IMBONGI : RETURN OF THE WARRIOR

Imbongi - John Bovington Memorial Criterion Stakes Gr3, Newmarket UK
(Photo : Chris Bourchier)

MEYDAN RACECOURSE
5 FEBRUARY 2010

In Zulu, Imbongi means “praise singer”, and we hope that, following a successful Graded Stakes-winning season in Britain, we’ll be singing his praises come the end of the Dubai Carnival.

The former Champion Three Year Old miler came out of his last race in England a touch on the sore side, and the maestro, Mike de Kock, gave him a long rest at Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum’s private establishment in Dubai.

He’s apparently come back full of the joys, and in his entry in the US$150,000 Jaguar XJ Trophy over 1400m on Friday at 19:10pm (SA time), he has two principle hurdles to overcome. The first is his condition, as nobody knows how fit he is, and it will definitely count as he takes on a pretty accomplished field to whom he gives weight all round (he goes to post with 60kgs). The other of course, is the fact he’s never competed on an artificial surface, and the new Meydan track has been laid with Tapeta. While the reports are that the track is riding well, it’s a matter of individual preference as to whether a horse takes to it or not.

An indication of the mountain he has to climb is that he has to give more than a stone to the accomplished South African Graded Stakes winner, Wonder Lawn, as well the highly performed Irish runner, Stubbs Art. He needs to get this one under his belt though, if he’s going to have any impact on the Carnival, and so we hope he has the condition to make a sort of race of it.

JAGUAR XJ TROPHY
MEYDAN TAPETA 1400M
FINAL FIELD

#	Draw	Horse	Age	Weight	Jockey	Trainer
1	8	IMBONGI	6	60.0	C Soumillon	Mike de Kock
2	4	SUMMIT SURGE	6	59.5	K Fallon	Luca Cumani
3	11	WEST SIDE BERNIE	4	59.0	L Dettori	Saeed Bin Suroor
4	5	MUNADDAM	8	58.5	R Hills	Erwan Charpy
5	10	DERBAAS	4	54.5	T O’Shea	Ali Rashid Al Raihe
6	3	ANS BACH	7	53.0	W Buck	Shurba Selaratnam
7	2	AQMAAR	6	53.0	D Badel	Erwan Charpy
8	6	BARBECUE EDDIE	6	53.0	W Supple	Doug Watson
9	12	NOBLE CITIZEN	5	53.0	R Mullen	David Simcock
10	1	STUBBS ART	5	53.0	T Durcan	Mike de Kock
11	9	TASDEER	5	53.0	W Smith	Doug Watson
12	7	WONDER LAWN	7	53.0	D O’Donohoe	Mike de Kock

HENRYTHENAVIGATOR takes Irish 2000 Guineas

Johnny Murtagh and Henrythenavigator
(Caroline Norris)

Henrythenavigator more than confirmed his classic superiority over New Approach from Newmarket three weeks earlier when accelerating like a top-class performer under Johnny Murtagh to win the Boylesports Irish 2000 Guineas (Gr1) at the Curragh on yesterday..

English based Thoroughbred Times correspondent, Tony Smurthwaite, reports as follows :

The gap between the two Irish-trained colts had been only a nose when upset favored in the on May 3.

On faster turf at the Curragh, the placings were the same but the dominance was stretched to 1 3/4 lengths. The immediate question after the race was whether the Coolmore team that races Henrythenavigator, a Kingmambo colt, would now target the 1 1/2-mile Vodafone Epsom Derby (Eng-G1) at Epsom on June 7.

Gibraltar-based bookmaker Victor Chandler made the winner his 4-to-1 second favorite for the Derby. Ladbrokes decided not to offer a quote based on uncertainty regarding Coolmore’s plans for Henrythenavigator.

Winning trainer Aidan O’Brien, who earned his fifth victory in the Irish 2000 Guineas, said Henrythenavigator was “very much in the mix” for the Derby.

“The Derby is very much in the picture,” O’Brien said. “A lot of horses by Kingmambo stay a mile-and-a-half, and this colt is out of a Sadler’s Wells mare, so that is a positive. Henrythenavigator is a strong horse.”

