Sahpresa repeats in Sun Chariot; Masaya, Fury star in
Tattersalls Millions
SAHPRESA (Sahm) became only the second mare to complete back-to-back wins in
Saturday’s Sun Chariot S. (Eng-G1) at Newmarket, and the first since the mile
contest attained Group 1 status.
The Rodolphe Collet-trained French raider was a shock winner when defeating
Ghanaati at odds of 16-1 last year, but there was little surprise about the way
she swept aside her 10 rivals to register a 1 3/4-length triumph as
the 9-2 second-favorite.
Sahpresa, who was given time to recover from a disappointing defeat in the
Windsor Castle S. (Eng-G2) at Royal Ascot in June, made a winning return to
action in the Prix du Pin (Fr-G3) at Longchamp last month, a victory that
put her spot on for Saturday’s assignment.
“That was impressive,” Collet said. “I was afraid about the ground because at
three she was not going on the very soft ground. She has never been trained on
the turf in the morning, only on the all-weather sand.
“She’s now a mature mare. She came in late and I wasn’t sure what happened
when she came in after the race at Royal Ascot. I thought there was something
wrong because after one furlong as she was not going well. We had a virus in the
yard at the start of the year, so it must have been something like that.”
The five-year-old mare followed last season’s Sun
Chariot success with a fine third, beaten 1 1/4 lengths, in the
Mile Championship (Jpn-G1) at Kyoto. That prestigious contest is once
again on the agenda.
“We are going to engage again in the Mile Championship
(on November 21) because she ran last year and was impressive in the race — she was beaten by a
collar and a collar, so why not,” Collet said. “She could go for that or also maybe Hong Kong.
Hopefully they will call me Monday morning to invite her to the Mile
Championship.
“I am very pleased — very pleased.”
Sahpresa was always cruising under Christophe Soumillon in the Sun Chariot
and quickened impressively to match the achievement of the Luca Cumani-trained
Free Guest, who won the prize in 1984 and 1985 when the race was a Group 2
contest at
10 furlongs.
“She was always traveling very easily,” Soumillon said. “She has a good
turn of foot so sometimes you have to wait to go. What she did today was
something special, winning two years in a row. In France, we know how hard it is
to come to England and win Group 1 races.
“She is a great filly and I always knew that she was probably good enough to
do a double like this. But we were a bit worried about her at the beginning of
the season because the trainer had some problems, so you never know. She didn’t run a good race at Ascot but last time she won really well in
France. Today we had a bit of a problem with the ground but she was traveling
well in the race.
“I tried to come as late as possible but she came there a bit early and I
needed to ride her hard to make her concentrate because she was trying to stop a
little in front.
“Now she will probably go to Japan again. She is probably more mature this
year and she can travel a long way. She ran well there last year but the ground
was a bit too sticky for her. I think that she can do something more this
year.”
Also at Newmarket on Saturday, trainer Clive Brittain danced his customary shuffle as
MASAYA (Dansili [GB]) returned to the
winner’s enclosure after seeing off 19 rivals to capture the £300,000
Tattersalls Million Two-Year-Old Fillies’ Trophy.
“Cheveley Park eat your heart out; One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) next year, the secret is
here,” rapped the septuagenarian trainer in reference to Cheveley Park
homebred Hooray (Invincible Spirit), an impressive heroine of Friday’s Cheveley
Park S. (Eng-G1).
Masaya, a 20-1 chance, had finished a staying-on third to Khor Sheed (Dubawi) in the
£100,000 Tattersalls Millions Fillies’ Auction S. over six furlongs of the
Rowley Mile last time, and relished the extra furlong as she
made virtually all to clinch the £167,338 first prize.
Brittain’s charge reversed placings with Tattersalls Millions Fillies’
Auction runner-up Tale Untold (Tale of the Cat), who was a short-head second,
while 13-8 favorite Together (Galileo [Ire]) was a further neck away in third after drifting
left across the course inside the final furlong.
“We’ve had a bit of a lean time but when you put me on a
diet, I come out strong,” Brittain continued. “She’s a tough little filly. You see the superstars,
well mine are superstars in my eyes.
“I told him (Tom Queally) to ride the race as he found it. She traveled
well and they had to come by her. She was third in the race last week, and I was
not sure how the ground would suit her, but it suited her all right. We’ll look
at the One Thousand Guineas — the windmills will be tilting at us — but that will be it for
the year.”
The Saeed Manana-owned Masaya was a 140,000 guineas purchase from last year’s
Tattersalls October Sale, Book 1.
“She stuck her head out and really tried for
me,” Queally said. “It was nice when we got the verdict. Personally I didn’t think that we had
got there as I went by, but luckily it went our way.
“I had my head down and was pushing. I actually thought Hughsie (jockey
Richard Hughes on Tale Untold) had got me,
and I said to him whether the one on the far side (Together) had got us both. When you are
in a ding-dong battle like that, you just have to keep your head down and keep
trying.
