Weekly Wrap With Chris McGrath for Sept. 12

Both camps seem to have been coping somehow, and for quite a few years now, without having to heed this kind of impertinence. It is only with due deference, then, that anyone would dream of wondering quite how connections of Harzand (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and 'TDN Rising Star' Idaho (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) ended up transposing their most obvious destinies after repeatedly pitching the pair together in the first half of the season.

Harzand, of course, won three times in three meetings, relegating Idaho to second in the G3 Ballysax S. and G1 Irish Derby and, in between, to third at Epsom. On each occasion, however, it was Idaho who was last off the bridle; and Harzand who wore down that sharper cutting edge with his courage and stamina. At the time, on the face of it, anyone told that both colts would be running on the same September afternoon–one in the G1 Ladbrokes St Leger, and the other in the G1 QIPCO Irish Champion S.–would surely have been a little surprised to learn which of the pair went where.

In the event, Harzand was never even given an entry at Doncaster. It is a little cruel on his rider, who was only being obliging, to recall that he explicitly identified his mount as an ideal Leger type way back in April. Those of us who cherish the most venerable of all Classics felt affronted on its behalf–not least when the colt's owner and his family have done so much, over the years, to preserve those assets in the Thoroughbred that are at once most precious and, commercially, least valued. But we had to acknowledge that few, nowadays, are prepared to risk the Leger when the Arc is the number one priority. That is a perfectly defensible position, and news that Harzand is lame after the race should temper any definitive conclusions about the dubious merit of instead dropping him back to 10f in that stellar field at Leopardstown.

But what can certainly be said, with far fewer qualifications, is that the still more dramatic misfortune experienced by Idaho on Saturday represents scant reward for the way his owners have supported the Leger. Any who depict the Coolmore partners as the epitome of commercial breeding, and all its works, must give them due credit for being prepared to stretch a top-class stallion prospect to 14f. They did just the same with Camelot (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}), of course, and his subsequent performance when hot favourite for the Arc can only have exacerbated the prejudice of others against taking that route to Paris.

At the risk of an eccentric extreme, in looking for positives, the one silver lining for Idaho is that he was at least spared a gruelling race. You have to suspect that any deficiency in brute stamina would have been redeemed by his sheer class, so draining his reserves before targets for which he would seem far more eligible–above all, the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf. To that extent, his owners may yet get due reward for their fidelity to principle; for not just talking the talk, but walking the walk.

A Day to Give Everyone Hope…

Be all that as it may, the misfortunes of these old rivals should not diminish satisfaction in results that did much to embolden the countless Davids of our business that they really can bring down Goliath. A Classic winner bought for £30,000 at that last-chance saloon for breezers, the Goffs London Sale! And then, a couple of hours later, a European champion from the first crop, comprising 15 named foals, of a €6,000 stallion! This latter, moreover, bred from a mare culled by the Aga Khan for just €16,000.

Haras d'Etreham had seen enough in Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) at two to go back for that mare's half-sister at Goffs last November, and brought her home for €32,000. So wherever you are doing your shopping–at Keeneland over the coming days, or back in Europe in the weeks to come–then take heart from the fact that you can sometimes be right even when the most seasoned and accomplished judges think you wrong.

The game can drive you crazy, all right. But it's not half as maddening as it would be, if every sales-topper won a Classic. And everyone knows what you need more than all the skill or money in the world. So, first and foremost, good luck to you all.

Deepest Impact of the Week…

In which connection, it is also worth remembering how superciliously–this time last year–many received the first yearlings by Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). There must be a few agents scratching their heads, now, as they see so many of his first winners animated by such a familiar physical buoyancy. He notched another stakes winner at Chantilly on Thursday when Toulifaut (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) made it three-for-three in the G3 Prix d'Aumale. In a week strewn with juveniles of high potential, however, it was the equivalent prize for colts the same afternoon, the G3 Prix des Chenes, that arguably produced the most exciting performance.

Akihiro (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) finished his race in really vivid fashion, switching leads after receiving a second prompt from the saddle and thereafter asserting under his own steam. And he absolutely melted the stopwatch in the process, a time of 1:38.12 compared with 1.40.95 for Toulifaut and two maiden winners on the same card clocking 1:42.21 and 1:42.81, respectively. Awarded the race after meeting traffic on his debut at Deauville the previous month, he looks an obvious type for Andre Fabre to aim at the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere over course and distance on Arc weekend.

Still Finding His Range…

A day that produced such vexing fortunes for the winner and third also made it necessary to stand up for the colt who divided them in the G1 Investec Derby. US Army Ranger (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was only making his fifth career start when failing by just half a length to run down Zhukova (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the G3 KPMG Enterprise S. The winner, in contrast, is a 4-year-old now filling out a most imposing frame. Out of a six-length Classic winner by Galileo, she leaves Dermot Weld in no doubt of her Group 1 calibre. All in all, then, this must be respected as a solid step forward by US Army Ranger, after a relatively low-key return from his setback.

Remember he only made his debut in April and, while he may not now reach his full bloom now until next year, it seems reasonable to keep the faith in the raw talent he revealed at Epsom. Indeed, it may yet be that the stable's flourishing fillies will be escorted by at least one stallion prospect in open company during the autumn. But much as 'TDN Rising Star' Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) came to the fore–and fairly literally so, given how all the protagonists were astutely protected from a frantic early pace up front–in the big one, so Alice Springs (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) must now be counted the premier understudy for The Gurkha (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at a mile this autumn, after that stunning display in the G1 Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron S.

If indulged her tepid effort at Deauville, she has arguably cultivated a more startling turn of foot than all the colts who had been engaging with The Gurkha. One of them, Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), admittedly made an exemplary recovery from a recent disappointment of his own in the G2 Clipper Logistics Boomerang S. on the same card, albeit in a markedly slower time. Hit It a Bomb (War Front), incidentally, very much corroborated the impression he made on his recent comeback, back in third. But it would be a brave man that gave him precedence over Alice Springs should both of them, having shown their aptitude for the environment at Keeneland last year, return to the Breeders' Cup for the Mile.