Hot Ribblesdale favourite Al Asifah 'could be anything' as she bids to cement growing reputation
Take a look at the greatest sportsmen and women of all time and one thing connects them all. They make the sport in which they compete look easy and, what many would find hard work, they find effortless. Be it Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Allyson Felix, Serena Williams – and I could go on – they all move a little differently and have that extra amount of time to execute.
It’s similar with horses. Go and watch Frankel or Constitution Hill and see how they move. They just do it differently to the average horse and it’s effortless, rather than any type of struggle. Constitution Hill, for example, makes jumping hurdles look ridiculously easy.
I was at Goodwood 11 days ago for what I thought was just a routine Sunday afternoon meeting, but little did I know I was about to witness something that little bit different.
That something was Al Asifah. She’s got that X factor about her; she moved like nothing else I’ve seen for a while. Everything was easy on the eye, just like all the greats.
Her long, languid stride was so striking that I went back and counted the number of strides she took to cover the last three furlongs and made it roughly 75.
Al Asifah: impressive winner at Goodwood last time out
That would give her an average stride length of 26.2 feet, and stride length is known to correlate with ability. Many observers regard 25 feet as long granted a flat, straight run.
It’s important at this juncture to make the point that stride analysis, and particularly this one done manually by eye, is far from perfect because it is affected by many factors including course topography, the pace of the race and the ground, but nevertheless it can still be useful.
The three-furlong pole to the line at Goodwood is a very shallow u shape, dropping about six feet in the first half but climbing most of it back up again to the line. Even taking those undulations into account, it’s fair to argue Al Asifah might stride at 26 feet on a level run.
It may have been a weak race that she won by six and a half lengths that day, and she has yet to run an outstanding time in her two starts either, but Al Asifah clearly covers a lot of real estate every time she puts her hooves on the ground and that is a trait that connects the greats.
There is a huge field lying in wait to take advantage should Al Asifah not be as good as she looks, and Aidan O’Brien has been the main man in the race in recent years. He has saddled three winners and four places from 16 runners and runs Warm Heart and Red Riding Hood.
Warm Heart beat Bluestocking by a head at Newbury last time and the pair renew rivalry on the same terms, with Bluestocking favoured in the market to reverse the places. That might be as much due to the Frankie factor as anything and nobody has ridden more winners of this race than Dettori’s eight.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway
'Her pedigree suggests she will stay' – Al Asifah out to improve the Gosdens' superb recent record
Supplementary entry Al Asifah has gone from a complete unknown this time last month to one of the standout runners on day three of the royal meeting as she steps into Group company for the first time.
Al Asifah only made her first start at Haydock on May 25, but arrives at Ascot seeking a quick hat-trick and she could not be better placed than with John and Thady Gosden, who have provided four of the past six winners of the Group 2 contest.
The daughter of Frankel was added into the race at a cost of £13,150 last Friday after coming out of her subsequent win in a Listed race at Goodwood in good shape.
It is also 30 years since the Shadwell colours were first carried to success in the Ribblesdale by Thawakib.
Richard Hills, assistant racing manager to Shadwell, said: “Al Asifah won very well at Goodwood and, although this comes a bit soon, she’s come out of the race in great shape.
"It’s a different shape of a race with 19 runners and she’s only run twice in her life when both were small fields. A big field around Ascot will be a test for her but that’s the jockey’s [Jim Crowley] job."
Richard Hills: "This year she's matured and overcome everything"
Al Asifah was unraced as a juvenile but her work on the Newmarket gallops this spring was eyecatching from the beginning.
Hills added: “She had little niggly problems last year which meant John and Thady had to be patient with her but we’ve always believed that potentially she could be anything. This year as she’s matured she’s overcome everything. She’s a gorgeous filly to look at and is beautifully bred as she’s by Frankel from one of our best families.”
He added: “She and Hukum would be our best chances of the week, although we’ll have to keep an eye on the ground for Hukum going forward to the Hardwicke.”
Thady Gosden thinks the Ribblesdale was the natural next step and said: "Al Asifah won her first start well at Haydock and improved significantly when stepped up into Listed class at Goodwood.
"She’s still a lightly raced filly having not raced as a two-year-old, and having won the Keyser Stakes in the style that she did, this seemed the natural next step. She’s up in trip to a mile and a half, but her pedigree suggests she will stay."
'I still could see her being green again' – Bluestocking likely to benefit from the experience
It is ten years since Oaks absentee Riposte last carried the Juddmonte silks to glory in this and Ralph Beckett is hoping a similar low key build up works with Bluestocking, who, like Al Asifah, is having only the third start of her life.
The daughter of Camelot was just edged out of it by the reopposing Warm Heart in a Listed contest at Newbury last month, which was her chosen comeback assignment rather than tackling the Oaks at Epsom.
Bluestocking (left): bypassed Epsom to take in the Ribblesdale Stakes
Barry Mahon, racing manager to Juddmonte said: “Bluestocking is a lovely filly that we thought long and hard about running in the Oaks. We just thought it was the wrong thing to do by the filly because of her greenness and it showed as she was still very green at Newbury the other day on what was her second start.
"Going to an unconventional track like Epsom is enough for any horse, especially one that is so inexperienced, so we thought we’d play the long game.
"Ralph is happy with her, she has a nice draw and has Frankie aboard so there's lots to like, although we wouldn’t want to see the ground get too quick for her as she’s a Camelot. I still could see her being green again in this race and for her to improve as the year goes on."
What they say
Philip Robinson, racing manager to Jaber Abdullah, owner of Ferrari Queen
She ran well first time this year when third in the Lingfield Oaks Trial and should enjoy this track and trip. Hopefully they put some water on which will help.
Thady Gosden, joint-trainer of Ghara and Lmay
Ghara ran a very solid race to be fourth in the Lingfield Oaks trial and did well to win off a slow pace at Yarmouth last time. We know she stays the trip and she deserves to take her chance. Lmay is improving with every start and was a good winner over this trip at Newbury last time. She is still lightly raced and has come out of that in good order.
Ralph Beckett, trainer of Luckin Brew and Understated
We’ll make a decision about the participation of Luckin Brew when we’ve had a look at the ground on Thursday morning. If she does run both her and Understated will enjoy the step up in trip and both go there in good shape.
Joseph O'Brien, trainer of Lumiere Rock
It's obviously a very competitive race but she ran very well at Naas and hopefully she's got a good each-way chance.
Ed Walker, trainer of Perfect Prophet
I expect her to be very competitive. She's much better than she was able to show in the Lingfield Oaks Trial. Nothing was in her favour that day as the switch to the all-weather track was all against her and they went no pace either. She'll be a different proposition back on grass and this has been the plan for her for a long time.
Aidan O'Brien, trainer of Red Riding Hood and Warm Heart
Warm Heart is progressing lovely and we were delighted with the way she won at Newbury. She has improved on each of her starts and we hope she will come forward again here. It didn't really happen for Red Riding Hood in the Oaks but we feel she is better than that.
Fabrice Chappet, trainer of Crown Princesse
I'm not too concerned by the step up in trip. It's a big field but a lovely race to be involved in. She's in great form
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