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GRAND WEEKEND OF RACING

By Anil Mukhi | 14 Oct 2016 |


Anil Mukhi

There is plenty of sporting action ahead this weekend, with top class international racing in Australia, Canada and Great Britain. Interestingly, leading Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien has contenders engaged in all three jurisdictions and could well pull off an unprecedented global treble.

First off, chronologically speaking, is the A$3,000,000 BMW Caulfield Cup (Gr.1; 2400 m.) to be run in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday, October 15th at 16:30 AEST (11:00 a.m. IST), which has a full field of 20, including the O'Brien-trained raider Sir Isaac Newton (by Galileo) – who was fortunate enough to draw stall 9 on the tight track. Colm O'Donoghue will be making the long journey to partner the 10 to 1 bay, who fetched 3.6 million guineas as a yearling and would need this win to justify that price!

Under the handicap conditions of the race, he will carry 55.0 kgs., the same as Godolphin's hope, Scottish (by Teofilo), who will start from barrier no. 7 for Charlie Appleby. With Kerrin McEvoy up, he has every chance. Formerly with Sir Michael Stoute, Exospheric (by Beat Hollow) is now with joint trainers Lee and Anthony Freedman, and is the highest-rated runner in the field. Damien Oliver will be aboard. This trio has a lot going for it – except experience on the course. Local hopes are carried by Real Love (by Desert King) and Sir John Hawkwood (by Sir Percy), while there is inspired support for Jameka (by Myboycharlie), who has been backed down to 11 to 4.

British Champions Day, sponsored by QIPCO and run at Ascot in England for the sixth time, is also programmed for Saturday, October 15th. Not much rain is forecast between now and when the card gets away at 1:25 p.m. BST (5:55 p.m. IST) on that afternoon, and the going could be good to soft. There are likely to be sunny intervals and the temperature might reach 15° Celsius. 

The first of four Group 1 races is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. BST (6:30 p.m. IST), namely the £600,000 Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes (6 fur.) which has 14 declared to run, including many of the usual suspects such as the utterly consistent Quiet Reflection (by Showcasing), as also Mecca's Angel (by Dark Angel), The Tin Man (by Equiano) and last year's runner-up, Twilight Son (by Kyllachy), who is a stablemate of Limato (by Tagula). The last-named, ante post favourite, has been withdrawn due to concerns over the ground. A new hat in the ring is that of the unbeaten Shalaa (by Invincible Spirit), a Dettori/Gosden project, who recently returned from a long layoff due to injury with a victory.

The third race of the afternoon, due off at 2:35 p.m. local, is for the females of the species, thirteen of which will clash in the Gr.1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes (12 fur.). Aidan O'Brien, with 20 Group 1 wins in 2016, holds a strong hand here through Seventh Heaven (by Galileo), with Ryan Moore astride, Pretty Perfect (by Galileo), to be steered by Seamie Heffernan and Even Song (by Mastercraftsman) with Jamie Spencer up.  

Standing in the way are Dermot Weld's in-form Zhukova (by Fastnet Rock) from Ireland as well as John Gosden's Journey (by Dubawi) and the progressive Speedy Boarding (by Shamardal), who has been brilliantly placed by her Newmarket-based trainer, James Fanshawe, to pick up a couple of Group 1 events in France – albeit over shorter trips.

More than half of the thirteen high-class milers who will clash for the £1,157,525 Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (8 fur.) sponsored by Qipco at 3:10 p.m., can be said to have a realistic chance of landing the spoils. These include all four winners of the English and Irish Guineas events. At 7 to 4, Aidan O'Brien's Minding (by Galileo) – winner of the Qipco 1000 Guineas – is the best fancied.

Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Jet Setting (by Fast Company), who likes it soft, has been supplemented to take on Minding, whom she beat a head on that occasion, though of course the latter is fancied to turn the tables here. Interestingly, the former had actually been entered for the wrong race but the British Horseracing Authority appreciated that a genuine error had been made and allowed the switch.

The boys are just as keen to stamp their authority. Qipco 2000 Guineas hero Galileo Gold (by Paco Boy), with Frankie Dettori up, will be keen to grab the title of champion 3-y-o miler by once again accounting for his frequent rival, the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas winner, Awtaad (by Cape Cross), as he had at Royal Ascot. The latter, with Chris Hayes in the saddle, will have his preferred ground, but all four named above could be trumped by the rapidly-improving Ribchester (by Iffraaj), the Godolphin hope schooled by Richard Fahey and ridden by William Buick. Lightning Spear (by Pivotal) and the O'Brien second string, Hit It A Bomb (by War Front), could potentially add some spice to the finish.

Many would consider the £1,300,000 Gr.1 Qipco Champion Stakes (10 fur.) at 3:45 p.m. to be the highlight of the afternoon. Eleven have been declared and they include the first three home in last year's renewal of the same race. These are Dermot Weld's Fascinating Rock (by Fastnet Rock), with Pat Smullen astride who is easy to back this time around at 5 to 1; recent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Found (by Galileo), from Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle Stables, who is at 9 to 4 with Ryan Moore up; and John Gosden's Jack Hobbs (by Halling), with William Buick in the pilot's seat as the colt returns from a serious injury almost six months ago.

If the noises emanating from the Pyrenees, in the South of France, are of some significance, all those named earlier will be chasing home Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby winner Almanzor (by Wootton Bassett), who accounted for some mighty scalps last time out in Ireland. There the beaten brigade included Found, Minding, New Bay and Highland Reel. Jean-Claude Rouget saddles the 13 to 8 favourite, who will have Christophe Soumillon making the on-board decisions.

Immediately after Ascot, Ryan Moore and William Buick will pack their suitcases for a transatlantic flight to Toronto, in Canada, where they will have to shake off jet lag by 5:40 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, October 16th (3:10 a.m. on Monday in India). Both are engaged to ride in the Gr.1 $1,000,000 Pattison Canadian International over 12 furlongs. Yes, even though Canada is a metric country, race distances are still measured in imperial units, presumably in a nod to our American cousins!

Anyway, whatever the precise distance, the chances of the prize remaining in Canada are small as there are only two Canadian-trained runners in the 9-strong field. Moore's mount, Idaho (by Galileo), runner-up in the Irish Derby for Aidan O'Brien and unlucky to lose his rider in the Doncaster St. Leger looks a certainty, more so as he is in receipt of 5 to 7 lbs. (imperial measures again!) from all his rivals.

Erupt (by Dubawi), from France, Dartmouth (by Dubawi), from England and the German-trained former Emirates Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist (by Monsun) are other Europeans who should follow him home, with America's best hopes lying with The Pizza Man (by English Channel) and World Approval (by Northern Afleet).