Amo Racing | Horse Racing Free Tips

Goresbridge Sale Topper Resold Privately

The record-breaking top lot at last week's Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-up Sale has been returned by the purchaser and has subsequently been bought privately by Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing.

The Dark Angel (Ire) colt out of Venturous Spirit (Fr) (Arch) had been bought as a yearling at the Arqana October Sale for €6,000 by Jerry Horan and Katharina Irmer and was knocked down in the ring last Thursday at £410,000. The colt was initially bought by Richard Brown for an undisclosed client. Brown's underbidder Alex Elliott was later contacted by the vendor and agreed a private sale on behalf of Amo Racing.

Elliott said, “Kia is very supportive of young people throughout the industry and he felt very bad for the young guys who had sold him, Kat and Jerry. It's a risk to do what we've done but we think we are potentially getting some value, especially as we absolutely loved the horse at the sale. We felt he was a special colt, he did a really good breeze, and we've had a bit of a reduction since he's been returned. Kia was keen to support the vendors and the horse has gone to George Boughey. We're very excited to have him.”

The post Goresbridge Sale Topper Resold Privately appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Boughey Full Steam Ahead For Ascot

It is hard to ignore George Boughey at the moment. In only his second full season with a training licence, the 33-year-old is seventh in the British trainers' list by number of winners on 44 for the season. Most impressive of all is his strike-rate of 28%. Of trainers to have had more than 100 runners, only Charlie Appleby ranks higher on 30%, for his 36 winners.

But Boughey's most pleasing moment of the season so far came not from a winner but through the superbly gritty run of his stable star, Mystery Angel (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}), who was second in the Cazoo Oaks having made most of the running. If the trainer and the owners in the Nick Bradley Racing syndicate were already on a high from the victory of Oscula (Ire) (Galileo Gold {Ire}) in the Woodcote S., the opening race of the Epsom meeting, then they were positively floating by the time Mystery Angel crossed the line in the Oaks.

“It was a great day and she has come out of the race incredibly well. She hasn't been ridden yet [since Epsom] as we haven't really got any immediate plans for her so she is just having an easy time, but she is sound and she's eating well,” reports Boughey of the filly who won the listed Pretty Polly S. on the Rowley Mile, just across from where she is trained, before running fourth in the G3 Musidora S. Prior to that, however, she had been well seasoned.

Mystery Angel graduated from the Craven Breeze-up Sale for what now looks like a bargain price of 22,000gns–almost exactly the amount it cost to supplement her for the Oaks. She ran six times as a 2-year-old, her two victories backed up by three important pieces of black type. The hunt for a stakes win continued through March of this year, when Mystery Angel made two trips to France and finished second in the listed Prix Rose de Mai.

The trainer continues, “She's maturing into the filly that I hoped she'd be. She was a very late withdrawal from the mares' sale last year and a lot of people were wondering why as she isn't really bred to do what she's doing, but she is doing it. There are some nice decisions to make.”

The diminutive daughter of Kodi Bear may not look like an obvious middle-distance type, either physically or on paper, but she apparently has both the heart and mind for the job.

Boughey says, “She's very tough. I was outlining to anyone I spoke to before the Oaks that the thing about her is she has such a good mind. I know it still wasn't really busy at Epsom but she walked into the paddock for the Oaks and it was certainly the biggest day that she has ever seen and she was so relaxed. She lobbed to post and she settled in the race. The plan was to go forward and Ben [Curtis] and I were very confident that she would stay. I know it does't look it to the eye but Nick Bradley sent me the sectionals and she ran the quickest final furlong. Okay, so Frankie [Dettori] was easing up late on on the winner, but she stays a mile and a half well seemingly, and what a fun filly we've got.”

Mystery Angel is by no means the only fun filly in Boughey's Saffron House Stables. He has been winning 2-year-old races at a phenomenal rate this season, and the Woodcote winner Oscula is one who will form part of a formidable juvenile team for next week's Royal Meeting, along with recent impressive Newmarket winner Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) for Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, and dual novice winner Beautiful Sunshine (GB) (Ardad {Ire}). The latter is one of a number of smart juveniles the trainer has for Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing, many of whose horses receive their early grounding in Ireland by crack breeze-up consignor Robson Aguiar.

Superior Force (GB) (Ardad {Ire}) is another in that category and could be one of the colts to be Ascot-bound, along with fellow Amo colour-bearer Thunder Love (GB) (Profitable {Ire}) and the treble winner and listed-placed Navello (Ire) (Ivawood {GB}), who races for Fiona Carmichael and Evelyn Yates.

