Weekly Wrap for August 22

If it bucked a trend to see a G1 Juddmonte International S. replete with both quality and quantity, then what are we supposed to make of the fact that it might not even have been the best race run over 10f this week?

An average field of not quite seven runners over the preceding decade–combined with equivalent struggles, or worse, for such races as the King George and Queen Elizabeth S., Irish Champion S. and Eclipse S.–had seemed increasingly to support a theory that the elite middle distance programme is nowadays stretched rather too thinly, during the summer, by the obligation to rest horses preparing for lucrative international opportunities in the autumn. True, a race that had drawn the Derby winner in each of the previous two years, and Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) himself in 2012, could hardly be said to be in crisis. But it was nonetheless heartening this time to see as many as 11 rivals prepared to take on the top older horse Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Mysteriously, it had been barely 48 hours since the G2 Prix Guillaume D'Ornano-Haras du Logis Saint-Germaine, over the same trip at Deauville, had drawn a field of such calibre that the first two home replicated their positions in the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club. And that was before a dual Group 1 winner in Fascinating Rock (Ire) (Fastnet Rock) was declared against the Derby runner-up for a mere Group 3 at the Curragh on Sunday.

Both the York and Deauville races contained a number of improvers that seemed, on the face of it, almost to be looking for trouble. Among these, the most conspicuous gains were made by Mutakayyef (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in taking third, despite traffic, behind Postponed. Inevitably, however, there were also performances–much like that of Galileo Gold (GB) (Paco Bay {Ire}) over a mile the previous week–that seemed to vindicate the modern inclination to back off these high days of high summer.

Doubtless this sudden proliferation of August adventurers is only a blip. If the underlying trends do reassert, then that would fortify the suspicion that the truly visionary alternative to the

G1 QIPCO Champions' Day–which, as I will never tire of complaining, crassly sets out to bribe the season's established domestic elite to decline a fresh challenge at the Breeders' Cup–might perhaps be to re-align existing races for a European Champion Stakes, alternating between host nations, as a fitting and timely prelude to the Arc and the international autumn. Instead of creating an incredibly divisive problem where none previously existed, that would address a genuinely weak link in the calendar. On the other hand, it may yet prove that the extraordinary depth of quality we have seen over 10f during the past week should caution us all against ever reacting too hastily, or too drastically, to medium term cycles.

Zarak Could Yet Reward His Owner…

That same theme, of course, has seldom been explored more contentiously than in the abbreviation of the Prix du Jockey-Club–since which we have become accustomed to milers trying their luck at the intermediate trip, seldom with much pretence of ever trying a proper “Derby” distance.

Regardless, there can be no doubting the essential class of Almanzor (Fr) (Woottoon Bassett {GB}) after seeing him confirm the Chantilly form at Deauville on Monday. Lest we forget, he has demonstrated once again the great service performed to everyone in the business by the great studs when they make their unavoidable culls. Generations of the expertise and quality concentrated at the Aga Khan Studs have been shared this season through the dams of both Amanzor and Harzand–the latter sold for €480,000 to Newsells Park at Goffs two years ago, and the former picked up as a 3-year-old for just €16,000 at Arqana in December 2011. Haras d'Etreham had obviously liked her yearling by their rookie stallion, tracking down her unraced half-sister by Manduro (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) for €32,000 at Goffs last November.

However frustrating it may be for the people who discarded Almanzor's dam to see him beat the first son of their great champion Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar) twice running, their trickledown genetic service to the breed–and, not least, to those lower down the industry's food chain–is a priceless boon. And the Aga Khan may yet get his reward in the Arc itself, a race he so cherishes. Almanzor and Zarak (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) ran their Chantilly races inside out on Monday, Zarak playing his hand first this time until cut down by the acceleration of the colt who had gained first run in the Prix du Jockey-Club. (Both colts deserve extra credit, incidentally, for coming from so far back off the conservative gallop controlled by the third.)

