Two stars declared for thrilling Nunthorpe clash
THE highly anticipated clash between Royal Ascot heroine Lady Aurelia and emerging sprint star Battaash is on after the pair featured among 12 declarations for today’s Gr1 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes.
Lady Aurelia has not been seen since streaking away with the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, during which time Battaash has posted a series of devastating performances, most recently in the Gr2 King George Stakes at Goodwood three weeks ago.
Profitable
Gr1 winner Profitable chased both Lady Aurelia and Battaash home in both races, and will take another swing at the pair, with Goodwood third Marsha also standing her ground.
Another King’s Stand Stakes winner, Goldream, has been declared with a visor for the first time, while Washington DC will seek a first Gr1 victory following his Gr3 Phoenix Sprint Stakes win at the Curragh last time.
Battaash’s stablemate Cotai Glory is also engaged, along with Profitabe’s stablemate Priceless, with the David Griffiths-trained veterans Duke of Firenze and Take Cover declared too.
Final Venture
Paul Midgley’s Final Venture completes the dozen runners. Also on today’s card, the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup will feature nine runners, including the Queen’s Dartmouth, a winner of the Yorkshire Cup in May. William Haggas has declared Dal Harraild for the Gr2 contest as opposed to Saturday’s Betfred Ebor, with Royal Ascot scorer Thomas Hobson also declared.
In show business they say you should always leave them wanting more. There will be a clamour to see Cracksman as soon as possible after a masterful demolition of the Gr2 Great Voltigeur (2 400m) field at York on Wednesday, but it may be that he is not sighted again this year.
Whether to twist or stick for this year is the pleasant dilemma facing John Gosden after the Derby third and Irish Derby runner-up strolled to a magnificent six-length victory that drew warm applause from the grandstands.
In stablemate Enable, Gosden already has the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe favourite.
But the case for giving Cracksman one more run this campaign looked nearly overwhelming as the son of Frankel took control of the race at the top of the straight and galloped his rivals into submission. Gosden entertained the possibility of running him in the Arc or the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot, but stopped short of confirming Anthony Oppenheimer's colt for either highlight.
“He may well run in the autumn, we’ll see,” the trainer said. “He’s come very strongly into this race, he’s a much bigger horse, he can quicken. He was only a shell of a horse early on when he ran in the Derby.
“It’s a possibility he could run in the Arc. He has those two engagements, but it’s only a possibility at this time – not a probability.”
Frankie Dettori, who missed Cracksman’s narrow Irish Derby defeat through injury, was certainly impressed, and said: “I hadn’t ridden him since the Derby and John said he'd improved. He’s got stronger and when I asked him to quicken he quickened and galloped right to the line.”
However, when asked about the possibility of taking the colt to France, the jockey added: “Maybe Chantilly could be a bit sharp for him at this stage. He’s strengthened up and is learning to race. Basically he’s a four-year-old, we’ve got lots to look forward to. He’ll have a great four-year-old campaign.”