“I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pinching myself,” says Boughey of his season to date. “It's extraordinary what's going on at the moment. We had a team of horses and you kind of evaluate them in late February when the 2-year-olds start doing a bit more. It was a direct ploy from us to keep buying older horses, and we won a couple of races with unexposed 3-year-olds or 4-year-olds who could be a lot of fun. I think to train a lot of winners you need to keep buying tried horses and that's what we were initially successful with and we won't change the motive there. But, yes, to have had 14 2-year-old winners already–I think it's the most in Europe and I certainly didn't expect that.”

Oscula went straight to Epsom having won well first time out on the similar rolling downland course of Brighton, which was a deliberate test on her trainer's behalf to see if she would be up to the Woodcote challenge.

“It's not an exact science but it's a pretty similar track and to be able to go down the hill and quicken again was useful,” he says. “I didn't expect her to win so cosily but she looks like she's creeping up the ranks. She will more than likely go to the Albany now and she goes there with a single-figure price chance.”

Meanwhile Oscula's stable-mate Beautiful Sunshine is being prepared for the G2 Queen Mary S.

“Beautiful Sunshine was a bit lazy on debut, and she and Superior Force are both by Ardad and they are quite similar in that they have taken a bit of racing to get them going, but Beautiful Sunshine has taken a step forward and she will go to the Queen Mary with a pretty live chance,” says Boughey. “Her work has been good and she has a great mind for it. The 2-year-olds that we are taking to Ascot this year have been pretty professional on debut. They have run professionally, and they have behaved, and I think that's a huge asset to take to Ascot. We had our first Ascot runner last year, Astimegoesby (Ire), and he was a bit of a hooligan in his race before and I slightly feared that might happen. But these ones have very straight minds on them and that's key for a big day like that.”

Navello will arrive at Ascot more seasoned than most of his contemporaries. The colt has had five runs already, starting out at Bath in early April, which turned out to be a good sighter for his subsequent hat-trick at Wolverhampton, Brighton and Chester. Most recently he was third behind the Hugo Palmer-trained Ebro River (Ire) (Galileo Gold {Ire}) in the listed National S. at Sandown.

His trainer notes, “Hugo's horse was obviously very impressive and that goes to the Coventry now so we won't have to take him on, and Navello's speed was slightly blunted by the very soft ground that was drying. I was in more of a sweat than the horse was because it was a very warm evening and it was drying out. Although he won on very soft ground at Chester, I think he kind of won by default because it was very wet ground and he got through it.

“Navello worked the other morning on quicker ground and he worked very nicely. If we do get quicker ground at Ascot we'll probably see a different horse again. I think the plan at the moment is to go for the Norfolk.”

Navello has been ridden in all his starts by Nicola Currie, who has been determinedly clawing her way back into the limelight after injury derailed her season last year. She has formed a fruitful partnership with Boughey, who also regularly uses apprentice Mark Crehan and the currently injured Rossa Ryan.

“Nicola has been riding out a couple of times a week and driving the long hours at 4am to come and ride for us so it's nice to be able to give her a chance,” Boughey explains. “At the moment she will ride Cachet in the Albany and I would go so far as to say she'll be the top of the pile for my fillies for Ascot. She was very impressive at Newmarket on debut. I don't see why Nicola won't keep the ride–she's ridden her in all her work at home, and she will ride Cachet and Navello which are two quite nice Ascot rides for her.”

He adds, “Rossa was in on Saturday to watch work and he's trying to make it back for Ascot, but even if he doesn't he knows the nice horses are there for him to come back to.”

Ryan is the retained rider for Amo Racing, which has become an increasingly dominant force this season and is currently fifth in the owners' table behind Godolphin, Shadwell, the Coolmore partners and King Power Racing. As Nick Bradley runs his partnerships under different numbers, it is harder to quantify the operation's success in the formal table, but it has already been represented by eight winners this year, as well as two Classic-placed fillies, with the G2 Prix du Calvados winner Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}), who is trained by Richard Fahey, having finished third in the 1000 Guineas. Bradley is now a staunch supporter of the Boughey yard with 12 horses in training there.

“Nick and I speak every day and I think he said in an interview last year that he almost sees himself as an aid to his trainers,” Boughey says. “I know the programme book inside out but I speak to a lot of people about my horses and bouncing ideas off each other can only be beneficial. Nick's great. He's a very bright man and we work pretty closely. He and Amo Racing and my biggest supporters.”

While Mystery Angel will not be among the team for Royal Ascot, there are plans being formulated for her to tackle further big prizes this season, including the G1 Qatar Nassau S. at Glorious Goodwood.

