Going Solo?
After being denied the dance with Gleneagles (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at Glorious Goodwood, the Wertheimers’ Solow (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) may still be joined on one of the most prestigious floors of them all if the ground is deemed suitable in Saturday’s G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. at Ascot. Able to saunter through his fourth consecutive top-level success in the absence of Ballydoyle’s dual Classic hero in the July 29 G1 Sussex S., the 5-year-old has not been seen since, with Freddy Head keen to bring him here at another peak. “He’s a real champion–he has everything,” he said of the inimitable homebred, who has also annexed the Mar. 28 G1 Dubai Turf, May 24 G1 Prix d’Ispahan and June 16 G1 Queen Anne S. this year. “It will be his last start for the year. After the race he will go to the Wertheimers’ stud for a few weeks before we think about Dubai again. It appears he’s a real miler, which is very strange for his pedigree. He’s a versatile, beautiful mover and is very easy to train.”
Gleneagles, who due to the vagaries of the European climate has been forced to sidestep several big-league encounters since his win in the G1 St James’s Palace S. at the Royal meeting here June 16, may be out of this one too with Aidan O’Brien on tenterhooks in the final hours. “The ground’s borderline. Parts of it are good and parts of it are on the soft side of good,” the Ballydoyle conditioner said yesterday. “We’re going to take him racing and see how it rides for the first few races. The ground is not far away from where it needs to be for him to run. You would hope it might tighten up a bit before his race tomorrow. A millimetre of rain though would be too much. After Ryan [Moore] has ridden on it tomorrow, he will know what it is like–he will know straight away. The times will tell us a lot as well. From the three-furlong pole to the furlong pole is where it is quicker.” O’Brien added, “The horse has always come first and we want to be fair to him. If it doesn’t rain, there is no heavy dew and when the lads have ridden on it and say it is good ground or better, especially Ryan, then we might take our chance. It’s a close call–if the ground starts shifting and breaking off the top, we are going to be in trouble.”
Due to his absence all summer, the fact remains that Gleneagles is in the unusual position of being a dominant 3-year-old miler who is yet to be tested by the older brigade, and he meets Solow on much less favorable weight-for-age terms at this time of year than he would have had the rain not come to Goodwood. His easy defeat of the subsequent G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Territories (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in the G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket May 2 sets the standard among his generation at this trip, but he is sure to be compromised by the softened ground conditions as he was when workmanlike in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh May 23. Godolphin’s Territories is another who needs it livelier to show his best form, and it was largely the testing ground that undid him in Deauville’s G1 Prix Jacques le Marois last time Aug. 16.
“I am very happy with Territories–his work has been good. He would prefer good ground, but the straight course should not be as soft as the round course,” trainer Andre Fabre commented. “He has not run since August, but he is quite a light horse who does not need much work. Comparing the progress he and Gleneagles have made since they finished second and first in the 2000 Guineas is difficult, because neither has run for a long time. What I would say is that Territories is quite a late foal–he was born almost four months after Gleneagles–so that might allow him to have made greater progress since the spring.”
Fourth behind Territories in the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly July 12 was Kodi Bear (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who has since proved a revelation from the front when slamming his rivals in the G3 Sovereign S. at Salisbury Aug. 13 and G2 Celebration Mile at Goodwood 16 days later. “He’s a horse we’ve always held in high regard. I’m just delighted with the way he’s progressed every step of the way,” trainer Clive Cox said. “He’s been very convincing, albeit this is another step up and we’re all respectful of the opposition, but we’re going there with a happy feel.”
Another sophomore who is worthy of respect is Qatar Racing’s Elm Park (GB) (Phoenix Reach {Ire}), who captured the G1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster 12 months ago and is at least fresh after appearing just three times in 2015, with his latest outing being a win in the Listed Fortune S. at Sandown Sept. 16. “He is unbeaten in four career starts over a mile,” trainer Andrew Balding commented. “I have been very happy with him since his recent Sandown win and he appears to be in top form at home, although his home-work had always been good.”