Undefeated Chilean filly Mensajera De La Luz makes her Middle Eastern début Thursday in the UAE 1000 Guineasat Meydan (Race #5) in a matchup against Argentine Group 1 winner Ishitaki, the Brazilian Group 2 winner Opera Comica, and the Australian-bred, South African Raihana, already a winner at Meydan. A champion 2-year-old who was purchased by the familiar Saudi-based owner/trainer duo of Prince Sultan Mohd. Saud Al Kabeer and Jerry Barton after her win in the Group 1 Cl. Tanteo de Potrancas on dirt at Hipodromo Chile last year, Mensajera De La Luz is from the dazzling 2006 crop of Chilean-bred fillies that also includes Belle Watling and Casablanca Smile. The latter two have won the two most important races in Chile, the El Ensayo and El Derby over 2400 meters on turf, respectively, whereas Mensajera De La Luz is a dirt filly who’s never been farther than 1500 meters — the distance of the Tanteo de Potrancas. See the race below. She is a chestnut with a blaze who makes a late move on the outside and wins going away.
Mensajera De La Luz is by Election Day (1992), a Sadler’s Wells stakes winner who is a full brother to three stakes winners, including Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Islington. Their dam, Hellenic, is by Darshaan – the exceptional cross for Sadler’s Wells. Hellenic won the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks and was second in the St. Leger. Election Day was a stakes winner at age 4 and was placed in the Group 1 Gold Cup at 5 and has plenty of stamina in his pedigree.
Election Day: Sire of Mensajera De La Luz
At stud, he was one of the first group of Sadler’s Wells stallions to take off in South America, first in Colombia and then Chile. Other sons of Sadler’s Wells who have succeeded in South America include Poliglote (1992) in Argentina; Crimson Tide (1994 and also out of a Darshaan mare) in Brazil; Water Poet (1993) in Venezuela; and Dushyantor (1993) in Chile. Note that these staying turf horses have sired very high-class runners in South America (Belle Watling, probably the best filly on turf in South America, is by Dushyantor) and in many cases their offspring have adapted to dirt racing, just as the Sadler’s Wells sire El Prado’s runners did in North America. Some examples: Water Poet is the sire of Bambera, a dirt filly; Poliglote is the sire of 2009 Argentine Oaks equivalent winner Kalath Wells; and Election Day is the sire of Mensajera De La Luz.
Prince Sultan Al Kabeer has been one of the biggest buyers of South American horses for the Middle East in recent years, and in 2009 he won the UAE 1000 Guineas with the Argentine-bred So Shiny, a winner at Meydan last Friday over the Indian sprint champ Oasis Star. Jerry Barton’s Al Kabeer Saudi invaders last year also included the filly Deem, who won the Group 3 Cape Verdi, and Big City Man, winner of the Group 1 Golden Shaheen and the Al Shindagha (also on Thursday), so he’s probably got Mensajera De La Luz tight enough for the Guineas — even though it’s her first race since last July.
A few years ago, Prince Sultan Al Kabeer purchased the colt Simpatico Bribon from the same farm (Haras Santa Olga) that he got Mensajera De La Luz. Simpatico Bribon also was by Election Day, and he’d won the colt equivalent of the Tanteo de Potrancas — the Group 1 Tanteo de Potrillos. Simpatico Bribon won the Derrinstown Stud Al Bastikiya at Nad Al Sheba.
The New Zealand-bred McGinty mare Macrosa has the notable distinction of producing two international sprints stars: Singapore’s ace Rocket Man (see a post below) and South Africa’s Our Giant, a Group 1 winner. Both were bred in Australia. Rocket Man is by the Quest for Fame sire Viscount, a Group 1 winner at 7 and 8 furlongs, while Our Giant is by the Ashford-based Giant’s Causeway, a Group 1 winner at 7 to 10 furlongs and the leading sire in North America in 2009. Macrosa in remarkably consistent fashion ”shortened” both the sires of the two sprinters.
Both half-brothers may meet in Dubai. Rocket Man has the Golden Shaheen on his schedule, while Our Giant is already in Dubai and starts in the Group 3 Al Shindagha sprinton the Tapeta Thursday at Meydan. Last out, he won the Group 1 Mercury Sprint at Clairwood in South Africa on July 19, 2009. A video of the finish of that race is below:
On the eve of the Dubai World Cup, a recent high-profile assassination in Dubai is the talk of the town, while the trial of the assassination of a former Russian commander on Dubai World Cup day last year is underway.
