By Tom Frary
Largely ignored at 20-1, Different League (Fr) provided her first-season sire Dabirsim (Fr) with a momentous result as she upstaged the 2-1 favourite Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in a thrilling finish to Friday's G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot. Last seen doubling her tally over this trip at Angers May 23, the bay tanked her way to the front of the far-side group before the furlong pole under Antoine Hamelin. Kicking decisively passing the quarter pole, she was always holding the similarly unbeaten market-leader in the run to the line where she held a neck advantage. “She's a great filly and this is a dream,” Hamelin said. “Beforehand, I wanted to sit fourth or fifth, but she got to the front and was not at her maximum. The other filly just pushed me on.”
Friday, Royal Ascot, Britain
ALBANY S.-G3, £80,000, ASC, 6-23, 2yo, f, 6fT, 1:14.60, g/f.
1–#@DIFFERENT LEAGUE (FR), 126, f, 2, by Dabirsim (Fr)
1st Dam: Danseuse Corse (Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire)
2nd Dam: Corse (Ire), by Indian Ridge (Ire)
3rd Dam: Par Un Nez (Ire), by Cyrano de Bergerac (Ire)
(€8,000 Wlg '15 ARQDEC; £14,000 RNA Ylg '16 GOUKPR). O-Mme Theresa Marnane; B-Lotfi Kohli (FR); T-Matthieu Palussiere; J-Antoine Hamelin. £45,368. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $80,805. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”frbc-maisons-laffite”]
2–Alpha Centauri (Ire), 126, f, 2, Mastercraftsman (Ire)–Alpha Lupi (Ire), by Rahy. O/B-Niarchos Family (IRE); T-Jessica Harrington. £17,200.
3–Take Me With You, 126, f, 2, Scat Daddy–Me and Miss Jones, by Smarty Jones. ($205,000 Wlg '15 KEENOV; $285,000 Ylg '16 FTSAUG; $800,000 2yo '17 FTFMAR). O-Phoenix Thoroughbred Ltd; B-Mane Chance LLC (KY); T-Jeremy Noseda. £8,608. [bullet ad=”niall-brennan-nbs-graduate”][bullet ad=”gainesway-consigned-by”][bullet ad=”machmer-hall-dam-purchased-by-machmer-hall-for-montese-llc”][bullet ad=”us-bred-ky-bred”]Margins: NK, 3, HF. Odds: 20.00, 2.00, 20.00.
Also Ran: Mistress of Venice (GB), Madeline (Ire), Actress (Ire), Clemmie (Ire), Snowflakes (Ire), Miss Bar Beach (Ire), Princess Peggy, Black Sails (GB), Fairyland, Starlight Mystery (Ire), Natural (Ire), Jo's Girl (Ire), Ertiyad (GB), Whitefountainfairy (Ire), Electric Landlady (Ire), Summer Shamal (Fr), Armum (Ire). Scratched: Time For Wine (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Sent to the Maisons-Laffitte-based trainer Matthieu Palussiere after failing to make her reserve at Doncaster in August, Different League became the second winner for her Haras du Grandcamp-based freshman sire when scoring on debut over five furlongs at Lyon-Parilly May 11 and 12 days later followed up by two lengths at Angers with the first two clear of the remainder. Showing the kind of natural pace expected of a Wesley Ward trainee throughout the early stages, she had that trainer's Fairyland (Scat Daddy) covered inside the last two furlongs as the chief American raider started to tire having led the stand's-side bunch. It was just the Irish sensation Alpha Centauri who could go with the filly who had raced solely in the French provinces as the line approached and although the runner-up never gave up the chase she never looked likely to get there.
Palussiere was entirely surprised by the result, which marks a watershed moment in his career. “I was confident of a very good run, but to win I didn't know,” he said. “I was a little worried as she jumped out, but she has a great temperament and is very professional. After two or three furlongs I was confident–the jockey knows her well. Her first start was just an educational, but her performance at Angers on her second start was exceptional. We were always going to come here for this. She has many options now, we have a few ideas in our heads.” Palussiere, who previously spent 18 years in Ireland, including four with the Aga Khan Studs and four with trainer Michael Halford, was reflecting on a pinnacle of that period. “It means everything to me, I have always wanted to win a big one in England–at Royal Ascot or Cheltenham, as I have a few jumpers too,” he added. Bansha House Stables maestro Con Marnane was on hand for the celebrations and said, “We picked her up for eight grand, but we couldn't sell her as a yearling–we had her in at Doncaster Sales last year, but couldn't sell her. Nobody wanted her, but I am glad they didn't–she's an absolute beauty. We'd love to put her away for the Breeders' Cup, if failing that returning after the summer for some of the autumn group ones.”
Jessica Harrington was unperturbed after Alpha Centauri's first defeat. “The other filly just got first run on her,” she commented. “She's never had to race that hard before, she's done everything very easily. The further she was going, the more she was putting her head down. Another couple of strides, she might have got it.” Phoenix Thoroughbred Limited's Take Me With You (Scat Daddy) managed to gain third place and come out best of the stand's side, but trainer Jeremy Noseda had his own ideas about a track bias. ” 'm just infuriated by watering policies,” he said. “Why are they watering this ground? Why 4mm of water last night? The whole bias of the track has changed. The watering in this country has become absurd and ridiculous. and I'm frustrated. I've never encouraged anyone to water the track. Watering of these racecourses has come to a point where it's absolutely ridiculous. If the Clerk of the Course, by his watering, wants to make results, then make results. But watering is changing results, it's not natural. Watering is not creating fair racing.”
The winner shares her second dam Corse with the G3 Mariano Procopio runner-up Energia Galileo (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}) and her full-brother Energia Impact (Brz), who was third in the G3 Jose Buarque de Macedo. Corse is herself a half-sister to the G2 Gimcrack S.-winning sire and G1 Middle Park S. runner-up Carrowkeel (Ire).
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