Boughey says of his first Classic runner, “She's very cool and a joy to train. She gets up, eats, sleeps and trains. If we had another one or two like her life would be very easy.”

The post Boughey Full Steam Ahead For Ascot appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The Weekly Wrap: Classics, Classics Everywhere

It seems harsh, when the British and Irish Classics have so far have been split two apiece between Jim Bolger and Aidan O'Brien, to suggest that this season is all about Bolger. But, let's face it, it is.

Plenty has been written about Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) and Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) and the fact that both sides of their families are very much ingrained in the Bolger breeding and training academy. What is equally admirable, especially in the case of Mac Swiney, is the fact that they are being rigorously campaigned. The trainer has already confirmed that the Irish 2000 Guineas winner is now on course for Epsom in an attempt to emulate both his sire and grandsire in the race that many people still consider to be the greatest of them all. Surprisingly, the master breeder Jim Bolger is not one of them.

Following Poetic Flare's triumph at Newmarket, Bolger declared that he believed the 2000 Guineas to be the most important race. That said, he surely will not mind if Mac Swiney delivers a second Derby victory for him, 13 years after New Approach became the first of six Derby winners for Galileo.

It is worth rewatching Galileo's own Derby triumph 20 years ago to be reminded how the relatively small horse with the massive stride skated round Tattenham Corner and scooted clear in the straight.

In an interview with TDN earlier this year, Aidan O'Brien reflected on the racing days of Europe's multiple champion sire, who gave him his first Derby victory, recalling how those connected with Galileo at Coolmore had a high opinion of him even as a yearling.

“He didn't walk, he prowled, ” O'Brien said. “His walking stride was so long and there was so much power from his front and back, so I suppose the lads had him as a king before he came here.”

He has more than justified that belief, both on the racecourse and at stud, and Galileo has in no small way played a significant part in the training careers of both Bolger and his protege O'Brien.

The latter has eight of the remaining Derby entries, Bolger has just one, Mac Swiney, the horse who could become the first Derby winner to be inbred to Galileo, through Bolger's two champion juveniles New Approach and Teofilo (Ire). Furthermore, as breeder, Bolger has another roll of the dice via the Mark Johnston-trained Gear Up (Ire), a son of Teofilo.

For all his success, which includes wins in the G2 Beresford S., G1 Vertem Futurity and now the Irish 2000 Guineas, the mud-loving Mac Swiney has never started favourite and remains perhaps under-rated. Following the coldest, wettest English May in living memory, it would be folly to overlook the neat, tenacious colt at Epsom on the first Saturday of June. Destiny calls.

Gold For Japan In Rome

Chantilly-based Satoshi Kobayashi has had seven winners in France so far this year but it was in Italy on Sunday that he recorded the biggest success of his career to date. The trainer sent the Teruya Yoshida homebred Tokyo Gold (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) to Capannelle for an easy four-length victory in 138th running of the Derby Italiano, which was downgraded to Group 2 status in 2009.

Tokyo Gold is the first Classic winner for his sire Kendargent, and his third group winner this year after the likeable Skalleti (Fr) and his full-brother Skazino (Fr). The latter claimed his second group victory of the season when winning the G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier at ParisLongchamp on Monday.

Now 18, Kendargent is having a fruitful season in France and is numerically the most successful sire with 38 winners as well as the Nicolas Caullery-trained Kennella (Fr), who was third in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. The Haras de Colleville stallion's reputation is also being enhanced by his son and stablemate Goken (Fr), who was leading first-season sire and leading sire of 2-year-olds in France last year, with 15 winners from just 33 runners, including the group winners Go Athletico (Fr) and Livachope (Fr).

Yoshida, owner of Japan's famous Shadai Farm, has a notably international outlook when it comes to selecting broodmares, and his support extends to to a number of leading French sires, including Le Havre (Ire) who is the sire of the latest foal for Arc winner Dandedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}). The 13-year-old mare foaled a filly by the Sumbe stallion last Wednesday in Japan.

Yoshida also bought Le Havre's Classic-winning daughters La Cressonniere (Fr) and Avenir Certain (Fr). The latter has been represented by two winners this season in her two daughters by Deep Impact (Jpn), the G2 Hanshin Himba S winner Dea Ailes (Jpn), and 3-year-old Honneur (Jpn), who are sadly her only offspring as she died after being covered by Deep Impact in 2018.

La Cressonniere visited Shalaa (Ire) and Golden Horn (GB) in Europe and is now in Japan, where she had a colt last year by Epiphaneia (Jpn) before being covered by his fellow Shadai stallion Lord Kanaloa (Jpn).