The big question these days: Did Israel sanction the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai on Jan. 20? Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the Dubai police chief, thinks maybe, according to published reports. Mahmoud al Mabhouh, accused in the past by Israel as a weapons smuggler between Iran and Gaza, was found dead in a Dubai hotel room on Jan. 20, and Lt. Gen. Tamin has implied that the assassination may have been the work of Mossad — the Israeli intelligence agency.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will be the first to be wanted for justice as he would have been the one who signed the decision to assassinate [Mahmoud] al Mabhouh in Dubai. We will issue an arrest warrant against him.” — Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim to The National
Lt. Gen. Tamim has no qualms about taking on high-ranking foreign leaders in the press. After Chechen Sulim Yamadayev, a one-time Russian batallion commander and an opponent of Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, was assassinated in Dubai last Dubai World Cup day, Lt. Gen. Tamim was unequivocal in his assertions that Mr. Kadyrov’s right-hand man, Adam Delimkhanov, was the mastermind behind it. In fact, he had Mr. Delimkhanov, at the time a member of the Russian government, placed on an Interpol wanted list and tried to have him extradited to Dubai to stand trial. Recently at the Yamadayev trial, a Dubai policeman testified that an Iranian national associated with the Kadyrov stable in Dubai had implicated Mr. Delimkhanov.
The field for the Golden Shaheen just got another player: Singapore sprint ace Rocket Man, 8 for 9 now, returned a winner today over Kranji’s synthetic surface. Read the details from the Singapore Turf Club here. The video of today’s race is directly below, and beneath that is the video of the Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint from May 17, 2009 – the only defeat on Rocket Man’s resume. He was second to the Hong Kong champion Sacred Kingdom in 1:07.80 for the 1200 meters on turf that day and subsequently suffered a fracture.
Fans celebrate at Mahalaxmi Racecourse today as Jacqueline wins McDowell Signature Indian Derby in record time. Photo courtesy of @MissMalini from Twitter.
(The following report was filed from India byMajor Srinivas Nargolkar, former Keeper of the Indian Stud Book. The Major has covered each of Jacqueline’s classic triumphs in this space, and links to each recap are available at the end of this post. Race result chart and video courtesy of Indiarace.com.)
“Talita Kumi.” Christ is said to have uttered the words when he resurrected a young girl. Talita Kumi’s daughter Jacqueline rose splendidly to the occasion today at Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai to win the McDowell Signature Indian Derby, Gr.1, and thereby become the only filly to win the first four Indian classics. She was once again given a great ride by Richard Hughes, who got to Becket inside the last 200 m., threaded the needle-eye gap on the colts inside and in the end won comfortably by three parts of a length. Jacqueline’s time of 2.28.54 shaved 0.04 seconds of the course and race record established last year by Antonios.
Jacqueline
A dozen runners went to the post, four of them sporting Mr. Vijay Shirke’s silks, five trained by Pesi Shroff and Jacqueline the odds on favourite. As a winner of the previous three classics, she had every reason to be everyone’s darling and those who backed her at the cramped price were perhaps mindful that the last favourite to win the Indian Derby winner was ridden by Richard Hughes (Smart Chieftan in 2000).
Two Shirke runners — Aston Martin and the Calcutta Derby winner Bruckner — led the field after it had settled down and entered the backstretch with Golconda Derby victor Classerville in their slipstream. This time, instead of sitting dead last, Hughes had a couple of runners behind him. Coming to the final bend, Bruckner had found the pace too hot and was back-pedalling; Classerville brought them into the straight only to be left standing by Becket’s effortless surge. Becket bounded forward with such gusto and ease that it looked as if the veteran trainer S. Padmanabhan would finally win the one big race that has eluded him.
Neither Becket (Martin Dwyer up) nor Padmanabhan had reckoned with Jacqueline and Hughes. As in the Indian Oaks, Hughes brought the filly down the centre of the track, saw Becket with a healthy advantage and roused the filly with a couple of cracks. Her response was immediate and Hughes switched her to the rails, aimed her at the narrow gap and the filly went through it like a lioness. Once she had got on even terms, Hughes put the whip away and she was always the winner thereafter even if the margin was a narrow one. Native Knight (by Placerville) finished third — 2 3/4 lengths behind the runner-up — but well clear of Onassis, thus reversing their Ruia Gold Cup placings.
