July 11, 2007

IRRIDESCENCE BANG-UP SECOND IN FALMOUTH AT NEWMARKET,
BECOMES FIRST SOUTH AFRICAN TO PLACE IN GROUP 1 IN ENGLAND,
CHAMPION SET TO STRUT HER STUFF AT ARLINGTON ON AUGUST 11

Irridescence is a mare with tons of class.

Star South African mare Irridescence made a bold showing today at Newmarket when second in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes over a mile on the July Course behind front-running Simply Perfect.

Contested over a distance too short for her best, the Falmouth was designed to bring Irridescence forward for a challenge next month in the August 11 renewal of the Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes going a mile and a quarter at Arlington Park.

"We picked this race out as the best possible prep for the Chicago race," said Barry Irwin of Team Valor International. "The timing is perfect, as it is exactly a month between races."

Mike de Kock saddled the mare on Wednesday, when she became the first runner from South Africa to place in a Group 1 fixture in the United Kingdom.

Irridescence is a proven international shipper, having won in South Africa, Hong Kong and Dubai, while also racing in France last summer and England this summer.

Weichong Marwing, who flew from South Africa yesterday to pilot the 6-year-old Caesour mare at Newmarket, will be aboard the triple Grade 1 winner for the $750,000 Beverly D Stakes.

Simply Perfect out-sprinted Irridescence to the wire.

The only South African racehorse to win a Graded race in the United Kingdom was Crimson Palace, a mare once owned by Team Valor and trained by de Kock before she was sold to Godolphin, for whom she won the Group 3 Middleton Stakes and and the 2004 Beverly D Stakes.

Post race, Timeform ratinged Naninna at 119 and Red Evie at 117. These two Group 1 winners are considered to be specialists over a mile in the United Kingdom.

Irridescence is rated at 119, but she has never been effective at less than 9 furlongs, is best at 10 furlongs, and has won a Grade 1 over 11 furlongs. For her to come with a length of beating specialist Milers over Wednesday’s trip is both a testimony to her over all versatility and her current state of form.

“It was a massive run for her,” Mike de Kock said. “I honestly think she is better now than at any time.”

The race did not go according to anybody’s pre-race game plan save the winning rider and trainer, as Johnny Murtagh stole the race with a gambit he planned to use. The rider told trainer Jeremy Noseda that he “wanted to make all” and the conditioner agreed to use the ploy.

Irridescence, who was mounted on course instead of in the paddock, broke running and was in front for the first 50 yards. “She hesitated slightly,” Weichong Marwing said of the mare who has a habit of checking out everything from the infield to the crowd. A big Jumbotron screen on the infield caught her attention this time.

Mike de Kock knew Irridescence would run her race.

De Kock said “Murtagh scrubbed on his filly and he took the lead.

“At that point, Weichong had the choice of scrubbing too, going with Johnny and possibly setting up a suicidal speed duel, or taking off the pacesetter and waiting. He did the latter.”

Irridescence was positioned inside and behind Simply Perfect, as she slowed down the pace and dictated matters up front. With about 2 ½ furlongs to go, things heated up perceptively, as the first three finishers set sail for home on the straight July course at headquarters.

With about a furlong remaining, Irridescence had built up an impressive head of steam and seemed ready to get on even terms with the leader, but the 3-year-old was still fresh and she was able to prevail by a slowly diminishing length at the wire. Irridescence had a neck to spare over Arch Swing.

Simply Perfect is a Group 1 winner who placed in the Classic Group 1 One Thousand Guineas earlier this season, while the third-place filly made the frame in the Group 1 Irish One Thousand Guineas.

Mike de Kock told Team Valor “Amazingly she wasn’t even blowing after the race. She is so much better now than last year or earlier this year in Dubai. She has picked up 33 kilos (more than 72 pounds) since Dubai and you cannot see it anywhere by looking. She’s not fat.

“She is very well proportioned and she is built up behind with much more of a backside than at anytime in her life.

“I truly believe she is better now than even when she won in Hong Kong and that is saying something.”

Weichong Marwing will ride
Irridescence in Beverly D.

Barry Irwin told de Kock that the mare would have to be at her best, because in her next intended outing for the August 11 Beverly D Stakes she would likely face Frank Stronach’s Citronade, who is considered to be the top-rated filly or mare racing on turf in North America.

“I think this is the right thing to do,” de Kock said. “Ok, we know she is not the greatest shipper in the world, but having said that, she has traveled all the way to Hong Kong and won.

“She is eating tremendously right now. After a ship, she will probably go off her feed for 3 days, but after that I expect to see her back in the manger again. So I have arranged to leave 8 days before the Arlington race, which will give her some time to acclimate.”

Barry Irwin sent a letter off to the British Horseracing Authorities requesting that Weichong Marwing be granted a visa to visit the United States in order to ride Irridescence and it is expected to be approved.

Irwin said “Although we did not win the race, the mare increased her value, because she proved herself in front of the toughest crowd in the entire world of horse racing—the English. And since we plan to sell her at Newmarket either at the end of this year or next year, winning them over is crucial in attaining a large price for her.

“For our purposes, this race is as good as a win. She became the first racehorse of any kind from South Africa to as much as place in a Group 1 event either in Britain or Europe.

“And she did it at headquarters, racing too short for her best and having two Group 1 fillies behind her. This race will have done the job of legitimizing her defeat of the English Champion Ouija Board in the Hong Kong race.”

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