Equinties - ba-boom!

Gm Equinauts

Our new hire Norm updated his scorecard last night and it’s a thing of beauty!

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

GROUP 1 ROUND-UP

There was plenty of Group 1 action this weekend!

Starting with the most notable race, the Phoenix Stakes for two-year-olds, BABOUCHE is still unbeaten as she beat the LITTLE BIG BEAR full brother WHISTLEJACKET.

What’s notable is the pre-race market move for Aidan O’Brien’s runner; he was a shade of odds-on in the morning but went 8/13 at the off.

So, why did WHISTLEJACKET not oblige?

WHISTLEJACKET went from the front and set 10.52, 10.69, 10.89 and 10.93 sectionals between the 1f and 5f poles, so he went hard from the front. Both SHADOW ARMY and RUDI’S APPLE were being nudged along earlier than expected at the back of the field as well, which gives evidence to this theory.

Furthermore, in the final furlong, WHISTLEJACKET’s stride shortened slightly and he hung towards the right where he nearly ran into the back of BABOUCHE. Maybe he was getting tired late on?

This isn’t to take away from the winner, however. She made a mid-race move that won her the race and she should be commended for that.

Colin Keane barely asked her for much in the final half-a-furlong as well. He knew they had won, partly due to her class and partly due to WHISTLEJACKET doing too much.

It looks like it could be the Cheveley Park next for BABOUCHE and then she might be finished for the season.

As for the other Group 1s, CHARYN won the Jacques le Marois. He truly is a great horse and he has improved plenty this season.

We can’t say much more, other than offering our praise to him. He is the type of horse everyone would like to own. Solid, consistent, sound and very good!

As for INSPIRAL, shock, she didn’t win. She ran an alright race, but she isn’t the horse she once was. It’s as if Gosden admitted she was getting a bit too cute for her training at the start of the season.

Finally, over in Germany, AL RIFFA strengthened his Arc credentials by winning the Grosser Preis von Berlin.

The form of the race probably isn't much, but connections can take some comfort from the fact he beat TUNNES – a Group 1 winner who travelled over to the UK to take on EMILY UPJOHN and WESTOVER last year – by nearly 14 lengths.

He’s now won a Group 1 over 1m4f and he was second to CITY OF TROY on soft ground over 1m2f, so those are good signs regarding his Arc hopes. He was also second to last year’s Arc winner ACE IMPACT in the 2023 Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano.

He is now 16/1 for the Arc and deserves some sort of inclusion in it’s conversation.

COOLMORE WONDERLAND

Sometimes, our intern reminds us why we pay him the small bucks, and on Saturday, we saw this come to fruition.

In our July 9th newsletter called “slop comms”, we highlighted an impressive Dundalk Barrier Trial winner that had surfaced on Racing X.

That winner was FALLING SNOW, and if you are someone who possesses a deep memory, you might have remembered this ahead of FALLING SNOW making her debut at the Curragh.

She was sent off 7/2 for Donnacha O’Brien to beat Aidan’s BALLET SLIPPERS, an 8/13 favourite.

Both of the 1-2 are well-bred horses as BALLET SLIPPERS is by DUBAWI out of the seven-time Group 1 winner MINDING and FALLING SNOW is by JUSTIFY out of the four-time Group 1 winner WINTER.

They both put in great performances and were only separated by a neck, so Coolmore has an exciting future to look forward to.

WEEKEND EYE-CATCHERS

THUNDER BLUE – SATURDAY ASCOT 15.20

This eye-catcher isn’t a horse that had a tough route through a race, he just ran into a couple of nice horses.

THUNDER BLUE was third in the Shergar Cup Sprint won by one-half of our newsletter double JARRAAF.

Jamie Osborne’s three-year-old by BLUE POINT was bought by his new connections for 110,000gns at Tattersalls Guineas Sale having been with Amo Racing. In his pre-race comments, he thought a mark of 88 is still workable and based on Saturday’s performance, he could well be correct.

CHAMPAGNE PRINCE - SATURDAY 15.55

We tipped him in the newsletter as one of our Shergar Cup fast ground horses and boy did he come alive on the concrete. With a better ride he'd have won the race but having had absolutely nothing this year, he looks ready to win now and can put his 2yo form to good use now he’s shown he has trained on.

RISK ON

14.25 DUTY FIRST 

Supposed to be a nice one! A good bet at 1/1 - just the one bet for us today.

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