Pretty Pollyanna fights off Signora Cabello in Prix Morny thriller
Pretty Pollyanna enhanced her status as Qipco 1,000 Guineas favourite at Deauville on Sunday, coming out on top in a fierce duel with Queen Mary winner Signora Cabello in the Prix Morny.
Silvestre de Sousa, for whom this was an eighth Group 1 success but a first for three years, let Pretty Pollyanna stride on in the six-furlong feature and everything looked to be going to plan as her rivals started to come off the bridle.
Signora Cabello, however, burst out of the pack under Frankie Dettori to lay down a challenge that momentarily looked like succeeding. The pair drew clear impressively in the final furlong and Pretty Pollyanna rallied to underpin her Classic credentials.
Most firms cut her for the Guineas, with several going 8-1 (from 12). Paddy Power and Betfair Sportsbook offered the top price of 12-1, though she is still clear favourite with those two firms.
For trainer Michael Bell this was a second victory in the Morny some 24 years after the success of Hoh Magic, while Pretty Pollyanna was providing compensation for owner Bill Gredley, whose James Garfield was cut down close home at the track two weeks ago in the Prix Maurice de Gheest.
Connections pleased
Bell said: “She really toughed it out in the last furlong and what pleased me for the future was her last furlong was her best furlong.
“That bodes very well for her getting a mile, the way she kicked in the last 150 yards. For the future that’s very important.”
Bell, who will be hoping to add Newmarket Classic glory to his Derby and Oaks triumphs at Epsom, added: “She has a very good temperament, eats and sleeps and is very easy to train. She’s from a very good staying family which includes User Friendly, who won three versions of the Oaks for Mr Gredley.
“I hope she’ll get a mile. She’s in the Moyglare and Cheveley Park so we’ll talk together and decide.”
Group 1 success wasn’t coming out of turn for De Sousa, who has struck up a fine partnership with Pretty Pollyanna – named after Gredley’s daughter Polly, who is married to James Garfield’s trainer George Scott – and who said afterwards he had drawn plenty of encouragement from her sixth-placed effort at Royal Ascot.
Prix Morny result and analysis
“It’s my first Group 1 of the year and it’s great,” said the Stobart jockeys’ title leader. “I go everywhere but you still need the good horses to take you to the big stage.
“I’m very lucky to get on this filly so thank you to Mr Bell and of course [my retainer] Prince Faisal, who was the first to bring me to France to ride for Mr Fabre. Maybe without that I wouldn’t have got the opportunity.
“Even at Ascot she was less of a surprise for me than she was for the trainer and she felt very comfortable at Newmarket. She went up in class today but proved she’s a good filly because we’ve beaten horses that have already won good Group races.”
Cheveley Park rematch a possibility for Cabello
John Quinn looked the more likely of the two trainers to be celebrating a second Morny win at the furlong marker and felt Signora Cabello lost little in defeat.
“She’s run a screamer and they’re two very good fillies,” said Quinn. “I thought she might have done enough and she showed a great turn of foot to run the other one down in the first place.”
Phoenix Thoroughbreds bought a majority share in Signora Cabello from Zen Racing shortly before her Royal Ascot success, and chairman Amer Abdulaziz was looking to the future.
He said: “We have always believed in her but she was beaten by a better filly so we’re happy to finish second. Frankie gave her a good ride and we’ll target the Cheveley Park, where hopefully we’ll meet the winner again.
“She’ll be a beautiful broodmare but before then she’ll go to the Cheveley Park and then the Breeders’ Cup.”
Clear best of the rest was True Mason, and Karl Burke may not have finished with Group 1 ambitions for the colt.
“The two fillies are very very good and so it was a very good run from our fella,” said the trainer. “In that grade we’d want a little bit more cut and we’ll keep our eye on the Middle Park. He’s certainly entitled to take his chance.”
Nonza swoops in Prix Jean Romanet to deny Urban Fox and put Devin in dreamland
Among the ranks of jockeys and trainers in France the names Alexis Badel and Henri-Francois Devin have been talked of for some time as Group 1 winners-in-waiting.
For both men the wait is over as Nonza came from well back to overhaul Urban Fox and James Doyle, sparking emotional scenes in the tight Deauville winner’s enclosure.
