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Ouija Board wins Vodafone Nassau Stakes
05/08/06

Ouija Board once again proved herself the darling of British racing with a pulsating short-head victory over the equally admirable Alexander Goldrun in the Group One Vodafone Nassau Stakes on the final day of Glorious Goodwood.

Both mares were going for their sixth wins at the highest level but it was Lord Derby’s mare who prevailed under Frankie Dettori after a protracted and nail-biting duel down the Goodwood straight.

Ouija Board gained the advantage in the last strides as Alexander Goildrun narrowly held sway for most of the closing stages. Ouija Board was cheered to the hilt out on the course and enjoyed a rousing reception entering the winner’s enclosure where she received three cheers as an elated Dettori performed his trademark flying dismount.

The rider said: “That was a great performance because the other mare went by me. Ouija Board likes a target and she showed great guts to put her head down when it mattered.

“She prefers a target but I couldn’t afford to see the a sprint from the milers. It was dream performance from both fillies. Take nothing away from the second.

“Ouija Board is one of the all-time favourite horses. She is a super filly and one of a kind. She is up there with the best and the last filly I rode who was as good was Balanchine.”

Trainer Ed Dunlop was equally thrilled with the win after thinking victory had slipped away, saying: “I turned to my wife and said, at least she had run well again in a Group One race.

“Credit to the runner-up. They are both outstanding fillies, but Frankie was excellent. It is unusual these days for Ouija Board to take it up that far out and she showed great courage to win. It is amazing. I am not sure of the plan. We have broken all our plans all year long.”

Owner Lord Derby also hailed Ouija Board, commenting: “That was pretty awesome. It was the hottest Vodafone Nassau for years. It was wonderful to see two great and brave mares going for their sixth Group One wins.

“Ouija Board’s consistency, big heart, big lungs and the bravery she displays make her what she is.”

Ouija Board is still on course for the Breeders’ Cup Filly And Mare at Churchill Downs later in the year, but bookmakers reacted by shortening her for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October. bVC Bet went 10/1 from 14/1 with totesport and William Hill opting to remain at 12/1.

EMOTIONAL WIN

Frankie Dettori, who rode the winner Ouija Board, said: “I knew I was close and I was hoping to be the winner. When the result came out, it was a really, really emotional win.

“It was a shame that there was just one winner as the runner-up fought all the way to the line.

“Ouija Board is an exceptional filly and full credit to everyone and to Lord Derby for keeping her in training. I am very happy be a part of it.”

Ed Dunlop, the successful trainer, said: “I didn’t give Frankie any instructions because we didn’t know what to do - all we knew was that we could not wait at the back as we have done in the past. I am thrilled - congratulations to the owners - what a great day.”

Lord Derby, the winning owner, said: “It was unbelievable to see - gosh she’s a brave mare. What a great battle with two great mares. We flew back from a family holiday and Edward my elder son is very keen on racing.

“He also came for the Princess Royal (Newmarket, September, 2005)when Frankie Dettori won on her there. So Frankie and Edward go together well. Frankie gave her a great ride today. It is amazing the popularity she has and to hear three cheers go up for a horse winning a race.”

Five-year-old mares Ouija Board and Alexander Goldrun head a high-class field of seven for Saturday’s Vodafone Nassau Stakes, the second Group 1 race at Glorious Goodwood.

They face stiff competition from the four-year-olds Chelsea Rose and Echelon, while batting on behalf of the classic generation will be Nannina, Nasheej and Race For The Stars. Among those not declared is Rajeem, the recent Group 1 Falmouth Stakes winner, whose infected heel prevented her running at Deauville on Sunday.

Despite her absence the Vodafone Nassau Stakes will be one of the highlights of the year and a race that could determine the order among European fillies and mares.

Ouija Board’s Royal Ascot victory in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’ Stakes was one of the highlights of that meeting, cementing her place as Britain’s top-ranking and most popular distaffer (even allowing for strong competition from Soviet Song), yet she was beaten in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes on her latest start. A luckless passage in that race was a valid excuse, but her fans will be keen
to see her back in the number one spot. She has never run at Goodwood.

In contrast the Jim Bolger-trained Alexander Goldrun is bidding to win the Vodafone Nassau Stakes for the second year - only Roussalka (1975/6) and Ruby Tiger (1991/2) have scored twice in the race since its inception in 1840.

