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Royal Ascot Heroes Lead Race Towards Cartier Awards 2011 Cartier Racing Awards are bestowed upon European horseracing’s elite performers and the five days of Royal Ascot last week provided the consummate setting for a whole array of such luminaries to stake claims for the coveted end of season honours.
Among the plentiful highlights, Frankel retained his unbeaten record with a cardiac arresting triumph; Canford Cliffs enhanced his standing with victory over the great Goldikova; Rewilding overcame the Australian legend So You Think; and Fame And Glory took a confident step into the breach left by the supreme Yeats. Established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing, the Cartier Awards are determined by points earned by horses in Pattern races throughout 2011, combined at the end of season with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists and votes from readers of the Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph. In addition to the eight equine awards, the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit goes to the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special 18-strong Cartier Jury, has/have done the most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months. European horseracing’s equivalent of the Oscars will be presented on the evening of Tuesday, November 15, during a glittering ceremony before an invited audience at London’s Dorchester Hotel. After his astounding QIPCO 2,000 Guineas triumph on April 30, Frankel was expected to win the Group One St James’s Palace Stakes on Royal Ascot’s opening day, Tuesday, June 14. On that front, Sir Henry Cecil’s charge duly delivered, but supporters of the Khalid Abdulla-owned homebred had to sweat through the final furlong of the mile contest. Having opened up a wide lead over his rivals with more than three furlongs to race, the Galileo colt’s raking stride began to shorten markedly inside the distance. Simultaneously, the rapidly advancing form of Zoffany bore down upon the 30/100 favourite. However, Frankel arrived at the winning post three quarters of a length ahead of the Aidan O’Brien-trained runner-up. Frankel increased his Cartier Racing Awards points haul to 104, placing him at the head of both the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt division and the Cartier Horse Of The Year category. Stalking Frankel in the Cartier Three-Year-Old category is the Andre Fabre-trained Pour Moi, brilliant winner of the Investec Derby at Epsom, who has 66 points. Canford Cliffs, trained by Richard Hannon, now has 64 points and lies second in the Cartier Older Horse category, while Goldikova, who won the division in 2009 and 2010, is on 48. Godolphin’s Rewilding tops the Cartier Older Horse standings with 72 points following a thrilling neck victory over the O’Brien-trained So You Think (52 points) in the Group One Prince Of Wales’s Stakes over 10 furlongs on Wednesday, June 15. Ryan Moore sent the imposing former Australian superstar So You Think for home with over a quarter of a mile remaining and the meeting’s leading rider looked to have landed the spoils aboard the 4/11 favourite but Frankie Dettori timed his challenge to perfection aboard Dubai Sheema Classic hero Rewilding who gamely gained the upper hand for a neck success. Yeats was named Cartier Champion Stayer in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 on the back of his four Gold Cup triumphs at Royal Ascot and another Ballydoyle star, Fame And Glory, is on a good footing to emulate the great horse after landing the spoils in the two and a half mile Group One showpiece on Thursday, June 16. Successful at the highest level previously in the 2009 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby and 2010 Investec Coronation Cup, Fame And Glory has 48 points this year and sits at the top of the Cartier Stayer division after posting a commanding three-length win from Godolphin’s Opinion Poll (27), with the Fabre-trained Brigantin (29) third. The Robert Collet-trained Immortal Verse (64) stormed up the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly points standings with a breathtaking last-to-first victory in the Group One Coronation Stakes on Friday, June 17. That win sees the Pivotal filly rise to second place, behind the Fabre-trained dual French Classic winner Golden Lilac (72), who added to her Poule d’Essai des Pouliches triumph with an impressive victory in the Group One Prix de Diane - Longines at Chantilly on June 12. QIPCO 1,000 Guineas winner Blue Bunting (54) is third in the category, while Investec Oaks heroine Dancing Rain has 48 points, the equal of Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Misty For Me and Together. The Cartier Sprinter division sprang to life at the Royal Meeting with the Robert Cowell-trained Prohibit (45) clinching the five-furlong Group One King’s Stand Stakes and the James Fanshawe-trained Society Rock (48) scoring in the Group One Golden Jubilee Stakes over six furlongs from Monsieur Chevalier (24). Australian raider Star Witness (24) was runner-up in the former race and third in the latter. With Frankel (104) at the top of the Cartier Horse Of The Year standings, followed by Golden Lilac (72), Rewilding (72), Pour Moi (66), Canford Cliffs (64) and Immortal Verse (64), the 2011 season is shaping up to be a thriller and then there is last year’s Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt winner, Investec Derby and Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero, Workforce, who has yet to step out in Group One company this season after a winning reappearance. The latest betting from Ladbrokes on the Cartier Horse Of The Year is 5/2 Frankel (from 9/4) & Canford Cliffs (from 10/1), 5/1 So You Think (from 9/4) & Pour Moi, 7/1 Workforce (from 10/1), 8/1 Goldikova (from 5/1). Harry Herbert, Cartier’s racing consultant, commented today: “Royal Ascot served up a treat for its tercentenary celebration with excellence in abundance thanks to outstanding performances from some of the sport’s star names. “The victories of Frankel and Canford Cliffs bring closer the fascinating prospect of a clash between those two brilliant milers, while a rematch between So You Think and Rewilding is a race that everyone would want to see. “This has been flagged as a potential vintage year and when you throw Workforce, Goldikova, Pour Moi, Fame And Glory and Golden Lilac into the mix, to name just some of the wonderful talent illuminating European racing in 2011, one can understand why.”
CARTIER AWARDS 2011 LATEST POINTS STANDINGS CARTIER HORSE OF THE YEAR CARTIER THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT CARTIER THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY CARTIER OLDER HORSE CARTIER SPRINTER CARTIER STAYER |
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