Grundy vs Bustino: the rematch?

By Rory King

This article should probably be devoted to Snow Fairy after how impressive she was in winning yesterday’s Irish Oaks and now joins the likes of Alexandrova, Ouija Board and Ramruma as not just recent dual Oaks winners, but decisive dual winners. Snow Fairy has once again showcased Ed Dunlop’s ability to train fillies and get them to peak at three and beyond – let’s hope we still haven’t seen the best of Snow Fairy as there is no telling how good she could be.

However, having watched a replay of the “Race of the Century” – the 1975 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes featured on AtTheRaces this weekend, I can’t help but see the similarities between that race and this year’s renewal. In 1975 the top three-year-old Grundy who had already won the Derby as well as both the Irish 2000 Guineas and Irish Derby was up against, among others, the four-year-old Bustino, winner of the previous year’s St Leger. Also in the field that year was the brilliant mare Dahlia who had won the previous two runnings of the race and the Eclipse (and later Arc) winner Star Appeal. This year the runaway winner of the Derby, Workforce, is up against a horse in Harbinger who was favourite for the St Leger last year having won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood. He didn’t make it to Doncaster, but has won his three starts this term very easily and is a potential Group 1 winner. Throw into the mix that the two horses are both trained by Sir Michael Stoute, and the presence of the Dante and Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco, the triple Group 1 winner Dar Re Mi and a horse in Youmzain who has finished second three times in the Arc, twice in the Coronation Cup and been placed in this race twice, and we have the potential for this year’s race to go some way to emulating that fantastic one of 1975.

Harbinger was disappointing on his final two runs last year where it seemed he had trouble fully seeing out his races. He has returned this year though in scintillating form, readily dispatching a decent field in the John Porter at Newbury before showing too much pace for Age Of Aquarius at Chester and last time routing his field in the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot. The third horse from Ascot, Barshiba, who was beaten over nine lengths has already come out and won the Lancashire Oaks, while the fourth and fifth, both more than ten lengths behind Harbinger at Ascot have subsequently finished first and second in the Group 2 Princess Of Wales’ Stakes at Newmarket. Harbinger’s form this season looks rock solid and having had only eight starts he is most likely still improving.

Admittedly he will still have to be improving to win this race as he is up against his stablemate Workforce, fresh from routing his Derby rivals and smashing the track record in the process. However I remain slightly sceptical over the form of the Derby this year, as so many of his rivals that day had problems and he was left to beat only a pacemaker into second. Jan Vermeer who started favourite at Epsom and who lost shoes during the race has been beaten twice subsequently; Rewilding got caught very flat-footed when the pace quickened at Epsom and had grave trouble in trying to find a clear passage, running on very strongly when he found daylight; Midas Touch who finished fifth has subsequently proven himself to be an out-and-out stayer, needing every inch of the two miles to win the Queen’s Vase next time out; while Al Zir, who looked menacing at one point at the top of the straight, patently didn’t get home. Many will point to Ryan Moore riding Workforce as evidence that the stable firmly know who their number one is. In reality, though, Moore was never going to jump ship from the horse who gave him his first Derby win, and Harbinger is a typical Stoute-trained late-maturing type whose best could be yet to come. Penny for Sir Michael Stoute’s thoughts eh?

Of Course Cape Blanco, Dar Re Mi and Youmzain will be bidding to upset the Stoute tea party. Personally I see the Dubai Sheema Classic winner Dar Re Mi as the biggest danger as she ran a promising race in the Eclipse with Ascot in mind over what was clearly too short a trip for her on fast ground. However, if Sir Michael has his pair fully wound up for next Saturday then the rest could be playing only for third. Wouldn’t it be brilliant to see another great battle up the Ascot straight between two horses from different generations? Different generations from the same stable that is.

After a 1-2-3 in last year’s race, Stoute seems set to dominate Ascot’s mid-summer showpiece once again and this year’s race, if they are all fit, looks like being as good as any of the quality recent runnings. Maybe, just maybe, it will live in the memory for as long as that thrilling 1975 running, although let’s hope the race doesn’t do as much damage as that one did to the horses and that they are able to battle again after Ascot.

By Rory King