Having achieved what no other filly has recorded before, Jacqueline deserves to savour the moment and bask in the limelight. An assessment of her intrinsic worth and place in the history can be deferred for later.
For the record, Jacqueline is owned by Mr.and Mrs. Vijay Shirke (Indian Derby with Noble Eagle earlier), Mr. and Mrs. K.N. Dhunjibhoy (Indian Derby winner Indictment in their own colours) and Mr. Berjis Desai. The proud owners were also richer by Rs. 12,738,000 (US $ 250,000; give or take a few dollars). For Pesi Shroff it was his first Indian Derby. The former champion jockey — he piloted nine Indian Derby winners first past the post though one was subsequently disqualified for failing the dope test — saddled his first winner of the Blue Riband in Jacqueline. Shroff commenced training just five years ago and last year had Set Alight in his yard. It will take a brave man to bet against his bettering his riding record as a trainer.
Mr. Sultan Singh must have been overjoyed with the result for both Jacqueline and Becket were bred at his Sohna Stud, some 40 km. to south of India’s capital New Delhi. He has had much success with his imported ‘in-utero’ foals including the 2006 Indian Derby winner Velvet Rope.
This was also the first time that two foals conceived abroad have fought out the finish of the Indian Derby. Interestingly, their sires have been banished from their original homes. King Charlemagne (sire of Jacqueline) is now in Italy while Hawk Wing finds himself in the rocky, volcanic, honeymoon island of Cheju south of Korea. Jacqueline’s pedigree has been discussed before. All that remains is to add a piece of trivia. Almyra, the fourth dam of Sea the Stars, not only descends from the Crafton’s daughter Alveole but is inbred to that mare. Templeogue, the third dam of Jacqueline, is also inbred to Alveole.
Click here to see the chart (Race #9) of the race.
Oasis Star, shown directly below winning the Indian Group 1 Dr. S.C. Jain Sprinters Championship at Mumbai on March 15, 2009, made her Dubai début at Meydan today a memorable one with a fine second-place finishto 2009 UAE 1000 Guineas winner So Shiny. The latter, an Argentine-bred daughter of Indygo Shiner now representing Saudi Arabia, was Group 1-placed in her native country before taking the Guineas at Nad Al Sheba last season. There were several international stakes winners in the race today, including Group 1 winners, so Oasis Star’s finish confirmed the Indian formbook – and my penchant for featuring the Indian classics in this space. Aside from Oasis Star, there have been several horses — interestingly, fillies — out of India lately that have demonstrated, in my opinion, high-class international form, notably the outstanding Set Alight, last season’s champion filly; and her heir apparent, the equally impressive Jacqueline, who attempts to make history Sunday. Jacqueline has won both Guineas and the Oaks and will go in the McDowell Signature Indian Derby at Mahalaxmi Sunday in an attempt to sweep all four classics for the first time in history.
A come-from-behind sprinter with tremendous acceleration, Oasis Star is a 6-year-old mare by US-raced Grade 1 winner Senure, a son of Nureyev, out of the unraced Lear Fan mare Gumbaru Etsu, and is widely considered the best sprinter seen in India. A winner of 14 races from 18 starts, she’d been scheduled to race in the US last year but quarantine issues scuttled the plans. Click hereto read an earlier post about her. Note that she was racing today on a surface other than turf for the first time in her career. She is one of four Indian horses at Meydan for the carnival. The others are Antonios, last season’s conqueror of Set Alight in the Indian Derby; Yana; and Autonomy. (Yana, a mare, ran unplaced in the 6th race today at 1600 meters, a distance well short of the 2400 to 3000 meters that she needs.)
Below is the 1st race from Meydan today. Oasis Star is on the rail in 5th early, fans out on the turn for home, and finishes strong.
Imagine this scenario: You are an Illinois breeder of a stakes winner in the fall at Hawthorne. You are due breeder awards at the meet’s end, by Jan. 30, 2010. You are told today by Hawthorne, however, that the track doesn’t have the money to pay you, and the Illinois Racing Board — the state agency governing racing — will do nothing to support your cause.
That’s exactly what’s taking place in Illinois now. According to a letter sent out to breeders today by Daniel C. Sullivan, president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Foundation, Mr. Sullivan warns breeders that the ITBOF has not received the $351,383.16 due from Hawthorne for its awards earned for the fall meet. Moreover, Mr. Sullivan’s letter states that Hawthorne is owed a total of $10 million that it’s attempting to collect from various sources, including NYOTB.