Carvalho Has Classic Double In Sight

It has been a successful couple of days for the French-born, German-based trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho, who won Monday's G2 Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen (German 2000 Guineas) with Mythico (Ger), another promising 3-year-old for the recently deceased Adlerflug (Ger).

On Sunday, Carvalho, a former private trainer at Gestut Schlenderhan, saddled Sea Of Sands (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) to win the G3 Derby Trial at Hoppegarten for owner/breeder Gestut Hony-Hof, an operation we will be covering in greater detail in Wednesday's TDN.

Sea Of Sands represents a family which has had an enormous impact on the German Classics over the last two decades. His grandam Salve Regina (Ger) (Monsun Ger) won the G1 Preis der Diana for Hony-Hof's owner Manfred Hellwig and was second in the G1 Deutsches Derby in 2002, two years after her full-brother Samum (Ger) had won the Derby at Hamburg. In 2005, another full-brother Schiaparelli (Ger) followed suit, and three years later Samum's son Kamsin (Ger) won the Derby en route to becoming German champion 3-year-old. The run continued with the 2014 winner, Sea The Moon (Ger), a son of Sea The Stars and the unraced Sanwa (Ger), another full-sibling to Salve Regina. Now a successful sire in his own right at Lanwades Stud, Sea The Moon is thus very similarly bred to Sea Of Sands, who is now co-favourite for this year's Deutsches Derby on July 4.

Second-Crop Sires To Watch

For the current second-crop sires, what happens this year on the racecourse is arguably so much more important than the results from their first 2-year-old runners.

Mehmas (Ire), who made a frankly staggering start to his stud career last year with a record 56 winners, looks to be making that important transition with his 3-year-olds and is also compiling an international profile. The Tally-Ho Stud resident has so far had only four runners in America but three of them have won, including the treble Grade III victrix and appropriately named Going Global (Ire), who has now won all four of her American starts.

The G3 One Thousand Guineas Trial winner Keeper Of Time (Ire) has recently been sold to race in America and will surely add to her good record across the Atlantic, as has been the case for Tetragonal (Ire), a first-time-out winner for Hugo Palmer last year who won for Richard Baltas on Saturday at Santa Anita on the same card as Going Global.

One second-crop European sire we've heard much less about is Protectionist (Ger), but that may soon change. For a start, he is the only one in the table who boasts a strike rate of 11% group winners to runners. The final son of Monsun (Ger) at stud in Germany, Protectionist has large shoes to fill but, from only 18 starters this year, he has been represented by two group winners. The first, Lambo (Ger), won the G3 Bavarian Classic on May 1, beating subsequent G2 Derby Trial winner Sea Of Sands, before finishing third in Monday's G2 Prix Hocquart at ParisLongchamp.

Protectionist also looks to have a genuine contender for the G1 Preis der Diana on Aug. 1 in Amazing Grace (Ger), winner of Sunday's G2 Diana Trial for owner/breeder Dr Christoph Berglar, who also bred her sire. His son Liban, a winner at Cologne in April, also holds a Derby entry.

The winner of the G1 Melbourne Cup and G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin, Protectionist, in common with most German sires, has covered relatively small books and had 44 foals in his first crop, followed by 36 in 2019. However, he has the advantage of standing at Gestut Rottgen, which has supported him with members of its own powerful broodmare band, including Wellenspiel (Ger) (Sternkoenig {Ger}), the dam of consecutive Deutsches Derby winners Windstoss (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}) and Weltstar (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}). Furthermore, Protectionist's owners Australian Bloodstock have not only supported him with mares but have also bought his yearlings in Germany, and Lambo now races in their colours.

Two of Protectionist's offspring, a filly from his first and second crops respectively, have already been exported to Australia and it is fair to expect that more will follow.

In the meantime, Protectionist is very much a stallion to follow with interest in Europe.

Hello Royal Ascot

It seems as if almost every British race meeting has at least one Amo Racing runner these days, and Kia Joorabchian's operation looks set to be well represented at Royal Ascot.

The latest to have advertised strong claims for a trip to the Berkshire course in mid-June was Monday's impressive Wolverhampton winner Hello You (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who trounced her rivals by six and a half lengths in one of the most impressive juvenile performances of the season to date. Trained by Ralph Beckett, she was a €350,000 purchase by Robson Aguiar at last year's Arqana Select Sale from her breeder Serge Boucheron.

Hello You's win on debut brought up 18 for the season for Amo Racing, which equalled their tally of winners for the whole of 2020. This followed victories on Saturday for Raadobarg (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), who completed a treble at Haydock, and Beautiful Sunshine (GB) (Ardad {Ire}), who struck for the second time at Sandown on Thursday and is likely to return there this week for the listed National S.

