THE Darley Prix Morny is sometimes billed as ‘Europe’s Two-Year-Old Sprint Championship.’ Last Sunday it lived up to that billing, and more.
It featured the winners of no less than three Royal Ascot races and its British and Irish contingent was spearheaded by four different individual Group 2 scorers, the winners of six Group 2 events between them.
Yet this quartet of invaders was sent packing by Earthlight, a colt taking his own record to an impeccable four-from-four, and one who looks certain to improve again when stepped up in trip and when racing on better ground.
The six-furlong contest was a complete triumph for Sheikh Mohammed who was on hand to see his own royal blue Godolphin silks come home in front for the first time in a race that he sponsors.
What is more, Earthlight is also bred by Godolphin and got the better of a great duel with a second homebred, Raffle Prize, who wears the colours of Sheikh Mohammed’s son, Hamdan, the pair pulling two and a half lengths clear of a glittering cast of also-rans, led by Golden Horde.
Earthlight is trained by Andre Fabre, who may have landed the French Trainers Championship on a ridiculous 29 occasions but has not won those gongs on the back of the exploits of his juveniles.
Indeed, when you leave aside the Criterium de Saint-Cloud, which is run over such a long distance for youngsters (a mile and a quarter) that it can almost be an irrelevance, the 73-year-old has won just two of France’s 74 top-level two-year-old races this century. His only previous Morny glory came way back in 1992 with Zafonic.
Earthlight must now be considered Europe’s best juvenile alongside Pinatubo, a second unbeaten Goldolphin homebred son of their Kildangan Stud stallion Shamardal. The Morny winner is the first foal of the New Approach mare, Winters Moon, who is a half-sister to seven different winners at a mile or more, herself a close third in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile in 2014.
“He will stay further for sure, he’s a Guineas horse,” Fabre said. “The Morny is one of the best two-year-old races in Europe and the opposition today was tough.
“I’m particularly pleased with him given that he wouldn’t have liked the testing ground. He showed a great attitude to win and he’s a top-class horse.
“The question now is if he will run again this year. If he recovers well the Dewhurst Stakes [at Newmarket on October 12th] is a possibility. Next year I would favour the Guineas at Newmarket over the French equivalent.”
Despite her defeat, Raffle Prize is still in pole position to be crowned Champion Two-Year-Old Filly and her trainer, Mark Johnston, was trying his best to be philosophical afterwards. “We keep coming second in Group 1s this year!” he lamented.
“It was still the right decision to come here rather than go to the Lowther as she’s already won two Group 2s and it’s better to finish second to a colt in a Group 1 than go for another Group 2 against her own sex. The Cheveley Park Stakes [at Newmarket on September 28th] is her next target.”
The Middle Park Stakes, on the same card as the Cheveley Park, is the likely next port of call for Golden Horde. His trainer, Clive Cox, said: “I’m very happy with the way he ran – the winner must be very good.”
The ground was also always going to be a potential pitfall for Aidan O’Brien’s Arizona, who performed perfectly acceptably in the circumstances to take fourth, two lengths behind Golden Horde, who was reversing form from the Coventry Stakes.