It looks as though the Americans have unearthed a very nice young filly in the shape of Songbird. The Kentucky bred daughter of Medaglia d'Oro has strung together ten wins from her ten starts to date. The big, powerful type sat up on the leader in last month's G1 Amabama at Saratoga then put them to bed in brutal fashion in the last half mile. Of those 10 wins, 6 have been at G1, 2 at G2 and 1 at G3. The US is all agog at the moment though, hoping that the wonderful filly will finally get the chance to tangle with the sizzling Cathryn Sophia, a daughter of Street Boss. Both look as though they'll line up in the G1 Cotillion at Philadelphia Park on the on the 24th of this month. Cathryn Sophia has won 6 of her 8 and has the Kentucky Oaks to her credit. It'll be a mouth watering clash. Index to other International Racing
Songbird SP in her last 8 races: 1/5 twice 1/10 once 1/20 3 times The other 2 were 6/10 and 3/10 On her début she was 22/10; I bet someone made a packet on that. And they probably doubled up on her second race at 11/10 Cathryn Sophia odds in all her races: 1/10 (début), 1/5, 1/2, 47/10, 17/20 (latest)
Off the back of her G1 Queen Ann Stakes win at Royal Ascot, the mare Tepin resurfaced in the $1,000,000 Woodbine Mile last weekend. She was looking to make it 8 wins on the trot. Starting at 2-5 she settled fourth.
ACTIVE POWER RANKINGS. 1 Songbird. 9.01. 2. Calafornia Chrome. 8.92. 3. Flintshire. 8.91. 4. Tepin. 8.86. 5. Frosted. 8.81. 6. Beholder. 8.77. 7. Runhappy. 8.69. 8. Arrogate. 8.64. 9. Lady Eli. 8.63. 10. Stellar Wind. 8.61.
Anyone heard of Va Bank? He's the unbeaten sensation of Polish racing. He's won their triple crown and at his only start outside his home land, he made off with the G3 Preis Der Sparkassen Finanzgruppe. He's midfield on the fence and is in the Red with White sleeves. He's even getting a bit of notice in the USA.
That's very interesting on Va Bank (Irish-bred), Cyc, this Group 3 win at Iffezheim, Baden-Baden, was a praiseworthy effort, stuck to his task well. Patiently ridden too. Racing Post only gives details of a couple of wins, and since Va Bank is a 4-year-old, he must have won a bunch of races in Poland? Breeding interesting too. Sire Archipenko (by Kingmambo) was U.S. bred and managed Group 1 (at Sha tin in 2008), 2, & 3 wins in his career, although he was unfortunate enough to finish last to Authorized in the 2007 Epsom Derby. Damsire, Dilshaan (GB bred) was also a fairly decent middle-distance performer (only ran 4-times though), and finished 7th to Galileo in the 2001 Derby (no disgrace there), and also managed a Group 1 success as a 2-year-old in the 2000 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster. Certainly an international flavour about Va Bank's breeding?
Outside of the Baden - Baden run, all his starts have been at Sluzewiec in Warsaw Swanny. A syndicate called Team Valor has brought a 50% share in the horse. They've had better than a thousand winners world wide, including the Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom. The horse is the 2015 Polish Derby and St Leger winner. His Derby win is below. No 4 in Red with White sleeves and mid field. He was very impressive.
Va Bank's St Leger win. A team Valor principle said a good horse can come from anywhere. I think he might be right about the Polish horse. After a spell, they plan to set him for a major European race. They've also mentioned a possible trip the Melbourne.
Thanks, Cyc, for the info and clips. My goodness, looks a very good racehorse. Enjoyed those Polish commentaries! I hope connections manage to keep the colt at stud in Poland eventually. On Va Bank's sire's side, Archipenko's paternal breeding stretches back to Native Dancer and Polynesian, and then all the way back to Phalaris and Polymelus. Archipenko's damsire was Nijinsky, and Va Bank's grandsire Kingmambo's dam was Miesque (by Nureyev), so a solid link to daddy Northern Dancer, almost in-bred in fact? On Va Bank's damside, packed with good stuff e.g. Shirley Heights, Mill Reef, and all the way back to Nasrullah/Nearco. Will be good for the Polish bloodstock industry if they can keep him at home. Heck, bit out of my depth here, but I'm sure Bustino will correct any errors.
