Catching Up With Vale of York
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Vale of York holds off Lookin At Lucky to win the 2009 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
When Vale of York flew to California in late 2009 for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, he was coming to the race with a record that was easily overlooked.
The then 2-year-old Invincible Spirit colt had won his debut that July before a small bump in the road when he finished fifth in a Group 3 race. But he came on again that fall, winning a stakes race and finishing on the board in a Group 2 and Group 3 before heading to Santa Anita Park in the United States.
Lining up against a field that included five graded stakes winners and four horses who had placed at the Grade 1 level, Vale of York went off at odds of 30.60-to-1 as the third-longest shot on the board.
Tracking the leaders, Vale of York looked like he was done in midstretch, falling behind Noble’s Promise and Piscitelli as he took a path down the rail. But when Ahmad Ajtebi angled him outside to pass those two, he met up with Looking At Lucky, who was also making his run. When Vale of York spotted Lookin At Lucky to his outside, he showed another burst of speed and was able to take over the lead, finishing a head ahead of Lookin At Lucky and half-length ahead of Noble’s Promise and Piscitelli.
2009 BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE
Video courtesy of Breeders’ Cup World Championships
Instead of returning to England after the Breeders’ Cup, Vale of York joined trainer Saeed bin Suroor’s string in Dubai to prep for the United Arab Emirates Derby. The colt finished fifth in his 3-year-old reappearance but was forced to miss the UAE Derby due to colic.
While Vale of York stayed in training for most of that year, he never raced again and was retired in November 2010 to Darley Stud’s Kildangan Stud in Ireland.
His first crop debuted in 2014 with Vale of York’s daughter Fontanelice taking Italy by storm, winning all five of her starts, including a pair of Group 3s, to be the country’s high-weighted filly.
VALE OF YORK AND JOCKEY AHMAD AJTEBI AFTER THEIR BREEDERS' CUP WIN
Other Vale of York foals to do well at the stakes level in the last two years are Grade 3-placed 2-year-old Pleasemetoo and stakes-placed Galway Bay. As of Sept. 29, 37 of Vale of York’s starters had won at least one race for more than $1-million in progeny earnings.
Of his 41 2-year-olds, 13 have raced with four to win and two to place in stakes races and those placings coming in France and Ireland.
It was announced on Sept. 20 that Vale of York had been sold by Darley to the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club. In 2016, he will stand at Haras des Faunesin in France.