Gustav Klimt, Nelson, Who’s Steph win Leopardstown stakes

Gustav Klimt, Nelson, and Who’s Steph were the winners of the three classic prep races on Saturday at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland, but what exactly that means is uncertain.

The Leopardstown course for the second day in a row was rated “heavy,” and times were glacially slow. Radical conditions produce unreliable results, and it would be unwise to put too much stock in performances good or bad in these three races.

Still, Gustav Klimt got the obligatory price slash by English bookmakers taking antepost action for the English 2000 Guineas after he captured the listed 2000 Guineas Trial Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths over Imaging. Aidan O’Brien trains the winner, third-place finisher Kenya, and U S Navy Flag, who trailed home in the four-horse field, evidently unable to cope with the testing turf in his first start since a failed dirt experiment in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

While U S Navy Flag had the best 2-year-old form in the race, including a win over Mendelssohn in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes, Gustav Klimt had shown his chops in overcoming trouble to win the Group 2 Superlative Stakes over six furlongs at Newmarket when last seen in action July 15. On Saturday, under Ryan Moore, he raced at the back of the small pack early before presenting his challenge about a quarter-mile out and going on to a convincing score over Imaging, a Dermot Weld-trained Juddmonte colt who might also be all right. Just how demanding were the conditions?

Gustav Klimt, a son of Galileo and the Danehill mare Massarra, was timed in 1:38.60 for seven furlongs.

In the Group 3 Ballysax Stakes, a prep aimed at derbies rather than guineas races, Nelson bested three rivals while covering 1 1/4 miles in a 1 1/2-mile sort of time, 2:26.58. O’Brien had said earlier in the week that Nelson was the most likely of his three entrants to handle the conditions, and Nelson, taking the early lead under Donnacha O’Brien, held off stablemate Delano Roosevelt to win by a half-length.

Finishing third, more than eight lengths back, was The Pentagon, who might be the most talented of the O’Brien trio in the Ballysax but requires better ground for his talent to shine. Nelson, who ended his 2-year-old campaign by finishing second to Roaring Lion in the Group 2 Royal Lodge, is a son of Frankel and the Dalakhani mare Moonstone.

The Group 3 1000 Guineas Trial Stakes was somehow even slower, with the victorious Who’s Steph stopping the timer in 1:39.01 for her seven furlongs. Trained by Ger Lyons, Who’s Steph won by 1 1/2 lengths over Yulong Gold Fairy, with I Can Fly, the top finisher among four for O’Brien, another half-length back in third. Colin Keane rode the winner (by Zoffany and out of Llew Law by Verglas), who might be all right. Who’s Steph was making her 3-year-old debut after scoring an easy win second out last year at Naas.