NEWS
Ask confirms class in French St. Leger
Posted: Sunday, October 25, 2009 2:30 PM
by Mike Curry
A year after a season of unfulfilled promise, Ask (GB) confirmed his class by closing his 2009 campaign with his second Group 1 win of the year for trainer Sir Michael Stoute and owner Patrick Fahey.
The six-year-old Sadler’s Wells horse overhauled pacesetter Schiaparelli in the final furlong under Ryan Moore and drove clear to a 1 1/2-length victory in the Prix Royal-Oak (Fr-G1) (French St. Leger). He completed 3,100 meters (15.41 furlongs) in 3:32.17 on turf rated as soft to post his third group stakes win in four starts this year.
Ask opened the season with consecutive victories in the Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup (Eng-G2) and Investec Coronation Cup (Eng-G1). He tasted defeat for the only time in 2009 when third, beaten by 1 3/4 lengths by 2008 Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) winner Conduit (Ire), in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Eng-G1) on July 25.
"[He’s] finished for the year and stays in training next year," Fahey told Racing Post. "He goes on any ground and the big intended target is the Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) in Dubai."
Ask, who is out of the Rainbow Quest mare Request, won a pair of group stakes from three starts in 2007 and closed his four-year-old campaign with a runner-up finish in the Pattison Canadian International Stakes (Can-G1). He won only one of five starts at five and was unplaced three times in Group 1 races, but Ask proved his class as a six-year-old with two wins at the highest level.
Schiaparelli, who won the German equivalent of the French St. Leger in 2006, finished three lengths clear of third-place finisher Manighar. The 2006 BMW Deutsches Derby (Ger-G1) winner controlled the pace and had a clear lead with about 400 meters remaining but could not keep pace with the victor and finished second in the nine-horse field.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
