Sea the Moon's Alpine Star Emulates Alpha Centauri In the Coronation

Emulating the emphatic G1 Coronation S. victory of her half-sister Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) two years ago, the Niarchos Family's Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) was also in a class of her own as Royal Ascot once again bowed to its greatest showman Frankie Dettori. Racing behind the strong tempo of the leading duo early, the 9-2 shot who was last seen winning the G2 Debutante S. at The Curragh in August forged up the rail in early straight and had command before the furlong pole. Powering clear as Sharing (Speightstown) found her rhythm on the outside, the homebred registered a resounding 4 1/4-length success from the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine who in turn denied the 2-1 favourite Quadrilateral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) by 1 3/4 lengths.

Completing his set of group 1s at this meeting, Dettori was at his upbeat best. “I've finally conquered Royal Ascot,” he stated after marking his first ride for Jessie Harrington in such dramatic fashion. “This one was the only one missing and in thirty years of coming here, for one reason or another, I've not managed to get on the right horse in this. Jessica and the Niarchos Family offered me this ride a while back and she was beautifully-prepared. Everything went to plan in the race–I hit a flat spot and I got the split on the fence and then the rest was history. She will definitely get a mile and a quarter–she did all her best work at the end–and is up there with the best fillies around at the moment.”

With the benefit of hindsight, Alpine Star's 2-year-old form looks out of the top drawer with her debut effort at Leopardstown in July behind Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) complemented by a 3 1/4-length dismissal of Thursday's G2 Queen's Vase winner Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) despite an unfavourable wide draw at the Galway festival in August. In the Debutante, she had the eventual 1,000 Guineas heroine Love back in sixth and a clutch of other smart fillies behind but her season stopped there and it was guesswork as to how effective she would be as she re-entered the fold.

With the pace strong here courtesy of the Listed Pretty Polly Fillies' S. scorer Run Wild (Ger) (Amaron {GB}) and the G1 1,000 Guineas runner-up Cloak of Spirits (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Alpine Star was being niggled at long before exiting the back straight where Jason Watson made his move on the well-supported market-leader Quadrilateral. That appeared a winning one as they straightened for home, with the Juddmonte TDN Rising Star looking ominous on the outer but Alpine Star was only beginning to wind up. Cloak of Spirits wandered to her left two furlongs from home and the rail opened up for an Alpine Star now in full flow, with the result settled surprisingly quickly given the quality of the renewal.

Harrington was back in Ireland watching and said, “She was the only horse in the field that hadn't had a run this year, but she is amazing. She is a half-sister to a complete superstar who gave me my first Royal Ascot winner and she did it so easy. She is very laid-back and nothing like Alpha Centauri. This filly is not very big and is not a great colour–she's a little bit of a mealy chestnut. If you saw her trotting around in the string, you wouldn't pick her out, but she has the most wonderful attitude. Every time you give her a squeeze, she will come for you. It is sad for Shane [Foley] that he isn't allowed to come over and ride, but we are in very strange times. I will talk to Maria [Niarchos-Gouaze], Electra [Niarchos] and Alan [Cooper] and then we will see what happens.”

Richie Galway, Harrington's son-in-law, was at Ascot and said, “It has been tough, obviously, and Jessie's had a bunch of really lovely three-year-old fillies that she has been waiting to unleash and has had continually to reassess her plans. She initially might have gone to France for the Guineas, but when that wasn't feasible this was obviously the next plan. The filly is straightforward, but the amount of work that Shane Foley has done on the filly at home has made today possible. It is a shame for the owners and for Jessie and the rest of the team that they cannot be here.”

Oisin Murphy said of the runner-up, who was another at the meeting upholding American form, “Sharing is a champion on really fast turf and she didn't get her conditions. Everyone should be very proud and hopefully it persuades Graham Motion to have more horses here next year–it was a massive performance. She was the best juvenile filly on turf in America last year and is a huge, physical filly.”

Alpine Star becomes the first top-level winner for her sire, whose Wonderful Moon (Ger) might provide another in the upcoming G1 Deutsches Derby. The unraced dam Alpha Lupi (Ire) (Rahy) was probably not expected to throw another group 1 winner after the aforementioned Alpha Centauri supplied four in total including the Irish 1,000 Guineas, but she has pulled it off in a brief period of time. Also responsible for the Listed Golden Fleece S. winner and G2 Royal Lodge S. runner-up Tenth Star (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), Alpha Lupi is out of the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and G1 Prix de Diane heroine East of the Moon (Private Account), whose descendant Molatham (GB) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) took the G3 Jersey S. here on Thursday.

The Niarchos Family's bloodstock has become one of the leading reference points for class and quality in Europe since the early 1980s and yet again their champion Miesque (Nureyev) features in the pedigree of a major group 1 winner. Starring as the third dam here, the 10-times group and grade one heroine needs no introduction as dam of the champion sire Kingmambo and ancestress also of the likes of Rumplestiltskin (Ire) (Danehill), her daughter Tapestry (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), new sire Karakontie (Jpn), Amanee (Aus) (Pivotal {GB}) and Real Steel (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Alpha Lupi also has an as-yet unnamed yearling full-sister to Alpha Centauri (Ire).

Saturday, Royal Ascot, Britain
CORONATION S.-G1, £250,000, Royal Ascot, 6-20, 3yo, f, 7f 213yT, 1:42.21, gd.
1–ALPINE STAR (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Sea The Moon (Ger)
1st Dam: Alpha Lupi (Ire), by Rahy
2nd Dam: East of the Moon, by Private Account
3rd Dam: Miesque, by Nureyev
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O/B-Niarchos Family (IRE); T-Jessica Harrington; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £148,000. Lifetime Record: GSW-Ire, 4-3-0-1, $272,870. *1/2 to Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Hwt. 3yo-Eur at 7-9.5f, MG1SW-Eng, G1SW-Fr & Ire, $1,639,990; and Tenth Star (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), SW & GSP-Ire, GSP-Eng. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Sharing, 126, f, 3, Speightstown–Shared Account, by Pleasantly Perfect. ($350,000 Ylg '18 FTSAUG). O-Eclipse TB Partners & Gainesway Stable; B-Sagamore Farm (MD); T-Graham Motion. £55,975.
3–Quadrilateral (GB), 126, f, 3, Frankel%20(GB)#tot">Frankel (GB)–Nimble Thimble, by Mizzen Mast. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-Roger Charlton. £27,975.
Margins: 4 1/4, 1 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 4.50, 3.20, 2.00.
Also Ran: So Wonderful, Cloak of Spirits (Ire), Love Locket (Ire), Run Wild (Ger). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.