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Across the country at Del Mar, Sidney's Candy (Candy Ride - Fair Exchange, by Storm Cat) rebounded in stellar fashion on his turf debut. He set a new course record when garnering a winning bracket in the La Jolla Handicap (Gr.2). At the wire, trainer John Sadler's ward was 5-1/2 lengths clear in the 1-1/16 miles test, covering the trip in 1:39.52. A number of options have thus opened up for the handsome front-running chestnut, who acts equally well on synthetic surfaces.
The following afternoon, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Breeders Stakes, run at 1-1/2 miles on rain-softened turf at Woodbine in Toronto, resulted in the biggest upset ever recorded in the race when Miami Deco (Limehouse – Miami Dreams, by Secret Hello) just got up on the inside of the struggling duo of Stormy Lord and Cognashene to triumph at 65 to 1! The Ontario-bred was a maiden going into the event. He was guided by Richard Dos Ramos for trainer Brian Lynch – the same schooler had sent out Golden Moka to victory in the second leg of the series.
Wando (in 2003) thus remains the only Canadian Triple Crown winner since Peteski completed the treble in 1993. In recent years, some of the winners of the Triple Crown races, which are restricted to Canadian-breds, have been really obscure individuals. Perhaps a rehash of the programme is warranted?
Europe
How often does anyone from outside Eastern Europe watch Hungarian racing? Only when the "Budapest Bullet" is running, one would guess! Back at his home base, one of the fastest horses in Europe Overdose (Starborough – Our Poppet, by Warning) made mincemeat of his rivals in the Bestens-Pannonia Life Insurance Prize (Listed) over 1000 m. at Kincsem Park in Budapest on Sunday, August 14th.
With Czech-based British rider Gary Hind – familiar to old-time racegoers in Calcutta – in the irons, he stretched his unbeaten sequence of victories to 14. The time of 00:56.4 was excellent. Overdose's fortunate owner, Zoltán Mikóczy, nominated the Group 2 Goldene Peitsche at Baden-Baden in Germany as the five-year-old’s next target. Hind added, "From the start his action was better today (as compared to his last effort). And his time was very good considering the ground. He is a unique horse and today was a special day with a very happy ending - I am a small wheel in a big chain but it's great to be part of it. No matter how much money I have, I can never buy moments like today."
York's summer meeting brings out some of the best runners in England and this year's renewal of the Juddmonte International (Gr.1) over 10-1/2 fur. on Tuesday, August 17th, lived up to its reputation. Pitted against each other were the world's second highest-rated four-year-old Rip Van Winkle (Galileo – Looking Back, by Stravinsky), Prince Of Wales's Stakes (Gr.1) hero Byword and dual Group 1 winner Twice Over, as also Dick Turpin (another Group 1 winner) representing the classic generation.
For most of the length of the straight it seemed as if the race sponsor, the Juddmonte Farms of Prince Khalid Abdullah, would finally have its first winner of the event since their banner began embellishing the race title – Byword and Twice Over were battling it out in front, with favourite Rip Van Winkle following at one pace. Suddenly the public choice sprouted wings, as it were, and motored smoothly past to pull out half a length over the gallant Twice Over. Trainer O'Brien and rider Murtagh could rarely have savoured a more satisfying victory.
When Makfi (Dubawi-Dhelaal, by Green Desert), from the Gouvieux yard of Mikel Delzangles in France, came across the channel to annex the stanjames.com 2000 Guineas (Gr.1) in England last May, his effort was deemed a 'fluke' in some quarters. After the colt lost his unbeaten record in the St. James's Palace Stakes (Gr.1) at Royal Ascot the following month, the "told-you-so" brigade was exultant. One wonders what they have to say now as Makfi rebounded in splendid style to topple the fancied duo of Goldikova and Paco Boy in the 1,600 m. Prix Jacques le Marois (Gr.1) at Deauville on Sunday, August 15th.
Whenever such an upset occurs, everyone is suddenly clutching at excuses – the fact that the ground was on the soft side due to rain has been put forward as a reason for the eclipse of Goldikova and Paco Boy, who reproduced the form of their previous meeting to the proverbial ounce. Whatever may be the merit of that argument, it's well worth remembering that the form of Makfi's Guineas win has been strongly franked – Dick Turpin, who finished second on that occasion, recorded a Group 1 success in the Prix Jean Prat, while third-placed Canford Cliffs took 3 Group 1s in a row – the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the St. James’s Palace Stakes and the Sussex Stakes.
Team Godolphin has been firing on all cylinders of late. Despite Frankie Dettori being unable to turn up at Weidenpescher Park in Cologne, Germany, on time due to traffic problems on August 15th, their challenger for the Rheinland Pokal (Gr.1), Campanologist (Kingmambo – Ring Of Music, by Sadler's Wells) was in no way inconvenienced by the presence of Adrie de Vries in the saddle. In fact, as trainer Saeed bin Suroor put it, "The jockey really gave him an excellent ride and all went well." For the record, Campanologist recorded his ninth win (from 24 starts).
The 1-3/4 miles CGA Geoffrey Freer Stakes (Gr.2) at Newbury is one of the prime summer targets for runners which stay just that little bit more than the classic mile and a half distance. Although he had already shown himself to be useful last year when runner-up to Delegator in the banshahousestables.com Craven Stakes (Gr.3) at only his second career start, Sans Frontieres (Galileo – Llia, by Shirley Heights) displayed a new level of form when taking the Princess of Wales's sportingbet.com Stakes (Gr.2) at Newmarket in July. His renaissance is attributed to trainer Jeremy Noseda's decision to equip Sir Robert Ogden's bonny chestnut with a tongue strap and cheek pieces. In the Geoffrey Freer on August 14th, Sans Frontieres put up his best-ever performance when accounting for 7 rivals.
Have you ever followed a grey horse for the simple reason that it stands out in a race by virtue of its colour? Well, you would have had a difficult time choosing from ten runners in the unique Racing Welfare Grey Horse Handicap over 6 furlongs at Newmarket last Saturday, as that race – as its name implies – is for grey horses only! In a finish of heads, the superbly-bred gelding, Witchry (Green Desert – Indian Skimmer, by Storm Bird), stretched his neck out to score.
