Luxembourg puts unbeaten record on line in Vertem Futurity
Fixed odds wagering on spring classic races starts early in England and the English Derby favorite sees action Saturday at Doncaster Racecourse in England.
Luxembourg has made Swiss cheese of 11 opponents in his two races, and he’s the odds-on favorite to give trainer Aidan O’Brien his 10th win in the Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes, formerly known as the Racing Post Trophy.
Luxembourg raced over one mile, the distance of his Saturday start, in his first two races, both in Ireland, but the Vertem Futurity presents a different set of circumstances. At Killarney in his debut and the Group 2 Beresford Stakes at The Curragh, Luxembourg raced around bends and up and down undulations. The Vertem Futurity is contested over a straight course that’s flat by European standards, but Luxembourg looks ready for a challenge.
Racing from last while facing just four in the Beresford, Luxembourg was tucked in behind rivals by Seamie Heffernan until about a quarter-mile remained, at which point Heffernan played his hand. By Camelot – who won the Futurity for O’Brien in 2011—Luxembourg didn’t display push-button acceleration, which is why he’s more a Derby hope than a horse for the 2000 Guineas, but once he picked up a head of steam, Luxembourg quickly opened daylight, drawing clear to post a 4 3/4-length win. Ryan Moore picks up the mount Saturday as Luxembourg steps up to meet tougher competition than he’s beaten.
Among seven opposing him, Royal Patronage and Bayside Boy are the most obvious threats. Bayside Boy, who was thought to be an intended runner in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, raced Oct. 9 in the Group 1 Dewhurst over a straight mile at Newmarket, where he broke slowly and rallied steadily to finish third, beaten 2 1/2 lengths by winning favorite Native Trail. In his previous race, Bayside Boy mastered the flat Doncaster mile, beating the talented colt Reach For The Moon in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes.
Royal Patronage finished a distant second to Native Trail in June but since has won three straight, including a narrow victory over the highly regarded Godolphin colt Coroebus in the one-mile Royal Lodge Stakes on Sept. 25 at Newmarket. Imperial Fighter, second to Royal Patronage in the Acomb Stakes in August and second by two lengths to Coroebus in the Autumn Stakes two weekends ago at Newmarket, was the only other entrant priced at single digit win odds as of Thursday.
Post time for the Vertem Futurity is 10:15 a.m. Eastern. You can catch all the action at DRFBets.com.
France
There’s Group 1 2-year-old racing Saturday in France, too, with Saint-Cloud hosting a pair of top-level fixtures, the Criterium International over one mile and the Criterium de Saint-Cloud over 1 1/4 miles.
Angel Bleu shipped from England to win the Group 1 Jean-Luc Lagardere on the Arc undercard Oct. 3 and returns for the Criterium International, but the heavy ground Angel Bleu relished at Longchamp earlier this month is unlikely at Saint-Cloud, where the course on Thursday was rated good to soft.
Ancient Rome, trained by Andre Fabre for the Coolmore team, finished third behind Angel Bleu in the Lagardere, ending his three-race winning streak, but likely will prefer Saturday’s drier conditions based on his established form. O’Brien sends in Glounthaune, who races for the third weekend in a row. Trainer Cedric Rossi, who won the Group 1 Champion Stakes last weekend at Ascot, runs Purplepay, who left behind provincial racecourses to crush 14 rivals Oct. 2 at Longchamps in a conditions stakes.
Trainer Charlie Appleby and Godolphin have a host of talented 2-year-olds, including Dewhurst winner Native Trail, Autumn Stakes winner Coroebus, and two horses, Modern Games and Albahr, for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Their hope for the Criterium de Saint-Cloud is Goldspur, a homebred by Dubawi who has started his career with two wins, including a 1 1/4-mile victory earlier this month in the Group 3 Zetland at Newmarket.
Goldspur narrowly beat Unconquerable in the Zetland and the Donnacha O’Brien-trained colt reopposes on Saturday. Stone Age, a Galileo colt co-owned by Peter Brant, probably disliked the heavy going in the Lagardere, where he finished sixth. Also entered is Martel, a Wertheimer brothers homebred by Frankel who has won his first two races and is trained by Fabre.