Babouche back on song to set up Commonwealth Cup bid
Ger Lyons' filly was a Group One winner at two in the Phoenix Stakes, where she beat Whistlejacket, but had been below that form when beaten in the Cheveley Park and when disappointing on her return to action this season at Cork.
With that run under her belt, though, she looked a different proposition in the hands of Colin Keane.
She again faced Whistlejacket, who had scored on his seasonal debut and was sent off an odds-on favourite.
However, Babouche (2-1) always looked to be travelling better and Ryan Moore was soon at work against the rail on Whistlejacket.
Once Babouche was asked to quicken, she did so immediately and ran out a two-and-three-quarter-length winner from the favourite.
She is now the 4-1 favourite for the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot with Coral.
'That's the first time I've seen that this year from her,' said Lyons.
'I'm delighted with the team's performance. We sucked it up and we went to Cork, it wasn't the obvious right thing to do but it was the right thing to do for what I was seeing at home.
'We parked the reputation and the ego and we said 'right, go down there, you're going to get beat because it's a furlong too short for you. We've spent the whole spring trying to settle you down and doing it right'. Now she's back.
'Now we can go to the Commonwealth and if we get beat, we get beat, but at least we know we are locked and loaded. It's been a good day.'
He went on: 'She's a Group One winner but she hasn't been doing that. I was delighted with what I've seen because it was a work in progress, but I needed to see that, otherwise we weren't going anywhere – we've won our Group One, so there's no point in carrying on.
'Now we can go off to the Commonwealth, it doesn't mean we'll win it but we're going there with a huge chance.
'When I saw him (Whistlejacket) in Navan and I saw her at home, I wasn't beating him, so then I said 'lads, we have to do something'.
'If I rock up in the Lacken without Cork, we wouldn't have done that. It's brilliant, it's worked. Sometimes we get it right!'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Rhyl Journal
12 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Carl Spackler in great shape with Ascot approaching
The five-year-old was sold to Yulong Investments last month, shortly after recording his third Grade One victory for trainer Chad Brown in the Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland. Now with Australian handler Ciaron Maher, Carl Spackler will make his yard debut in the opening event of the Royal meeting, with William Bourne, Maher's bloodstock manager, acknowledging the course as a key obstacle for the Lope De Vega horse to overcome. Queen Anne Stakes preparations complete for Carl Spackler — Adam Morgan (@Adam_Morgs) June 11, 2025 He said: 'I would say his biggest challenge is the conditions and the track. A stiff mile at Ascot is probably the biggest ask coming from America, I think that will be his biggest challenge in handling that. 'It would be amazing (to win). It's pretty unique to purchase a horse in America, to be trained by an Australian and run at Royal Ascot, but the long-term plan is to bring him out for the Cox Plate, so we'd be thrilled to get this on the way through.' Carl Spackler was put through his paces on Newmarket's July course on Wednesday morning, with Jamie Spencer in the saddle, although top Australian jockey James McDonald will be in the plate on Tuesday. Bourne said: 'We came here wanting to have a hit out. That's his second gallop since he's been here in Newmarket, he came in with good condition, a very healthy horse from Chad Brown and after the feedback from Jamie Spencer on his first gallop, he needed a good hit out so coming here today, he got that and that's exactly what we wanted to achieve. 'He's done it really nicely and Jamie said when he gave him a little squeeze late on, he really exploded and he was pretty impressed by how much he'd switched on from his first to his second gallop. It's obviously not an easy task for us, but the horse looks fit and well.' McDonald is no stranger to Royal Ascot success, having ridden three winners at the fixture in 2022, and has enjoyed plenty of big-race wins for Yulong, not least with ex-British runner Via Sistina who he has steered to six Group One wins since her transfer to Australia. Bourne said: 'James is great, obviously he's had a lot of luck with the colours on with Via Sistina and he's had winners at Royal Ascot before. He's a great fit for the owners, they wanted him and it's a great to have a world-class jockey on your horse in a Group One. 'He's Yulong's main rider in Australia and if 'J-Mac' was available, we were very happy to use him. 'James is happy to come over and ride the horse, I was chatting to him last week, he's watched his tapes and is getting very excited about the horse. He didn't know who he was and I got a very bland response, but after watching the tapes and having a look at the horse, he's very excited and upbeat.' Winner of eight of his 12 starts in America, although Carl Spackler has the Cox Plate, Australia's premier weight-for-age race, firmly on his agenda in the autumn, should he run well at Ascot, he might yet have a second British start. Bourne added: 'We'll play it by ear, we're going to look at Goodwood as an option but his ultimate goal will be the Cox Plate, so we will see how he runs on Tuesday and go from there. He's obviously a quality horse and there will be plenty of options for him.'
