Royal day for Godolphin as they sweep four stakes wins
The famous royal blue silks of Godolphin were highly prominent at both Randwick and Flemington on Saturday as His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s near 60-year operation scooped an across-the-cards feature-race four-timer.
In what proved to be a red-letter day for Godolphin, the quartet of winners began with Tempted’s (Street Boss) success in the Reisling Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) in Sydney as she stamped claims for the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) at Rosehill on March 22.
Having been victorious on debut at Warwick Farm in December, the James Cummings-trained filly finished second in the Widden Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) on February 1 before then running a respectable seventh in the Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m), where she was beaten just under four lengths by the winner Devil Night (Extreme Choice).
Sent off the $2.90 favourite on the back of that effort, the daughter of Street Boss (Street Cry) was being ridden by her fourth different jockey in James McDonald and the pair jumped from barrier ten in the 11-runner field.
Shuffling back to the rear of the field from the wide gate, Tempted looked to have plenty to do turning for home but, after being angled out by her seemingly confident rider, she produced a strong effort to the line to run down Marhoona (Snitzel) by a fairly comfortable 0.4 lengths.
There was a further 0.8 lengths back to Inkaruna (I Am Invincible), who had also come from the rear of the field.
McDonald also rode Tempted’s dam Calliope (Exceed And Excel) to victories in both the Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) (then Listed) and Magic Night Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) before the mare was then unplaced behind Capitalist (Written Tycoon) in the 2016 Golden Slipper, and the champion jockey could see similarities between the pair.
“She was a little weapon of a filly,” McDonald said of Calliope. “She was crazy in the gates though, hence why she didn’t reach her full potential. I think she won a Gimcrack and won a Magic Night and this filly is very, very similar.
“She’s going to be a force to be reckoned with in two weeks. She’s a beautiful filly and she’s just promised a lot. She rides really well and she’s a genuine Golden Slipper hope.”
Cummings revealed he would be interested to see how this form lines up with other formlines for the Golden Slipper, for which the filly is now rated the $8 third-elect in the market.
“We’ll get the opportunity to let the dust settle and see how this lines up amongst all of the [Golden Slipper] lead-ups,” the winning trainer said.
“But I like that she’s come out of the Blue Diamond, she’s not taken a backward step from there.
“She’s just freshened up beautifully at the farm between runs and we’ve barely done much with her, yet she’s been able to deliver off the back of a strongly run six-furlong race here at Randwick.
“She flooded home up the middle, perfectly to plan, and she’ll step off that and she can go right into the Slipper with a sail full of momentum and an absolute truckload of confidence.”
The Reisling Stakes-Golden Slipper double has been won seven times in the past by Hartshill (My Heart) (1974), Burst (Marauding) (1992), Merlene (Danehill) (1996), Belle Du Jour (Dehere) (2000), Polar Success (Success Express) (2003), Overreach (Exceed And Excel) (2013) and most recently by Estijaab (Snitzel) (2018).
Asked about the fillies’ chances in the Slipper should she line up in the coveted Group 1, Cummings said: “You get a draw in a race like that, it makes a big difference. But she’s had the seasoning, she’s got the attitude for it. There’s a bit of jostling at the back of the field and she could cope with that to hold her spot.
“James, knowing the filly through the family well, might have stood him in good stead, having ridden her mother to a couple of handy wins in the past.”
Being out of Godolphin’s homebred mare Calliope, Tempted (2 f Street Boss – Calliope by Exceed And Excel) is a half-sister to Kallos (Medaglia D’Oro), winner of the Danehill Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m), Rubiton Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m), and R N Irwin Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m).
Calliope has a yearling colt, already named Zambales, a colt by Darley shuttler Pinatubo (Shamardal), but had no foal last season and was served by Street Boss’ champion son Anamoe.
Just over 30 minutes after Tempted crossed the line in first place in the Reisling Stakes, it was another for Godolphin when the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Tentyris did exactly the same in the male equivalent, the Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m).
Having run fifth in the Chairman’s Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) at Sandown on debut on February 1, the colt, who like Tempted is also by Darley’s Northwood Park-based sire Street Boss (Street Cry), would then go on to land the Talindert Stakes (Listed, 1100m) at Flemington a fortnight later before backing up in the Blue Diamond the following week, a race in which he would ultimately finish an unlucky second.
Making his fourth appearance in the space of just over a month, and at his fourth different racetrack, Tentyris was sent off a slightly surprising $8.50 chance under Nash Rawiller.
However, the colt would go on to completely belie those odds with a riveting display, charging home from last position in the ten-strong field to reel in the $2 favourite and current Golden Slipper favourite Wodeton (Wootton Bassett) by 0.8 lengths.
Nepotism (Brutal) finished a further 0.3 lengths behind in third place, with the winning time of 1:09.06 interestingly over half-a-second slower than the 1:08.49 clocked in the Reisling Stakes one race previous.
“He’s a beautiful colt, look he’s very unassuming,” Rawiller said of his winning mount. “He just sort of does what he has to and look as the race developed approaching the 250 metres, it felt like a track gallop for him winning the race, the way he started to chime into it.
“Obviously when the other Melbourne horse [Tycoon Star] drifted out in front of him it made it a little bit more awkward, but I loved his tenacity and the way he hit the line.
