By Tom Frary
Fifth on debut over six furlongs at Naas June 8, Battleground (War Front) took a step forward to win the Listed Chesham S. as the 11-4 favourite for a 73rd Royal winner for Aidan O'Brien. Always travelling strongly tracking the pace under Ryan Moore, the first foal out of the brilliant Arc heroine Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) took over from March Law (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) with 1 1/2 furlongs remaining and stayed on strongly to beat that rival by 2 1/2 lengths, with the sole filly Seattle Rock (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) 1 3/4 lengths back in third.
“Wayne Lordan loved him at Naas, where he had a good clear run and there was no hard-luck story and he learnt a lot from it,” the Ballydoyle handler said. “He is out of Found, so you would have hoped he would stay further really. We were worried about the ground. Battleground is by War Front, but Found handled soft ground when she won the Breeders' Cup Turf and he is an exciting horse–he could be anything. He could be one for the July Meeting or the [G1] National Stakes. I would imagine he would stay well and probably a mile will be his trip. Found got a mile and a half, but he is by War Front and that is a big influence for speed.”
“Found was an unbelievable, magic mare,” O'Brien added. “She was one of the very special ones and everyone remembers her. Obviously, this is her first foal and everyone wants to do well. Battleground is an unbelievable specimen really. It was a big ask for our two-year-olds, as most of them only ran last week. We needed to get a run into him otherwise it was going to be difficult to get into the race as they would have been fourth or fifth preference. We were lucky in this race that it was not a full field.”
John Waterworth, who owns the runner-up March Law in partnership with his wife Susan, said, “I am really pleased with that. He has a Book 1 pedigree, we think he has a lot of time to develop and think he will get better as the season goes on.”
Found's list of achievements make remarkable reading, with her career-defining moment in that autumn showpiece staged at Chantilly in 2016 on top of a tally which already included wins in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and multiple placings at the top level including the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas, G1 English and Irish Champion S., G1 Coronation S. and G1 Prince of Wales's S. Out of the G1 Matron S. and G1 Lockinge S. heroine Red Evie (Ire) (Intikhab), she is a full-sister to Best In the World (Ire) who captured the G3 Give Thanks S. and is now a member of the broodmare band at Coolmore responsible for the recent runner Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), and also Magical Dream (Ire) who took the G3 Weld Park S.
Thursday, Royal Ascot, Britain
CHESHAM S.-Listed, £40,000, Royal Ascot, 6-18, 2yo, 7fT, 1:30.62, sf.
1–BATTLEGROUND, 129, c, 2, by War Front
1st Dam: Found (Ire) (Hwt. 2yo Filly-Eur, Hwt. Older Horse-Eur at 11-14f, Hwt. Older Mare-Eur at 11-14f, Hwt. Older Horse-Fr at 9.5-11f, Hwt. Older Mare-Ire at 9.5-11f, MG1SW-Fr, GISW-US, MGSW & MG1SP-Ire, MG1SP-Eng, $7,610,405), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Red Evie (Ire), by Intikhab
3rd Dam: Malafemmena (Ire), by Nordico
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & susan Magnier; B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. £23,680. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $30,267.
2–March Law (Ire), 129, c, 2, Lawman (Fr)–Dookus (Ire), by Linamix (Fr). (58,000gns Ylg '19 TAOCT). O-Susan & John Waterworth; B-Ballylinch Stud (IRE); T-Mark Johnston. £8,956.
3–Seattle Rock (GB), 124, f, 2, Fastnet Rock (Aus)–Snoqualmie Girl (Ire), by Montjeu (Ire). O-J C Smith; B-Littleton Stud (GB); T-Sylvester Kirk. £4,476.
Margins: 2HF, 1 3/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 2.75, 18.00, 80.00.
Also Ran: Golden Flame (Ire), Modern News (GB), Bright Devil (Ire), Clarendon Cross (GB), First Prophet (Ire). Scratched: Concessions (GB). Click for the Racing Post result. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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