A homebred product of the Devin family’s Haras du Mesnil, Nonza started her run out wide and, from a furlong down, always looked to be getting there.
Navaro Girl came from a similarly long way back to take third but the Aidan O’Brien-trained Rhododendron was eased right down by Ryan Moore after appearing to be struck into early in the straight.
Nonza had been climbing the ladder gradually of late but had won only a Listed race before this, on her previous start.
“She’s very progressive and has improved with time, as a lot of the family can,” said Devin, who missed the presentation as he rushed off to saddle a runner in the following Prix de Pomone.
“The thing about her is that you can’t really rush her. She has a fantastic morning rider, Marcos Santos, who has ridden her for quite some time and gets on very well with her. Full credit to him, he’s done an incredible job.”
Devin praises his number one Badel
Devin took out his training licence only in 2013 but has quickly made a name for himself.
But he reserved his warmest praise for Badel – the son of former jockey Alain and trainer Myriam Bollack – who has been an ally of the yard ever since finishing second aboard Physiocrate in the 2015 Prix de Diane.
“Alexis is a fantastic jockey and I’m so happy for him,” said Devin. “He’s been riding for so long and it seems amazing to me that this is his first Group 1 win. See what he achieved in such a short time in Hong Kong. If he’d stayed he would be one of the top guys.”
Haggas may look overseas with Fox
Urban Fox now has Group 1 figures of 122 since joining William Haggas, who found nothing to reproach in her performance.
“James just felt she was there plenty soon enough, but he had to go when he went,” said Haggas.
“He’s just got done close home but she’s run a very solid race again. I think this is her trip, and faster ground – James said the ground felt a bit dead on her – would suit her better.
“I’ll be definitely be looking abroad with her. We’ve got to make a plan, both short term and long term.”
Favourite Bateel did not pick up quite as expected in the straight under Olivier Peslier and was well held in fifth.
Trainer Francis Graffard said: “She didn’t really breathe properly during the race and the ground has gone a bit quick for her on what was her first run since May.”
fonte : RacingPost
Zanzibari’s Nonza Causes an Upset In the Jean Romanet
Updated: August 19, 2018 at 10:35 pm
| 5th at DVL, Gr. Stk, €250,000 | G1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet | (10f) | Winner: Nonza (Fr), f, 4 by Zanzibari |
Nonza | Scoop Dyga
By Tom Frary
The G1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet “dark horse” Nonza (Fr) (Zanzibari) must have been France’s best-kept secret prior to Sunday, but Henri-Francois Devin pulled the rabbit out of the hat as the 4-year-old overcame some established high-class performers to make a dramatic breakthrough. Untested in anything like this company but a proven winner time and again, the homebred bay who booked her ticket with a first black-type success in the 10 1/2-furlong Listed Prix de la Pepiniere at Maisons-Laffitte July 22 took up an unassuming early role towards the rear under Alexis Badel. As they turned for home, there was unwanted drama as Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) went wrong and was eased by Ryan Moore and as Urban Fox (GB) (Foxwedge {Aus}) cut loose Nonza had almost three lengths to make up on that G1 Pretty Polly S. winner. Eating into the deficit as the line neared, the 12-1 shot managed it in the final strides to prevail by a neck as Navaro Girl (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) gave the outcome an even greater element of upset 1 3/4 lengths further behind in third. “It as a great performance and as my first group 1 it is a very emotional moment,” Devin said of the winner who is Haras du Mesnil breeding through and through. “It obviously has special meaning or my family and everyone is here and they are all involved. She belongs to the family of Terre a Terre (Fr) (Kaldounevees {Fr}) who won the [G1] Prix de l’Opera in 2001 and it’s been a long wait but we’ve got there again. She is a very progressive filly who has taken a lot of time to come around, but she can’t be faulted this year and the logical race is the Opera [at ParisLongchamp Oct. 7].”
Introduced at Chateaubriant last April, Nonza was off the mark at the first time of asking over an extended nine furlongs but was only seen next in November when runner-up in a conditions event on Chantilly’s Polytrack before running third on the same surface here on Boxing Day. Kept on the go over the winter as connections chased lost time, she returned to winning ways over 9 1/2 furlongs back at Chantilly Jan. 15 and again had a lengthy break before continuing the thread when successful over the same track, trip and surface Apr. 16. It was not until the Prix de la Pepiniere that she emerged as a black-type filly on turf but there was still a leap to be made to become competitive with peers who had been mixing it in the major group 1s of Europe and the Classics. Devin, who is not yet in his mid-thirties, has an eye for talent honed during his tenure under Andre Fabre and Nonza did nothing here to expose his judgement as unsound.
