DEATH OF MONTJEU

Click above to watch Montjeu winning the
2000 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes (G1)
(Image : The Guardian - Footage : Sachahuista)

MONTJEU (IRE)
Sadler’s Wells (USA) - Floripedes (FR)
1996 - 2012

Montjeu (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells - Floripedes, by Top Ville), a champion on the racecourse who went on to become an influential stallion, died Thursday morning at Coolmore Stud following a short illness due to complications from septicaemia. He was 16.

Bred by the late Sir James Goldsmith, campaigned by Michael Tabor and trained by John Hammond, the bay captured the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, G1 Irish Derby and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe during his 3-year-old campaign in 1999. He added a facile score in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at four, and retired to Coolmore with a record of 11 wins from 16 starts. From his first crop, Montjeu sired G1 Epsom Derby hero Motivator (GB) and G1 Irish Derby hero Hurricane Run (Ire). He has since sired two other winners of the Epsom Classic in Authorized (Ire) and Pour Moi (Ire), and was represented in 2011 by GI Breeders’ Cup Turf hero St Nicholas Abbey (Ire).

Taken to Ascot for his crowning moment in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes in July 2000, Montjeu put up arguably his greatest performance - and visually his most stunning - when winning unextended and doing what Mick Kinane classed as ‘three-quarters’ speed.” His unextended 1 3/4-length defeat of Fantastic Light (Rahy), who would lower the colors of Galileo (Ire) a year later, in the 50th renewal of that midsummer feature, was a rare moment for the turfistes. For Kinane, the feel the great horse gave him that sun-kissed afternoon left him in no doubt as to his standing among the best he had ridden. “He knows how good he is,” he commented at the time. “That’s why he comes at them with such power. I would have liked to have held on to him a bit longer, but a furlong and a half out he just wanted them and I had to let him go.”

His faithful and adoring lad Didier Follop - who often had to ride Montjeu into the paddock before his races - and his understated but shrewd trainer John Hammond took care of nurturing his quirks and mighty ego, while his pilots Cash Asmussen and Mick Kinane imparted more than a share of their justified self-belief in the saddle. Together, they brought a brilliant talent to its peak and were touched by magic as a result.

“He was a really outstanding racehorse - one of the few outstanding racehorses I’ve ridden,” Kinane told PA Sport. “That King George win was pretty good all right. He treated them with contempt that day and it was just a privilege to be on board. He had some other good performances in the Irish Derby and the Arc, and he’s obviously going to be sadly missed. He had an aura about him and a few issues, and the great horses he’s sired have all had that as well - that’s what’s made them great. His fillies have been much better of late as well and I think he’s going to end up being an outstanding broodmare stallion. He’s going to leave a big hole in racing.”

“It’s really sad news,” Hammond told PA Sport. “He provided us with some magic moments. I was just very fortunate that he turned up at our place. The two days that stick out are obviously his wins in the King George and the Arc. He was fairly amazing at Ascot and the Arc win was special because I didn’t think he was going to win when the other horse got away from us. I think he showed his brilliance at Ascot and his courage at Longchamp. If he was a human being I’d describe him as an eccentric genius.”

When Montjeu entered stud in 2001, the jury was still out as to whether the all-conquering Sadler’s Wells would have a son that could approach his sire’s achievements in the breeding shed. However, his first crop indicated that Montjeu would be a force to be reckoned with. Motivator, hero of the G1 Racing Post Trophy at two, added the G1 Epsom Derby in 2005. Hurricane Run (Ire) captured the G1 Irish Derby and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe that season, while Scorpion (Ire) added victories in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 St Leger Stakes. Two years later, Authorized (Ire) also completed the Racing Post Trophy / Epsom Derby double. Fame and Glory (GB), hero of the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud in 2008, went on to capture the Irish Derby the following year, the G1 Coronation Cup at four, and added the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot last season for good measure. St Nicholas Abbey, winner of the Racing Post Trophy in 2009, missed out on the major races as a 3-year-old, but returned at four in 2011 to secure the Coronation Cup and the Breeders’ Cup Turf. French-based Pour Moi (Ire) came with a furious late rush to take Epsom honors last June in what would be his final career start, and will now attempt to take his sire’s place at Coolmore. Montjeu was represented by another Racing Post Trophy winner last season in Camelot (Ire), and that colt is the current favorite for the June Classic at Epsom.

