Speightstown Colt Soars To Debut Win At Meydan

3rd-Meydan, AED175,000, Nov., 2-9, NH & SH 3yo, 1400m, 1:23.77, ft.
FALCON OF ARABIA (c, 3, Speightstown–Lawn Party {SP-US}, by Medaglia d'Oro) made a winning debut over the main track on Friday. The colt led pillar-to-post and coasted home to win by 1 1/4 lengths. He was pressed by Auto Bahn (Arg) (Asiatic Boy {Arg}) the entire way around. It was 10 1/4 lengths back to the third-place horse, King Of Luck (GB) (New Bay {GB}). “He has to be nice to do that first time,” said O'Shea of the Falcon Racing Team-owned colt. “He has a nice temperament, a good pedigree and he was very professional. He was getting a weight pull from the top horse [Auto Bahn] but he'd had a run and we hadn't.” After selling twice as a yearling, the chestnut was offered by Top Line Sales at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale and caught the eye of trainer Bhupat Seemar after breezing an eight of a mile in :10 3/5. Falcon Of Arabia is a half-brother to Stellar Agent (More Than Ready), who was third in both the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and the GII Miss Grillo S., as well as the stakes-winning Anaconda (Pioneerof The Nile). His dam was covered by Epicenter last spring. Second dam Fiery Pursuit (Carson City) won the GII Louisville Breeders' Cup S., while third dam Engaging (Private Account) was a half-sister to the outstanding Eclipse Champion Juvenile Filly Flanders (Seeking The Gold), who would go on to produced Eclipse Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Surfside to the cover of Seattle Slew. Sales history: $95,000 RNA Ylg '22 KEESEP; $80,000 Ylg '22 FTKOCT; $150,000 2yo '23 FTIMAY. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, AED105,000.
O-Falcon Racing Team, LLC. B-Sandra Sexton & Silver Fern Farm (KY). T-Bhupat Seemar.

 

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The Last of the Galileos

Deep Impact (Jpn), who died in 2019, has to some degree gone out in a blaze of glory with the dual Derby, Irish Champion S. and Breeders' Cup winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) among his final truncated crop of just 14 foals. What then of his old friend, the 12-time champion sire Galileo (Ire), with whom he has blended so well, and members of whose own last crop enter their juvenile season in 2024?

There are just 13 Galileo two-year-olds and, according to the Weatherbys' sire report, only one of the baker's dozen appears to have been named so far. That colt has the moniker of Last Galileo (Ire), although he was actually the first of this last crop to be born, on February 13, 2022.

Bred by Coolmore, he is out of Bye Bye Birdie (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), whose dam Slink (GB) (Selkirk) is a half-sister to James Wigan's dual Grade I winner Dank (GB) (Dansili {GB}). The colt was bought through BBA Ireland for Yulong for €200,000 at last year's Goffs Orby Sale and is currently in England in pre-training.

BBA Ireland was also the buying agent, again for Yulong, of the filly out of Gold Lace (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who was sold as a weanling for €290,000 in 2022. The half-sister to the Listed-placed Gold Filigree (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) was bred by Newstead Breeding and is now in training with Jessica Harrington, who trained another Galileo filly, the G1 Irish Oaks winner Magical Lagoon (Ire), for the same owner. 

Nowhere will Galileo's eventual absence as a sire be more keenly felt than within the walls of Ballydoyle. The horse's own stellar racing career was crafted there back in the early years of this century, and legions of his classy offspring have subsequently been trained on those same gallops.

Aidan O'Brien's final intake numbers three, two of which are colts: one out of the Listed-placed Bounce (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}) and another out of the Australian G1 Thousand Guineas winner Amicus (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), making him a brother to Royal Ascot winner Okita Soushi (Ire) and the G2 Beresford S. runner-up Chief Little Rock (Ire). Foaled on May 13, the latter was one of seven members of Galileo's final crop to be bred by Coolmore, including the last of his fillies to enter Ballydoyle. She is a daughter of Anna Karenina (Ire) (Green Desert) and her full-brother Battle Of Marengo (Ire) was fourth in the Derby as well as winning twice at Group 2 level.

