Jungle Cat flies in to win Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes
Godolphin’s British trainer Charlie Appleby brought off an audacious, long-range plan last Saturday in sending out top weight Jungle Cat (Iffraaj) to score a gritty but narrow victory in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield.
Carrying 58 kilograms and ridden by James Doyle, Jungle Cat was racing for the first time since March 31 when he won the weight-for-age Al Quoz Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m) in Dubai so he looked well-placed under handicap conditions in Melbourne to record his eighth career win in 31 starts spread over five seasons.
Among past winners of the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes are champion sires Encosta De Lago (Fairy King) in 1996 and Exceed And Excel (Danehill) in 2003 and Vinery’s very successful stallion Testa Rossa (Perugino) who won as a three-year-old in 1999 before repeating a year later under 58.5 kilograms so Jungle Cat’s performance together with his overseas form gives him the credentials to be an attractive future sire for Darley in Australia.
Saturday’s race produced a thrilling, three-way finish with Jungle Cat prevailing by just a half-head over Dollar For Dollar (High Chaparral) with another half-head to Land Of Plenty (Stratum), perhaps a shade unlucky in third place. Race time on the good track was 1:22.31 with the final 600 metres covered in 36.30 seconds.
Bred in Ireland by the Mike’s Wildcat Partnership, Jungle Cat has raced consistently well in top sprint company in Britain and Dubai in recent seasons, one notable performance being to finish fourth to Australia’s Buffering (Mossman) in the 2016 Al Quoz Sprint while in 2017 he was runner-up to Saturday’s Rupert Clarke Stakes fourth placegetter Home Of The Brave (Starspangledbanner) in the Criterion Stakes (Gr 3, 7f) at Newmarket. His annual Timeform rating in 2017 was 117.
Jungle Cat’s consistency and longevity are admirable qualities and his appeal to Australian breeders is enhanced by a study of his performances as a two-year-old when he won and was placed in a string of prestige races, among them the Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) at York, the Coventry Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) at Royal Ascot, the Goodwood Richmond Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) and the July Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) at Newmarket.
Iffraaj (Zafonic), Jungle Cat’s sire, has been something of a quiet achiever in international breeding, his 61 stakes winners to date including nine Group 1 winners.
His best son Ribchester has shuttled to Darley’s NSW farm this season while other winners for him at the highest level are Wootton Bassett (champion two-year-old in France and successful young sire of Cambridge Stud’s new stallion Almanzor), champion juvenile fillies Rizeena and Chriselliam, Benvenue and three products of Iffraaj’s continuing shuttle seasons at Haunui Farm in New Zealand, Derby winners Jon Snow and Gingernuts and top sprinter-miler Turn Me Loose, who retired last spring to New Zealand’s Windsor Park Stud.
Iffraaj has already begun to also make a name as a broodmare sire with last Saturday’s New Zealand Group 1 winner Melody Belle (Commands) out of one of his daughters.
A Group 2 winner over seven furlongs, Iffraaj was a four-year-old before he became a stakes winner but while bred for sprint distances at stud he has proved more versatile and able to generate major winners from 1200 metres to 2400 metres with a number of top class fillies and mares among his progeny.
Jungle Cat’s dam Mike’s Wildcat (Forest Wildcat) won a Listed stakes contest at Belmont Park in New York as a two-year-old and from nine foals to race, eight have been winners, next best after Jungle Cat being the sire Texas Wildcatter (Monarchos), a multiple stakes placegetter in the United States and Canada.
Forest Wildcat (Storm Cat), Jungle Cat’s maternal grandsire, although not among the best of Storm Cat’s winners, was a typically speedy son of this outstanding sire. His four stakes successes were all recorded as a five-year-old before he became a very useful sire in Kentucky, one of his best winners being Var, a leading sire in South Africa.
Jungle Cat’s second dam, the stakes-placed winner Old Flame (Black Tie Affair), bred seven winners and the Sir Rupert Clarke winner’s third dam Mistyray (In Reality) was a winner of seven races and registered four stakes placings.
This prolific, American black-type family also has strong links to South American racing as it contains Ardanza (Slew Machine), champion older mare in Peru, and her son Madrileno (Apprentice), Horse of the Year in Ecuador in 2006.
Jungle Cat has a well constructed pedigree with linebreeding to Mr Prospector (Raise A Native), Northern Dancer (Nearctic), Secretariat (Bold Ruler) and Raise A Native (Native Dancer) within five generations.