Charm Spirit Denies Night of Thunder in QEII
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France-based Charm Spirit denied 2-1 favorite Night of Thunder victory in the Oct. 18 QIPCO Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Eng-I) at Ascot, the latter not getting a clear run until too late.
Charm Spirit tracked close to the early leaders with Olivier Peslier and charged through a gap to lead front-runner Tullius a furlong out. Although Night of Thunder was coming on strong for Richard Hughes in the closing stages, Charm Spirit clung to his advantage to prevail by half a length. Toormore, Night of Thunder's stablemate, finished third, another half-length back in the 11-horse field.
"I came a little bit early, but he was very generous for me," Peslier said of the 3-year-old son of Invincible Spirit—L'Enjoleuse, by Montjeu. "He was always in front and it was a really good win. It is wonderful."
Charm Spirit was fifth behind Night Of Thunder in the Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-I) in May at Newmarket, but has since reeled off four consecutive wins. They include his previous two starts at the top level: the group I Prix Jean Prat in July at Chantilly followed by the group I Qatar Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, in which Night of Thunder was third Sept. 14.
Trainer Freddy Head bought Charm Spirit for $182,322 from breeder Ecurie Des Monceaux's consignment at the 2012 Arqana October yearling sale. He trains the colt for Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Thani.
"He ran a great race and was given a great ride by Olivier Peslier," Head said after the QEII. "He's not a horse that can win by five lengths, but you can't beat him. He was stiff after the Guineas, but I knew the horse was a much better horse today, but it's always difficult to come here and win.
"He showed he can really stay; he's a real fighter. He's a very good horse."
In talking about Night of Thunder's troubled trip from post 10, trainer Richard Hannon said, "Hughsie had to go anywhere he could find daylight."
Racing along the rail early on, the colt was switched to the outside three furlongs out to rally, but when an opening failed to materialize was shifted back to the inside in the final furlong. He found running room in the final 100 yards but could not catch the winner.
"It's unfortunate they collect on the rail and it's probably easier if they come up the middle because then you get less hard-luck stories," Hannon remarked.
"He has run a very good race and was he unlucky? I think probably slightly and so was Toormore, but the winner is a very good horse and there is not a lot between the three of them. That's racing, isn't it?"