Irish Juvenile winner

[Spalding No!]

This horse named Cadillac took off when dragged into daylight by his rider with barely a furlong left to run. Grandson of the recently deceased Shamardal who was all the rage last year with 3 top level 2yos across Europe:

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[SG4]

Could you give some context as to what this type of maiden race at Leopardstown is equivalent to in the US? When it says auction maiden, I always thought that was on par with a maiden claimer or a restricted race so wouldn't expect to see horses with big futures starting there. Horse showed acceleration worthy of his name, but wondering what level this was accomplished against.

[Kitan]

Originally Posted by SG4

Could you give some context as to what this type of maiden race at Leopardstown is equivalent to in the US? When it says auction maiden, I always thought that was on par with a maiden claimer or a restricted race so wouldn't expect to see horses with big futures starting there. Horse showed acceleration worthy of his name, but wondering what level this was accomplished against.

The definition of a Maiden Auction race is “a flat race restricted to two year old or to three year old Maiden horses which have been sold or bought in by public auction under the hammer at specified sales”.

[Spalding No!]

Originally Posted by SG4

Could you give some context as to what this type of maiden race at Leopardstown is equivalent to in the US? When it says auction maiden, I always thought that was on par with a maiden claimer or a restricted race so wouldn't expect to see horses with big futures starting there. Horse showed acceleration worthy of his name, but wondering what level this was accomplished against.

Leopardstown is a major racecourse in Ireland.

Britain and Ireland have a more complex system of maiden races than here, with classifications (2 thru 5), auction races (which amount to restricted maidens for horses sold at public auction at specific prices), sire series (which amount to restricted maidens for horses sired by stallions whose offspring are sold at a specified median price or below), and open maidens.

Here are the conditions of this race:

For two years old only, maidens at starting that are EBF eligible and which had been purchased as yearlings or as two year olds at Public Auction under the hammer after 1st July, 2019 for €60000 or less (the first sale after 1st July, 2019 to govern the price if sold more than once)

The horse received a 93 Racing Post Rating which is higher than last year's top juveniles Earthlight and Pinatubo in their respective debuts and is the highest rating for a 2yo maiden winner in the past 2 weeks amongst some of the major trainers (O'Brien, Gosden, Appleby, and Harrington).

[SG4]

Thanks for the details & explanation, the racing post rating certainly puts some clarity on how big an effort this was.