By Tom Frary
He's been a bit hit-and-miss so far in his brief career, but Ballydoyle's Whistlejacket (Ire) (No Nay Never–Adventure Seeker {Fr}, by Bering {GB}) was in front where it mattered to master his peers in Sunday's stallion-making G1 Sumbe Prix Morny at Deauville. Breaking fast to get the stands' rail, the 27-10 favourite was able to force the pace without the kind of pressure he had endured during last Sunday's G1 Phoenix Stakes. The G2 July Stakes winner kept finding for Ryan Moore to get to the line 3/4 of a length ahead of the G2 Coventry Stakes winner Rashabar (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), with the G3 Prix de Cabourg-winning filly Daylight (Fr) (Earthlight {Ire}) doing best of the French the same margin away in third.
“He's a very fast horse and Ryan felt that maybe things didn't go perfectly for him last week,” Aidan O'Brien said of the winner, who gains an automatic berth in the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. “Because he is so fast and so precocious, we thought he could do both races in a week but it's a tough thing to do. Speed is his big thing–he'll probably go to the Middle Park now and then to the Breeders' Cup.”
This was made a touch easier by the below-par effort of the G2 Norfolk Stakes winner Shareholder (Not This Time), but the renewal was a deep one with some talented individuals assembled for the prize. Whistlejacket has been smart from day one, having run into one on debut at The Curragh in April with the winner of that six-furlong contest Cowardofthecounty (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}) recently setting a new race record in this track's G3 Prix Francois Boutin. Impressive in the Listed First Flier Stakes back there, he was one of the Royal meeting's big favourites only to come up short in fourth in the Norfolk.
Getting his first pattern-race win in the G2 July Stakes at Newmarket, he was again on the wrong side of a tussle with a high-class rival when runner-up to TDN Rising Star Babouche (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) in Sunday's G1 Phoenix Stakes but is one of the stable's classic “hardy” individuals who thrive on racing much as their most recent Morny-winning son of No Nay Never, Blackbeard (Ire).
O'Brien added, “Like Little Big Bear, he is very engrossed in his own world and doesn't see much outside of it. That's a massive asset to a horse and very few horses could do this in a week, but we felt if there was one who could do it he was it. Ryan said he had all the guns all the way. Ryan was unbelievable, he gave him a brilliant ride as always.”
Brin Meehan said of Rashabar, “No disrespect to the winner, I think he's a lovely horse, but I think the draw played it's part as far as we were concerned. The winner had the rail and I think there was a fresh strip of ground there, too. I've won the Prix Morny twice before, but I would say this fellow is better. I want to step him up to seven now and we'll play it by ear. I'm a bit wary of the Group 2 penalty, but I'd say the Guineas next year is going to be high on his list. I always like the idea of the Breeders' Cup, so that would be a possibility, but we'll see.”
Pauline Chehboub said of Daylight, “Daylight never really got the rub of the green in terms of racing room when she needed to. Mickael Barzalona made the right choices, because the filly sat in the slipstream of the horses which we had wished to track but the fact that we were unlucky certainly cost us dearly. She made a very good impression without really having to dig deep.”
“Daylight is a talented filly and we've known that since the outset of her career,” she added. “Now she's showing us that she's the top European juvenile filly over sprint distances in Europe. She's entered in the Cheveley Park Stakes, which will certainly be her target in October.”
Pedigree Notes
Whistlejacket has now emulated his aforementioned full-brother Little Big Bear (Ire) in winning at the top level at two, having just missed out in the Phoenix that his high-class sibling dominated two years ago. He is the latest of nine foals produced by the Listed Prix de Liancourt winner and G3 Prix Cleopatre runner-up Adventure Seeker (Fr) (Bering {GB}), a half-sister to the G3 Princess Margaret Stakes third Along Again (Ire) (Elusive City) and granddaughter of the legendary All Along (Fr) (Targowice).
Sunday, Deauville, France
SUMBE PRIX MORNY-G1, €350,000, Deauville, 8-18, 2yo, c/f, 6fT, 1:11.02, g/s.
1–WHISTLEJACKET (IRE), 126, c, 2, by No Nay Never
1st Dam: Adventure Seeker (Fr) (SW & GSP-Fr, $155,312),
by Bering (GB)
2nd Dam: American Adventure, by Miswaki
3rd Dam: All Along (Fr), by Targowice
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (500,000gns Ylg '23 TATOCT). O-P Brant,
Mrs J Magnier, M Tabor & D Smith; B-Camas Park, Lynch Bages
& Summerhill (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €199,990.
Lifetime Record: GSW-Eng, SW & G1SP-Ire, 6-3-2-0, $372,296.
*Full to Little Big Bear (Ire), G1SW-Ire, GSW & G1SP-Eng,
$549,583; and 1/2 to Andrea Mantegna (Giant's Causeway),
GSP-Aus, $352,585. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Rashabar (Ire), 126, c, 2, Holy Roman Emperor (Ire)–
Amazonka (Ire), by Camelot (GB). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE.
(€120,000 Ylg '23 ARAUG). O-Manton Thoroughbreds IX; B-
SARL Ecurie Haras de Beaufay (IRE); T-Brian Meehan. €80,010.
3–Daylight (Fr), 122, f, 2, Earthlight (Ire)–Latita (Fr), by Silver
Frost (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (€85,000 Ylg '23
ARQAUG). O-Gousserie Racing & Sandrine Gavrois; B-Ecurie
Haras du Cadran & P Van Belle (FR); T-Patrice Cottier.
€40,005.
Margins: 3/4, 3/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 2.70, 12.00, 4.60.
Also Ran: Arabie (GB), Epson Blue Cen (Ire), Polyvega (Ire), Arabian Dusk (GB), Estepona (Fr), Shareholder.
🏆 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 🇮🇪 (RL. Moore /AP. O'Brien) s'adjuge le @sumbe_fr Prix Morny (Gr.1) à Deauville, une semaine après sa 🥈 place dans les Phoenix Stakes au @curraghrace
Une nouvelle fois, les visiteurs s'emparent de cette épreuve. Les 🇫🇷 n'ont passé le poteau en tête… pic.twitter.com/RpzyOPXvFf
— Equidia (@equidia) August 18, 2024
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