ferdy murphy - 1-1

een striking and sometimes
you just have to go with your gut
feeling.
The Galileo colt has been ridden
like a really good horse on both
his starts and possesses a pushbutton
acceleration that was in
evidence in the Tyros Stakes at
Leopardstown.
He’s at the head of the betting
for next year’s Guineas and Derby
but he may prove best over 10f in
time and races like the Eclipse
and Irish Champion Stakes could
be on his agenda next term.
This season he’s likely to be
aimed at one of the backend
Group 1s and a decent surface
appears important to him; Aidan
O’Brien has been keen to avoid
testing ground with him.
Sea The Stars
Possible Target: Beresford Stakes
(Curragh, September 28th)
Sea The Stars lacks nothing in
breeding with all seven of his
siblings having earned black
type; some of those are much
better than others, with their
abilities ranging from dual Derby
winner Galileo down to the
quirky Cherry Hinton.
Early indications are that John
Oxx’s 2yo will finish up at the
upper end of the talent spectrum
as he improved plenty from his
debut to land a hot maiden at
Leopardstown last time.
The second and fourth have won
subsequently and Sea The Stars
beat them with plenty in hand,
travelling sweetly throughout
though still looking that he’d
improve for experience.
The National Stakes had been
mooted as his next target but
connections have decided to hold
off for the Beresford Stakes where
the mile trip should be right up
his street as he looks a middledistance
horse of the future.
Septimus
Possible Target: Melbourne Cup
(Flemington, November 4th)
It must be difficult to place to
the two best stayers in Europe
when both are in the same stable
but Aidan O’Brien has done an
excellent job in keeping Yeats
and Septimus apart in 2008
and the pair have both enjoyed
unbeaten seasons at the time
of writing. Septimus has been
lightly raced this term which
has been brought about by a
number of factors – some minor
setbacks, the abandonment of
the Ebor Meeting and the desire
to keep him and Yeats apart – but
he made up for lost time when
landing his first Group 1 in the
Irish St. Leger by amazing 13l.
That form confirms my belief
that he’s the champion stayer
in waiting for 2009 but the
Melbourne Cup is on the agenda
in the meantime and he looks a
major player if arriving Down
Under in the same form.
His shortened domestic season
can only be viewed as a positive
in the light of a tilt at Australia’s
banner race and though he will
have plenty of weight, that’s
because he’s a classy performer.
Shimah
Possible Target: Cheveley Park
Stakes (Newmarket, October 3rd)
Shimah made a spectacular
start to her career at the Curragh
in June when landing a pair of
6f events by an aggregate of 7l
in impressive fashion and her
reappearance when second in the
Moyglare wasn’t shabby either.
The lack of a recent run may
well have told on that occasion
and her breeding (by Storm
Cat and related to a number of
sprinters) suggests that the 7f on
soft ground would have stretched
her stamina.
She looks a real 2yo type and
given that opportunities for 3yo
sprinters are notoriously thin
on the ground, connections will
be keen to win a group race with
her this season. Cutting back to
6f in Cheveley Park is unlikely to
be a negative and a sound surface
would also be an advantage for a
filly with a smart turn-of-foot.
Soldier Of Fortune
Possible Target: Arc De Triomphe
(Longchamp, October 5th)
The jury was still out in relation
to Soldier Of Fortune at the start
of the season: is he a bona fide
top-rank performer or simply
a very talented mud-lark, the
only horse that really handled
the heavy ground at the Curragh
when he won the Irish Derby? His
two starts in 2008 have proved
inconclusive in this regard; a
good winner of the Coronation
Cup at Epsom, he was beaten
by the runner-up Youmzain at
Saint-Cloud and hasn’t been seen
since.
With both Macarthur and
Getaway flopping subsequently,
the value of the Epsom form is
questionable and the fact he even
ran there in the first place hardly
confirms his status as a star; his
trainer rarely sends anything
other than stayers of the future
like Yeats, Scorpion and Septimus
for that race these days.
Aidan O’Brien suggested he
would run in the Preis Van Baden
in September and even though
he missed that, the idea that he
would run in a continental Group
1 is hardly a ringing endorsement
of his abilities.
To me, Soldier Of Fortune
will need the mud hock-deep to
win the Arc, and even with the
ground in his favour, an absence
of over 3 months is not ideal for
what will be one of the hottest
races of the season.
Stage Manager
Possible Target: Cesarewitch
(Newmarket, October 18th)
With a flat mark of just 73,
there’s every chance Stage
Manager won’t make the cut for
the second leg of the Autumn
Double but either way he’s one to
keep on side in the final months
of the season as the 6yo is on a
mark that can be exploited to win
a big staying handicap.
An improved performer
over hurdles this summer,
Tony Martin’s gelding was an
impressive winner of a Galway
handicap hurdle that saw his
hurdles mark rise to 125 and
while that sets his flat rating in
obvious relief, he’s also got some
smart form on the level too.
His third place run behind
Queen Althea and Power Of
Future (beaten 3-4l and given
plenty to do) has worked out
well with the winner having
won a valuable amateur riders’
handicap since and now rated
11lbs higher and the second
having risen 16lbs in the weights.
A sound surface is important to
Stage Manager – all 4 of his wins
have come on surfaces described
as good or faster – but granted his
conditions, he will be hard to stop
when stamina is at a premium.
Racing Ahead 37