Equinties - classic Moore

Gm Equinauts

It’s Oaks week and we’ve stuck up an ante-post!

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUND UP

CLASSIC MOORE

Ryan Moore produced a world-class ride yesterday in the biggest race of the weekend. Grass is still green, then.

That’s right, CAMILLE PISARRO won the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club on Sunday afternoon, and punters up and down the land can thank that man Ryan for the success.
Now, of course, this latest French Derby win for Ballydoyle isn’t solely down to Moore; there was more at play.

Aidan O’Brien once again showed his brilliance to get the GOLDEN HORDE half-brother (the 2020 Commonwealth Cup winner) to stay 1m2f, Wayne Lordan’s race riding on stablemate TRINITY COLLEGE was on point, and the horse itself obviously showed a good deal of class to win.

But, come on, Moore was the star of the show here. It’s funny, in a season that has been littered with jockey controversy (cough cough, Keiran Shoemark), there is a world where this could have gone horribly wrong for Ballydoyle’s number one.

The 41-year-old rider sat the Group 1-winning juvenile slightly further back than some maybe expected, as he could have been right up with the pace thanks to his draw in stall one.

This put CAMILLE PISARRO behind horses, waiting for a gap to appear. Now, if the gods were looking down unfavourably upon the 4/1 favourite, the gap may not have appeared in time, and we would be talking about this race in a completely different manner.

As it happened, BOWMARK, the horse on the rail, started to lose ground which created a window between him and TRINITY COLLEGE, and Moore weaved his magic to fire his mount through vacant space. At that point, CUALIFICAR and DETAIN, who were slightly unfortunate to be on the left-hand side of TRINITY COLLEGE, had no answer to CAMILLE PISARRO’s turn of foot who ripped up the paint and the race was over.

The great game.

So, CAMILLE PISARRO is the 2025 French Derby winner, and O’Brien has some decisions to make regarding his future. The Ballydoyle handler won this race four years ago with the brilliant ST MARK’S BASILICA, who went on to win the Coral-Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes subsequently.

O’Brien didn’t nominate any race in his quotes yesterday, but CAMILLE PISARRO is entered for both of these races as well as the St James’s Palace Stakes (quick turnaround, over a mile, and they already have HENRI MATISSE, so this is a no), the Commonwealth Cup Stakes (no), the Sussex Stakes (over a mile, probably not), and the Arc (maybe).

Speaking of the Arc, CUALIFICAR, the runner-up, did stay on nicely having been up in the van. He is entered for the Arc, and he is a 33/1 shot who should stay further.

On him, jockey William Buick said: “He’s run a blinder. I thought I had a really good trip and he’s come through the grades quickly.
“I think he’ll get further and I’d be very happy with that. I think he’ll improve again.”

Back to Moore, he’s got a huge week ahead of him with choices to make. We already mentioned his preference for DELACROIX in last weeks newsletter and now it is our understanding that his Oaks choice will be MINNIE HAUK. The market has her priced as is Ballydoyles third fave behind WHIRL and GISELLE, that will all change soon.

By FRANKEL and out of MULTILINGUAL who is by DANSILI, she cost a cool €1.85 million and bred by Ben Sangster. The dam is a sibling to the mighty KINGMAN and their Uncle is the speedy OASIS DREAM.

FRANKEL looks like he has injected his stamina and class into her armory, but this is a deep Juddmonte family. She was a big yearling and but light on her feet. A beautiful long, slow walk that suggests a mile and a half around Epsom is ideal.

Ballydoyle’s filly must have the clock watchers purring in Ireland. There has always been a bit of talk around her. She has only the raced the 3 times, but she made a favourable impression when winning the Cheshire Oaks. That was after 200 days off and she’ll likely come on a bundle for the trip away.

The Cheshire Oaks’ most notable winner in the last 10 years was of course ENABLE, others have included Irish Oaks winner SAVETHELASTDANCE, Pretty Polly winner DIAMONDSANDRUBIES and Group 1 winner MAGIC WAND.

Back MINNIE HAUK at 8’s ew simply for the value.

More: https://www.racingpost.com/news/reports/more-classic-delight-for-aidan-obrien-as-ryan-moore-delivers-french-derby-masterpiece-on-camille-pissarro-ax6aG8z2ykRN/

DERBY HOPEFULS

It’s Epsom Derby week, and that should really mean something to every racing fan.
Behind the endless logistical nightmare that Epsom creates for the Jockey Club is a race that is so pure. The Epsom Derby is the race that everyone wants to win, no matter the ground, prize money, crowd, or competition.

To even have a runner on ‘Derby Day’ is special, let alone having one in the big race itself.

