Sans Frontieres causes upset in Princess Of Wales’s Stakes
For those who thought it was just a matter of loading into the stalls it was a salutary lesson at Newmarket.
The Group Two Princess of Wales’s sportingbet.com Stakes has produced its fair share of shock winners over the years and it dug deep enough into its box of tricks to come up with a result that took some believing.
Spanish Moon’s price shrivelled as soon as he had successfully, even quietly, entered the starting stalls. Perhaps that was a warning in itself for a horse who had been banned from racing in this country for six months after being withdrawn from the Jockey Club Stakes at the Rowley Mile course last season.
The favourite was in the middle of the field as Richard Hills dictated terms from the front on Tazeez, tracked by Holberg and Man Of Iron. Tazeez was still in front heading to the final quarter-mile but Ryan Moore was already working on Spanish Moon, but the favourite was finding very little.
Tom Queally was finding himself on a horse with seemingly boundless energy in Sans Frontieres. As a three-year-old Sans Frontieres was second in the Craven Stakes and third in the Dante Stakes but then did not run again until this year’s Craven meeting and has failed to make the first three in his three starts thus far this year.
However, Sans Frontieres had run his best race of the season when fourth behind Harbinger in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot and now he was about to repay the faith that his trainer, Jeremy Noseda, had retained in him.
He still ran somewhat awkwardly, with his head on one side, and the sheepskin cheekpieces hardly helped the effect. But handsome is as handsome does and Sans Frontieres galloped through the field to lead to beat Redwood by two-and-a-half lengths, with Spanish Moon waxing tamely into fourth.
“I can’t say I honestly expected it but it’s nice to have a pleasant surprise,” Noseda said. “Sir Robert’s [Ogden, the owner] has been a huge supporter of my stable and it’s been a little while since I had a decent winner for him. So it’s a great relief and I’m thrilled for him.
“I came here and I thought he’d finish in the first three. I didn’t think he’d beat Spanish Moon, but I looked at the race beforehand and I thought, ‘If Spanish Moon doesn’t perform, we’ve got as good a chance as anything.’ And it’s worked out, and I’m so happy, happy.
Recalling Sans Frontieres' three-year-old season that was curtailed by injury Noseda said: “It was just prior to Royal Ascot last year. And when we brought him back this season, it was a question of getting him fit.
“His first two efforts were my fault. He wasn’t fit enough at Newmarket and then I shouldn’t have run him at Chester on soft ground. Then he raced at Royal Ascot [where he was fourth to Harbinger in the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes] and showed a glimmer, a suggestion that he was on the way back. And he has worked a little bit better at home since Royal Ascot.”
It was after Ascot that the trainer made the decision to run the horse in cheekpieces. “It just felt at Ascot he never really travelled and never gave Tom a chance to ride a race on him, because he wasn’t sharp. He didn’t have enough tactical speed throughout the race, so Tom couldn’t put him where he wanted to be. So I put the cheekpieces on, not because there were questions about the horse’s attitude, his desire to go and do the job, but just to make him a little bit sharper and to make him run more smoothly through the race,” Noseda added, as he considered the next move with a colt who could still be a contender at Group One level.
“You know that’s a big step. From this to Group One, is the biggest step there is in racing. I’ll have to go home and sit down. I didn’t come here expecting to win, so I didn’t look much beyond today. I’ll have a look and hopefully they’ll be a better day ahead."
The day ahead for Noseda is all about Fleeting Spirit, who will be trying to win the Darley July Cup for the second year running tomorrow. “She’s in good order. I was out cantering with her this morning," Noseda said. "We’ll go there and hopefully run a big race. She very rarely lets me down - in fact, I don’t think she’s ever let me down. We’ll give it our best shot.”
The win was a tonic for Queally. He rode Fleeting Spirit to win the July Cup for Noseda last year, but was passed over for the ride in favour of Frankie Dettori for tomorrow's renewal. That setback was further from his mind however. “The last day at Ascot there were signs of improvement and encouragement that he was back on track," he said.
"And today’s it’s been proved. He travelled strongly in the race. I took my time – because he can take a bit of a bite early on – and I just wanted to get him on an even keel. He picked up when it mattered and he stayed on all the way to the line.”
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