CRYSTAL UNCLEAR?
No1 colt has tough task
ELARQAM (York, 3.35) is in the form of his life and can upset hot favourite Crystal Ocean in today’s Group One Juddmonte International Stakes at York.
The one-mile two-furlong contest on the opening day of the Ebor meeting has had a smattering of surprise results since it was first run in 1972, most recently the 50-1 win of Arabian Queen in 2015. Success for Elarqam, trained by Mark Johnston, would be nowhere near as big a shock on the betting Richter scale, but his recent form and course record make him a contender.
Last time out, Elarqam had Addeybb well-beaten in the York Stakes over today’s course and distance, and his rival boosted the form with his own easy win at Haydock on Saturday. Elarqam, who has triumphed in three of his five starts this summer, has won on two of his three runs at York.
Impeccably bred — his sire is Frankel and dam the Classic-winner Attraction — Elarqam was a Classic hope as a three-year-old and finished fourth to Saxon Warrior in last season’s 2,000 Guineas. His subsequent form was below that standard, but Johnston believes the colt is now thriving after a stress fracture.
Crystal Ocean will be tough to beat as he attempts to give trainer Sir Michael Stoute his seventh win in the race. He is still rated the best horse in the world, but after finishing second by a neck to Enable in a titanic tussle in the King George at Ascot last month, there has to be a chance that battle has left its scars. After Bustino and Grundy slugged it out in their epic ‘ Race of the Century’ in the 1975 King George, neither won again.
A tough race in Ascot in July last year also took its toll on another Stoute-trained horse, Poet’s Word, who after winning the 2018 King George was beaten in the Juddmonte 12 months ago.
The Juddmonte has strength in depth throughout the field, which includes a trio of talented three-yearolds. Circus Maximus and King of Comedy finished one-two in the St James’s Palace Stakes over a mile at Royal Ascot, while Grand Prix de Paris winner Japan has come a long way since his fourth in the Dante in May.
There is also last season’s third, Thundering Blue, and Cheval Grand, who will be far better suited by the quick ground than he was by Ascot’s rain- softened surface when a 13-length sixth in the King George.
BLAKENEY POINT (York, nap, 4.15) was fifth in last season’s Ebor. He has missed out on making the first £1m running of that race on Saturday, but has a chance of winning a decent consolation in the Sky Bet Handicap. He has dropped in the handicap and looks teed-up for the race.