The Weekly Wrap

Call it a non-event if you must. To some of us, it didn't matter that he started at odds nearly as microscopic as the bank rate; nor even that his only credible rival failed to match the laudable boldness of his connections. To some of us, Caravaggio (Scat Daddy) is fast becoming the highlight of the European summer.

As his namesake might have told us, after all, even a masterpiece will often go through an ambiguous stage, between the first, inspired outlines of conception and the depth of shading that underpins the final effect. Breaking the cavalcade of previous Ballydoyle winners to have preceded Caravaggio in the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S., for instance, remember Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo)–who had likewise won the G2 Coventry S. before disclosing his Achilles heel in very different conditions at the Curragh.

Caravaggio was himself experiencing a similar novelty, in reverse, having won in soft ground at Royal Ascot. There was never the faintest danger, however, that such a buoyant mover might be discomfited by the faster going on Sunday. Sure enough, he achieved a mesmerising fluency–perfectly tensed, like so many really outstanding horses, between energy and ease.

It is the latter element that gives him the potential to extend his speed without diluting it. Of course, his grandsire Johannesburg (Hennessy) offers an uncertain precedent, having proved such a disappointment at three. But his indelible performance when stepped up from six furlongs for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile will surely be lodged suggestively near the front of John Magnier's mind as he contemplates Caravaggio's future.

Scat Daddy (Johannesburg) himself was fourth behind the runaway champion Street Sense (Street Cry {Ire}) when he tried his hand in the same race, but the tragedy of his sudden loss last winter could yet be redressed by Caravaggio. The hidden depths of his Ascot performance, thoroughly explored here at the time, have since been vividly amplified not only by the runner-up– winner of both subsequent starts in Group 2 company–but also, significantly, by the next horse home on the side where Caravaggio had been marooned. Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) was beaten 8 1/2-lengths that day but was foiled only by Caravaggio's stablemate War Decree (War Front) in the G2 Qatar Vintage S. at Goodwood next time.

Johannesburg's misadventures would presumably prevent Caravaggio being seduced by the Kentucky Derby itself, if he happened to win at Santa Anita in November. But “only colt to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and the 2,000 Guineas” would surely read pretty well in any stallion brochure, either side of the ocean.

Fun While They Lasted…

Incredibly, Caravaggio is the first of his trainer's dozen Group 1 winners this year not sired by Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells). It is as an outcross option, therefore, that he becomes especially precious as a potential replacement for his sire. His owners' stake in War Front (Danzig) has a similarly momentous thrust, and they must have taken corresponding satisfaction in three juvenile maiden winners from three starters for the sire last week–not to mention a three-year-old Group 3 winner with John Gosden at Haydock on Saturday.

At the same time, it looks miserably difficult now to salvage anything from the wreckage of Air Force Blue (War Front). Having seemed to warrant one more chance after gliding through the G1 Darley July Cup in heavy traffic on the bridle, he finished tailed off in a Group 3 at the Curragh on Sunday. What a pity–and what a rebuke, for the reckless hopes just vouchsafed for his young stablemate.

Still, things could be worse. The other race that had been on his agenda, the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, was horribly disfigured by the fatal accident that claimed the Hong Kong raider, Gold-Fun (Ire) (Le Vie Dei Colori {GB}). It would be indelicate to dwell on the heartbreak of his trainer, in losing such a priceless servant at a course he once knew so well. But Richard Gibson must take such consolation as he can not only from the sympathy of the friends he left behind in Europe, but also from their regard for his deeds with this horse since heading east.

Haggas Revving Up For York…

William Haggas can scarcely expect his latest crop of juveniles to match the achievements of their predecessors at the Ebor meeting last year, when they won three group races as well as one of those sales races anomalously worth more than any of them. But it seems safe to say that he would trade that incredible spree for a single winner capable of redressing the ill luck that has confined its four authors to a solitary win between them since.

Having long ago proved his own elite calibre, Haggas is arguably overdue another horse of commensurate ability. His admirers will have high hopes, then, for a couple of the youngsters who impressed for the stable last week–not to mention his recent Goodwood scorer Lockheed (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}).

True, it is impossible to know quite what to make of the Newmarket maiden won by Seniority (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), which rather fell into his lap with two of just three rivals imploding from the front. Nonetheless, the royal colt showed a raw gusto to overcome not only an odds-on son of the invincible Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), but also his own immaturity, which was said to be beyond the ordinary.

Mubtasim (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}) looks a very different case. There was a real flamboyance to the way he followed up his debut success at Haydock on Thursday, too free in the early stages and then drifting across the track once breaking into the lead, but in between exuding an air of quality that already makes him look very well bought at just 38,000 guineas out of Tattersalls Book II. For all the dash he is showing, his uninhibited stride and rangy build suggest that he may be no mere speedball. His sire, banished to Italy this year, may yet prove to have parted with a telling rebuke over his shoulder.

Watch Lerena And Learn…

After bidding a reluctant farewell to James McDonald, it was edifying to see another visitor to Britain make an instant impression at Ascot on Saturday–and for much the same reason.

Both Gavin Lerena's winners in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup reflected the kind of precision that has made Geneva watchmakers famous. On one, a 25-1 shot over two miles, he remained imperturbably faithful to his scheduled fractions in surrendering the lead to two others before the home turn, before duly retrieving control in the straight. On the other, he ignored two tearaways while maintaining control of the pack.

The record-breaking South African is evidently disposed to try his luck in Britain on a less fleeting basis, and he could hardly have produced a more persuasive audition. To be fair, Martin Harley showed similar expertise from the front in his own success on the same card. But the suspicion persists that many others would prove a sitting duck for Lerena, no less than they did for McDonald. Many professionals disdain the populism of the Shergar Cup–but perhaps they have as much to learn as any of the novices whose attendance, in such numbers, amply vindicates the event as the perfect solution to that historic vacuum, in the English calendar, between Goodwood and York. It is not about empty minds, but open ones.