Devastating Debut From Repartee
One thing is for sure in racing, when Kevin debuts a horse at York it is usually quite a nice type. Many of his best 2yr olds have started at the Knavesmire thanks to the perfect, galloping track but there is never an easy maiden/novice at York so you need a nice one. Repartee had done everything right at home and did even better when destroying the field to win the 6f Stratford Place Stud Breeds Group Winners ebfstallions.com Maiden Stakes.
Last year Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum bought the Gimcrack winner Emaraaty Ana following his Gr2 win. It was a huge honour and boost to the yard to have the famous yellow silks and a horse in training. Then there was further good news when Kevin was asked to train horses he could select to buy at the yearling sales. Following sales at Tattersalls Book 1 and Orby sale at Goffs, Kevin returned home with 12 exciting prospects with pedigrees to match.
A beautiful brown colt by Invincible Spirit, from the family of Kingman, quickly began to show class once fast work began. Repartee has always taken the eye, from the sales to his work and Kevin felt he had a nice one from a very early stage. Although he came to hand quite early it was clear that he would be a juvenile who would appreciate 6f and possibly further in time. Although everyone was excited to see him hit the track, patience was the most important thing and so 6f would be the starting point.
York’s Dante meeting is one that everyone in Yorkshire looks forward to. Kevin set up a nice team for the 3 day meeting and they ran well but it was Repartee who was ready to steal the show. Andrea Atzeni is the retained rider to Sheikh Obaid so it was nice to see him able to ride the colt on his debut. Repartee was a real professional through the preliminaries, taking everything in his stride and acting cool throughout. The talking horse had been Hong Kong, a 1/2 brother to Carravagio, but along with another couple, was a non-runner. The punters couldn’t let one of Kevin’s go unbacked at York and late money saw Repartee made the 9-2 third favourite.
The stalls were positioned in the centre of the track which meant that there wouldn’t be any bias. Drawn 9, Repartee was smartly away, showing the same speed as he had at home. Andrea looked to keep it simple for the colt and dropped his hands, allowing Repartee to to travel where he was comfortable. By the time they had settled down to race through the first furlong, Repartee had shown good professionalism to head to the front and vie for the lead. The quick ground ensured that the pace was quite strong as the fancied runners filled the first 4/5 positions.
Repartee was travelling comfortably and just continued to take Andrea along. The Italian wouldn’t fight him and so the pair moved along to take the lead after travelling 2f of the contest. The speed up front was immediately catching out the outsiders as Repartee lobbed along and left hiding place for his rivals. The favourite tracked the lead and heading towards the halfway point it seemed as though the fancied runners would head to fight out the finish.
There was a leading group of about 5 that just started to edge on passing the 3f marker. Andrea continued to sit relaxed in the saddle with his colt travelling easily towards the stands side. When Comes Here had been vying for the lead throughout and was shaken up to try and make the most of this advantage. This injection of pace now shook the race up and one by one each of the field came under pressure. The last to move was Andrea who sat and waited as his mount was still on the premise doing it by himself.
The leading trio pulled into a couple of lengths lead entering the final couple of furlongs. Andrea now shook up his mount to get him lengthening and that is exactly what Repartee did. His closest rivals were under the drive as Repartee began to edge away. Under hands and heels, the colt really started to hit top gear. Boma Green was starting to come out of the pack and Forbidden Land, who had been up there all the way, was sticking to the task but this was turning into a precession. Repartee kept lengthening and finding, stretching clear in the final 100 yards to spread eagle the field. Now it was just a case of how far and it was getting more impressive the further they went. By the time Repartee hit the line he had pulled 5 lengths clear to make a real eye catching debut.
Repartee provided the yard with the first 2 yr old winner of 2019 and it is fantastic to get the juveniles underway. Also another first is for Sheikh Obaid Mohammed Al Maktoum who enjoyed his first winner trained by Kevin. It is an honour to have the famous yellow silks, so to get winner early on means a lot to everyone. Repartee took the first 6f race of the season for juveniles in breathtaking fashion. The colt has always been held in high regard and he showed that he could be anything going forward. Obviously everyone’s thoughts immediately turned to Royal Ascot but Kevin was quick to remind that it isn’t everything. The Coventry will certainly come under consideration but the horse comes first and if it isn’t the right move then he will wait for other options. It’s clear that Repartee is smart and will surely step up in class so pattern company does look on the cards. It is a great result all round and hopefully the beginning of a successful partnership.