Caracciola heads for Breeders Cup

Venerable winner of Queen Alexandra Stakes earns trip to California

(PA)

If there was a common thread running through last week's fascinating Royal Ascot tapestry, it was the wonder of the thoroughbred horse in all its durability, versatility and downright nobility in serving man's pleasure. There was the peerless stayer Yeats, with his unprecedented fourth Gold Cup triumph and his extravagant post-race victory trot-past, with what was easy to read as pride oozing from every springy, toe-pointing step. There was thrilling sprinter Scenic Blast, who travelled 11,000 miles from Western Australia to humble the fastest horses in Europe in the King's Stand Stakes.

There was the beautiful, imposing Ghanaati, who established herself as easily the best miler of her sex in these parts in the Coronation Stakes and threw down the gauntlet to the boys; there was Forgotten Voice, who took one of the year's most competitive and hurly-burly handicaps, the Royal Hunt Cup, on only the fourth run of his life and his first on grass; there were the two blazing American two-year-olds Strike The Tiger and Jealous Again, and their contemporary Canford Cliffs, with all the bright promise of youth.

And, last but most certainly not least, there was Caracciola. In the meeting's finale, the Queen Alexandra Stakes, the indefatigable 12-year-old put his name in the record books as the oldest horse to win at the Royal meeting, eclipsing Brown Jack, who was 10 when he won the same marathon, at two and three-quarter miles the longest contest in the Flat calendar, for the sixth time in 1934.

It was Caracciola's 20th start on the Flat, and his 56th in all. He began his career as a juvenile at Mulheim and went on to score five times in his native Germany before transferring to Nicky Henderson in Lambourn as a jumping prospect as a five-year-old. He has won four times over hurdles and twice over fences.

But though the Lando gelding's form over obstacles has levelled out, he appears to be, against all the odds for one of his age, still progressing on the Flat. His latest success – his third in a row in the sphere, after last season's Cesarewitch and a Listed contest at York last month – has earned him a tilt at wider horizons.

His devoted owner Piers Pottinger said yesterday that a trip to California in the autumn for the Breeders Cup Marathon at Santa Anita had been pencilled in. "There's never been an older winner of the Cesarewitch, a Listed race or at Royal Ascot," he marvelled. "He's got courage, as he showed at York when he was headed and had to battle back, but he just sailed round on Saturday, so obviously enjoying it.

"He does seem to just love racing and of course the second we thought he didn't we'd drop it completely; he owes us absolutely nothing. But the signs are he's not finished by any means. He really is just quite extraordinary."

November's $500,000 14-furlong prize has been picked as a more viable option for Caracciola than the longer trip to Australia for the more valuable, but more competitive, Melbourne Cup. One who may be challenging for Britain down under, though, is Furmigadelagiusta, a decisive winner at Pontefract yesterday. "He hurt himself at Royal Ascot last year," said Middleham-based trainer Karl Burke of the Galileo five-year-old, "and we had to give him a long time off. But I have always thought a lot of him and I don't see why we shouldn't have a crack at Melbourne."

The most relieved man in Newmarket yesterday morning was Michael Bell, when he ran his hands down Art Connoisseur's legs and found them hard and cool. The three-year-old had put assorted problems, including the recent development of the bony swelling known as a splint, behind him to repel an international challenge in the previous afternoon's Golden Jubilee Stakes. "He's fine, not at all sore," reported Bell. "The splint had settled, but you never know the effect of going at racing pace."

Next stop for Art Connoisseur is the July Cup at his local track 18 days hence, when he will renew rivalry with South African star J J The Jet Plane, fourth on Saturday. Scenic Blast and his ten-year-old compatriot Takeover Target, another of the sport's remarkable veterans, are also in the mix plus, intriguingly, Tuesday's Queen Anne Stakes winner Paco Boy.

Chris McGrath

Nap: Cumana Bay (8.10 Windsor)

NB: Saturn Girl (8.40 Windsor)