Century gives Kameko first Gr.1 winner
Qatar Racing’s homebred 2yo colt New Century gave our own first-season sire Kameko his first Gr.1 winner as a stallion when winning the Summer Stakes at Woodbine in Canada on Saturday.
New Century went into the Gr.1 Summer Stakes over 1m at Woodbine as the winner of 2 of his 4 starts including the Listed Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury in August. For his Stonehenge win, New Century had beaten Luther, who went onto win the Listed Ascendant Stakes himself.
New Century lined up against old rival Al Qudra in the 10-runner Summer Stakes and, after finding himself in rear early on, was given a fine ride by Oisin Murphy to sweep down the outside in the home straight. Despite a coming together with Al Qudra, as eventual 3rd Dream On edged right, New Century once again showed a fantastic attitude to win by 1¼ lengths from Al Qudra.
The race was part of the 'Win and You're In' series for the Breeders' Cup, so a run in the Juvenile Turf at Del Mar could well be on the cards for the Andrew Balding-trained colt.
Speaking after the race, Murphy told BloodHorse: "It was a brilliant performance. I'm delighted for his stallion, Kameko, his first Gr.1 winner."
"Obviously it made sense timing-wise for the Breeders' Cup. Now he's gonna have to be sharper at Del Mar, but he has the class, and hopefully he can step up again."
The win was particularly special with New Century being born, raised and grazed at Tweenhills in Gloucestershire, home of Qatar Racing’s stallion, broodmares and youngstock.
New Century is by our superstar Kameko, who won the Gr.1 Futurity Trophy as a 2yo and returned to become the fastest ever winner of the Gr.1 QIPCO 2,000 Guineas.
Kameko had already made an excellent start to his new career as a stallion with 10 individual winners, inc. other Stakes performers Wimbledon Hawkeye, Hawksbill and Rajeko, and New Century means he’s already achieved what not many stallions do: siring a Gr.1 winner from his first crop. Kameko stands at Tweenhills.