Nonza is only the second foal out of the homebred maiden Terra Alta (Fr) (Kaldounevees {Fr}), a full-sibling of the aforementioned Terre a Terre who added the G1 Dubai Duty Free to her Prix de l’Opera victory and was also third in the G1 Hong Kong Cup in these silks. Like Nonza, she started off small before becoming big-time and has produced the G3 Prix Cleopatre third Terra Incognita (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}). Terre a Terre’s full-brother Kachgai (Ire) took the Listed Prix Pelleas and was runner-up in the G3 Prix de Meautry, while the third dam Soloist (Alleged) is a half to the GSW sire Polished Brass (Dixie Brass) from the family of the GII American Derby winner Tizdejavu (Tiznow). Terra Alta’s as-yet unraced 2-year-old filly by Doctor Dino (Fr) is named Terra Dina (Fr), while she also has a yearling filly by the same sire named Anahata (Fr).
Sunday, Deauville, France
DARLEY PRIX JEAN ROMANET-G1, €250,000, Deauville, 8-19, 4yo/up, f/m, 10fT, 2:06.46, gd.
1–NONZA (FR), 126, f, 4, by Zanzibari
1st Dam: Terra Alta (Fr), by Kaldounevees (Fr)
2nd Dam: Toujours Juste (Fr), by Always Fair
3rd Dam: Soloist, by Alleged
1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O/B-Mme Antonia Devin (FR); T-Henri-Francois Devin; J-Alexis Badel. €142,850. Lifetime Record: 7-5-1-0, €211,870. Werk Nick Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Urban Fox (GB), 126, f, 4, Foxwedge (Aus)–Lomapamar (GB), by Nashwan. (10,000gns Ylg ’15 TAOCT; 425,000gns 3yo ’17 TATMA). O-Barnane Stud Ltd; B-Mascalls Stud (GB); T-William Haggas. €57,150.
3–Navaro Girl (Ire), 126, f, 4, Holy Roman Emperor (Ire)–Neele (Ire), by Peintre Celebre. O-Stall Nizza; B-Jurgen Imm (IRE); T-Peter Schiergen. €28,575.
Margins: NK, 1 3/4, HD. Odds: 11.00, 1.90, 25.00.
Also Ran: Lady Frankel (GB), I’m So Fancy (Ire), Bateel (Ire), Golden Legend (Fr), Wilamina (Ire), Rhododendron (Ire). Scratched: Haggle (GB).
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Oasis Dream’s Pretty Pollyanna Wins the Battle For the Morny
Updated: August 19, 2018 at 10:35 pm
| 4th at DVL, Gr. Stk, €350,000 | G1 Darley Prix Morny | (6f) | Winner: Pretty Pollyanna (GB), f, 2 by Oasis Dream (GB) |
Pretty Pollyanna | Scoop Dyga
By Tom Frary
On the little evidence we have so far, the Gredleys’ Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) has the same positive attitude as her literary namesake and that and her superior class carried her to glory in Sunday’s G1 Darley Prix Morny at Deauville. What had looked a renewal set to be dominated by the fillies played out in reality as the homebred who sports the yellow silks first made famous three decades ago by User Friendly (GB) (Slip Anchor {GB}) saw off Signora Cabello (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) in a pulsating fight to the line. Showing the same instant speed that saw her register a eyebrow-raising seven-length success in the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. over this six-furlong trip at Newmarket July 13, Pretty Pollyanna was in front of the rivals racing up the centre as the G3 Prix de Cabourg winner Comedy (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) overdid it ahead racing alone up the stand’s rail. Silvestre de Sousa had the 8-5 favourite on the front foot throughout, but the inevitable challenge came from the Queen Mary heroine Signora Cabello who tracked her compatriot throughout under Frankie Dettori. Taken on and headed for a stride before the 100-metre marker, Pretty Pollyanna was spurred her on by the attention and duly asserted to score by 3/4 of a length as they pulled four lengths clear of True Mason (GB) (Mayson {GB}) for a British one-two-three. “She is such a good filly and what I liked most today was the way she showed a lot of courage when challenged by the runner-up,” trainer Michael Bell said. “She quickened again in the last furlong, so hopefully that is a sign that she’ll stay further or at least a mile.”