Alexander Goldrun is one of three Irish runners - Con Collins’ Chelsea Rose and Aidan O’Brien’s Race For The Stars being the others - while Britain’s defence of the race is bolstered by two runners for Cheveley Park Stud, Echelon and Nannina. Echelon won Gr.3 events at Lingfield and Epsom this year before finishing second to Soviet Song at Royal Ascot, while Nannina was a hugely impressive winner of the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at the Royal meeting, but subsequently finished second to Rajeem in the Falmouth.

Clive Brittain, Rajeem’s trainer, said today: “The infection hasn’t quite cleared up so she’s back on antibiotics. Our new target is the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket.”

Asked whether, under the old 24-hour declarations process Rajeem might have made the line up, Brittain said: “A lot can happen in 24 hours, but I cannot say she would have come right. It would have been unfair to declare her and then take her out. For me 24-hour declarations are more convenient, but for the good of racing we’ve got to give this system a try.”

A mouth-watering renewal of the £200,000 Group One Vodafone Nassau Stakes is in store as some of the best fillies and mares in training appear among the 29-strong entry for the near 10-furlong Goodwood showpiece, which is run on Saturday, August 5.

The contest raises the prospect of a thrilling clash of the generations with 2004 Vodafone Oaks and Darley Irish Oaks heroine Ouija Board entered alongside Alexandrova, who completed the same classic double at the Curragh on July 15.

The race boasts a star-studded roll of past winners with the great mares La Fleche (1892), Sceptre (1902) and Pretty Polly (1904) successful in the prestigious contest, which was first run in 1840.

Recent renewals of the Vodafone Nassau Stakes have lived up to the race's historic billing as one of the top distaff contests in the world, and that looks set to be maintained with the winners of 18 Group One races entered.

The Ed Dunlop-trained Ouija Board is proven at the highest level around the world, and Lord Derby's five-year-old showed herself as effective at 10 furlongs as she is at a mile and a half when securing her fifth Group One success in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.

Alexandrova gave trainer Aidan O'Brien his first Darley Irish Oaks victory when defeating Scottish Stage by four lengths on good to firm going at the Curragh and the filly could bid to give the master of Ballydoyle his first Vodafone Nassau Stakes victory.

O'Brien has the biggest single entry of any trainer, with his five possible runners being completed by Race For The Stars, Kushnarenkovo, Queen Cleopatra and Fermion.

The brilliant Crimplene completed a hat-trick of Group One wins when taking this prize in 2000 for Clive Brittain and the Carlburg Stables handler could bid for a second success with recent Group One Falmouth Stakes winner Rajeem.

The Newmarket handler revealed: "The Vodafone Nassau Stakes is certainly a possibility for Rajeem. She's in the Prix Jacques le Marois over a mile at Deauville as well as the Goodwood race, so we'll have a look at both and make a decision as to whether we step her up in trip."

The Diktat filly is yet to win beyond a mile but was a running on fifth when three-quarters of a length behind Atlantic Waves in the Listed Feilden Stakes over nine furlongs at Newmarket in April on her only attempt at further.

Brittain said: "There's no doubt in my mind that she does stay 10 furlongs, so the step up in distance won't be a problem.

"I was very happy with her after the Falmouth Stakes. She only lost 3kg from the race, which shows that she didn't have a hard race. That's a big difference from the 29kg she lost when out of sorts in the German Guineas."

Alexander Goldrun was victorious in last season's Vodafone Nassau Stakes for trainer Jim Bolger - who could also field Tropical Lady and Senora Galilei - and the five-time Group One-winning mare could bid to become only the third dual winner of the race after the Henry Cecil-trained Roussalka (1975 and 1976) and the Paul Cole-trained Ruby Tiger (1991 and 1992).

The five-year-old globetrotter showed her well-being when winning the Group One Audi Pretty Polly Stakes on July 1 by a neck from the Con Collins-trained Chelsea Rose who scored her biggest success in the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes in September 2004.

Impressive Group One Coronation Stakes winner Nannina, trained by John Gosden for Cheveley Park Stud, was the three-quarters of a length runner-up to Rajeem in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, with the Richard Hannon-trained Nasheej fifth.

Sir Mark Prescott took the Vodafone Nassau Stakes with Last Second in 1996 and the brilliant Alborada in 1998, and could bid for a third win with this season's Group One Prix de Diane Hermes heroine Confidential Lady, and Last Second's daughter Intrigued.

