Starspangledbanner in pole position to win Nunthorpe Stakes
Winning your own race is never that easy.
Khalid Abdullah had been sponsoring the International Stakes at York, through his Juddmonte breeding operation, since 1989 without coming up with a winner.
With 200 yards to run on Tuesday he looked set for a one-two with Twice Over and Byword, until Rip Van Winkle chinned the pair of them. Now Aidan O’Brien must hope that retribution is not at hand for that. His patrons at the Coolmore Stud sponsor the Nunthorpe Stakes, the Group One highlight of the final day of York’s Ebor meeting.
It probably says much for the confidence behind Starspangledbanner that he is lining up for the race in the first place. He was brought over from Australia with a three-race plan that took in the two six-furlong Group One races available – the Golden Jubilee Stakes and the July Cup – before being retired to stud.
Within hours of passing the post in the July Cup connections were left with a hasty decision as the horse would have had to be placed in quarantine at midnight if he was to be ready to travel back to Australia in time for the next southern-hemisphere breeding season.
The decision to carry on racing could be seen as a bold one but also one that has been taken in the belief that further CV-enhancing victories can be gained before the switch to a stallion career is made.
The obvious caveat for Starspangledbanner, who won a Group One over a mile when trained in Australia, is whether he can be as effective dropping down to five furlongs which is the best distance for Equiano, who was beaten only a neck in the July Cup.
O’Brien has at times stood accused of praising his horses with one eye on the following year’s stallion brochures but his awe about this colt was palpable. O’Brien uses sophisticated timing equipment to monitor work and after this horse galloped he had everything checked, just to make sure that the clock really was not lying. “Before York [when he ran in the Duke of York Stakes in May] he was only half-speeding but his half-speeding was unbelievable,” O’Brien said after the Golden Jubilee. “But his work since then has been incredible - his second last furlong in his final piece of work was just under nine and a half seconds, which I have never seen before.
“He's without doubt the fastest sprinter I’ve trained. To go that fast, furlong by furlong, you don’t record those kinds of time - we have never recorded them, anyway. He’s an incredible sprinter.”
If Starspangledbanner can produce that on the track he should still have too many guns not only for Equiano but also Kinsgate Native and Fleeting Spirit who have also finished behind him already this season.
There were plenty of horses behind Rainbow Peak when he spreadeagled a decent field of handicappers at Royal Ascot in June and he goes into the Group Three Sky Bet Strensall Stakes not only as the most progressive horse in the field but also the best according to BHA official handicap ratings.
Another handicapper trying to make the step up is Castles In The Air and he can win the Listed Sky Bet City of York Stakes. Castles In The Air is probably best coming off a fast pace and the likes of Red Jazz should ensure enough pace for him to be played late.
Mark Johsnton’s Green Lightning is only 5lbs up in the weights for beating the progressive Harris Tweed at Newmarket in May and could well improve for the step up in trip for the Sky Bet Melrose Handicap.
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