Equinties - clever Coolmore

Gm Equinauts

Weekends like this remind us all just how powerful the Coolmore operation is.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUND UP

CLEVER COOLMORE

In a competitive Coral-Eclipse that was wide-open, Aidan O’Brien got DELACROIX, a distant ninth in the Epsom Derby on his most recent start, to beat the highest-rated horses in training.

And it’s not as if this came out of nowhere; DELACROIX’s win in the biggest Group 1 contest of the season so far is testament to Coolmore’s long-term planning.

More, we did say OMBUDSMAN’s Royal Ascot win might have looked better than it actually was - the race completely fell apart!

The Lads bought TEPIN, DELACROIX’s dam, for $8 million way back in 2017 following her prosperous career on the track. Trained by Mark Casse, the BERNSTEIN mare was a six-time Group/Grade 1 winner, including a success in the 2016 Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

She also placed in three other Grade 1s, including the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Mile. She was a huge talking horse at the time, and the Coolmore Lads reached into their pockets to purchase her for an eye-watering amount.

It was a huge investment, but it’s what the Coolmore empire does successfully, time and time again. Although she only produced two offspring before unfortunately passing away in 2023 at the age of 12, one of them was the Group 1 winner GRATEFUL, and the other is DELACROIX.

Yes, with some simple addition, the $8 million outlay for TEPIN hasn’t appeared to have been paid off yet (GRATEFUL picked up £215,881 on the track, and DELACOIX has just reached the £768,246 mark after this weekend) but DELACROIX has now stamped himself as a future stallion which is stud fee’s simply waiting to be collected.

With a pedigree like his (DUBAWI x TEPIN), he’d surely have his fair share of business, especially if he is reasonably priced against the likes of CITY OF TROY (€75,000) and AUGUSTE RODIN (€30,000).

This potential new stallion all stems from, you guessed it, The Lads having a punt in 2017 by purchasing TEPIN.

Amo have to take note if they’re trying to replicate Coolmore. Year on year, The Lads are investing eye-watering sums in the bid to find their next stallion and it’s paid off again here. They now have a beautiful stallion prospect.

Anyway, back to the race itself, DELACROIX had to show so much grit to win. OMBUDSMAN looked like the winner with one to go, but he flew home down the outside to get up in the shadows of the post. Arguably, he got Ryan Moore out of a bit of trouble because he was boxed in behind horses at the two-furlong pole.

Maybe the result could have been different with a slightly more conservative ride from William Buick on OMBUDSMAN who perhaps did get to the front quite soon, and the Gosdens seemed a little bit peeved post-race.

So, where next for DELACROIX? Well, a proper clash against FIELD OF GOLD in the Juddmonte has been posed by Aidan O’Brien, though the Irish Champion Stakes is also on the radar.

He said: "He has the choice of the Juddmonte or the Irish Champion Stakes next, or maybe even both. Those are the two races we have in mind for him now. He seems fine this morning and appears to have come out of it well, although he obviously hasn't done anything yet.

"He has a proper turn of foot. We knew he got a mile well last year, but the two times he ran at Leopardstown this year before the Derby were slowly run races, and he didn't half quicken. Somewhere like York would be made for him, and Leopardstown would be lovely, too. We have two nice options for him."

He’s 3/1 for the Juddmonte with FIELD OF GOLD at 6/4, OMBUDSMAN at 4/1, and CALANDAGAN at 9/2. If all of these show up, it will be the Group 1 race of the season.

Now, let’s talk about the brilliantly inspired decision by Aidan and The Lads to supplement THE LION IN WINTER for yesterdays Prix Jean Prat. Wowsers, they nearly pulled that off…

A record breaker over 7f, THE LION IN WINTER’s short but bloody powerful stride suggested the Derby was never ever going to be his gig, but fair enough, Aidan O’Brien was brave enough to throw him in the mix. Bringing him back to 7f for yesterday Group 1 Prix Jean Prat was a huge decision which had many punters scratching their heads… but not us, if you go back to Saturday’s newsletter you will see we fancied him at 7/1 for it. The Lads did too as the 3/1 sp suggests they punted him for it.

He’s going to be back in the winners enclosure soon when the next big mile race comes about.

