DANDALLA IS NEW LAURENS
Trainer Karl Burke confident he has unearthed his next champion horse
KARL BURKE’S training career has been taken to new heights by his association with multiple Group One-winning fillies Quiet Reflection and Laurens.
Yet the Leyburn trainer hopes the two-year-old Dandalla could deliver him a first domestic Classic next year after winning the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot by a runaway six lengths.
A landmark first triumph at the Royal meeting for jockey Ben Curtis, Dandalla runs in the colours of Nick Bradley Racing and the trainer’s wife Elaine who have received interest from prospective buyers.
But Bradley is hopeful the filly will not be sold.
He said: “We’ve probably had around 10 enquiries since last week. We’re not that interested in selling, to be honest.”
Both the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket on July 10 or the Prix Robert Papin at Chantilly the following week are now being considered for a horse who made a winning debut at Newcastle on June 2, the second day of action after the Covid-19 lockdown.
However, the long-term ambition is the 1000 Guineas – the race in which the aforementioned Laurens was second in 2018 before going on to win the French Oaks under an inspired PJ McDonald.
“Dandalla has always been a strong galloper with a turn of foot,” said Burke. “She has plenty of stamina on the dam’s side [Chellalla] and hopefully that will come into play again in the future with maybe the 1000 Guineas.
“Quiet Reflection was our first Royal Ascot winner (2016 Commonwealth Cup) and that was a massive result for us. This is a
STATEMENT WIN:
great result and it’s great to get a two-year-old winner here.
“I think we have done well with the two-year-olds over the last 10 years. To go and buy one for
€22,000 – and our daughter Kelly will be absolutely delighted as she bought her at the sale. To buy them, train them, we own half of her – it’s great all round really.”
This is a real family affair as Burke’s other daughter, Lucy, rides out Dandalla on the gallops each morning.
“A few times at the top of the
Middleham gallop where we do most of our work, jockeys have been struggling to pull her up,” he went on.
“Lucy earmarked her since before Christmas. She actually came in one day and said ‘I hate to say it, but this filly reminds me of Laurens’.
“That will tell you how highly she thought of her. She is probably more precious than Laurens – Laurens had not even run at this time during her two-year-old career. She is also speedier than Laurens. The question now is how far we stay, and we have got plenty of time to think about.”
As for the aforementioned Curtis who was the all-weather champion last winter, he’s thrilled to be associated with a horse who has the potential to enhance his profile and career.
The Yorkshire-based rider is being talked about as a potential champion jockey if he maintains his current strike-rate and association with trainers like Burke.
“I have been coming down to Royal Ascot for a good while now and not really getting involved, so finally to get a winner is unbelievable,” he reflected.
“Karl’s daughter Lucy rides Dandalla every day and does all the hard work at home. I remember her coming down from the gallops one day, and she mentioned her in the same sentence as Laurens, and said she gave her that kind of feel. When she said that it gave me all the hope in the world.
“I had two things on my agenda. One was to ride a Group One winner, and I am still looking for that, and the other was to ride a Royal Ascot winner, and that is one off the list.
“Every jockey would like to have a stab at being champion and being able to hold that title, so if I ever got in a position to go for the title, I would give it 120 per cent.”
RACING HAS been left stunned by the sudden death of former Grand National-winning jockey Liam Treadwell.
The universally popular 34-year-old, pictured, who had spoken movingly in the past about his struggles with mental health in an injury-hit career, shot to fame when he won the Aintree marathon in 2009 on 100-1 outsider Mon Mome, for trainer Venetia Williams.
And the aftermath of the victory was remembered by some comments that BBC presenter Clare Balding made about the battered state of the jockey’s teeth.
The broadcaster was amongst the first to pay tribute to Treadwell who had, most recently, been working as an assistant to
Bridgnorth trainer Alistair Ralph. “I am desperately sad to hear of the death of Liam Treadwell. My heart goes out to his family and all his friends,” she tweeted. “He was the loveliest guy with a great sense of humour and I know how much the Injured Jockeys Fund has supported him in recent years. It is a tragedy to have lost him so young.” Though Treadwell grew up in Sussex, his riding career began on the Flat in Yorkshire at the yard of the late Thirsk trainer Dandy Nicholls.
“I must have had six winners from about 100 rides. It did me the world of good,” Treadwell told just an hour after Mon Mome’s win. “His sprinters certainly helped tidy up my riding style and learn how to ride winners. It got my career going, but it was tough having nothing to eat for two days to ride a horse in a six furlong sprint at Beverley or Redcar.
“But Mr Nicholls was good to me and when an opportunity emerged at Venetia Williams’s yard, he put in a tentative call to find out the lie of the land. I shall always be grateful for that. I was too nervous to make the first call.”
Treadwell enjoyed a long association with Williams before retiring in February 2018, citing a fall at Bangor in March 2016 which knocked him unconscious.
However he returned to race riding last year for the aforementioned Ralph.
West Mercia Police said they were called to an address in Billingsley, Shropshire. “The death is being treated as unexplained. However there is believed to be no third-party involvement.”