Irish feature strongly in awards list

NEWS:DUKE OF MARMALADE lost out on Horse Of The Year honours to Zarkava in London last night but the Aidan O'Brien-trained star was still part of an impressive Irish domination in the rest of the Cartier Awards categories.

In total half of the eight categories were won by horses trained in Ireland with Duke Of Marmalade landing the older horse of the year award and the Derby winner New Approach judged to be 2008's three-year-old colt of the year.

Mastercraftsman is the Cartier two-year-old colt of the year while Yeats is the champion stayer for the third season in a row. Earlier Aidan O'Brien confirmed that Yeats will return to action in 2009 when he will attempt a unique four-in-a-row in the Ascot Gold Cup.

"The plan at the moment is that he will come back," O'Brien said of the horse who landed the Prix Royal Oak on his last start. "He came back from France in good shape. Ascot was a big pressure race. We were lucky to be in a position to run in three Gold Cups and the lads did a great job to keep him sound."

The unbeaten Arc winner, Zarkava, grabbed Horse of the Year honours but that didn't stop O'Brien describing his five-time Group One winner Duke Of Marmalade as "very special." He said: "He was an amazing horse with a great constitution. He was one of those who handled soft ground and had a great will to win. The Prince Of Wales's Stakes was the big target from the time we got him back. It was a mile and a quarter at Ascot on fast ground and we aimed at that race all the time. He came to his peak after those first two runs and when he hit the front at the furlong marker he found a different gear."

Duke Of Marmalade is now at Coolmore Stud in Tipperary and Henrythenavigator, who was overlooked in last night's Horse of the Year and three-year-old colt categories, is also a stallion under the Coolmore banner.

"He too had great speed and will to win. He ran from the Guineas weekend to the Breeders' Cup without a break and it was amazing how he held his form. On fast ground, over a mile, he was very close to unbeatable," O'Brien said of the Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up.

"We were delighted with him in Santa Anita after such a long season. He had a tough campaign but if you saw the two (Henrythenavigator and Ravens Pass) running all year, whichever got first run tended to win," he added.

Other winners last night included Rainbow View who not surprisingly won the award for top two-year-old filly while France also scored in the sprinter prize with the July Cup and Abbaye winner Marchand D'Or. Zarkava also edged out Lush Lashes and Halfway To Heaven in the three-year-old filly category.

Johnny Murtagh rode Halfway To Heaven in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood in August and Ballydoyle's new number one was highly praised by O'Brien yesterday.

"He's a great jockey, a great horseman, he's been through a lot, and I can't tell you the difference he made to everyone in our business this year," he said. "He's in his prime, it takes a while for a jockey to come to the top and he's there."

Sheikh Mohammed received an "Award of Merit' at last night' Cartier awards and he said from Dubai: "I love racing and breeding. We are not only in England and Europe and Godolphin is around the world. I love racing and will always be involved in the sport."

AWARD WINNERS

Horse of the yearZarkava

Three-year-old colt of the yearNew Approach

Three-year-old fillyZarkava

Older HorseDuke Of Marmalade

Two-year-old coltMastercraftsman

Two-year-old fillyRainbow View

Stayer of the yearYeats

Sprinter of the yearMarchand D'Or