Owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah
and trained by John Gosden – both of whom described her as a “filly
of a lifetime” – Enable was named Cartier Horse of the Year in
2017 after a phenomenal three-year-old campaign, in which she won
five Group 1 races.
Having won her sole start as a
juvenile, Enable was beaten in a condition stakes race over 1 mile 2
furlongs at Newbury on her three-year-old debut, staying on to finish
third, beaten 2½ lengths and a head by stable companion Shutter
Speed and Raheen House. However, her proximity to the 110-rated
Raheen House, who’d finished fourth in the Racing Post Trophy at
Doncaster the previous October, earned her an 18lb rise in the
weights.
She proved that the weight rise was
justified, though, by winning the Cheshire Oaks by 1¾ lengths, eased
down, on her next start at Chester. Winning jockey Frankie Dettori
said afterwards, “She’s a very nice filly, who is improving all
the time. She is beginning to know what she is doing.”
The daughter of Nathaniel certainly
knew what she was doing by the time she arrived at Epsom for the Oaks
proper, drawing clear in the closing stages to beat the odds-on
favourite, Rhododendron, by 5 lengths, with her old rival Alluringly
a further 6 lengths away in third.
She won at the Curragh, with a minimum
of fuss, to become a dual Oaks winner and moved on to Ascot for the
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, in which she faced older
horses, including colts, for the first time. Frankie Dettori wasted
down to 8st 7lb, his minimum riding weight all year, to take the ride
and Enable quickened clear in the closing stages to win by an
impressive 4½ lengths.
After another facile victory in the
Darley Yorkshire Oaks at York in August, at odds of ¼, Enable made
her final start of the season came in the Prix de l’Arc de
Triomphe, run at Chantilly during the redevelopment of Longchamp, in
October. Sent of 10/11 favourite, she was ridden clear 1½ furlongs
from home to beat Cloth Of Stars by 2½ lengths. Her Timeform rating
of 134 is only a few pounds behind the best fillies of the last five
decades or so and she stays in training as a four-year-old, so she
could still be better yet.
Bred by Sir James Goldsmith, owned by
Michael Tabor and trained by John Hammond in Chantilly, France, was a
bay gelding by Sadler’s Wells, probably best remembered for winning
the Derby, the Irish Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as a
3-year-old and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes
as a 4-year-old.
In fact, his victory in the latter
contest, in 2000, is widely considered the easiest since Nijinsky and
Lester Piggott toyed with the opposition three decades earlier.
Certainly, Montjeu started the shortest-priced favourite, at 1/3,
since Nashwan, at 2/9, beat Cacoethes by a neck in 1989. Facing just
six rivals, all of whom had 11lb or more to find on official figures,
Montjeu made progress from the rear of the field with two furlongs to
run and cruised home by 1¾ lengths from Fantastic Light with jockey
Mick Kinane barely moving in the saddle. Kevin Darley, rider of the
fourth home, Beat All, said afterwards, “It looked as if he
[Monjeu] had just joined in at the turn.”
Montjeu ran his last race at Churchill
Downs, Kentucky, in November, 2000, finishing a never-nearer seventh
of 13, beaten 4½ lengths, behind Kalanisi in the Breeders’ Cup
Turf. At the end of his racing career, he had won 11 of his 16 races,
including six at the highest level and earned over £2.2 million in
total prize money. His Timeform rating of 137 was the same as that
achieved by Derby winners Grundy, Troy and Peintre Celebre.
He was retired to Coolmore Stud, Co.
Tipperary for the start of the 2001 breeding season, initially with a
stud fee of £30,000. However, Montjeu proved extraordinarily
successful as a stallion, siring Motivator, Authorized, Pour Moi and
Camelot, winners of the Derby in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012
respectively. Consequently, his stud fee rose considerably, to as
high as €125,000 in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
When he died in 2012, due to
complications arising from acute septicaemia, trainer John Hammond
said, “He was a wonderful racehorse and a wonderful stallion. If
you wanted to get yourself a Derby horse, he was your man. If he had
been human, he would have been an eccentric genius.”
The Oaks at Epsom Downs Racecourse is the second fillies'
only Classic of the British Flat horse racing calendar.
Two trainers in particular, Aidan O'Brien and John Gosden, have
dominated the 1m 4f test for three-year-olds on this undulating
racetrack in recent years - winning six of the last seven renewals
between them.
Ahead of this year's running of the Epsom Oaks on Friday, May 31,
who are the leading contenders for Classic glory at the Surrey venue?
Pink Dogwood
If the betting on The Oaks is anything to go by, then
favorite Pink Dogwood is the main O'Brien hope from his
Ballydoyle stables. This filly is out of Epsom Derby winner
Camelot and her sire won three Classics in all back in 2012,
with 2000 Guineas success at Newmarket and later the Irish Derby
at The Curragh.
Pink Dogwood's damsire, meanwhile, was the prolific stallion
Shamardal who landed the French Derby. As thoroughbred pedigrees go,
she has the ideal breeding to get the trip.
What has Pink Dogwood done on the track, though? She got a mile as
a juvenile and was unlucky to finish fifth in the Group 1 Prix Marcel
Boussac during Arc weekend at Longchamp in Paris last October.
