By Tom Frary
Becoming the fourth colt to emerge from the Goodwood's G3 Gordon S. and register a black-type success, Abdulla Al Mansoori's TDN Rising Star West Wind Blows (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) proved too strong for his rivals in Sunday's G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange at ParisLongchamp. Only sixth behind Saturday's G1 St Leger favourite New London (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) when ridden from the front in that mile-and-a-half contest July 28, the imposing bay was under restraint this time as the deputising Kieran Shoemark anchored him with two behind from the break. Arriving wide in the straight, the 29-10 second favourite hung repeatedly right from two out but his sheer physical dominance saw him overhaul Ilic (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) a furlong from home and assert for a 1 3/4-length success from that outsider. The positively-ridden 8-5 favourite Epic Poet (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) was the same margin away in third.
West Wind Blows, who had taken Hamilton's 11-furlong Listed Glasgow S. over 11 furlongs July 15 after finishing ninth in the Derby, was capping a day to remember for his rider who stepped in for William Buick following that rider's fall in the Moulin. He was also becoming the 13th winner from the last 23 runners from the red-hot Simon and Ed Crisford stable and Ed was on hand to say, “He settled really well today, which was key. The owner was very keen to go back to a mile and a quarter and it worked out perfectly as there was pace on. He picked up nicely, but he still did a lot of things wrong so he's got a lot of learning to do.”
“He's a very exciting horse and I think he's just babyish–Kieran said he did everything wrong in the race, but his natural talent got him to the line in front, so there's lots to work with,” Crisford Jr added. “He is in the Arc, so we'll see what the owner wants to do but he's a very exciting horse for next year really. It's all about that. We think he stays a mile and a half, so we could be tempted by the Arc and he is versatile with regards to ground, he just doesn't want extremes.”
West Wind Blows, who becomes the 60th group winner for his sire, is the eighth foal out of the G1 Prix de Diane heroine West Wind (GB) (Machiavellian) who was also placed in the G1 Prix Vermeille and G1 Pretty Polly S. and whose previous best was the ill-fated G3 Eclipse S. runner-up Setting Sail (GB) (Dansili {GB}). The second dam is the G2 Sun Chariot S. winner Red Slippers (Nureyev), whose daughter Eastern Joy (GB) (Dubai Destination) has proven an excellent producer for Godolphin with six black-type winners headed by the high-achieving globetrotter Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}).
Eastern Joy's classy sextet also features Teofilo's G3 Oh So Sharp S. winner First Victory (Ire), dam of this year's 2000 Guineas and St James's Palace S. hero Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) who had so sadly broke down at the track half an hour beforehand. Red Slippers is in turn a full-sister to the G2 Jockey Club S. scorer and Epsom third Romanov (Ire) and a half to the Oaks and Irish Derby heroine Balanchine (Storm Bird), with her many high-class relatives including another Irish Derby hero in Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). West Wind's 2-year-old is a full-brother to West Wind Blows, while she also has a colt foal by Masar (Ire).
Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
PRIX DU PRINCE D'ORANGE-G3, €80,000, ParisLongchamp, 9-4, 3yo, 10fT, 2:04.13, g/s.
1–WEST WIND BLOWS (IRE), 126, c, 3, by Teofilo (Ire)
1st Dam: West Wind (GB) (G1SW-Fr, G1SP-Ire, $773,178), by Machiavellian
2nd Dam: Red Slippers, by Nureyev
3rd Dam: Morning Devotion, by Affirmed
1ST GROUP WIN. O-Mr Abdulla Al Mansoori; B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Simon & Ed Crisford; J-Kieran Shoemark. €40,000. Lifetime Record: SW-Eng, 6-4-0-0, €89,137. *1/2 to Setting Sail (GB) (Dansili {GB}), GSP-Aus, $125,876. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Ilic (Ire), 126, c, 3, Iffraaj (GB)–Impressionnante (GB), by Danehill.
1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O/B-Wertheimer et Frere (IRE); T-Freddy Head. €16,000.
3–Epic Poet (Ire), 126, c, 3, Lope De Vega (Ire)–Sagaciously (Ire), by Lawman (Fr).
1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (180,000gns Wlg '19 TATDEC; 450,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT). O-White Birch Farm; B-George Kent (IRE); T-Jean-Claude Rouget. €12,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 1 3/4, HD. Odds: 2.90, 42.00, 1.60.
Also Ran: Star Of India (Ire), Mountaha (Ger), Vagalame (Ire), Russipant Fal (Mor), Jouza (Ire), Hidden Dimples (Ire). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.
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