This year, RULING COURT is a big talking horse. This is leg two in a potential Triple Crown bid, and the 2000 Guineas winner has to show that he can stay the extended trip while also handling the twists and turns of Epsom. Marvellous.

The likes of DELACROIX, PRIDE OF ARRAS, and THE LION IN WINTER all add great intrigue, though we also got some more news on two interesting additions to the race.

The first is MIDAK, the Francis-Henri Graffard-trained unbeaten son of FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND who is set to be supplemented for the blue riband event.
He didn’t run as a juvenile, but he has won all three of his races this season, and he looked pretty good when landing the Group 3 Prix Greffulhe in May.

The late Age Khan won Epsom’s feature contest five times, most famously with SHERGAR in 1981, so to see these colours on the Downs again will be some sight.

On his chance, racing manager Nemone Routh said: "There are a lot of unknowns but we think he'll act around the track as he's a balanced horse. He's a big horse which is a bit of an unknown but Mickael thinks he'll act on the course and we believe he will stay.

"We're hopeful and we felt there was no obvious race for him before the Grand Prix de Paris and we didn't want to wait two months. We already had runners in the Jockey Club and, as the race is run in His Highness's honour, Francis spoke to Princess Zahra and everyone felt it was a nice thing to do."

As for this other interesting Derby contender, that comes from the Saeed bin Suroor stable thanks to TORNADO ALERT, fourth in the 2000 Guineas. He is 40/1 for the Derby, and he did the donkey work at Newmarket last month before succumbing to RULING COURT, FIELD OF GOLD, and SHADOW OF LIGHT.

On paper, this year’s 2000 Guineas already looks like a good piece of form, and the TOO DARN HOT half-brother to the Grade 1 winner JUST FINE stayed on well under pressure considering he was “maybe 80 or 85 per cent [fit]”.

Bin Suroor continued: “Tornado Alert has improved physically this year. We took him to Dubai over the winter and when we started to work him at Al Quoz it gave me confidence to run him in the 2,000 Guineas.

“I know he hasn't that much experience, but the way he works in the morning he shows some class. He finished fourth in the Guineas, which was a nice run going into something like the Derby, and he came back well from the race.

“At Newmarket, he wasn’t 100 per cent fit, maybe 80 or 85 per cent. He’s worked well since and went nicely here on our grass gallop.

"I think the track will suit him as he’s a well-balanced horse. There’s only one Derby and we're hoping to get Oisin Murphy to ride him.”

We are excited for the Derby. Let’s go!

WEEKEND EYE-CATCHERS

LEOVANNI – SATURDAY 14.23 HAYDOCK

For a first run of the season, LEOVANNI shaped well in the Listed Achilles Stakes.

She didn’t get the clearest run through the race behind the eventual winner BALMORAL LADY, but once the gap opened up very late, she stayed on well under William Buick to finish fourth.

James Doyle went to Lingfield on Saturday, so it seems like Wathnan weren’t expecting much. She ran well, and she’ll come on for it. She could be interesting if connections take a stab at the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup, especially considering she won at Royal Ascot last season.

TERM OF ENDEARMENT – SATURDAY 15.15 YORK

Hollie Doyle’s husband is a great rider, but he got it a bit wrong on TERM OF ENDEARMENT in the Group 3 Bronte Cup Fillies’ Stakes. She should have won, but Marquand got to the front too soon, and this allowed SCENIC to catch up and chin her on the line.

The six-year-old by SEA THE MOON has been purchased for breeding purposes further down the line, but connections must feel they can pick up Group 1 black type before her career finishes.

This weekend was her first run back in the UK, and now in the hands of William Haggas, she can improve to run well in Group 1 company soon.

RISK ON

We’re going to follow our own advice (in the above Classic Moore article) and back MINNIE HAUKS in the Oaks. 8/1 for Fridays big girls race.

18.00 VLAD

VLAD put up a good debut when running behind a potential star for Godolphin. The ground was quick that day and it will be quick again today at Wetherby today which on pedigree, is perfect for him. Strong messages flying round for the Rogue horse but we think he needs soft/heavy going and that big money is giving us a price on VLAD. The others shouldn’t be winning today for either need the run or not having the best pedigree. VLAD is evens almost every where now, a hell of a drifter, and we like it.

20.45 WALSON’S LAW

Ex-Boughey horse now with Eve. He’s only been there about a week but Boughey didn’t want him to leave and he’s reportedly working well above his mark at his new home. Now, he might be a morning glory horse (good work horse who doesn’t do it on track) but at 16/1 bottom of market he’s worth a small play ew 3 places.

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