Nathaniel’s Enable Wins The Oaks In Record Time
Owned and bred by Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms, trained by John Gosden and ridden by the mercurial Frankie Dettori, Enable was having only her fourth career start and was coming off her last start victory in the Cheshire Oaks (Listed, 1m 3f), her first start this year.
She made only one appearances as a two-year-old late last season, winning over a mile on debut on the all weather track at Newcastle. In her seasonal debut Enable finished third to unbeaten stablemate Shutter Speed (Dansili), who is also owned by Khalid Abdullah, at Newbury in a conditions stakes.
Enable is the best of two stakes winners to date (the filly Natavia is the other) for her young sire Nathaniel (Galileo) whose oldest runners are three-year-olds so he has a classic winner in his first crop.
Nathaniel is a contemporary of the great Frankel (Galileo) and they share the same sire. They met twice on the racecourse, first as two-year-olds on debut at Newmarket when Nathaniel ran unbeaten Frankel to a half-length but thereafter their careers took different paths until they clashed again as four-year-olds at their final starts in the Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 1m2f) but this time Frankel proved more superior in winning, relegating Nathaniel to third, beaten just over four lengths.
Whereas Frankel (record Timeform rating of 147) was more of a miler, Nathaniel (Timeform 129) was best suited by longer distances but like Frankel he blossomed at three and four years.
Ranked as the champion three-year-old in Europe in 2011 at distances from 9.5f to 11f, Nathaniel won the King Edward VII Stakes (Gr 2, 1m4f) at Royal Ascot defeating future Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Fiorente (Monsun) before defeating older horses like the previous year’s Derby (Gr 1, 1m4f) winner Workforce (King’s Best) in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 1m4f).
As a four year-old in 2012 Nathaniel was officially ranked as the champion older horse in Europe at distances between 11f and 13f, winning the Eclipse Stakes (Gr 1, 1m2f) and finishing second, narrowly beaten by Prix de l’ Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Danedream (Lomitas), in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, also filling second place in the Irish Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f).
When both Frankel and Nathaniel were retired to stud in Britain in 2013 the difference in their service fees perhaps over reflected the difference in their respective Timeform ratings, Frankel commanding £125,000 while Nathaniel was far more modestly priced at £20,000.
Nathaniel, though, was a very high class racehorse with an exceptionally strong female pedigree so in my view he was a bargain at the price as his dam Magnificient Style (Silver Hawk) won the Musidora Stakes (Gr 3, 1m2f) at York before becoming a truly outstanding producer.
Magnificent Style bred no fewer than ten winners, eight of them stakes winners and two of them Group One winners. Nathaniel’s three-parts sister Playful Act (Sadler’s Wells) was champion two-year-old filly in Britain in 2004 while her brother Percussionist (Sadler’s Wells) won the Yorkshire Cup (Gr 2, 1m6f) and other stakes winners from her are Echoes In Eternity (Spinning World) and Stylelistick (Storm Cat) while Magnificent Style is also second dam of several more stakes winners.
Magnificent Style’s success when mated to Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) made his champion son Galileo an obvious choice as a mate in 2007 with Nathaniel the result.
Since Enable’s dam Concentric is a daughter of Sadler’s Wells, the 2017 Oaks winner is linebred 3m x 2f to the former perennial champion UK sire and she also carries three crosses (5m x 6m x 5m) of Hail To Reason (Turn-To) and has more distant duplications of Nearctic (Nearco), Native Dancer (Polynesian), Nasrullah (Nearco), Hyperion (Gainsborough), Princequillo (Prince Rose) and the blue hen mare Lalun (Djeddah).
Enable’s three crosses of Northern Dancer (Nearctic) brings the total number of lines of unbeaten Nearco in her background to 14. Ribot notwithstanding, I believe most would consider Nearco to be Tesio’s greatest legacy to international thoroughbred breeding.
Concentric, Enable’s dam, was a Listed winner and Group Three placegetter in France and her two other winners include Contribution (Champs Elysees), winner of two races and twice placed in Group races in France.
Her dam Apogee (Shirley Heights) won the Prix de Royaumont (Gr 3, 2100m) and foaled three other stakes winners in Apsis (Barathea), Space Quest (Rainbow Quest) and most notably Prix de Diane (Gr 1, 2100m) runner up Dance Routine (Sadler’s Wells), dam of globetrotting champion Flintshire (Dansili).
Among other members of this excellent family are Daring Miss (Sadler’s Wells), Spanish Moon (El Prado) and Spanish Sun (El Prado) all of whom highlight the family’s great affinity with Sadler’s Wells.