Friday, May 9, 2003

LADBROKES PRICES FOR LINGFIELD TOMORROW

AUDIENCE AMONG THE 22 IN FASCINATING TOTE DANTE

Aidan O'Brien, who won the 1998 running with Saratoga Springs, accounts for six of those engaged. Balestrini, Alberto Giacometti, Catcher In The Rye and The Great Gatsby are expected to turn up elsewhere this weekend but the master of Ballydoyle could be represented by Arundel, a Curragh maiden winner last month, or Roosevelt.

The Godolphin team, successful with Moon Ballad 12 months ago, could run both Graikos and UAE Derby second Songlark although New South Wales is set to run at Longchamp on Sunday and Lateen Sails expected to take up an alternative engagement at York.

The highly-regarded Audience, trained by William Haggas, could bid to make amends for his 15th in the Sagitta 2000 Guineas.

Harry Herbert, managing director of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing whose Van Dyck Syndicate owns Audience, commented today: "Audience is a likely runner. He did not have a hard race in the Sagitta 2000 Guineas because the interference he suffered put him out of the reckoning.

"He is fine at the moment and William (Haggas) wants to work him on Saturday or Sunday before we make a final decision about the Tote Dante.

"Audience is an exciting horse at home and the step up to a mile and quarter should be no problem though we are not sure about further.

"There is a wide array of options after the Tote Dante, with the Vodafone Derby, the French Derby and the Group One Prix Jean Prat being among them."

Trainer Henry Cecil - successful seven times before in the Tote Dante Stakes - could run Tuning Fork, who made an eyecatching winning debut at Haydock on Saturday.

The Racing Post Trophy third Illustrator, like Tuning Fork owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah, has been entered by trainer Sir Michael Stoute while the unbeaten Mark Johnston-trained Helm Bank, could have his first run since winning the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The Listed Feilden Stakes first and second, Magistretti and Dunhill Star, could have a rematch while the field is completed by the Amanda Perrett-trained Cat Ona High, the Ed Dunlop-trained Battle Chant, Hilbre Island, Strength n Honour and Titurel, who runs at Lingfield tomorrow.

Of the 22 entries, only Helm Bank and Tuning Fork are not entered in the Vodafone Derby, for which the Tote Dante Stakes is much the most significant pointer.

In the last 10 years, the York trial - a prestigious and valuable Group 2 event in its own right - has produced two Vodafone Derby winners, Benny The Dip (1997) and Erhaab (1994), as well as no less than 11 other horses who have finished in the first four at Epsom.

Last year's Tote Dante Stakes winner, Moon Ballad, went on to finish third to High Chaparral in the Vodafone Derby and was an outstanding winner of the world's richest race in March, the Dubai World Cup.

Andy Clifton, Public Relations Officer at the Tote, said: "We're delighted to be sponsoring the Tote Dante this year for the first time and, as usual, the race looks to be one of the most informative of all the Vodafone Derby trials.

"With 22 horses left in, we are very hopeful of having a fascinating and competitive renewal of this Group 2 race which may even throw up a winner in the same league as last year's victor Moon Ballad.

"We're also pleased to be sponsoring six of the seven races on Tote Dante day."

ALAMSHAR GOES ON TRIAL FOR VODAFONE DERBY

Refuse To Bend is now vying for favouritism for the premier classic and his main market rival Alamshar, trained just a few miles across the Curragh by John Oxx, is set to have his final test in a mouthwatering Group 2 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday. The race has incredibly been won for the last three years by High Chaparral, Galileo and Sinndar, who all followed up at Epsom.

Balestrini, the pacemaker who pulled off a 33/1 shock when outfoxing Alamshar and Aidan O'Brien's Alberto Giacometti in the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown last month, could reoppose while Alberto Giacometti's stablemate Brian Boru is a likely starter.

"We'll find out a bit more after the next race, we'll see if he's up to it but he's got to keep improving," said Alamshar's trainer John Oxx, who also oversaw Sinndar's classic victory in 2000. "Every time Sinndar went out he was 7lb better than the last run.

"It was a nice run by Alamshar last time, we went home happy. He got a bit tired, blew up and then ran on well. We were worried something strange might happen because we didn't have a pacemaker and decided to follow Mick Kinane (on Alberto Giacometti)."

Looking ahead to the first Saturday in June, Oxx added: "I think the whole thing about a horse acting at Epsom is a bit misleading, horses that are said to not act usually don't have the ability. How many horses that supposedly didn't act at Epsom go on to do much afterwards?

"The important thing is to have the speed, you need to be travelling there on the bridle. I've got no way of knowing whether he'd stay but there is plenty of stamina on the dam's side so you've got to be hopeful.