Although swamped and short of room that day so she was unable to
mount a challenge, Pink Dogwood has come out and won a Listed event
at Navan on her return to action over 1m 2f under a hands and
heels ride in ready fashion. There is clearly more to come from her
and she looks sure to feature among many
experts' Epsom Oaks betting tips as a result.
Mehdaayih
The leading British contender, meanwhile, looks to be Mehdaayih.
Trained by Gosden, this daughter of the mighty Frankel could attempt
this trip which is something her sire never tried in his glittering
career, but she'll have to be supplemented by her owner.
Any worries about her lasting this distance can be quickly belayed
by the fact that Frankel was out of Epsom and Irish Derby winner
Galileo. Again, such a pedigree strongly suggests Mehdaayih will have
the stamina to last a mile-and-a-half.
After winning her final start as a
juvenile, she bolted up by 14 lengths on reappearance on
an artificial surface before returning
to turf with a visually impressive 4 1/2 lengths victory
in the Cheshire Oaks.
That is a key trial for the Epsom equivalent because that race
distance is just over 1m 3f, and the emphatic nature of both her wins
this season means Mehdaayih commands the utmost respect.
Hermosa
Only the late, great Sir Henry Cecil has trained more winners of
The Oaks in modern times than O'Brien, and another of his leading
Irish raiders is the 1000 Guineas heroine Hermosa.
She was given a bold, enterprising ride on the front end by Wayne
Lordan at Newmarket when landing that Classic on the Rowley Mile.
Such is the curious world of equine thoroughbreds that
Hermosa is Mehdaayih's aunt as she's by Galileo out of a Pivotal
mare.
Unlike some of the other Epsom Oaks contenders, she had plenty of
racing as a two-year-old but is clearly bred to come into her
own this year. O'Brien is already talking
up an English Classic double following her length victory over
Lady Kaya.
There were no excuses for those in-behind Hermosa, but the
difference between the Guineas and Oaks is four furlongs - half a
mile. That greater stamina test will suit some that could take her on
again at Epsom better.
Maqsad
Like Mehdaayih, the William Haggas trained Maqsad is related to
Hermosa through Galileo who is her damsire. This filly is
unbeaten in two starts as a three-year-old and has already stepped up
to 1m 2f when taking the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket by a
decisive five lengths.
She does have juvenile form from
Yarmouth to turnaround with her cousin, however, and both have
clearly trained on. Maqsad had her Newmarket rivals well strung out
behind her, but the same can be said of Mehdaayih.
It makes choosing between them tough.
As Maqsad is available ante-post at bigger odds, she represents
solid each-way value and The Oaks must come into consideration for
her connections now. She does have lots
of options in both France and the UK.
Wherever Maqsad lines up next, and that could include the French
Oaks or the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot, her progression this
season certainly suggests she is a group calibre filly in the making.
Enable is looking to achieve what no horse in the history of the
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe has been able to do when she lines up at
Longchamp in Paris in October: three victories in the most
prestigious flat race in Europe.
Eight horses have been able to land the Arc twice, with Treve and
Enable being the most recent ones. Treve attempted the hat-trick in
2015 but she had to settle for fourth place on that occasion in the
race that was won by Golden Horn.
A stellar season - the brilliant Enable, crowned Cartier Horse of the Year at last night's Cartier Racing Awards... pic.twitter.com/cT69U3W9eB
Enable, who is a daughter of Nathaniel, dominated her
three-year-old campaign on the track, winning the Oaks, Irish Oaks,
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Yorkshire Oaks before
her opening success in the Arc.
Unfortunately for those connected to the horse and for racing
fans, we did not see much of her in 2018 as an injury ruled her out
for the opening three-quarters of the season. She made a return to
the track at Kempton on the all-weather surface in the September
Stakes where she
scored by just over three lengths.
Enable Holds Sea of Class to Defend Arc Crown
In the 2018 Arc, Franke Dettori opted to make his drive for the
winning line at the two-furlong pole and he was chased home by Sea of
Class, who finished just a short-head behind her rival in what proved
to be a thrilling finish to the 1m4f contest.
Seven horses have tried to win the Arc on their second run of the year this century
Enable could meet Sea of Class once again in the same race in
October where the defending champion is 11/4
in the horse racing betting to make history by completing her
hat-trick at Longchamp.
The reigning Arc winner did not stop at Longchamp for the season
in 2018. A month later, she went across to the United States where
she became the first horse to score in the Arc and a Breeders’ Cup
race in the same year. Enable
lined up in the Breeders’ Cup Turf and along with Magical, the
pair went clear of the opposition from North America to fight it out
between them at the finish. Dettori was just able to get to a little
more from his horse to prevail by just under a length.
Enable Set to Run at Epsom in Coronation Cup
John Gosden’s mare is set to make her seasonal reappearance in
the Coronation Cup at Epsom on May 31. If successful, it will be her
eighth Group One success and will bring her unbeaten record up to 10
races.
The Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot is also likely to be
on Enable’s radar this season but Gosden is unlikely to over-run
his mare in what could be a lightly campaigned year to ensure she is
fresh for her main target at the end of the year.
Challengers to Enable in the Arc this year are likely to come from
Too Darn Hot, who is tipped to be the leading three-year-old in the
UK this season, while 2018 Derby winner Masar could be a strong
challenger on his return from injury.
The 2019 Arc takes place on October 6 in what will be the 98th
running of the turf race this year.
