POUR MOI WINS INVESTEC DERBY IN SCINTILLATING STYLE

Pour Moi wins the Investec Derby (Gr1)
(Image : Guardian)

INVESTEC DERBY (Gr1)
Epsom Downs, 4 June 2011 

Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith’s Pour Moi (Ire) (Montjeu), who burst onto the Epsom scene only after a successful run in the Gr2 Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud on May 7, finally provided Andre Fabre with a victory in the Gr1 Investec Derby after nine failed attempts. Brought with his familiar rattle from last to first by the 19-year-old jockey prodigy Mickael Barzalona, the 4-1 second choice grabbed the Ballydoyle outsider Treasure Beach (GB) (Galileo) in the shade of the post with his jockey standing up in the irons in celebration.

“He’s a good horse, and is the one I wanted to win this race with,” Fabre said after saddling the first French-trained Blue Riband winner since Empery in 1976. “It is no accident that he has won. I was surprised to see he had two accelerations, one to catch up and another gear to win. Running a mile and a half for the first time helped him. It is such a pleasure to win this race with my young jockey - I couldn’t be happier.” He continued, “He gave everything today and deserves a rest. I will probably give him a summer break and bring him back for a prep ahead of the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (at Longchamp October 2). All horses improve with time.”

In the end, a head separated the front two, with The Queen’s 5-2 favorite Carlton House (Street Cry) 3/4 of a length behind in third, having run a genuine race after missing the kick and losing a shoe late on.

Trainer of Carlton House, Sir Michael Stoute told PA Sport, “He’s run very well, but things just haven’t gone right. He had a hold-up close to the race and during it he got too far back and then had to run wide into the straight. He’s still a high-class colt, and he will have a big day.”

Aidan O’Brien expressed himself pleased with all his four runners, three of whom made the first six.

INVESTEC DERBY (Gr1)
Final Results

#	LBH	Horse	Sire	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	POUR MOI	Montjeu	7	M Barzalona	Andre Fabre
2	hd	TREASURE BEACH	Galileo	12	C O’Donoghue	Aidan O”Brien
3	3/4	CARLTON HOUSE	Street Cry	13	R Moore	Sir Michael Stoute
4	3/4	MEMPHIS TENNESSEE	Hurricane Run	6	J O’Brien	Aidan O”Brien
5	3/4	NATIVE KHAN	Azamour	3	J Murtagh	Ed Dunlop
6	2	RECITAL	Montjeu	4	P Smullen	Aidan O”Brien
7	nk	VADAMAR	Dalakhani	9	C Lemaire	Alain de Royer-Dupre
8	4	MASKED MARVEL	Montjeu	5	W Buick	John Gosden
9	19	PISCO SOUR	Lemon Drop Kid	1	J Fortune	Hughie Morrison
10	3	SEVILLE	Galileo	2	C Soumillon	Aidan O”Brien
11	7	OCEAN WAR	Dalakhani	10	L Dettori	Mahmoud Al Zarooni
12	3 1/4	CASTLEMORRIS KING	And Beyond	11	M Coumbe	Michael Attwater
13	55	MARHABA MALYOON	Tiger Hill	8	J Spencer	David Simcock

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

CARLTON HOUSE : KING FOR THE QUEEN

Carlton House
(Photo : Racingbase)

INVESTEC DERBY (Gr1)
Epsom Downs Racecourse
4 June 2011

The Queen’s Carlton House (Street Cry) will face a maximum of 16 rivals in Saturday’s G1 Investec Derby after the six-day declarations were made Monday. Almost certain to start favorite for the blue riband, the Sir Michael Stoute trainee will face a clutch of colts from Coolmore interests with the list showing a quintet from Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle stable alongside the Andre Fabre-trained Pour Moi (Ire) (Montjeu).

