever their stamina attributes, have the speed that goes with it. Witness Americain, last year’s winner of the Melbourne Cup, who despite being beaten in this year’s event, still posted the best speed figures in the race.

That the strategy worked, is evident in the many fine Japanese horses which grace the racetracks of the world today, and which are undoubtedly, by any measure, world-class.

No surprise then, that the highest rated horse in Europe last year, the runaway hero of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Harbinger, was bought by Shadai when his career came to a sad and abrupt end after the King George. And now we have the news that the English Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe ace, Workforce, is the next excellent horse to leave British shores for Japan. Yoshida commented “the sire line of Kingmambo is enjoying success in Japan, as seen in the favourable results by King Kamehameha. The maternal line of King’s Best is also very good (that of Galileo and Sea The Stars). His performance as a racehorse was extraordinary. Not only the record breaking victory in the Derby, but also the fact that he drew clear of his field, these were keys in deciding the purchase”.

That the moment Teruya and I alighted the aircraft in India has turned out to be fortuitous, is evident in the relationship we have forged with his brother, Katsumi and his Northern Farm. The only son in Africa of Japan’s greatest-ever stallion, Sunday Silence, (great by the standards of any country anywhere), Admire Main is here courtesy of that meeting.