Hawthorne, according to the letter, has promised Mr. Sullivan that it will pay the awards in 45 days, but legislation mandates that the track is legally obligated to pay awards within 30 days of the end of the meet. According to sources close to the developments, the Racing Board has abdicated its duties. “Since the ITBOF verbally accepted the delay, the Illinois Racing Board refuses to intervene,” a source, who requested that he not be named, said. “The IRB also says that the standardbred purses have not been paid by Duquoin and they ‘don’t know what to do about it.’ First of all, the ITBOF doesn’t have the authority to agree to a delay, to begin with. The laws are being broken.”
And, in a sign of the times, no one is getting paid — at least on time.
The often-postponed trial of two men — one an Iranian with ties to Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov — accused of complicity in the assassination of Kadyrov-rival Sulim Yamadayev last Dubai World Cup day convened in Dubai today with testimony that directly implicates Mr. Kadyrov’s cousin and right-hand man, Adam Delimkhanov, in the assassination.
The National has the story here. You can read my last post on the topic here.
The assassination sparked an international fracas between Dubai and Chechnya last year, with Mr. Delimkhanov and Dubai’s top cop, Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, publicly insulting each other in the media. Lt. Gen. Tamim had Mr. Delimkhanov placed on an Interpol wanted list while Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, and Mr. Kadyrov, an international racehorse owner, uneasily raced horses against each other in Europe.
Mr. Kadyrov, like last year, has a small string stabled in Dubai with trainer Herman Brown and his assistant, Nicolas Iguacel. Nicolas recently commented on this blog about the Iranian’s role in the Kadyrov operation and his whereabouts on Dubai World Cup day last year.
This is what he said in a comment posted on Nov. 29, 2009 (not edited): “We are in Dubai and Meydan is going fast but still a lot to do. The iranian guy that was arrested three days after the world cup wasn t a groom. He was working for an embassy here in dubai and was our interpreter cos Ramzan doesn’t speak in english. The guy was at the stables the morning of the murder and at the races from the first race until the last race cos they had Bankable running in the duty free and i was with him so i dont think if you murder someone you will be so cool at the races and then he came the following two days to the stables so i think he was in the wrong place at the right time cos you don t want to go to jail in dubai, like all the other suspects the best it would be to flight out of the country but im not a detective, it s just my opinion.”
The Ocean Terrace filly Casablanca Smilewon the Group 1 “El Derby” at the Valparaíso Sporting Club yesterday in the lightning-quick time of 2:23.92 for the 2400 meters on turf from two other fillies and gave her trainer, Juan Pablo Baeza, a 1-2-3 sweep in the race. More importantly, she confirmed the class of the outstanding Chilean 3-year-old filly Belle Watling, who’d defeated her into second in the Group 1 El EnsayoNov. 1. Before that, Belle Watling had defeated Casablanca Smile (third) in the Group 1 Clasico Nacional Ricardo Lyon P. – Cruz del SurOct. 2 and in again in (second) the Group 1 Polla de Potrancas(1000 Guineas) Sept. 4.
Casablanca Smile, who won the Derby by 6 lengths, ran in the name of trainer Juan Pablo Baeza, the son of Patricio Baeza — the trainer of Belle Watling — and is Belle Watling’s stablemate. She’d won the Oaks before the Derby, and she defeated a strong group in the Derby, including filly Cuan Linda, the St. Leger winner on dirt at Hipódromo Chile.
Originally scheduled to be aired at 5:00 PM Sunday, the following show has been moved up to 3:00 PM to allow for the viewing of feature races from around the country.
For more on this issue, please read the following two posts from Jessica Chapel:
Multiple Grade 1 winner Zensational had a chance to be named the champion sprinter of 2009, but he inexplicably failed in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Kodiak Kowboy picked up the trophy. Both begin stud duty next month and are the subjects of recent blog posts by Frank Mitchell (Zensational) and Jack Werk (Kodiak Kowboy). Zensational is a son of the very commercial and popular Unbridled’s Song ($115,000 fee), was bred by Claiborne Farm and commands the highest stud fee of any sire prospect entering the breeding shed in North America in 2010, at $25,000, while the champion sprinter starts out at $15,000, mainly because one is by Unbridled’s Song while the other is a son of Posse. Yet as a yearling, the son of Unbridled’s Song made less at public auction than his introductory stud fee: $20,000 at the 2007 Keeneland September sale, the lowest price of his sire’s 63 auction yearlings that averaged a healthy $423,190 that year. Why? is a good question I’ll get to and answer, but first some background to put in context the money that Zensational made as a 2-year-old in training, when the now-beleaguered Zayat Stable paid $700,000 for him at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton February sale.