No sooner had Pretty Pollyanna passed the line in front on her debut at Yarmouth June 14 than Michael Bell was pointing the way to the G3 Albany S. and his faith in her raw ability was justified as she finished with real effect from rear to be just over two-lengths fifth in that Royal Ascot contest. Had she been ridden more aggressively, she would perhaps be unbeaten at present as her destruction of the Albany one-two Main Edition (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) and La Pelosa (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) in the old “Cherry Hinton” at the July meeting put her in a category all of her own. The runner-up Angel’s Hideaway (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) has since impressively won the G3 Princess Margaret S., while Main Edition and La Pelosa were first and second in the G3 Sweet Solera S. back at Newmarket. As Ballydoyle’s Just Wonderful (Dansili {GB}) and Goddess (Camelot {GB}) have failed to fire in their big tests and that stable continues under a cloud, Pretty Pollyanna now has pole position for the 2019 1000 Guineas and looks cut from the same cloth as the similarly forward-going pair Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}) and Natagora (Fr) (Divine Light {Jpn}) who both carried their sprinting juvenile dominance over to the Newmarket Classic the following spring.
Pretty Pollyanna’s unraced dam Unex Mona Lisa (GB) (Shamardal), whose yearling colt is by Nathaniel (Ire) and who also has a colt foal by New Approach (Ire), is a half-sister to the nine-furlong GIII Robert J. Frankel S. winner Gender Agenda (GB) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) who was also third in the GII Goldikova S. and fifth in the GI Matriarch S. She is also a full-sister to Unex El Greco (GB) who was listed-placed at a mile and a quarter, while the second dam Friendlier (GB) (Zafonic) who was also responsible for the Listed Pretty Polly S. runner-up Madame Defarge (Ire) (Motivator {GB}) is a half to the aforementioned User Friendly. Handed the title of 1992 European Horse of the Year after winning the G1 English, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks and G1 St Leger and finishing runner-up in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, she was later the dam of the G3 Give Thanks S. winner Downtown (Ire) (Danehill) and the G3 Queen’s Vase runner-up Two Miles West (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) and is also the second dam of the G1 Queensland Oaks winner Youngstar (Aus) (High Chaparral {Ire}). The third dam Rostova (GB) (Blakeney {GB}) was fourth in the G3 Ormonde S. over an extended 13 furlongs and her descendants include the Hong Kong Derby-placed sire Champions Gallery (GB) (Dansili {GB}).
It is small wonder that connections feel confident that the winner will be able to hold her own as she goes up in trip. “I just hope she gets to the Guineas in one piece,” added Bell, who was winning this for the second time having also saddled the filly Hoh Magic (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) to score in 1994. “There is a lot of stamina on the dam’s side and User Friendly is there. I’ll have to discuss her immediate future with the owners, but I would imagine it will be either the [G1] Moyglare [Stud S. at The Curragh Sept. 16] or the [G1] Cheveley Park [S. at Newmarket Sept. 29]. She is a lovely filly to train and has never given us any worries. She has a lovely temperament and just eats and sleeps and does everything right.”
Signora Cabello proved herself a genuine top-class performer also and trainer John Quinn was typically gracious in defeat as he pondered the next move for the runner-up, who is still part-owned by her orginal partnership Zen Racing and who also represents the power of Phoenix Thoroughbreds. “I’m not at all disappointed–she has run a great race against a very good performer and was beated by a better filly on the day, actually probably by an exceptional one,” he said. “The idea now is to go to the Cheveley Park.”
Sunday, Deauville, France
DARLEY PRIX MORNY-G1, €350,000, Deauville, 8-19, 2yo, c/f, 6fT, 1:10.24, gd.