After the race, Jim Bolger, who trains last season’s European champion two-year-old male New Approach, claimed the turf—officially listed as firm—was too fast for such an important contest as a classic. Yet the winning time of 1:39.63 was considerably slower than the 1:36.10 recorded by Cockney Rebel on good-to-firm ground a year ago.

“The management should have done a better job by watering more than they did,” Bolger said.

New Approach was taken to the lead in the five-horse field by Kevin Manning, who had to roust his mount to stay in front during the race and said later that the Galileo (Ire) colt was feeling the fast ground.

“I knew after going about one furlong that we were in trouble,” Manning said. “He was hanging a bit and not letting himself down on the ground. It was too firm for him.”

Stubbs Art finished third, as he had done at Newmarket, and Jupiter Pluvius, stablemate of the winner, was fourth. Nownownow, winner of the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, finished last of five in his European debut.
 
Bred by Western Bloodstock, Henrythenavigator is out of the Sadler’s Wells mare Sequoyah (Ire). He improved to four wins in six starts.

IRISH 2000 GUINEAS : Rivals meet again

Henrythenavigator and New Approach (The Racing Post)

New Approach will have a rival from within his own stable for his rematch with Henrythenavigator, with his trainer Jim Bolger on Monday insisting the unraced Luminaire will not be acting as a pacemaker in the Boylesports Irish 2,000 Guineas on Saturday.

Henrythenavigator and New Approach, separated by a nose in the 2,000 Guineas, are among 13 acceptors for Saturday’s race, while Aidan O’Brien has left in five, while Saeed Bin Suroor has two entries in Fast Company and Ibn Khaldun.

The Irish 2,000 Guineas has gone for export in the past four years, and the overseas three-pronged challenge includes Godolphin’s Ibn Khaldun, the Brendan Duke-trained Sammy The Snake and Stubbs Art, added at a cost of €40,000.

HENRYTHENAVIGATOR : Another winner for Aidan O'Brien

Henrythenavigator holds off New Approach (dailymail)Susan Magnier’s Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo) hadn’t been out since finishing third to New Approach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G2 Futurity Stakes in August, but proved resolute in the final yards of Saturday’s G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket to hand that rival his first defeat.

“The race worked well for me and he really answered the call,” said winning rider Johnny Murtagh, who piloted Rock of Gibraltar (Ire) to victory in 2002. “He quickened up well and I thought I would win by a neck, but he got tired and fair dues to the second. He battled back-they are two very high-class horses.”

While Henrythenavigator’s success in the G2 Coventry Stakes came over six furlongs at Royal Ascot in June, the manner of that performance and his pedigree suggested a step up in trip would not pose a problem.

“We were happy with him at home, but it was his first run and all of our horses have been improving a lot for it,” trainer Aidan O’Brien said after greeting his fifth winner. “He was entitled to get tired at the end, and will improve. We thought the world of him last year and he was always exceptional.”

Click here to watch video of Henrythenavigator winning the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket 2008. 

O’BRIEN’S PREVIOUS GUINEAS WINNERS

Year          Winner                                         Sire
2006         George Washington (Ire)     Danehill
2005         Footstepsinthesand (GB)     Giant’s Causeway
2002         Rock of Gibraltar (Ire)         Danehill
1998          King of Kings (Ire)                  Sadler’s Wells

Saturday, Newmarket, Britain

STANJAMESUK.COM 2000 GUINEAS S. (THE 200^TH RUNNING)-G1 , ,375,000, Newmarket, 5-3, 3yo, c/f, 1mT, 1:39.14, gd.
1—HENRYTHENAVIGATOR, 126, c, 3, by Kingmambo
    1st Dam: Sequoyah (Ire) (Hwt 2yo Filly-Ire, G1SW-Ire, $150,827), by Sadler ’s Wells
    2nd Dam: Brigid, by Irish River (Fr)
    3rd Dam: Luv Luvin’, by Raise a Native
O-Susan Magnier; B-Western Bloodstock; T-Aidan O’Brien; J-Johnny Murtagh; ,212,887. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-1
2—New Approach (Ire), 126, c, 3, Galileo (Ire)-Park Express (Ire), by Ahonoora GB).
3—Stubbs Art (Ire), 126, c, 3, Hawk Wing—Rich Dancer (GB), by Halling.