Frankel
The Big Three
Saturday’s Dewhurst Stakes drew a dozen possibles, including undefeated Frankel, Dream Ahead, and Saamidd, whetting interest in “the most eagerly-awaited two-year-old race of the modern era,” or, if you prefer, “the best race for two-year-olds in living memory.” Oh, my, that is hype. It makes all the post-Champagne Stakes twittering about the anticipated Uncle Mo and Boys at Tosconova match-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile look staid by comparison (for example, see Dick Jerardi, John Pricci). Some hype is certainly justified — it’s undeniably an intriguing scenario shaping up at Newmarket, with the flawless reputations of the Dewhurst Big 3 on the line.
Aside: Don’t worry about Frankel’s jockey, Tom Queally, who fell from a horse at Goodwood on Sunday. “He’s not concussed,” said the rider’s agent.
A few other buzz baby items to note: Wickedly Perfect, winner of the Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland on Friday, and AZ Warrior, winner of the Frizette Stakes at Belmont on Saturday, were the second and third fillies to come back from the Debutante Stakes at Del Mar last month to score a stakes win. Rigoletta, third in that race to Wickedly Perfect and Tell a Kelly, won the Oak Leaf Stakes at Hollywood last week. The Debutante has also yielded a next-out allowance winner, with sixth-place finisher Sugarinthemorning winning at Hollywood on Sunday … Wickedly Perfect won’t make the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. A bone chip was discovered in her knee after the Alcibiades … AZ Warrior was one of two G1 winners for freshman sire Bernardini over the weekend. His other was Biondetti, taking the Gran Criterium in Milan for Godolphin. The colt is possible for the Breeders’ Cup, said trainer Mahmood al Zarooni … Aidan O’Brien trainee Together, second to undefeated White Moonstone in the Fillies’ Mile, could start in the Turf Fillies.
Housekeeping: Taking advantage of Equibase’s improved features, including the new horse profile pages with charts and workouts info, the spreadsheet’s been cleaned up (and should be much easier to use).
Ascot Sensation
Frankel could be a superstar. “A lashing, slashing hunk of horse, he looks the part and acts it too,” gushed Steve Dennis of the Henry Cecil-trained colt who’s done everything right in his three starts, picking up fans with every easy win. Watch him open up 10 lengths on his four rivals in the Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot on Saturday (the segment begins at :38 seconds):
The Royal Lodge was a Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In race for the Juvenile Turf, but Cecil won’t be shipping the colt to Churchill Downs. The trainer plans one more race this fall, at Newmarket or Doncaster in mid-October, then a break until spring. “I’d rather finish his season in the earlier race, the Dewhurst, but if he tells us he needs more time after today, then he’ll get it.”
Bettors responded to yesterday’s win by making Frankel the 2-1 early favorite for the 2011 2000 Guineas, 4-1 for the Epsom Derby. Cecil, agreeing the juvenile is “exciting,” tempered enthusiasm by expressing doubts about Frankel’s potential stamina:
“It’s difficult to say whether he could get a mile and a half. There’s no guarantee that he would. The dam was a six-furlong filly, and the dam is important in a horse’s pedigree. If he did stay a mile and a half, he would be something out of the ordinary,” he said.
Oh, to have to worry whether a horse can get 12 furlongs; it is a different game across the Atlantic. But is it a different breed? That’s the provocative question Scott Giles poses over on the Blood-Horse MarketWatch blog.
9/27/10 Addendum: Chris McGrath on Frankel. “A saviour is constantly sought, constantly imagined, but seldom arrives in the manner expected. And that will never be as true as when you depend on the random agency of horses. Take the emergence of this coruscating animal, Frankel. The ‘narrative’ could scarcely be richer, or more satisfying.”
Frankel wasn’t the only buzz baby to run this weekend. In the Fillies’ Mile at Ascot, White Moonstone kept her record perfect with a win over Together and Theyskens’ Theory. Both ‘Moonstone and ‘Theory are unlikely for the Breeders’ Cup. At Monmouth on Saturday, Curlinello, Astrology, and Tiz Blessed finished 2-3-4 to Sweet Ducky in the Garden State.