The following video of Zensational was shot by Mary Forney at Del Mar last year, and it’s obvious that he’s not the glaring train wreck that 20K would suggest for this pedigree. Instead, at a cursory glance, he’s a large, rangy, attractive, good-bodied colt — not built stereotypically like a sprinter, but certainly in the mold of the big, fast horses his sire is known for, but maybe a tad narrow and cow-hocked.
What he is, then, is yet another one that the conformation experts missed at the yearling sales, and off the top of my head this list includes Zenyatta ($60,000 yearling, large filly), Mine That Bird ($9,500 yearling, small colt), Lookin at Lucky ($35,000 RNA as yearling), and Kodiak Kowboy ($40,000 weanling; $70,000 yearling) — all Grade 1 winners or champions in 2009 who didn’t crack $75,000. Throw in champion 2-year-old filly She Be Wild ($19,000 RNA as 2yo, not yearling, but had to include; tiny filly) and champion filly sprinter Informed Decision ($150,000 yearling) and it’s evident that most of the Eclipse Award winners of 2009 that were not original homebreds like Rachel Alexandra, Gio Ponti, Summer Bird, and Goldikova didn’t really cost that much money as yearlings (or 2-year-olds in She Be Wild’s case), relatively speaking, and they all flew well below the radar screens of top-of-the-market buyers and middle-market buyers, in some cases.
Dunkirk, at $3.7 million, topped the 2007 Keeneland September sale (and all yearling sales in North America in 2007) where Zensational sold for $20,000 and is another gray son of Unbridled’s Song like Zensational. A physical standout with the pedigree to match that was purchased by the Coolmore group, Dunkirk didn’t race at 2 but started his racing career off in sensational fashion as an early 3-year-old. He was put on the classics trail right off the bat it seemed and did run second in the Belmont Stakes, his last start. Ironically, he too enters stud this year, for $10,000, a price that reflects his race record as a non-stakes winner, albeit one that showed tremendous potential in a short span before an injury ended his career: 5 starts, 2 wins, 2 seconds, $393,200 in earnings with placings in the Grade 1 Florida Derby and the aforementioned Belmont Stakes. Had he won the Belmont or the Florida Derby, Dunkirk — it’s a slam dunk — would be standing for the highest fee in 2010, not Zensational.
Instead, Zensational, the cheapest yearling by Unbridled’s Song, became the multiple Grade 1 winner and a near champion. Raced only once at 2 even though he sold as a 2-year-old for $700,000, Zensational won 5 of 7 starts and earned $250,000 more than Dunkirk in 2009 at 3. He won the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Handicap and the Grade 1 Pat O’Brien Breeders’ Cup Stakes at Del Mar and the Grade 1 Triple Bend Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Hollywood Park — all on synthetic surfaces, by the way.
So, back to Why? Why did he bring only $20,000 from a bid from Steve Young (A1A Racing)?
Turns out there’s a simple explanation. The colt, according to insiders, had started walking off behind a couple of weeks before the sale, and by the time of the sale his walk was noticeably off to put off serious buyers. “There were no vet issues with him,” said J.J. Crupi of Crupi’s New Castle Farm in Ocala, where the colt was sent to be readied for the 2-year-old sales. “I never saw him at the sale, but when I got him he wasn’t walking good behind. He had an undecsended testicle. I called up A1A and told ‘em that we needed to take it out, and they said ‘Do what you need to do.’ We operated and took the one testicle out, and right away he was fine. That’s it. Walked great, trained great. He’s a big, good-looking horse, and the first time I breezed him, I knew he was special. He was very professional.”
Crupi said that the Zayat team was responsible for picking him out, and he particularly noted then-Zayat trainer Bill Mott and Patty Miller of EQB were high on him. “Mott asked if he could go in the stall and feel his legs, and Patti ran the heart scans. They must’ve been good, ’cause they paid $700,000!”
Crupi said the colt’s reserve at Fasig-Tipton was $195,000. “But we knew he’d make more than that,” Crupi said.
