The field for Sundayâs feature numbers thirteen for what has been billed as a clash between Intello and Dawn Approach. That appraisal may be a little unfair to the supporting cast as Andre Fabreâs star has never faced his elders to date and Jim Bolgerâs visitor is coming to this just eleven days after a tough battle at Goodwood. The going report at Deauville is currently (in English) Good. 01 Aljamaaheer Paul Hanagan, Roger Varian 02 Burwaaz Dane O'Neill, Ed Dunlop 03 Indian Sly Jimmy Tastayre, P. Capelle 04 Nova Neyev Ms. Delphine Santiago, P. Capelle 05 Declaration Of War Ryan Moore, Aidan OâBrien 06 Prince dâAlienor Flavien Prat, Andre Fabre 07 Moonlight Cloud Thierry Jarnet, Freddie Head 08 Elusive Kate William Buick, John Gosden 09 Olympic Glory Frankie Dettori, Richard Hannon 10 Leitir Mor Ronan Whelan, Jim Bolger 11 Dawn Approach Kevin Manning, Jim Bolger 12 Peace At Last Fabrice Veron, Henri-Alex Pantall 13 Intello Olivier Peslier, Andre Fabre Ignoring the three pacemakers and the local also-rans, the two Deauville specialists, Moonlight Cloud and Elusive Kate should not be totally discounted and Olympic Glory is something of an unknown quantity. Plus there is another rematch between Declaration Of War and Aljamaaheer, although the form line from the Sussex Stakes does not advertise either as having a winning chance. On Saturday at Deauville, the Group 3 Prix Gontaut-Biron Hong Kong Jockey Club (2000m) features the supplemented Cirrus Des Aigles (Olivier Peslier, Mme Corine Barande Barbe), whose main rivals (amongst six) appear to be Mandour (Christophe Lemaire, Alain De Royer Dupre) and Smoking Sun (Stephane Pasquier, Pascal Bary). That should give us some indication of what really happened at Ascot last time - on last yearâs form he should win easily if he is still that horse.
So how do the French manage to assemble a decent Group 1 field like this when our Group 1s are usually 6 runner affairs and 2 of those are Ballydoyle pacemakers? Answers on a postcard please .................
If I had known a month ago that the Prix Jacques le Marois was going to produce such a competitive field (even ignoring the six also-rans), I might well have made the trip across to Normandy; although the last time I went to see Goldikova and it rained for three hours in the morning and she was turned over by Makfi on bottomless ground. Whilst the prize money is excellent in France and that is an obvious attraction, this race has seven top class contenders because there do not appear to be a single outstanding miler in Europe this year so everyone appears to be prepared to give it a go.
The St James Palace Stakes and Sussex Stakes weren't exactly short on prize money (although the Marois has 100 grand more to the winner) but saw vastly inforior fields. Are the French a bunch of stay-at-homes? Mshawish in the St James was hardly what you would call a strong French challenge.
Ignoring the local "also ran" PEACE AT LAST could be an error of judgement. He won the German 2000 Guineas in good style and when he has disappointed it has been on soft and heavy ground. The yard are pretty adept at getting a tune out of their outsiders on big days and I wouldn't be overly surprised if this 66-1 shot made the frame! Its a race that has a slight bias for the younger horses but of the other three year olds one is a pace maker, one may well be over the top and the other hasn't ever really beaten much.
That is a fair observation, stick. I just wrote off the German Guineas winner because I did not think that the race amounted to much form wise, but as you say we have had a couple of surprises from Germany in the last few seasons. I still think that it would require a couple of the principals to run poorly to sneak into the frame.
Well there did not appear to be any hard luck stories and the mare Moonlight Cloud was a worthy winner, just holding off the late thrust of Olympic Glory with Frankie Dettori up for the first time. No excuses for Intello as he had every chance but was not good enough to go with Freddie Head's mare when she made her move. Given that he suffered traffic trouble when only third in the Poulains (French Guineas) and Olympic Glory was five lengths eleventh that day one has to wonder on today's showing who had the worst of that race in May. Dawn Approach looked like he did not settle very well early despite the generous pace and he was the first of the big guns under pressure - so was the race too soon or is he just starting to tell his trainer that he needs a break? Elusive Kate had her chance but yet again was found out when racing at the top level against the colts. I wonder how many of these will be making their next stop at Longchamp on 15 September for the Prix Du Moulin and how many will be giving it a miss and going straight for the QEII on Champions' Day.
