Lake Victoria, Shadow of Light impress in Newmarket victories

Hard to say which 2-year-old sprinter more greatly impressed Saturday at Newmarket, the 2-year-old filly Lake Victoria for Coolmore and trainer Aidan O’Brien, or the 2-year-old colt Shadow of Light for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby.

Thirty-five minutes after Lake Victoria smashed six rivals in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes, winning by three lengths under Ryan Moore, Shadow of Light and William Buick swept past Moore and the O’Brien-trained favorite Whistlejacket to win the Group 1 Middle Park by four lengths.

The colt won by a wider margin, but the filly ran the faster six furlongs over soft going, 1:11.94 to Shadow of Light’s 1:12.29.

Lake Victoria, now 4 for 4, has the look of a budding star. She’s by Frankel, a great source of turf stamina, and out of the Showcasing mare Quiet Reflection, a Group 1 winner over six furlongs. Lake Victoria’s first three races, including the Group 1 Moyglare Stud on Sept. 15, came over seven furlongs, but O’Brien said that even before the Moyglare Stud he’d planned to cut Lake Victoria back to six in the Cheveley Park.

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No problem. Prominent from the start while leading a group of three racing much closer to the stands’ side rail than the Cheveley Park’s other quartet, Lake Victoria bounded clear through the final furlong, with Daylight, who’d been third facing males in the Group 1 Prix Morny, along for second. Longshot Arabian Dusk finished third, with Babouche, favored before a surge of late money for Lake Victoria, a fairly disappointing fourth, her first loss after three victories.

O’Brien suggested that Lake Victoria could still make one more start this year in the Group 1 Fillies Mile on Oct. 11 over this same Newmarket course.

Shadow of Light won his first two, was a competitive second making his stakes debut in the Group 2 Gimcrack at York, and came far forward Saturday in the Middle Park. Buick plunked him in behind odds-on favorite Whistlejacket, the Morny winner, who pulled harder than ideal while held just off a tepid tempo. A more relaxed Shadow of Light began his attack with a quarter-mile left to race and had no trouble sweeping past the favorite, with Whistlejacket staying on decently for second.

While Whistlejacket could be a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, Shadow of Light won’t race again this year, Appleby said. The colt, a homebred by Lope de Vega out of the New Approach mare Winters Moon, could be a horse next year for the six-furlong Commonwealth at Royal Ascot rather than the 2000 Guineas, his trainer said.

* Wimbledon Hawkeye started the 2-year-old stakes action with a 1 1/2-length tally over Royal Playwright in the Group 2 Royal Lodge, a straight mile that used to be part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf was mentioned as an outside possibility for Wimbledon Hawkeye, though post-race comments from his owner hinted that the colt, by Kameko, was more likely to stay home in England with trainer James Owen.

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