Big-money buy Distant Storm delivers on debut at Newmarket
Distant Storm (5-6 favourite) cost €1.9million at the Arqana breeze-up and the Night Of Thunder colt boasts an exceptional pedigree as the penultimate foal of the mare Date With Destiny, who in turn was the sole progeny of multiple Group One winner George Washington.
He had to prove he was tough as well as classy to see off Aidan O'Brien's Wootton Bassett colt Constitution River, but Distant Storm managed to win by a short head to provide Charlie Appleby and William Buick with another July meeting winner.
The front two were well clear of the rest, and Appleby said: 'We came here with confidence – he's been a very straightforward horse to deal with.
'Obviously he was bought from the Arqana breeze-up, so you would expect them to know a little bit more and he has a pedigree to get excited about, but as an individual he's a very normal horse.
'He's not flashy and doesn't draw attention to himself, he just goes out and does what he's asked to do and in a nice manner, so hopefully he's a horse that will mentally progress quicker than some of those buzzy ones.
'The first two pulled nicely clear and he'll have learned plenty today. We'll give him a bit of time as he's unfurnished still and he needs to strengthen before you pitch them in that (Group One) level as if you pitch them in too soon or before they're ready, you will go quickly backwards.'
Appleby could now look to next month's Ebor meeting at York with Distant Storm, adding: 'There'll be races we can dip our toe in and allow him to progress – with his mindset he might be an Acomb Stakes horse maybe.
'If he goes and ticks the next box, then you have a chance of looking towards a Group One target.'
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The Guardian
16 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ombudsman sees off Delacroix to secure International Stakes success
A summer of odd and muddling Group One races continued as Ombudsman, the favourite, eventually stayed on well through the final furlong to win the International Stakes by three and a half lengths, after Birr Castle, the 150-1 pacemaker, had straightened up for home with a 20-length lead. It was an ultimately convincing success for a high-class and still-improving four-year-old, who did not see a racecourse until June 2024 but, less than a month after Qirat's 150-1 win in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, it was not an easy watch. Rab Havlin did not set a tearaway pace on Birr Castle but when Keita Tosaki, on the Japanese-trained Danon Decile, reined back at an early stage and stacked up the remaining runners behind him, the outsider soon acquired a huge lead. He eventually finished third behind Ombudsman and Delacroix, the market leaders, a clear sign that Havlin's fractions had not been overblown. 'We've had a couple of races this season where we've probably wished we had one,' William Buick, Ombudsman's jockey, said of the pacemaker, 'especially the Eclipse [when Delacroix beat Ombudsman by a neck], and today we weren't going to make that mistake again. 'Birr Castle is a proper stakes horse, and if you give a horse like that a lead on a flat track like York, it's always a danger. So I was thinking: 'This is a bit dangerous,' and I was hoping Danon Decile would cut the deficit, because he's proven over further. 'I had to cut the deficit myself and then he [Ombudsman] went again, which is a hard thing to do. To still have that finish in him at the end of the race was amazing.' The Irish Champion Stakes, in September, and the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October are obvious targets for Ombudsman, although the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, over an extra furlong and a half, is another option that John Gosden, his trainer, did not entirely rule out. 'William thinks he'll stay a mile and a half but I think why change things?' Gosden said. 'Were he to go for the Arc, we'd need one of the rare occasions with a fast-ground Arc.' 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Pride Of Arras is also barred from the St Leger at Doncaster next month, but there was still an eye-catching trial for the final Classic in Wednesday's race as Carmers, the Queen's Vase winner at Royal Ascot in June, stayed on well to finish second after being outpaced halfway down the straight. Paddy Twomey's colt is still available at double-figure odds for the Leger and that seems sure to be his next start. 'I think he's learned more today than in any race he's won,' the trainer said. 'It's a big run and back up to a mile and six will suit him.' Thursday's four-runner Yorkshire Oaks is in effect dead as a betting race as Minnie Hauk (3.35), the Oaks winner in England and Ireland, will set off at around 1-3 to complete a Group One treble in the feature event on day two of York's Ebor meeting. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Aidan O'Brien, her trainer, completed the same treble with Snowfall in 2021, and is looking for his fifth win in the race in the past six seasons. The locally trained Estrange is her only significant rival on form and deserves this tilt at a Group One after taking the Lancashire Oaks last time out, but it will be a considerable surprise if Minnie Hauk, already the second-favourite for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, does not take another positive step towards the Paris showpiece in October. York 1.50 America Queen is a fascinating unknown quantity after a devastating 12-length debut success at Haydock last month, but the timefigure for the race was only so-so and Ed Walker's Royal Fixation has more solid credentials after a close second in the Group Two Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket's July meeting. York 2.25 Richard Hannon landed this hugely valuable two-year-old prize five times in seven years from 2016 to 2022 and the conditions favour Raakeb as he seeks to make it six from 10 for the yard. He gets a useful 7lb from the subsequent Group Three winner Tadej, who was just in front of him in the Coventry at Royal Ascot. York 3.00 A host of possibilities in what is often as competitive a handicap as the Ebor itself but Apiarist has taken a slightly unusual route to the race and may have been slightly overlooked in the market as a result. Kevin Ryan's four-year-old has done most of his winning on the all-weather, but he was a course winner as a juvenile, ran well on firm ground at Ascot in June and was an eye-catcher in a valuable seven-furlong handicap at the Galway Festival this month. He was the strongest finisher of all after finding trouble in running on the home turn, and is an interesting each-way option at around 12-1 from a handy draw in stall seven. York 4.10 There are two runners in the royal colours in this Listed event for fillies and mares and, while Rainbows Edge is favoured in the betting after a close second at this track last time out, William Haggas's Aeolian looks more likely to improve for this step up to a mile and a half.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