The Queen’s Racing Manager John Warren had nothing but good news for fans of the G2 Dante Stakes winner yesterday. “Carlton House is all on target for Epsom,” Warren said. “He had a nice blow yesterday at Newmarket and the trainer is very happy with him at this point. Carlton House will be kept ticking over this week. There is excitement all round and I think the whole country is starting to focus on it and everyone is excited by the prospect.”

Godolphin left in a trio, but are expected to field a sole representative in the general 16-1 shot Ocean War (GB) (Dalakhani). Nevertheless, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum will be watching the unfolding story of Carlton House keenly, as he bred the colt and presented him to the monarch as a present. “I am sure he would be absolutely thrilled, almost as excited as The Queen,” Racing Manager Simon Crisford commented yesterday. “Obviously, everyone wants The Queen to win and we’ll all be trying our best to beat Carlton House, but having gifted the colt to The Queen I think it would mean a huge amount to Sheikh Mohammed. He’s incredibly excited about the whole possibility.”

Queen Elizabeth comes to Derby Day every year, usually accompanied by Prince Philip.

As a racehourse owner, The Queen has had nine attempts to win the Epsom Derby - with a second place (Aureole, Coronation year, 1953) the best. Her last entry was thirty years ago. Her previous entries are detailed below:

AUREOLE (1953 - 2nd)
Aureole came closest to giving the Queen a Derby victory when runner-up to Pinza at Epsom Downs. Ridden by Harry Carr, the colt was sixth into the home straight and made headway in the final three furlongs but was unable to peg back Pinza.

LANDAU (1954 - 8th)
Landau finished a length second to Rowston Manor in the Lingfield Derby Trial but in the Derby itself, the colt led from three furlongs out until the quarter-mile mark, at which point he weakened tamely to finish eighth under Willie Snaith as Never Say Die went on to win.

ATLAS (1956 - 5th)
Sent off a 50/1 shot, Atlas made late headway at Epsom, coming home strongly under Harry Carr, to take fifth, a little over three lengths behind the victorious Lavandin.

DOUTELLE (1957 - 10th)
A winner of the Lingfield Derby Trial, Doutelle was at 100/6 chance for the Derby. But he was never in contention, trailing in tenth behind the winner Crepello under jockey Harry Carr.

MINER’S LAMP (1958 - 6th)
Miner’s Lamp’s won Epsom’s Blue Riband Trial Stakes but was never able to challenge the front rank in the Derby and shared sixth place behind the winner, Hard Ridden.

ABOVE SUSPICION (1959 - 5th)
Sent off at 100/6 for the Derby, Above Suspicion raced towards the rear under Doug Smith before making strong progress in the home straight, running on to take fifth, three lengths behind his victorious stablemate, Parthia.

ENGLISH HARBOUR (1978 - 18th)
Ridden by Joe Mercer, English Harbour was never a factor in the Derby as he trailed home a distant 18th behind Shirley Heights, a horse he had finished fifth behind on his two-year-old debut in Newmarket’s Limekiln Stakes.

MILFORD (1979 - 10th)
Sent off the 15/2 third favourite under Lester Piggott, the Royal colt weakened in the straight to finish about 15 lengths behind the triumphant Troy.

CHURCH PARADE (1981 - 5th)
Church Parade kept on at one pace under Willie Carson to take fifth, 18 lengths behind the imperious Shergar.

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

WORKFORCE REDEMPTION IN PRIX DE L'ARC DE TRIOMPHE

Click above to watch Workforce winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr1)
(Photo : Guardian - Footage : Vision Direct)

QATAR PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE (GR1)

Only a handful of horses have won the Epsom Derby by as much as Workforce’s seven-length margin and none had covered the mile-and-a-half distance faster, but such brilliant displays have proved to be false dawns in the past and he needed to reproduce that level of form to enter into champion territory.

Workforce (King’s Best) had hung back and looked uncomfortable previously when runner-up in the Dante Stakes (Gr1) at York on 13 May and when he dropped out in Ascot’s home straight to finish nearly 17 lengths behind Harbinger (Dansili) in the King George the vibes were becoming increasingly negative.