The $1,000,000 G1 Cotillion 8.5 Furlongs. Dirt. Saturday. 1. Carina Mia. 5-1. 2. Cathryn Sophia. 9-2. 3. Disco Rose. 20-1. 4. Land Over Sea. 40-1. 5. Songbird. 1-2. 6. Queena Esther. 66-1. Songbird is going to start a red hot favourite for the Cotillion and should win, but Cathryn Sophia can't be lightly dismissed. She's won twice on the track. A lot could depend on the way the race unfolds. The last three years has seen the winner sit just off the pace and pounce. Both Songbird and Cathryn Sophia have lead in the past and been too good, but this might not be the case in the Cotillion. I think the unbeaten Songbird might be able to able to hit the front down the back and hold them off, but I'm not so sure about Cathryn Sophia. The last half mile is going to pretty exciting.
Today in the G1 Underwood Stakes in Melbourne, one of the inform horses in the country Black Heart Bart was sent to the post as a pronounced favourite, In winning he took his haul to nearly AU$2.7 million. He's in the blue with yellow sleeves. https://www.racing.com/videos/2016-09-24/black-heart-barts-underwood
Yesterday the unbeaten Songbird, the top rated thoroughbred in the US, took to the G1 Cotillion Stakes, looking to extend her unbeaten run to eleven.
Couldn't view that Cyc but watched it here Black Heart Bart (1st): Proved 1800m was no problem with his strong win and now steps up to 2000m – and a clash with raging Cox Plate favourite Winx – in the Caulfield Stakes. WOW
Having just his second run back from 420 days away from racing, the three time G1 winner War Affair proved too strong in Singapore last Sunday. Already the winner of around 2.5 million in stakes, he now will be launched at the G1 Kranji Mile to be run early next month. He held off the hard charging favourite Majestic Moments. War Affair sits second and has white sleeves. Majestic Moments is in black and sits back on the fence. Race 9. http://www.turfclub.com.sg/MediaCenter/VideoGallery/Pages/VideoGallery.aspx
Today in Melbourne the Godolphin owned Hartnell well and truly stamped himself one of the best horses in Australia. Since returning this campaign, he's grown another leg. His last four runs last time in were all in G1, but he proved a little below top level. He ran sixth in this race last year, then fifth behind Winx in the Cox Plate, then fifteenth in the Melbourne Cup before rounding out his season with a fifth in the Chipping Norton. This time in, a first up second to Winx then three outstanding wins. Today was his fourth in a row. The talk is now all about whether he'll take on Winx in the Cox Plate. https://www.racing.com/videos/2016-10-02/hartnells-turnbull-stakes
I didn't know where to put this clip, but I believe Exeter can be considered an international place to some of us. I just found this race from a few years ago. Scary stuff.
I remember watching it live Cyc, horrible. Put him off the track for 421 days but then he came back and won a Perrtemps Qualifier and followed up to win the Final at the festival. Never really made it as a chaser (hasn't won over fences since his novice days) but I would love to see him come back and win a big pot this season. I wonder if they will try the Hennessy again?
The running of the G1 Caulfield Stakes over the 2000m trip today, was reduced to just the three runners when the mighty Winx scared off the opposition. A combined total of AU$80,000 in prize money to be paid from fourth through to eighth was left in the pot. A real lack of forethought on behalf of some owners and trainers. That aside, Winx started a 1-4 shot, her only possible danger, the three time G1 winner Black Heart Bart, the winner of nearly AU$2.7 million. Looking to take her unbeaten streak to 13, add another G1 to the eight she already owned, and to add another AU$360,000 to her already impressive tally of AU$7.1 million, she looked a picture.