William Buick dedicates £1.3million race victory to racing friend following sudden death
Duncan Pearce, who was 55, was due to attend the York Ebor Festival and have dinner with Buick on the day he won the Juddmonte International on Ombudsman Top jockey William Buick dedicated victory in one of Britain's richest horse races on Wednesday to a racing friend who died suddenly last week. In the £1.3 million Juddmote International, Buick had the chance to avenge the defeat of Royal Ascot winner Ombudsman in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes by the Aidan O'Brien-trained Delacroix. Ombudsman's trainers John and Thady Gosden hatched a new plan which involved supplementing the also Godolphin-owned Birr Castle, trained in France by Andre Fabre, to make the running for the 7-4 favourite. For a moment the race looked set to live up to its reputation as the 'graveyard of champions' as the 150-1 Birr Castle, under Robert Havlin, raced into a 20 lengths lead at halfway. The pursuers gradually reduced the margin but he clung on until a furlong out, where Ombudsman swept past to score by three and a half lengths from Delacroix. Birr Castle held on for third, but the winning rider's first thoughts were for his friend Duncan Pearce. Buick said: 'We lost our dear friend Duncan last week. Duncan loved his racing. He was meant to be here this week. I was supposed to have dinner with him tonight. He passed away suddenly. His partner Sarah is being very brave at the moment. He would have been very proud to be here. This is for him. 'Duncan would always come here for the Ebor meeting. He was friends with a lot of people here who would know him. He was only 55. It was very sad and very sudden.' John Gosden admitted that there was a moment when he feared another of his stars would be beaten by the pacemaker, as top miler Field Of Gold experienced in the Sussex Stakes last month won by 150-1 Qirat. "I thought with two furlongs to run Andre had won the race!,' he said. 'You don't often see that, he's run a huge race to be third. I did say to William that if he'd sat four lengths off the pacemaker he'd have won by ten lengths but there we go.' He continued: "What happened was the Japanese jockey was with Rab (Havlin on Birr Castle) but then he kept taking back and let Rab slip the field. Past the two marker, he was still six lengths in front. William said when he let him (Ombudsman) go, he absolutely flew and went from second gear to fifth gear in the blink of an eye." Ombudsman had finished a neck behind Delacroix in the Eclipse last time out, but Gosden felt that race was perhaps not run to suit. He said: "The Eclipse was a muddling race and we'll leave it at that. Full marks to Delacroix, but in an evenly-run race we were the superior horse today. "The two obvious races for him are the Irish Champion and Ascot for Champions Day. It will be Sheikh Mohammed's decision if he stays in training but he is a sportsman. "William thinks he'll stay a mile and a half but I think why change things? Were he to go for the Arc, we'd need one of the rare occasions with a fast-ground Arc - which do happen occasionally."
South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Gewan secures Acomb honours for Andrew Balding
The grey was a 11-2 chance in the seven-furlong Group Three, and ran prominently from the off when racing in the slipstream of the leader May Angel in the early stages. In the last two furlongs the colt began to progress, and in the final furlong he established a lead that he then fought hard to maintain as Aidan O'Brien's Italy, the eventual runner-up, sought to gain ground before going down by a length and a half. Charlie Appleby's Distant Storm, the 11-10 favourite, pulled hard throughout the race and was eventually third. Balding said: 'He's a horse we've always liked from the moment he came into the yard and he was very well bought by Billy Jackson-Stops for not big money really (€80,000). 'He's a son of Night Of Thunder who has done everything right since the first day and we liked the way he won at Newbury and we were always keen to come here. 'I think PJ was quite taken by him and his attitude and maybe felt he had a little more left. 'I think he'll stay a mile no problem next year but we'll probably stick at seven this year.' Paddy Power make Gewan an 8-1 shot for the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in October and Balding added: 'It's possible he could head to the Dewhurst next. 'There's a lot of two-year-old races to be run between now and then, anything is possible at the moment. I don't know if we've any better than him but other people probably have, so we'll see how things play out.' Italy could also be handed a Group One target in the future, with O'Brien satisfied with his performance. He said: 'He ran very well and he's a lovely, big horse. Ryan (Moore) said he jumped a little bit slow and the horse that jumped in front of him took him an inch or two back further than he wanted to be. 'Ryan said he had to expose him very early, but he ran a very good race, he's a lovely horse in the making and he will progress. 'There's many options for him. We had the choice of running here or in the Futurity Stakes (at the Curragh) and obviously we picked to come here. From the Futurity you can go to the National Stakes, but it depends what happens with the others.'
