By Tom Frary
Emerging from the 2,000 Guineas to take the crown as Sprint King, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's Inisherin (GB) (Shamardal) put genuine star quality into a division that badly needed it when dominating Friday's G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. Doubts as to whether the long-striding homebred could adapt to this speed test on fast summer ground were instantly dispelled as he moved so comfortably near the front under Tom Eaves.
Allowed to coast to the lead two out, the 9-4 favourite, who could be the best that Kevin Ryan has had through his hands, was able to draw clear from there for a comfortable 2 1/4-length defeat of Lake Forest (No Nay Never). That G2 Gimcrack Stakes-winning seasonal debutante denied Jasour (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) the silver medal by a head, with another 1 1/2 lengths back to TDN Rising Star Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}) in fourth on what was a highly commendable black-type debut.
“He's a machine,” Eaves said of the winner, one of the last of the Shamardals who had served notice of his prowess in the G2 Sandy Lane Stakes following his sixth in the Guineas. “I have ridden some good sprinters, Glass Slippers, Tangerine Trees, Brando, they've all been very good, but we all know how hard they are to come across. He has a lot of class and is a unit of a horse, you see how long it took me to pull up.”
“When I got off him after the Guineas, before I had even opened my mouth Kevin said he was a sprinter. The draw in one isn't exactly where you want to be, but he's a horse with a very good mind, is very relaxed, very uncomplicated and showed that in the way he went through the race. We knew we had something special at home and he's proved now that he's a special horse.”
Starting at 50-1 for a mile maiden at Newmarket in September, Inisherin surprised a few by splitting the subsequent Listed Blue Riband Trial winner Bellum Justum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Ballydoyle's well-regarded Ortelius (Justify) in second, but it was on his 3-year-old bow at Newcastle in March that he really shone. In beating Juddmonte's subsequent G2 Ribblesdale Stakes third Kalpana (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}), he recorded a mind-blowing :21.63-second final two furlongs of the mile novice which meant that connections had to try the Newmarket Classic.
One of those who raced up front in the Guineas, which ran like a prolonged sprint this year, Inisherin was able to come back quickly from that experience and run the six furlongs of the Sandy Lane like a colt who had been campaigned over that trip several times. That was a soft-ground affair and he had to race faster than he had in his life before here, but it all seemed so effortless. While this race happened without fellow market principal Elite Status (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), it is hard to believe that there is a 3-year-old in Europe who could have taken him out of his comfort zone.
Kevin Ryan had a word of warning for those willing to take on his new sprinting luminary. “He improved from Haydock and I think he's going to get quicker and better at this job,” he said. “He's a joy to train, an absolute legend. It was a very easy watch. I was nervous about the ground going to Haydock, with it being soft, as he hardly bends his knees and it is very different ground here which always makes you nervous. He is a great-striding horse and Tom said they couldn't take him far enough.”
“He has such a great temperament–most of these good horses have an edge to them, but he never gives me a moment's worry,” he added. “We'll go to the July Cup now and he's in the Maurice de Gheest and there's the Champions Sprint here as well later in the year.”
Sheikh Mohammed Obaid revealed that the winner and his G1 St James's Palace Stakes-winning relative Rosallion will remain in training at four. “Inisherin had been working with sprinters and passing them as if they were standing still,” he said. “I like racing and I want my horses to run next year.”
Lake Forest, who ran a remarkable race on his comeback and was one of only two runners to record a sub-11-second split. Rider Tom Marquand said, “After time off the track, it was going to be tough but he's an extremely tough horse. He's a Gimcrack winner–it's easy to forget what he did as a 2-year-old–but he's trained on beautifully and hopefully we'll have a lot of fun with him during the rest of the year.”
Clive Cox said of Jasour, “That was a great run. The winner was impressive. Jasour just switched leads right before the line, which might have cost us second but he's run a blinder. I am thrilled he is going the right way. I think we are close enough to warrant a kick at the July Cup, a race in which 3-year-olds have done really well in the past. That would be my first thought as they crossed the line and as long as he comes back okay from here, he's a horse who deserves to be in the top flight.”
Pedigree Notes
Inisherin continues the remarkable story of his second dam Reem Three (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}), who is up to 13 foals produced with her first filly being the unraced Rosaline (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) who in turn produced this year's leading miler Rosallion (Ire) by Shamardal's Blue Point (Ire). Her second was this colt's dam Ajman Princess, who captured the G1 Prix Jean Romanet and was second in this meeting's G2 Ribblesdale S., and every foal after has made an impact in black-type company.
They include Shamardal's Cape Byron (GB), who took the G3 Bengough S. over this course and distance, and Triple Time (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) who won last year's G1 Queen Anne S. here. Inisherin is Ajman Princess's second foal and first runner and after him is the unraced 2-year-old colt King Of Cities (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and a yearling filly by Lope De Vega (Ire).
Friday, Royal Ascot, Britain
COMMONWEALTH CUP-G1, £725,750, Ascot, 6-21, 3yo, 6fT, 1:12.51, g/f.
1–INISHERIN (GB), 128, c, 3, by Shamardal
1st Dam: Ajman Princess (Ire) (G1SW-Fr, SW &
MGSP-Eng, $306,567), by Teofilo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Reem Three (GB), by Mark Of Esteem (Ire)
3rd Dam: Jumaireyah (GB), by Fairy King
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O/B-Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al
Maktoum (GB); T-Kevin Ryan; J-Tom Eaves. £411,573. Lifetime
Record: 5-3-1-0, $630,608. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple
Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Lake Forest (GB), 128, c, 3, No Nay Never–Lady Aquitaine, by
El Prado (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (130,000gns Ylg '22
TATOCT). O-Tony Bloom & Ian McAleavy; B-Sahara Group
Holdings (GB); T-William Haggas. £156,036.
3–Jasour (GB), 128, c, 3, Havana Grey (GB)–Twilight Thyme
(GB), by Bahamian Bounty (GB). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE.
(£85,000 Ylg '22 GOFFUK). O-Al Mohamediya Racing;
B-Wardley Bloodstock (GB); T-Clive Cox. £78,091.
Margins: 2 1/4, HD, 1HF. Odds: 2.25, 12.00, 4.00.
Also Ran: Kind of Blue (GB), Classic Flower (GB), Louis Barthas (Ire), Evade (Fr), Starlust (GB), Orne (Ire), Pocklington (GB), Pandora's Gift (Ire), Malc (GB), Military (GB), Givemethebeatboys (Ire). Scratched: Elite Status (GB).
Inisherin is the real deal and lands the Commonwealth Cup at Royal @Ascot! pic.twitter.com/K685XUvt4f
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 21, 2024
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