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Item takes Juddmonte International, Constitution River third and Ombudsman fourth
At the end of Wednesday's G1 Juddmonte International Stakes, there was a star 3-year-old in charge but not the one expected as the sponsors' Item (Frankel) landed in front where it mattered.
Left out of the main pre-race topic despite showing a love for York and this 10-furlong trip when taking the Dante and York Stakes, the 10-1 shot who hails from the all-conquering Andrew Balding stable followed the too-strong pace set by Hawk Mountain (Wootton Bassett) at a sensible distance.
With Constitution River (Wootton Bassett) over-racing from the start, this was always going to fall to a closer and while for much of the finale it looked as if Almaqam (Lope De Vega) would clinch it for the older brigade, Item found a decisive surge for Colin Keane to overhaul him in the dying strides and win by a head. Constitution River paid for his early exertions, finishing three and a half lengths away in third as the 5-6 favourite Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) could manage only fourth.
While Kalpana (Study Of Man) reached her zenith as a fully mature 5-year-old, stablemate Item was collecting this prestige event while still a green, unfinished product to further enhance the training prowess of his Kingsclere handler. Bar the G1 The Derby, where the horror conditions killed the class of some proper heavyweights both in the G1 Blue Riband and G1 Coronation Cup, this colt has an unblemished record tackling bigger and bigger tests each time.
“We've pitched him in some good races with the belief that he will do well in them, but he's kept improving and improved physically and that's the most important thing,” Balding said.
“Physically he's really a very different horse than the one that ran in the Dante and I think anything is possible–he would certainly have no problem staying a mile and a half if we wanted him to,” he added, before revealing that the stable had to endure a late scare.
“Physically he's (Item) really a very different horse than the one that ran in the Dante and I think anything is possible.” - Andrew Balding
“I just want to say a big thank you to the team at home, because it wasn't straightforward getting him here. Everything had gone great up until about declaration time and we had a little hiccup there with his feet. Thankfully everyone who looks after him have worked overtime to get it right and happily it was a 5am decision that he got on the box to come up here. I'm very relieved.”
This renewal was shaped largely by what occurred in the initial run to the bend, with Constitution River demonstrating his freshness by lighting up from his wide draw and stumbling across the first path across the track. Hawk Mountain was forced to go too hard to provide him with the lead that the supposed pacemakers Action (Frankel) and Devil's Advocate (Too Darn Hot) were either unable or unwilling to, but after the first two furlongs the damage was done to Ballydoyle's G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G1 Eclipse Stakes hero.
Item was on the rail in behind racing more conventionally, with Ombudsman at the back but as the pace collapsed in midstraight, there was a temporary traffic jam with the eventual winner one of those unable to get a clean trip. That he was still able to pull around Almaqam and give that high-class Group 1 winner in full flight a length headstart and wear him down by the line speaks volumes about the level of his ability, but then those who had seen him here twice already were perhaps less surprised by the end result.
Such was the intense pace of the race throughout the first half, even Item had gone too quick despite being reserved but the ultimate difference was his finale of 12.78s compared to the runner-up's 13.14s, Constitution River's tired 13.58s and the favourite's strangely flat 13.69s. At the business end, Item was the only one really piling it on with his rivals falling by the wayside for differing reasons.
What is worrying for Item's peers is the fact that Keane thinks he can do better with conditions more in his favour. This is a Win-and-You're In for the US$7 million (AU$9.82 million) G1 Breeders' Cup Classic and while the winner is unlikely to shift to the dirt, the Turf looks a prime target now.
“At no point was I comfortable to be honest–not until William (Buick) came to me and he got between horses and that really got him going,” his rider said. “He struggled on this slow ground and I was never really happy, but when he got levelled up you'd love what he did in his last furlong–I was really motoring.
“He (Item) feels like a horse who will go back up in trip and that's when you'll see the best of him.” - Colin Keane
“He feels like a horse who will go back up in trip and that's when you'll see the best of him. I thought he'd travel smoother and it took every inch of the straight for him to get there. It is soft ground and loose and he'd be better on a sounder surface. He's a specialist around here, he seems to love it.”
Pedigree notes: Item is the third foal out of the G1 Natalma Stakes and My Charmer Stakes winner Capla Temptress (Lope De Vega), who started her career with Marco Botti and won her Grade I in the Team Valor silks before transferring to Juddmonte. Her second was the Listed Prix Matchem winner Temptable (Kingman), while she also has the unraced 2-year-old filly Tympana (St Mark's Basilica) and a yearling filly by Dark Angel.
The second dam Mrs Beeton (Dansili), who raced in Peter Harris's colours, is a half-sister to that owner-breeder's multiple Group winner Stotsfold (Barathea) who was also third in the Arlington Million, while this is the family of Pendley Farm's other stars Leporello, Poppy Carew and Calypso Grant all by Danehill. There is ample stamina in this pedigree, with the third dam Eliza Acton (Shirley Heights) a full sister to the popular dual-purpose handicapper Top Cees.