Glasgow Times
13 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Carl Spackler in great shape with Ascot approaching
The five-year-old was sold to Yulong Investments last month, shortly after recording his third Grade One victory for trainer Chad Brown in the Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland. Now with Australian handler Ciaron Maher, Carl Spackler will make his yard debut in the opening event of the Royal meeting, with William Bourne, Maher's bloodstock manager, acknowledging the course as a key obstacle for the Lope De Vega horse to overcome. Queen Anne Stakes preparations complete for Carl Spackler — Adam Morgan (@Adam_Morgs) June 11, 2025 He said: 'I would say his biggest challenge is the conditions and the track. A stiff mile at Ascot is probably the biggest ask coming from America, I think that will be his biggest challenge in handling that. 'It would be amazing (to win). It's pretty unique to purchase a horse in America, to be trained by an Australian and run at Royal Ascot, but the long-term plan is to bring him out for the Cox Plate, so we'd be thrilled to get this on the way through.' Carl Spackler was put through his paces on Newmarket's July course on Wednesday morning, with Jamie Spencer in the saddle, although top Australian jockey James McDonald will be in the plate on Tuesday. Bourne said: 'We came here wanting to have a hit out. That's his second gallop since he's been here in Newmarket, he came in with good condition, a very healthy horse from Chad Brown and after the feedback from Jamie Spencer on his first gallop, he needed a good hit out so coming here today, he got that and that's exactly what we wanted to achieve. 'He's done it really nicely and Jamie said when he gave him a little squeeze late on, he really exploded and he was pretty impressed by how much he'd switched on from his first to his second gallop. It's obviously not an easy task for us, but the horse looks fit and well.' McDonald is no stranger to Royal Ascot success, having ridden three winners at the fixture in 2022, and has enjoyed plenty of big-race wins for Yulong, not least with ex-British runner Via Sistina who he has steered to six Group One wins since her transfer to Australia. James McDonald was an Ascot winner aboard Nature Strip in 2022 (David Davies/PA) Bourne said: 'James is great, obviously he's had a lot of luck with the colours on with Via Sistina and he's had winners at Royal Ascot before. He's a great fit for the owners, they wanted him and it's a great to have a world-class jockey on your horse in a Group One. 'He's Yulong's main rider in Australia and if 'J-Mac' was available, we were very happy to use him. 'James is happy to come over and ride the horse, I was chatting to him last week, he's watched his tapes and is getting very excited about the horse. He didn't know who he was and I got a very bland response, but after watching the tapes and having a look at the horse, he's very excited and upbeat.' Winner of eight of his 12 starts in America, although Carl Spackler has the Cox Plate, Australia's premier weight-for-age race, firmly on his agenda in the autumn, should he run well at Ascot, he might yet have a second British start. Bourne added: 'We'll play it by ear, we're going to look at Goodwood as an option but his ultimate goal will be the Cox Plate, so we will see how he runs on Tuesday and go from there. He's obviously a quality horse and there will be plenty of options for him.'
North Wales Chronicle
15 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Carl Spackler in great shape with Ascot approaching
The five-year-old was sold to Yulong Investments last month, shortly after recording his third Grade One victory for trainer Chad Brown in the Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland. Now with Australian handler Ciaron Maher, Carl Spackler will make his yard debut in the opening event of the Royal meeting, with William Bourne, Maher's bloodstock manager, acknowledging the course as a key obstacle for the Lope De Vega horse to overcome. Queen Anne Stakes preparations complete for Carl Spackler — Adam Morgan (@Adam_Morgs) June 11, 2025 He said: 'I would say his biggest challenge is the conditions and the track. A stiff mile at Ascot is probably the biggest ask coming from America, I think that will be his biggest challenge in handling that. 'It would be amazing (to win). It's pretty unique to purchase a horse in America, to be trained by an Australian and run at Royal Ascot, but the long-term plan is to bring him out for the Cox Plate, so we'd be thrilled to get this on the way through.' Carl Spackler was put through his paces on Newmarket's July course on Wednesday morning, with Jamie Spencer in the saddle, although top Australian jockey James McDonald will be in the plate on Tuesday. Bourne said: 'We came here wanting to have a hit out. That's his second gallop since he's been here in Newmarket, he came in with good condition, a very healthy horse from Chad Brown and after the feedback from Jamie Spencer on his first gallop, he needed a good hit out so coming here today, he got that and that's exactly what we wanted to achieve. 'He's done it really nicely and Jamie said when he gave him a little squeeze late on, he really exploded and he was pretty impressed by how much he'd switched on from his first to his second gallop. It's obviously not an easy task for us, but the horse looks fit and well.' McDonald is no stranger to Royal Ascot success, having ridden three winners at the fixture in 2022, and has enjoyed plenty of big-race wins for Yulong, not least with ex-British runner Via Sistina who he has steered to six Group One wins since her transfer to Australia. Bourne said: 'James is great, obviously he's had a lot of luck with the colours on with Via Sistina and he's had winners at Royal Ascot before. He's a great fit for the owners, they wanted him and it's a great to have a world-class jockey on your horse in a Group One. 'He's Yulong's main rider in Australia and if 'J-Mac' was available, we were very happy to use him. 'James is happy to come over and ride the horse, I was chatting to him last week, he's watched his tapes and is getting very excited about the horse. He didn't know who he was and I got a very bland response, but after watching the tapes and having a look at the horse, he's very excited and upbeat.' Winner of eight of his 12 starts in America, although Carl Spackler has the Cox Plate, Australia's premier weight-for-age race, firmly on his agenda in the autumn, should he run well at Ascot, he might yet have a second British start. Bourne added: 'We'll play it by ear, we're going to look at Goodwood as an option but his ultimate goal will be the Cox Plate, so we will see how he runs on Tuesday and go from there. He's obviously a quality horse and there will be plenty of options for him.'
