NEWS
Juddmonte International lives up to moniker
Posted: Sunday, August 15, 2010 4:14 PM
by Tim Nichols
The Juddmonte International Stakes (Eng-G1) on Tuesday will feature a unique worldly flair as a cadre of Group 1 winners from throughout Europe will take a shot at the Ebor meeting’s marquee event at York.
One of the feature stars of Tuesday’s race is multiple Group 1 winner Twice Over (GB), who has completely rebounded from a tenth-place finish in the Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) in March.
After finishing second to Juddmonte International entrant Byword in his first race back from Dubai, the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot, Twice Over stormed to a half-length victory in the Coral Eclipse Stakes (Eng-G1) on July 3 at Sandown in his most recent start.
A Juddmonte Farms homebred trained by Henry Cecil, Twice Over will be gunning for his third career Group 1 win.
The only other horse entering Tuesday’s race with multiple Group 1 wins is Rip Van Winkle (Ire).
Trained by Aidan O’Brien for Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith, Rip Van Winkle showed improvement in his most recent start, a runner-up finish by a neck to Canford Cliffs in the Sussex Stakes (Eng-G1) on July 28 at Goodwood. A winner of two Group 1 races as a three-year-old, Rip Van Winkle is in search of his first victory of 2010 and his first career win beyond one mile in the about 1 5/16-mile Juddmonte International.
Byword has won three of four starts this season for owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms. His only defeat was a runner-up finish in the Prix d’Ispahan (Fr-G1), in which he was beaten by a half-length by champion Goldikova (Ire).
Dick Turpin, the Juddmonte International’s lone three-year-old, will stretch out beyond a mile for the first time after being supplemented to the race by trainer Richard Hannon. The Arakan colt broke through in his most recent start, taking the Prix Jean Prat (Fr-G1) by four lengths on July 4 after posting three consecutive runner-up finishes in Group 1 races, including the English and French Two Thousand Guineas.
Godolphin will start a pair of Group 1 winners—Cavalryman and Cutlass Bay. Cavalryman, winner of the 2009 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris (Fr-G1), is winless in four starts this season. United Arab Emirates-bred Cutlass Bay will try to return to the top form he displayed earlier this season when he won the Prix d’Harcourt (Fr-G2) and Prix Ganay (Fr-G1). He enters off a distant fifth-place finish in the Tattersalls Gold Cup (Ire-G1).
The race’s mystery horse is Jakkalberry, a four-year-old by Storming Home (GB). Trained by Endo Botti, Jakkalberry has won four of five career starts, all in Italy, and most recently captured the Gran Premio di Milano (Ity-G1) on June 13.
Group 2 winner Stimulation and Group 3 winner Bushman complete the field.
Tim Nichols is internet content editor for Thoroughbred Times
