Unofficial Champion Stayer 2008: Champs Elysees · 20.01.09
For performances in North America at distances of 1 1/2 miles and beyond, Left Coast Racing awards the unofficial title of Champion Stayer for 2008 to CHAMPS ELYSEES.
Here again are the final standings (numbers in brackets indicate points earned in dirt or synthetic-surface races):
- Champs Elysees — 26
- Grand Couturier — 20
- Delosvientos — 18 (18)
- Big Booster — 16 (10)
- Church Service — 16 (8)
- Herboriste — 13
- Warning Zone — 12
- Interpatation — 11
- Muhannak — 10 (10)
- Da’ Tara — 10 (10)
- Marsh Side — 10
- Conduit — 10
- Dancing Forever — 10
His victories in the Grade I Northern Dancer Turf Stakes and Hollywood Turf Cup, together with a narrow loss in the Grade II Jim Murray Memorial handicap and third place in the Grade I Pattison Canadian International, were enough to vault Champs Elysees to the top of the standings, ahead of Grand Couturier, winner of two Grade I races: the Sword Dancer Invitational and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational.
Champs Elysees is owned by Juddmonte Farms and trained by Bobby Frankel, and until late 2007 was based in Europe, where staying ability is of course more respected than in North America. This past year his only poor performances came at distances less than 12 furlongs: the 1 1/4-mile Charlie Whittingham Handicap (6th), the 1 3/8-mile United Nations Handicap (6th), and the 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic (8th). This will hopefully demonstrate to his connections that Champs Elysees’ strength is as a stayer, and if he campaigns this year he should be kept at distances in the 12f+ range.
Two other horses deserve honorable mentions:
- DELOSVIENTOS won the venerable Brooklyn Handicap (GII), as well as three overnight stakes. Of the latter, the Gallant Fox Handicap was 1 5/8 miles — all the others were 1 1/2 miles. He also set a Monmouth Park track record in the Point Given Stakes. All his wins came on good ol’ fashioned dirt, giving Delosvientos a legitimate claim to being the top dirt stayer in North America. The only things that might keep him from further success are the relative lack of suitable stakes races, and the documented reluctance of his connections to race him on Saturdays for religious reasons. The latter kept him out of the Breeders’ Cup Marathon last year, and barring a change of ownership it will likely keep him out of this year’s unofficial stayers’ championship as well.
- BIG BOOSTER was the highest-ranked horse able to race effectively on more than one racing surface. He won the 1 3/4-mile San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap (GII) on the grass, then went on to capture the inaugural Gallant Man Handicap (1 5/8 miles) on synthetic. This flexibility should benefit him and his connections over the course of a 2009 racing campaign.
Left Coast Racing congratulates the human connections of all three of these durable campaigners, and looks forward to watching and writing about them over the next year.
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What do you think?
« Book review: "Man O' War -- A legend like lightning" Thoughts on champion stayers' pedigrees »
As much as I applaud this attempt, and I honestly do as I have been yelling for graded stamina tests now for years, Grass stamina and dirt stamina are horses of a different color as we still have the former and have lost the latter.
— Dr. Timothy Yatca,k · Jan 21, 01:44 PM · #
Heh — “horses of a different color” — heh, heh… ;-)
Seriously, I won’t argue the point — but with the lack of dirt distance races, limiting consideration to dirt-based runners would be meaningless. Also, my other concern is that turf races are also getting shorter — the Man O’ War used to be 1 1/2 miles, the Canadian Intl. 1 5/8, and even one of the French classics was shortened recently from 2400m to 2200m.
— E-man · Jan 23, 10:56 PM · #