1–PRETTY POLLYANNA (GB), 122, f, 2, by Oasis Dream (GB)
1st Dam: Unex Mona Lisa (GB), by Shamardal
2nd Dam: Friendlier (GB), by Zafonic
3rd Dam: Rostova (GB), by Blakeney (GB)
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (50,000gns RNA Ylg ’17 TATOCT). O-W J & T C O Gredley; B-Stetchworth & Middle Park Studs Ltd (GB); T-Michael Bell; J-Silvestre de Sousa. €199,990. Lifetime Record: GSW-Eng, 4-3-0-0, €258,157. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Signora Cabello (Ire), 122, f, 2, Camacho (GB)–Journalist (Ire), by Night Shift. (20,000gns Ylg ’17 TAOCT). O-Phoenix Thoroughbred & Zen Racing; B-Diomed Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-John Quinn. €80,010.
3–True Mason (GB), 126, c, 2, Mayson (GB)–Marysienka (GB), by Primo Dominie (GB). (25,000gns Wlg ’16 TATFOA; 120,000gns Ylg ’17 TAOCT). O-Khalifa Dasmal; B-Simon Balding (GB); T-Karl Burke. €40,005.
Margins: 3/4, 4, 2HF. Odds: 1.60, 4.20, 25.00.
Also Ran: Land Force (Ire), Sexy Metro (Fr), Simply Striking (Fr), Kinks (GB), Comedy (Ire), Marie’s Diamond (Ire).
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Sea the Stars Half To Waldgeist a New Rising Star
Updated: August 17, 2018 at 4:33 pm
| 3rd at NMT, Cond, 8000 | Fly London Southend Airport To Lyon EBF Novice S. | (8f) | Winner: Waldstern (GB), c, 2 by Sea the Stars (Ire) |
Waldstern is another TDN Rising Star for Sea The Stars | Racing Post
By Tom Frary
Debuting in the race won 12 months ago by the fellow John Gosden-trained Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) and in the past by Motivator (GB) and Frankel (GB), Gestut Ammerland’s Waldstern (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) started at 11-2 with the expectation being that he would need this introduction. Slowly away and settled worse than mid-division early, the chestnut gradually entered contention passing halfway and got rolling to inhale Venedegar (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the final 50 yards for a deeply promising 1 1/4-length success, with Le Don De Vie (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}) a length behind in third.
While this was not a flashy performance to match those of Frankel or even Motivator, the fact that such a stoutly-bred individual was able to win a well-contested novice on his first outing speaks volumes. His half-brother Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) also won at the first time of asking and took the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud, but he has also progressed with maturity and captured last month’s G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Also a half to the recent G2 Prix de Malleret scorer Waldlied (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), the winner is out of the G3 Prix Penelope scorer and past TDN Rising Star Waldlerche (GB) (Monsun {Ger}) who is turning into a formidable broodmare for Ammerland.
Jockey Robert Havlin was taken by the display. “He was quite backward in the early part of the race, but he’s a long-striding horse who gradually picked up the bridle as we expected him to,” he explained. “I was riding him to finish off the race and he did it a lot stronger than I thought he would. I wanted him to find his stride, as it’s a big learning curve and he had not been on the grass a lot. He did it the nice way round, when he hit the rising ground he finished off strongly and was also as good as gold in the preliminaries. I liked the way he behaved–nothing seemed to faze him. He’s a big horse who I would imagine will run over a mile and a quarter upwards next year and he’ll sharpen up a lot after today as he is quite inquisitive and looks about. He might travel a lot better the next day, as he pulled up as if he had had a canter. He seemed to handle this ground, which is on the slow side of good.”
3rd-Newmarket, £8,000, Cond, 8-17, 2yo, 8fT, 1:41.91, g/s.
WALDSTERN (GB), c, 2, by Sea the Stars (Ire)
1st Dam: Waldlerche (GB) (GSW-Fr & SP-Ger), by Monsun (Ger)
2nd Dam: Waldmark (Ger), by Mark of Esteem (Ire)
3rd Dam: Wurftaube (Ger), by Acatenango (Ger)
Sales history: 400,000gns Ylg ’17 TATOCT. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $6,578. O-Gestut Ammerland; B-Newsells Park & Ammerland Gmbh & Co Kg (GB); T-John Gosden. *1/2 to Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), MG1SW-Fr & GSP-Eng, $1,104,301, & to Waldlied (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), GSW-Fr, $123,344.
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
fonte : TDN
