By Tom Frary
Saturday's G3 Princess Elizabeth S. at Epsom turned into an extremely tactical affair, with William Buick on the money dictating on Godolphin's TDN Rising Star Summer Romance (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) to make all. Always comfortable setting a moderate pace shadowed by the G1 1000 Guineas runner-up Cloak of Spirits (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), the one-time exciting Listed Empress S. winner who had threatened to disappear into the wilderness was always holding that rival in the sprint up the straight. Hitting the line with 3/4 of a length to spare, the 9-1 shot was announcing a return to form as Rose of Kildare (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) snatched third, 3 3/4 lengths away.
“She ran in the Guineas, but I wasn't in a good position–I had a wall of bad horses in front of me,” Buick explained. “It was hard to notice it with the naked eye, but she did a lot of good work in the Guineas. She was staying on past horses. Last year she was obviously very speedy, very sharp, but Charlie was adamant a mile was within her compass. Obviously I got a soft lead today and it definitely suited her. She really deserved that. She's always been perceived as a nice filly in the stable. I'm just so glad she's got a group win next to her name and she's a filly that should go through the grades nicely.”
Summer Romance was two-for-two after her six-length success in the six-furlong Empress at Newmarket in June, but the wheels came off when sixth in Ascot's G3 Princess Margaret S. the following month. Charlie Appleby felt there were unmitigating circumstances for that flop and she was put away after a subsequent underwhelming third in the G3 Dick Poole Fillies' S. also over six at Salisbury in September. Returning with an eighth in the June 7 G1 1000 Guineas, where she was almost six lengths adrift of Cloak of Spirits, the grey cut a different figure here even allowing for her rider's guile on a day where closers were finding it tough.
Charlie Appleby said, “It was a great ride by William and we are very pleased to see Summer Romance win a group three race. She won on debut last year before scoring impressively in the Empress Stakes, but lost her way a little bit afterwards. We felt that she would come forward for her first run of the season in the 1000 Guineas and she has done it well in the end. It is nice to see her get her head in front and, while we have no immediate plans, we can think about looking for some more nice races.”
Summer Romance is out of Serena's Storm (Ire) (Statue of Liberty), who also produced the G1 Coronation S. and G1 Moyglare Stud S. heroine Rizeena (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}). Serena's Storm is kin to three stakes winners, most notably the G1 Prix d'Ispahan hero Zabeel Prince (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and the G2 Blamey S. winner Puissance de Lune (Ire) and the Listed Haras de Bouquetot Fillies' Trial scorer Queen Power (Ire) both by Lope de Vega's sire Shamardal. The third dam Serena's Sister (Rahy) is a full-sibling of the remarkable champion Serena's Song, whose six individual stakes winners are headed by the G1 Coronation S. heroine and stakes-producing Sophisticat (Storm Cat). Serena's Storm also has an as-yet unraced 2-year-old filly by Iffraaj (GB) named Serena's Queen (Ire), and a yearling filly by Dark Angel (Ire).
Saturday, Epsom, Britain
PRINCESS ELIZABETH S. (SPONSORED BY INVESTEC)-G3, £40,700, Epsom, 7-4, 3yo, f, 8f 113yT, 1:44.71, gd.
1–SUMMER ROMANCE (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Kingman%20(GB)#tot">Kingman (GB)
1st Dam: Serena's Storm (Ire), by Statue of Liberty
2nd Dam: Princess Serena, by Unbridled's Song
3rd Dam: Serena's Sister, by Rahy
1ST GROUP WIN. (300,000gns Ylg '18 TATOCT; €800,000 2yo '19 ARQMA). O-Godolphin; B-Round Hill Stud (IRE); T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick. £23,081. Lifetime Record: 6-3-0-1, $61,942. *1/2 to Rizeena (Ire) (Iffraaj (GB)), Hwt. 2yo Filly-Ire, G1SW-Eng & Ire, G1SP-Fr, $1,035,044. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Cloak of Spirits (Ire), 126, f, 3, Invincible Spirit (Ire)–Pivotique (GB), by Pivotal (GB). O/B-Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum (IRE); T-Richard Hannon. £8,751.
3–Rose of Kildare (Ire), 126, f, 3, Make Believe (GB)–Cruck Realta (GB), by Sixties Icon (GB). (€3,000 Ylg '18 TIRSEP). O-Kingsley Park 14; B-Wansdyke Farms Ltd (IRE); T-Mark Johnston. £4,379.
Margins: 3/4, 3 3/4, HF. Odds: 9.00, 3.33, 14.00.
Also Ran: Onassis (Ire), Fooraat (Ire), Love and Thunder (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
