River Tiber can get the better of old rival Haatem
Rosallion and Sean Leavy (right) beats Haatem (left) and River Tiber (centre) for trainer Richard Hannon and owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum in the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh last month. Picture: Healy Racing
Aidan O’Brien has enjoyed a great week at Ascot and the Ballydoyle trainer has leading fancies in five of the seven races on the final day of the meeting.
One of the most interesting races on the card is the Group 3 Jersey Stakes and his River Tiber can reverse Irish 2000 Guineas form with old rival Haatem.
When they finished second and third at the Curragh, River Tiber was a length and a quarter behind that rival but was having his first run in almost eight months and not much went right for him. In the aftermath, O’Brien said that the way the race was run meant his stamina for the mile was inconclusive.
On the day, Haatem had the run of the race and could not be faulted for his effort, but the drop back to seven furlongs is more of a positive for River Tiber than it is for him, and that sways the verdict in favour of the Ballydoyle runner, who remains somewhat unexposed. The Michael Stoute-trained Never So Brave has plenty to find on form but he hasn’t had many chances, looks particularly progressive, and offers each-way value.
The longest Flat race of the season, the Queen Alexandra Stakes, wraps up the meeting and the Joseph O’Brien-trained Uxmal makes plenty of each-way value at about 14-1.
Although still quite lightly raced, at the start of his career he looked something of a frustrating sort, and even at Tramore in the latter stages of last season and won a maiden by a wide margin, some doubt remained.
Rated 79 when he won that race, he then went to Saint Cloud for a listed race and was beaten just a neck (receiving 3lbs) by a horse, Al Nayyir, who finished runner-up to Tower Of London in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup. That resulted in his rating surging up to 106 and, again, there were question marks about whether he truly deserved it.
Off from that run in late September until racing at the May meeting in Killarney, he bolted up in similar fashion to how he won at Tramore. There are plenty of reasons to question the form of that small-field event, but he was unmistakably different grade to his rivals on the day and won with his head in his chest.
That was over 14 furlongs and while there is no way to be absolutely certain he will stay this extreme trip, he gives every impression that he will do so and that being the case, the progressive son of Galileo will play a leading role.
His stablemate, Dawn Rising, won this race last year and heads the market for the follow up. He and Run For Oscar, who didn’t enjoy the best of luck in running when third in the race in 2023, must be respected.