With that in mind, the Sir Michael Stoute stable went down to brass tacks and his recent racecourse spin at Sandown - which was not received with glowing reports from those present - was the only public sighting of the Classic hero subsequently. For those who kept the faith in the time-honored Stoute magic, they were rewarded with a starting price that looked impossible in the immediate aftermath of the Derby.

Kept tight to the rail by Ryan Moore early, he had only a handful of rivals behind at the top of the “false straight,” but had gone the shortest way round and that proved a crucial factor as he started his challenge before the quarter pole. Lope de Vega, who had headed the field at the top of the stretch, was tiring when getting the worse of the interference which caused the lengthy enquiry - and which was eventually judged to have been caused by the subsequently - disqualified seventh Planteur (Danehill Dancer) - as Workforce surged alongside him. With Nakayama Festa and Masayoshi Ebina of El Condor Pasa fame now in front, Workforce had to grind and in a few yards he had put his head in front before answering every call from his rider in a pulsating finale.

“He was back to his best today,” winning jockey Ryan Moore said. “We got a nice run through and when it all got a bit tight at the top of the false straight, there was half a gap there and he was very brave and really quickened into it well. The Japanese horse kept at him, but he kept doing enough and has a great attitude. Ascot wasn’t him - this was only the fifth race of his life and he’s won a Derby and an Arc.” His conditioner added, “Ryan blames himself for Ascot and felt he should have switched him off more, but I think I may have trained him too hard for the race. I said that to Prince Khalid afterwards and I think I was proved right on that, so we took a different path this time. I don’t know if I’m likely to train him next year, but I’d love to.”

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

LONG LIVE THE NEW KINGS

Harry Herbert celebrating at Royal Ascot
(Photo : Horsephotos)

HARBINGER OF ZOOM

Harbinger (GB) (Dansili) dented some lofty reputations and lowered the track record - by 0.46 seconds - with a blistering display in Saturday’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) at Ascot. Ridden with patience in fourth, the 4-1 chance swooped for control just inside the final quarter mile and surged ever clear under minimal urging to demolish the remainder, who were led home by winner Irish Derby (G1) Cape Blanco (Ire) (Galileo), by 11 lengths. “This is the best moment of my life, bar Motivator winning the Derby,” said Highclere’s Harry Herbert.

Looming large on the outside at the quarter-mile marker, Harbinger eased to the front soon after and surged clear of a stellar cast to carve his niche in turfdom with a victory by daylight. “He was comfortable throughout, and all I needed was to give him just one flick of the whip,” said Olivier Peslier. When I saw the big screen I could see the others were so far behind, and I knew the race was won before the furlong marker. I knew he was very good beforehand, but he is a truly wonderful horse and today he is ‘the king”.

“Its just such an ambition for everybody”, said Highclere’s tearful Harry Herbert. “Whether it’s the stable team (trainer) Sir Michael Stoute and all of his group, or whether its us at Highclere and all my team, who work so hard, and the owners, who put so much money into it – it comes downs to suddenly being dealt the card that you’ve dreamt of all your life, and this is it. Right now its happened and, for everyone out there, get into racehorse ownership because, I promise you, it brings grown men down to their knees with tears”.

INVESTEC DERBY WHIRLWIND FOR WORKFORCE

Workforce - Investec Derby (Gr1)
(Photo : Reuters)

INVESTEC DERBY (Gr1)
Epson Downs, 5 June 2010

Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Workforce (by King’s Best) had little to recommend him on the form book and entered today’s Investec Derby (Gr.1) the least experienced in the line-up, but his performance was one for the ages as he surged to a seven-length victory in course record time.

Hanging and workmanlike in the wake of Cape Blanco (Galileo) in York’s Dante Stakes (Gr.2) on 13 May, the imposing homebred was a different proposition here and after settling in mid-division quickened up the stretch to reel in the runaway Ballydoyle outsider At First Sight (Galileo) with 1 1/2 furlongs remaining. Keeping rolling to the line, the 6-1 shot provided Sir Michael Stoute with a fifth renewal as he knocked a second off the previous best set by Lammtarra in 1995.

