Yorkshire Ebor Festival
Connections of Ulysses anticipate a transatlantic bid after his success and Enable saunters to a third Oaks victory
ULYSSES was the Greek king, in Roman mythology, whose idea to break the deadlock in the Trojan War was to send in the wooden horse. There is nothing, however, remotely wooden about his equine namesake who has become one of the stars of the summer.
Winner of the Eclipse and runner-up to Enable in the
King George, Maria Niarchos’ four-year-old — by Derby winner Galileo out of Oaks winner Light Shift — gave Sir Michael Stoute his sixth Juddmonte International at York’s Ebor meeting.
Ulysses had looked good without quite being a world beater after scrambling home from Barney Roy in the Eclipse but on the Knavesmire at York he posted his best performance so far.
At home on any ground, he is not only continuing to improve but — having beaten both Churchill and Barney Roy here — he may now only have Enable as his peer over middle distances.
Last year the Derby came too soon for him but, according to Stoute, his autumn trip to Santa Anita was the making of him despite only finishing fourth.
Now he will return to California for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf in November with a good chance of victory.
The International could not have gone more to plan for him. The two “big” three-year-olds, Barney Roy and Churchill, took each other on from a long way out. Ulysses always travels well and they were cooked when Jim Crowley — who had sat behind them before sending Ulysses on at the furlong pole — went past.
This time there was no coming back from Barney Roy, indeed he was passed by Churchill late on, and Ulysses came home two lengths clear.
“It all went so smoothly, there was never a blip,” said Stoute. “This was the horse’s best performance so far.
“It’s now time to give him a break. Maria [Niarchos] is very keen to run him in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, so we’ll go home and work it out backwards from there.”
Crowley added: “It was perfect and I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better. The only worry was not to get there too soon.
He’s improved with every run and galloped all the way to the line.
“I’d say he was four or five lengths better today than at Sandown [in the Eclipse]. Barney Roy fought back against him at Sandown but nothing was going to fight back against him today.”
ENABLE COASTS HOME
ENABLE turned this year’s Darley Yorkshire Oaks into a procession, leading from start to finish and coming home unchallenged by five lengths.
It was her fourth Group One victory of the season and was certainly not her toughest task, but her relentless long stride had her rivals struggling turning in and Frankie Dettori’s only worry was to keep her interested late on.
“I said to John [Gosden, trainer] she would have been more competitive if something had come to her,” said the jockey. “If something had sniffed her tail she’d have taken off — even so she
won by five lengths. She’s entitled to be favourite for the Arc and the good thing is we know we can make the running if necessary.”
Gosden added: “There was no obvious pace. Frankie said she got lonely in the last part and was idling. For the last two furlongs I think she was just plain bored. She’s a lovely filly and that was a great performance.
“There’s a nice run into the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe now. We’ll let her down a bit but she needs to keep cantering because she gets so fresh and then we’ll build her up to it. She’s a happy, expressive filly. She had a little buck after I’d put the saddle on — she lets you know how she’s feeling.”
Dettori, who also won the Betway Great Voltigeur on Cracksman, thought he had added the Coolmore Nunthorpe to his York haul and saluted the crowd after flashing past the line on the speedy American filly Lady Aurelia, alongside Marsha.
He was not alone in thinking he had won — a sizeable portion of the crowd did too — but the photo-finish revealed the fastfinishing Marsha, trained by Sir Mark Prescott and owned by 10,000 members of Elite Racing, had pipped him by a nose to land the prestigious sprint prize.
Prescott was absent for the win, inspecting yearlings in Ireland, so he missed the first domestic Group One for his jockey Luke Morris.
The race had been billed as a match between Lady Aurelia and the rising star of British sprinting, Battaash, but York unsettled Battaash — as it can many horses. When the runners arrived early at the start, it reawakened his problems with the stalls, which had been dormant since the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot last year. He ran all right in fourth but he is capable of more.
Though trainer Wesley Ward made no excuses for Lady Aurelia, the rain which fell on Wednesday cannot have helped her and on fast ground Marsha may not have reeled her in.
JARDINE SCORES CAREER HIGH
IAIN JARDINE is a trainer going places and he landed the biggest success of his seven-year training career when Nakeeta beat Flymetothestars by a head in Europe’s most valuable handicap, the Betfred Ebor.
Jardine, who rode his first winner as a jump jockey for Lenny Lungo, now trains at Lungo’s old base in Carrutherstown just outside Dumfries and he is becoming a dual-purpose trainer to be reckoned with.
The Ebor had been the plan for Nakeeta since he was touched off in last year’s Chester Cup but he failed to make the cut last year. Jardine, however, had booked apprentice Callum Rodriguez two months ago with the race in mind and the jockey had made several visits to Dumfries to get to know the gelding.
“The horse was in good form and Callum gave him a fantastic ride,” said Jardine, who trains Nakeeta for Kent-based owners Alex and Janet Card. “I thought this race would suit him. He’s run some fantastic races — he’s just been a wee bit unlucky at times but he’s had his big day today.”
When Andrew Balding sits down at the end of this season, he will know that his Sussex Stakes winner Here Comes When was the biggest contributor to his first £2million-plus season. However, the horse that took him over the magic number, Montaly, will also hold a place close to his heart.
Last week, Montaly added the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup to the Chester
Cup. Owned and bred by Sir Charles Hobhouse, Montaly is quite a character.
On Montaly’s last visit to York two years ago, he fractured a hindleg which required a year off. However, it may not have been such a bad thing because he has come back better than ever.
‘Nakeeta has had his big day today’
IAIN JARDINE, TRAINER