Aidan O’Brien has saddled many multiple Group One winners over the past 30 years but even he has seen few horses thrive on racing in the manner of Paddington, the Sussex Stakes winner.
Having started his three-year-old season with a handicap success back in March, Paddington has now reeled off five more victories, the last four of which were at the highest level, and comparisons with Giant’s Causeway – O’Brien’s “Iron Horse” of nearly a quarter of a century ago – feel more appropriate every time he heads to the track.
Paddington’s one-and-a-half length defeat of Facteur Cheval on Wednesday came 23 years to the day after Giant’s Causeway completed an identical Group One treble following victories in the St James’s Palace Stakes and Eclipse Stakes. Paddington, though, has already succeeded where Giant’s Causeway narrowly failed by taking the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and could now attempt to add a fifth successive Group One win to his streak in the International Stakes at York later this month.
The going was officially soft but heading rapidly towards heavy as the five runners set off in driving rain, but Ryan Moore had no hesitation in sending Paddington, the 4-9 favourite, straight into the lead.
The field then tacked across to the stands’ side in the straight and Inspiral, Paddington’s main market rival, briefly threatened to launch a challenge against the rail. She swiftly dropped away as the favourite found more, however, and Paddington stayed on strongly as Facteur Cheval kept on for second without ever threatening to challenge the winner.
“He’s a very special horse,” O’Brien said. “He’s much quicker than Giant’s Causeway was, he’s tactically quick, but he can quicken [in the finish] as well. The Giant was tactically quick, but he was a grinder after that.
“This horse can really turn it on when you have to. With every race, he’s getting heavier, which is very unusual, and he’s getting calm, but he’s getting quick. He’s three or four kilos heavier today than he was the last day.”
Giant’s Causeway closed his career with a narrow defeat behind another great battler, Tiznow, in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in Kentucky. Paddington’s final target this season, though, could be the Cox Plate in Australia in late October.
“We will definitely look at it [the International at York] and consider it very seriously,” O’Brien said. “We will have to see how he comes out of this, we weren’t expecting the ground to be as tough as it was today, but knowing this horse, he could take it with a smile on his face.
“Tom [Magnier, the principal of Coolmore’s Australian operation] mentioned something about Australia but he could go anywhere or do anything.”
Mick Appleby is the perennial champion of the racing’s winter all-weather circuit, winning the trainers’ title on “the sand” for the last six seasons, but he has been gradually increasing the strength and depth of his turf team in recent seasons and recorded the fourth Group Three success of his career as Big Evs, a winner at Royal Ascot last month, toughed it out to beat Purosangue by a neck in the Molecomb Stakes.
“He is as tough as anything and very quick,” Appleby said. “As soon as we started working him, we knew he was special. He would be the best we’ve had so far, up there with the likes of Caspian Prince, Danzeno, Annaf. Hopefully, he’ll turn out better than them and give us a first Group One.”
Quick Guide
Greg Wood’s Thursday racing tips
Show
Goodwood 1.50 Silver Sword (nap) 2.25 Vandeek 3.00 Espionage 3.35 Nashwa 4.10 Gray’s Inn 4.45 Roarin’ Success 5.20 Ornellaia 5.55 Democracy Dilemma (nb)
Nottingham 2.05 Angel Shared 2.40 Impeller 3.15 Three Yorkshiremen 3.50 Cariad 4.25 Western Beat 5.00 Manxman
Stratford-on-Avon 2.33 Mole Court 3.08 City Of Ruins 3.43 Justshortofabubble 4.18 Pillar Of Steel 4.50 Arcade Attraction 5.25 Hoganville
Newcastle 4.56 Ana Emaraaty 5.32 Turner Girl 6.05 Saisons D’Or 6.40 Rockin Rosa 7.15 Beechwood Star 7.45 Al Waasl 8.15 Mostallim 8.45 Variety Island
Epsom Downs 5.48 Daphne May 6.20 High Point 6.55 Haarar 7.30 Redredrobin 8.00 Almarin 8.30 Lahina Bay
Big Evs’s first run at the top level may not be long delayed, as his owner is considering a supplementary entry for the Nunthorpe Stakes at York later this month, where he would get a generous weight allowance from the older horses.
Big Evs is priced up at around 8-1 for the Group One sprint, while a possible target later in the year is the Juvenile Turf Sprint at the Breeders’ Cup in California in November.
Nashwa not to be underestimated
The last two winners of the Prix de Diane – the French Oaks – dominate the betting for the Group One Nassau Stakes at Goodwood on Thursday but the claims of the four-year-old Nashwa may still have been underestimated by the early market, which makes Blue Rose Cen, this year’s winner of the French Classic, the even-money favourite.
Christopher Head’s filly rounded off a progressive juvenile career with an emphatic success in the Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc day and picked up where she had left off this season, winning the French 1,000 Guineas in May and adding the Diane to her record a month later.
That form still gives her a little to find with Nashwa (3.35) on Timeform’s numbers, however, after John Gosden’s filly bounced back from two defeats at the start of the campaign to post a career-best performance in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket last month.
Her trademark turn of foot carried her five lengths clear of the field and a repeat performance on Thursday should be enough to see off her younger rival.
Goodwood 1.50 After an inauspicious start to his career, when he refused to race on his first two starts, the penny has dropped for Silver Sword and his latest success at Pontefract was another career-best. At around 12-1, he makes plenty of each-way appeal against likely favourite Perfuse, who is dropping back to a sharp 10 furlongs following an excellent run over a mile-and-a-half at Royal Ascot.
Goodwood 2.25 Unquestionable, narrowly beaten in a Group Two in Ireland last time, sets a high bar but Vandeek, at around 5-1, could find sufficient improvement to clear it. Simon and Ed Crisford’s colt was sent off at even-money for his debut at Nottingham last month, blew the start completely but was still able to win cosily in a decent time.
Goodwood 3.00 Five of the six runners for the Gordon Stakes hold an entry in the St Leger and Espionage could prove to be a leading contender for the season’s final Classic. Aidan O’Brien’s colt was beaten only narrowly in a one-mile Group One on heavy ground at Saint-Cloud last autumn and improved significantly for the step up to 12 furlongs in a Listed event at Roscommon last time.
