New Rules

With Leading Light (Ire) Montjeu {Ire}) off the scene, Thursday’s G1 Gold Cup is there for the taking for the current crop of stayers, of which Moyglare Stud’s Forgotten Rules (Ire) (Nayef) is the obvious pick. Only raced three times on the flat, the 5-year-old has been handled with great patience and tenderness by Dermot Weld, and that approach has already reaped substantial benefits with wins in the G2 British Champions Long Distance Cup over two miles here in October and Navan’s 14-furlong G3 Vintage Crop S. on his return May 17. On the latter occasion, the homebred raced under a five-pound penalty but was able to retain his unbeaten record in a perfect tune-up for this mission. With the ground staying on the fast side, Forgotten Rules may still be taken out of the contest and connections were on Wednesday facing a nervous wait to see what course the weather or clerk of the course Chris Stickels take. “I’ll see what the ground is like tomorrow,” Weld said. “All I want is safe ground for all the horses. This is a race over 2 1/2 miles for older horses; It’s not like it is for sprinters. I just want some kindness in the ground.” 

One who will have no problems with the lively surface is Jon Kelly’s Mizzou (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), another unexposed type over these extreme trips who signposted his above-average ability when accounting for Vent de Force (GB)(Hurricane Run {Ire}) in the two-mile G3 Sagaro S. Apr. 29. Trainer Luca Cumani has yet to win this particular jewel in the crown of the British racing calendar and said, “Mizzou has been in good form since he won the Sagaro and I am very happy with him. I decided that he didn’t need another run to get him to his peak for the Gold Cup. Fast ground would not be a problem, as that is what he won on in the Sagaro, but the 2 1/2-mile trip is the big imponderable. His style of racing–he’s so relaxed–suggests that he has every chance of getting it, as does his breeding.” 

Since his defeat in the Sagaro, The Fairy Story Partnership’s Vent de Force has annexed one of this race’s other key pointers, the G3 Henry II S. over an extended two-mile trip at Sandown May 28. In the Henry II, the runner-up was the May 6 Chester Cup scorer Trip To Paris (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}) and there is a case to make for this true stayer as he did not enjoy the best of runs at a vital part of the race. Connections of the dual G1 Prix Royal-Oak hero Tac de Boistron (Fr) (Take Risks {Fr}) must be ruing their ill fortune with the weather, as wherever Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock’s veteran goes it seems to bring out a dry build-up to turn the ground against him. On the one occasion in the past year that he has had his favored rain-softened surface at home in Chester’s G3 Ormonde S. over an extended 13-furlong trip May 8, he met a very smart rival in Clever Cookie (GB) (Primo Valentino {Ire}) and failed by 1 1/4 lengths to give that rival seven pounds. France usually has a say in this race and Avaz Ismoilov’s May 24 G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier winner Bathyrhon (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) is here to fly the flag this time. Trainer Pia Brandt was second in the G2 Duke of Cambridge S. with her only Royal runner, L’Amour de Ma Vie (Dansili {GB}), last year, and is full of hope for her second challenger at the meeting. “The Prix Vicomtesse Vigier was designed to bring Bathyrhon on for Ascot and I think that it has done just that,” she said. “He made all the running at a good pace, relaxing in front before kicking away from them at the finish. The Gold Cup has been the plan ever since he showed that he could cope with the 2 1/2-mile distance [when second] in the G1 Prix du Cadran last October. His big strength is his turn of foot, if it is used at the right moment. He can do it off a slow pace or from in front and not many stayers can quicken like he can–the jockey just has to be cool and wait.”