17.01.07

Country Song to take in Dubai curtain-raiser

COUNTRY SONG will have his first start for trainer Jeremy Noseda tomorrow on the opening card of the 2007 Dubai International Racing Carnival.

The Fusaichi Pegasus colt showed a good level of form as a two-year-old, finishing second in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot.

He has since joined Noseda’s Shalfleet team and will make his seasonal return in a seven-furlong conditions race on dirt.

If he pleases, then the race will serve as a ‘prep’ ahead of the UAE 2,000 Guineas, which Stagelight won for the yard in 2005.

Previewing, Noseda said: “We are happy with Country Song. Reports to me suggest that he has acclimatised well in Dubai and settle into a routine.

“However, I feel that he will possibly need this first run and as long as he runs creditably I will be happy.

“I feel that he should progress significantly for the run. In previous years, our runners at the Carnival have shown a good level of improvement from their first to second starts there.

“He should handle the dirt. His pedigree suggests that he should be effective on the surface. Ryan Moore rides.”

Bustin Justin could also have an outing at Nad Al Sheba tomorrow. He is first reserve for a 90-105 rated handicap.

Noseda said: “If he gets in, Bustin Justin will be suited by the fast ground. Once again I feel that he will benefit for a first outing.”

TRAINER JEREMY Noseda has enjoyed many victories at the all-weather tracks – notably Lingfield and Wolverhampton – since setting up in England and he will once again be targeting further success on the artificial surfaces this spring.

The latest Shalfleet all-weather team will be comprised of a handful of experienced handicappers and half-a-dozen or so three-year-old maidens.

Two Step Kid will be the yard’s first runner of 2007 when he contests a six-furlong handicap at Wolverhampton this Friday, January 5.

The Gone West entire is now six and returned to Noseda’s Newmarket base last year after a spell in America.

The flashy chestnut had previously been a decent performer in England, building on a Lingfield debut success as a juvenile with victory in the valuable William Hill Trophy the following summer.

Noseda said: “He showed a good level of ability as a three-year-old and the signs are that he appears to have retained his ability and enthusiasm.

“Hopefully, as a six-year-old sprinter, he still has at least a couple of years left in him.”

Fantastic View, another six-year-old, will have his first run since switching Noseda when he contests a mile conditions race at Wolverhampton towards the end of January.

Noseda said: “I’m very happy with him. If all works out well, he could either remain here for a tilt at the Lingfield Winter Derby or alternatively head to Dubai to compete at the International Racing Carnival.”

Nando’s Dream, already a two-time winner on the all-weather, will be kept busy over the coming months.

Her trainer outlined: “She will compete in mile-and-a-half handicaps and could possibly be tried over a little bit further.”

The bunch of three-year-old maidens include Challis, who is a possible for a mile-and-a-quarter Lingfield maiden this Saturday, January 6.

Other colts being trained for all-weather action are the once-raced Rhyming Slang and an unraced son of Pivotal called Swagger.

Of the fillies, Fantastic Cee, Gold Digger Miss and Pivotal Answer are all being prepared for their racecourse bows.

JEREMY NOSEDA signed off for 2006 in style with Kilgary breaking her maiden at Wolverhampton yesterday.

The Pleasant Tap filly, Noseda’s final runner of the year, was awarded the race in the stewards’ room after the first past the post was ruled to have caused her accidental interference.

The margin was a short head and the stewards felt that there was sufficient evidence to suggest the placings should be reversed.

Jockey Steve Drowne was on board for Noseda’s 47^th domestic winner of the campaign.

JEREMY Noseda has outlined that he will send three horses to the 2007 Dubai International Racing Carnival, which gets underway on January 18.

The Shalfleet trainer has had considerable success at the carnival in the past with horses such as Majors Cast, Vague and Stagelight all making their mark.

This year he won’t be sending quite as many horses to the desert as in the past, but he is hoping his small string can hit the target.

An interesting colt who will represent Noseda is Country Song, an autumn arrival in Newmarket and formerly trained in Ireland.

Noseda said: “Country Song has been purchased privately to race in Dubai. His best piece of form to date was a second place in the Chesham.

“Hopefully, he can follow in the footsteps of Stagelight, who won the UAE 2,000 Guineas in 2005.

“That race will be his principal target and his prep will be a seven-furlong conditions race on January 18.”

The Forestry colt Bustin Justin is also due to fly out to the emirate at the start of January.

Noseda said: “He was a winner of three of his four starts in 2006 and will be campaigned on both the turf and the dirt. His pedigree suggests that he ought to go well on the dirt.

“We have got plenty of options for him and he will possibly start his campaign off in a seven-and-a-half furlong handicap.

“The third horse, who will leave Shalfleet for Dubai in early January is Mac Love.

“He has joined us with the specific intention of him being campaigned in Dubai.

“He will probably run on the grass and, all being well, should start off in Dubai on January 25 in either a six-and-a-half furlong or a seven-and-a-half furlong handicap on the turf.

“This trio could possibly be joined at a later stage by Fantastic View, second in the Racing Post Trophy in 2003, but who has not raced since 2004.

“He was trained in Dubai and suffered a series of setbacks, which have meant that he has been off the track for over two years.

“However, we seem to have him back in good health and he could possibly run at Wolverhampton at the end of January and then ship him to Dubai.

“All being well, we will consider a mile handicap at Nad Al Sheba on February 9 or there is another option on February 15 over the same trip.”

THE FACTS tell anyone all they need to know about the 2006 campaign for Jeremy Noseda’s Shalfleet team.

Two Classics – the first on the board for the trainer – plus two more Group 1 triumphs provided the chief highlights. Plus there were also eight further stakes’ wins worldwide, while the half-century was again reached in terms of the overall number of victories.