The post The Weekly Wrap: Classics, Classics Everywhere appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Beckett Back For More At Breeders’ Cup

LEXINGTON, KY–This year’s European contingent at the Breeders’ Cup includes a handful of accomplished trainers sending out their first runners at the meeting-the likes of Michael Bell, James Fanshawe, Nigel Tinkler, John Quinn and Ger Lyons. They will, no doubt, all be hoping to follow in the mould of trainer Ralph Beckett, who won with his first ever Breeders’ Cup starter, Muhannak (Ire) (Chester House), in the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Marathon at Santa Anita Park.

The Andover-based Beckett has exhibited a special touch with fillies over his 20-year career as a trainer; his three Classic wins have come with Look Here (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) and Talent (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) in the G1 Oaks of 2008 and 2013, and with Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}), who in 2015 became the first filly in 22 years to win the G1 St Leger. Beckett’s last runner at the Breeders’ Cup was Qatar Racing’s filly Secret Gesture (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) when the meeting was last at Keeneland in 2015; she finished seventh in the GI Filly & Mare Turf, having been disqualified from first to third in the GI Beverly D. S. in her prior run.

Beckett returns to the Breeders’ Cup after a five-year hiatus with a pair of 2-year-olds for the GI Juvenile Turf: Amo Racing and Arjun Waney’s Devilwala (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Marc Chan’s New Mandate (Ire), a gelded first crop son of New Bay (GB).

Beckett has supervised his two charges’ exercise the past two mornings astride a pony on Keeneland’s all-weather training track, and he said they will take their first spin over the turf course on Thursday.

“They’ve traveled over very well and handled it all very well so we’re in good shape,” Beckett said. “They look well, they’ve been on the training track yesterday and today and they’ll breeze on the turf on Thursday morning around the bend and just get a feel of it.

“I walked the course on Tuesday night and it’s in excellent shape. They both handle fast ground; it isn’t what you’d call fast here but it’s quick enough for what they’re used to at home.”

Devilwala and New Mandate endured contrasting fortunes at the draw; Devilwala will exit gate 13 under Rossa Ryan, while New Mandate jumps from gate two under Frankie Dettori.

Beckett was straightforward in his assessment of Devilwala’s draw in light of the fact that he will have a short run into the first turn going a mile.

“Devilwala goes forward, so that’s a problem, but there’s not much we can do about that,” the trainer said. “He’ll have to take his medicine or land close to the pace, whichever way it is. But we’ll certainly ride him positively; he needs that.”

Devilwala, a 220,000gns purchase by Alex Elliott and Blandford Bloodstock at the Tattersalls Craven breeze-up sale on June 25, broke his maiden at first asking at Haydock in August for trainer Archie Watson before finishing second in the G2 Gimcrack S. and seventh in the G2 Mill Reef S. He was transferred to Beckett prior to running fourth over the soft ground in the G1 Dewhurst S. on Oct. 10, far outrunning his odds of 100-1.

“It was an extraordinary run in the sense that it was certainly the owner’s decision to run there rather than mine,” Beckett reflected. “I was going along for the ride, effectively. He ran way above my expectations based on what he’d shown at home. He doesn’t show very much at home; he hides his light under a bushel so we were delighted with his effort and he’s trained very well since.”

New Mandate, meanwhile, has been in Beckett’s care for some time: he was part of a group of five staying-bred yearlings bought at the yearling sales last year for a group spearheaded by Beckett and agent Alex Elliott with the intention to sell on later in their careers. Being by G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner New Bay and out of a mare by Derby winner Authorized (Ire), it is easy to see why New Mandate fit that bill, and he was picked up at Arqana’s August Yearling Sale for €35,000. Beckett said, however, the gelding came to hand much faster than anticipated and was thus sold on to new Hong Kong-based owner Marc Chan after breaking his maiden in a Sandown handicap at third asking in September. New Mandate has subsequently won his two starts for Chan: the Listed Flying Scotsman S. on Sept. 11 and the G2 Royal Lodge S. on Sept. 26.

“We set out last year to buy five yearlings with staying pedigrees for the market at the end of their 3-year-old careers,” Beckett said. “We weren’t expecting him to show the speed he has, and when a good offer came in from Jamie McCalmont, who used to employ Alex and is an old ally of mine as well, it made very good sense for a trading syndicate. We were delighted to do a deal for Mr. Chan and it’s worked out well so far, so let’s hope that continues on Friday.”

The post Beckett Back For More At Breeders’ Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post