Vandeek might take the laid-back approach to life but on the track there is no sharper 2-year-old in training and he once again showed his considerable dash with a breathtaking success in the Middle Park Stakes (G1) Sept. 30 at Newmarket.
🚀 Vandeek – he is very good
A classy performance in the G1 @JuddmonteFarms Middle Park Stakes from Vandeek who retains his unbeaten record for @gainsboroughHQ & @the_doyler pic.twitter.com/JeWPHB0APB
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) September 30, 2023
Simon Crisford, who along with his son Ed trains the sturdy son of Havana Grey for KHK Racing, revealed that his biggest task of the day was waking Vandeek from his late-morning slumber, but believes his relaxed outlook is why he is proving himself a champion.
“His mind is so good, it’s so important and makes our life easy,” said Crisford Sr. “He was flat-out asleep today until noon; we couldn’t get him up to go to the races! Then he was half asleep in the stalls and you can’t keep him awake.”
Having given the Crisfords their first group 1 success when striking late in the Prix Morny (G1) in France in August, Vandeek stirred in the nick of time to hand the Newmarket trainers a first domestic top-level win with a clear-cut verdict over runner-up Task Force , and it was undoubtedly a momentous occasion for the winning stable.
“When you come with an unbeaten group 1 winner into another championship race, you always want to deliver and it was very important that we saw the horse at his best today,” added Crisford. “Not many fathers and sons get to do this and it’s extra special.”
The initial reaction, certainly from winning jockey James Doyle, was that sprinting is very much the winner’s game but he does hold an entry in the Dewhurst Stakes (G1) over 7 furlongs back at Newmarket Oct. 14 and “never say never” was Crisford’s reaction to a potential step up in trip.
“He’s one of the best 2-year-olds in the world, I’d say, and our job is to do what’s best for him,” said the joint-trainer. “He’s a tall, leggy horse, he stands over a lot of ground, so he could easily go further. I’d never say never but the person who will decide if we come back for the Dewhurst is the horse himself. If he tells us he wants to, then maybe we will.”
Vandeek was cut to 6-1 (from 8-1) for the Dewhurst and 10-1 (from 16-1) for next year’s Two Thousand Guineas (G1) by Paddy Power, but Doyle felt we were looking at the emergence of a potential champion sprinter.
“He’s a pure ball of speed,” said the winning rider. “He didn’t jump from the gate that quick but he traveled super strong and the moment the gap opened, he put it to bed quickly. He’s an electric horse and he coped with the quicker ground well, which opens up all kinds of options.”
Stepping up in trip is definitely on the agenda for runner-up Task Force, according to connections, while third-home River Tiber could be bound for the Breeders’ Cup.
Porta Fortuna Breeders’ Cup Bound After Cheveley Park Score
Exciting filly Porta Fortuna was cut to 16-1 (from 20-1) for next year’s One Thousand Guineas (G1) after enjoying a group 1 breakthrough success in the Cheveley Park Stakes for Donnacha O’Brien at Newmarket.
The Caravaggio filly finished second and third at the top-level in the Phoenix and Moyglare Stud Stakes but she quickened smartly under Oisin Murphy to record her first victory since the Albany Stakes (G3) at Royal Ascot in June.
She will get a chance to run over the Guineas trip on her next start, with O’Brien targeting her at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf (G1T) at Santa Anita Nov. 3.
“That’s the plan, we’ll speak to everyone, all the owners, but the Breeders’ Cup was the long-term plan for her and she’s done nothing to turn us off that,” O’Brien told ITV Racing. “I think she’s very good, she was impressive in the Albany and this is the first time she’s had proper quick ground since then.
“She looked the same as she did at Ascot, traveled strong, quickened, and stayed very well. We’ll see in America whether she gets a mile.”
“She’s a little star,” said Murphy. “She’s a homebred and Donnacha’s parents—Ann-Marie and Aidan—bred her. Donnacha’s a young guy who’s doing a terrific job and he’s got a young team of staff who are all hungry to achieve.
“She was very relaxed and traveled into it nicely without pulling. She was a little bit disorganized in the dip but came home well. It’s a very important race so I’m delighted.”
Pearls And Rubies stayed on for second, a length and a half behind the winner, while Sacred Angel finished third.
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