Former Brett Crawford trained Undercover Agent was something of a surprise winner of the second Mauritius classic of the season at the Champ de Mars on Sunday.
The son of Captain Al is now trained by Ricky Maingard and won the Gr1 IndianOil Barbé Cup under Piere Corne Orffer – his regular pilot when he raced here.
Leading from the break, Undercover Agent showed impressive reserves of courage to withstand a daunting challenge from Bernard Fayd’herbe on fellow SA-bred Twist Of Fate – the latter won the first classic, the Gr2 Duchess Of York Cup last month.
A file pic of Undercover Agent winning the Princess Margaret Cup under Derreck David last season (Pic Gold Circle / Mauritius Racing)
Undercover Agent clocked 1m 36,68 secs for the tight mile.
The winner’s stablemate Alshibaa, completed the trifecta ahead of Alyaasaat.
Fayd’herbe pleaded guilty to a charge under MTCSL Rule 160 for accepting a ride whilst being overweight. He was fined Rs 5 000.
Undercover Agent won 7 of his 22 starts here for stakes of well over R5 million.
His victories included the 2018 Gr1 Gold Challenge – giving both breeders Moutonshoek and apprentice Lyle Hewitson a maiden Gr1 success – the 2018 Gr2 Drill Total Stakes, and the 2018 Gr3 Byerley Turk.
He ran fourth in the 2019 Sun Met behind Rainbow Bridge.
The now 7yo has won 2 of his 7 starts and been placed at 4 of those outings on the island.
A R325 000 Cape Premier Yearling Sale graduate, plans were afoot to send Undercover Agent to stand at Klawervlei from the 2019 season. These were abandoned.
Undercover Agent was bred by Moutonshoek and is out of the twice winning stakes winner Secret Risk (London News) – from the family of Evening Attire.
Watch the replay – regret it is in French:
The Stipes reported:
The Stewards approved jockey Oliver as the replacement rider for The Dazzler.
Twist Of Fate– Contacted on jumping. Raced fiercely in the early stages.
Alyaasaat– Half-reared and was slow to begin. Raced fiercely in the middle stage and approaching the 900 metres, was switched to the outside of Opera Royal and in doing so, carried Iditarod Trail wider on the track, with Iditarod Trail being eased to secure a position one-off the rails behind Alyaasaat. Passing the 450 metres, was switched to the outside of runners to improve its position and raced wide from then onwards. Made the turn into the home straight very wide. Jockey Teeha reported that Alyaasaat hung out throughout. Vet Report: Not striding out after the race.
Alshibaa– Raced wide in the early stages and approaching the 1100 metres, was eased to secure a position on the rails. Passing the 450 metres, was switched to the outside of Marshall Foch, which was giving ground.
Patrol Officer– Approaching the 400 metres, was switched to the outside of runners to improve its position and raced wide from then onwards. Made the turn into the home straight very wide.
Marshall Foch– Jumped awkwardly and was slow to begin. Commenced to give ground from approaching the 450 metres.
The Dazzler– Jumped awkwardly and shifted ground inwards, making contact with Twist Of Fate. Raced fiercely in the early stages and leaving the 1400 metres, when being settled, got its head up and raced ungenerously for some distance. Passing the 400 metres, was switched to the outside of Twist Of Fate to improve its position and made the turn into the home straight wide.
Iditarod Trail– Stood awkwardly in its stall, brushed the left side of its gate on jumping, with jockey Sooful losing the footing of his left side stirrup iron, which he regained shortly afterwards. Approaching the 900 metres, was carried wide by Alyaasaat, and raced wide from then onwards.
Marauding– Slipped from behind, knuckled and was slow to begin.
Stopalltheclocks– Stood flat-footed and was subsequently slow to begin. Passing the 300 metres, for some distance, had to be restrained when unable to improve from behind Opera Royal. Leaving the 250 metres, was switched to the inside of Marshall Foch to secure clear running.
