The Irish Derby Festival was staged at the Curragh over last weekend.
Together with top-class action at Saint-Cloud in France, there have been some changes to the Pattern race points standings for 2018 Cartier Racing Awards.
Galileo colt Waldgeist (56) won for the third time from four starts in 2018 on July 1 when he gained the second Gr1 success of his career in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud over a mile and a half.
The Andre Fabre-trained four-year-old, owned by Gestut Ammerland & Newsells Park, enters the reckoning for both Cartier Horse Of The Year and Cartier Older Horse and has Ascot’s Gr1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Sponsored by QIPCO) at the end of July and the Gr1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October as targets.
Waldgeist now lies in third place in the Cartier Older Horse standings, behind Gr1 Prix Ganay and Investec Coronation Cup winner Cracksman (88), and Gr1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes victor Poet’s Word (68).
Cracksman and dual French Gr1 winner Laurens (88 points) continue to head the standings for Cartier Horse of the Year, ahead of Masar (68) and Poet’s Word.
Godolphin’s Masar, winner of the Investec Derby at Epsom Downs, has a chance to boost his prospects this weekend as he heads to Sandown Park for the Gr1 Coral-Eclipse over 10 furlongs.
Masar wins The Investec Derby
Masar continues to lead the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt category ahead of Saxon Warrior (56). Saxon Warrior, winner of the Gr1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, finished third in the G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh behind Latrobe (36), who provided Joseph O’Brien with his first Classic success as a trainer.
Laurens remains at the head of the standings for the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly following her Gr1 victories in the Gurkha Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary and Prix de Diane Longines. Joint-second in this category are runaway Gr1 Coronation Stakes heroine Alpha Centauri and Investec Oaks winner Forever Together (both 64 points).
Galileo filly Forever Together, trained by Aidan O’Brien for a Coolmore partnership, contested the Gr1 Juddmonte Pretty Polly Stakes over 10 furlongs at the Curragh on July 1, when she was runner-up to the four-year-old Australian-bred filly Urban Fox (32) from William Haggas’s Newmarket stables.
There are no changes to the standings in the Cartier Sprinter category, with Gr1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes winner Merchant Navy (48), now retired to stud, leading the way ahead of Sands Of Mali (40) and Blue Point (38).
Similarly, Gr1 Gold Cup winner Stradivarius (64) continues to head the standings in the Cartier Stayer division in front of Vazirabad (55) and Torcedor (20), who were second and third respectively in the Gold Cup.
Galileo colt Flag Of Honour (16), trained by Aidan O’Brien, makes his first appearance in the Cartier Stayer category following his success in the Gr2 Comer Group International Curragh Cup over a mile and three quarters on July 1.
