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So You Think Closes on Frankel in Race for Cartier Awards So You Think moved to within four points of Cartier Horse Of The Year pace-setter Frankel with a brilliant victory at Leopardstown on September 3, while an array of fabulous performances from fellow leading candidates in Ireland, France and England saw the race for Cartier Awards honours intensify. 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 those 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. So You Think, the outstanding champion of the Australian racing scene before his relocation to Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle Stables in Ireland ahead of the current season, made it four wins from five starts this year when landing the Group One Red Mills Irish Champion Stakes from the 2010 Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Award winner, Snow Fairy. The imposing High Chaparral five-year-old, whose only defeat this term came when a narrow second to the ill-fated Rewilding in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, now has 132 points against Frankel’s 136, thanks to his half-length verdict over last year’s dual Oaks heroine in Leopardstown’s prestigious 10-furlong contest. So You Think now heads the Cartier Older Horse division from the Sir Henry Cecil-trained multiple Group One-winning mare Midday (100 points). The great miler Goldikova has won 14 Group/Grade One contests and last year’s Cartier Horse of The Year has 96 points, while Cirrus Des Aigles leapt to 84 points with his fourth win of the season in the Group Two Lucien Barriere Grand Prix de Deauville on August 28. Sarafina (80) has next month’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as her target and the Aga Khan’s homebred four-year-old filly unleashed an impressive turn of foot to win one of the leading trials for that showpiece, the Group Two Qatar Prix Foy on Arc Trials Day at Longchamp, on September 11. That narrow win moved Alain de Royer-Dupre’s charge into Cartier Older Horse contention. Crack miler Canford Cliffs, retired due to injury, also has 80 points. Dream Ahead (80) swept to the head of the Cartier Sprinter Award standings and also improved his position in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt division with a second Group One win of the year in the six-furlong Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock on September 3, in which he beat Bated Breath (40) by a nose in a thrilling finish. The mighty Frankel, trained by Sir Henry Cecil to win each of his eight career starts, sits in pole position in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt standings as he bids to add to last year’s triumph in the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Award. His nearest rival for that accolade is the Aidan O’Brien-trained Group One Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby and Grade One Secretariat Stakes hero Treasure Beach (108) with Dream Ahead next best. Reliable Man (72), trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, re-entered the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt Award equation with an impressive success at Longchamp on Sunday, September 11. The Prix du Jockey Club hero had lost his unbeaten tag when a below-par fourth to Meandre in the Group One Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris in July, but bounced back with a two-length win over that rival in the Group Two Qatar Prix Niel and now heads to the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Galikova (72), half-sister to the great Goldikova, enhanced her chances of Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly recognition with an impressive win in the 12-furlong Group One Qatar Prix Vermeille, also at Longchamp on September 11. Her only reversal in five starts this term came when second, beaten a length, to the dual Classic heroine Golden Lilac (76) in the Prix de Diane - Longines at Chantilly in June. The Aidan O’Brien-trained Power (64) stormed to the head of the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt standings at the Curragh on September 10, with a half-length verdict over Dragon Pulse (32) in the Goffs National Stakes. French-trained duo Dabirsim and Family One both have 40 points, although the former defeated the latter by three lengths when maintaining his unbeaten status in last month’s Group One Darley Prix Morny. Opinion Poll heads the Cartier Stayer Award standings with 69 points. The Godolphin five-year-old has landed the Group Two Artemis Goodwood Cup and Group Two Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup since failing to peg back Fame And Glory (51) in the Group One Ascot Gold Cup in June, but was no match for three-year-old Saddler’s Rock when second in the Group Two Stobart Doncaster Cup on September 9. Duncan (48) was second to Opinion Poll in the Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup at York in August and had Fame And Glory back in fourth when dead-heating for first place with Jukebox Jury in the Group One Irish Field St Leger on September 10. Harry Herbert, Cartier’s racing consultant, commented today: “The sense of excitement and anticipation at what lies before us in the final two months of this season is almost palpable. “Trials day at Longchamp on Sunday thoroughly whetted the appetite for the big day itself in Paris on October 2, and QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot 13 days later is also shaping to be an epic event, particularly given the planned participation of the mighty Frankel, who will attempt to extend his unbeaten record and feed his growing legend. “Events in the past few weeks have emphasised what an exceptionally good season we have been privileged to enjoy. The depth of talent on show is remarkable and, with such a quantity of top-class horses competing, there are likely to be a few twists and turns before the Cartier Awards are presented on November 15.” |
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