Shalaa wins fifth straight in Group 1 Middle Park Stakes

The brilliant 2-year-old Shalaa captured his fifth straight race by holding off Buratino to win the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes by a half-length on Saturday at Newmarket in England.

Shalaa, trained by John Gosden for Al Shaqab Racing, won his second straight Group 1, having taken the Prix Morny at Deauville in his previous start. He’s easily the most accomplished 2-year-old in Europe at the moment, but he is bulky and speedy and would be fortunate to see out distances as far even as a mile, and his early-season 2016 goal is the Commonwealth Cup over six furlongs, not the English 2000 Guineas.

The other group stakes for 2-year-old colts on Saturday at Newmarket, the Group 2 Royal Lodge, was contested over one mile, and Gosden won that, too, with the favored Foundation running out a three-quarter-length winner over chief rival Deauville.

The Royal Lodge is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In race linked to the BC Juvenile Turf, but Foundation, an early English Derby hope, was mentioned as a possible runner in the Racing Post Trophy Stakes and seems unlikely to travel to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup.

Shalaa broke on top and traveled forcefully under moderate restraint from Frankie Dettori in the six-furlong, straight-course Middle Park. His action is not beautiful, but Shalaa is very fast, and he lengthened his lead when Dettori gave him his head about a quarter-mile out. Buratino, an accomplished and talented colt in his own right, began bridging the gap in the final furlong, but Shalaa came home well enough, and Dettori eased up in the final few yards, though Shalaa appeared to require some real effort to turn back Godolphin’s Buratino.

Shalaa is by Invincible Spirit and out of the War Chant mare Ghurra. He won for the fifth time in six starts this season, and his connections have no plans to race him again until next year.

In the Group 1 Cheveley Park for 2-year-old fillies, Lumiere made all the running under William Buick and held gamely to beat Illuminate by a half-length, with the favored Besharah another head back in third, the races’ three favorites all running to form.

Besharah had beaten Lumiere in the Lowther Stakes at York, but Lumiere now is 2 for 2 at Newmarket after winning the six-furlong fixture Saturday. Illuminated, who had nipped Besharah when they met in July, lost for the first time in four starts but lost little in defeat, the top three all appearing legitimate hopes for races like the English 1000 Guineas next spring.

Foundation, who had won his first two starts for Gosden and Highclere Racing at Haydock Park, was a bit slow to settle for Dettori in the Royal Lodge but came back to his rider and moved between horses to take the lead in the right-handed mile with about 1 1/2 furlongs to run. Deauville already had come under a ride and appeared to be going nowhere at that point, but he found his best stride in the final furlong and was closing in on Foundation at the finish while falling less than one length short of the winner. Muntazan finished another 2 1/4 lengths back in third.

Foundation, by Zoffany, now has won all three of his starts and could have one more run this year before being put away for the winter and presumably pointed toward the English 2000 Guineas on the first Saturday in May.