Mister Monet hot enough to attempt class leap

The fast-improving Mister Monet steps up to Group 2 company Saturday in the Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville, France.

Winner of the Group 3 Rose of Lancaster Stakes versus older horses at Haydock on Sept. 7, Mister Monet will be back against 3-year-olds in the 1 1/4-mile Guillaume d'Ornano. He will, however, be running on soft ground for the first time as he seeks his fourth straight victory. Joe Fanning will be on board.

Artiste Royale, a full brother to Aquarelliste by the inimitable Danehill, was a course and distance winner in the listed Prix Ridgway on Aug. 1. Trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias, Artiste Royale will be difficult to beat with Olivier Peslier in the irons.

Laffon-Parias will also saddle Delfos, a Group 3 winner who was second to Cacique in the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam last time.

Bahamian Pirate upsets

Bahamian Pirate ended a run of 25 group races without a victory when he scored a 16-1 upset of the $366,000 Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York, England, on Thursday.

Bahamian Pirate came from well behind to defeat recent Group 2 King's Stand Stakes winner The Tatling by a neck, getting the straight five furlongs in 58.89 seconds on soft ground. Seb Sanders, who had ridden Tony James to win Wednesday's Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes, rode Bahamian Pirate, who had last won a pattern race when taking the Group 3 Phoenix Sprint Stakes on Aug. 12, 2001. His best previous effort had been a second to his David Nicholls-trained stablemate Continent in the Group 1 July Cup in 2002.

One Cool Cat, the 3-1 choice despite fears that he might not like the going, rallied for third, a length behind The Tatling. A 3-year-old trained by Aidan O'Brien, One Cool Cat will step back up to six furlongs for the Haydock Park Sprint Cup on Sept. 4. Bahamian Pirate, a five-furlong specialist, may be pointed to the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp on Arc Day, Oct. 3.