Grand Prix de Paris hero Maltese Cross overpowers Great Voltigeur field
The only blip on an otherwise perfect 2026 for George Waud's TDN Rising Star Maltese Cross (Sea The Stars) was a runner-up finish behind Christmas Day (Camelot) in the G1 Derby and he exacted revenge on the rival with a dominant performance–under a five-pound Group 1 penalty–in Wednesday's G2 Voltigeur Stakes at York.
“He showed a nice turn of foot in Paris last time, he did very well today and I think that was probably a career best,” said trainer William Haggas. “I thought he came there well, Tom said he went too early, which I think he did, but he got drawn into it because Ryan (Moore aboard Christmas Day) set off.”
“He (Maltese Cross) did very well today and I think that was probably a career best.” - William Haggas
Looking ahead, the Newmarket-based conditioner added, “We had a conversation about the Arc when Baaeed was around and I was pretty non-committal, and I'll be the same again. I've no idea where we're going, but he clearly stays very well and the (G1) St Leger is a prestigious race in its own right, so let's not be hasty and make decisions today.
“All options are open. The ground in Paris is likely to be slower than today and that's a factor, and if it's dry at Doncaster that's also a factor. They're two very prestigious races. One is world renowned, but the other is very prestigious to a Yorkshire-born, English trainer and owner. That was a Group 1 performance today.”
Last month's G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero was slick from the outside stall and settled several lengths off the clear leader Antigua (Camelot) in fourth after the initial strides of this stepping stone to next month's G1 St Leger.
Cruising forward in eyecatching fashion on the bridle in the straight, the 9-4 second favourite wrested control from new leader Pierre Bonnard (Camelot) soon after passing the quarter-mile marker and stayed on strongly under forceful urging in the closing stages to outpoint that rival by two lengths.
Derby hero Christmas Day, who was also burdened with a five-pound Group 1 penalty, was far from disgraced and stayed on well to finish two and a half lengths further adrift in third.
Pedigree notes: Maltese Cross is the third of five foals and one of two scorers out of a winning half-sister to five stakes performers headed by G1 Deutsches Derby-winning sire Nutan (Duke Of Marmalade), G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin heroine Nymphea (Dylan Thomas) and Group 3-winning G1 Prix Jean Romanet third Navaro Girl (Holy Roman Emperor).
Descendants of his Group 3-placed second dam Neele (Peintre Celebre) also include stakes-winning G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin runner-up Nerik (Ruler Of The World) and G3 Premio Del Giubileo victrix Norge (Dylan Thomas).
The winner is a half-brother to the Listed-placed Namouria (Adlerflug), the unraced 2-year-old colt Prince Of Petra (Persian King) and a weanling filly by Charyn.
Justify's Rising Star Haffner downs Acomb rivals to snag Breeders' Cup ticket
Peter Brant, Coolmore and Westerberg's TDN Rising Star Haffner (Justify) bounced back off a defeat in last month's G2 Vintage and the Aidan O'Brien trainee found plenty under forceful urging to make a stakes breakthrough in Wednesday's G3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes at York.
“He ran a lovely race at Goodwood, but Ryan (Moore) thought he was a little bit babyish,” commented O'Brien after collecting a fourth rosette in the seven-furlong Breeders' Cup Challenge Series qualifier.
“He's a very good mover and we always thought the quicker the better for him with the ground. He handled that today, on the softer side of good, no problem and with every week that goes by he'll improve. He's a typical Justify and they very rarely relent when they get to the front. He was a little bit slowly away, but when Ryan asked him he got there a little bit quicker than he wanted.
“He's (Haffner) a typical Justify and they very rarely relent when they get to the front.” - Aidan O'Brien
“This horse will have no problem staying a mile, he'd have no problem going to a Breeders' Cup over a mile. He could go to Doncaster for the (G1) Futurity Trophy and next year he'd have no problem with a mile-and-a-quarter. We have the trials in Ireland and the National Stakes and all those races, but he's right in the mix and always was.”
Aidan O'Brien | Image courtesy of The Hong Kong Jockey Club
The 11-8 favourite found a comfortable slot behind the leaders in fourth after breaking smartly from the outside stall. Bustled along to gain an edge approaching the quarter-mile marker, he refused to yield thereafter and kept on strongly under a Ryan Moore-drive to defeat Gentle Hurricane (Invincible Spirit) and Trean (Bayside Boy) by two lengths and a half-length.
Pedigree notes: Haffner is the second of four foals and one of two scorers out of the stakes-placed Earth Strike (Zoffany), herself kin to five black-type performers headed by multiple Group 1-winning sire Order Of St George (Galileo) and the Group/Grade 3-winning duo Angel Terrace (Ghostzapper) and Asperity (War Chant).
The winner, whose third dam is dual Grade I-winning US champion Storm Song (Summer Squall), is full to a weanling filly and half to a yearling filly by Not This Time.
