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| What Is It Good For? - Declaration Of War is taken to land the Lockinge |
Given that Frankel has already been mentioned only a paragraph in, it seems right that we would start with a horse that twice chased home Sir Henry Cecil’s wonder-colt last season.
Godolphin’s Farhh enjoyed a great season in 2012 in spite of only landing the Thirsk Hunt Cup. He was a runaway winner of that race but then developed a serious case of seconditis as the season wore on.
He was unlucky at Royal Ascot getting no run in the Prince of Wales’s eventually finishing third behind So You Think and Carlton House and then it was seconds all the way.
He narrowly went down to Nathaniel in the Eclipse, then dropped back to a mile to chase Frankel home in the Sussex, it was back up to 1m2f to again play for places behind Frankel in the Juddmonte before he was again narrowly beaten in France by Moonlight Cloud over a mile.
Every single one of the aforementioned efforts since the Hunt Cup were at Group 1 level and you’d be hard pressed to find a more consistent horse in training. Many people think he can finally land the big one on Saturday and he is one of the more versatile horses out there, but I have my reservations.
Firstly the Godolphin horses that have run thus far haven’t exactly been firing, and historically do take a while to come good, this could especially be true this season with those involved with the horse’s minds surely elsewhere.
I also have my suspicions that the further distance is his optimum trip and he may, as he tended to last season, just again find one too good at this level over a mile.
I backed Farhh throughout last season though and I for one would love to see him finally get his Group 1 on Saturday even if it means I’ll be poorer for it.
The reason I’ll be poorer for it is that Godolphin’s long-standing rivals at Ballydoyle have a runner that I think will take all the beating this Saturday.
Originally trained in France by Jean-Claude Rouget, Declaration Of War initially took a while to find his feet in Ireland. He was fourth in a Group 3 on his first start for Ballydoyle before winning a race he really should have been winning at the Curragh and he rounded last season off with a narrow Group 3 win at Dundalk.
He returned in impressive fashion this season though, weak in the market beforehand he won a Leopardstown Listed race with any amount in hand and was immediately touted for this race afterwards.
Strong in the market for this since the prices came out and being well backed for the Queen Anne at the Royal meeting as well Declaration Of War’s first win as a four-year-old marked him out as a very good horse indeed, and after finishing runner-up in this last year with Excelebration, Coolmore can go one better this year and take it with another import.
The other main contender for this year’s Lockinge runs in the same colours Frankel carried to victory twelve months ago.
Cityscape turned in one of the performances of the season on World Cup night at Meydan last year when running away with the Dubai Duty Free but he failed to build on that in a globe-trotting season.
He blatantly didn’t stay the trip strongly enough when well beaten in the Eclipse and consistently ran in to superstars for the rest of the season when beaten by the likes of Excelebration and Wise Dan.
With Frankel and Excelebration now gone from the European mile scene though Cityscape’s trainer Roger Charlton thinks now could be his star horse’s time to shine domestically.
On the pick of his form he’s right there with a chance but given his advancing years he may be vulnerable to younger improving horses first time out.
Of the remainder Beauty Parlour boasted high class form in France but has failed to fire since joining Sir Henry Cecil, albeit only having had one run. She’s not without a chance here, but is probably best watched at this point to see if she can return to that good level of form she had shown across the Channel.
Fencing brings good form from last year’s classic generation to the table but probably has a bit to find with some of the leading players here, although it always pays to respect a John Gosden horse supplemented for any race.
Trumpet Major looks the classic Hannon miler but ultimately hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. He returned in good style this season though landing the Group 2 Bet365 Mile at Sandown and a big run wouldn’t be a complete shock; he’s probably the each-way play in the race if you feel that way inclined.
Of the others, Aljamaaheer looked set for a big season but was turned over at prohibitive odds on his seasonal reappearance in a race he should have been winning if he’s to win here, Libranno is a seven-furlong specialist, Reply will no doubt be sacrificed as Declaration Of War’s pacemaker if running and though an admirable servant Penitent probably isn’t quite up to this level.
There aren’t many that can be totally ruled out with absolute confidence in what looks an open renewal, but having tried to beat Frankel any way they could last year I fancy Ballydoyle to make the most of his retirement by landing the Lockinge with a young improving horse in Declaration Of War.
Lockinge 2013 Best Odds:
Declaration Of War 2/1
Cityscape 7/2
Farhh 9/2
Beauty Parlour 8/1
Fencing 11/1
Trumpet Major 12/1
Aljamaaheer 16/1
Penitent 25/1
Amaron 33/1
Sovereign Debt 33/1
Chil The Kite 40/1
Libranno 50/1
Reply 66/1
Recommendation:
Declaration Of War 1pt Win @ 2/1 (Skybet)
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