Ebor Festival 2009
A man and his horse: Mick Kinane and Sea The Stars fly to the finish line in record time with absolute trust
and confidence in The Juddmonte International Stakes Group 1 at York Racecourse. Alex Livesey/Getty Images Sport
Is there any wonder all but three horses defected from The Juddmonte International Stakes (Group 1), 1m2f (2000 metres), with Sea The Stars IRE (Cape Cross IRE) running in it?
STS is now variously rated at 131+, 133+ and 136+ by ratings experts. At any of those numbers, he is the world's highest-rated horse.
From what I have seen, he is getting better and better every time he races.
I have seen him in person in all his UK races (four Group 1s in 2009) and I have never seen him go through a pain barrier.
STS comes back to the Winners' Circles with the damp sweat and slightly bulging veins of a good workout not from a race that challenged his reserve power.
Race by race, his master jockey Michael Kinane has dealt with his exuberant bursting from the stalls like Dubai Millennium and his keenness to burn off the opposition with his tremendous speed like DM.
These qualities in common show a powerful similarity between these two extraordinarily fast horses who have dominated 1m2f or 1-1/4 miles.
The exceptional respect and confidence the horse and jockey have in each other allows Kinane to conserve Sea The Stars' energy with a comfortable seat (see photo above), minimum hand-and-bit tension and only a gentle steering tap of the whip to wake him up for his flattening final run.
Both Kinane and gentleman trainer John Oxx accept that the horse is smart enough to expend no more energy than necessary to win by a length and no more.
STS ignores his critics who demand annihilating-length victories and just does enough with ruthless efficiency.
I suspect we could be looking at a 140+ horse who may never get to prove how extraordinary he is--given that there may be no horses good enough to push him to his limits.
Only Ballydoyle/Coolmore gave him a proper race in both the Eclipse and the International.
They were brave enough to send Rip Van Winkle IRE (Galileo IRE) to the Eclipse and three Danehill Dancer Ire colts, including Mastercraftsman IRE, to the International.
They had little chance of defeating STS unless he had an off day, was beaten by clever race tactics or mugged. The latter option never factored.
In each of his races, trainer Aiden O'Brien and jockey Johnny Murtagh tested Sea The Stars with every imaginable strategy and several pacemakers per race to no avail.
STS seems to have no chink in his armour of exceptional versatility.
The one fair criticism his critics could make in the International is that STS was so relaxed just keeping up with the courageous, flat-out
Mastercraftsman he almost went to sleep waiting for the tap to "GO".
Once he got that tap, he imperceptibly glided gears to win in record-breaking time.
He is such a big horse that the speed is not apparent until he passes speeding horses at their best and breaks course records.
Ballydoyle have proven themselves to be great sports and fair players in a very nice race.
Their immediate benefits were walking home with three place purses totaling £225,960 and Mastercraftsman, like Rip Van Winkle, was tested and upgraded in ratings for racing so well against Sea The Stars.
Sea The Stars has not only become the benchmark for all European turf horses, but is their trainer taking them to new progressive heights.
Tentative rating for STS in the International is 131+ as he hardly exerted himself, but that number could be raised if Mastercraftsman earns a very significant rise. Both deserve it.
I asked trainer Oxx how he would rate his Sea The Stars and he said he could not, but was impressed at how much Mastercraftsman improved his ratings during the race with STS.
Modest Oxx would never admit it, but might agree that he could have a 140+ horse who will not ever be able to prove it.
Generosity was the byword between opposing sides and that befitted the warm and friendly Yorkshire crowd who took both sides to heart.
When it was announced that Sea The Stars was crossing the Knavesmire to the Parade Ring, hundreds rushed from the stands to join the thousands already waiting to see him.
They were clearly awed and many used the word 'privilege' to describe their feelings about seeing him in the flesh.
The British have taken Irish STS on as their champion as he has just won his fourth Group 1 this year in Britain and may race in the October Champions Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse.
When Johnny Murtagh returned to the Winners' Circle with his brave Mastercraftsman, after being defeated by STS, the Yorkshire audience gave them both a tremendous ovation. Ballydoyle connections seemed surprised and touched.
Then the Stars ambled in and racegoers erupted. He was unfazed and his charming young owner Christopher Tsui, though wildly excited, gave no hint of fainting again (the Eclipse) even with a media and crowd blitz.
Everything was beautifully orchestrated by York Racecourse including a deserved lap of honour giving everyone more chances to see and applaud STS.
Pity that was not done with Ballydoyle's Yeats at Ascot's Gold Cup.
Most of us who have been to York Racecourse and met York's people have one comment about going back--"in a minute".
Yorkshire got what it deserves after last year's racecourse washout disaster--the presence of a truly great horse, generosity in return for theirs, and superlative racing.
One of those races was the totesport Ebor.
Ballydoyle's charges were not expected to beat Sea The Stars, but they counted on the totesport Ebor (Heritage Handicap) (Class 2), 1m6f, for their magnificent-looking Changingoftheguard IRE (Montjeu IRE).
The £130,851 purse for the Festival's eponymous Ebor race would have been theirs but for a late stall departure and getting caught having to weave through a pack of 19 runners.
The three-year olds' third and 'unmovable' obstacle was the sensational, tiny mare Sesenta IRE (King's Theatre IRE) under determined apprentice jockey G F Carroll.
Even international jockey Johnny Murtagh could not beat these two.
Sesenta's trainer Willie Mullins said she is so tiny and fast that it is hard to place her except in handicaps. His chance paid off and Ballydoyle went home with only places in the Ebor Festival.
Another exceptional race was the Darley Yorkshire Oaks won by four-year-old Dar Re Mi (Singspeil IRE--a Darley sire) and ridden by the York meet's top jockey Jimmy Fortune.
