Kalpana hangs on over longshot Sparan Nua in Yorkshire Oaks
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Last month, Kalpana won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes by a clear margin over Calandagan, rated best horse in the world last year. Thursday at York, she won the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks by a whisker over 29-1 shot Sparan Nua.
The verdict went to the judges and Kalpana came up a nose better than Sparan Nua, who probably would have won barring compromising trouble three furlongs from the finish of the 1 1/2-mile Yorkshire Oaks.
Colin Keane rode Kalpana for trainer Andrew Balding and the mare’s breeder, Juddmonte, the same connections that landed the Group 1 International with Item on the Wednesday program of York’s Ebor Festival.
Since July 10, Balding has won five Group 1s with three Juddmonte horses: Kalpana, Item, and Blue Bolt.
A runaway pacemaker muddled Thursday’s contest, Sugar Island roaring off to a lead of more than 20 lengths, which she held well into York’s five-furlong home straight. Keane was the first to go after her, Kalpana quickly responding, pouncing on Sugar Island with a little more than a furlong remaining. Rather than put the race to bed, Kalpana lost most of her momentum while drifting right as Sparan Nua emerged from the pack behind her.
A 3-year-old filly trained by her breeder, Jim Bolger, Sparan Nua finished third in the Irish Oaks and was making her first start over a course with ample give in the ground. Whatever the reason, she ran the race of her life under Rossa Ryan, who found his path blocked 600 yards from the finish when Earth Shot and Johanna Walsh came together in front of him.
Minnie Hauk finished third, 2 1/2 lengths behind the top pair. Irish Oaks winner Johanna Walsh disappointed as the co-second choice, checking in a well-beaten sixth.
Kalpana, by Study of Man out of Zero Gravity, by Dansili, no sports a 9-6-2 mark from 18 starts, and is a four-time Group 1 winner. She could return to the Arc, where Kalpana finished seventh last year, or await the British Champions Fillies and Mares, which Kalpana won the last two years.
The Yorkshire Oaks is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series but no one in Kalpana’s camp mentioned a trip to Keeneland this fall.
The winner of the card’s other Breeders’ Cup Challenge race, the Group 2 Lowther for 2-year-old fillies, does have an American start on her agenda this fall. Libertango closed from several lengths off the pace, reeling in favored Star of State to win the six-furlong Lowther by a half-length. The daughter of No Nay Never has three wins and a solid second from her four starts, goes next in the Group 1 Cheveley Park, trainer George Boughey said, and then on to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
The Goffs Half-Million, a rich sales stakes, also might have yielded a Breeders’ Cup runner in Sun Goddess, who found comprising trouble two furlongs from the finish of the six-furlong Goffs yet still posted a six-length victory. The odds-on favorite, Sun Goddess found her path blocked by a wall of horses, getting into dangerously tight quarters before Ryan Moore steered the filly out into the clear, where she lengthened her stride and put on a show.
Beaten one length by Libertango in the Albany at Royal Ascot, Sun Goddess, a Sioux Nation filly trained by Aidan O’Brien, could stretch out to a mile, which would put the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in play.
Notable Speech headlines York Stakes
Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Notable Speech will try to get his campaign back on track Saturday at York in the Group 1 York Stakes over seven furlongs.
Notable Speech suffered through an impossible trip finishing fourth in the Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland this April, went back to England and won the Group 1 J.T. Lockinge, but could only finish sixth of nine in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, his most recent start.
Only once in his career has Notable Speech raced over less than a mile, but the six-furlong July Cup last summer is a totally different beast than the seven-furlong York. Saturday’s race comes a week later than the Jacques Le Marois, which Notable Speech won last year before going on to capture the Woodbine Mile and then the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
At his best, Notable Speech wins the York, but on Thursday he sat as a relatively tepid 3-1 favorite in antepost wagering. William Buick rides for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin.
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