Aidan O'Brien's Delacroix and Ombudsman poised to clash again in Juddmonte International at York

Irish Independent

2 days ago

The richest race of the four-day Ebor Festival has a hard act to follow, as 12 months ago when City Of Troy beat Calandagan it was again rated as the best race anywhere in the world.
Aidan O'Brien's Delacroix may have failed to fire as a 2-1 favourite for the Derby in early June, trailing home ninth behind stablemate Lambourn, but he proved that form all wrong when coming from an uncompromising position to beat his elders in an pulsating Eclipse at Sandown in early July.
Prince of Wales's Stakes winner Ombudsman was the horse he nabbed in the shadow of the post that day and while John and Thady Gosden's runner is the marginal favourite to gain his revenge, O'Brien is happy with his charge ahead of the rematch.
'He seems in good form since Sandown, so I'm looking forward to it,' said the Ballydoyle handler.
'What he did at Sandown after the passage he had there was unusual (the way he quickened up), so we hope he runs well again.'
City Of Troy went to the Breeders' Cup Classic last year and whoever wins the International will again be guaranteed a starting berth, should they wish to tackle the Del Mar dirt on November 1.
To ensure a true-run race at York after the sedate pace of the Eclipse, Godolphin supplemented the Andre Fabre-trained Birr Castle to help Ombudsman.
John Gosden said: 'The Eclipse was a muddling race and we didn't want the prospect of a repeat, so Godolphin have kindly provided us with a nice horse to use as a pacemaker and he arrived on Thursday.'
Adding the international flavour is the Japanese Derby winner Danon Decile, who has been in Newmarket for a couple of weeks.
He has not run since beating Calandagan in the Dubai Sheema Classic in early April, but that form looks strong given the runner-up has since won twice at Group One level.
ADVERTISEMENT
Calandagan's trainer Francis-Henri Graffard decided against sending his King George hero to York this time around, but does saddle a fascinating contender for the Aga Khan Studs in the unbeaten Daryz.
'Maybe this will all be too soon for him in his career, but I know Francis just felt the horse is in great form, he's worked him for this race and when the horse is well he doesn't like not running them because you never know what might happen,' said the the owners' French stud manager Nemone Routh.
'We'll take our chance and see where he ends up in the grand scheme. It helps that there's a pacemaker as he's a big horse with a big, long stride.'
She went on: 'On paper you'd imagine he'll stay a mile and a half when you stand in beside him but for the moment he's been running well over a mile and a quarter. A strongly-run 10 furlongs should suit him.
'There's no excuses, it's a level playing field with a long straight at York, it should be a guide as to where we fall among his generation.'
Both of the parents of Andrew Balding's See The Fire won this race, for those who like their pedigrees.
The daughter of Sea The Stars and Arabian Queen produced her career-best over this course and distance when winning the Middleton Stakes earlier in the season and has since finished third in both the Prince of Wales's Stakes and the Nassau.
'The Juddmonte is always, in my opinion, the strongest race of the year,' said Balding.
'It's where the three-year-olds will always turn up against the older horses and you get that wonderful mix of perhaps horses stepping up from a mile to a mile and a quarter and horses dropping back from a mile and a half.
'I think this year it's very strong, as you'd expect. There are a couple of exciting unknowns in there, the Japanese horse and the French horse. But the thing about See The Fire is we know she loves York. She's unbeaten at the track. She was very impressive winning the Strensall last year and she was absolutely electric winning the Middleton this spring.
'I think certain horses favour York and she's certainly one of those – it's got to be to her advantage. I'm not saying that means she's going to win the race, but it should make her very competitive.
'She seems to have come out of Goodwood very well, but you never really know until you run again. I hope she's going there in really good form.'