The 2000 Guineas form was confirmed. Lea Olsen won the Aarhus Stiftstidende Jydsk Derby for the second year running, and this time it was a one-two with Biot and Giovanni Torkdahl. Lea also took a one-two in the Jydsk Derby Consolation and recorded four wins in total on Jutland’s big race day.
Dorte and Keld Moe Jacobsen’s three-year-old Biot (City Light) arrived on the back of a second place in the Danish 2000 Guineas, where he chased Brigadier (Moohaajim) all the way to the line. Brigadier has since also won the Swedish 2000 Guineas, and today the form was confirmed once again with Biot’s assured display in the ‘Jyllandsløb’.
In the hands of Jacob Johansen, Biot beat his stablemate Giovanni Torkdahl (Lope De Vega) by almost two lengths, with a further three lengths back to Manhattan Carlras (Juniper Tree), who briefly looked dangerous at the entrance to the straight but then had to give best to the two home-track horses.
Manhattan Carlras in turn had a healthy margin to the Mowerina winner A Lady’s Dream (Giant Sandman), who relegated the long-time leader King Of Ten (Ten Sovereigns) to the final prize.
Then followed Saint Javelin (Moohaajim), Chappel (Appel Au Maitre), Erleperlepifpafpuf (Moohaajim), Lord Of Denmark (Lord Of England), Call Me Al (Al Shemali) and Go Get Happy (Go Go Gadget).
This year’s Jyllandsløb winner Biot was bred by Nina Falck and Gert Larsen’s Stald Jupiter, and he came to Denmark in the womb of his dam, the Clodovil daughter Brimbelle, whom Morten Buskop Bloodstock bought for €15,000 on behalf of the Funen couple at Arqana’s Vente d’Elevage in 2020.
The first prize was worth no less than DKK 250,000, lifting Biot’s account to DKK 558,000 after just seven career starts, in which he has never finished worse than fourth.
Curiously enough, Biot made his debut on Jutland’s race day last year, winning the Stutteri Hjortebo 2-års Grand Prix ahead of Giovanni Torkdahl and King Of Ten – the two horses who finished second and fifth in this year’s Jutland Derby.
Biot then followed up with victory in the Dansk Kriterium, where he beat both My Fortune (Appel Au Maitre) and Brigadier, plus fourth places in the Goffs Futurity Stakes on Derby Day and in the Winter Favourites’ Trophy in October.
Lea Olsen gave Biot his seasonal debut in Klampenborg’s Guineas Trial on 4 May, where he was second to Brigadier, and in his next start – the Danish 2000 Guineas – he filled the same position behind the same rival, this time going close to stealing it from the favourite.
With Saturday’s victory, Biot has now proven that he at least stays the 2,200-odd metres, and Lea Olsen can seriously eye the chance of her first Danish Derby winner on Saturday 3 August at Klampenborg.
Lea Olsen had to wait until the fifth race of Jutland’s big day before booking her first winner. From there, however, things moved quickly, and four races later she had taken four wins in a row – every one of them within the V4 betting sequence.
In JVB’s 100 Års Jubilæum – the Jydsk Champion Stakes – four-year-old Sir Jeffrey (Hunter’s Light) finished best of all on the inside of the track and won by three-quarters of a length from Harlekin (Mastercraftsman), Lucien (Hurricane Red), Spinoza (Juniper Tree) and New York Strip (Appel Au Maitre).
Here too, Jacob Johansen was in the irons on the winner, giving him a model ride for the first prize of DKK 60,000.
Sir Jeffrey is owned by Karin Salling and was bred by Stutteri Stork.
After Biot’s victory in the Jyllandsløb, Lea Olsen’s triumphal march continued in both the Elkær Stutteri Ærespræmie and the Krafft Jydsk Derby Consolation.
In the former, Let’s Go Filip (Mondialiste) won comfortably by a little over a length from Keld Chr. Karlsen’s Vupti Carlras (Juniper Tree) and Rikke Rohbach Bonde’s Carmen Torkdahl (Appel Au Maitre), and in the latter it even became another stable double, as Spot On (Moohaajim) beat her stablemate Cortina (Appel Au Maitre) and Tina Mortensen’s Dashing Pearl (Lord Of England).
Spot On took her second win in five starts here, and as a half-sister to the classic winners Steinway (Appel Au Maitre) and Brunello (Appel Au Maitre), and closely related to Good Fortune (Appel Au Maitre), it is of course far from certain that we have seen the best of the filly yet.
Both Let’s Go Filip and Spot On were ridden first past the post by Oliver Wilson, who ended the day with three winners.
Oliver’s first win of the day came in the irons on the Bettina Andersen-trained Footstepsoffortune (Baltic Rock), who wore down Lea Olsen’s Marsk Torkdahl (Make Believe) and Bent Olsen’s Kis (Moohaajim) in the Stormagasin Salling Petit Prix over 1,550 metres.
Footstepsoffortune gained a slight upper hand shortly before the line and actually looked to be heading for a fairly safe victory, but he stopped abruptly over the final metres and very nearly let Marsk Torkdahl counter on the line.
It remained no more than a scare for Team Bettina Andersen, however, and Footstepsoffortune earned DKK 52,500 in first prize for his ownership circle.
The day opened with the York Stutteri 2-års Grand Prix over 950 metres, where the Veronika Jandová-trained Cassius (Giant Sandman) managed to take revenge on Lea Olsen’s Samson Torkdahl (Kodi Bear) for the two horses’ first meeting at Klampenborg.
Cassius was lightning-fast out of the stalls under Nicolaj Stott, and this time Samson Torkdahl could not take advantage of a long straight to make up the lost ground. Lea Olsen also filled third place with Flyvende Faduma (Go Go Gadget).
The winning Cassius is owned by William Segovia together with Lulu Tøpholm’s L.T. Racing, and the first prize came to DKK 40,000.
Birgitte Nielsen also contributed to the home-track victories, as four-year-old What A Life (Moohaajim) beat Torben Christensen’s See The Universe (Sea The Moon) and Lea Olsen’s Sir Antonelli (Most Improved) by a neck and a short head in the JGH 100 Års Jubilæumssprint.
What A Life was ridden first over the line by Annie Nilsson-Lindahl, earning a first prize of DKK 35,000 for Go Go Racing, who saw What A Life win for the third time in the first nine starts of his life.
There was a more local flavour to the Iversens Beslagsmedie Ærespræmie, where two Mikkels made the frame with the Belardo daughter Sandie’s Dream.
Mikkel Johansen trains and Mikkel Mortensen was in the saddle on the five-year-old mare, who beat the Sabina Gammelgård-trained Cat’s Gambit (Olympic Glory) and Tinna Hovgaard’s Strakowsky (Go Go Gadget).
Melissa Vesterholm, narrowly beaten with See The Universe in the JGH 100 Års Jubilæumssprint, took a hugely popular revenge in the day’s final race, riding Stine and Karsten Johansen’s six-year-old Multibox Carlras (Sir Percy) to victory in the Stutteri Hjortebo Ærespræmie.
In the day’s tightest finish, Melissa Vesterholm beat her good friend Matilde Kløve on the back of Birgitte Nielsen’s Lexington Avenue (Jimmy Creed), and it was a delight to see the two young talents thank each other for the battle after the finishing line.
Decidedly the perfect end to a beautifully arranged Jydsk Derby Day in Aarhus.
