Aidan's eighteenth at Arlington?
August 8th 2008 07:00
Aidan O’Brien has entered Mount Nelson for both the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate in the Melbourne Spring.
(photo: racing post)
This weekend Mount Nelson is engaged in the Arlington Million and is second favourite at 5/2. Mount Nelson comes off a brave (by a nose) victory in the 1 1/4 mile Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on July the 5th, and he will be the first winner of the Eclipse to race on the grass track at Arlington. Mount Nelson must be considered a very strong chance of providing Aidan O’Brien with his 18th Group One win this year.
At his previous start Mount Nelson had finished 5th behind stablemate Haradasun in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Mount Nelson was a Group One winner at two, winning the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud, but was soon to suffer misfortune as he began his 3 year old campaign. Mount Nelson would tear a shoe off at the start and in the process tearing off half his near fore hoof as well. In addition there was serious damage to his pedal bone.
Mount Nelson was the first Group One winner for his sire, Rock Of Gibraltar. The Criterium International was Mount Nelson’s third start in a race and his win in record time followed a victory at the Curragh (by 6 lengths) less than one week earlier. And in this race, as with the Eclipse Stakes, he showed great courage to hold a slender margin in a long run to the line.
Getting the horse back to this standard is testament to the training skills of O’Brien - and his narrow victory in the Eclipse Stakes (at his first try over the trip) another fine example of the riding skills of Johnny Murtagh, who often seems to eke out a win by a narrow margin.
Mount Nelson is by Rock Of Gibraltar and out of the Group Two winning mare, Independence (2001 Sun Chariot Stakes). He fetched 320,000 guineas at the 2005 Tattersall’s October Yearling Sales.
The favourite for the Arlington Million is Archipenko, a multiple Group One winner - and at one time trained by Aidan O’Brien.
(photo: wikipedia Felamu)
Arlington Park - Saturday, August 9th, 2008
STAKES. 1 1/4 Mile Turf. Purse $1,000,000. Arlington Million S. (Grade 1). FOR THREE-YEAR-OLDS AND OLDER.
1 Archipenko 4C - Kevin Shea - Michael de Kock
2 Stream Cat 5G - Julien Leparoux - George Arnold
3 Spirit One (FR) 4C - Ioriitz Mendizabal - Philippe Demercastel
4 Sudan (IRE) 5H - John Velaquez - Robert Frankel
5 Cloudy’s Knight 8G - Ramsey Zimmerman - Frank Kirby
6 Einstein (BRZ) 6H - Robby Albarado - Helen Pitts
7 Mount Nelson (GB) 4C - John Murtagh - Aidan O’Brien
8 Silverfoot 8G - Rene Douglas - Dallas Stewart
Video of the Eclipse Stakes. Great ride by Johnny Murtagh.
Mount Nelson (centre) winning the Eclipse Stakes
(photo: racing post)
This weekend Mount Nelson is engaged in the Arlington Million and is second favourite at 5/2. Mount Nelson comes off a brave (by a nose) victory in the 1 1/4 mile Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on July the 5th, and he will be the first winner of the Eclipse to race on the grass track at Arlington. Mount Nelson must be considered a very strong chance of providing Aidan O’Brien with his 18th Group One win this year.
At his previous start Mount Nelson had finished 5th behind stablemate Haradasun in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Mount Nelson was a Group One winner at two, winning the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud, but was soon to suffer misfortune as he began his 3 year old campaign. Mount Nelson would tear a shoe off at the start and in the process tearing off half his near fore hoof as well. In addition there was serious damage to his pedal bone.
Mount Nelson was the first Group One winner for his sire, Rock Of Gibraltar. The Criterium International was Mount Nelson’s third start in a race and his win in record time followed a victory at the Curragh (by 6 lengths) less than one week earlier. And in this race, as with the Eclipse Stakes, he showed great courage to hold a slender margin in a long run to the line.
Getting the horse back to this standard is testament to the training skills of O’Brien - and his narrow victory in the Eclipse Stakes (at his first try over the trip) another fine example of the riding skills of Johnny Murtagh, who often seems to eke out a win by a narrow margin.
Mount Nelson is by Rock Of Gibraltar and out of the Group Two winning mare, Independence (2001 Sun Chariot Stakes). He fetched 320,000 guineas at the 2005 Tattersall’s October Yearling Sales.
The favourite for the Arlington Million is Archipenko, a multiple Group One winner - and at one time trained by Aidan O’Brien.
Archipenko: Arlington Million favourite
(photo: wikipedia Felamu)
Arlington Park - Saturday, August 9th, 2008
STAKES. 1 1/4 Mile Turf. Purse $1,000,000. Arlington Million S. (Grade 1). FOR THREE-YEAR-OLDS AND OLDER.
1 Archipenko 4C - Kevin Shea - Michael de Kock
2 Stream Cat 5G - Julien Leparoux - George Arnold
3 Spirit One (FR) 4C - Ioriitz Mendizabal - Philippe Demercastel
4 Sudan (IRE) 5H - John Velaquez - Robert Frankel
5 Cloudy’s Knight 8G - Ramsey Zimmerman - Frank Kirby
6 Einstein (BRZ) 6H - Robby Albarado - Helen Pitts
7 Mount Nelson (GB) 4C - John Murtagh - Aidan O’Brien
8 Silverfoot 8G - Rene Douglas - Dallas Stewart
Video of the Eclipse Stakes. Great ride by Johnny Murtagh.
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