As promised my second edition will focus on the older horses who line up this year for the Arc and I'm interested to see if they hold the key to securing this prestigious race.
I'll start with the Japenese bred 5 year old Orfevre, the Japanese triple crown winner of 2011 is on his way to France as we speak being housed in Chantilly for his 2nd crack at landing the Arc. This beautiful chestnut has shown to be extremely talented his sire Stay Gold won the Sheema Classic and the Hong Kong Vase. More importantly though Orfevre is a talent with quirks, The Arc race last year illustrated this he had the race at his mercy, Orfevre came from the back of the eighteen runner field and sprouted wings portraying a lightning turn of foot. However, he threw it away in a matter of strides before the line, hanging right handed and hitting the rail, consequently being pipped on the line by Solemia, those two indeed finishing seven lengths clear of the field. Ever since that day I have been completely intrigued by this international globetrotter and seeing him in the flesh illustrates his beautiful constitution. Hence, it's important to see how he's been doing this year as a five year old and it's a little bit of a quandary. He won and ran well in the Sankei Osaka Hai at Hanshin going off at prohibited odds and was then expected to defend his crown in the Takarazuka Kinen run in Kyoto on the 23rd June but he was withdrawn nine days before as he was found to have bled in a routine exercise gallop. Orfevre has been put away since and will go to the Arc fresh as a daisy taking in his usual race schedule by running in the Prix Foy Arc trial at Longchamp and then onto the Arc three weeks later. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Orfevre and have always been a little dubious with Japanese form as I remember Deep Impact being backed off the board only to finish 3rd in the Arc back in 2006. However, it's worth noting that his stud record has been impressive indeed Gentildonna one of his progeny fillies won the Japan Cup and went on to win the fillies triple crown so 'every cloud'. Back to Orfevre and I see him as the forgotton horse, remember this horse finished seven lengths clear in the 2012 race, accelerated past all rivals and showed an excellent turn of foot. The likes of Sea Moon, Masterstroke, Shareta, St Nicholas Abbey and Camelot were all in attendance last year. I beg the question, is this as good a renewal? Orfevre could be the forgotton horse here, forget him at your peril.
The Irish bred Monsun colt Novellist allows us to fly back into European airspace and this four year old illustrated his talent and stamina/speed last time out when breaking the track record in the King George IV & Queen Elizabeth Stakes over the 1m 4f trip at Ascot. Novellist is trained in Germany by the excellent handler Andreas Wohler and was bred and owned by Christoph Berglar. The progression made by Novellist illustrates how some horses come to hand later and now at the tender age of four it seems he is undoubtedly progressive and a more solid stronger thoroughbred. The next port of call will most probably be in the Preis Von Baden in Baden Baden, that I'm sure will be his final prep race before he takes his chance in the Arc. In terms of pedigree his grand sire Konigsstuhl won the German triple crown and won eleven races in Germany and Italy notably winning the Gran Premio del Jockey Club in 1981. Konigsstuhl went on to be a pretty useful sire and his son Monsun in particularly has been one of his notable successful sons who unfortunately died recently in September of 2012 it seems he found more success at stud than that on the racetrack. Novellist consequently seems to have the right mix of stamina and speed, he also seems to be pretty useful on a variety of surfaces much like his sire which may prove very useful in the autumn. After his last run it will be extremely interesting to see how he gets on, I believe he has an excellent chance of landing the Arc this October.
My other older selection would of been the superb Al Kazeem, however after losing the Juddmonte today I'm not certain he will go for the Arc as he has had a tough season the other variable of stepping up in trip may also be a negative. He's been sublime and if I was Roger Charlton I'd keep him fresh with many international engagements to way up.
York Day 3 - Friday 23rd August 2013.
13.55pm Sky Bet Handicap (Class 2) 1m 4f
Some extremely erratic form on show from some of these and just when you think they are progressing they slap you in the face by putting in an puzzling performance. However, it may pay to look at a certain trainers current form but in particular his record in this race Sir Michael Stoute has a pretty solid record at York and in this handicap alone he has saddled 4 wins and 2 placed second in the last 10 years, not a bad record. GOSPEL CHOIR is by Galileo out of Chorist, this chestnut gelding is having his first run this season but was nothing but progressive last season. His half brother Sennockian Star trained by Mark Johnson has had a very consistent season, currently rated around the 97 mark and running over the same distance highlights the potential GOSPEL CHOIR may possess. Obviously the concern would be his fitness levels after coming back this late in the season, presumably he may have had his problems but that certainly doesn't bother me at all. This 12 furlong trip will be well within his grasp, he won a handicap at Ascot over the same trip and that would undoubtedly be the pick of his form when beating the 100 rated Sun Central who has progressed at a rate knots for the William Haggas stable and I believe that is the best form on offer. The negatives for GOSPEL CHOIR is that he is under quite a heavy burden first time out carrying 10lbs thus being highly regarded by the handicapper who has given him the rating of 100. However I believe he has a solid each way chance to start the day.
15.40pm Nunthorpe Stakes (Group 1) (British Champion Stakes) 5f
Exciting isn't the word for this race, it oozes class, a race to savour. It's a tail of the two powers for me, the more I look the more I see Eddie Lynam with a 1, 2 in the winners enclosure and the owner Mrs Power overjoyed. To not want to sound fastidious I believe form lines and angles with the main three in this race are obvious to find and you can argue all you like in regards to trip, ground and the flat galloping track at York, the draw, trainer form and trends. Understandably that may well point you in the direction of Shea Shea or the very progressive Harry Redknapp owned Moviesta but I'm not so sure. SLADE POWER deserves his place in this upper echelon of sprint racing, he is thoroughly progressive, travels and settles well in his races and is ready to produce a top group one level performance here. SLADE POWER has excellent form in the book and ran a very credible 3rd in the Darley July Cup over the 6 furlong trip at Newmarket last month, that run saw him finish in 3rd 2.75 lengths behind Lethal Force and on that occassion finished in front of Sole Power and Shea Shea. This race is over a very explosive 5 furlongs and that may not be his favoured trip but I'm certain he will aquaint himself well and at a nice each way price he is worth noting. I for one am a huge fan and believe this horse is one of the most progressive with scope to improve in the field. Now on to the other power, SOLE POWER. What can I say that we don't already know about this Kyllachy colt? He is an absolute speed machine and probably ticks every box when looking at this race for the first time. SOLE POWER has formed a dream partnership with the swashbuckling, renaissance man jockey/trainer, Johnny Murtagh (legend). Indeed I saw a interview recently in which he said, "He is a brilliant horse, you get one chance to push the button and if you time it right he just goes". That really does embody the way in which this excellent six year old runs. He took this race in 2010 at odds of 100/1 he has been in excellent form this season and took the Kings Stand in an explosive turn of foot to beat Shea Shea close home. I still believe he will hold his form for a while and am certain of another positive show. We've all heard of Phil 'the power Taylor, you may even of heard about the 'power of grayskull' but theirs real power in these two.
Comments
Post a Comment