John Smith's Cup |
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| Heritage Handicap, York 14:55 £150,000 added, 3yo plus, 1m 2f 88y, Class 2 |
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| Saturday 12th July 2014 | |
1 Farraaj 6/1
2 Zain Eagle 20/1
3 Bold Sniper 4/1F
4 Educate 20/1
NR: Energia Davos (BRZ), Macbeth (IRE), Nabucco, Tres Coronas (IRE)
16 ran Distances: 1½l, 1¾l, ¾l
TIME 2m 7.96s (slow by 0.96s)
Farraaj is set to try his hand in Group company after defying the steadier of 9st 11lb in the 55th John Smith's Cup at York.
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Andrea Atzeni, winning back-to-back John Smith's Cups, had the Roger Varian-trained Farraaj smartly out of the gates to try to overcome his wide draw, and it worked as he was soon tracking the pace-setting Zain Eagle with the Queen's Bold Sniper not far behind.
Approaching the last half-mile it looked like Zain Eagle and Tom Eaves might have slipped the field after injecting some pace, but Farraaj (6-1) responded to Atzeni's urgings and got on top late in the day to prevail by a length and a half.
Bold Sniper, the 4-1 favourite, was third with Educate fourth.
"He's a good horse on his day, he just needs rock-hard ground. There was no pace in the race, which was unusual for a race like this," said Varian's assistant David Eustace.
"From stall 22 we knew he had to go on and Andrea gave him a great ride, got him in the box seat and the horse making the pace (Zain Eagle) gave us a good tow into the race. For a second I thought he might not get to him as they don't come back in this ground.
"He's got to step into proper Group company now. He could come back for the Sky Bet Stakes."
Varian was at Newmarket, where he said: "He's been a grand servant over the years and it is lovely to see him win a big one. I was glad there was not rain at York earlier in the week, because he needs top of the ground.
"I'm not sure what we'll do next as handicaps are out of the question now - he won off a mark of 111, so we will have to see what suitable Pattern races there are.
"A mile and a quarter on fast ground seems to be ideal for him, but I am delighted to see him win a race like that - he deserves it."
Atzeni, the first rider to win the race two years in a row on different horses after scoring on Danchai in 2013, said: "It's a great race to win and he's a lovely horse.
"I was drawn really wide but he jumped really well and I managed to get a good position.
"He's a good horse on his day and the key with him is the ground - he has to have it fast."
55th John Smith's Cup (Heritage Handicap)
£150,000 added, 3yo plus, 1m 2f 88y, Class 2
16 ran
Going: Good to Firm
| Horse Trainer |
Jockey Weight |
SP Distance |
|
| 1 |
Farraaj R Varian |
Andrea Atzeni 9st 11lbs |
6 - 1 Winner |
| 2 |
Zain Eagle R M H Cowell |
T Eaves 8st 9lbs |
20 - 1 1 1/2 length |
| 3 |
Bold Sniper Sir Michael Stoute |
R L Moore 9st 2lbs |
4 - 1 1 3/4 length |
| 4 |
Educate I Mohammed |
T P Queally 9st 12lbs |
20 - 1 3/4 length |
| 5 |
Chancery D O'Meara |
D Tudhope 8st 11lbs |
9 - 1 1/2 length |
| 6 |
Sennockian Star M Johnston |
J Fanning 9st 2lbs |
20 - 1 Neck |
| 7 |
Queensberry Rules W J Haggas |
S Sanders 9st 0lbs |
14 - 1 1 1/4 length |
| 8 |
Pacific Heights B Ellison |
George Chaloner 9st 0lbs |
25 - 1 1/2 length |
| 9 |
Clever Cookie P D Niven |
P McDonald 9st 7lbs |
11 - 2 1/2 length |
| 10 |
Saxo Jack S bin Suroor |
William Carson 9st 5lbs |
25 - 1 4 lengths |
| 11 |
Red Avenger E A L Dunlop |
Connor Beasley 8st 10lbs |
12 - 1 3/4 length |
| 12 |
Tahira J J Quinn |
P Makin 8st 13lbs |
9 - 1 1 length |
| 13 |
Ingleby Angel D O'Meara |
M Dwyer 8st 11lbs |
50 - 1 3/4 length |
| 14 |
Starboard D M Simcock |
Hayley Turner 8st 11lbs |
33 - 1 3 3/4 lengths |
| 15 |
Tarikhi S bin Suroor |
K Fallon 8st 9lbs |
10 - 1 3 1/2 lengths |
| 16 |
Two For Two D O'Meara |
Sam James 9st 1lbs |
20 - 1 1 1/4 length |
| NR | Nabucco J H M Gosden |
Kieran Shoemark 9st 9lbs |
- |
| NR |
Tres Coronas T D Barron |
George Chaloner 9st 4lbs |
- |
| NR |
Energia Davos M Botti |
M M Monaghan 8st 12lbs |
- |
| NR |
Macbeth M Appleby |
Raul Da Silva 8st 9lbs |
- |
