Buzzword handed Godolphin a second German Group 1 victory in successive days by becoming the first foreign-trained horse to win the Deutsches Derby at Hamburg yesterday. It was a first Classic triumph for Mahmood al Zarooni, Godolphin's rookie trainer, and a notable one too for Royston Ffrench, the jockey.
The racing operation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had struck with Campanologist, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, on Saturday and Buzzword got in on the act with a determined effort yesterday. "Buzzword had a lovely draw in seven and Royston made best use of it," Diana Cooper, of Godolphin, said. "Buzzword was always up with the pace and he showed the turn of foot that he has to good effect.
"He has run consistently well throughout his career and it is great that he has now won at the top level." Ffrench added: "My main concern was to get a decent position with such a big field. Once I had managed that, the horse did the rest." The three-year-old Pivotal colt, making his fourth start in a European Classic this year, was always prominent in the 20-runner field. Ffrench made sure the colt broke well and maintained a good position, settling in fourth before racing a close fifth.
Buzzword was back in fourth entering the straight in the 12-furlong Classic and made progress to go third before moving up to challenge the leader. The Godolphin runner enjoyed a narrow lead with a furlong to race and ran on determinedly to finish a length and a quarter ahead of the second Zazou at the line. Miss Jean Brodie almost made it three Group 1 wins in two days for Godolphin, running a brilliant race to finish second in the Darley Irish Oaks yesterday.
In only her third career outing, the three-year-old daughter of Maria's Mon, trained by al Zarooni, stayed on strongly in the straight on ground at the Curragh, Ireland which was officially good to yielding. She shrugged off having to be re-shoed at the start and broke well from the stalls. William Buick, her jockey, raced her in mid-division of the 15 runners initially and then moved Miss Jean Brodie up to sixth as a good pace was set up front. The filly, brought wide in the straight to make her challenge, ran on steadily to take second well inside the final furlong.
Miss Jean Brodie finished three quarters of a length ahead of Lady Lupus but eight lengths behind Snow Fairy, the winner who completed a Classic double, having won the Investec Oaks at Epsom Downs previously. "She has run a very good race on ground that she liked," al Zarooni said. "The jockey rode her very well. She is still an inexperienced filly as this was only her third start. She ran a bit green and can hopefully improve again. We will see how she comes back from this race before any plans are made for her."
The other Godolphin runner, the much-fancied Hibaayeb, was a huge disappointment, failing to act on the rain-softened ground and finished last. "Hibaayeb didn't like the soft going at all - she needs better ground," bin Suroor said. * Agencies
