Ombudsman wins the Gr 1 Juddmonte International (Picture: Sky Sports Racing)
Now Gosden And O’brien Camps Eye The Arc In October
Dave Mollett
“A horror movie with a happy ending” was my verdict on the Juddmonte International at York – a race eventually won by Ombudsman but not before 150-1 shot, Birr Castle, had put the frighteners into racing fans worldwide.
The Gosden stable had paid 85000 pounds to supplement the French horse to act as pacemaker for Ombudsman and it can be argued that jockey Rab Havlin did his job as requested.
What hadn’t been factored in was the actions of some of the other riders – notably the Japanese jockey on Sheema Classic winner, Danon Decile.
“The Japanese jockey just kept taking back and back so the whole field took back and let Rab slip the field,” said John Gosden after the race.
“However, this horse produced an amazing performance and he’s very, very special and showed all his attributes today,” added the Newmarket trainer.
One report stated that there was “a sense of disbelief, verging on anger” amongst York racegoers and – as I was one of them – I must confess to feeling that the pacemaker had thrown a spanner in the works regarding the expected finish concerning the five contenders in the betting market.
Delacroix finished second three lengths behind the winner, Birr Castle finished third and the well-fancied filly, See The Fire, ran fourth but never threatened to get involved. Both the Japanese and French horses were disappointing.
John Gosden now has the choice of three targets for Ombudsman – the Arc de Triomphe on Oct 5 or the Irish or English Champion Stakes.
Ladbrokes quote the son of Night Of Thunder at 8-1 for the Arc behind Kalpana (6-1) and Whirl (7-1).
“The worry is one rarely gets fast ground in the Arc and he needs that to show his best as he’s proved here,” said Gosden.
Another possible Arc runner is Minnie Hauk who was cut to 8-1 for the Paris race following her decisive win in the Yorkshire Oaks on the second day of the York meeting.
The filly is certainly bred in the purple being by Frankel out of a half-sister to Kingman and Aidan O’Brien was understandably upbeat after Minnie Hauk’s third Oaks win. The master of Ballydoyle commented: “She does everything right – the Arc and Breeders Cup Turf are there for her.”
Named after an American opera singer, Minnie Hauk is the eighth filly to achieve the Oaks treble of Epsom, the Curragh and York. While Ryan Moore suggested Whirl might be the favoured candidate for the Arc, several pundits felt the Paris race is the right route for Minnie Hauk and I agree with them.
Ombudsman would only run if the ground is quick and – if the going is not too soft – it would not inconvenience her.
The two fillies are likely to be kept apart by O’Brien who was winning his ninth Yorkshire Oaks. Minnie Hauk cost 1,8m euros and her earnings are now just shy of 1 million pounds.
Coolmore’s Michael Tabor commented: “My view is that if the ground is soft at Longchamp it would be Whirl for the Arc and Minnie Hauk for the Breeders Cup. What’s the point of them racing against each other when one can go for the Arc and the other can go to the Breeders Cup.”
Tabor added that he had been “flabbergasted” that Delacroix could only finish second to Ombudsman. “To be honest, I thought Delacroix was a good thing.”
Ryan Moore, winning his fifth Yorkshire Oaks, rarely says much to the media but did comment: “She is a very straightforward filly, is professional and does everything right. When she gets to the front she’s not inclined to do much, but when I asked her to stretch she put the race to bed.”
It wasn’t a memorable York meeting for Aidan O’Brien with his Derby hero, Lambourn, beaten in the Great Voltigeur and Delacroix soundly beaten in the Juddmonte. He quipped: “We had a tough day on Wednesday and things didn’t work out – that’s the way it is sometimes.”
With the two year-olds never in contention, the Nunthorpe Stakes on Friday proved a red-letter day for the Aussies with their seven year-old mare, Asfoora, scoring in the hands of Oisin Murphy. She had gone off the boil since winning at Royal Ascot in 2024.
Former SA trainer, Dylan Cunha, also saddled a winner on Friday with veteran jockey, John Egan, partnering Asgard’s Captain who grabbed the verdict in the opening event right on the line. The owners, Quest Thoroughbreds, were over the moon with the win by the Make Believe gelding. It was Egan’s first York win since 2017.
Cunha’s total of winners this season is now 35 and he’ll soon pass his 2024 figure of 37.
Gaynor Rupert will not have enjoyed watching her runner, Skukuka, in the first race at York on Saturday as Ryan Moore had a troubled passage throughout the race. The Ed Dunlop inmate finished fast but had to settle for third place.
On Sunday, William Derby, CEO at York, announced a rise in attendance with crowds up on each of the four days of their big meeting.