Dar Re Mi, a homebred of Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber's at Watership Down Stud, easily defeated the favourite Sariska (Pivotal) with her toughness and speed.
She may compete next in the Prix Vermeille and then the Arc according to her trainer John Gosden.
Sariska's jockey Jamie Spencer offered "No excuses. She just isn't fast enough."
Given that Sariska won the Epsom Oaks on good ground after Spencer used her tank-like bulk to knock off her opponents earning him a ban, one has to question how good she really is.
Her victory on Irish heavy ground was overwhelming.
Her trainer Michael Bell, who had been so confident of her victory in Yorkshire that he was contemplating history books on her as the first English filly to win the Arc, suggested the fast ground was not good for a Pivotal and found her to be in season the following day.
Paddy Power accepted no excuses and dropped Sariska from Arc betting. All the bookies are now offering on Dar Re Mi.
Dar Re Mi is also the first European Breeders' Cup Challenge winner in the Audi Pretty Polly Stakes (Group 1) at the Curragh which makes her eligible for the Breeders' Cup Fillies and Mares Turf with a $2,000,000 purse November 7. Read more on *Breeders' Cup
Peter Chapple-Hyam has warned punters that his surprise winner Monitor Closely IRE (Oasis Dream) of The Ladbrokes Great Voltigeur Stakes (Group 2), 1m4f, for 3yo colts and geldings, might not compete in the St Leger.
Wherever he races, Chapplle-Hyam should keep jockey Jimmy Fortune on him. He brought that horse to his achievement with his powerful riding skills in a master-class race.
The surprising second in that race, Godolphin's Mastery (Sulamani IRE), adds another fine competitor to Godolphin's St Leger lineup along with impressive Kite Wood IRE (Galileo IRE). The latter was the talk of Yorkshire.
Another unexpected winner of the Ebor Festival was Marcus Tregoning's four-year-old Askar Tau FR (Montjeu IRE) in the Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup (Group 2), 2m1/2f.
Tregoning was very high on his horse before the race and he never exaggerates.
A two-year-old favourite lived up to pre-billing in the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack Stakes (Group 2) for colt and geldings, 6f.
Showcasing (Oasis Dream), under Jimmy Fortune and trained by John Gosden, easily won the seminal Gimcrack race for two-year olds with a good run from his 16.1 second Taajub IRE (Exceed And Excel AUS) for Richard Hills.
The fillies equivalent, Jaguar Cars Lowther Stakes (Group 2), 6f, was won in a rout by Lady of the Desert USA (Rahy USA) described as a Group 1 horse in a Group 2 race by her jockey Martin Dwyer.
Her winning opens a good account in the new relationship between trainer Brian Meehan and owner Jaber Abdullah.
Exciting news from the Abdullah corner is that he has offered Kieran Fallon the ride on Youmzain IRE (Sinndar IRE) through the Arc once he returns from his 18-month ban.
Yorkshire held all the aces on the final day when last year's winner of the Coolmore Nunthope Stakes (Group 1), 5f, retained his title in style under Neil Callan.
Borderlescott (Compton Place), who trains with Robin Bastiman eight miles down the road from York Racecourse and comes to his peak in late Summer, proved he has lost nothing at seven and can win as easily at York as at last-year's substitute course in Newmarket.
Reliable eight-year-old Benbaum IRE (Stravinsky USA) finished second and adorable TWO-year-old Radiohead (Johannesburg USA) a fast-closing third for trainer Brian Meehan and jockey Martin Dwyer.
The Ebor Festival, like Glorious Goodwood and Newmarket's July Course, always turns up many surprises and new talents. Hence, there was a great diversity of winning sires, trainers, owners and jockeys.
But there are some constants. Trainer John Dunlop wins big at these tricky courses.
He has won four races at the Ebor Festival this year with his beautifully turned-out horses: Elusive Pimpernal USA on Day 1 and Akmal, Palavincini USA and Swingkeel IRE on the final day making him leading trainer.
Leading jockey with four wins, Jimmy Fortune, rode Swingkeel in the Collingwood Team Service Knavesmire Stakes (Handicap), 2m1/2f, for Dunlop and won three Group races: The Ladbrokes Great Voltigeur Stakes on Monitor Closely IRE for Peter Chapple-Hyam, the Darley Yorkshire Oaks on Dar Re Mi and the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack Stakes for two-year olds on exciting Showcasing for John H M Gosden.
Darley dominated the Winners' Circle with sires Mark of Esteem, Elusive Quality, Cape Cross (two including Sea The Stars), Rahy and Singspeil (two).
Coolmore winning sires were Montjeu, Hawk Wing and Giant's Causeway.
Juddmonte's Oasis Dream had two winners producing the stallion's eighth Group winner in six weeks at sprint and mid-distances He is seventh of Europe's leading sires and, as a young sire, has a great future.
Twenty-nine-year old Night Shift USA (Northern Dancer CAN) showed his continued potency with two winners.
Watership Down Stud (the Lloyd-Webbers) owns and bred Dar Re Mi. Monitor Closely was raised and sold by them and Roaring Forte, winner of the Addleshaw Goddards Stakes Heritage Handicap, was sold by Watership Down.
All of the stud sponsors' horses and sires produced most of the winning horses at the well-attended and very successful Ebor Festival.
We regret not being able to give full coverage to all the excellent races, horses and connections during the Ebor.
Racing International http://www.racingint.com
Posted by susan trevelyan-syke at 8/22/2009 10:55 PM 
Categories: Ebor Festival 2009
Tags: Ebor Festival 2009
Categories: Ebor Festival 2009
Tags: Ebor Festival 2009
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