MILL Reef’s effortless win in the Gimcrack Stakes came a few months before I was born, and there have been many wide-margin pattern-race victories by two-year-olds in the decades since.
Celtic Swing’s twelve-length demolition job in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy, Dream Ahead’s nine-length win in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes, Manntari’s ten-length dismissal of vastly inferior opposition in the Group 1 National Stakes, Xaar taking the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes by seven, and Frankel’s scintillating ten-length score in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes – just a few that stand out.
The record margin is the twenty lengths by which Alson won the Group 1 Criterium International against a sole rival in heavy ground at ParisLongchamp in October, but that lacked the wow factor that a runaway win against a full field would have done.
Pinatubo’s performance at the Curragh the previous month, on the other hand, looked stunning, and a Timeform rating of 134 backed that up. He is the undisputed and undefeated European champion two-year-old of 2019 and one of the most exciting classic prospects of recent years.
It remains to be seen if he can hit similar heights in 2020. There are many star juveniles who have not shone so brightly at three – some who didn’t even make it to the track that year – and there has been much social media comment that Pinatubo may not have the scope of some of his cohorts. But such is the standard that he has set already, performing within even half a stone of his best would likely be good enough for most Group 1 races.
If he can return in 2020 as good as he was at two then he will remain one of the most exciting horses in training. If he can improve from two to three, then perhaps he could even hit that rarely seen Timeform 140-rating. We will have to wait and see how the year turns out for him. His pedigree certainly gives him every chance of being at least as good as a three-year-old or older horse as he was as a juvenile.
Homebred
The Godolphin homebred is a March 11th foal and he made his racecourse debut in a six-furlong novice event on the Tapeta at Wolverhampton in early May. He was one of three to carry the famous blue silks in that race and he showed a turn of foot to hit the front a half-furlong from home, sprinting clear to beat one of them, Platinum Star, by three and a half lengths. The other one was the favourite Dark Of Night who, like the runner-up, was representing the Saeed bin Suroor stable. Three weeks later the Charlie Appleby-trained bay stumbled slightly coming out of the stalls at Epsom but still won the Woodcote Stakes by a length and a half, the third that day being the front-running Misty Grey, a not-too-distant relation of Pinatubo.
He stepped up to seven furlongs the following month to tackle the Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot. It was the recent Curragh maiden winner Lope Y Fernandez who was sent off as the favourite, but Pinatubo got the better of him in the final furlong before pulling away in style to win by three and a quarter lengths, breaking the juvenile course record. Highland Chief was another length and a quarter back in third followed by a two-and-a-quarter-length gap to Sun Power in fourth.
Lope Y Fernandez was again in opposition for the Group 2 Qatar Vintage Stakes at Goodwood late the following month, as was old rival Platinum Star, but they were well-beaten in third and fifth respectively. This time Pinatubo cruised into a narrow lead about a furlong and a half from home and then bounded clear when jockey James Doyle asked him to quicken, putting five lengths between himself and the runner-up, Positive, at the line. It was the same margin back to the third and another three and a half lengths to the fourth, Visinari.
His trip to Ireland came seven and a half weeks later and he was sent off at odds of 1/3 to beat seven rivals in the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes on good ground. The Aidan O’Brien-trained pair Armory and Arizona were seen as the only realistic threats, the former coming into the race after wins in the Group 3 Tyros Stakes and Group 2 Futurity Stakes and the latter having been fourth to Earthlight in the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville after his Group 2 Coventry Stakes victory at Ascot.
The market had the one-two-three in the correct order, but nobody could have expected that the winner would produce a performance of such brilliance. Cruising three furlongs from home, he hit the front two out, was shaken up and then took off, galloping home strongly to win by nine lengths. There was a neck between Armory and Arizona and then a two-and-a-quarter-length gap to the Mark Johnston-trained Monoski in fourth, a colt who had finished fourth in a valuable York nursery on his previous start. The time was quick, and the champion elect earned a Timeform rating of 134p.
