February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
O’Brien pre-entered 10 horses in five races, but played coy as to which races his 3-year-old stars would actually run in. Meanwhile, one of his campaigners was sold to American interests.
At press time, Irish Derby winner High Chaparral is committed to the $2
Million Turf, but Rock of Gibraltar and Hawk Wing have been entered in both the $4 Million Classic and the $1 Million Mile. Landseer is certain for the Mile and Reach for the Moon will run in the $1 Million Juvenile Fillies, while five of O’Brien’s 2-year-olds are possible for the $1 Million Juvenile, a race he won last year with Johannesburg.
Dermot Weld is also bringing over a pair of fillies and Joanna Morgan has entered her gelding One Won One in the Mile, although he is a doubtful starter.
Conventional wisdom would lead many to believe that Rock of Gibraltar would run in the Mile, the distance of his five 2002 races, all wins. But O’Brien points to the purse differential between the Classic and Mile as a reason to take a chance on the richer race, at 10 furlongs on dirt, a distance and surface the Irish-bred colt has never tried.
“There definitely is chance Rock of Gibraltar will run in the Classic,” O’Brien said. “I know we’re going into unknown territory, but we’ve always felt he’d get a mile and a quarter, and there are a number of dirt influences in his pedigree.”
Hawk Wing might seem to be a bit of an underachiever at first glance, having run second in four of his five 2002 starts, but he was beaten by stablemates in two of those races and another was lost by only a neck.
The Classic field will also include War Emblem, winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, Evening Attire, the Jockey Club Gold Cup hero, and as many as nine others.
High Chaparral has only eight opponents to wrestle with in the $2 Million Turf, one of which is Ballingarry, a former stablemate. High Chaparral stands a good chance of going off the favorite, based on his Irish and Epsom Derby victories, both of which came at the Turf’s 12-furlong distance. His last start, the Arc de Triomphe in France, found him settling for third place in his first try against older horses.
Ballingarry, which was third in both the Irish Derby and Irish St. Leger, comes into the Turf off a win in the Canadian International at Woodbine. He was sold promptly afterward to a partnership headed by Sidney Port of Chicago, who turned the colt over to trainer Laura De Seroux.
Then there is Perfect Soul, a lightly raced 4-year-old colt from the barn of Roger Attfield. Bred in Ireland by his owner, Charles Fipke, Perfect Soul has three wins from five starts, all in Canada, and was fourth to Ballingarry at Woodbine last time out. High Chaparral, Ballingarry and Perfect Soul are all Irish-breds by Sadler’s Wells. The Turf field will also include Golan, an Irish-bred colt that finished third to Galileo in last year’s Irish Derby.
Landseer’s big 2002 win came in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, a Group I, at Longchamp in May. He finished off the board in two British races before O’Brien brought him to Keeneland for the Shadwell Turf Mile, which he won by a neck over Touch of the Blues, which will also run in the Mile.
Poised to take on Landseer in the Mile are Irish-breds Dress To Thrill and Domedriver. The former is a Weld-trained three-year-old filly. She beat males in the Desmond Stakes at Leopardstown in July and counts three other wins from as many starts to her credit in 2002. Domedriver is a French-based colt with a pair of Group victories this year. Gossamer, winner of this year’s Irish 1000 Guineas, is also expected to try the Mile.
One Won One is an interesting story, but he will need a lot of defections in order to draw into the Mile. He has run 18 times this year, starting with a 15th-place finish in March’s Godolphin Mile in Dubai. Since then, he has run exclusively in Ireland and features a win in the Phoenix Sprint Stakes at The Curragh. Twice this year, Morgan has run him on consecutive days, which did yield a second-place effort at Cork in August. He most recently ran second at The Curragh on Oct. 13.
The $1 Million Filly & Mare Turf finds Weld’s other filly, Irresistible Jewel, on tap. She won a pair of Group races this year, one in Ireland, one in Britain, and was recently second in the Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp. Her opposition includes Islington, an Irish-bred filly that defeated her by six lengths in the Yorkshire Oaks in August, and Golden Apples, an Irish-bred filly that won the Beverly D at Arlington in August. Golden Apples originally ran in Ireland for her breeders, James Egan and David Hanley, before she was sold and sent to America.
O’Brien hopes to repeat in the Juvenile with any one of the five colts he pre-entered. The strongest appear to be Hold That Tiger and Van Nistelrooy. Coolmore Stud purchased the latter for $6.4 Million last year. Reach for the Moon enters the Juvenile Fillies off a third-place finish in the Fillies Mile at Ascot last month.
Michael Kinane is expected to ride O’Brien’s horses, while Pat Smullen will probably be here to partner Weld’s duo. Irish jockeys Kieren Fallon, Richard Hughes and John Murtagh may have mounts as well.