Frankie Dettori outrode his fellow jockeys once again and stole a Classic from the front aboard Star Catcher in the Irish Oaks. The Italian, winning this race for the fifth time, was allowed an uncontested lead from an early stage, despite the presence in the field of a presumed pacemaker from the Ballydoyle stable.
Three weeks ago a 33-1 shot made all the running to win the Irish Derby and, with the Curragh again riding fast, there was an obvious potential advantage for any runner that could get the lead without having to fight for it. Star Catcher had raced in midfield when winning the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot on her previous start but it should have surprised no one that Dettori would be switched on to the different tactical demands this time.
He had Star Catcher in front and on the rail within strides of the starting stalls. Peach Tree, widely expected to be setting the pace for her stablemates, Pink Dogwood and Fleeting, settled in a respectful second position, a length or so behind.
The order of the field hardly changed until the turn for home, at which point Dettori began to ask his mount for everything. She had plenty in reserve and was soon clear. Meanwhile the other fancied runners were in the last three places at the home turn and had to work their way among or around the outsiders before trying to reel in Star Catcher.
Fleeting closed to within half a length while Pink Dogwood again looked short of pace in finishing third, five lengths behind the winner. It is the eighth time in 11 years that the Irish Oaks has been won by a British trainer, in this case John Gosden.
“The vibes at home were good,” Dettori said. “Johnny had a good feeling about her. Unfortunately we had to supplement her [at a cost of €40,000], so we put our necks on the block a bit.
Newton Abbot 2.05 Velvet Revolution 2.40 Ennistown 3.15 Indian Harbour 3.50 Chasma 4.25 Must See The Doc 5.00 Isle Road 5.35 Alanjou (nap)
Redcar 2.20 Thunderous 2.55 Farhh Away 3.30 Greengage (nb) 4.05 Kolossus 4.40 Slaithwaite 5.15 Gymkhana 5.45 Warning Fire 6.15 Nearly There
Stratford 2.25 Superefficient 3.00 Win My Wings 3.35 Doubly Clever 4.10 McGroarty 4.45 Some Day Soon 5.20 Boy In A Bentley 5.55 Dazibao
“We knew she would stay a mile and a half, that’s for sure, so we didn’t want to sit and sprint. Once Seamie Heffernan on the obvious frontrunner couldn’t make the front, I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to make my own way home.’ And then it’s a matter of getting the fractions right and having a tailwind in the straight that helps a frontrunner, and that was the case.”
Star Catcher carries the black and white colours of Anthony Oppenheimer, who enjoyed a huge day as his lightly raced Dame Malliot won a Listed race at Newmarket by five lengths. She is trained by Ed Vaughan, who promised that she would now be given “some really big entries”.
On a day when horseboxes were crossing borders all around northern Europe, Newbury’s Hackwood Stakes fell to a German raider, with Waldpfad walloping the local runners and most of the punters by scoringat 33-1. The horse, whose name means “forest path”, is trained near Hanover by Dominic Moser, who now has quite a record for seizing English trophies.
His Artistica was also allowed to start at 33-1 when she won a Listed prize at Nottingham in 2017, while Gracia Directa was a 14-1 shot when bagging a Group Three at York in 2012. “It’s like we can only win when we come here,” said Moser, which is over-egging things a bit, as he has had 21 runners in Britain.
“We were hoping he would be in the first three but he’s gone and won just like last time,” Moser said, in reference to a Hamburg victory a fortnight ago. Waldpfad may return to Newbury for next month’s Hungerford Stakes and is entered in the Haydock Sprint Cup in September.
There was late support for The Tin Man but James Fanshawe’s veteran sprinter laboured disappointingly on his way to finishing seventh in a race he had won three years ago. Perhaps the key to him can be rediscovered – after all he was a Group One winner last autumn – but it begins to look as if his best days are behind him.