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

MICK KINANE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

Mick Kinane and Sea The Stars at Juddmonte International
(Photo : Getty Images)

WE WILL “SEA” YOU LATER

Thoroughbred Daily News reports:

Mick Kinane has called time on his career following a season to remember partnering Sea the Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}). In a statement to the Press Association, the 50-year-old revealed the decision. “I have decided this is the right time to retire from race-riding. At 50 I still feel fit and sharp enough to do any horse justice but, after the season I have just had in partnership with Sea the Stars, I have the privilege of being able to end my career as a jockey on an incredible high and that’s what I want to do. I leave with a huge sense of gratitude to all the great horses I have ridden, all the great trainers whose genius developed those champions and everybody else in racing, from the stable lads to the owners, who have made me deeply thankful for my involvement in the game. Teamwork is the key to success in racing and I have been blessed with some of the best alliances a jockey could have. The most important support of all throughout my career has, naturally, come from my wife, Catherine, along with my family and friends. Both Catherine and our two precious daughters, Sinead and Aisling, know how much they mean to me.” Kinane retires as the winner of four renewals of the 2000 Guineas, three Derbys, two Oaks, a St Leger, five King Georges and six St James’s Palace Stakes. and a total of 14 Irish Classics and seven Irish Champion Stakes. He also garnered three editions of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, a Melbourne Cup, a Belmont Stakes and three Breeders’ Cup wins.

We were lucky enough to see Mick Kinane in action here in South Africa at Turffontein at the International Jockey’s challenge last month. He is a legendary rider & consummate professional & we wish him all the best in his retirement.

INTERNATIONAL JOCKEYS CHALLENGE 2009

Team South Africa Captain, Anton Marcus
(Photo : Reuters/Shine2010)

“ARE JOCKEYS SOUTH AFRICA’S BEST SPORTSMEN?”

Mike MoonIn this morning’s The Times, Mike Moon poses the question, “Are jockeys South Africa’s best sportsmen?”

What is South Africa’s best sporting code? Don’t laugh, but a good case can be made for horse riding. The country’s jockeys, as a group, are arguably the best in the world.

The Springboks might win the occasional tournament, but their dominance is always fleeting and vulnerable to admin white-anting. Graeme Smith talks a good game, but does anyone believe the Proteas can mentally shackle that jailbird spawn from Down Under? Not really. Our pro golfers have a good claim to being South Africa’s most accomplished sportsmen - relatively, numbers-wise etc.

But the little guys are also pretty big, so to speak. Wherever South African-trained jockeys go, they succeed.

The great Muis Roberts was champion of Britain, Basil Marcus topped the log seven times in racing-mad Hong Kong, and countryman Dougie Whyte is now on his way to a 10th straight Hong Kong championship. Felix Coetzee, Barend Vorster, Weichong Marwing, Kevin Shea and Greg Cheyne are other South African riders who’ve ridden ‘em to sleep overseas.

This remarkable record makes tomorrow’s International Jockeys Challenge at Turffontein a compelling contest. The challenge covers four races on the 10-race card, with points accumulating, and mounts allocated via a seeded draw to even things up.

The showdown between the six-man South African team and a star-studded European squad offers locally based jockeys a great chance to test their talents. And they have a good chance of repeating last year’s victory over the internationals.

Not a few racing pundits reckon that SA captain Anton Marcus is the best jockey in the world at the moment. That’s a big statement, but if you’ve seen the manner in which he has booted home winner after winner in recent months, you give it credence.

Piere “Striker” Strydom is one of the world’s great judges of pace in a horse race and would be a globe-trotting star if he didn’t like it so much at home.

Also in the South African ranks are the aforementioned Felix Coetzee, and fellow ex-SA champ Anthony Delpech, with tons of experience between them. Young thrusters Richard Fourie and Gavin Lerena make up the team.

Reigning SA champion jockey Andrew Fortune is injured, but has been made team manager.

The Bok jocks won’t want for a motivational team-talk: Fortune, a recovering druggie, gives inspirational chats at rehab clinics. And boy, can he talk. At the Equus awards this year, he had hard-bitten racing luminaries tearful at his acceptance speech.

The European team is Irishmen Mick Kinane, Richard Hughes and Jimmy Fortune, England’s Seb Sanders, Turkey’s Halis Karatas, and Italy’s Frankie Dettori.

A bonus tomorrow is a fifth challenge race that matches the Euros against an “emerging” local team - Muzi Yeni, Brandon Lerena, Aldo Domeyer, Raymond Danielson and S’Manga Khumalo.