"The ground is not the issue that it used to be, the race will not be run on firm ground. But I don't think he'd like really soft ground, good-to-firm would be ideal."

As well as the Derrinstown Trial, there are a whole host of other Epsom pointers in the next couple of weeks, including the Group 3 Bet Attheraces On 0800 083 83 83 Derby Trial at Lingfield tomorrow, the Tote Dante Stakes and Michael Seely Memorial Stakes at York next week and the following week's Letheby & Christopher Predominate Stakes at Goodwood will offer further clues.

SALES GOING WELL IN NEW GRANDSTAND ENCLOSURE

Sales for the new Grandstand area on Vodafone Derby day are going very well following its return to a single enclosure this year.

Stephen Wallis, Managing Director at Epsom Downs, reported: "We listened to market research that the old Club enclosure was not popular because it was not offering value for money, linked to research that the old Grandstand customers felt they were being given Silver Ring facilities when we created the Club. But by giving the whole Grandstand to one enclosure this year, sales are going really well and we urge people to book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment."

REFUSE TO BEND (IRE) FACTFILE
b c Sadler's Wells (USA) - Market Slide (USA) (Gulch (USA))
Form: 11-11 Owner/Breeder: Moyglare Stud Farms Ltd
Trainer: Dermot Weld IRE Jockey: Pat Smullen

Refuse To Bend
Comes into the race with a 100 per cent record from four starts, two of them last season and two more this year including the first British classic, the Sagitta 2000 Guineas. His first success came in a maiden over seven furlongs at Gowran Park in August and the following month he moved up very sharply in class to take the Group 1 Aga Khan Studs National Stakes in a battling finish with Van Nistelrooy and Dublin. On his reappearance in April he won a Listed race over a mile at Leopardstown at 4/7 by half a length from Good Day Too and he beat Zafeen by three-quarters of a length in the Sagitta 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 3, when he showed fine speed on meeting the rising ground to get the better of his 19 rivals. His sire Sadler's Wells is one of the outstanding stallions in the world and has been at the top of the tree for many years. He was responsible for siring the last two winners of the Vodafone Derby in Galileo (2001) and High Chaparral (2002. Refuse To Bend's dam, Market Slide, showed useful sprinting form in Ireland and in the USA with her wins including the Scurry Handicap at the Curragh and the First Lady Handicap, a Grade 3 race, at Gulfstream Park. She has also done well at stud and her previous foals include Media Puzzle, who won the Melbourne Cup at Flemington in November for the Weld stable.
Race Record: Starts: 4; 1st: 4; 2nd: 0; 3rd: 0: Win & Place Prize Money: £332,360

Moyglare Stud Farms
Moyglare Stud Farms is owned by Zurich-based 92-year-old Dr Walter Haefner, one of the world's richest men. The publicity-shy Haefner, whose father spent much of his time as a missionary in Tibet, served in the Swiss army during the Second World War then set up AMAG, which was to become the largest car importer in Switzerland, and expanded his fortune through the software company Computer Associates International, founded in 1970. In 1988 Haefner was awarded an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin, for his services to the bloodstock industry and contribution to education in Ireland. In 2003 Forbes ranked him the 132nd richest man in the world with a fortune of $2.5 billion. Aged 53, Haefner was the FEGENTRI Flat amateur European champion in 1963 and the previous year when looking for a horse to ride in Ireland he ended up setting up Moyglare Stud near Maynooth in Co Kildare on the site of a dairy farm. Moyglare Stud is based on 450 acres at Maynooth in Co Kildare and managed by Stan Cosgrove, himself a noted breeder thanks to the likes of Grandera. The stud initially bred to sell, counting Be My Guest and Assert amongst those that won for other owners, but now breeds to race. The stud, which boasts a 50-strong broodmare band, has 60 horses in training with Dermot Weld adjacent to the Curragh in Ireland and a further ten with Christophe Clement in the United States. Among the many top performers to race for Moyglare Stud have been the 1990 Belmont Stakes winner Go And Go, 1996 Irish Oaks heroine Dance Design, 1992 St James's Palace Stakes victor Brief Truce, 1988 Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Trusted Partner, 1994 National Stakes winner Definite Article and - possibly best of all - Refuse To Bend, who won the 2002 National Stakes before winning this season's Sagitta 2000 Guineas.
Derby Record: No previous runners

