MONTJEUELRY – 2014 long turf champion
MONTJEUELRY
4 Year Old Colt – (MONTJEU x KRIS.S x KEY TO THE MINT)
OWNER/TRAINER – wileydr (NNOVAK Racing Stables)
RECORD: 2014: 12 / 8 – 2 – 1
EARNINGS: $4,572,370
2014 Stakes:
WON: Breeders Bowl Turf (G1), Canada Turf (G1), Los Angeles Turf Cup (G1), King Geoff & Queen Beth (G1), Longstickgoboom (G2), 1 X ungraded stakes
2ND: G.P. Von Baden (G1)
By- ladomanor
Although this specific award has just had its inception this year, the honor role for this category would read like a who’s who of the Sim’s greatest horses. Joe Cayenne, Allied Assault, Sunnybank Memorial and Horseshoe Bay would have all won the award.
As we all know, this year was also the year in which the Eclipse awards were handed out based on a formula which determines the winners. Winning G1 races with large purses is the key and fair to say that this son of Montjeu satisfied this criteria. So good was Montjeuelry in 2014 that he only just missed out on winning the Sim’s Horse Of The Year by a tiny margin.
Quite simply, Montjeu is one of the worlds greatest ever turf route/long sires. Taking advantage of this was trainer wiley who debuted Montjeuelry as a 4yo after identifying that he would really only show his best at a mile and beyond with a dosage index of 0.66. His debut run at 5.5f was a great little barrier trial that simply showed that he had class however wiley must have been really confused after the colt didn’t dominate as expected at the mile in his next two races finishing 7th and 3rd.
To his credit, the trainer placed trust in the staying pedigree and bumped him up to 11f for his next run in which he dominated the run and walked in by over three lengths. Now as any good trainer would, wiley knew he had a great horse. He knew that the colt was capable of dealing with ungraded stakes level running him at 11.5f in ungraded stakes in which he placed 2nd. He must have learnt plenty as this obviously unleashed Montjeuelry’s inner beast initiating an Eclipse winning run. It started with a win in ungraded stakes posting a 105 SP and leading from barrier to post, setting the scene for things to come….
$300,000 G2 Longstickgoboom 12f Turf, 3yo+
His first foray into graded racing was finally here after proving that he had the ability to win in ungraded company at a long trip. By now it was evident that Montjeuelry was successful when running at the front of fields. Well, the colt certainly lead this race getting out to nine lengths clear at one stage with many onlookers questioning if he could sustain such a margin to win. In what can only be described as a good old fashioned braining, he went on to flog them by over five lengths and signaled to wiley that he had one hell of a horse on his hands. A significant move was made with this race with Montjeuelry being shipped to Europe for genuine turf long races after racing in America in his previous runs which was also a great move considering the horse did not have to travel far for his impending G1 debut.
$1,500,000 G1 King Geoff & Queen Beth, 12f Turf, 3yo+
Others of note: 2013 Sim HOTY: To Catch A Kitty, $5M winning Asador Etxebarri and seven other G1 winners.
A stacked field of 14 runners greeted the judges at the barrier with nine of them G1 winners. Giant slaying To Catch A Kitty was there along with Asador Etxebarri who had the weight of $5M on his shoulders. This was hardly the race to make a G1 debut with many rivals coming off G1 wins previous and in ripping form however wiley was ridding high after the 111 SP that his colt had posted at 12f previous.
With jockey J Lowich in the saddle and desperate to lead, Montjeuelry jumped exceptionally well to dictate the running by under a length at the 6f mark. At 24/1, many at the track were waiting for a proven G1 winner to rattle home. On the final turn the G1 winners were looming, all lining up for a shot at Montjeuelry in the stretch. At this point, Lowich pulled the whip and the colt shot out to a four length lead and with just two rivals able to make late charges, the race was over with Montjeuelry too good running a 112 SP to win by over three lengths and initiating a winning relationship with the jockey.
