3 minute read
Son of Dark Angel headlines brilliant day for Shadwell
It was the one Group 1 sprint missing from his CV, but on Tuesday the Charlie Hills-trained Battaash (6 g Dark Angel - Anna Law by Lawman) finally put his King’s Stand (Gr 1, 5f) ghosts to bed with an super-fast victory in the Group 1 sprint - the highlight of three winners on the day for Hamdan Al Maktoum’s Shadwell Stud and the operation’s retained rider Jim Crowley.
The Charlie Hills-trained son of Dark Angel (Acclamation) had found Blue Point (Shamardal) too good in the past two editions and with the son of Shamardal (Giant’s Causeway) now safely in the breeding barn the stage was set for Battaash to finally break his hoodoo in the five furlong contest.
Often known to leave his race in the preliminaries, Battassh cut a calmer figure in front of empty stands on Tuesday. As the gates opened Jim Crowley settled the six-year-old gelding near the front and he largely went unchallenged and was able to pull away impressively to score a two and a quarter length victory over stablemate Equilateral (Equiano). Three-year-old filly Liberty Beach, who is by Woodside Park shuttler Cable Bay (Invincible Spirit), ran a brilliant race to finish third.
Purchased by owners Shadwell for 200,000gns from the Ballyphilip Stud draft at Book 2 of the 2015 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Battaash has now won ten of his 20 starts, with this his third Group 1 level which has saw him accrue £1,542,758 in prize-money.
The gelding is out of the unplaced Lawman (Invincible Spirit) mare Anna Law, who is herself a half-sister to Group 2 winner Etlaala (Selkirk) and the dam of Group 2 winner Tasleet (Showcasing) who won the Duke Of York Stakes (Gr 2, 6f).
Hills said Battaash would head to Goodwood and attempt to win the King George Qatar Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) for the fourth consecutive year.
"Fantastic, he was really on his 'A' game today,” said Hills. “He was beautifully relaxed before the race and as soon as the gates opened you could see he was going to be very hard to beat.
"He has been quite relaxed in his work at home, until Saturday when Jane rode him and he was really quite strong in the first half of the gallop. I think he'd got to the point really when we needed to get a race into him. The race will do him the world of good, we can train him off today.
"Obviously we will have to speak with Sheikh Hamdan, but I am really looking forward to going back to Goodwood to try and win the King George there for the fourth time - I think that would be some achievement to do that.
"We didn't really have a choice but to go forward. However, he always looked in command today. It is a real shame that Sheikh Hamdan is not here to witness it, but it's great to finally win a King's Stand with him.
"I was slightly tense, but I've lived every emotion with him now. We have been beaten here twice before and, three times, I don't think I could have dealt with that.
"We always think his ace card from the two to the one-furlong pole is that he can get horses off the bridle and he gets them all going whilst he is still cruising. Battaash is a very hard horse to beat when he is like that.
"Bob [Grace, groom] probably gets a stride slower every year, but the horse now goes at the same pace that Bob does. It is amazing the connection the two have. He might be one of the fastest horses in the world, but he walks so slowly.
"Equilateral has run brilliantly and I always thought he was going to run a really big race. He has always shown that he is a really good horse. I know a lot of people has lost a lot of money on him over the years. He deserves to win a big one in time, but he hasn't even won a Group race yet so we'll try and find a Group Three for him somewhere if we can.
"I would be really proud if he could win the King George Stakes four times at Goodwood. It would be a highlight of the season if he could do that.
"Battaash is just an amazing horse. Everyone in the yard is so lucky to have a horse like him - he is the horse of a lifetime. It is not just that, but also the character he has at home.
"Everyone has done a great job with him at home including Victoria who rides him out. I watched the race where no-one could see in the concourse. I just thought thank god for that when he won and that he got the job done.
"Battaash has always been pretty good first time out and it would be fantastic if he could come back next year at the age of seven.
"He will obviously have had a race less this year too, so hopefully he is a fresh horse going into the autumn."
Explosive! #Battaash pic.twitter.com/Ol3BDwySH8
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 16, 2020
It was a brilliant day for Shadwell and Crowley, who won the first race on the card - the Buckingham Palace Handicap (7f) - with the Richard Hannon-trained Motakhayyel (Heeraat) and after their day was capped off by the John Gosden-trained Nazeef (3 f Invincible Spirit - Handassa by Dubawi), who produced a brave performance to win the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (Gr 2, 1m).
The filly came into the Group 2 following a fine victory in the Snowdrop Fillies’ Stakes (Listed, 1m) on June 3 and she looked to have it all to do with two furlongs left to travel. However, as Crowley got to work on the filly she responded in fine style to just edge out Agincourt (Declaration Of War) by a head, with another two and half lengths back to Queen Power (Shamardal) in third.
"A wonderful treble [for Jim Crowley and Sheikh Hamdan],” said Gosden. “It is testament to the owner - he has many horses in training with many trainers. He is a huge part of our industry and I think for Sheikh Hamdan to have a treble on the first day of Ascot - what a huge achievement. I am sure he would like to be here, but boy oh boy, what a great achievement. He puts so much into it and he deserves it.
"She is the sweetest filly; you go into the barn and she is the first to come and say hello to you. She is very affectionate and very genuine and very brave. She did nothing but improve last year; she went right through the handicap ranks and came into Listed this year. I have warned about the bounce factor; in her case she won the Listed race at Kempton and came back and won here. I think she deserves a little rest now.
"I say a little rest, a good four weeks and there's a great race called the Falmouth! I don't think we'll be running her back in a hurry, that's for sure. Having won a G2, obviously you would love to see her get a piece of a Group 1; placed or something. She is a homebred filly and it is very important to the stud.
"She is by Invincible Spirit; they take a little dig in the ground. In the end they went hard and she outstayed them, so I said, 'we're not going to a mile and a quarter quite yet, old boy'.
"The owner has never kept fillies in training. I did ask to keep Taghrooda in training as a four-year-old, because I thought she would have been invincible, but actually he doesn't believe in that. He did keep Enbihaar in training last year and she won all those Group 2s, so Angus Gold got down on the other knee and asked if we could keep this filly in training, and here she is winning a Royal Ascot Group 2 at four. I think if you select the right ones to keep in training, it can be a wonderful time for them."
The filly is the only winner of Listed winner Handassa (Dubawi) who is herself a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Desert Stone (Fastnet Rock) and Group 3 winner Eugenio (Fastnet Rock)
The filly’s third dam is Star (Most Welcome) - the dam of Group 1-winning duo Pastoral Pursuits (Bahamian Bounty) and Goodricke (Bahamian Bounty).
Further back, this is the family of Group 3 winner Superstrike (Superlative) and Listed-winning pair Four-Legged Friend (Aragon) and Sweet Lilly (Tobougg).
Invincible Spirit stood at the Irish National Stud for a fee of €100,000 this year.
Meanwhile, Crowley said: "It's great to have three winners. I had some nice rides today and they all ran very well.
"I thought Motakhayyel would win when no-one else did. Mohaather was really unlucky in the Queen Anne and he is a lovely horse.
"It was great to make it third time lucky on Battaash, and Nazeef was coming into this race off the back of a nice win in the Snowdrop and she toughed it out really well. She has done nothing but improve with every run.
"I am very lucky to be riding some nice horses for some nice yards and that is probably the key really. It was redemption for Battaash today. He had a bit of unfinished business and he got it done.
"This is a special day."
Treble for @JimCrowley1978! Nazeef out-battles Agincourt to win the Duke of Cambridge Stakes...#RoyalAscot @Ascot pic.twitter.com/qTwKFFRyGb
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 16, 2020