Dermot Weld
Dermot Kenneth Weld was born on July 29, 1948, and is firmly established as one of the world's great trainers. He initially trained as a veterinary surgeon and his training career began by working as an assistant to his father Charlie and also to Tommy Smith in Australia. He also rode regularly as an amateur in Ireland, winning the title in 1969, 1971 and 1972 and it was in 1972 that Weld began his training career, basing himself at Rosewell House a few hundred yards from the Curragh racecourse. Since gaining his training licence, Weld has won all of the Irish Classics on at least one occasion - Irish Derby (1996 Zagreb), Irish Oaks (1996 Dance Design, 1981 Blue Wind), Irish 2,000 Guineas (1986 Flash of Steel), Irish 1,000 Guineas (1982 Prince's Polly, 1988 Trusted Partner), Irish St Leger (1993 and 1994 Vintage Crop, 2001 Vinnie Roe, 2002 Vinnie Roe) and he has also tasted English Classic success with Blue Wind in the 1981 Epsom Oaks and Refuse To Bend in this season's first British classic, the Sagitta 2000 Guineas. But it is as one of the true pioneers in sending horses overseas that Weld is best known. In 1990, Go And Go became the first horse trained outside of North America to win a leg of the American Triple Crown when he was triumphant in the Belmont Stakes. In 2001, Pine Dance took the American Derby at Arlington while last season Dress To Thrill won the Grade One Matriarch Stakes at Hollywood Park.

In addition to his North American successes, Dermot Weld also holds the distinction of being the only European trainer to have won Australia's most famous race - the Melbourne Cup - a race which he has landed twice. Vintage Crop won the Flemington contest in 1993 while his second win came last year with Media Puzzle. Weld has also had some notable National Hunt successes including the 1989 Irish Grand National with Perris Valley and the 1990 Triumph Hurdle with Rare Holiday.

Derby Record: 1975 No Alimony (15th), 1985 Theatrical (7th), 1986 Flash Of Steel (6th),1995 Humbel (8th)

Pat Smullen
Born at Rhodes in County Offally on May 22, 1977, Pat Smullen - whose father worked on a farm - became involved in horses at the age of 11 when accompanying his brother Sean to Joanna Morgan's stud and sales yard and went on to show jump and event. He then spent a four-year apprenticeship with local trainer Tommy Lacy, enjoying a first success aboard Vicosa in an apprentices' handicap at the Dundalk evening meeting on June 11, 1993. It was Lacy who suggested to Smullen that he ride for trainer Ewan Charpy in Dubai over the winter in 1997 and he has become one of the leading riders in the Middle East. Smullen spent two years with Tommy Stack and had a first Group 1 win when the Stack-trained Tarascon won the 1997 Moyglare Stud Stakes and he became stable jockey to Dermot Weld in 1999 following Mick Kinane's departure to Aidan O'Brien's stable. Smullen, who is married to the leading Irish National Hunt trainer (and Aidan O'Brien's sister-in- law) Frances Crowley, was Ireland's champion jockey in 2000 with 80 wins and in 2001 with 81 wins although was only third last year to Kinane and Johnny Murtagh with 60 successes. His major wins include last year's National Stakes on Refuse To Bend, the horse which gave him his first British classic success in this season's Sagitta 2000 Guineas, the Irish St Leger for the past two years on Vinnie Roe, the 2002 Matron Stakes with Dress To Thrill and last year's Ribblesdale Stakes with Irresistible Jewel. No previous Derby rides

BETFAIR TO COVER ALL LIVE FRENCH RACES

STOCKTON-ON-TEES PROVIDES ANOTHER SCOOP6 WINNER

The punter placed his £32 Scoop6 bet at his local Coral shop in the town, and in addition to the Win fund money, landed two Place fund dividends adding an extra £1,009 to his haul.

"There's something about the Scoop6 slips they use in Stockton as this is third Scoop6 winner we've had from the town in the last six-months," said Tote spokesman Jeremy Scott, "and both of the other two have landed a haul sufficient to earn them a spot on the Scoop6 Rich List!"

Just before New Year an anonymous Stockton punter landed a total of £175,164 after landing a Scoop6 Win/Bonus double and just three weeks ago Norman Evans again from Stockton scooped £163,191 on the Win fund, but missed out on the Bonus Prize fund.

"Small staking punters have had such a great run recently that even making it on to the bottom rung of the Scoop6 Rich List now requires a total haul of more than £160,000, which is beyond the reach of our Stockton-friend tomorrow. However rumour has it the town is favourite to be the location of the countries newest Ferrari showroom!"

Saturday's Scoop6 legs are:

leg 1 1.45 - Lingfield
leg 2 2.15 - Lingfield
leg 3 2.30 - Beverley
leg 4 3.00 - Beverley
leg 5 3.15 - Lingfield
leg 6 3.45 - Lingfield

For old articles (from 1st March 2000) go to the Newslink Archive

©Racenews 2002
designed and produced by Racenews Internet Services