A QUICK RETURN

Keeping on the Prix Jean Prat now…

Not too long ago, we spoke about Resolute Bloodstock and its owner, John Stewart. It was just before Royal Ascot, and Stewart created speculation on X that he had bought ROSALLION. It was a fun time!

Instead, Resolute Racing bought ROGUE LEGEND, the Paddy Twomey-trained HAVANA GREY juvenile, and it was a pretty good purchase as he went on to finish third in the Windsor Castle.

That’s not too bad at all.

Stewart’s bloodstock group is based in America, and that’s where they have most of their horses, but they have been looking to expand into other jurisdictions. ROGUE LEGEND is one example, and yesterday, Resolute landed the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat in France with WOODSHAUNA.

On paper, WOODSHAUNA is a fascinating horse going forward, because he could be anything! His pedigree isn’t anything to shout about (by WOODED out of a Listed-placed mare), but he’s won three of his five races this season, and this weekend was his first run in Group 1 company. This was also his first run for Resolute Racing having been owned by Al Shaqab Racing up until this weekend. It may have cost Stewart £650,000 to secure him at the Goffs London Sale, but he’s got an instant reward on his outlay!

Furthermore, although COSMIC YEAR did disappoint, one can suggest that both THE LION IN WINTER and SHADOW OF LIGHT have run to somewhere near their best, so there’s no faulting the form whatsoever.

Where next? Well, of course it will be Group 1 company going forward, and he could even step down in trip.

Francis Graffard, his trainer, said: "He's a lovely horse and his form was strong. I decided to skip Ascot for this race, so it worked out well. It was a big step. He's got a great attitude and is improving physically, and he was given a great ride.

"He has a lot of speed and seven furlongs is the maximum. The Prix Maurice de Gheest [six and a half furlongs] is definitely a race we can target and I think he will be better dropped back in distance."

He really could be anything.

WEEKEND EYE-CATCHERS

ARISAIG - SATURDAY 14.25 SANDOWN

We think this might be the second time this filly has featured in the eye-catchers section! Maybe she’s a constant eye-catcher for her running style? Backing hold-up horses regularly would give anyone a headache, and ARISAIG is the perfect example of this. She has promised to win races all season, but she always finds one too good, and yet she looks like an eye-catcher all the time. This happened at Sandown on Saturday. She was late off the bridle due to traffic problems, but when the gap opened, she stayed on through the line. It was a fairly nice handicap that she ran in on the weekend, and she would have options going forward. Similar handicaps or conditions races against her own gender would be the two main ones, though we think she would do better with the latter. Even if she is a frustrating horse to follow, there should be a nice race in her!

DEFENCE MINISTER & DANCE IN THE STORM - SATURDAY 16.12 SANDOWN

Similar to ARISAIG, DEFENCE MINISTER caught the eye at Sandown with a late charge to the line from the rear of the field. He’s still quite an unexposed horse with the six runs under his belt, one of which was a Group 1 as a juvenile. Since then, he’s crashed out in a Listed race and handicap this season, but Saturday’s effort behind MUDBIR was a lot more like it. The front four went well clear in the Class 3 seven-furlong handicap, and DEFENCE MINISTER’s late effort was notable. When the yard are in better form, he can start to win races.

We don’t need to say much about DANCE IN THE STORM, just watch her race back. Enough to make her punters (us) sick!

STATS OF THE DAY

This stats section has been on FIRE recently and there is one standout horse today:

King of the trip hikes Sir Mark Prescott has two runners up in trip today but it’s GRAND HARBOUR in the 20.30 who looks most interesting. He was running on over 10f last time out and now gets an extra two furlongs which his pedigree suggests he needs. The yard have a 100% all time strike rate in 3yo handicaps at Ripon!

RISK ON

14.00 HILL O RUE

Races against older horses today but he’s a nice strong gelding. He won on soft last time out and there might just be enough cut for him again - the deeper the better for this lad. 5/1 is a hell of a drift but we don’t know why so backing ew.

15.45 HANDLETHEKETTLE

A rare jumps bet for this time of year. Snowden tried fences and quickly reverted back to hurdles where this lad looks progressive and will love this ground today. The one the field have to beat. 7/4