The ‘p’ was dropped after his final outing of the year when he ‘only’ beat Arizona and Wichita by two lengths and two and three-quarter lengths in the Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, the soft ground possibly blunting his speed. The third had been a seven-length winner of the Group 3 Tattersalls Stakes on his previous start, the fourth was the Royal Lodge Stakes fourth Year Of The Tiger – who finished third in the Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes next time out – and they were followed home by the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes runner-up Monarch Of Egypt and the aforementioned Positive. It was a very good effort, albeit not an exciting one, and it will likely have taught him a lot more than either of his previous two pattern wins will have done.
Cadence
Presuming he trains-on, the big questions remain the distance over which he may prove best and how far he might stay. His pedigree combined with his two-year-old record suggest a horse who could be a top miler that, if asked, could possibly manage the extended ten furlongs of the Juddmonte International but probably not farther than that.
Yes, Shamardal (by Giant’s Causeway) has had some talented offspring that stayed 12 furlongs, and yes, Pinatubo is out of a Dalakhani (by Darshaan) mare who won a listed contest over eleven furlongs and is related to some horses who stayed middle distances, but this is a family that is primarily associated with speed in the five-to-nine-furlong range. And there is also the matter of his cadence (stride frequency) to consider.
Simon Rowlands presented data in a December 17th article on the AtTheRaces website (attheraces.com) which showed that the colt hit a maximum cadence of 2.50 in the Vintage Stakes, 2.45 at the Curragh, and 2.53 in the Dewhurst – all typical of a sprinter-miler.
Kildangan Stud’s Shamardal had another excellent year in 2019 and particularly with his two-year-olds. It is remarkable that not only did he have three Group 1 winners in that age group but that all three of them are Godolphin homebreds who went through their season undefeated. Pinatubo won six, Earthlight’s five starts featured the Group 1 Darley Prix Morny and Group 1 Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes, and the last of Victor Ludorum’s runs was in the Group 1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp.
The stallion’s other two top-level winners were the Emirates Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) heroine Castle Lady and the outstanding sprinter Blue Point, who has now joined his sire on Darley’s roster at Kildangan Stud in Ireland.
Shamardal’s son Lope De Vega, who heads the team at Ballylinch Stud, was represented by the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan scorer Zabeel Prince plus the Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas star and new Irish National Stud sire Phoenix Of Spain – which augurs well for Pinatubo’s eventual stud potential – whereas the Group 1-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain (by Kodiac) is out of one of his daughters.
Pinatubo is the third foal out of the French stakes winner Lava Flow, a mare whose 2018 and 2019 foals are daughters of Sea The Stars (by Cape Cross) and Teofilo (by Galileo) respectively – she then returned to Shamardal.
Her siblings include a couple of middle-distance winners (one of whom also won over hurdles) and also Strobilus (by Mark Of Esteem), who was short-headed by Kirklees in the Group 1 Gran Criterium on his final start at two, and she is a daughter of Mount Elbrus (by Barathea) who won the Listed Prix Petite Etoile over ten and a half furlongs on heavy ground.
The next dam, El Jazirah (by Kris), is a half-sister to the Group 3 Blandford Stakes winner Chiang Mai (by Sadler’s Wells), the mare who gave us the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes heroine and Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup third Chinese White (by Dalakhani), and this makes a case for him as being a potential middle-distance horse. Indeed, he holds an entry in the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby.
Influential
However, given what we know about the colt’s cadence, it seems more likely that what he has inherited is more of the speed in the family, for example that associated with the full-sister to his third dam, Rafha.
She won the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) over ten and a half furlongs at Chantilly and has produced the Group 3 Ormonde Stakes and Group 3 John Porter Stakes winner Sadian (by Shirley Heights) as well as the Group 3 Princess Royal Stakes scorer Acts Of Grace (by Bahri), but her three most notable offspring are by stallions who represent the sort of speed with which we associate Shamardal.
