Pinatubo destroys rivals at The Curragh
Godolphin colt is even money to win Guineas Mccoy is back in the winner’s enclosure
On a weekend of Arc trials and Classics, it was a two-year-old that stole the show when Pinatubo – unbeaten in four starts before yesterday – won the Group One Goffs Vincent O’brien National Stakes at The Curragh by a staggering nine lengths.
Having missed 10 weeks of the season with concussion, William Buick was sitting on Godolphin’s homebred colt for the first time, but he was not disappointed, as the son of Shamardal – named after a volcano – went further and further clear of Aidan O’brien’s best twoyear-old colt, Armory.
Pinatubo has a mind to match his physical ability. “He is so hard to work out,” said trainer Charlie Appleby afterwards. “He cannot raise a gallop at home. I worked him midweek with some better horses just to give myself some confidence but if you had asked which worked best I would have said Royal Crusader, who got beat on Saturday.”
Buick, who was beaming from ear to ear, confirmed he had never ridden a two-year-old like Pinatubo. “That was special. We saw what he could do at Goodwood but this was a proper Group One and it felt as good as it looked. He adapts to all different circumstance. That was mightily impressive and he is hugely exciting.”
Pinatubo is already Evens favourite for the 2020 Guineas, but is expected to finish his season in the Dewhurst at Newmarket on Oct 12.
A day after winning the William Hill St Leger with Logician, John Gosden [13] and Frankie Dettori [16] added to their tally of Group Ones this season when Star Catcher won the Prix Vermeille on Prix de L’arc de Triomphe trials day at Parislongchamp.
Anthony Oppenheimer’s filly, which is not entered in the Arc, had made all in the Irish Oaks and again led from start to finish to beat Musis Amica, who stayed on well having been off the bridle early on.
While Dettori controlled things beautifully and slowed them up on the false straight before kicking on off the final bend, Gosden’s other Oaks winner, Anapurna, had an awful run, meeting all sorts of traffic.
Most of the Arc interest centred on Sottsass, Jean-claude Rouget’s Prix du Jockey-club winner, who has been mentioned several times by Gosden when he has been talking about threats to Enable’s superiority in three weeks.
Though Prix Niel was only a fivehorse race the colt, ridden by Cristian Demuro, met even more traffic than Anapurna. Hemmed in as he was, he could have run for five miles, so it was a job to tell how well he actually stayed the mile and a half, but when there was a sliver of a gap he quickened impressively.
Dermot Weld won an eighth Comer Group Irish St Leger when Search For A Song, the only threeyear-old and only filly in the race, pulled her way to the front and proceeded to stay there. “Nothing went right,” said jockey Chris Hayes. “I knew after a furlong I was going to get into a row with her and I thought I’d done too much.”
The Pat Smullen Champions Race for Cancer Trials Ireland – boasting nine former champion jockeys – was won by Sir Anthony Mccoy on Quizical, who made all the running to beat Ruby Walsh into second.