Equinties - weekend review

Gm Equinauts

Well, Eve did say he was the best she’s had last time out. Many trainers say that when love drunk on their own horses but this lad actually went and did it and gave eve her second ever Gr 1 winner:

The future looks like Classics for the big lad from Berkshire.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUND UP

NO RYAN, NO PROBLEM

Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore lads were probably a bit worried coming into this weekend. Having strong players in races like the St Leger, Irish Champions Stakes, and Moyglare Stud Stakes would create nervous tension for any set of connections, no matter how big. But let’s not forget that they were also going into this weekend without Ryan Moore, the world’s best jockey, and some of the rides Christophe Soumillon produced at Doncaster in the week were questionable.

In hindsight, there was nothing to worry about, as O’Brien had another masterclass weekend.

The boss of Ballydoyle took down the Leger, Irish Champion, and Moyglare, as well as the Group 2 Champions Juvenile Stakes and Group 2 Champagne Stakes. That is superb.

Let’s focus on all three of the Group 1 winners, starting with SCANDINAVIA in the St Leger, because it was a really nice performance.

As is typical with a Leger, the field got to work early in the race. Every horse was off the bridle with three-and-a-half furlongs to go, and if you stop the picture at the three-furlong pole, the Goodwood Cup winner does look in trouble.

STAY TRUE, the O’Brien third string, was going well in behind, CARMERS came to make a challenge, and even the likes of FURTHUR, TARRIANCE, and RAHIEBB looked good at the rear of the field.

But, quite simply, SCANDINAVIA found more, and the performance screamed of a horse who will be the Ballydoyle ‘Cup’ horse next season. He already has a Cup horse under his belt, but with ILLINOIS losing a couple of times this season, and with KYPRIOS’ retirement earlier this year, the space for a new shining light of the Cup scene could be opening for O’Brien and The Lads.

Nothing along these lines was mentioned post-race, but a certain ‘Cup’ race in Australia was uttered, as O’Brien said: "He has a beautiful temperament and he stays, but he'll probably have no problem coming back to a mile and a half as he has loads of gears.

"Every week he's getting better. He's in the Melbourne Cup and he has to get scanned to see whether he's eligible to go or not, but there's every chance the lads might want to go down there with him."

Two miles around Flemington? He’d suit that.

O’Brien was in Ireland on Saturday while the St Leger was taking place, and there was good reason for him to be there, as DELACROIX won the Irish Champion Stakes.

DELACROIX is a funny horse because he probably doesn’t get the credit he deserves. There are two potential reasons for this that we can think of. Firstly, he was never a massive ‘hype’ horse. He wasn’t a Group 1-winning juvenile, and he only just got his head in front in the Group 2 & maiden that he won last year. Coming into this season, there was more talk about horses like THE LION IN WINTER, and yet DELACROIX went about his business easily, winning two Group 3s before the middle of May.

The second reason is probably what happened at Epsom. He barely raised a leg in the Derby, and he was the 2/1 favourite in a race won by the stable’s second string. From here, people probably just never associated him with being a proper horse, but when he goes to stud next season, he will be known as a Coral-Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes winner, which is a pretty good CV. That’s not bad at all.

After the Irish Champion Stakes, O’Brien did a bit of selling to the media, as he made it out that the son of DUBAWI was never given the credit he deserved for his Eclipse success. He said: "He has everything. We've been waiting on a Dubawi to come along all this time and here he is. He’s some horse to quicken, isn't he?

"What he did in Sandown was very unusual, you don’t see horses do that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse do what he did in Sandown, and he did it again today.

"It could be [his last-ever race]. I can’t tell you how important he is. We saw what he could do in Sandown, and no-one believed it, but they’ve seen it again today.

“He has all the options; he could go back to a mile. He powered out of the gates and was there cantering and Christophe took him back and let him relax and then he was back a little bit.

“All the things are open to him but I’m afraid to say in case the lads say ‘that’s the end’, which is very possible. But it mightn’t be."