Their meetings to date suggest that Almanzor is the sharper blade up to 10f, without diminishing Zarak's eligibility to emulate his dam in the Arc. His was a lovely comeback run, under an aptly measured ride, against a much more experienced rival whose trainer has been making hay all summer–not least against horses dulled by the contagions reported or rumoured in the premier training centres of both Britain and France. Jean-Claude Rouget is himself sceptical that Almanzor will stay beyond this trip, so Zarak's first attempt at 12f in the Prix Niel is awaited with the utmost interest.

A Slow Learner or Just a Fast Horse…?

Where to start, among so many conspicuous juvenile performances this week? Some very disappointing, some very exciting, some not even by Frankel–but all pretty obvious. Instead let's take a look at a colt that might not necessarily have reached the ceiling suggested by his strict form: Mokarris (More Than Ready), apparently put in his place on merit when second to Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G2 Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack S. at York on Saturday.

It may just be that this is one of those horses that will always be in a tearing hurry. If so, then no matter: he will demonstrably remain capable of packing a pretty solid punch at a high level. If nothing else, after all, his action suggests that he could certainly close the gap on the winner on faster ground. On the other hand, it would be interesting to discover what else he might yet achieve, if ever learning to channel his energies somewhat less frantically.

As things stand, he has yet to permit his jockey the opportunity to ride a proper finish–as free in the early stages of his fourth race as in his first. Twice, he has burned off inferiors regardless, making it easy to see how he must have drawn attention to himself among the Mocklershill draft at the Craven Breeze-Ups. But that was hardly a practical option in a red-hot Coventry on soft going, while this time he spent so long fighting his rider that the far more professional winner had flown by the time either of them could think about agreeing to organise any kind of challenge. Even so, Mokarris was able to put the rest away pretty comfortably, in the process seeing out the race perfectly well under a sensibly restrained ride.

In view of a pedigree that should by no means confine him to this kind of trip, it would be nice to think that Mokarris could grow up sufficiently to be tried over another furlong or two. There could even be a chicken-and-element quality to such an experiment, in that a turning track might enable him to find more cover and potentially switch off a little. His horizons, should he do so, would then be enormously expanded by the opportunity to race on the same surface as his sire. It is a comfort to know that Simon Crisford, that most experienced of sophomores, is as well versed as anyone in the kind of international possibilities that might then open up.

Shades of Last Tycoon…

If Mokarris wants a model, as the finished article, he could do worse than emulate another runner-up at the same meeting. Limato (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}) can run like the wind, coping easily with a first start over 5f in the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe S. on Friday. But he never squanders his energies, duly able to respond generously to pressure in chasing home a mare with an established predilection for that singular test in Mecca's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).

It is a rare combination, rare enough to evoke Last Tycoon (GB) (Try My Best), the champion European sprinter of 1986 who proceeded to Santa Anita to register his first success beyond 5f in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Now the Americans have the marvellous prospect of greeting Henry Candy to the same track in November–no less splendidly representative a national type, of the old English school, than was Robert Collet in introducing his particular brand of Gallic flair.

Granted the lack of depth traditionally perceived in the home defence, the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint may tempt Candy to conclude that it would be pointless to abandon a discipline that palpably suits Limato so well. Nonetheless it is easy to buy into his belief–a persuasively unorthodox one, in such a seasoned operator–that the horse would be equally effective over a mile. Limato has finished 7f races with gusto, and remember his dam is a 10f winner by Singspiel (Ire) (In The Wings {GB}) out of a Suave Dancer (Green Dancer) mare, while the stable was going through a barren spring the only time he was tried at the trip.

Paradoxically, nothing corroborates his adaptability quite like his response when dropping in trip at York. To go from 6f to 5f can be as radical a departure as stepping up from 6f to a mile. And the controlled zest that enables him to cut the same kind of dash at 5f as at 7f is precisely what might also enable him, above all on fast ground round a turning track, to go a mile.