Juddmonte’s Item wins Juddmonte
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Item (Colin Keane) returning to scale at York.
PHOTO: YORK RACECOURSE
YORK – Item ensured it would be a memorable day for those connected with the famous green and pink silks of Juddmonte when inching home to land the feature £1.5 million (S$2.6 million) Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes (2,063m) at York on Aug 19.
In a race which was billed as a match between one of Europe’s finest middle-distance performers, Godolphin’s Ombudsman and Aidan O’Brien’s up-and-coming star three-year-old Constitution River, Andrew Balding’s Item found himself sent off a $68 chance (on Singapore Pools tote) and headed into the Group 1 prize seemingly under the radar.
But it quickly became clear that the Frankel colt would be no forlorn hope. When both Ombudsman (William Buick) and Constitution River (Ryan Moore), who had sat closely behind a blistering pace set by stablemate Hawk Mountain (Wayne Lordan), failed to go on inside the final furlong, Colin Keane set about closing down another long shot, Almaqam (Kieran Shoemark, 14-1).
Ed Walker’s charge looked home and hosed, but Item and Keane had other ideas. Moving closer and closer, the pair edged past Almaqam in the shadows of the post to prevail by a head.
Constitution River was 3½ lengths further back in third, with Ombudsman only fourth.
“At no point was I ever really comfortable to be honest,” said Keane. “I was surprised how far forward Ryan’s (Moore) horse was. But he jumped and travelled well whereas I was never really comfortable in the run until William Buick came to me and got in between two horses.
“That got him going and then the gap closed in front of him, and he was very gutsy to get back up.
“The last 50 yards I was confident, I knew he wouldn’t stop. The rain was a little bit of a worry, but saying that, it’s fresh ground.”
Winning on the Knavesmire for the third time this season following earlier victories in the Dante and York Stakes, Item – who had failed to show his true colours when well beaten in the Epsom Derby – was joining an elite group of horses to carry the silks of Prince Khalid bin Abdullah to victory in York’s premier prize, with only Twice Over and his sire Frankel able to achieve the same feat.
However, Item’s place in the history books nearly got away, as Andrew Balding revealed the son of Frankel faced a late scare due to “small hiccup with his feet”.
“He’s improved physically and that’s the most important thing. He’s really a very different horse from the one who ran here in the Dante,” said Balding.
“Just to say a big thank you to the team at home because it wasn’t straightforward getting him here.
“Everything had gone great up until declaration time when we just had a little hiccup there with his feet.
“Thankfully everyone, Paul and Ben the farrier and Simon our vet, Faz who looks after him; they’ve all worked overtime to get it right. It was a five o’clock decision to get on the box and come up here.” RACING AND SPORTS