Sir Michael Stoute is the most successful post-war trainer with seven wins to his credit, including a hat-trick of victories with Islington, Russian Rhythm and Favourable Terms (2002-2004). He has entered the 2003 Group One Meon Valley Stud Fillies' Mile winner Red Bloom, who was third in this race last year, and Echelon, who was runner-up to Soviet Song at Royal Ascot in June.

Godolphin trainer, Saeed bin Suroor, could be represented by Group One-placed Pictavia, who scored in a 10-furlong Newcastle Listed contest on June 29, and Reunite.

Others who could line up include Vodafone Oaks runner-up Rising Cross, and Time On, successful in the Group Two Prix de Malleret at Saint-Cloud on June 25.

The Vodafone Nassau Stakes takes place on the fifth and concluding day of the 2006 Glorious Goodwood Festival, which commences on Tuesday, August 1.

For more information, please contact Rod Fabricius, Managing Director of Goodwood Racecourse, on 01243 755022 or 07836 321254

THE VODAFONE NASSAU STAKES
Class 1, Group 1, £200,000 Total Prize Fund. 2.30pm, Goodwood, Saturday, August 5, 2006. For 3yo+, fillies & mare only, one mile, one furlong, 192 yards. Entries closed July 12, entries revealed July 18 (29 entries). Five-day confirmation stage July 31, 48-hour declaration stage, 10.00am, August 3. Form figures supplied by Weatherbys and are correct up to and including the racing of Monday, July 17, 2006.

Form Horse Age Owner Trainer
300-521 ALEXANDER GOLDRUN (IRE) 5 Miriam O'Callaghan Jim Bolger IRE
312-211 ALEXANDROVA (IRE) 3 Sue Magnier, Michael.Tabor & Derrick .Smith Aidan O'Brien IRE
46-0330 CAPE COLUMBINE 4 Mrs R F Lowe David Elsworth
143-422 CHELSEA ROSE (IRE) 4 Mrs A J Donnelly Con Collins IRE
10-2615 CONFIDENTIAL LADY 3 Cheveley Park Stud Sir Mark Prescott
141-112 ECHELON 4 Cheveley Park Stud Sir Michael Stoute
30-612 FERMION (IRE) 3 Derrick Smith, Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor Aidan O'Brien IRE
314/-3 INTRIGUED 4 Faisal Salman Sir Mark Prescott
0-35420 KUSHNARENKOVO 3 Sue Magnier Aidan O'Brien IRE
120-124 LA MOTTIE 3 Lordship Stud Jeremy Noseda
504-322 MANGO MISCHIEF (IRE) 5 Antoniades Family John Dunlop
311-012 NANNINA 3 Cheveley Park Stud John Gosden
3-13035 NASHEEJ (USA) 3 Malih L. Al Basti Richard Hannon
1-43215 OUIJA BOARD 5 Lord Derby Ed Dunlop
00322-1 PICTAVIA (IRE) 4 Godolphin Saeed bin Suroor
1-(1) POSTAGE STAMPE 3 S R Hope David Simcock
022-113 PRINCESS NADA 3 Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum Luca Cumani
241335 QUEEN CLEOPATRA (IRE) 3 Sue Magnier Aidan O'Brien IRE
011-044 RACE FOR THE STARS (USA) 3 Sue Magnier Aidan O'Brien IRE
1-(0)5051 RAJEEM 3 Saeed Manana Clive Brittain
3216-43 RED BLOOM 5 Cheveley Park Stud Sir Michael Stoute
1-15 REUNITE (IRE) 3 Godolphin Saeed bin Suroor
(6)(5)1203 RISING CROSS 3 Gary Tanaka John Best
505-12 SENORA GALILEI (IRE) 3 Jackie Bolger Jim Bolger IRE
0-22313 SUMMER'S EVE 3 Mrs S E Lakin Henry Candy
03-1161 TIME ON 3 Robert Barnett John Dunlop
2311-64 TROPICAL LADY (IRE) 6 George Kent Jim Bolger IRE
202-(2)16 VIOLET PARK 5 Mrs J Cash Brian Meehan
5(1)(4)-034 ZAYN ZEN 4 Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum Michael Jarvis

29 entries
9 Irish-trained