Champions’ Day
Big changes to the 2011 British racing fixture list, not least a new event:
At long last, racing has officially announced the arrival of British Champions’ Day, with £3 million in prize money making it the richest fixture in British racing history. It will be staged at Ascot on 15 Oct 2011, with a six-race card that officials hope can be built into an extravaganza to rival the Breeders’ Cup and Arc day.
France Galop, which wants three weeks between the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Champions’ day, isn’t happy. BHA is going ahead regardless.
In a move that will seem familiar to even the most casual observer of the Breeders’ Cup, a British Champions’ Series, with five championship categories, will lead to Champions’ Day. It’s a bit of a “red herring,” notes the Telegraph. Not at all, said an executive involved. “They [the races] are signposts for newcomers to racing.” It’s about marketing and branding, of course.
Which reminds me, Bill Oppenheim wrote an interesting, straightforward account of how the recent Breeders’ Cup developments came to pass for the September 23 Thoroughbred Daily News. Emphasis is on the effects to the breeding industry, with glimpses into how the BC “narrative” is being crafted.
The strange career of Square Eddie continues. Retired early this year to stand stud at Vessels Stallion Station in California, the 4-year-old colt has been returned to training. “After he was done breeding, we checked his legs and they were cold and tight,” trainer Doug O’Neill told the Blood-Horse. “We have got him back on the track for Chapter 2.” It might be more accurate to call this episode Chapter 3, since Square Eddie was already returned to racing once after suffering setbacks during the 2009 Triple Crown season. The juvenile graded stakes winner was unplaced in his four post-injury starts as a 3-year-old, prompting the end of his running days. Asked Foolish Pleasure on Twitter, “Why is it always Doug O’Neill? Doesn’t that just say it all?”
Alan Shuback cuts through the surface debate: “[I]nstead of forever arguing over whether we should be racing of dirt or synthetics, we should be building racetracks with long straights and milder turns.” It’s an argument for a more European style of racing, but then, what do we have to lose? Not more horses.
Theyskens’ Theory and undefeated White Moonstone, two very exciting Euro babies out of a bumper crop this year, are set to meet in the Meon Valley Stud Fillies’ Mile Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. Both debuted in July, both will be making their fourth career starts. Also running at Ascot on Saturday is Frankel, who will face five in the Royal Lodge Stakes. The well-regarded Henry Cecil trainee will be making his third start since debuting in August.
“The one thing that we’re doing a little bit differently this year is skipping the last possible prep for some of the horses and going into it with a little more time,” trainer Todd Pletcher informs readers of the At the Races UK blog dedicated to the barn’s Breeders’ Cup contenders. “Of course, with our two-year-olds, most of them will need another start.” So, wow baby Uncle Mo will get his second career start and final Breeders’ Cup prep in the Champagne at Belmont, Curlinello will make his second start in a Monmouth stakes, and Stay Thirsty, who has run three times, may or may not train up to Churchill.
Progressively International
Chris McGrath applauds the recent Breeders’ Cup changes:
… there is a case for wondering whether the latest such initiative will prove one of the most significant in the history of the international sport. For with a single stroke, the Breeders’ Cup has dismantled the barriers that have historically confined European participation to a minority blessed by unusual luck or resources.
The main criticism of the Challenge series, from the start, was the asterisk attached to Win and You’re In. Removed, the event truly goes global.
I’ve been looking forward to seeing several Euro juveniles at Churchill Downs this November, none more than Frankel, so dominating in his first two starts. But I may have to wait another year, writes Nick Luck on BC360: “Given the colt’s likely intended path through European Classics in 2011, however, an appearance at Churchill this time around is pretty unlikely.”
Real-time gets richer: Twitter unveiled significant updates to the service last night, which will be in place for all users in the next couple weeks. The new right pane will display videos and photos alongside the stream, which opens up some intriguing possibilities for on-the-scene tweeting from Louisville.
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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