Impending into Guineas calculations with Stan Fox win

A potential classic candidate stepped forward at exactly the right time when Impending overpowered a small but select field in the G2 Stan Fox Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday, September 24.

The colt who had chased home his much-vaunted stablemate Astern at his previous two starts showed he too had the ability to be competitive at the top level, overcoming an interrupted run to score by a neck from Divine Prophet in a race that traditionally produces high-class winners.

Impending (John O’Shea/James McDonald) had always been among the stable’s top echelon of three-year-olds, but had been overshadowed by Astern.

But with Astern suffering a slight setback that has cost him his chance in the G1 Caulfield Guineas, O’Shea looked to Impending, a son of Lonhro out of the G1 Thousand Guineas winner Mnemosyne, to take his place.

“We have always thought very highly of this horse and this was his D-day,” O’Shea said.

“We have been adamant that this race and his next is where he will be at his best.”

While the Caulfield Guineas on October 8 looms as the likely Spring target for Impending, O’Shea said a firm decision on a start will be made closer to the race after consultation with the colt’s owner His Highness Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum and the Godolphin team.

For jockey James McDonald, victory came only after some anxious moments.

“I had a beautiful run, and then had some jockeys playing jockeys for a while, but we got the result we wanted,” McDonald said.

“I think he’s a Group 1 horse for sure, he’s been in the shadow of Astern, but he’s got a great turn of foot and a great nature.”

McDonald was less circumspect about the immediate future.

“He’s full steam to the Guineas, and he’ll be hard to beat,” he said.

Impending completed a stakes-race double for Godolphin at Rosehill where Allergic (John O’Shea/James McDonald) was successful earlier in the G3 Colin Stephen Quality.

Allergic held out Junoob by a neck, but the firmness of the track may force O’Shea to alter plans to run the horse in next week’s G1 Metropolitan.

"It is disappointing because we had ambitions of running him next Saturday but he has had a hard run on ground like that," O'Shea said.

"We will get him home, freshen him up and see how he goes.”
 
McDonald agreed: “He was alright but I still reckon the track was a bit firm for him because I have felt him let down better than that.”