Sky Bet Ebor Festival: Paddock Notes from York

Convivial the hottest maiden in town

Where else could this column start but with a son of Justify out of a Galileo mare? However, I'll leave the obvious till later, as, from a paddock-watchers point of view, the second appearance of Angelo Buonarroti was perhaps the most eagerly anticipated moment of the four days, certainly so far as the two-year-olds were concerned.

Angelo Buonarroti had made his debut in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot two months previously. He had looked an imposing sort that day and again stood out against a rather different type of field ahead of the Convivial Maiden. He didn't disappoint in performance either, again going smoothly through the race before overcoming signs of residual inexperience once first asked for more, scoring with a bit in hand.

The Convivial is about as good as it gets in terms of maiden-race form, Angelo Buonarroti's performance bordering on useful. He has plenty more to offer, a player at pattern level this autumn and an exciting prospect for next year too.

Like the other one bred along the same lines, Angelo Buonarroti can be expected to stay middle distances.

The same is true, even more so of the Convivial runner-up Shah, a son of Sea The Stars out of a daughter of Motivator who stayed a mile and a half in her racing days. Shah built on his debut second, despite having to wait for a run and showing signs of greenness, that he is showing as much as he is at seven furlongs clearly very encouraging.

Apart from the winner, the runner I liked most in appearance was Realign, who's a strongly-made, good looker. He's got much less stamina in his pedigree than either of the first two and might even prove as effective back at six furlongs.

This wasn't a Convivial where the newcomers got a look in. The best of them proved Bambalam, another strong sort, who will benefit from a sympathetic introduction. He cost no less than 600,000 guineas at the Breeze-Ups earlier in the year, a son of Persian King, whose handful of early runners in Britain has not so far made much of an impression.

Angelo Buonarroti's owners, Amo Racing, had had an even bigger payday the previous afternoon, even though their hotpot Arizona Blaze had been collared late on in the Goffs Sale race. A standout on form and looks, he had tanked along close to the pace, trading at 1.04 in running on the Betfair Exchange before the maiden Diligently edged past in the last 50 yards.

Arizona Blaze did a bit too much too soon. He almost certainly wasn't at his best, but he remains the most likely of this large field to make an impact at a high level.

From small Acombs...

So far as the three two-year-old pattern events were concerned, the one that seems sure to have most bearing on bigger races to come is the Acomb Stakes. The Acomb field was a good one on looks overall, though two once-raced unbeaten colts, The Lion In Winter, a son of Sea The Stars, and Ruling Court, by Justify, dominated the market.

There was quite a contrast between the pair in the paddock. The Lion In Winter, a rare runner by his sire for Ballydoyle, was very relaxed, looking mature, a taking colt with the substance to make a better three-year-old; the athletic Ruling Court was sweating, led round by two handlers and fitted with a red hood in the preliminaries.

Their demeanour looked to make a difference. Ruling Court was keener and greener; The Lion In Winter got into a good rhythm upsides and saw the race out well, winning with a bit in hand. The Acomb has two subsequent Classic winners on the roll of honour in recent years. The Lion In Winter, one of the best two-year-old colts seen out so far this summer, has the potential to be a third.

The Lion In Winter and Ruling Court were split by Wimbledon Hawkeye, with a five-length gap back to the fourth, the overall timefigure supporting a really positive view of the principals. The runner-up was markedly improved, seen to better advantage than he had been in the Superlative, though he already shapes as if in need of a mile.

Though in theory, the Gimcrack and the Lowther are better quality races than the Acomb, that didn't look to be the case this year. The Lowther winner Celandine had been beaten twice previously at pattern level, admittedly against colts, and probably didn't have to improve much to gain a win at this level. She looks a two-year-old too.

The runner-up Time For Sandals has more about her physically and might well prove the better in the longer term. Relative inexperience looked to cost her in the Lowther, on just her third start and first at this level. She was gaining on the winner through the final furlong and only just failed.

Heavens Gate just edged Time For Sandals as the pick in the paddock, but she wasn't at her best, proving one-paced late on, kept to six furlongs. She's had six runs, all over sprint distances, which isn't really the campaign that might have been expected on pedigree. Heavens Gate certainly needs to go up to seven furlongs or more next time.

As for the Gimcrack, the form looks a fair bit below the level of that of the Acomb. The winner Cool Hoof Luke, like Celandine, had been beaten twice at pattern level previously. A change of tactics, a strongly run race and a drop back to six furlongs all looked work to his advantage. As in the Lowther, the runner-up, in this case, Shadow Of Light, may have more potential in the longer term.

The market leaders in the Gimcrack were disappointing. Form pick The Strikin Viking, a sprinter on looks, did himself no favours by failing to settle. The well-made Camille Pissarro, who was bandaged behind, failed to repeat his improved effort from last time. It's possible Camille Pissarro will prove best with some give in the ground.

Jewelry's sparkling start for Haggas

Away from York, there had been some interesting two-year-old races at Newbury the previous weekend. In particular, two newcomers from William Haggas's yard and by Wootton Bassett are worth noting, the filly Jewelry and colt Fitzmaurice. Both were ridden in similar fashion too, ridden patiently after missing the kick.

Jewelry, a well-made filly, sent off at a double-figure price, knew enough to come through and win on debut.

A Coolmore-bred, 280,000-guinea yearling purchase, Jewelry doesn't hold any fancy entries at the moment and might be kept softly-softly this autumn, but she has plenty of potential.

Fitzmaurice, bought for 470,000 guineas, has the looks to go with the price tag. He didn't run to that high a figure on paper, but this was an odd race, with Jamie Spencer a magician on the winner, and he could well improve significantly.

I promised to return to Justify x Galileo mare. Before the obvious, one final juvenile from Newbury, bred the same way, Isambard Brunel, sent out by Aidan O'Brien to make his debut in a mile maiden.

He is quite the unit, much more a three year old on looks, and inexperience and lack of pace found him out. He would be expected to stay at least a mile and a half on pedigree, so seems unlikely to come into his own until next year.

So, one brief word on City Of Troy in the Juddmonte International.

I had my say on the day, both in words and on video. What I wanted to add was how much reaction I got to those, as much as I can remember in my own Twitter backwater for a long time.

The amount of comment the race has excited in the media generally has to be really encouraging as well. Racing needs stars, stars with four legs, that produce great races, which City of Troy and Calandagan did.

It's races like that that will inspire prospective racing fans to become properly engaged in the sport. Let's hope we don't have to wait too long for another contest like that one.

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