Continuing Love Story
Tough and durable so far, Covert Love (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) bids to prove that Saturday’s G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares S. at Ascot is not a step too far after exceeding expectations throughout a stellar 3-year-old campaign. Denying the pick of the Irish when justifying a supplementary entry into the G1 Irish Oaks over this trip at The Curragh July 18, the bay was second in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks Aug. 20 before rebounding to annex the 10-furlong G1 Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp just 13 days ago. “She won the Irish Oaks going away from the field, so I have no problem going back to a mile and a half,” trainer Hugo Palmer said. “I hope it doesn’t rain to put a spanner in the works. We didn’t make all in the Irish Oaks and we’re quite happy to take a lead and see what happens in the race.”
Dropping back even more markedly in distance having won, lost, then regained the G1 St Leger at Doncaster Sept. 12 is Qatar Racing’s Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}), but trainer Ralph Beckett is unconcerned about this greater emphasis on speed. “I don’t think a mile and a half will hold any fears,” he commented. “She has improved as the year’s gone on and she’s battle-hardened these days. She doesn’t seem very ground-dependent. She won on fast ground in the summer and that wouldn’t worry me at all.”
After inflicting the sole defeat on Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) in the G1 Juddmonte International at York Aug. 19, Jeff Smith’s Arabian Queen (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) was only sixth behind Treve (Fr) (Motivator {Fr}) in the G1 Prix Vermeille over this trip at Longchamp last time Sept. 13, but her owner-breeder was offering excuses for that tame effort. “We’ve put a line through France. It was heavy ground and she didn’t travel well; she wasn’t drinking as much as she should have,” Smith explained. “Some say York was a fluke, but I look at it the other way–Golden Horn has upheld the form in Ireland and in the Arc. Good-to-soft ground will be fine, the ground in France would have been called heavy here. We’re going there full of hope.”
His Highness The Aga Khan’s Candarliya (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}) was second in the Vermeille either side of wins in Deauville’s G3 Prix Minerve Aug. 16 and the G2 Prix de Royallieu at Longchamp Oct. 3 over a half-furlong further, while another overseas threat is Susan Magnier’s 2014 G1 Yorkshire Oaks heroine Tapestry (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Only 16th in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp 13 days ago, the ‘TDN Rising Star’ had previously run a highly respectable second on her first start in 11 months in the G2 Blandford S. over 10 furlongs at The Curragh Sept. 13. George Strawbridge’s Journey (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is a 3-year-old rapidly on the up, with her most recent outing resulting in an eight-length score in the Listed Princess Royal S. at this distance at Newmarket Sept. 25. She is out of the G1 Prix Royal-Oak heroine Montare (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and a switch to more positive tactics has unlocked the potential that was previously hidden under a bushel.