“It’s always a great thrill and seems to get more thrilling,” his trainer commented. “The Dante didn’t go as we wanted it, but he was seriously good today. I’m particularly delighted that Ryan (Moore) won it, as he has put a lot of work into this horse and I’m also delighted for Prince Khalid (Abdullah) and the Juddmonte team, who is a great supporter of the stable and racing all over the world.”

Workforce was electric on debut when establishing a reputation as big as his considerable frame by beating the subsequent Tattersalls Timeform Million winner Oasis Dancer (Oasis Dream) by six lengths in a seven-furlong Goodwood maiden in September. Not risked in the end-of-term pattern-race tests thereafter, the home-bred took time to come to himself in the spring and despite attracting ante-post support for the 2000 Guineas, was left alone until the Dante.

In the event, his reappearance there raised question marks as he failed to find a rhythm behind the freewheeling Cape Blanco and battled into the runner’s-up spot with the bit pulled through his mouth. In the short space of time between that trial and this test, the Sir Michael Stoute stable made the necessary adjustments with a Lingfield racecourse spin for extra experience and the fitting of a crossed noseband to aid the steering. Surrounded by the hoodoo that no beaten Dante runner had gone on to Epsom glory, Workforce was all professionalism as he put that statistic to bed in the owner-breeder’s second colors also carried to glory by Commander In Chief in 1993.

Breaking well, the bay was reined back to race in mid-pack as Seamus Heffernan set the necessary fractions on At First Sight and Ryan Moore refused to panic as the front-runner stole a march running down to Tattenham Corner. Engaging top gear in early stretch, his imperious burst devoured the long-time leader passing the quarter pole and carried his rider to a memorable Oaks-Derby double. “I got a clean run and I was happy where I was early,” Ryan Moore said. “He traveled beautifully and turning in, he quickened up exceptionally well and although this ground is fast enough for him, he kept extending and is a real good horse. This is a really special day. This is the most important race to me, so it’s great to ride for the boss and Prince Khalid.” A proud Prince Khalid Abdullah added, “I am delighted and this was special. He is a wonderful horse and we saw that here.”

Aidan O’Brien was delighted with the effort of the shock runner-up and was forgiving of the run of the favorite Jan Vermeer (Montjeu), who never threatened and stayed on into a distant fourth. “Jan Vermeer lost both his front shoes, but the second horse stays really well,” Aidan O’Brien told PA Sport. “The winner looked exceptional.”

RACE RESULTS

#	LBH	Horse	Age	Dr	Sex	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	WORKFORCE (GB)	3	8	C	R Moore	Sir Michael Stoute
2	7.00	AT FIRST SIGHT (IRE)	3	6	C	J Heffernan	Aidan O’Brien
3	0.50	REWILDING (GB)	3	11	C	L Dettori	Mahmood Al Zarooni
4	4.00	JAN VERMEER (IRE)	3	12	C	J Murtagh	Aidan O’Brien
5	0.00	MIDAS TOUCH (GB)	3	4	C	C O’Donoghue	Aidan O’Brien
6	0.50	AL ZIR (USA)	3	2	C	K Fallon	Saeed bin Suroor
7	0.00	COORDINATED CUT (IRE)	3	9	C	J Spencer	Michael Bell
8	3.75	BUZZWORD (GB)	3	10	C	A Ajtebi	Mahmood Al Zarooni
9	1.75	HOT PROSPECT (GB)	3	3	C	P Robinson	Michael Jarvis
10	16.00	AZMEEL (GB)	3	5	C	W Buick	John Gosden
11	1.75	TED SPREAD (GB)	3	7	C	M Hills	Mark Tompkins
12	2.00	BULLET TRAIN (GB)	3	1	C	T Queally	Henry Cecil

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News