Delacroix, getting 10 pounds and a great ride from Ryan Moore, nipped Ombudsman by a neck in the Eclipse Stakes on July 12 at Sandown Park. The weight spread between 3-year-old Delacroix and 4-year-old Ombudsman drops marginally to eight pounds Wednesday in the Group 1 Juddmonte International at York.
John Gosden has trained or co-trained the International winner three of the last seven years, and Gosden, who trains 4-year-old Ombudsman with his son Thady, has proven masterful at bringing later-developers like Ombudsman along at their own pace.
A 3-year-old like Delacroix, despite the meaningful weight spread, has won the about 1 5/16-mile International only twice the last six years. Aidan O’Brien trained both such winners, including City of Troy last year, and sends out Delacroix on Wednesday.
The Japanese horse Danon Decile could spoil the Eclipse rematch. Danon Decile might or might not be racing at a distance short of his best. The Japanese horse last saw action on April 5, when he scored a sharp victory at Meydan Racecourse in the 1 1/2-mile Sheema Classic.
Chasing Danon Decile home in the Sheema was Calandagan, wearing the silks of the late Aga Khan and starting for France-based trainer Francis-Henri Graffard. The same connections send out another plausible upsetter in the International, Daryz, a Sea The Stars homebred who has started his career with four wins.
Four-year-old filly See The Fire, a well-beaten third behind Ombudsman in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, could not show her best on heavy ground last out in the Nassau at Goodwood but will get a firmer course more to her liking Wednesday.
The International, run around a relatively flat left-handed course, is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, connected with the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The association between a European turf fixture and an American dirt race might seem tenuous, but no International winner has won a Breeders’ Cup Turf while several have come close in the Classic.
Delacroix’s margin of victory in the Eclipse probably underrated his superiority on the day. The colt found himself hopelessly blocked behind rivals for more than half the Sandown Park homestretch before Moore came across two sets of heels and got to the far outside, his mount delivering a withering run. The performance highlighted Delacroix’s effort in the Derby at Epsom, where he was ninth as the 2-1 favorite, as a true outlier. Delacroix has gone 5-3-0 in his other eight starts and remains a progressive horse.
Ombudsman, who at age 4 has made seven career starts compared to Delacroix’s nine, didn’t make his Group 1 debut until the Prince of Wales’s, which he won decisively, by two lengths. The colt might have lost focus after making the lead in the Eclipse, taking a wandering course to the wire as Delacroix ran him down.
Dannon Decile hasn’t raced over a distance this short in six starts, winning at the Group 3 level when last seen at 1 1/4 miles. But the turn of foot he displayed in the Sheema Classic suggests that with a proper pace in front of him – and Birr Castle appears to be entered as Ombudsman’s pacemaker – he could make a mark.
And while Daryz steps way up in class, his three-quarters of a length victory in the Group 2 Prix Eugene-Adam on June 29 doesn’t tell the whole tale as jockey Mickael Barzalona eased Daryz across the finish after his mount had inhaled the leader.
The Group 2 Great Voltigeur serves as the card’s supporting feature but features the star runner on the card, Lambourn, winner of the Derby at Epsom and the Irish Derby in his last two starts. Lambourn needs 1 1/2 miles for his best and gets it in the age-restricted Great Voltigeur.
Also carded is a second Breeders’ Cup Challenge race, the Group 3 Acomb for 2-year-olds over seven furlongs. Charlie Appleby never has trained an Acomb winner but has narrow antepost favorite Distant Storm, who won his lone start, a Newmarket maiden. Just behind him in the betting markets is Italy, an O’Brien-trained colt second as the odds-on favorite in the Group 3 Superlative last out.
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