 |
|
|
|
|
Cartier Racing Awards 2010 |
| Tweet |
racing news /
Americain Strikes Down Under as Cartier Focus Shifts to America 05/11/10
Americain became the third European-trained winner of the Group One Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse, Australia, on Tuesday, November 2, and the victory sees him emerge as a leading contender for the 2010 Cartier Stayer Award.
 |
Trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre accompanied the five-year-old from his Chantilly, France, base to clinch the “race that stops a nation” under Gerald Mosse by two and three quarter lengths from Maluckyday, with Australian champion So You Think back in third.
Vintage Crop (1993) and Media Puzzle (2002), both trained in Ireland by Dermot Weld, are the other European winners of the race.
Americain completed a five-timer in becoming the first French-trained winner of the famous two-mile handicap, having prepared for the contest with wins in the Group Three Centrebet.com Geelong Cup down under on October 20 and the Group Two Darley Prix Kergorlay at Deauville, France, in August.
The Dynaformer horse now has 64 points for his performances in Pattern races in the Cartier Stayer category, placing him second behind dual Group One winner Gentoo (72 points). Group One Ascot Gold Cup hero Rite Of Passage has 48 points, while Celtic Celeb and The Irish Field Irish St Leger victor Sans Frontieres both have 32 points.
The Cartier Racing Awards recognise excellence in horseracing and the awards are the sport’s equivalent of the Oscars. Split into eight categories for the year’s top horses, including the particularly coveted Cartier Horse Of The Year, the awards are determined by points earned in Pattern races combined, at the end of the season, with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists, as well as votes from readers of the Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph.
European horseracing’s most prestigious accolades will be presented for the 20th time on November 16, during a glittering ceremony before an invited audience in the ballroom of London’s Dorchester Hotel.
The Cartier Racing Awards were established in 1991 to recognise the achievements of racehorses in Europe. The awards also include the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award Of Merit for the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special 18-strong Cartier Jury, has/have done most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months.
The Cartier Two-Year-old Colt division was shaken up once again at the weekend when the Aidan O’Brien-trained Roderic O’Connor annexed the Group One Criterium International at Saint-Cloud, France. The Galileo colt took his points haul to 48 points, equal with the unbeaten Henry Cecil-trained Frankel, to whom he finished second in the Group One Dubai Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket on October 16.
Group One winners Pathfork and Zoffany also have 48 points but the division is still jointly headed on 64 by Group One Racing Post Trophy winner Casamento and Dream Ahead, successful in the Group One Darley Prix Morny and Group One Shadwell Middle Park Stakes. Dual Group Two winner Approve remains on 54 points after finishing eighth in the Group Two Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte on November 1.
The great Goldikova already has the European record of 11 Group One wins to her name and goes for an unprecedented third TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile victory at Churchill Downs, USA, on Saturday evening (November 6). The Freddy Head-trained five-year-old, winner of last year’s Cartier Older Horse Award, currently tops both the Cartier Older Horse and Horse Of The Year categories with 144 points. However, her chance of breaking the Breeders’ Cup record has not been helped by being drawn 10 of the 11 runners in the American race.
 |
Workforce, the brilliant winner of the Investec Derby at Epsom Downs and Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, currently has 104 points and Sir Michael Stoute’s charge is out to strengthen his claims for Cartier Awards honours in the Grade One Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf.
The Khalid Abdulla-owned three-year-old is fourth at present in the Pattern race points standings for the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt category behind Canford Cliffs (140), Cape Blanco (136) and Dick Turpin (112) but victory on Saturday would change all that.
Abdulla also has Midday in the running for Cartier honours and Breeders’ Cup glory, with the Cecil-trained Oasis Dream filly seeking back-to-back wins in the Grade One Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Friday, November 5.
Midday has 104 points as she chases Cartier Older Horse recognition, having triumphed this summer in the Group One Blue Square Nassau Stakes, Group One Darley Yorkshire Oaks and Group One Qatar Prix Vermeille.
Dual Oaks heroine Snow Fairy remains clear in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly category with 118 points, while two-time Group One winner Misty For Me stays at the top of an unchanged Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly division with 72 points.
There are no changes to the Cartier Sprinter category, with Starspangledbanner (112) still in the vanguard.
Harry Herbert, Cartier’s racing consultant, commented today: “Americain’s stunning victory in Australia’s greatest race is in keeping with the excitement we have enjoyed throughout the 2010 Flat racing season.
“The thrills are not over yet, however, and all eyes will now focus on Churchill Downs as a strong party of top-class European raiders prepares to battle it out with the best America has to offer.
“The Cartier Racing Awards are all about rewarding excellence and I am sure we will see that in abundance in Kentucky on Friday and Saturday.”
For more information, please contact Harry Herbert, Cartier’s racing consultant (01488 669166), Sima Bibi of Cartier (020 7408 5740) or Mark Popham of Racenews (020 7704 0326)
CARTIER AWARDS 2010 LATEST POINTS STANDINGS
(points from performances in Pattern races up to and including November 2, 2010)
CARTIER HORSE OF THE YEAR
GOLDIKOVA 144
CANFORD CLIFFS 140
TWICE OVER 140
CAPE BLANCO 136
CARTIER OLDER HORSE
GOLDIKOVA 144
TWICE OVER 140
STARSPANGLEDBANNER 112
MIDDAY 104
RIP VAN WINKLE 104
CARTIER THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT
CANFORD CLIFFS 140
CAPE BLANCO 136
DICK TURPIN 112
WORKFORCE 104
CARTIER THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY
SNOW FAIRY 118
SPECIAL DUTY 98
MUSIC SHOW 84
SARAFINA 84
CARTIER TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT
CASAMENTO 64
DREAM AHEAD 64
APPROVE 54
FRANKEL 48
PATHFORK 48
RODERIC O'CONNOR 48
ZOFFANY 48
CARTIER TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY
MISTY FOR ME 72
HOORAY 60
WHITE MOONSTONE 56
LAUGHING LASHES 36
CARTIER STAYER
GENTOO 72
AMERICAIN 64
RITE OF PASSAGE 48
CELTIC CELEB 32
SANS FRONTIERES 32
CARTIER SPRINTER
STARSPANGLEDBANNER 112
EQUIANO 72
MARKAB 52
LADY OF THE DESERT 48
