Zebedee springs home in Molecomb Stakes
Richard Hannon swept the board of the prestige two-year-old races at the July meeting at Newmarket and the stable set about a repeat performance at Goodwood.
At five foot and plenty Richard Hughes survives on the thinnest of rations but rides like a man who has feasted on confidence, which is underpinned by the knowledge that the Hannon two-year-olds are in near unstoppable form this season.
Hughes is a versatile jockey but if he has a trademark ride it is the hold-up horse and he had the perfect partner in Zebedee in the Group Three Betfair Molecomb Stakes.
The jockey kept Zebedee off the point of the speed and then tucked in behind Stone of Folca, another horse who was going to be delivered late. Hitting the final furlong the pair came either side of Choose Wisely, with Hughes easing Zebedee to win with a brief burst of speed from Stone of Folca by a head, but probably with a fair bit more than that as his ultimate advantage.
“That’s what it’s all about. From the first day he ever won, at Windsor, I felt him pull up with me and he only won a half a length. And I said to the boss ‘this horse needs holding up’.”
However, Hannon overruled Hughes when it came to the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot. “I said I’ll drop him in and he said ‘you will not – you’ll die with your boots on up there’.” Having learned the lesson, when Zebedee finished fifth, Hughes adopted his preferred tactics this time and the colt clearly relished the late delivery as much as the jockey, who weaved a similarly late run to win the race 12 months ago on Monsieur Chevallier.
The difference is that Monsieur Chevallier was a horse who was lazy in the early stages and required rousting to produce the goods while Zebedee needs to be held together.
“It was worth having a go but it didn’t work and it was lovely dropping him in today. You can’t do it without the horse and he’s got a super dash that lasts 50 metres. But when he uses it he’s explosive and you have to save it for the end.”
Hannon smiled and said with a laugh: “I’m going to have a heart attack if Hughesie keeps riding like that. He’ll get six furlongs and will go for the Gimcrack now. We’ll regroup and have a think but he’s also in the valuable Tattersalls sales races.”
Stone Of Folca, still a maiden after four runs, is set to take on the best sprinters in Europe. His trainer, John Best, is targeting the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes, at York next month. Best knows what it takes to win the Nunthorpe with a juvenile, having achieved the feat with Kingsgate Native three years ago, and that after the horse had finished runner-up in the Molecomb.
“Jimmy [Quinn] thought there was going to be a really fast pace to the race, but Ryan [Moore on Avonmore Star] jumped out in front and took a pull,” Best said. “They didn’t go quick enough for us and our horse fought him [Quinn] a little bit. From a furlong-and-a-half out our horse and Zebedee were the only two still cruising. I was watching him and thought, ‘Oh God, here he comes - another Richard Hannon special’.
“We’ll have a think about it but the Nunthorpe would still be our target. He’ll get a strong gallop there and with 8st 1lb he must go there with a chance. He’s got so much natural speed. Kingsgate Native wouldn’t have travelled that well for so long.”
Hannon had the well-backed Big Issue in the other juvenile race on the card, the EBF Dallaglio Maiden Stakes, but had to settle for second behind Ralph Beckett’s Pabusar who looked a smart prospect and could be seen out next in the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury in September.
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