Page 80 - Majestic V8
P. 80
Feature
the Churchill Downs straight. She had once again
proved herself at the highest level. Clearly the best
3YO of her generation, she was crowned Eclipse
Champion 3YO filly in USA of 2017.
o3_2018 G1 Ogden Phipps 03 For The Ages
Stakes 2018岳敦菲柏斯
锦标一级赛 The Next Level 2018 began with a slightly disappointing resuming
04_Abel Tasman Sells run, which both trainer and jockey attributed to
For USD5 million at 2019 2017 will be long recorded as a break out year for a very deep and off track. Did she still have that
Keeneland January Horses CHC in USA racing. Our first crop hit the tracks in competitive spirit in her? Did she still want to put
of All Ages Sale 2016 and we were lucky enough to find a G1 winner, herself through the rigours of an elite athlete? Baffert
“探险家”最终以500万 in Yellow Agate in year one, but to win a fabled couldn’t have picked a more important day to deliver
美元的价格在2019美国 Classic, then Grade 1 races at Belmont and Saratoga Abel Tasman back to the track, choosing the historic
基兰一月全龄马拍卖会 took the game to a whole new level. Ogden Phipps Stakes run at Belmont on Belmont
上成交 Stakes Day. In 2018, history would show this was the
Outside of the Oaks and Derby weekend, I believe day that our champion, Justify, would be attempting
04 the Breeders’ Cup is the biggest event of the racing to become just the 13th Triple Crown winner.
year in the USA. Many would have it the other way
around. A year’s end event, where the best of the best New York dawned a beautiful summer’s day – clear
converges to fight for the mantle of a Breeders’ Cup crisp skies, a massive crowd of 100,000 packed, not
championship. Abel Tasman lined up in the Grade 1 to see Abel Tasman but the prospect of the elusive
Breeders’ Cup Distaff, a race for best middle-distance Triple Crown. A Grade 1 race earlier in the day was
fillies, in addition to the older mares in the USA. It’s a great distraction from the Triple Crown pressure
always a hard task for young fillies to take on their and, as we walked into the paddock, it was evident
older, more seasoned and mature counterparts. Once that Abel Tasman looked a picture of health, her coat
again, Abel Tasman fought for all her worth, having sleek, her eyes alert, a nervous yet powerful energy
the measure of the other 3YOs, but just failing in a radiating from her. We had seen this look from her
stirring stretch drive to overhaul the leading older previously.
mare, Forever Unbridled, at the 9F distance. It was
yet another amazing performance to pull so much The race itself panned out as we had planned
ground off a champion mare as they thundered down and, as the field turned for the long run in down
the big Belmont stretch, Mike Smith, wearing the
now famous red and yellow silks, began to ask Abel
Tasman to extend for a supreme effort. Pushing over
her neck, she lengthened her great stride, continuing
to move further and further clear in front of a
raucous New York crowd, eventually coasting to a 7L
victory in race record time. It was a performance for
the ages. Truly imperious.
78 MAjestic
