Kodiac’s Besharah Impressive In the Lowther

With the excitement understandably centered around the flashy Newmarket maiden winner Lumiere prior to this competitive renewal of the Lowther S., it was the slow-burner Besharah who dominated attention where it mattered with a career-best performance for the in-form William Haggas stable.

Third in the G2 Queen Mary S. over five furlongs at Royal Ascot June 17 after two wins from smart company at that trip at Ascot May 8 and at Windsor June 1, the diminutive bay could have been written off at that point as a ‘now’ filly who had already done her best running. Confounding that logic with an elevated effort trying this trip for the first time in Newmarket’s G2 Duchess of Cambridge S., she was touched off by a nose in a strong edition of that July 10 contest by the G3 Albany S. scorer Illuminate (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), with the subsequent G3 Sweet Solera S. winner Blue Bayou (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}) a short head behind in third. Carrying her onward momentum back to Ascot 15 days later, she surged to a three-length success in the G3 Princess Margaret S. staying at this distance, but evaded the main focus here which fell squarely on the inexperienced head of Lumiere.

Anchored in the slipstream of that free-running favorite enjoying perfect cover throughout the early stages, Besharah traveled with notable purpose for Pat Cosgrave and when sent between the long-time leader and Easton Angel approaching the furlong pole, seized the gap and the lead without hesitation. Powering clear on the run to the line, she opened up on the grey who had done nothing to disappoint on only her second outing, with Easton Angel proving a surprisingly tame finisher.

“She just keeps improving and getting better and better with racing and on that performance she’s going to be hard to beat this year,” her rider said. “I was always happy and I probably still got there too soon. She’s a strong traveler and although she’s not overly-big, she’s a real 2-year-old.”

Trainer William Haggas added, “She really impressed me. I don’t know how good Mark [Johnston]’s filly is, but I know he likes her very much and the way she went past Easton Angel was very impressive. I don’t know whether it’s the [softer] ground or going up in trip that’s improved her, but it’s got to be the G1 Cheveley Park S. [at Newmarket Sept. 26] now and that will be her next run. She was bought to be a 2-year-old–she was a strong, well-made sort by a sire who gets a lot of 2-year-old winners–and so anything she does at three is a bonus, but she’s certainly a very good filly.”

Lumiere’s trainer Mark Johnston was satisfied with the effort of the much-vaunted runner-up.

“There is no disgrace to be beaten on her second start and it was an enormous jump from a maiden where she was never challenged,” he offered. “She’s never seen a stick or another horse coming at her before today and she could easily have dropped away when challenged so quickly, so it bodes well for the future that she stayed on and we’d expect her to be a much better horse next time. She would have learned an awful lot from this race, as she didn’t really have a first run, so I’m not disappointed at all. She was a little bit keen early and didn’t really pick up off the dead ground as she did the fast ground at Newmarket, but that could be just inexperience. She was late into training, so she’s got growing to do and she looked the scopiest one here. I’d be surprised if she didn’t stay a mile as a 3-year-old and the 1000 Guineas is definitely on the agenda. That’s more realistic today than it was after Newmarket, even in defeat. We’ll be looking at fast ground this season and John [Ferguson] has just said we should keep one eye on the Breeders’ Cup as a possibility. If ground is a major factor, that’s one thing we could keep up our sleeve.”

Easton Angel’s trainer Michael Dods was putting her late fade down to lack of stamina for the trip. “On first impressions, she’ll be better off back over five,” he said. “We kept it simple today. She was last off the bridle and while I haven’t spoken to [jockey] Paul [Mulrennan] yet, it looked like she was just outstayed.”

Besharah’s dam, a Hermitage Farm-bred unraced half-sister to GSWs Kiss Mine (Mineshaft) and Kiss Moon (Malibu Moon), was knocked down to John Ferguson for $500,000 at the 2009 Keeneland September sale before selling to the BBA Ireland for 33,000gns at Tattersalls July in 2011. Besharah, the mare’s first produce, has a yearling half-brother by 2010 G1 Racing Post Trophy hero Casamento (Ire) (Shamardal) and a weanling half-sister by dual Aussie Group 1 winner Epaulette (Aus) (Commands {Aus}).

Thursday, York, Britain
PINSENT MASONS LOWTHER S.-G2, £209,650, YOR, 8-20, 2yo, f, 6fT, 1:11.87, g/s.
1–BESHARAH (IRE), 126, f, 2, by Kodiac (GB)
1st Dam: Dixieland Kiss, by Dixie Union
2nd Dam: Kiss the Devil, by Kris S.
3rd Dam: Devil’s Nell, by Devil’s Bag
(30,000gns Wlg ‘13 TATFOA; 85,000gns Ylg ‘14 TAOCT). O-Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum; B-Gerard Kerin (IRE); T-William Haggas; J-Pat Cosgrave. £118,892. Lifetime Record: 6-4-1-1, $288,496. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Lumiere (GB), 126, f, 2, Shamardal–Screen Star (Ire), by Tobougg (Ire). O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum; B-Darley (GB); T-Mark Johnston. £45,075.
3–Easton Angel (Ire), 126, f, 2, Dark Angel (Ire)–Staceymac (Ire), by Elnadim. (18,000gns Wlg ‘13 TATFOA; £30,000 Ylg ‘14 DNPRM). O-Al Shaqab Racing & Ritchie Fiddes; B-James Waldron (IRE); T-Michael Dods. £22,558.
Margins: 2 1/4, 2 1/4, 1. Odds: 2.75, 2.25, 4.00.
Also Ran: Lady Clair (Ire), Quiet Reflection (GB), Continental Lady (GB), Twin Falls (Ire), Glenrowan Rose (Ire), Ashadihan (GB). Click for the Racing Post result, the brisnet.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.