The Juddmonte International is one of the richest flat races in Britain, and York’s most valuable race ever staged, with a prize fund now in the region of £700,000. Run over 1 mile, 2 and a half furlongs, it is open to horses aged three and over. Prince Khalid Abdullah has generously sponsored the Grade 1 contest, named after his horse breeding operations, collectively known as Juddmonte Farms, for 22 years without owning the winner. On Wednesday the 17th of August 2011, the prince was finally able to see that long wait for a victory in his own race ended in the most emphatic fashion.
Await The Dawn, The Favourite
Standing in the way of the Prince’s much hoped-for triumph was the Ballydoyle horse, Await the Dawn, sent off odds on favourite. Unproven at this level, the four year old bay colt, son of the great Giant’s Causeway, was a winner of his four previous starts at the lower grades and had impressed in his most recent performance at Royal Ascot. Trainer Aidan O’Brien told commentators he was happy with his charge, and he would be helped in his task by the inclusion of a pacemaker, Windsor Palace.
The Abdullah- Cecil Contenders
Both Khalid Abdullah owned horses are trained by Sir Henry Cecil, also the trainer in charge of this year’s headline horse, Frankel. Unlike their youthful stable mate, the two Juddmonte runners, Midday and Twice Over, are both seasoned campaigners. Five year old Midday had her first run in July 2008, also thought to be her only bad run when trailing home an unimpressive seventh of 15 in a maiden at Goodwood. Since then she has never finished worse than fourth, and boasts six group one victories to her name. Six year old Twice Over completed a winning debut in 2007 and has since contested top rated races around the world, including in America and Dubai. At the off he had three group one race wins on his lengthy CV. Cecil was said to have chosen the rider for each horse, assigning stable jockey Tom Queally to Midday and his second jockey Ian Mongan to Twice Over.
The Race
The field left the stalls to a level break and were soon led by the Ballydoyle pacemaker Windsor Palace who opened up a gap of about five lengths on the other O’Brien runner, followed Indian file by Midday, Twice Over and Zafisio. The order remained unchanged until they entered the home strait, when Midday made her move to join Await The Dawn at the front of the main field, shortly followed by Twice Over on the opposite side of the favourite. The Henry Cecil pair surrounded Await The Dawn as the trio swallowed up the pacemaker, but when push came to shove just over two furlongs out, the O’Brien runner was unable to find another gear and was soon floundering.
As Await the Dawn crumbled, Midday set off to win her race and was soon well in front, but her stable mate was going with her. The two engaged in a thrilling battle all the way to the line, with the colt eventually wearing down his rival and becoming Prince Khalid Abdullah’s first ever winner of the Juddmonte International. Putting the emphasis on a fantastic victory for their owner, Midday secured a decisive second, with five lengths between her and the third home, Await The Dawn.
Result: 1st Twice Over, 11/2, 2nd Midday, 5/2 (3/4 length), 3rd Await The Dawn, 8/13 Fav (5 lengths), 4th Zafisio, 66/1 (12 lengths)
Aftermath
Jockey Ian Mongan was thrilled with the biggest win of his career and expressed his gratitude to the owner and trainer for the chance to ride the horse. Summing up the race he felt that the field had not gone too fast, and that the two older horses had had that extra turn of foot which had enabled them to fill the first two places. The crowd gave Twice Over a rousing reception, partly fuelled no doubt by the great public affection for his trainer, Sir Henry Cecil. In an interview Cecil said he thought Midday may have had the edge if the ground had been faster (officially good to soft, some jockeys commented that it was riding ‘dead’), but that it was impossible to know which was more likely to win beforehand and both had deserved to take their chance. O’Brien was quick to congratulate winning connections, and told interviewers that this represented an outstanding training performance by Cecil.
In the race prior to the Juddmonte, Prince Khallid Abdullah was able to welcome another impressive performer home. Unexposed colt Sea Moon won the Voltigeur in pleasing fashion, soundly beating some decent horses, including Irish Derby second Seville, comfortably, and was promptly installed as favourite for the Ladbrokes St Leger. The owner seems to be reaping the benefits of years of dedication to the sport, and could be on track for one of his best seasons to date.
Sources
Paula Sainthouse - Paula Sainthouse holds qualifications in psychology, public relations, horse management & animal behaviour.
Join the Conversation