By Tom Frary
Already well-acquainted with France, with two prior visits culminating in a success in the nine-furlong G3 Prix de Conde at Chantilly Sept. 29, Nas Syndicate and Anne O'Callaghan's El Bodegon (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) made all to provide up-and-coming trainer James Ferguson with a first top-level win in Saturday's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Dominating the mile-and-a-quarter contest under 2021's supersub jockey Ioritz Mendizabal, the 9-1 shot shook off the threat of Goldspur (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in early straight and hit the line with 1 1/2 lengths to spare over Ballydoyle's Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The 7-5 favourite Goldspur held on for third, 1 1/4 lengths away. “It's pretty incredible,” Ferguson said. “I couldn't quite work out what was going on with a furlong to go. We love the horse and from his last win we planned that this was where we were going to go, but being in front with a furlong to go wasn't really part of my planning. I thought he'd have to work very hard, but he's obviously improved with every run and he takes travelling very well. I thought he was given a great ride and he relaxed very well in front. Credit to the team at home and especially the owners. They were the first people to have horses with me, so to be able to reward them like this is mega.”
Introduced over six furlongs on soft ground at Windsor July 5, El Bodegon followed an encouraging second there with a battling success in a heavy-ground novice over seven in a dramatic rainstorm at Sandown 23 days later. Third to Acer Alley (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) over that trip in the G3 Prix la Rochette staged on good-to-soft at ParisLongchamp Sept. 5, the bay relished the return to more testing ground and an extra two furlongs to take the Conde and book his place in this line-up. Under pressure first before the home turn, he responded gamely to draw the sting from his rivals one by one as stamina came into play.
“His full-brother Best Solution got better with age. This horse is not overly big, but there's a lot of presence about him and it's very exciting to wonder what we might have next year as I can't see him not improving. He's going to carry a group 1 penalty now, so I think you have to aim high when you have a horse like this. We'll tread his career path carefully. Luckily, whenever we've run him it's been soft ground and he showed at Sandown he was better on that ground than the others, so we had an advantage over everyone else on this ground.”
El Bodegon was going one better than the runner-up placing of his aforementioned full-brother Best Solution (Ire) in a stellar edition of this race five years ago won by Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). Best Solution had already won the G3 Autumn S. at that stage and went on to excel overseas as the hero of the G1 Caulfield Cup, G1 Grosser Preis von Baden and G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin with a victory in his home town's G2 Princess of Wales's S. included in his enviable haul. The dam Al Andalyya (Kingmambo), who is a half-sister to three black-type performers headed by the G2 Prix Hocquart runner-up Cape Clear Island (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), is out of Kushnarenkovo (GB) (Sadler's Wells) who was second in the G3 Noblesse S. She is a full-sister to the G1 Irish St Leger winner Brian Boru (GB) and to the dam of the G1 Epsom Derby and G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe-winning sire Workforce (GB) (King's Best). Also connected to this year's G1 Prix de Royallieu and G2 Ribblesdale S. winner Loving Dream (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Al Andalyya's colt foal is by Night of Thunder (Ire).
Saturday, Saint-Cloud, France
CRITERIUM DE SAINT-CLOUD-G1, €250,000, Saint-Cloud, 10-23, 2yo, c/f, 10fT, 2:16.93, vs.
1–EL BODEGON (IRE), 126, c, 2, by Kodiac (GB)
1st Dam: Al Andalyya, by Kingmambo
2nd Dam: Kushnarenkovo (GB), by Sadler's Wells
3rd Dam: Eva Luna, by Alleged
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (70,000gns Ylg '20 TAOCT). O-Nas Syndicate & A F O'Callaghan; B-Cecil & Martin McCracken (IRE); T-James Ferguson; J-Ioritz Mendizabal. €142,850. *Full to Best Solution (Ire), Ch. Stayer-Aus, Hwt. Older Horse-Ger at 11-14f, MG1SW-Ger, G1SW-Aus, MGSW-Eng, G1SP-Fr & SP-Tur, $3,314,220. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-1, €202,830. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Stone Age (Ire), 126, c, 2, Galileo (Ire)–Bonanza Creek (Ire), by Anabaa. O-Peter M Brant & Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-White Birch Farm SC (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €57,150.
3–Goldspur (Ire), 126, c, 2, Dubawi (Ire)–Pomology, by Arch. O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charlie Appleby. €28,575.
Margins: 1HF, 1 1/4, SHD. Odds: 9.20, 10.00, 1.40.
Also Ran: Buckaroo (GB), Unconquerable (Ire), Dillian (Ire), Dreamflight (GB), Martel (Ire), Garachico (GB). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.
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