After Mott and Zayat parted ways, Zensational was sent to Bob Baffert, and the rest is history.
The New Zealand-bred Beauty Flash, a winner of 5 of 6 starts in Hong Kong before today, got his first HK G1 win in the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile at Sha Tin Sunday with Belgian Christophe Soumillon flying in for the ride. The ex-Michael Tabor colt Westphalia — 3rd in the French Guineas and Derby last year — was 4th under the new name of Super Pistachio.
(Major Srinivas Nargolkar, former Keeper of the Indian Stud Book, reports from India that dual Guineas winner Jacqueline added the Oaks to her sparkling resume today with Richard Hughes aboard. Jacqueline is trained by former champion jockey Pesi Shroff, who last season conditioned the great Indian filly Set Alight.)
Jacqueline (King Charlemagne – Talita Kumi) toyed with her nine rivals to win the HDIL sponsored Indian Oaks, Gr.1, today at Mahalaxmi in Mumbai. The Pesi Shroff-trained filly bred at the Sohna Stud was ridden in identical, familiar fashion by Richard Hughes, who was unperturbed to be at the back of the field till they straightened up for the final run. Jacqueline’s bracket-mate — Alize – had set only a moderate gallop, covering the first 1200 meters in about 1:19 so that it became a sprint thereafter. The Mahalaxmi straight is a good 600 meters and Hughes had plenty of time and a filly well within herself under him. They rounded the final bend mid-track but Hughes dexterously weaved a way to the rails, challenged Astral Flash on the inside coming into the final 200 meters and went away for a two-length victory without Jacqueline having to come off the bridle. Despite the early slow pace, the final time of 2.32.27 meant that only two faster Indian Oaks have been run this millennium, one of them being Riyasat’s last year when the race was run in March, a time when the track runs fast.
This, in many ways, was a repeat of the Indian 1000 Guineas. Astral Flash again finished second, a quarter of a length closer but never looking like a winner. Two fillies by the Mr. Prospector horse Placerville — Amazing Ray and Leave It To Me (coming to Mumbai after winning the Oaks in Hyderbad) — filling the other places in the frame. Change of Luck, third in the Indian 1000 Guineas, did not run here and in her absence, Amazing Ray, fourth earlier, moved up to third. The margin between Astral Flash (also trained by Pesi Shroff but owned by Dr. Vijay Mallya, in whose silks Set Slight raced) and Amazing Ray was two and a quarter lengths in the 1000 while here it was slightly extended to three and a quarter. The form was thus well upheld.
Jacqueline becomes the fourth filly to bag the first three classics. Her Majesty (‘47-’48), Gamble For Love (‘49-’50) and Highland Rule (‘79-’80) have previously gone into the Indian Derby without dropping a classic but none of them was able to win the Blue Riband. So Jacqueline will have the chance on 7 February to either create or repeat history.
What appears certain at this point is that owner Mr. Vijay Shirke and trainer Pesi Shroff have a firm grip on the big race. The Calcutta Derby winner Bruckner and last week’s eye-catching Ruia Gold Cup winner Onassis also run in Mr. Vijay Shirke’s colours — both trained by Shroff – and look certain starters in the Indian Derby. Jacqueline’s win today must have gladdened Mr. Shirke’s heart because the Indian Oaks was the only Classic he had not won before.
On Tuesday, trainer Padmanabhan runs Mr. Haresh Mehta’s unbeaten Becket in the Bangalore Derby and you can be sure that both Mr. Shirke and Shroff will be watching that race with interest. If Becket wins with authority, it will give them something to ponder about. Mr. Haresh Mehta also owned Versaki who tasted his first defeat in the Indian 2000 Guineas. Versaki (by Verglas) broke down in a mock race on the Ruia Gold Cup day and has subsequently been put down.
Jacqueline is certain to start as the favourite for the Indian Derby on 7 February. Not a single favourite has won the Indian Derby this millenium so surely the favourite’s time has come. However, as any casino buff will tell you, nine straight reds does not improve the statistical chance of black on the tenth spin of the wheel. It started as a quip — “Onassis and Jacqueline locked together at the wire”; does it have a prophetic ring to it?
See the race below, courtesy Indiarace.com, and click here for the chart (Race 7) from Indiarace.com.
Click here for a recap of the 1000 Guineas and click here for the 2000 Guineas. Click here for a post on Sohna Stud, where Jacqueline was foaled.