An intriguing day’s racing if the weather plays ball.

SEA THE STARS IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN

Click above to watch Sea The Stars in the
2009 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
(Footage : Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe)

QATAR PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE
2009 

It may be a day later, but revisiting the career of the biggest star in racing’s firmament (maybe of all time) has to be worth a read.

Guided by the incomparable nerve of Mick Kinane, Sea the Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) emerged from the cauldron of the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with a reputation pitched into the stratosphere, registering an emphatic two-length success in yesterday’s 88th renewal.

The Thoroughbred Daily News reports that despite the scarcely believable exploits of the Tsui homebred so far in 2009, there was no sign of any wear-and-tear.

The 4-5 favorite over-raced from the outset, and continued to pull even after his jockey had buried him in the pack against the fence. While that is the quickest way around Longchamp, it is not a route without anxiety, and for a brief period in early stretch with space in short supply, it seemed as though his quest for immortality was in jeopardy. When a half-gap appeared, the brilliant winner of two Classics and a total of five Group 1s delivered his spellbinding acceleration to cut a swathe between the G1 Prix Vermeille protagonists Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}) and Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), and once he was in front with 250 meters remaining, the story was told. In the end, it was Youmzain (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}) who emerged best of the rest to fill the runner’s - up berth for the third consecutive year. Trainer John Oxx was typically calm afterwards when saying, “It’s just a relief that he came through it and it’s wonderful that it’s over. He had to have the gears to get out, and Mick wouldn’t panic, because he knew he had them. We were not too alarmed at any stage.”

Sea The Stars first came to attention when registering a smooth maiden win at Leopardstown in August of 2008, each step of the journey for the latest product of the celebrated Urban Sea has been well-documented.

Following his comfortable win in The Curragh’s G2 Beresford Stakes - essentially a race for potential middle-distance prospects - the following month, John Oxx spoke of his desire to avoid pigeon-holing his rare talent. The G1 2000 Guineas was the first port of call this term. He proved at Newmarket he had the speed to sprint, and at Epsom on the first Saturday in June, he entered a small class of luminaries able to carry that pace over a mile and a half. Still in league with some past greats when adding the G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes to both Classics, he began to distance himself from all but the very top runners in history by taking the G1 Juddmonte International and G1 Irish Champion Stakes with more than a degree of comfort.

Entering Europe’s endgame, which had proven a bridge too far for many of racing’s stars, the combination of perfect ground and his unshakable temperament kept confidence high. His enthusiasm was certainly intact in the first furlong, where only Dar Re Mi was ahead as he adopted his sprinter-miler persona and tugged for his head before calming to Mick Kinane’s hands as he found cover. Deep in the ruck on the final turn, his veteran jockey refused to give up the rail, and after being given the office, Sea the Stars skipped around the fading pacemakers with balletic poise before cutting down the competition in ruthless fashion.

The high-class fillies Stacelita (Monsun {Ger}) and Dar Re Mi (Singspile {Ire}) were the last rivals Sea The Stars saw as he raced into the lead, and although a batch of five Group 1 winners followed him home, he proved in a different category at the line.

FAME AND GLORY vs SEA THE STARS

Fame And Glory with Johnny Murtagh aboard
(Photo : Daily Mail)

DAVID vs GOLIATH

While Americans look forward to a clash between two generations of unbeaten fillies, Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra, Europeans look forward to their own battle royale, with Europe’s number one conditioner, Aidan O’Brien, relishing another crack at Sea The Stars with Fame And Glory.

His charge has twice finished runner-up to John Oxx’s super star, in the Investec Derby and the Irish Champion Stakes.

However the master of Ballydoyle feels he warrants a third tilt at his rival, in an evenly-run race over a mile-and-half for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

“We are looking forward to it. Our horse has had his prep and we were very impressed with him at Leopardstown. He sat in there and for a horse who’d won an Irish Derby, we were very impressed with how he quickened up,” O’Brien told At The Races.

“There’s no doubt he has to improve but it was his first run back. He quickened up past Mastercraftsman and we were delighted with him.”

“The good thing is himself and Sea The Stars didn’t lock horns early and it could have been a gruelling race for his first run back.”

“The way it happened was lovely, Mick (Kinane) was very cool on his horse and picked him up late when Mastercraftsman just took a blow.”

“Hopefully the two of them will get to the Arc and all the questions will be answered.”