Adelaide wins Cox Plate: Elm Park takes Racing Post Trophy - By Tom Krish
Posted on - 26 Oct 2014
Adelaide wins Cox Plate: Elm Park takes Racing Post Trophy
By Tom Krish
There is good news about the Breeders’ Cup. Los Angeles will have racing-friendly weather on October 31 and November 1. Friday will be a sunny day with the high at 87 degrees. The Saturday forecast calls for a rain-free day with the high around 75 degrees. On Monday, the 14-race Breeders’ Cup card will be drawn.
Adelaide was a 7/1 chance in The Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on Saturday. At one point in the 2000-metre race, Adelaide was last. As the horses flashed past the line, Ryan Moore and Adelaide werea short neck in front of Fawkner, the favorite. Adelaide’s post-13 had dampened the enthusiasm of the Australian fans. The time was 2 3.76 seconds. Side Glance, Jamie Spencer up, was fourth, beaten about three parts of a length. Adelaide is by Galileo out of Elletelle by Elnadim.
Jockey Ryan Moore said, “he is a very good horse. He was out slowly and they went quick early on. He did it the hard way. Things were against him but he’s got the job done.”
Andrew Balding was at Moonee Valley to see Side Glance race. In another part of the world, a two year-old that he trains won a Group I contest. Elm Park, owned by Qatar and Kingsclere Racing, ran away with the 1600-metre Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster. With Andrea Atzeni in the saddle, Elm Park, the 7 to 5 favorite, made it all to win by two and three parts of a length in 1 43.82. The going was soft. Elm Park’s sire is Phoenix Reach. The dam is Lady Brora.
Jockey Atzeni heaped praise on his mount. “He travelled nicely. I kept it simple, really. It was like riding a piece of work.”
In Andrew’s absence, Ian Balding, led in Elm Park. He was ecstatic. “I’m so thrilled. He has got the right temperament, this horse, which is so important. Mill Reef had it, of course, in spades. This fella certainly has it well.”
‘In spades’ means in abundance. Elm Park, like Mill Reef, has a temperament of the first order.
The Mill Reef reference is significant. Owned by Paul Mellon, the American philanthropist, Mill Reef, though bred in America, was sent to the UK to be cared for by trainer Ian Balding. Mill Reef, by Never Bend out of Milan Mill, won 12 races from 14 starts in three years. At three, he won the Derby at Epsom, the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and the Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. He was beaten by My Swallow at MaisonsLaffitte (Paris) at two and lost to Brigadier Gerard in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket when three.
Mill Reef was ridden in all the 14 races by Geoff Lewis. I met jockey Lewis five or six years ago at Epsom. He carries fond recollections of his days in India. Incidentally, Brigadier Gerard, a contemporary of Mill Reef, was ridden by Joe Mercer who also rode in India in the 60s.
A word about Lankan Rupee. The Australian sprint superstar added a Group I race to his big-race collection. In Friday’s Manikato Stakes over 1200 metres, Lankan Rupee won in a four-way photo finish. In two prior starts at Moonee Valley, Lankan Rupee had suffered photo losses. The time was 1 10.33 seconds. Lankan was ridden by Craig Newitt and is trained by Mick Price.
Lankan Rupee, a five year-old gelding by Redoute’s Choice out of Estelle Collection, has won six races in nine starts for earnings of 1.739,732 pounds.
Ruler Of The World has been retired. The winner of the 2013 Epsom Derby for the O’Brien-Moore team, Ruler Of The Word ran unplaced in the Dubai World Cup this year. He won the Prix Foy with Frankie Dettori and was ninth in the Arc on October 5.
Galileo was Ruler Of The World’s sire. The dam is Love Me True by Kingmambo. In the summer, Ruler Of The World suffered a muscle injury in his hind quarters. There was a recurrence.
Sources: Sporting Life and Racing Post and Breeders’ Cup.
