Camelot Pays Tribute to Late Sire Montjeu

re: Camelot Pays Tribute to Late Sire Montjeu

John T — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 00:56:27 GMT

Camelot as expected came through with flying colours to win

the Epsom Derby as there is no stamina limitations to this horse and thankfully there is already a lot of conversation

about preparing him for the English Triple Crown last accomplished by Nijinsky in 1970.

re: Camelot Pays Tribute to Late Sire Montjeu

Alan Porter — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:46:46 GMT

Sceptre: I think that guessing whether a horse is a late-closer running over the right trip, or a horse dying out for longer is very tough to tell by eye.

With his dam's side, it could be that Camelot is a shorter distance runner than most by his sire, just as Frankel is far more speedy than the average Galileo.

He's been held up at the rear in both his group one wins, but it's really hard to know whether it's to save his stamina, or to avoid pushing him out of his comfort zone as far as cruising speed is concerned.

The dam was a different type, as she made all to win over a mile, although her best effort came over nine furlongs.

On the balance, I'm going to go with the idea that he'll stay 1 1/2 miles and his turn of foot will look more impressive over that trip. That said, I'm quite prepared to be wrong! He'll probably confound both and be a ten furlong horse!

re: Camelot Pays Tribute to Late Sire Montjeu

sceptre — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:32:17 GMT

All good points, Alan, and what you noted about the sectionals is encouraging. He's won all three with nearly identical tactics, so O'Brien apparently had him figured from the beginning-but what he saw back then to employ such tactics intrigues me. I know it's a contrarian speculation, but I wonder whether O'Brien has concerns about his stamina-from the gallops/trials and/or the dam (she evidenced both quality and stamina limitations)? I wouldn't speculate that he's nothing more than a closing sprinter, but could he be a closing middle distance type? As far as closing sprinters (and nothing more) two come readily to mind-Royal Ascot (before your time/check out his pedigree), and Honorable Miss. He also appears not to be a great "accelerator" as was Lyphard and some of his get ex. Dancing Brave that were distance limited. So, I think that tractability coupled with a high turn of foot can carry some a long way, but for others, such as a Royal Ascot and Honorable Miss it translates to no more than 7f, or so. As said, Camelot doesn't appear to fit either these molds. You're right, though, Epsom will be enlightening.

re: Camelot Pays Tribute to Late Sire Montjeu

Alan Porter — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:40:24 GMT

I think probably to judge Camelot fairly, we've got to let him run over a mile and a half. He certainly didn't win in the style of a Dancing Brave or El Gran Senor, but they were fast horses who could just about get a mile and half, where Camelot might be one that really needs the trip.

According to the Racing Post sectionals the pace was a pretty consistent one, so Camelot did actually have to quicken to take the lead from a fair way off the pace,rather than everything in front stopping.

At the moment, I'd say a very satisfactory effort from a horse who wants to go a fair bit further, rather than establishing himself as a real standout. It could be that a similar turn of foot will look more impressive against stayers (and the inevitably bunch of non-stayers) at Epsom.

re: Camelot Pays Tribute to Late Sire Montjeu

sceptre — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:31:00 GMT

Hard for me to get a fix on Camelot's real quality. So far, seems his best asset may be his tractability. This attribute could aid him at Epsom, but he seems to have neither brilliance nor great (closing) acceleration. Could he be nothing more than a middle distance grinder-which may go along with his pedigree?

re: Camelot Pays Tribute to Late Sire Montjeu

John T — Wed, 09 May 2012 01:05:43 GMT

It was good to see a son of the late sire, Montjeu win such an important classic race at one mile. If he does win the Epsom Derby it would be nice if Camelot was pointed towards the English Triple Crown as the 14 furlongs of the St. Leger would be no problem for this horse. But in the world of racing to-day there are so many big purses to be aimed for and it remains to be seen what will be planned for him.