LARC Prix Maurice de Gheest (Group 1)

IS it possible to have an embarrassment of riches when your name is Sheikh Mohammed, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, a place which during his lifetime has been transformed from a tiny pearl-diving and fishing nation to one with a €350 billion petroleum-based economy?

Probably not, otherwise he would be permanently red-faced.

Last month Deauville staged a Group 1 race over seven furlongs which was won by a homebred colt, trained in England by Charlie Appleby, sporting the royal blue silks of Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation.

Last Sunday there was another top-level contest on that same straight strip, this time over six and a half furlongs, and again Appleby blue was the successful colour.

Yet the identity of the two winners was different, the three-year-old Pinatubo landing the Prix Jean Prat and the year older Space Blues lifting the more recent LARC Prix Maurice de Gheest.

More remarkably still, should a clairvoyant have foretold this Godolphin success splurge six weeks ago, one might have presumed that the source would have been a third, French-based, member of the giant Godolphin team, the hitherto unbeaten Earthlight.

Earthlight did take part last Sunday but tasted defeat for the time, finishing an underwhelming fourth.

The race began at a reasonably placid pace for an extended sprint, Spinning Memories pulling away her chance as Hello Youmzain, on the stands rail, and Golden Horde, four or five horse-widths wide tracked by Earthlight, shared the lead.

Off the bridle

Hello Youmzain was one of the first to come off the bridle with over two furlongs to run, at which point Space Blues had just two of his 10 rivals behind and was some four lengths off the lead.

While Earthlight and Golden Horde (who lugged in towards the rail), were both unable to find a change of gear, Hello Youmzain battled on bravely to maintain a narrow advantage until Space Blues swept past with 100 yards to run to score by three-quarters of a length.

Appleby was his normal, endearingly open, self afterwards, saying: “I’m really happy for Space Blues that he’s bagged a Group 1. He came into the race at the very top of his game, full of confidence, and he’s just kept on progressing this season, with every step up in class he’s produced a more impressive performance.

“As a son of Dubawi, we knew that he was going to improve with age, especially as a sprinter. I was lucky enough to train Blue Point [by Shamardal] and he didn’t reach his peak until the age of five.

“Seven furlongs is his ideal trip and if a by-product of having so many good horses is that you have to run them against each other, so be it.

“It’s a sport and one thing His Highness [Sheikh Mohammed] likes to see if competition. The Prix de la Foret will tell us if Space Blues is better than Pinatubo.”

Winning jockey William Buick added: “He’s a strong-travelling horse with a great constitution who has been threatening to put up a performance like this. He was third in this last year but this was a better race so he’s clearly improving with age, exactly as Charlie predicted.”

Hello Youmzain ran a blinder to hold off Lope Y Fernandez by a head and take second place. “The ground out there would have been plenty quick enough for him,” his trainer, Kevin Ryan, pointed out.

“Now it’s back home to defend his Sprint Cup crown at Haydock, where he’s got a great record and ought really to be unbeaten. Then there’s a chance that he will come back to France and take on the winner again in the Prix de la Foret. Today’s six and a half furlongs seemed to suit, he wasn’t stopping, so that’s food for thought for the Foret which is seven furlongs around a bend.”

Classic generation

The result – older horses taking the first two places with the next six being filled by members of the classic generation – added further credence to the theory that, with regards to the colts at least, this year’s three-year-olds may not be an outstanding bunch.

Lope Y Fernandez, who finished over six lengths clear of his eighth-placed Aidan O’Brien stablemate, Wichita, had a trouble-free passage and appears to have run up to form.

He provides an intriguing link between the two Appleby stars, as he was beaten marginally further here by Space Blues than he was by Pinatubo when runner-up in the Jean Prat.

Earthlight ran okay and was half a length in front of fifth-placed Golden Horde compared with the neck margin between the pair in the Middle Park Stakes last September.

Although he is not the most imposing physical specimen, this was just his second start of the season, and the first against quality opposition, so some improvement can be expected.