“It’s that time of year where you sit back and try to keep everything in one piece. I hoped to get on one like this. I’ve had to be patient this year but I finally got one.”
Following his win in the Todman, Tentyris was cut into a $7 second-elect for the Golden Slipper on March 22 behind Wodeton, who, despite being beaten for the second successive time in Group company, remains as the favourite at $5.
“We’ve always liked him, but he made a mess of his first start. But ever since then he’s grown up and the trip up here, whatever the result, was always going to make him a better horse,” Anthony Freedman.
“His form’s now looking very consistent if you rule out his first start. So I think the fact that he put a length on them late is the best part of it.
“As I said, if he hasn’t been a couple of weeks, he should be thereabouts [in the Golden Slipper]. Well, I’ve said all along that there’s no standout and hopefully he’s it.”
The Todman Stakes-Golden Slipper Stakes double has been won six times in the past by Luskin Star (Kaoru Star) (1977), Marauding (Sir Tristram) (1987), Tierce (Victory Prince) (1991), Pierro (Lonhro) (2012), who was bred by Darley, Vancouver (Medaglia D’Oro) (2015) and Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) (2020).
Anthony Freedman is no stranger to Slipper success with five wins in the race (in partnership with his brothers Lee, Michael, and Richard), however is yet to land one since Merlene completed a run of four successive Slipper victories back in 1996.
“To be honest, if you want to win these big races you need a base up here,” said Freedman, who now has boxes at Randwick in Sydney.
“We had a base here in the 90s when we won those Slippers. We haven’t won one since, we’ve run placings.
“But it just brings in the Slipper, the Magic Millions, those races. They’re the races you really need to be winning to be putting yourself in the frame for those better-bred yearlings.”
Tentyris (2 c Street Boss – Deity by Exceed And Excel) is the second foal and second winner out of the metro-winning mare Deity who, like Tempted’s dam Calliope, is also by Darley’s recently retired champion sire Exceed And Excel (Danehill).
Deity herself is a three-quarter sister to the stakes winner Maternal (Street Cry) being out of the four-time Group 1 scorer Divine Madonna (Hurricane Sky). Deity was covered by Anamoe last spring so will produce a three-quarter sibling to Tentyris later this year.
Godolphin’s day at Randwick was capped off when Commemorative (I Am Invincible) took out the final race of the day – the Wenona Girl Quality (Gr 3, 1200m).
Despite the stakes treble, headed by a pair of Group 2 wins with homebred Slipper contenders, Godolphin’s day would get even better as it hit a crescendo over at Flemington via the James Cummings-trained homebred Tom Kitten (Harry Angel), who produced a stellar performance to take out the $2.5 million All-Star Mile (Gr 1, 1600m).
The gelding was tasting victory at the top level for the second time, having won the 2023 Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Randwick, but he had yet to score at Group level since that victory but had placed in both the Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) and lucrative Golden Eagle (1500m) in the meantime.
Returning first-up in the Futurity Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) last month, the four-year-old gelding ran a huge race to be second, beaten just 0.1 lengths, by Australian Group 1-winning machine Mr Brightside (Bullbars) under the guidance of Ben Melham.
With Melham back in the saddle for this weekend’s contest, Tom Kitten was again rivalled by the Lindsay Park-trained Mr Brightside, but would this time come out on top.
Angled to the outside of the seven-runner field with 400 metres left to race, the son of Darley’s shuttle stallion Harry Angel (Dark Angel) loomed up to Mr Brightside with just 200 metres to go and, after an excellent dual between the pair inside the closing stages, had his head down in front where it mattered to turn the tables on his old rival.
The winning distance was again just 0.1 lengths, with the front pair a further 1.2 lengths in front of the Northerly Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m) winner Light Infantry Man (Fast Company).
“He came back really good, this horse. His second prep as a gelding and James Cummings and Godolphin, they’re such good conditioners of this calibre of horse heading to these big races,” Melham said.
“He was obviously very unlucky the other day [in the Futurity]. In another hop he probably beats Mr Brightside.
“I was confident he could come here and beat Brightside today, but he just has a few antics on the barriers and stepped a bit ordinary, but it worked out really well for us.
“I was able to suck up for a little bit straightening and when I let him down I knew he’d be there for me.
“He’s really genuine now. I know he’s got a bit of a bad rap, but he’s run a lot of good races.”
With James Cummings at Randwick, it was Godolphin representative Nacim Dilmi, who had himself been ultra bullish in the run up to the weekend’s Group 1, and he revealed it will be all systems go to the Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) at Flemington on March 29 for Tom Kitten.
“He pulled up so well from the Futurity. We were very confident coming into this race. Never underestimate Mr Brightside,” Dilmi told Racing.com.
“He’s [Mr Brightside] the best miler in the world and, gee, at the top of the straight, the way he was travelling, we knew he’d put up a good fight and he sure did all the way to the end.
“He [Tom Kitten] has got a lot of ability. A lot of things never went to plan with him. He’s had many luckless races.
“This prep, the guys at Osborne Park said earlier, ‘the way he has been going we knew he was in for a good prep’, and he sure has.
“Now it is onwards to the Australian Cup over 2000 metres he’ll put in another good fight.”
Out of the winning mare Transfers (Street Cry), Tom Kitten is a half-brother to Listed winner Va Via (Astern).