American Affair, orange jacket, winning the King Charles III. (Francesca Altoft/focusonracing.com)
Longshot Contender Earned Automatic Berths to Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar
Breeders’ Cup Release
ASCOT, Berkshire, England – Nearly two hours after Docklands thrilled in the Queen Anne Stakes (G1), another outsider, American Affair (GB), won the King Charles III Stakes (G1) at 11-1, and gained an automatic starting position and fees paid into the US $1 million Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 93 stakes races in 15 countries whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, California.
American Affair, owned by Barraston Racing and J S Goldie, was another shock winner at 12-1 in the King Charles III Stakes. It was also a double whammy for Scottish trainer Jim Goldie, who had yet to win a Group 1 or a Royal Ascot contest. The 5-year-old gelding’s victory also provided jockey, Paul Mulrennan, his first win at the meeting for 10 years. American-bred Frost At Dawn finished second by a neck at a huge price of 28-1, and last year’s Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint Champion, Starlust (GB), ran third. The winning time was 59:64 on ground that was good to firm, good in places.
American Affair, by Washington DC (IRE), rose up through the ranks this season, winning handicaps at both Musselburgh and York in April and May respectively, before finishing fifth in the May 24 Temple Stakes (G2) at Haydock last time out.
Goldie, who began training in 1994, said: “I’ve trained the family for three generations, so it’s very sweet. He won his maiden over seven furlongs at Wetherby, but he keeps getting faster and five furlongs is the right trip. I was quite confident he’d do it today. I knew he was one of the fastest horses in there. I’m getting towards the end of my career, so it means a lot.”
“We brought him down from Scotland Sunday day, gave him a day to settle. Everything went to plan, and the preliminaries went well, too. We tweaked a few things from Haydock. He had a red hood on him for the first time which really worked.
“Probably we would have to think about [going to the Breeders’ Cup]. He’s a fast horse, which you probably need for the Breeders’ Cup. He’s done well on the all-weather track too, so hopefully by the end of the season it’s still going well, and we are still thinking about America. And he’s got an American name! Hopefully, it can come through.”
The favorite for the race, the Henry Dwyer-trained Asfoora (AUS), owned by Noor Elaine Farm Pty Ltd, finished fifth, while another of the pre-race major players, Believing (IRE),only managed to finish eleventh.
As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders’ Cup will pay the entry fees for Docklands to start in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile and American Affair to start in the Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Breeders’ Cup will also provide a travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. Challenge winners must be nominated to the Breeders’ Cup by the pre-entry deadline of October 20 in order to receive the rewards.
In addition to the Queen Anne Stakes and the King Charles III Stakes, two other Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series races highlight the Royal Ascot meeting. In addition to Wednesday’s 1 1/4-mile Prince of Wales’s Stakes for 4-year-olds and up, a qualifier for the $5 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1), Thursday’s Norfolk Stakes (G2) for 2-year-olds going 5 furlongs is an automatic qualifier for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1).
