By Jill Williams
Britain's first-crop Kitten's Joy stallion Kameko got his first Grade I victory Saturday across the pond with Qatar Racing's New Century (GB) (c, 2, Kameko–Potent Embrace, by Street Cry {Ire}), who captured the GI bet365 Summer Stakes at Woodbine for conditioner Andrew Balding and earned a Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in November. Al Qudra (Ire) (No Nay Never), a Charlie Appleby shipper whom New Century chased home in July at Ascot in the Pat Eddery Stakes, was second, while the more local Mark Casse trainee Dream On (Not This Time), who finished second in Woodbine's Soaring Free Stakes last month and caused some excitement down the lane Saturday, finished third.
Maiden Groot (Collected) dashed quickest from the stalls Saturday, showing the way through :22.60 and :45.54 fractions while New Century trailed early. Oisin Murphy, aboard for each of New Century's starts, kept the brakes engaged, staying near the back before subtly edging up on the turn. Suddenly unleashing a fierce turn of foot, the pair swung extremely wide into the lane as Dream On up front put away the longshot pacesetter and took command from the inside. With New Century and Al Qudra moving in tandem while wide, they joined battle with Dream On, who ducked out and impeded the other two. All three juveniles ran at various times down the stretch on their wrong leads with agility on full display as each recalibrated their paths multiple times. Undaunted by anyone's antics, New Century powered to the front by 1 1/4 lengths with Al Qudra following in his wake and Dream On holding for third. The final time for the mile on the turf was 1:32.80.
“He's a small horse, and he's fairly light on his feet,” said Balding's assistant Leanne White of New Century. “He sort of skips over the ground.”
Murphy added, “The inside horse [Dream On] ducked out, and William [Buick, on Al Qudra] and I tried to have one smooth challenge down the center of the track.
“The Qatar racing team with Andrew [Balding] found this race, and obviously it made sense timing-wise for the Breeders' Cup. Now he's going to have to be sharper at Del Mar, but he has the class, and hopefully he can step up again.”
The Summer Stakes winner won for the first time in June at Doncaster, followed it up with the aforementioned runner-up finish behind Al Qudra in the Pat Eddery in July, then broke through with his first black-type win Aug. 14 in the Stonehenge Stakes over a straight mile at Salisbury. New Century's win was the first in the Summer not only for Murphy, but also for owner Qatar Racing, and for trainer Balding. New Century does join other Balding-trained Woodbine winners Blond Me (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), who captured the GI E.P. Taylor Stakes in 2017, and Phoenix Reach (Ire) (Alhaarth {Ire}), who won the 2003 GI Canadian International.
Pedigree Notes:
With New Century's Summer win, Tweenhills Farm and Stud's freshman sire Kameko becomes the third Northern Hemisphere-based first-crop stallion and first European-based first-crop stallion to breach the Grade I-winning ranks of 2024. A son of Kitten's Joy based in Britain, Kameko's own two Group 1 victories included the 2020 G1 2,000 Guineas. With 10 winners to date in his initial crop of runners, Kameko has a second stakes performer in MGSP Wimbledon Hawkeye (GB).
New Century is out of the Street Cry (Ire) mare Potent Embrace, who was picked up by David Redvers from the Godolphin consignment at the 2016 Goffs November sale for €150,000. Redvers also famously bought Kameko as a $90,000 yearling at the 2018 Keeneland September sale, as well as the late Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy) for $160,000 at the 2016 Keeneland sale.
Potent Embrace previously produced GSW-Eng & G1SP-Ger Passion and Glory (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), as well as a yearling full-brother to New Century. A half-sister to G3 Dubai 2,000 Guineas winner Kinglet (Kingmambo), the mare is out of British and U.S. GSW Karen's Caper (War Chant), who was also GISP in both countries. She has produced two of the 160 stakes winners for the late Street Cry as a broodmare sire.
Saturday, Woodbine
BET365 SUMMER S.-GI, C$503,000, Woodbine, 9-14, 2yo, 1mT, 1:32.80, fm.
1–NEW CENTURY (GB), 122, c, 2, by Kameko
1st Dam: Potent Embrace, by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Karen's Caper, by War Chant
3rd Dam: Miss Caerleona (Fr), by Caerleon
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Qatar Racing LLC; B-The Potent Embrace Partnership (GB); T-Andrew Balding; J-Oisin Murphy. C$300,000. Lifetime Record: SW-Eng, 5-3-1-0, $270,150. *1/2 to Passion And Glory (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), GSW-Eng, SW & GSP-Bhr, G1SP-Ger, $696,237. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Al Qudra (Ire), 122, c, 2, No Nay Never–Piece of Paradise (Ire), by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire). 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. (€330,000 Wlg '22 GOFNO1; 425,000gns Ylg '23 TATOCT). O-Godolphin, LLC; B-Rockfield Farm (IRE); T-Charles Appleby. C$100,000.
3–Dream On, 122, c, 2, Not This Time–Mamma Kimbo, by Discreet Cat. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($295,000 RNA Wlg '22 FTKNOV; $245,000 RNA Ylg '23 KEESEP; $380,000 2yo '24 OBSAPR). O-D. J. Stable LLC; B-Aaron & Marie Jones LLC (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. C$50,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 3/4, 1HF. Odds: 3.05, 1.05, 13.95.
Also Ran: First Resort, Cairo Caper, Winterberry, Forty N Five, Special Session, Groot, Coolcollected. Scratched: Dewolf, Latin Fever (Ire), Nitrogen, Ready to Battle, Thread, Vixen, Will Reign.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
That got very bumpy! New Century wins a dramatic Grade 1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine as Al Qudra runs into trouble late on…@oismurphy @AndrewBalding2 @Qatar_Racing pic.twitter.com/hqB30rSlJW
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) September 14, 2024
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