Donnacha O'Brien has taken charge of two juvenile colts by Galileo in the Lynch-Bages-bred son of Aegean Girl (Ire) (Henrythenavigator) and a son of the Listed winner Chanting (Danehill), who has produced two black-type earners among her four winners by Galileo. 

Five of Galileo's last batch of foals were born within a week in May, and we've all seen what May foals can do. The Coolmore-bred colt out of Charlotte Bronte (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) arrived on May 8, and the last Galileo ever born, on May 15, 2022, was bred by Phoenix Thoroughbred Ltd. The colt out of Take Me With You (Scat Daddy), herself an $800,000 two-year-old purchase, has subsequently left Ireland and has been exported to America. He is now in pre-training with his eventual trainer still to be decided.

Another three members of the final crop are in training or pre-training in England. Richard Hannon is listed as the trainer of the Westerberg-bred filly out of Perfect Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).

Jayne McGivern, owner of the Overbury Stud stallion Golden Horn (GB) and a select group of horses in training, is a sworn jumps fan who often jokes that she is going over to the dark side when she has a runner on the Flat. She may soon come to view it as the bright side, as McGivern is the owner of the two-year-old Galileo filly out of Darsan (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}). Bred by Frank Hutchinson, she was bought for 325,000gns from Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale and her owner says, “She was a bit backward but she caught up with a good holiday. I have just sent her to Malcolm Bastard for breaking and pre-training.”

It's a great buzz to have a horse like him, especially being the last of a
dynasty like Galileo's – Roderic Kavanagh 

Newmarket-based Belgian Kevin Philippart de Foy has recently moved his string to Induna Stables, which was the former base of Chris Wall, and he is looking forward to welcoming a Galileo colt out of Wind Chimes (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), whom he bought with the assistance of Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock for €140,000 at Goffs.

“He's in pre-training at the moment and is arriving next week,” says the trainer of the May-born colt who was another bred by Coolmore. “He was quite a backward horse when we saw him at the sales but he has improved a huge amount physically. He has got a lot bigger and a lot stronger in a very short space of time.

“He's a horse who has been very straightforward in pre-training. He was good to break in, he's a good mover and he has a very good mind on him. He's showing a lot of professionalism and I am delighted with him. Fingers crossed he can follow in the footsteps of his pedigree.”

There remains a chance to buy one of the last Galileos at public auction as breeze-up pinhookers Roderic Kavanagh and Cormac O'Flynn of Glending Stables signed up the colt out of Manderley (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}) at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale for 125,000gns.

The team behind the Craven Breeze-up Sale topper and dual Group 1 winner Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) plans to return to that same auction with the  three-part-brother to Listed winner Hidden Dimples (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). He too was bred by Coolmore and is a May 13 foal. 

“We haven't done anything serious with him at all but I'm very fond of him,” Kavanagh told TDN. “I haven't dealt with too many Galileos but he has a beautiful mind and he's enjoying his work.

“It's a great buzz to have a horse like him, especially being the last of a dynasty like Galileo's. Just as an individual he seems to be a good model with a good mind and has taken it all well. With his birthday he might be more of an Arqana horse, but we're going to try for the Craven. There's a bit of prestige there with Vandeek last year. We're dreaming at the minute anyway.”

It has been a privilege to have been following racing and breeding through the era of Galileo. His name may be gradually receding in pedigrees but it will endure for generations yet. And with 93 three-years-olds from his penultimate crop and the juveniles detailed above, we can but hope for a last hurrah or two.

 

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When is a Maiden Not a Maiden? It Cost this Owner $5,331 to Find Out

When is a maiden not considered a maiden for entry purposes? Pennsylvania-based owner Albert “Abby” Abdala III lost $5,331 in second-place purse money trying to find out after an “ineligible entry” ruling was imposed upon him and his trainer, Bernard Dunham, on Feb. 2 by the Turfway Park stewards.

