Connections eye longer trip for Azamour
Azamour could be a force to be reckoned with in the big 10-furlong races in the rest of the season after a superb victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot yesterday.
Connections intimated that a step up from yesterday’s mile was on the cards after Azamour put his defeats in the English and Irish Guineas behind him under an inspired ride from Michael Kinane.
The jockey, aware that the colt had perhaps found a little less than expected when second in Ireland, kept a little more up his sleeve for the final strides yesterday.
And just when it looked as if Diamond Green, on his right, and Antonius Pius, on his left, might overhaul the 9-2 winner in the shadow of the post, he pulled out enough to hold on by a neck.
Favourite Haafhd, who had Azamour in third when winning the Newmarket Guineas, was in the perfect position to repeat the dose as he struck the front off the home turn, but lacked the usual zip and faded close home to finish fourth.
“Azamour is a very brave horse, very genuine and he takes his races well,” said trainer John Oxx. “He’s very courageous and and a lovely athlete – he’s got everything really.
“I thought he would probably win at the Curragh, but looking back we had a couple of minor things in the run-up to the race and he probably wasn’t at his best.
“But since then he has had a perfect preparation. He worked again like he did before Newmarket and we thought he would show us what he could do today.
“The way he burst three lengths clear at the Curragh he looked sure to win, but then we felt maybe he had idled a bit and let the other horse come to him.
“When Antonius Pius came down the outside to challenge him today, it probably helped spur him on a bit. And I knew that Mick was holding a little bit in reserve for the final strides because we didn’t want to be just denied again.”
Plans for Azamour hinge on whether he is to be stepped up in trip to a mile and a quarter (Juddmonte International Stakes and Irish Champion Stakes) or kept at his present distance (Sussex Stakes).
But Oxx intimated that the former route would be the most likely for his charge, who very much shapes as if the extra two furlongs would not pose a problem.
The Aga Khan, Azamour’s delighted owner, certainly indicated that he preferred to take the longer option.
Kinane said: “He loves that fast ground. He’s a very adaptable colt and a mile and a quarter is well within his scope.
“The Irish Champion would have to be a serious consideration later on in the year. He’s a good horse and he has the physical size and scope to improve as the season goes on.”
Andre Fabre’s Diamond Green, also second in the French Guineas, turned in another hugely-creditable performance.
Jockey Gary Stevens said: “He is a proper racehorse and should have a Group One by his name. He may be better staying on a bit further – 10 furlongs may be good for him.”
Aidan O’Brien said of third home Antonius Pius: “He’s got some class, this horse. He ran a great race. He wouldn’t mind going back in trip, but there’s plenty of time for that.”
But sticking to a mile is the definite preferred option for Haafhd, whose trainer Barry Hills felt that the gap between this race and Newmarket might have contributed to what was seemingly a below-par effort.
“I’m not starting to make any excuses but the ground is very firm and that is a possibility,” Hills said.
“He has been off 45 days and that wouldn’t help a horse as laid-back as him. When we expected him to pick up, he did not. He was not the horse I won the 2000 Guineas with.
“I will put him in all the best races and see how we go. The Sussex Stakes is a possibility, but that is six and a half weeks away and it would be nice to have a run somewhere before.”
