Lumiere rests easy after win

MARK JOHNSTON has hailed the lightning-quick Lumiere as “one of the best horses I have trained for a long, long time” after leading from start to finish to land the Group One Connolly’s Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes.
Lumiere ridden by William Buick (right) gets the better of Illuminate ridden by Frankie Dettori to win the Connolly's Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes. Picture: Julian Herbert/PA.Lumiere ridden by William Buick (right) gets the better of Illuminate ridden by Frankie Dettori to win the Connolly's Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes. Picture: Julian Herbert/PA.
Lumiere ridden by William Buick (right) gets the better of Illuminate ridden by Frankie Dettori to win the Connolly's Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes. Picture: Julian Herbert/PA.

Now one of the ante-post favourites for next season’s Qipco 1000 Guineas following this scorching success, Middleham-based Johnston does not expect the gutsy grey to run again this season following her Newmarket heroics.

“My gut feeling is that will be enough for the season,” the prolific Johnston told The Yorkshire Post. “She has nothing to prove. It was very, very satisfactory.”

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Though the trainer is particularly satisfied to have a filly who is potentially good enough to replicate Attraction’s Guineas success in 2004, the scintillating success was also tinged with relief because Johnston had made no secret of the high regard in which he holds Lumiere, who was only racing for a third time after winning a maiden at Newmarket before finishing a more than credible second to Besharah in York’s Lowther Stakes.

“It would have been about three or four weeks before her maiden, she was a bit late coming in and behind all the others,” explained the trainer.

“She did a gallop out of stalls and Russ Kennemore came back and said he had never been so fast in his life. You do keep your feet on the ground, but I knew she was well above average.”

Under William Buick, the highly-regarded daughter of Shamardal touched speeds in excess of 40mph as she blazed a trail down the Rowley Mile. Yet, just as Illuminate, the aforementioned Besharah and others looked like reeling in the leader, Lumiere showed great tenacity and strained every sinew in order to repel allcomers.

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If the free-running filly learns to settle over the winter, there’s no reason why Lumiere will not be able to step up in trip from six furlongs – the Cheveley Park distance – to one mile for the Guineas. Johnston, whose yard has often been a nursery for Sheikh Mohammed’s racing operation, will also be hoping that the Classic contender remains in training in North Yorkshire.

“We will wait and see,” he said. “I hoped she was probably the best horse in the race, but I wasn’t sure if she had the experience or the condition for it. She had gone in her coat. I’ve only got four horses like that and she’s one of them.

“She was probably the tallest and rangiest horse in the race and we always thought there should be no shortage of stamina and we also know she is very fast and has a tremendous cruising speed. She is not keen, just very fast.

“I’m very hopeful she’ll get a mile next year. I told someone three weeks ago I didn’t know about the Cheveley Park, but I’m sure she’ll win the Guineas. I just hope I’m right.”

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As for Buick, he observed: “She’s a bit like a coiled spring...there’s not much you can do. You just sit as still as a mouse and hope she comes back to you.

“She’s high class and any horse that can do that the way she did has to be very good, especially when you are doing a bit too much in front.

“Looking at her you think she’ll be a filly for next year as well, she’ll mature and might get a mile.”

Johnston and Buick were more than delighted with Royal Ascot winner Buratino’s second-placed finish to Shalaa in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes. A career-best performance, the colt could be a 2000 Guineas contender next year.

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There was further Yorkshire success at Flat racing’s headquarters when Richard Fahey’s Third Time Lucky just edged out Master The World in a thrilling finish to the Betfred Cambridgeshire – a 34-runner cavalry charge over nine furlongs.

The Malton trainer co-owns the horse with the Musley Bank Partnership, whose exuberant celebrations electrified the normally-reserved Newmarket winner’s enclosure.

“Richard keeps all his plans to himself and tells afterwards! We can’t complain as he keeps coming up trumps,” said Mick Scaife, one of the syndicate members.

Fahey, whose Don’t Touch won the Ayr Gold Cup seven days previously, is enjoying a career-best season and his yard has already won more than £3m in prize money.

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n Boroughbridge jockey Paul Mulrennan is counting down the days before Mecca’s Angel bids to land the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp on Sunday.

Trained at Darlington by Michael Dods, the filly provided Mulrennan with a first-ever Group One success in Britain when running away with York’s Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes after reeling in the giant American two-year-old Acapulco.

All Mulrennan is hoping for is sufficient give in the ground to allow her to showcase her talents once more in Paris where Move In Time, trained at Nawton by David O’Meara and the mount of Danny Tudhope, The Yorkshire Post’s guest racing columnist every Friday, will be looking to replicate last year’s success.

“She’s in great condition and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Mulrennan. “As long as it’s good or good to soft and as long as there’s no jar we’ll be going there next week and we couldn’t be happier with her – we all saw how good she was at York. Her coat is great, her weight is good and she was jumping out of her skin. It’s hard to believe she only won a Group One a few weeks ago.”