Manuel Martinez, who took over the reins from Carlos Lopez, was not slow to praise Stald Handshake’s mighty racehorse Slava Ukraini, after the pair had led from start to finish and taken the first prize of NOK 406,833 in Breeders’ Prize Classic at Øvrevoll.
“He’s a machine”, said Martinez among other things in the winner’s interview, where he also thanked the whole group behind the Moohaajim son, and sent loving thoughts to his countryman and weighing-room colleague Carlitos Lopez, who is still admitted to hospital in Gothenburg after yesterday’s fall.
Slava Ukraini had been backed down to 13:10 favourite, and after previously having lain far back along the way in other big contests, Martinez now chose the opposite tactics and rode the stallion resolutely forward towards the front.
The pair were in front around the first turn with the stable companions Gravity (Wilshire Boulevard) and Cotton Eye Joe (Appel Au Maitre) as the nearest behind them. Entering the home straight Slava Ukraini still had a comfortable lead, and even though Cotton Eye Joe for God knows which time did everything to hang on, there was simply nothing to be done.
Slava Ukraini is the best three-year-old Scandinavian-bred horse on grass in his crop, and he hammered that home once again this Sunday in Oslo.
Cotton Eye Joe took second place ahead of Bettina Andersen’s strongly finishing Lucien (Hurricane Red), who relegated Gravity to fourth place ahead of Waldemar (Juniper Tree) in the last place in the prize money.
The upshot of the “Breeders’ international match” was that the first four past the post are all bred in Denmark – at four different studs, with Lars Chr. Nielsen, Stutteri Hjortebo, Healthy Horse Stud and York Stutteri respectively.
All the horses in the prize money are by stallions based in Denmark, of which Wilshire Boulevard (Holy Roman Emperor) is the only one who is no longer alive.
Slava Ukraini can now go on a well-deserved winter holiday after a season which already began on 27 January at Meydan.
After a further two starts in Dubai in February and March, the stallion got a little over three months’ break from racing over the spring, after which his classic campaign was launched with victory in Jockeyklubbens 2000 Guineas at Bro Park on 11 June.
And he has won a big race every single month since: Skandinavisk Mesterskap for three-year-olds in July, The Macallan Dansk Derby in August, Breeders’ Trophy Classic in September and now Breeders’ Prize Classic on the first day of October.
With his seventh career triumph in 12 starts, Slava Ukraini also passed three million Norwegian kroner in total prize money, and together with this year’s two other Scandinavian Derby winners, Ayani (Starspangledbanner) and Ami De Vega (Lope De Vega), he will be extremely exciting to follow on the way towards the older elite in 2024.