Invincible Spirit (by Green Desert) won the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock, his half-brother Kodiac (by Danehill) was runner-up in the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes, and half-sister Massarra (by Danehill) was a listed winner and runner-up in the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin. All three have also become influential at stud.
Massarra is the dam of the Group 1 Gran Criterium scorer Nayarra (by Cape Cross) plus five blacktype horses by the phenomenal Galileo (by Sadler’s Wells): Group 3 winner Wonderfully, her stakes-winning full-sisters Blissful and Cuff, her Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes-placed brother Mars, and the high-class Gustav Klimt. He won the Group 2 Superlative Stakes over seven furlongs at two, went on to be placed in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas, Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes, Group 1 Prix Jean Prat, and Group 1 Sprint Cup, and he stands at Castlehyde Stud in Co Cork where he covered 117 mares in 2019, his first season.
Kodiac stands at Tally-Ho Stud in Co Westmeath, is most often associated with sprinters and milers, and his four Group 1 stars among fifty-four blacktype scorers feature the 2019 top-level winners Fairyland and Hello Youmzain.
Invincible Spirit, of course, has long been the main flag bearer at the Irish National Stud in Co Kildare. He has had eighteen Group 1 stars among 126 stakes winners, including 2019’s Qipco 2000 Guineas hero Magna Grecia, he gets mostly sprinters and milers – plus a few who stay farther – and in addition to becoming a notably successful broodmare sire (for example, of Desert Encounter in 2019) he has become a much sought-after sire of stallions because his early sons include the Group 1 sires I Am Invincible, Kingman, and Lawman.
Famous family
El Jazirah and Rafha are also half-sisters to Al Anood (by Danehill) and Wosaita (by Generous), both of whom have descendants at stud. The former was stakes-placed in Australia, she has produced a Grade 2 scorer who was champion stayer in South Africa (Enaad, by High Chaparral) but also the top Australian juvenile Pride Of Dubai (by Street Cry). He is a Coolmore Stud-based freshman sire in Australia in 2019/20, his sole Irish-born crop are now yearlings, and, at the time of writing, he has had one stakes winner and two other blacktype horses from a handful of runners.
Wosaita, on the other hand, is the dam of the Italian Group 3 scorer Whazzis (by Desert Prince) and the Listed Chesham Stakes winner Whazzat (by Daylami), she is the grandam of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile heroine Uni (by More Than Ready) and also of James Garfield (by Exceed And Excel). He won the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes and Group 3 Greenham Stakes, he was runner-up in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest and Group 3 Acomb Stakes, and he covered 68 mares in his debut season at Rathbarry Stud in 2019. This is a famous family that is a proven source of top-class horses over a variety of distances and also some notably successful stallions.
Pinatubo – officially rated 128, 10lbs clear at the top of the European Classifications for his age group – is one of the most exciting juveniles of recent years. He looks likely to be remembered as another of its two-year-old and mile stars rather than as one of its middle-distance horses.
It remains to be seen if he will be as good in 2020, or if he can even improve on his juvenile rating, but no matter how the year turns out, there is every reason to believe that he could have a busy and significant stallion career ahead of him whenever his racing days end. It is hoped that he will excel again this coming season, perhaps adding his name to the long roll of honour for the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.
With the way he won at the Curragh combined with his cadence and the speed in his pedigree, it would not be a surprise to see him drop back to seven furlongs for the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat and/or Group 1 Prix de la Foret.
Summary Details
Bred: Godolphin
Owned: Godolphin
Trained: Charlie Appleby
Country: England
Race record: 111111-
Career highlights: 6 wins inc Darley Dewhurst Stakes (Gr1), Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes (Gr1), Qatar Vintage Stakes (Gr2), Chesham Stakes (L)
European Group 1 Winners of 2019 is available in both paperback and ebook format from Amazon and it can be ordered from some other booksellers, e.g. BookDepository.com, BarnesAndNoble.com.