NEWS
Records fall in Group 1 races at Newmarket
Posted: Friday, August 22, 2008 4:52 PM
by Ron Parker
The cancellation of racing at York due to excessive rain this week led to several significant races shifting to Newmarket, and fans there were treated on Friday to a pair of new course records in transplanted Group 1 races over the July Course.
James Edgar’s Borderlescott, second in nine stakes races in England and Ireland, broke through in style on Friday in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes (Eng-G1), swooping to the front late for a half-length victory over National Colour.
The six-year-old Compton Place gelding, with jockey Patrick Cosgrave in the irons, covered five furlongs in a track-record time of :56.09.
Trainer Robin Bastiman was hard pressed to hold back his emotions as daughter Rebecca led Borderlescott to the winner’s circle.
“Rebecca, together with my son Harvey, has done all the training on Borderlescott, and I always promised that when I finally trained a Group 1 winner, I would hand over the license to Rebecca …,” Bastiman said.
“I have always felt that Borderlescott was better at five furlongs, and he has been unlucky so many times.”
Another course record fell in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks (Eng-G1) when Ms. J. S. Bolger’s Lush Lashes held off Dar Re Mi for a 1 1/4-length triumph, covering 1 1/2 miles in 2:25.11 under jockey Kevin Manning.
The three-year-old Galileo (Ire) filly posted her second Group 1 victory following Ascot’s one-mile Coronation Stakes (Eng-G1) on June 20.
“Obviously, the stamina was an issue with Lush Lashes, but it wasn’t a big issue,” trainer Jim Bolger said.
“All the very good horses win Group 1s over a mile, mile-and-a-quarter, and mile-and-a-half. Ireland has a great record at turning out horses to win classics at a mile and Group 1s at a mile and then going on to win mile-and-a-half races.”
Bolger has a number of options for Lush Lashes that include an invitation to Hong Kong while considering a possible trip to the Breeders’ Cup.
At Newbury on Friday, the re-scheduled running of the Ebor Stakes as the totesport Newburgh (Heritage Handicap) was won by Godolphin’s 25-to-1 shot All The Good.
Ridden by jockey Dane O’Neill for trainer Saeed bin Suroor, All The Good avoided trouble and surged to the lead nearing the final furlong for a 3 ¼-length victory. It was the first stakes victory for the five-year-old Diesis (GB) horse.
Ron Parker is a Lexington-based Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
