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

THE KING IS DEAD : LONG LIVE VISIONAIRE

Visionaire
(Photo : Greig Muir)

VISIONAIRE (USA)
Grand Slam (USA) - Scarlet Tango (USA)

It’s been a sad old weekend for our friends at Ireland’s Coolmore Stud, the world’s most powerful stallion station. While there were odd shafts of light at a Dubai World Cup meeting where they amassed close to USD$3 million in earnings, courtesy mainly of a win in the UAE Derby and some frustrating seconds in the Sheema Classic and the Godolphin Mile, the big disappointment of the meeting for the Aidan O’Brien’s contingent must’ve been So You Think’s lacklustre 4^th in the World Cup itself. Not that it was the end of the world at all for an operation which bestrides racing’s biggest meetings like a colossus, but that wasn’t all.

The news of the extraordinarily successful sire, Montjeu’s passing on Friday (reported elsewhere in these columns within hours of it happening) was a mortal knock to John Magnier’s outfit at a time when their dominance of world affairs in the stallion department, was at an all-time high. And then, as if someone out there was waiting to administer the sledgehammer blow, Visionaire’s sire, Grand Slam, suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 17. Trained by D. Wayne Lukas and owned by Robert and Christina Baker, William Mack and David Cornstein, the son of fellow Lukas-trained MGSW and MGISP Bright Candles, kicked off his juvenile campaign with a track-record setting 11-length romp going 5 ½ furlongs at Belmont Park.

Later that fall, the bay added victories in the GI Champagne Stakes and GI Futurity Stakes before failing to finish in a problem-laden running of the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. At three, he added a score in the Gr.2 Peter Pan Stakes, finished second in the Gr.2 Swaps Stakes and Gr.3 Jerome Handicap and was also third in the GI Haskell Invitational Handicap. The Overbrook Farm-bred rounded out his sophomore campaign, and his career, with a runner-up finish in the 1998 GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint. At stud, he was the sire of 2003 GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Cajun Beat, and Canadian turf champion Grand Adventure, though his best performer was arguably the Summerhill Stud resident and 2008 GI King’s Bishop Stakes hero, Visionaire. His other standouts, among a highly commendable 73 Stakes winners from 11 crops (an average of almost 7 per crop), include Limehouse and Strong Hope.

Ashford Stud manager Dermot Ryan said, “Grand Slam was a pleasure to have here and he was very popular with breeders, as he sired nearly 800 winners and has progeny earnings of over $64 million.

CIRRUS DES AIGLES SOARS TO DUBAI SHEEMA CLASSIC WIN

Click above to watch Cirrus des Aigles winning the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1)…
(Image : Virendra Saklani/Gulf News - Footage : Dubai Racing Meydan)

US$5,000,000 DUBAI SHEEMA CLASSIC (Gr1)
Meydan, Turf, 2410m
31 March 2012

Not content with getting the better of So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral) in the G1 Champion Stakes at Ascot in October, Cirrus des Aigles (Fr) (Even Top) was back on the big stage once again Saturday at Meydan to upstage another Ballydoyle star in St Nicholas Abbey (Ire) (Montjeu) and add the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic to his impressive resume.

Sitting close to a moderate early tempo in second, the 6-year-old was allowed to stride to the front with over a half mile remaining and had first run on last year’s G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf hero. That proved decisive as the line came in time for Cirrus des Aigles and first-time pilot Olivier Peslier, who were just a neck in front. “Cirrus des Aigles likes to fight,” trainer Corine Barande-Barbe commented. “If there is one in front, he wants to pass him and if one is behind it pushes him. He is a miracle. This was a big emotion and with him it always just gets better—it is just like a dream that doesn’t stop.”

One of France’s longstanding favorites, Cirrus des Aigles began his rags-to-riches tale in 2009 and ended that season with Longchamp’s G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris in the bag. Despite a subsequent fifth in the G1 Hong Kong Vase and a seasonal-best win in the G2 Prix Dollar in 2010, it was not until last term that the bay started to hit full stride. Each time he took on top-class opponents, it seemed to spur him on and seconds to Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) in the G1 Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp in May and to Sarafina (Fr) (Refuse To Bend) in the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud preceded a hat-trick of Pattern-race triumphs in the G3 Grand Prix de Vichy in July, the G3 Prix Gontaut-Biron at Deauville and that venue’s G2 Grand Prix de Deauville the following month. In the latter contest, he demonstrated his inherent stamina with a 10-length score on deep ground and his versatility on his next start when second in the G2 Prix Dollar over an extended nine-furlong trip on fast ground at Longchamp in October. After his rousing Champions’ Day coronation, the gelding was sent to Sha Tin for the third time and for the third time failed to hit the board when only fifth in the Hong Kong Cup. Upset by Zazou (Ger) (Shamardal) in a conditions race over 1 3/16mile on Chantilly’s new Polytrack surface on his comeback March 3, that effort was to look more creditable later in the afternoon as his conqueror ran a close-up fifth in the World Cup.

Breaking well from his wide stall, Cirrus des Aigles stuck close to Bold Silvano (SAf) (Silvano) as that rival stacked up rivals behind his slow tempo. Turning up the heat in early straight, the Gallic raider had four lengths on St Nicholas Abbey there and despite the game effort of his chief rival, there was an inevitability to the result as the line neared. Jakkalberry (Ire) (Storming Home) followed in third with Treasure Beach (GB) (Galileo) in fourth.

“There was no question about the trip, as he won in Deauville by 10 lengths last year and was second in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud,” Barande-Barbe said. “If they had gone quicker he would have finished better, but as there was no pace he had to do it on his own.” Peslier added, “They told me he was very tough and very competitive and he is.”

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

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