The Noseda-trained horses registered a 19 per cent strike-rate with the two-year-olds showing up at 23 per cent. Good, solid returns in anyone’s book. Not surprisingly, the domestic prize money figure has a healthy look to it with over £1.26million earned by the Shalfleet string.

All in all, it has been a season to savour for everyone connected to the yard and here Noseda gives his personal reflections on the year that was.

“Almost a year after Stagelight was successful in the UAE 2,000 Guineas, back in February Vague won the UAE 1,000 Guineas, which provided us with a decent start to 2006. She’d warmed up by winning a conditions stakes and I have no doubt she would have been exceptionally competitive in the UAE Oaks were it not for the fact that her Dubai campaign was curtailed with a setback that would keep her off the track until Royal Ascot.

“If her injury was something of a sting in the tail following that Guineas win, Wilko gave us a welcome boost with a big performance in the Dubai World Cup. He belatedly joined our small team at Nad Al Sheba, but put up a brave effort to finish third and circumstances would eventually see him promoted to second. As a previous Breeders’ Cup winner for us, it was quite a sentimental moment to get him back and watch him perform so creditably in the World Cup.”

“Araafa progressed well through the early months of the year and, while a slight hitch prevented his return at the Craven meeting, he signalled his intentions for the season with a pleasing fourth-placed display in the 2,000 Guineas. Just three weeks later he was a Guineas winner, having beaten George Washington – among others – at the Curragh. It was special, of course, for me as the win was my first in a Classic. While I don’t have quite the same feeling about Classics in other countries as I do about them in England, it was still a huge result for the team and Group 1 win.”

“Through a year in any racing stable, you experience setbacks and one that really hurt us in 2006 was the loss of Majors Cast. He was a real firm favourite in the yard and we were all very upset when that he passed away in early June. His Lockinge second place in unsuitable soft ground at Newbury was a highly promising effort and we were all looking forward to taking him to Royal Ascot for the Queen Anne. Sadly, it wasn’t to be but none of us here will forget him.”

“Royal Ascot yielded two winners with Araafa underlining his reputation in the St James’s Palace Stakes and Sander Camillo announcing her arrival in the Albany Stakes. Naturally, we were thrilled to see both horses win but if I look back at our campaign at the Royal meeting, I can’t help but also think about what might have been. Simply Perfect, Petrovich and La Mottie were all second and with a degree of luck it could have been an unforgettable Royal Ascot instead of a good one for us. At this point in my review, it is worth pointing out that by July 1 arrived it was apparent that both Petrovich and Secret World were almost certainly finished for the year. They were always likely to be two of the yard’s major flag-bearers in 2006 so to lose them for the term not long after Majors Cast died was a significant setback. On a positive note, Petrovich and Secret World should form key components of the older horse division in 2007 and let’s hope that they can fulfil their undoubted potential.”

“July saw the yard in rich form. It was the best month of the year in terms of winners sent out from Shalfleet with 12 on target including stakes’ successes for Sander Camillo, Bahama Mama and La Chunga. The first-named showed her brilliance with a five-length victory in the Cherry Hinton Stakes. She was scintillating that day and it was only a shame that soft ground conditions prevented us from running her again before the season was out. Naturally, we are excited about her three-year-old campaign and we just hope for a little bit of luck with the ground at Newmarket come the first weekend of May next year. Also in July, Bahama Mama notched a Listed win at Sandown, while La Chunga showed her liking for York by landing the Summer Stakes – 13 months after she struck in the Albany, also on the Knavesmire.”

“Sixties Icon planted the seed that he might just be a St Leger horse when running with promise in the Derby. Our hopes that we had one for the final domestic Classic of the year were confirmed when he gave a superb performance to take the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. His preparations leading up to the big day went smoothly and he did the job for us to deliver a landmark first domestic Classic win for the team here. Sadly, business commitments at the Keeneland’s major yearling sale prevented me from being at York, but I was thrilled he won and I am delighted that he stays in training with us as a four-year-old.”

“A great Leger day was made perfect with Simply Perfect giving us a Group 2 May Hill win. And she topped that with her fine performance in clinching the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile crown. We hope that she will go on from there and it appears that with Simply Perfect and Rahiyah – second on unsuitable ground in the Rockfel Stakes – that we have a pretty strong hand when it comes to three-year-old fillies for 2007.”

“Araafa all but eradicated his Sussex Stakes run by finishing second to George Washington in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in late September. It was a display that, in my eyes, proved him the second best miler in Europe this year. Araafa has, of course, been retired to stud. Indeed, he is just one of four horses to have been in the yard in recent times, who has been found a stallion’s job. Blue Dakota, Proclamation and Balmont are the others and I hope all will find the same level of success in their secondary careers as they did on the racetrack.”

“I’ve already outlined that we have a strong-looking three-year-old fillies team for next year; as for the colts, we didn’t achieve what we would have liked with them as juveniles last season. Having said that, they were by and large a backward group but there is a lot of talent in there and some who are potential Group-class performers.

“The older horses will include Sixties Icon, Secret World and Petrovich, while I hope old favourite Soldier’s Tale, who didn’t make it to the track in 2006, enjoys a problem-free ‘07. Lastly, we have had a good in-take of yearlings with some lovely pedigrees in among them.

“To conclude, this year’s achievements are not going to be easy to emulate. But I feel we have the horses and the right structure in place in the yard, allowing me to believe there is no reason why we can’t be at least as competitive in 2007 as we have been in what was a memorable 2006.

“Thank you to my staff for all their continued support and assistance. Without their hard work, none of what has been achieved over the past 12 months would have been possible. It really is a ‘team’ game.”

For all the previous stories for 2003 to 2005, please refer to the Archives link.