Anthony Stephen Steers Golden Moka to a Splendid Victory |
| Easily the most heart-warming story of the year was the victory of Golden Moka (Golden Missile Sunset Seeker, by Seeking The Gold) in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince Of Wales Stakes (1900 m.) at Fort Erie on July 25th. Amazingly this Canadian-bred horse, sold as a yearling in Kentucky, was making his first start in North America and had been off the track for eight months! His previous three starts, all attended by victory but none over further than 6 furlongs, were recorded on the Remon racetrack in Panama. It was there that his talent was spotted by Panamanian native Rene Douglas, a former leading rider in the USA, who was unfortunately paralyzed in a fall from Born To Be at Arlington Park, Chicago, in May last year. A group of friends, which included the 43-year-old Douglas, bought the colt out of the yard of Jose Bartoli for a "ridiculously low" price and shipped him to Brian Lynch in Toronto. And the rest, as they say, is history Mobil Unit was second and the hero of the Queen's Plate, Big Red Mike, was third. Incidentally, Trinidad-born jockey Anthony Stephen, who piloted the colt, had ridden in India in 2006-2007, where he won a couple of races, including one astride Lady One. One hopes the win will give added mental strength to Douglas, who is determined to walk again. The highlights of the summer in the U.S.A. are the meetings at Del Mar just outside San Diego, California, and at Saratoga, in upstate New York. The latter meetingthe 142nd at the track opened on July 23rd with a well-filled card of 10 events, with 127 runners engaged. The solitary Graded Stakes of the afternoon was the traditional Schuylerville Stakes (Gr.2), for 2-y-o fillies, which saw half a dozen in opposition. On a rain-soaked track Le Mi Geaux (First Samurai-Message Red, by Cryptoclearance), a home-bred for Landon Robbins scored a 9 to 1 triumph. A day later on the same track, red-hot favourite Devil May Care (Malibu Moon Kelli's Ransom, by Red Ransom), with Johnny Velasquez up, trounced her five rivals in the shortened Betfair TVG Coaching Club American Oaks (Gr.1) over 9 furlongs. Till last year, this race was run at 10 furlongs at Belmont Park. This epidemic of reduction in race distances could have a long term devastating effect on the calibre of the North American-bred, but this "Devil" did not care the way she ran, she would have won at any distance. Todd Pletcher has a live candidate in her she has won 5 of her 8 starts for champion 3-y-o filly with only Blind Luck standing in her way. On the same afternoon at Monmouth Park, the 2009 Horse Of The Year Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro Lotta Kim) had to face seriously hot weather 35 degrees and six overmatched opponents in the non-Graded Lady's Secret Stakes for fillies and mares. The racetrack management lured the filly to Monmouth by upping the original purse of $150,000 to $400,000 (contingent on her participation), lengthening the trip from 1-1/16 miles to 1-1/8 miles, and advancing the date from the scheduled August 1st! After tailing Queen Martha for the first three-quarters of a mile, Calvin Borel loosened his grip on the champion who soon barrelled clear at the top of the straight. Those expecting the Steve Asmussen-trainee to pull out ten lengths like she had done at her last appearance must have been disappointed for she won by only three. Still, it's hard to say how much Borel had up his sleeve. Horse racing is all about competition and one hopes Rachel Alexandra tackles Zenyatta in her next few starts before the call of the breeding shed beckons for both. European Update The premier mid-Summer all-aged event in Great Britain is the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr.1), run over 12 furlongs at Ascot each year at the end of July. With the Epsom Derby hero, Workforce (by King's Best) set to meet the Irish Derby victor, Cape Blanco, and the progressive Harbinger (by Dansili) in this year's renewal, a mouth-watering clash was in prospect. Most expected Workforce to add to the sequence of winning favourites in this race Conduit, Duke Of Marmalade, Dylan Thomas and Hurricane Run scored in the past four years as public choices. Few could have bargained for what they saw an utterly facile and dismissive 11-length victory by Harbinger, a performance for the ages. In the process, the Highclere Thorough-breds standard-bearer propelled himself to the position of best racehorse in training in the world, being rated at 135, an amazing jump of 12 points from the figure he acquired after his success in the Hardwicke Stakes (Gr.2) at Royal Ascot in June. Sir Michael Stoute has wrought significant improvement in the runner who, till last Saturday, had not even appeared in a Group 1 event, leave alone win one. Unfortunately stable jockey Ryan Moore could not share in the celebrations, he having picked the wrong runner from the stable in Workforce, who appeared to hate the firm ground. Frenchman Olivier Peslier was the fortunate recipient of the ride and did not put a finger wrong. Cape Blanco salvaged some credit for his generation by finishing second, ahead of Youmzain. A couple of the Group winners in England in the last few days have strong Indian connections. The Gr.2 Sky Bet York Stakes (10 fur.) at York fell to Noverre's son, Summit Surge (ex Lady Peculiar, by Sunshine Forever). Guided to victory by Kieren Fallon, the six-year-old gelding from Luca Cumani's yard has crossed the £300,000 mark in earnings. As is well known, Noverre is now located at the Sohna Stud in District Gurgaon in Haryana, where he has a first crop of 52 Indian-born yearlings. Some 25 kilometres away, at the Lingwood Stud near Badshahpur in the same district, the credentials of new stallion Declaration Of War (by Okawango) got a boost through the exploits at Ascot of his two-year-old half-sister Soraaya (by Elnadim), who outgunned Margot Did under a powerful ride by Ryan Moore in the Princess Margaret Abu Dhabi Stakes (Gr.3). The winner's trainer, former England footballer Mick Channon (who scored for his country in a 5-0 defeat of Scotland in 1973) ventured "we might have another go at Memory in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh on August 29th. Far Eastern Update Further East, just to prove the adage that a good horse can come from anywhere, Macau has seen its first Triple Crown winner. So highly is Luen Yat Forever (Honours List-Loisset, by Langfuhr) rated that his trainer, Steven Choi, has mapped out an ambitious raid on the Gr.1 plums of Australia, which incidentally is the birthplace of the five-year-old gelding. The Sir Rupert Clark Stakes (Gr.1) at Caulfield on September 18th has been pencilled in as an immediate target. The bay has won exactly half of his 22 starts in Macau, bankrolling about A$800,000 along the way, not a bad return on the A$32,000 he cost as a Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling in 2006. He hails from an illustrious family his third dam, Leica Show, was a champion racemare in her time, back in the 1974-75 season, when her scalps included a Gr.1 victory in the VRC Oaks. |
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