Bolger Takes New Approach The Old Route Towards Cartier Glory

New Approach asserted his superiority over his peers with a resounding front-running victory in the Group One Bank Of Scotland (Ireland) National Stakes at the Curragh on September 16, that put him firmly in the vanguard of the race for the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Award.

Jim Bolger?s star juvenile is unbeaten in four starts and boasts an identical race record to former stablemate Teofilo, who ended the 2006 season by gaining the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Award.

New Approach took his points tally to 56 as he defeated the top-class pair of Godolphin?s Rio De La Plata (32) and the Tommy Stack-trained Coolmore acquisition Myboycharlie (48) in the seven-furlong contest.

Group Two Coventry Stakes winner Henrythenavigator and Kingsgate Native, who defeated older horses in the Group One Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes, both have 36 points and there is still all to play for with the big end of season deciders looming.

The Cartier Racing Awards, now in their 17th year, are European horseracing?s most prestigious accolades, and will be presented during a glittering ceremony in London on November 14, 2007. The coveted eight horse awards celebrate the champions of the Turf, plus one person.

Horseracing?s equivalent of the Oscars, the Cartier Racing Awards are determined by points earned in Pattern races combined with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists plus votes from readers of the Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph, a system which accurately rewards supreme excellence.

The Cartier Older Horse division remains enthralling following the recent victories of Dylan Thomas (148) and Manduro (120).

The latter scored a brilliantly smooth success in the 12-furlong Group Two Prix Foy at Longchamp on September 16, ahead of a planned assault on next month?s Prix de l?Arc de Triomphe. Baron Georg von Ullmann?s brilliant five-year-old, the highest-rated horse in the world after stunning Group One victories over a mile and 10 furlongs this season, sadly sustained a career-ending injury in the race but may have done enough in a sensational unbeaten campaign to secure the Cartier Horse Of The Year and Cartier Older Horse awards.

The admirable Dylan Thomas bounced back from a length defeat at the hands of Authorized in the Juddmonte International at York when securing the Tattersalls Millions Irish Champion Stakes for the second year in succession at Leopardstown on September 8.

Godolphin?s Ramonti (96) could not add to his two Group One triumphs this season when a creditable second to the three-year-old filly Darjina (112) in the Qatar Prix du Moulin de Longchamp on September 9, whereas Yeats (72) maintained his 100% record this term with a last stride defeat of stablemate Scorpion in the Irish Field St Leger at the Curragh on September 15.

Yeats looks set for a second Cartier Stayer Award but the Aidan O?Brien-trained six-year-old?s successor as champion stayer could also reside at Ballydoyle as stablemate Septimus (32) scored an emphatic victory in the two-and-a-quarter-mile Group Two GNER Doncaster Cup on September 14. Geordieland (48), runner-up to Yeats in the Gold Cup, filled the same position on Town Moor, five lengths behind Septimus.

Darjina, a triple Group One winner whose only defeat in six starts came in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot behind Indian Ink, is pressing the O?Brien-trained four-time Group One heroine Peeping Fawn (148) for the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly title following her Longchamp triumph.

Mrs Lindsay?s (56) 16/1 success in the Group One Prix Vermeille Lucien Barriere on September 16, puts her in the shake-up along with Classic winners Finsceal Beo (88) and Light Shift (68).

Lucarno (80) and Soldier Of Fortune (88) both laid down claims in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt division, which is currently headed by Derby victor Authorized (112).

Lucarno took the Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster for American owner George Strawbridge on September 15, while the following day saw Irish Derby winner Soldier Of Fortune strengthen Coolmore?s potential Arc hand with a decisive success in the Group Two Prix Niel at Longchamp.

The sprinting division was blasted wide open following the victory of Red Clubs (56) in the Group One Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock on September 8, who now leaps to the head of the points table having held French raider Marchand D?Or (52) by three-quarters of a length.

The Jim Bolger-trained Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine Saoirse Abu (68) still heads the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly category from the French-trained Natagora (40), but the Jeremy Noseda-trained Fleeting Spirit (28) could press them hard after her victory in the Group Two Polypipe Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster on September 14, which sets up the possibility of her taking on her seniors alongside Kingsgate Native in the Group One Prix de l?Abbaye at Longchamp.

Harry Herbert, Cartier?s racing consultant, said today: 'I am relishing the prospect of the big autumn meetings at home and abroad when we will undoubtedly see performances of excellence from the leading Cartier Awards contenders.

'New Approach appears to be a superstar in the making, while Authorized could prove to be a real champion if he succeeds in the Prix de l?Arc de Triomphe, when he will face the best of Europe?s middle-distance performers.

'The premature retirement of Manduro robs us of a phenomenal racehorse but that cannot tarnish the lustre of the horse?s amazing season in which he thrilled all with imperious performances from a mile to a mile and a half and carried the aura of a great competitor.'

Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly

• SAOIRSE ABU 68
• NATAGORA 40
• ELLETELLE 28
• FLEETING SPIRIT 28
• YOURESOTHRILLING 28

Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt

• NEW APPROACH 56
• MYBOYCHARLIE 48
• HENRYTHENAVIGATOR 36
• KINGSGATE NATIVE 36
• RIO DE LA PLATA 32

Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt

• AUTHORIZED 112
• LAWMAN 89
• SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 88
• LUCARNO 80
• COCKNEY REBEL 72

Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly

• PEEPING FAWN 142
• DARJINA 112
• FINSCEAL BEO 88
• LIGHT SHIFT 68
• MRS LINDSAY 56

Cartier Stayer

• YEATS 72
• GEORDIELAND48
• ALLEGRETTO 36
• SEPTIMUS 32
• HI CALYPSO 24

Cartier Sprinter

• RED CLUBS 56
• MARCHAND D?OR 52
• SOLDIERS TALE 36
• DUTCH ART32
• KINGSGATE NATIVE 32

Cartier Older Horse

• DYLAN THOMAS148
• MANDURO120
• RAMONTI 96
• NOTNOWCATO 73
• YEATS 72