classic review
Snow arrived in June Jocelyn de Moubray reviews the early Classics and while he rates Snowfall as a brilliant winner of the Oaks and St Mark’s Basilica the best colt in Europe, for now, he is reserving judgement on the quality of Adayar’s Derby win mainly due to the dearth of British middle-distance form
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RISH-TRAINED HORSES have dominated Europe’s major Classic races in 2021. Of the nine run in England, Ireland and France, at the time of writing, seven have been won by Irish-trained horses, and five of these by Aidan O’Brien. The official handicappers may not yet agree, but Coolmore’s St Mark’s Basilica has established himself as the leader of the Classic generation. The son of Siyouni has won three Group 1s on his three latest starts following up his victory in the Dewhurst last autumn by completing the French Classic double of the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and the Prix du Jockey-Club and becoming the fourth horse to do the spring double after Shamardal, Lope De Vega and Brametot. At Chantilly, St Mark Basilica, the best two-year-old in Britain and Ireland, defeated Sealiway, France’s champion two-year-old, with the improving and very promising Millebosc and Saiydabad following them home in a result which fits easily into a pattern established by the best Classic races. Siyouni, who stands at the Aga Khan Studs at Bonneval in Normandy, has become the clear leader among the Classic sires of the younger generation. St Mark’s Basilica is his fifth Classic
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The official handicappers may not yet agree, but Coolmore’s St Mark’s Basilica has established himself as the leader of the Classic generation winner from only seven crops of three-yearolds to race, the first four of which were conceived at a €7,000 covering fee. The colts who chased home St Mark’s Basilica in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains were not those the market had predicted, but the winner more than proved his quality when completing his Classic double at Chantilly.
If the hierarchy among Europe’s colts is yet to be fully established, anyone who has been paying attention would agree that Coolmore’s Snowfall is the best filly of her generation. If her win in the Muisdora Stakes was difficult to judge at the time, Snowfall’s brilliant 16l victory in the Oaks at Epsom made it clear that the O’Brien-trained daughter of Deep Impact is a champion and in all likelihood a great champion – Snowfall’s final sectional time splits as she raced clear of the field were remarkable. Equally surprising is Deep Impact’s success in Europe as Snowfall is the Shadai stallion’s fourth European Classic winner from fewer than 40 three-year-old runners in Europe. Juddmonte’s Frankel sired his third Classic winner when Ayadar won the Derby, from his first five crops to race. The Derby was an exception among this year’s Classic races for colts, and in reality its result presents a puzzle. The other colts’ Classics featured some of the leading two-year-olds of 2020 as the juvenile Group winners Poetic Flare, Master Of The Seas and Lucky Vega had finished in a line in the 2,000 Guineas, while the two-year-old Group 1 winner Mac Swinney defeated Poetic Flare and another Group 1