$1,000,000 G1 G.P. Von Baden, 12f Turf, 3yo+
High on life after waltzing to his first G2 then first G1 win, Montjeuelry turned up as a 12/1 chance. He had nailed a crack field previously and he looked as if only injury could beat him. Again, he bolted to the lead but unlike his last race he had a stalker sitting off him, staying in contact and waiting to pounce. As they hit the last turn, the stalker loomed up and took advantage of the work Montjeuelry had done up front, wearing him down and drawing away. A gallant 2nd nonetheless, he had not disgraced himself and looking back, it looks as if the winner Tete Eilert sustained career ending injuries as he as not run since.
$2,000,000 G1 Canada Turf, 12f Turf, 3yo+
Installed as third favorite at $11/2 and with not many of note as rivals, Montjeuelry was primed for a great run and again had Lowich on board. With a nice increasing lead of more than five lengths on the turn he would this time stand up to all challenges and hold off a massively fast finishing Take The Coltrane and Old Dynamics by over four lengths to record his second G1 win and taking $1.2M home.
$3,000,000 Breeders Bowl Turf, 12f Turf, 3yo+
Others of note: Dual G1 winners Pleasant Walk, Joysis and $5M winning Asador Etxebarri.
The G1 Breeders Bowl Turf is quite simply the ultimate showdown for 12f turf horses and with almost all runners with at least one G1 under their belt, this would easily be Montjeuelry’s biggest challenge. Questions were raised as he would face his toughest field to date on the least rest to date between races with just three weeks separating his Canada Turf win to this run. His CV had two G1 wins and stated that as long as he sat just off the leader or led himself he would be in the finish.
With Lowich on board again, Montjeuelry allowed the G2 winning Quite Commands take the lead but sat right with him. At 7/1 he was rated forth favorite however many were looking to Joysis, Superdragon and Tosh as the big movers who could win it. After 6f, Lowich moved on Montjeuelry and took the lead, effectively ending Quite Commands race along with Haven Of Vice who was third in the run. Race favorite Tosh couldn’t sustain the lift in pace and suffered the same fate and along with Rio Rainbow and K’s Fallibilism they all gave ground away late as Montjeuelry moved away from the field. Superdragon ran a gallant 2nd but could not break the son of Montjeu with Pleasant Walk rallying late but still went down by over five lengths.
Montjeuelry had done it. He had taken on the Sim’s best 12f turf horses and come away as a convincing winner. The challenge was now clear – he needed to win one more G1 to have any chance of winning HOTY after 3yo dirt colt I Wont Look Back also won his Breeders Bowl challenge.
$250,000 G1 Los Angeles Turf Cup, 12f Turf, 3yo+
Trainer wiley made his intentions clear when his first move was to employ the services of Lowich for his colts last race of the year. In what was rated as a week field, Montjeuelry would face just seven rivals with just one G1 winner between them. His odds of 7/2 screamed a win and he was obviously full of confidence giving the leader a lead of over two lengths – more than he had ever given without winning the race. Wiley would have been excused for being a little worried as he was sitting off the pace at 6f however after 9f Lowich would show why he was on board, moving the colt into the lead and asking every other horse the question: “can you go with me?”
The answer was an emphatic no as the Eclipse winning colt strode away only using three of his five gears. After the race wiley waited as the Sim community held their breath to see where the win would take him. In the end, it was the small $250,000 purse that beat him, falling just a few points short of winning Sim HOTY.
I have written quite a few Eclipse Award articles however I cannot recall a horse winning an Eclipse and still having so much upside. 5 years of age and just the twelve races under his belt and with the 3rd highest ranked sire in the game ever, Montjeuelry is ready for total Sim domination. Four G1 wins already says that he has both the experience to win many more in 2015 whilst still being fresh and ready to rock.
Kudos really must go to trainer wiley. He has identified that the colt will run long, raced him long and brought him up through the grades with patience. He chose races that would aid him in his quest to be the number one turf long horse and ensured that the horses race were spaced well enough to ensure he was sharp and ready to win!!!!