Impressive displays from Notable Speech and Kyprios at last week’s Qatar Goodwood Festival have seen the duo challenge City Of Troy at the head of the points standings for the Cartier Horse of the Year award.
Established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing, the 34th Cartier Racing Awards will be presented at the Dorchester Hotel in London on the evening of Wednesday, November 20.
This season’s QIPCO 2000 Guineas winner Notable Speech looked back to his brilliant best in the Qatar Sussex Stakes as he unleashed his trademark electric turn of foot to comfortably beat older rivals Maljoom (36) and Facteur Cheval (36).
The Godolphin colt now shares top spot in the Cartier Horse of the Year and Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt divisions alongside Betfred Derby and Coral-Eclipse victor City Of Troy, with both amassing 96 points in Pattern races this season.
Rosallion (88), successful in the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes, lies a close third in the same categories, having missed the Qatar Sussex Stakes with a respiratory infection.
Kyprios (88) continued his domination of the staying ranks as he lowered the course record when scoring by four lengths over Sweet William (38) in the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup.
Owned by a Coolmore partnership that includes Moyglare Stud Farm, Kyprios is unbeaten in four outings for Aidan O’Brien this season and is in pole position to pick up the Cartier Stayer award for a second time following 2022.
Coolmore and Aidan O’Brien enjoyed further top-level success at the Qatar Goodwood Festival with Opera Singer (56), who gamely saw off See The Fire (16) and Sparkling Plenty (56) in the Qatar Nassau Stakes. All three could yet challenge Porta Fortuna (88) at the head of the points in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly division.
Goliath (64) is a significant mover in the Cartier Older Horse category, with Baron Philip von Ullmann’s four-year-old having easily accounted for a field that included Bluestocking (72), Rebel’s Romance (66) and Auguste Rodin (64) in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes.
A first French-trained winner of the Ascot highlight since Hurricane Run in 2006, Goliath sits fifth in the Cartier Older Horse standings behind Charyn (80), who will bid to stretch his lead in this weekend’s Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques Le Marois at Deauville.
The Barriere Deauville Meeting has already produced some fantastic racing this summer, with top mare Mqse de Sevigne (64) taking the Prix Rothschild for a second successive year at the end of July.
My Pension Expert July Cup scorer Mill Stream (60) failed to increase his Cartier Sprinter lead at the Normandy course in Sunday’s ARC Prix Maurice de Gheest, in which he came home fifth behind rising star Lazzat (32).
Only a short-head separated Big Evs (32) and Afsoora (40) in the major sprint at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, the King George Qatar Stakes, and the duo look set to continue their growing rivalry in the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes at York later this month.
About the Cartier Racing Awards
The Cartier Racing Awards were established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing. There are eight equine awards – the Cartier Horse Of The Year, the Cartier Older Horse, the Cartier Sprinter, the Cartier Stayer, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly, the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly.
European horseracing’s top awards are delivered through a tried and tested combination of points earned by horses in Pattern races (30%), combined at the end of the season with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists/handicappers (35%) and votes from readers of Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph (35%).
In addition to the equine awards, the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit goes to the person or persons who, in the opinion of the 16-strong Cartier Jury, has/have done the most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months.
The 34th Cartier Racing Awards will be presented at the Dorchester Hotel in London on the evening of Wednesday, November 20.