Bolger has amazing day at Doncaster and Saint-Cloud

Irish legend Jim Bolger bred Saturday’s winner of the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud in France and trained the winner of the Group 1 Vertem Futurity in England.

At Doncaster, Mac Swiney slogged his way through heavy ground that led to the defection of antepost favorite Wembley and won the Vertem Futurity by three-quarters of a length over strong favorite One Ruler.

Wembley was scratched Saturday morning after jockey Ryan Moore told Aidan O’Brien, Wembley’s trainer, that the going was extremely heavy. It’s possible Wembley could be rerouted to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

As for Mac Swiney, Bolger, 79, bred and owns him, too, mating New Approach, whom Bolger trained, with Halla Na Saoire, a mare by Teofilo, whom Bolger also trained. Mac Swiney has mixed strong performances with weak this year, beating the good colt Cadillac in the Group 2 Futurity Stakes at The Curragh, a performance sandwiched between eighth- and ninth-place finishes.

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Saturday, under Kevin Manning, Mac Swiney was back on his game, plugging gamely along to beat back a strong challenge a furlong out from eventual third-place finisher Baradar and hold clear a sustained effort from One Ruler. It took Mac Swiney, whom Bolger hopes will be a 2021 Derby horse, nearly 1:42 to cover the straight mile, a sign of how laboring were the conditions at Doncaster.

The ground Saturday at Saint-Cloud also was heavy and likely contributed to Gear Up’s 27-1 upset over 16-1 Botanik in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud.

Solidly favored Makaloun, unbeaten in four starts, never traveled like a winner and ground out a third-place finish just in front of the Group 1-winning filly, Tiger Tanaka. Gear Up, bred in Ireland by Bolger, is a son of Teofilo and the Toccet mare, Gearanai, and he struck a blow for the Royal Lodge Stakes last month in England, a race in which Gear Up finished fourth. New Mandate, the Royal Lodge winner, is expected to race in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Gear Up, in from England for trainer Mark Johnston and ridden by James Doyle, raced from the front end, was briefly displaced on the lead, but scrambled back on top to win by a head.

More impressive on Saturday at Saint-Cloud was the O’Brien-trained Van Gogh, who burst through along the stand’s side rail in mid-stretch and went on to a four-length win over Normandy Bridge. La Barrosa, the tepid favorite over Van Gogh, finished last.

Van Gogh, with Pierre-Charles Boudot in the irons Saturday, is the first European Group 1 winner for sire American Pharoah. Van Gogh’s dam is Imagine, by Sadler’s Wells.

Van Gogh had already placed in a pair of Group stakes races before he notched a maiden win Sept. 27 in Ireland. He then placed behind One Ruler in the Autumn Stakes over soft ground before rolling through the heavy going at Saint-Cloud for his first major victory.