HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, July 06, 2022)

The last time the Australian gelding Last Quest ran a distance anywhere near 1 5/16 miles, he was beaten a head when third in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Moruya Racecourse on June 21.

The race may have only been two weeks ago, but Last Quest is having a busy mid-year span in Australia. Last Quest finished second by a head in a handicap at a mile at Moruya on Friday and starts in a handicap at 1 5/16 miles at Goulburn Racecourse on Tuesday.

The 5-year-old mare Alpinista picked up in her 2022 debut right where she left off in 2021, notching the biggest victory of her career Sunday in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud while racing for the first time since November.

Alpinista was 1 1/4 lengths better than runner-up Baratti, an improving 4-year-old Juddmonte Farms homebred who sat a rail trip and held second despite coming under pressure nearly three furlongs from the finish of the 1 1/2-mile Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

Three-year-old Vadeni needed every bit of his 10-pound weight break to hold off 5-year-old Mishriff and win the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes on Saturday at Sandown Park in England. 

Even conceding 10 pounds to his younger rival, Mishriff, who missed the break to start matters, likely was the best horse in the 1 1/4-mile Eclipse. He came with a late surge after jockey David Egan gave up on finding a way through homestretch traffic and swung to the far outside.  

A three-month break and the benefit of a late May prep race led to a fourth career win for Vintage Diesel in a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Wagga Wagga Racecourse on June 14.

Distance races have become a specialty for the New Zealand-bred Vintage Diesel, who will be tried at a new distance in a handicap at 1 9/16 miles at Wagga Wagga on Monday. While the extended trip seems like a test, there are encouraging signs that Vintage Diesel can run that far.

Two of England-based Hurricane Lane’s finest moments have come in France, and on Sunday at Saint-Cloud the 4-year-old colt will try to get back on track in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. 

At the age of 6, the New Zealand-bred gelding Blandford Lad is in the midst of a career transformation.

Since mid-April, Blandford Lad has won 2 of 3 starts over hurdles in Australia interspersed by two poor performances in flat races. On Sunday, Blandford Lad has his second start in a stakes over obstacles in the $85,220 Kevin Lafferty Stakes at two miles at Warrnambool Racecourse.

A federal judge in Louisiana declined on Thursday to grant a temporary restraining order requested by the state of Louisiana and West Virginia that would have stopped the implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the national regulatory body for Thoroughbred racing whose jurisdiction goes into effect on Friday.

The British-bred gelding Le Don De Vie missed the cut for the Group 1 Melbourne Cup in Australia last November after a fifth-place finish in the Group 3 Geelong Cup in October.

The Melbourne Cup, Australia’s most famous race, could figure in plans for Le Don De Vie later this year, pending the results of a campaign that includes a start in Saturday’s $207,300 Caloundra Cup at 1 1/2 miles at Sunshine Coast Racecourse.

French horses don’t win the Eclipse Stakes – but 3-year-olds do.

So it is that Vadeni, rousing winner of the Prix du Jockey Club, France’s Derby, is the early favorite for the Group 1 Eclipse on Saturday at Sandown Park in England.

The Eclipse marks the first chance for top-class sophomores to match talents with older rivals – something we don’t do in America until October or November – and another 3-year-old, Godolphin’s Native Trail, is second favorite for the Eclipse, contested right-handed over 1 1/4 miles.