SATURDAY, 27 JUNE 2020 HIGHEST GROUND TO BYPASS DERBY SANTIAGO SETS THE >TDN Rising Star= Highest Ground (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was eye- STANDARD IN IRISH DERBY catching while keeping his unbeaten record intact when winning a Haydock novice race on Wednesday over fellow >TDN Rising Star= Waldkonig (GB) (Kingman {GB}). Highest Ground generated Derby whispers with that effort, but the Niarchos Family=s homebred will bypass the July 4 G1 Investec Derby. The Sir Michael Stoute-trained son of Celestial Lagoon (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) is likely to target the G2 Dante S. at York on July 9 for his third start. AThe Derby comes too soon in his career,@ said Racing Manager Alan Cooper. AHe=s a nice horse in the making. He only ran two days ago and Sir Michael will take his time and we=ll probably have a look at the Dante. It=s a very different year for everything, including the race programme. He=s come out of his race well so far and we=ll just feel our way and go from there.@ Highest Ground, who got off the mark with a 2 3/4-length score at Leicester last September, is a half-brother to the stakes- Santiago winning the Queen=s Vase at Royal Ascot | Racing Post winning Maria Gabriella (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}). In this topsy-turvy season, Saturday=s G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at The Curragh has a large field including six well- regarded maidens who have been unable to open their account before the big day largely due to its proximity to the real start of the current campaign. Half-chances are situated everywhere in the line-up, but this one-off renewal could be an open-and-shut case if Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) is able to replicate his success in Royal Ascot=s G2 Queen=s Vase eight days previously. Aidan O=Brien=s horses have a remarkable record when backed up in such a short time and his 2 3/4-length success from the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial runner-up Berkshire Rocco (Fr) (Sir Percy {GB}) in last week=s 14-furlong contest stands up to the closest inspection. Runner-up to Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) as a 2-year-old at the Galway festival in August, the bay was always one set to come into his own tackling middle Highest Ground will target the Dante | Racing Post distances this term and it will be a surprise if he is not aided by a strong pace with Ballydoyle so well-represented. Santiago would be providing the former Haras du Logis-based Authorized with a first Classic here, having been bought in utero IN TDN AMERICA TODAY by Robert Nataf of Horse France as he purchased the 4-year-old HONOR A.P. TO LANE’S END UPON RETIREMENT filly Wadyhatta (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) at Arqana=s 2016 Summer Honor A.P. (Honor Code) will be retired to Lane’s End Farm upon Sale. the conclusion of his racing career. Click or tap here to go Cont. p2 straight to TDN America. TDN EUROPE • PAGE 2 OF 15 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • 27 JUNE 2020 Santiago Sets The Standard In Irish Derby cont. from p1 Sherpa (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in the G3 Gallinule S. over 10 furlongs Coolmore must have appreciated the foal as a physical here last time June 12, this trip is the unknown. specimen to hold on to the relative of the dual Group 1-winning AThroughout his whole career he=s been progressive, with each sire Tamayuz (GB) and the miraculous Urban Sea (Miswaki) and run he=s taken a big step up with a career-best last time out over it is now paying rich dividends. It will be an extremely rare 10 furlongs. He earned his spot by winning the Gallinule,@ Joseph occurrence should Coolmore win a European Classic with the O=Brien said of Crossfirehurricane. AHe had a couple of runs on son of a sire who stands in Turkey--Authorized was sold to that the all-weather, winning both impressively, and then he went on country=s Jockey Club last year--but this is the kind of year when to the Gallinule last time. That was his first run over 10 furlongs strange things are going to happen. He benefits from having and obviously the Derby is another step up by two furlongs, but Seamie Heffernan in the saddle, if you=re not in you can=t win. He who with three renewals since has a fantastic will-to-win. I=d be Soldier of Fortune (Ire) (Galileo a little worried if it went very {Ire}) smashed up the field in soft, as he handles the 2007 is the Classic=s most all-weather well and won well on successful current rider. good-to-firm last time.