It would be pretty sad to see him retire now, especially with the potential of the British Champion Stakes and QEII right there. What would they lose if they ran him on Champions Day? Not too much. Whatever they decide to do with him, The Lads have Soumillon to thank for a pretty gorgeous ride. The overhead shot beautifully showed us all the pivotal move that won the race for DELACOIX. Sexual stuff:

And finally, the Group 1-winning continued on Sunday for O’Brien, as PRECISE took home the Moyglare. There are two things to quickly highlight here. Firstly, PRECISE is undoubtedly a 1000 Guineas filly. She was doing all of her best work late, and she was always well on top at the finish. We just wonder about the form of the race and her overall form. VENETIAN SUN disappointed (and she may not have stayed seven furlongs), and the rest of the field was made up of other O’Brien-trained runners. Her pedigree isn’t glittering (her dam is a full sister to the Irish Derby-placed KINGFISHER), so maybe don’t rush to back her at 10/1 for the Guineas.

Secondly, what do you do with VENETIAN SUN? To us, she just didn’t look completely at the races yesterday. She looked outpaced over seven, which for a six-furlong winner isn’t great, and she wasn’t sprinting through the line. She’s probably had a hard enough season, and she should have her winter break now. It would be hard to campaign her as a Guineas filly based on Sunday, but if you view her performance as ‘one of those days’, they could still try. She will probably be better suited to the Commonwealth Cup next season.

Apparently Burke nearly pulled her out the Moyglare ahead of the race on account of the ground, but he rolled the dice. In a sadistic sort of way, we were actually pretty excited at the prospect of her heading to the Cheveley Park instead… she she could get her arse properly kicked.

AN AUSTRALIAN JOEY

We mentioned the Melbourne Cup for SCANDINAVIA, but he is not guaranteed to go. One horse who will be on the next plane down under is AL RIFFA, as he oozed class in the Irish St Leger. He’s a pretty special horse for Joseph O’Brien, as that’s now a third Group 1 to add to the tally, and he is set to head to Australia for one of the world’s most famous races. That makes his €150,000 price tag as a yearling in 2021 look great value!

So, yes, the big one for him now is the Melbourne Cup, and there’s plenty to like about his chances. He has improved nicely for a longer distance this season, his form with ACE IMPACT, CITY OF TROY, SOSIE, REBEL’S ROMANCE, and AMILOC will be one of the best form pages going into the Australian contest, and he is a very simple horse to ride. Stick him out the back and wait for the horses to start going backwards.

He’s now a general price of 6/1 for the Melbourne Cup, and that sees fair. The race can be a bit of a lottery due to the draw and the big-field nature of the contest, but he has a banging chance on paper. After the race, Dyland Browne McMonagle floated up the idea of him being a Cup horse next year, as he said: “I was able to take my time and every time I asked him he was there.

“The speed was on and I knew my fella was going to have a good kick when I needed it. I got there half-speeding and he quickened up well in this ground. He's so straightforward and he has a great attitude, so you can put him where you want. You could probably look at the Cup races for him next season, he definitely feels like he can go another two furlongs.”

WEEKEND EYE-CATCHERS

SHANGRI LA - FRIDAY 15.10 SANDOWN

Her debut run, just watch the replay.

ANMAAT – SATURDAY 17.30 LEOPARDSTOWN

He’s not a horse that is going under any radars any time soon, but ANMAAT has to be seriously considered for the British Champion Stakes next month on the back of his effort at Leopardstown yesterday. He tracked DELACOIX through the race ominously, and it was actually a bit surprising at the time that he didn’t go past in between the two and one-furlong pole. DELACOIX found more, and arguably, ANMAAT would have slightly needed the run to bring him on for Ascot, his Gold Cup. He did need a run before last season’s Champion Stakes, in fairness. 8/1 for the Champion Stakes looks surprisingly big considering he loves the course and distance, he will relish the ground, and he could sharpen up for the effort.

NIGHTEYES – SUNDAY 15.15 CURRAGH

NIGHTEYES isn’t an unlucky horse based on this season, but she has run some stormers in defeat. She was third at Haydock in a Listed contest earlier this year before finishing fourth in the Group 1 QEII Jubilee Stakes. She then found SAYIDAH DARIYAN too good in the Group 3 Summer Stakes, and her two trips to the Curragh in the last couple of months have been really good. The best run of her season was definitely Sunday, as she came from nowhere to finish second in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes.
This was her first try at five furlongs this season, and she did well, but her effort does suggest that a return to six could really suit her nto. She’s 50/1 for the Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot next month, and if the ground is on the slower side, that could look quite reasonable.

RISK ON

We’ve got a shortlist of soft ground horses and will post them on X if we decide to play…

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