I may be talking out of my backside here as I haven't seen Dawn Approach in the flesh. But I remember thinking that, as a 2yo, he didn't look to have the scope some others had. I thought Toronado would win the 2000 Gns but I was wrong there. However he looked the stronger of the two at Ascot and proved it at Goodwood. I don't think Dawn Approach has any improvement in him whereas Toronado looks to be still developing and I can't see Dawn Approach ever beating him again. My view is that he didn't win today because he is not improving with age and he simply wasn't good enough. He may well need a few weeks off but I don't think that was the reason he didn't win. Top trainers should know their horses and if he wasn't up to doing himself justice he should not have been made to run. Hate to say it but I think DA has been knocked off his perch and he won't return to be the No 1 miler. I suspect he won the 2000 Gns because it was an early season classic. The 2nd and 3rd that day haven't exactly endorsed the form; and apart from Toronado (who either wasn't ready or had an off day) neither have any of the others come to think of it. Hope I'm wrong but time will tell.
Ron, Garswood won a Group 2, Correspondent won a Chester handicap and the last horse home, Kyllachy Rise, won a maiden. Hardly a vintage year but do remember the manner of victory. My opinion is the horse is over the top as I said in my pre race predictions. As for INTELLO, I think he is over hyped.
Well you may be right stick but Dawn Approach's most impressive victory as a 3yo was in the 2000 Gns where he beat Glory Awaits by 5l. Intello beat that horse by twice that distance (admittedly over 1f more). Intello beat DA by 6l today over a distance that should have favoured DA. Fairly consistent form-wise if you ask me.
It is interesting how different people think that this year’s form is unravelling. I am inclined to think that Dawn Approach has been the yardstick this season as he has consistently shown the normal progression this season given that he had a full season as a two year old. Certainly he was not allowed any sort of chance (eleven days after a hard race) compared to the more planned itinerary of some of his opponents. I am inclined to take the form of Intello with a pinch of salt because he had only ever raced against his own age group in France and the trainer is almost as legendary in France for hype as Aidan O’Brien is over here. Ultimately, it may prove that this year’s three year olds are not a vintage crop so all of the all age races are up for grabs.
Don't forget Moonlight Cloud had to fight it out with Lethal Force only 7 days previous to yesterday's race and, although only having raced 3 time this year, all her 3 races were since 6th July. Also Declaration of War was in the same race as Dawn Approach at Goodwood and has also had one more run than DA this season. I think we'll have to wait and see.
Interesting QM. I think DA has not progressed at all since his 2000 Gns victory, whereas Toronado has. Can't get a handle on Intello at all. What I do find interesting though is that Moonlight Cloud is a very good mare who was beaten in her own back yard by Excelebration which is yet further confirmation (as if it were necessary) of how good Frankel was. His form lines against the best of 5 generations has certainly held up well.
I saw him at Goodwood and thought he looked fantastic! Just everything about him I dont know whether that was because I love the horse and am a huge fan but he did impress me!
Dawn Approach scoped bad after the race, it was too bad to be true, that much is obvious, he is a different class animal to Olympic Glory and you couldnt explain that run by just having had too many races in a short space of time. He is one of the toughest 3yos in training. He finished a mile behind Declaration Of War who couldnt get near him at Goodwood, he seems to be a pretty solid yardstick, and given where he finished, it suggests if Dawn Approach had run his race again he would have won. Him and Toronado are the best milers in Europe, and for me, he is still the best, he should never have been beaten at Goodwood, if you swap the jockeys, do you honestly think Richard Hughes would have got beat on Dawn Approach, never in a million years. 4 Group 1s to Toronados 1 2-1 on head to heads its not even up for debate yet. If Sheikh Mohammed had just kept out of it and let Bolger do his thing, I suspect Dawn Approach would still have been unbeaten going into yesterdays race.
Very conclusive Joe. Can't believe you said that. That is a possibility, except I would say going into the Goodwood race. Why he ever ran in the Derby I don't know. I think I should stress here that I am indeed a DA fan and I have no affinity with Toronado at all. I just think Toronado has developed into a stronger colt and will always be just that bit too good for DA. That's my opinion; time may prove me wrong but no argument based on the racing so far can prove that DA is the better miler.