Abdala, who has owned Thoroughbreds for 10 years after getting started in horse ownership with Standardbreds, told TDN in a Feb. 8 phone interview that he still doesn't understand why Turfway officials accepted his entry for the 0-for-9 Magnolia Wind (Central Banker) in a $30,000 maiden-claiming race Jan. 4 if the stewards later deemed the 4-year-old filly to be ineligible.

The eligibility issue arose after the Jan. 4 race when Magnolia Wind was going to be entered again, and Turfway stewards Barbara Borden, Ron Herbstreit, and Brooks Becraft III learned that Abdala had an appeal pending with the Maryland Racing Commission over Magnolia Wind's race-interference disqualification from first to second in a $30,000 maiden-claimer at Laurel Park Nov. 9.

In that Laurel race, the 12-1 Magnolia Wind led all the way in a 5 1/2-furlong grass sprint. According to the Equibase chart, she “drifted out near the sixteenth pole, dug in and prevailed.”

“She won the race,” Abdala said. “But the stewards said we were 'herding,' which I thought was ridiculous because both riders were riding to the wire, nobody checked, and we held on. I appealed it, but the hearing wasn't going to be until Feb. 6.”

In the interim, after Magnolia Wind had gone nearly two months without a start, Abdala said he told Dunham, who has been a licensed trainer for 33 years, “She's good right now, we've got to race her.”

Although Magnolia Wind trains at Fair Hill in Maryland, Abdala did not want to run her on the dirt somewhere closer to home, because that's not her best surface, he explained.

“That's why I went out to Turfway, because she needs the Tapeta or the turf,” Abdala said.

Because Magnolia Wind's record on Equibase clearly showed the she had zero lifetime wins, “I assumed that the horse was eligible as a maiden,” Abdala said.

“I told my trainer to put her in, and he put her in. He entered her [electronically via] the computer. And we never said anything to anybody [about the Maryland appeal], because I didn't know we had to. They accepted the entry. Then we drove that filly nine hours to get to Turfway.”

The long journey appeared to pay off. Magnolia Wind ran second at 5-1 odds.

“And now they come after me saying that we knew she wasn't eligible, and that we're unlawful,” Abdala said.

Abdala said that after being notified of the ineligibility, he didn't come away from a conversation with Borden, Herbstreit, and Becraft with a clear understanding of why the Turfway's racing office officials or the stewards didn't bear some responsibility for allowing the entry in the first place.

TDN emailed Borden, the chief state steward, plus Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) executive director Jamie Eads, asking for some context behind the ruling and for clarification about why the Jan. 4 entry was approved by Turfway officials.

A different KHRC spokesperson replied with an email that outlined some of the sequence of events on “background only.” Because what was disclosed in that email could not be attributed to a specific KHRC official, the entire explanation has not been provided here. A follow-up request by TDN asking if the KHRC wanted to provide any response for the record did not yield a reply prior to deadline for this story.

The Turfway stewards' report for that date that is signed by all three stewards and posted on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission website makes no mention of the ineligibility.

But the subsequent Feb. 2 stewards' ruling disqualified Magnolia Wind from second place and ordered her $5,331 in purse earnings redistributed.

“I'm an accountant, a CPA, and I have an accounting firm,” Abdala said. “We have a lot of horse racing people as clients. I've asked everybody, and they all told me, 'Abby, your horse was eligible.'”

Abdala said he is no longer pursuing any appeals in Maryland or Kentucky regarding his twice-DQ'd filly.

“I didn't want to cause trouble or anything, and I want the filly to be able to race,” Abdala said. “So I just dropped everything–I dropped the hearing in Maryland, and I dropped the [potential appeal] at Turfway. I just want her to run. It's detrimental to her. After I dropped everything, they said they'll accept our entry now.”

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