Godolphin here, Godolphin there, Godolphin bloomin’ everywhere. It was impossible to avoid the Dubai-based outfit on a spectacular weekend as they scooped every Classic on offer on both sides of the Atlantic in an astonishing clean sweep.
Godolphin duly confirmed their #1 status (+98pt) among owners on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings. “It’s unquestionably Godolphin’s best weekend,” said Godolphin’s managing director Hugh Anderson, who paid tribute to his employer Sheikh Mohammed. “And it’s richly deserved for the man who has put his heart and soul into it for 40 years.”
“You never dare to think something like this would happen – it’s just a dream,” commented Godolphin’s UK rider William Buick after completing the Classic four-timer on Desert Flower in the 1,000 Guineas on Sunday at Newmarket.
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“To win the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby, it’s hard to conceive – a very, very special achievement.”
Leading the way for Godolphin was Sovereignty who earned a senior place in the organisation’s pantheon at Churchill Downs as he ended their decades-long wait for a Kentucky Derby winner – in the process rocketing up our rankings to #23 (from #82, +207pt).
The son of top US sire Into Mischief (+12pt, #2 from #3 among dirt sires) sloshed through the slop, staying on strongly to run down favorite Journalism (#14 from #32, +99pt) at the furlong marker for a decisive verdict.
“He is a great horse, who comes from a great organisation,” said trainer Bill Mott. “I can’t say enough about the horse and the organisation that started him out and did everything to make this happen. It’s great and I think it will probably take a while to sink in.
“I saw Sovereignty gearing up when he left the half-mile pole and I lost him a little bit between there and the three-eighth, but he made up a lot of ground in a hurry.”
Any suggestion of Triple Crown dreams were dashed on Tuesday [May 6], however, when it was announced that Sovereignty will bypass the Preakness Stakes and renew rivalries in the Belmont. On the other hand, Journalism is set to run at Pimlico on May 17.
Kentucky Derby winners since 2011 ranked by TRC race rating
Godolphin’s US branch were able to celebrate a Churchill Downs double, having landed the Kentucky Oaks with unbeaten filly Good Cheer (#28 from #61, +155pt) 24 hours earlier.
Like Sovereignty, a Godolphin homebred (by Medaglia d’Oro), Good Cheer was a clear-cut winner and looks outstanding. “I knew Good Cheer would keep coming and she’s awesome,” said trainer Brad Cox.
“She is so classy to deal with – I’ve said it for months – and she’s seven from seven. She’s perfect and she is hopefully going to be a champion. We have been very fortunate to have had a lot of good fillies in the barn and she ranks right up with them. It’s very special to get her first G1.”
Not to be outdone, Godolphin’s UK team landed a Classic double of their own as the European Classic season got underway at Newmarket.
Former world #1 trainer Charlie Appleby (stays at #3, +139pt) saddled Ruling Court (re-enters at #64) and Shadow Of Light to claim first and third in the Betfred 2,000 Guineas on Saturday [May 3].
The winner may have been a shade fortunate to hold on, as the favourite Field Of Gold (#96 from #156, +81pt) finished with considerable intent to be beaten only a half-length after the Godolphin pair got first run.
To his credit, Field Of Gold’s jockey Kieran Shoemark fronted up to the TV cameras and admitted he had been over-confident on the Juddmonte grey, who suffered an agonising defeat akin to his sire Kingman 11 years earlier.
While it was hard to argue with Shoemark’s self-criticism in that the Godolphin riders kicked on when he was still sitting pretty, the truth is that Field Of Gold did not organise himself quickly enough in the Dip, and lost a crucial couple of lengths.
Ruling Court, a €2,300,000 son of Triple Crown winner Justify, is Godolphin’s fifth winner of the colts’ Classic. William Buick (stays at #4, +37pt) made the right call in selecting him as his mount ahead of champion two-year-old Shadow Of Light, who now reverts to sprinting.
“We came into here with a lot of confidence that we had the right horses,” said Appleby, who has won three of the last four editions.
“It was a hard choice for William, but he saw it right in respect that he felt Ruling Court would see the mile out. He has outstayed them in the end. Everyone had their chance to have a crack coming out of the Dip.”
Although the winner has yet to be confirmed for the Epsom Derby – there are potential stamina doubts – he is not far off market leader behind The Lion In Winter, yet to be seen at three.
2,000 Guineas winners since 2011 ranked by TRC race rating
Ruling Court’s stablemate Desert Flower (re-enters at #42) was regarded as the banker of the entire weekend. Such confidence was not misplaced as she took her unbeaten record to five with a classy effort in the 1,000 Guineas and she is now heavy favourite for the Oaks.
“Desert Flower is incredible,” said Buick. “We looked at the race beforehand and we thought we’d have to make our own running and she showed what a versatile filly she is.
“She’s very uncomplicated and she keeps galloping. She’s all class. I think she could be an Oaks filly – I think that was the way everyone was thinking beforehand.”
Meanwhile, last year’s US Classic crop weren’t to be denied their own slice of the pie at Churchill Downs, where Travers Stakes winner Fierceness kicked off his four-year-old campaign after ankle surgery with a track record performance in the G2 Alysheba on the Kentucky Oaks undercard.
Last seen when runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Fierceness scored by a length and a half in a time of 1:40:06 for the mile-and-sixteenth, smashing the previous mark of 1:41:04 set by Successful Dan in the same race in 2012.
“He’s a nice horse and he showed it today – but wow! A track record at Churchill Downs, that’s a really big deal,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. The Met Mile beckons for Fierceness, who re-enters the TRC Rankings at #5.
A couple of races later, Fierceness’s rider John Velazquez (#14 from #16, +32pt) completed a graded-stakes double as dual G1 winner She Feels Pretty (re-enters at #20) recorded a comfortable win in the $400,000 Modesty.
“I gave her some time off to allow her to grow into herself,” explained trainer Cherie De Vaux. “She’s bigger and stronger. She’s tenacious, she doesn’t want to get beat and she has won from 5 ½ furlongs to a mile and a quarter. So you know she is special.”
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