Following a fabulous Royal Ascot, the standings in the race for the 2008 Cartier Awards have witnessed some significant changes.
The Cartier Racing Awards are now in their 18th year and celebrate the champions of the Turf, plus one person. European horseracing’s most prestigious accolades will be presented during a glittering ceremony before an invited audience at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on Monday, November 17.
The coveted eight horse awards, horseracing’s equivalent of the Oscars, are determined by points earned in Pattern races combined with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists plus votes from readers of the Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph, a system which accurately rewards supreme excellence.
Henrythenavigator (104 points) secured his third consecutive Group One triumph of the season with a stunning success in the St James’s Palace Stakes at the Royal Meeting. The son of Kingmambo had previously collected two Classics, the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas. The Aidan O’Brien-trained colt is followed in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt category by the horse he defeated at Newmarket and the Curragh, New Approach (84), who subsequently recorded a dramatic victory over Tartan Bearer (40) in the Vodafone Derby at Epsom on June 7. New Approach and Tartan Bearer are due to square up again in Sunday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh. New Approach is chasing his second Cartier Award, having collected the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Award in 2007. Other colts with points in this category are French Derby scorer Vision D’Etat (48) and French 2,000 Guineas victor Falco (32), who was fifth behind Henrythenavigator at Royal Ascot.
In the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly category, Zarkava (72), leads the way after her Group One victories this year in the French 1,000 Guineas and French Oaks. English 1,000 Guineas scorer Natagora (60), who ran a brave race against the colts when third in the French Derby, is her closest pursuer, followed by Juddmonte Oaks winner Look Here (48), French Oaks runner-up Gagnoa (40) and Lush Lashes (40), who makes a first appearance in the points following her impressive Coronation Stakes success at Royal Ascot.
Aidan O’Brien has an embarrassment of riches this season and enjoyed no less than four Group One victories at Royal Ascot last week. In Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes, Duke Of Marmalade (104) gained his third Group One victory of the season following the Prix Ganay and Tattersalls Gold Cup, meaning he has a clear lead in the Cartier Older Horse division. At Ascot, Duke Of Marmalade proved four lengths too strong for Phoenix Tower (48).
Also featuring in the older horse division is the remarkable Yeats (48) who followed in the footsteps of the great Sagaro to become only the second horse to win the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot three times. He currently leads the Cartier Stayer division from Geordieland (40) and Coastal Path (36), second and third respectively in the Gold Cup. Yeats took the Cartier Stayer Award in 2006 and 2007.
The international aspect of modern Flat racing was emphasised by the victory of Equiano (40) in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. Trained in Spain by Maurizio Delcher Sanchez for his Royal Ascot triumph, he has now joined the Lambourn stable of Barry Hills. Close in behind Equiano in the race for the Cartier Sprinter Award is Golden Jubilee Stakes victor Kingsgate Native (32) who is followed by King’s Stand Stakes third Fleeting Spirit (24) and War Artist (24), a top-class performer in South Africa who put up a game performance to take the runner-up spot in the Golden Jubilee Stakes.
Harry Herbert, Cartier’s Racing Consultant, commented: “I think it was almost universally agreed that this year’s Royal Ascot was the best we have seen for a very long time.
“Aidan O’Brien looks to hold a very strong hand in the race for Cartier honours this year, with Henrythenavigator, Duke Of Marmalade and Yeats all putting up championship performances at the Royal Meeting.
“We look forward now to some wonderful racing over the next month, with the Irish middle-distance Classics and Newmarket’s July Meeting coming up in the next fortnight.”
For more information, please contact Harry Herbert, Cartier’s racing consultant (01488 669166) or Mark Popham of Racenews (020 7704 0326)
Cartier Older Horse
DUKE OF MARMALADE 104
PHOENIX TOWER 48
YEATS 48
EQUIANO 40
GEORDIELAND 40
SAGEBURG 40
Cartier Sprinter
EQUIANO 40
KINGSGATE NATIVE 32
FLEETING SPIRIT 24
WAR ARTIST 24
TAKEOVER TARGET 20
Cartier Stayer
YEATS 48
GEORDIELAND 40
COASTAL PATH 36
ROYAL AND REGAL 20
FINALMENTE 16
MINE SET FOR ONE LAST HURRAH - POPULAR HANDICAPPER SET TO BOW OUT AFTER LADBROKES BUNBURY CUP
MINE, one of the most popular handicappers on the Flat in recent times, is to be retired after one last roll of the dice in his favourite race, the Ladbrokes Bunbury Cup.
The 10-year-old entire is the only three-time winner of the famous £100,000 handicap, which will be run on The July Course at Newmarket on Friday, July 11, the third and final day of the 2008 Ritz Club July Festival.
Mine’s first triumph in the seven-furlong Ladbrokes Bunbury Cup came in 2002 with jockey Kieren Fallon aboard. Richard Quinn rode him to a short-head success in the race in 2005 before Mick Kinane completed the hat-trick 12 months later.
There was also a near-miss in 2003 when subsequent Group 1 winner Patavellian pipped the James Bethell-trained horse by a short-head.
As well as his Ladbrokes Bunbury Cup heroics, Mine has given his owner Mike Dawson plenty of other special days. In his 65-race career to date, he also won both the Victoria Cup and the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot in 2004, while achieving Listed success for the first time only last year with victory in the John O’Gaunt Stakes at Haydock.
No wonder Dawson is fond of his star horse, who will stand as a stallion at his owner’s stud just south of York once his career finishes next month.
Dawson said: “He is a lovely chap and has given me so much pleasure. He is part of the family and I would not sell him for all the tea in China.
“He will retire after the Bunbury Cup and he’s going to frolic with the fillies at my Allerthorpe Farm Stud.
“He has done extremely well for me. But apart from winning over £350,000 worth of prize money, I have a lot of affection for him. He is really well-mannered for a horse of his size. He is a gentle giant with a heart of gold and an abundance of talent.
“When he won the Royal Hunt Cup it was the thrill of my life. I count myself very fortunate to own such a great horse. He’s remarkable.”
Dawson confirmed that Mine’s initial stud fee will be around the £1,500 - £1,700 mark and added: “a bargain at twice the price!”
Dawson paid tribute to Middleham-based Bethell, saying: “Mine is quite a straightforward horse but James has done a fabulous job with him. I don’t think that he is given sufficient horses to show just how good he is, but I find him first-class.”
Newmarket Racecourses will extend a warm welcome to Mine when he ventures to The July Course for one last time.
Michael Prosser, the track’s Director of Racing, said: “To win the Ladbrokes Bunbury Cup on no less than three occasions is an extraordinary achievement from a very good and very tenacious horse.
“Mine has always seemed to have thrived in the hustle bustle of the race and we are very pleased that he will be competing in it again this year. We also very much look forward to welcoming his connections.”
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