Europe: Teona surprises Snowfall in Prix Vermeille
Snowfall fell to upstart Teona in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille on Sunday at Longchamp, toppling her from her long-held perch as antepost favorite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe next month in Paris.
Teona, 10th behind victorious Snowfall in the Oaks at Epsom, got first run on the odds-on Vermeille favorite, though jockey Olivier Peslier’s attempt to scoot up the fence was thwarted and Teona took a hearty bump when Peslier switched her off the rail for running room with about a quarter-mile left in the 1 1/2-mile Vermeille. Nevertheless, Teona righted herself, opened a clear lead, and comfortably held clear Snowfall for a 1 1/2-length victory.
Snowfall won the Oaks by a remarkable 16 lengths, captured the Irish Oaks by 8 1/2 lengths, and last month in England won the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks by four lengths. Between her awesome form and the massive weight break given to 3-year-old fillies, Snowfall looked tailor-made for the Arc, but after Sunday’s disappointing showing British bookmakers were offering her at 4-1 or 5-1 with Tarnawa and Adayar now the early favorites.
Teona, a Sea the Stars filly trained by Roger Varian, won her first Group stakes in the Vermeille and now is a possible Arc runner herself. The O’Brien-trained Joan of Arc also turned in a subpar performance and checked in last, this not long after Bolshoi Ballet was scratched from the Group 2 Prix Niel, where he would’ve been favored.
The scratch came Sunday when it was discovered Bolshoi Ballet’s vaccination for equine influenza fell outside the six-month window set by French racing authorities. In his absence, Bubble Gift, rallying from last, got up by about one inch over Baby Rider in this Arc prep race restricted to 3-year-olds and ran over 1 1/2 miles. Gerald Mosse rode the winner, a son of Nathaniel, for trainer Mikel Delzangles,
Japanese shipper Deep Bond set a slow pace under Cristian Demuro and won the card’s third Arc trial, the Group 2 Prix Foy for older horses, by 1 1/2 lengths over the O’Brien-trained Broome. Cutting back from two miles and starting for the first time since May, Deep Bond galloped this field into submission when put on the lead right from the start and now is a general 20-1 shot for the Arc.
*** Ireland
Love took a surprise defeat in the Group 2 Blandford Stakes as Romantic Proposal and Discoveries won Breeders’ Cup Challenge races Sunday at The Curragh in Ireland.
Romantic Proposal won the five-furlong Flying Five Stakes, a “Win and You’re In” race linked to the BC Turf Sprint, by a half-length over longshot A Case of You, with 2020 BC Turf Sprint winner Glass Slippers another neck behind in third. Romantic Proposal, a 5-year-old Raven’s Pass mare trained by Edward Lynam, won for the first time at the Group 1 level.
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Discoveries ran down Agartha to post a half-length win in the Group 1, seven-furlong Moyglare Stud Stakes earning automatic fees-paid entry into the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. Her trainer, Jessica Harrington, and even more so the Niarchos family, the filly’s owner and breeder, regularly ship to race in America. Discoveries is by Mastercraftsman out of Alpha Lupi, making her a sister to Group 1 winners Alpha Centauri and Alpine Star.
Point Lonsdale was heavily favored in the Group 1 National Stakes for 2-year-olds over seven furlongs but proved no match for Native Trail, who stormed to a 3 1/2-length victory for Godolphin, trainer Charlie Appleby, and jockey William Buick. Native Trail, unbeaten in three starts, is by Oasis Dream out of Needleleaf, by Observatory, and while he could race again this season Appleby termed him an unlikely runner in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
Meanwhile, Love, dropping out of Group 1 competition for the first time in nine starts, saw her losing streak reach three as La Petite Coco ran her down in the 1 1/4-mile Blandford. Love got a good trip under Ryan Moore and had the lead in the final furlong, but 3-year-old filly La Petite Coco, getting nine pounds from her older rival, ran Love down.
Sonnyboyliston won the Irish St. Leger, the fourth Group 1 Sunday at The Curragh.