By Tom Frary
Carrying a penalty in Thursday's G2 Princess of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket, Scuderia la Tesa and Vaibhav Shah's Giavellotto (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) made light work of the task to enhance his reputation en route to the G1 Irish St Leger. Last seen impressively recording a second consecutive success in the G2 Yorkshire Cup over an extra two furlongs, the Marco Botti-trained 5-year-old was content to sit behind two rivals racing up the centre of the track and was already closing in with menace when Oisin Murphy gave the command two out.
Swamping the enterprisingly-ridden Arrest (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) passing the furlong pole, the 100-30 second favourite readily asserted for an emphatic 3 1/4 length success with the field strung out. “He is getting more relaxed. The pace wasn't that fast and he had the opportunity to not relax for me, but he was excellent,” Murphy explained. “He travelled with supreme ability and was always in control.”
Giavellotto, who was promoted from fourth to third in the 2022 St Leger, has had to wait for due credit having been sent over marathon trips that pushed him beyond his stamina limit following his first Yorkshire Cup win. This was a mile-and-a-half masterclass on the clock that served as a mild surprise for most other than his connections and he will be a strong contender for September's Curragh feature whatever the presence from Ballydoyle and co.
“He is in the form of his life and is a much stronger horse this year,” Marco Botti said. “He travelled so well into the race and Oisin said it was only a matter of having to press the button and the horse picked up straight away and ran strongly to the line. The Irish St Leger has always been the plan and I think today was a stepping stone towards that as long as the ground doesn't go too soft–heavy ground would be a concern and it can happen in September at the Curragh.”
“Last year we planned his campaign around running him over two miles and went to Goodwood. We felt he stays well, but it was just stretching him over that trip,” he added. “He is stronger this year, so probably has more speed than last year and dropping back to a mile and a half was never going to be a problem–I was confident he was going to show his best today. We try to space out his races and he is definitely getting more mature mentally.”
Pedigree Notes
Giavellotto's dam Gerika (Fr) (Galileo {Ire}) hails from a family of Italian black-type performers, with her three half-siblings Donoma (Ire) (Beat Hollow {GB}), Cromo (GB) (Grand Lodge) and Right Connection (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}) all successful at listed level in the country. Under the third dam is the G3 St Leger Italiano hero Green Senor (El Gran Senor).
Thursday, Newmarket, Britain
PRINCESS OF WALES'S STAKES-G2, £125,000, Newmarket, 7-11, 3yo/up, 12fT, 2:31.20, g/s.
1–GIAVELLOTTO (IRE), 137, h, 5, by Mastercraftsman (Ire)
1st Dam: Gerika (Fr), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Green Tern (Ity), by Miswaki Tern
3rd Dam: Green Leaves (Ire), by Rheingold (GB)
O-Scuderia La Tesa Limited & Vaibhav Shah; B-Societa Agricola
La Tesa SRL (IRE); T-Marco Botti; J-Oisin Murphy. £70,888.
Lifetime Record: G1SP-Eng, GSP-Sau, 16-6-2-4, $867,302.
Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Arrest (Ire), 134, c, 4, Frankel (GB)–Nisriyna (Ire), by Intikhab.
(€440,000 Wlg '20 GOFNOV). O-Juddmonte; B-Swordlestown
Little (IRE); T-John & Thady Gosden. £26,875.
3–Time Lock (GB), 131, m, 5, Frankel (GB)–Time Chaser (GB), by
Dubawi (Ire). O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms (East) Ltd
(GB); T-Harry Charlton. £13,450.
Margins: 3 1/4, 2 3/4, 9HF. Odds: 3.30, 4.50, 7.50.
Also Ran: Hamish (GB), Maxi King (Ire), Outbox (GB).
Down in trip and conceding a penalty, but that's no problem for Giavellotto 👊
A return to Group 1 company surely awaits the improving @BahrainTurfClub Princess Of Wales's Stakes winner.@oismurphy | @MarcoBotti pic.twitter.com/ZI8dDAPqXJ
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 11, 2024
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