Moonlight Cloud

[Godspot]

"Everything one could look for in a sprinter!" said Nick Mordin some time ago

but after being made favourite for the first fillies classic, ran as if it was just a trial for for the July Cup

I note also that the first big race her owner won was the Prix de L'abbaye back in 1989 & it wouldn't surprise me.....

[Godspot]

:frown: tut tut :frown: Wins for the 2nd time from three starts since I posted this & forgot all about :frown:

2:45 - Prix Maurice De Gheest - Goldikova (Group 1) (3yo+) (Turf)
Full result
6½f, £123,146.55
1 Moonlight Cloud 83/10
2 Society Rock 14/1
3 Marchand D'Or 11/1
13 ran Distances: 4l, nk, nse
TIME 1m 16.40s (slow by 1.40s)
Jockey: Thierry Jarnet
Trainer: F Head

[Godspot]

Black Caviar - Diamond Jubilee?

Could be interesting considering her last visit to the course behind Deacon Blues [though not the strongest] Gr2:

from the RP Analysis "The unlucky horse of the race was Moonlight Cloud. Held up a little further back in the pack than ideal given the way the race panned out, just as Deacon Blues was beginning to strike for home she found herself stuck behind the weakening Hooray and she then got hampered by Night Carnation, who edged left into her. Forced to drop back and switch, she finished better than anything to take fifth, and while it might be stretching things to suggest she might have won with a clear passage, she was no worse than the second best horse in this race."

[Godspot]

Seems she ran a personal best according to Mord's last week:

POSTED ON AUGUST 6, 2012
http://www.nickmordin.com/france.htm
BREEDERS' CUP A GOOD OPTION FOR MOONLIGHT CLOUD

"MOONLIGHT CLOUD (43/129) put up a seriously good performance to take the Prix Maurice de Gheest for the second year running. In a race run at a strong pace (64 seconds flat for the first 1100 metres (5.5f)) she was the only horse able to keep up the gallop in the closing stages, powering away to clock 11.5 seconds for the final 200 metres (furlong).

I think trainer Freddy Head is right to say Moonlight Cloud prefers dead flat tracks. She's won all four times she's run on perfectly level courses but lost all four times she's run above Group 3 class on tracks with gradients.

The race I'd be targeting with Moonlight Cloud is the Breeders' Cup Sprint. I say this because

not only did she win her sole start on the dirt-like Fibresand but she also has a half brother that won on Fibresand. In addition four of her seven wins have been around a turn. So, unlike most European sprinters that tackle the big American race, she's proven that she can handle the surface and show her best around a turn. It's also worth noting that she's Breeders Cup eligible, so her owners won't need to pay a big supplementary entry fee."

[Godspot]

Oh, & now Oddschecker tip her up for above too:


The Breeders Cup goes back to Santa Anita next month, so the Classic is run on pro-ride; a decision which could sway Mile favourite Wise Dan towards an open-looking Classic. Of the likely European challengers, it's Moonlight Cloud with the right profile for the race, as there's more focus on speed with two turns. A strong pace is ideal, so she deserves extra credit for beating Mile-bound Farhh in a Prix du Moulin match, and an unlucky 2L fourth to Excelebration in the Jacques Le Marois erased stamina doubts. Excelebration sets the standard, but Ascot is his main target and Freddie Head has such affinity for the race Moonlight Cloud is sure to be A1, so 5/1 looks generous.

http://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing-betting/ante-post-racing/flat/breeders-cup-mile

[Godspot]

Six-time Group 1 winner Moonlight Cloud retired

BY SCOTT BURTON 1:10PM 8 JAN 2014

FREDDY HEAD has paid handsome tribute to Moonlight Cloud, who on Wednesday left his yard in Chantilly to begin her career as a broodmare for owner George Strawbridge.

The six-time Group 1-winning daughter of Invincible Spirit will visit Galileo after connections confirmed their original decision to retire her from racing following a disappointing sixth in the Hong Kong Mile last December.

Head said: “Monsieur Strawbridge thought that would be it in Hong Kong but he took some time to reflect back in America. He always favoured sending her to stud at this stage and I think he was a little worried that, as she was already six, she might not be able to perform quite so brilliantly in the future.”

Moonlight Cloud won a record-equalling three straight editions of Deauville's Prix Maurice de Gheest over an extended six furlongs and proved her versatility by scoring at the highest level over a mile.

Head added: “She's a great mare with a lot of class and is also very gentle and kind. She is really a sweetheart of a horse."
http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/france-brilliant-mare-moonlight-cloud-retired/1590086/top/#newsArchiveTabs=last7DaysNews