@ AHe seems to be in good form Runner-up in the G1 Criterium since Ascot--he obviously hasn=t de Saint-Cloud in October, done much,@ O=Brien said of Arthur=s Kingdom (Ire) (Camelot Santiago. AHe=s a horse we {GB}) fared better than always thought would stay and stablemate Mogul (GB) (Galileo that=s why he went to the race {Ire}) when splitting Pyledriver in Ascot. It will be interesting (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) and coming back to a mile and a half Mohican Heights (Ire) (Australia as well. I think he=s versatile {GB}) in Royal Ascot=s G2 King enough ground-wise.@ Aidan O=Brien sends out six runners in the Irish Derby | Racing Post Edward VII S. on June 16 and Joseph O=Brien denied his father two years ago with Latrobe stamina is assured in his case. Aidan O=Brien has moved to fit the (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and could easily do the same again with half-brother to the triple Canadian International hero Joshua Scott Heider=s unbeaten Crossfirehurricane, who bids to provide Tree (Ire) by Camelot=s sire Montjeu (Ire) in the cheekpieces that Kitten=s Joy with a second European Classic winner in less than a worked so well on Ruler of the World (Ire) in the 2013 G1 Epsom month. Heider=s racing operation has come a long way since the Derby. AHe=s a real honest, straightforward horse,@ said Aidan California champion Answer Do (To-Agori-Mou {Ire}) gave him O=Brien. AAscot was his first run of the year, so it was a good run.@ the ideal kickstart in the early nineties and the Omaha-based It is guesswork as to which of Ballydoyle=s June 9 real estate developer bred this chestnut with Craig Bernick=s Leopardstown maiden one-two-three Tiger Moth (Ire) (Galileo Glen Hill Farm. His dam is a half to the G1 Poule d=Essai des {Ire}), Dawn Patrol (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Order of Australia Pouliches heroine Flotilla (Fr) (Mizzen Mast) from a fast family (Ire) (Australia {GB}) will hold most sway here, but Dawn Patrol and while there was genuine Classic class in his defeat of the must have significant upside as a half-brother to the 2011 G2 Beresford S. third Gold Maze (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) and G1 Epsom Derby hero Pour Moi (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). TDN EUROPE • PAGE 3 OF 15 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • 27 JUNE 2020 ATiger Moth won nicely over a mile and a quarter the last day on nice ground and seems to be in good form since then,@ Aidan O=Brien added. AWe thought Dawn Patrol would stay further than the mile and a quarter and he seems to be in good order since the run, and Order of Australia is another horse who looks like he might stay further than the mile and a quarter as well.@ O=Brien was not ruling out a big show from one of his outsiders Senior Vice President and said, AHorses are going to come from out of the clouds in Gary King this race. Nobody is going to know what=s what until after this Twitter: @garykingTDN race. After it we=ll know who is the best mile-and-a-half horse, [email protected] what horses need to drop back to a mile and a quarter or even a + 1.732.320.0975 mile. That=s the best thing about The Curragh, you know where you are going after it, we always think. We would usually like International Editor two runs well spaced out before the Derby, but most have only Kelsey Riley had one run. I think it will be the most exciting of all, because Twitter: @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] there=s so much mystery in it.@ Camelot has a big week ahead of him here and at Epsom and European Editor he is also represented here by the maiden Chiricahua (Ire), who Emma Berry hails from the Ger Lyons stable. Owned by another American in Twitter: @collingsberry Mark Breen, he was last seen finishing runner-up over a mile on [email protected] heavy ground at Naas in November and was protected from fast going when taken out of his intended 3-year-old reintroduction Associate International Editor in the Gallinule. Heather Anderson Fittingly, last year=s shock six-length Irish Derby hero Sovereign Twitter: @HLAndersonTDN (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is back for the first time subsequently in the Marketing Manager G3 Comer Group International Vintage Crop S. over 14 furlongs. Alayna Cullen He meets the G1 Melbourne Cup fourth Master of Reality (Ire) Twitter: @AlaynaCullen (Frankel {GB}) and other smart staying benchmarks as he gets [email protected] his 4-year-old campaign underway.