“Clive didn’t give me any instructions and she jumped out and was happy in
front. At halfway I thought that we were going really well, so I gave her a
little bit of rein and she kept lengthening. She was really trying and that is
half the battle won.
“It can be difficult to make ground up here because, when you run down into
the Dip — that last 100 yards, almost a furlong — it can be quite tough. It
helps when you have got the animal underneath you.”
Trainer Richard Hannon reported that Tale Untold might now be in line for
a trip to America.
“She is a nice filly — I am delighted with her performance,” Hannon
said. “We might be
heading to the Breeders’ Cup for the Juveniles Fillies race now,” he said.
Bloodstock agent Gordian Troeller, who was with Hannon, represented Tale Untold’s owner
Marc Keller.
“She is eligible for the Breeders’ Cup,” Troeller said. “Mr. Keller is an American and would love to have her run at the
meeting.
“We will see how she comes out of this, but taking her to America is a
definite possibility.”
Troeller bought Tale Untold for Keller from previous owners Trevor Stewart
and Anna Doyle. The filly had cost Peter Doyle Bloodstock 26,000gns at the
Tattersalls October Sale, Book 1.
Following on Friday’s success by Hooray, fellow Cheveley Park homebred FURY
(Invincible Spirit) justified 11-2 joint favoritism in Saturday’s £500,000 Tattersalls
Millions Two-Year-Old Trophy as a convincing 1 3/4-length winner from Pisco
Sour (Lemon Drop Kid).
“You need a bit of luck and we had a good draw in 24,” winning trainer
William Haggas said. “He ran out the clear winner, and I thought he quickly put the
race to bed.
“He is a nice horse and did it well, considering that he had his first run
only two weeks ago. His owner Mrs. Thompson asked me before the race what I
thought of him and I said that I think he could be a black-type horse.
“I have not got him entered in anything and he will probably be put away now.
He will have an entry for the Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1), but that is six months away
—
anything might happen by then!
“You need so much luck in maximum-field races like this and we got the luck
by getting the draw on the outside. We have always like this horse — great
nature and a good head on him. He might go to a higher level. We geared
everything to this. There is a possibility of going for the Horris Hill
([Eng-G3] on October 23 at Newbury) but I
have never liked that race so we will probably put him away.
“One of his hind limbs had a moderate trip in it when X-rayed at the sales
and he was withdrawn. That is where I got lucky to get him.”
Patricia Thompson of Cheveley Park joked: “That is two juvenile winners
in two days for us by the sire Invincible Spirit. The Irish National Stud
will have to think about giving us a free nomination next spring!”
Fury, who was withdrawn from the Tattersalls October Sale, Book 1, has been given a 33-1 quote by Paddy Power for next year’s Two
Thousand Guineas.
“I loved him when I rode him at Newbury,” winning rider Kieren Fallon
said, “but I was a bit worried about the ground today, but he has moved through it with
no problem.
“It has dried out since yesterday so it is sticky and gluey now. It is a
little bit like a ploughed field but you would expect that — there has
been a lot of racing and a lot of horses have run down there. But he was moving
through it nicely.
“It is very hard to compare that to a Group race, but some horses there had
very good speed figures. This fellow traveled there so well and he has a great
attitude. He has done that smoothly and I think that he has a big future. I
don’t think that the draw made a difference to this fellow — I think that he
could have won from anywhere.”
CREDIT SWAP (Diktat), who was having his third run in six days, made it a winning one
when the 14-1 chance led home his 34 rivals in the Cambridgeshire H. But the race came almost as an afterthought for trainer Michael Wigham.
“It is unbelievable,” the delighted trainer said. “We train him for this time
of year and the consolation race for the Cambridgeshire was the race (run
Friday) we had in mind. We did not think we would get into this, and we
thought the ground would be too deep for him as he does not get a mile and a
quarter.
“He was unlucky at Ascot on Sunday and again here on Thursday. But then the
rain did not come, and we thought we might as well take our chance in this because he was in great
form and one or two of my horses have half-needed their races. The horse is all
heart and it is great that something like this can happen to smaller owners.”
Jockey Jim Crowley reported that he did not have a moment’s doubt throughout
the race.
“Michael told me to ride him to get the trip as this is as far as he wants to
go. The horse settled nicely and was always traveling well. It was just a
matter of pressing the button and getting the gaps. And all the gaps came at the
right time. He is as tough as old boots, traveled well throughout and really is
a super horse.
“He went super on the ground, and I think that it probably brings out the best
in him. It’s tacky ground — what you would call jumping ground. I was third or
fourth on Take a Bow (fourth in the 2006 Cambridgeshire) and this is a hot race to win
— you need a Group horse
usually to win it — and he has done it nicely.”