A winner of the Dubai Sheema Classic, Prix du Jockey Club and International S. to go with five other Group 1 placings, the 7-year-old is joined by French Champion Juvenile Angel Bleu (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who won the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and the Criterium International among other contests. He will stand for €9,000. The second Group 1-winning juvenile and third new stallion overall is Sumbe homebred Belbek (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who also triumphed in the Lagardere. His fee has been set at €7,000.

Rounding out the roster is G1 Commonwealth Cup hero Golden Horde (Ire) (Lethal Force {Ire}), who has first yearlings next year at €6,000; and De Treville (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a half-brother to leading first-season sire Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who will hold court for €3,000. The latter has already sired the stakes winner Gregarina (Fr), who was second in the G3 Prix Quincey and two other group horses.

“I am proud to announce that in 2024 Sumbe will offer two new exciting stallions Angel Bleu and Belbek,” said Sumbe's Nurlan Bizakov. “They are both champions by proven sires of sires and with deep, distinguished pedigrees. Mishriff needs no introduction and I am confident that he will receive strong support from French and international breeders in the new season. We have also adjusted the fees for Golden Horde and De Treville to make them even more attractive. The Sumbe team will be happy to show all our stallions and discuss any potential plans with breeders.”

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Fourth through halfway and scrubbed along approaching the quarter-mile marker, the 9-2 chance was afforded a dream seam underneath the stands' side rail inside the final furlong and kept on strongly under late rousting to deny 'TDN Rising Star' Knight (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) by a half-length in the dying embers. Nurlan Bizakov's slow-starting Charyn (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) made relentless headway in the straight and finished 1 1/4 lengths adrift in third.

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Among all those twists and turns, the one imperturbable element has been 2023's shock sensation from Julie Camacho and Steve Brown's North Yorkshire-based stable little-known outside of the UK. What their ludicrously-talented 3-year-old colt Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) doesn't know about racing at this stage probably isn't worth labouring over, with his ability to do it any which way offering little hope for his opponents. Showing disdain for some basic universal rules when comfortably overcoming a criminally-slow start in the G1 Commonwealth Cup, he established himself as the sprint division's poster boy and this is his to lose.

“It will be a different sort of pressure, as it looks like we are going to start favourite whereas at Ascot Little Big Bear was a short-priced favourite and we went there slightly under the radar,” Brown said. “So it's different from that perspective, but you've got to deal with it and what a great position to be in–to have a favourite for a group one race. Physically, for all he will probably be a nicer horse next year, he is a big strong fella who holds condition well. We just hope he is maturing as we are going along. It has been a steady progression in the right direction with him and hopefully that will continue on Saturday.”

Camacho added, “We turned him out for three or four days and he started to get a bit fresh. He cantered on the Wednesday after Royal Ascot and he did a nice piece of work last Saturday and everything seems to be good.”

Rain In Time For Kinross…

While Friday's rain was an unwelcome sight for connections of most in this line-up, it was welcomed by Marc Chan and Ralph Beckett as they ponder a second major sprint for TDN Rising Star Kinross. Challenging Shaquille for favouritism on Friday night, last year's G1 Prix de la Foret and G1 British Champions Sprint S. hero looks to have things falling into place at the eleventh hour. That cannot be said for fellow TDN Rising Star, who already had a question mark over him given how readily he was brushed aside late by Shaquille at Royal Ascot before his foot problem. Aidan O'Brien is happy to let him take his chance, but softening ground could add to his woes. “At the moment everything is going well with him. It hasn't been ideal, obviously, but we're happy enough,” he said. “He just missed five or six days last week and we won't know until he runs how much it has affected him.”

Horses For Courses...

If there is one in the field who can be called a track specialist it is Michael Dods's latest sprinting starlet Azure Blue (Ire) (El Kabeir), who is four from five in this town including the Listed Boadicea S. and Listed Kilvington S. Upping her game last time to upset Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) in the G2 1895 Duke of York S. in May, she will be assisted by Paul Mulrennan who is hoping for more of the same. “She wintered very well and is more like a colt–I think she weighs more than 500 kilos and has definitely got better with age,” he said. “She seems to love Newmarket and that's a big thing as the two courses there are unique and test just about everything.”

City Of Troy And Great Truth In TDN Rising Star Superlative Tussle…

Newmarket's G2 Superlative S. has always signalled the beginning of the focus on next year's 2000 Guineas and Saturday's edition is no exception as TDN Rising Stars City Of Troy (Justify) and Great Truth (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) square up after their impressive debuts. While the former excelled in a Curragh maiden that Ballydoyle have turned into a springboard for their Classic prospects down the years, Godolphin's Great Truth was doing his stuff in a Leicester novice that Charlie Appleby used for last year's leading juvenile Naval Power (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}).

Aidan O'Brien was waxing lyrical about City Of Troy and his stride after his debut and said, “We've always thought he was a nice horse. This looks an ideal race for him and hopefully it will do him good long term and it gives him a good education.”

Appleby said of Great Truth, “He was very green that day and hung across to the left, but mentally and physically he's done very well since. When I say physically, he's tightened up, but mentally he galloped on Wednesday, William rode him, and he was very slick. We were second with Victory Dance last year and he didn't quite get to where we hoped he might get. But this year, with Aidan's horse, it will be tough, because he looks decent. But we like our horse. He is slick.”
Charlie Hills has a live contender in Teme Valley and Ballylinch Stud's Iberian (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who may not have carried the same gravitas of the big two into his introduction at Newbury but who gave the impression he has a bright future nonetheless. “Charlie is quite bold on him and he shows up quite well in the mornings,” Teme Valley's racing manager Richard Ryan said. “We're hopeful progress can continue to be made, but it is a hell of a race.”

Best Of The Rest…

Ascot's Saturday card sees the G2 Fred Cowley MBE Memorial Summer Mile, where Shadwell's Aldaary (GB) (Territories {Ire}) looks to build on his solid comeback fourth in Newmarket's G3 Criterion S. at the start of the month. The William Haggas-trained Listed Spring Trophy winner was coming back off a 420-day absence in that seven-furlong contest and has the easing ground to suit, as does the 2021 G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Criterium International hero Angel Bleu (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) who could make it a big day for Marc Chan and Ralph Beckett. The nationwide rain was also very welcome for another Haggas bigwig in Hamish (GB) (Motivator {GB}) ahead of York's G3 Silver Cup.

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Donny Delights…

Also at Doncaster are the Listed Cammidge Trophy, which sees the return of the still-unexposed G2 Sandy Lane S. winner El Caballo (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) returning for the first time since beating only two home as the joint-favourite for the G1 Commonwealth Cup, and the Listed Doncaster Mile while the 2-year-olds assembled for the opening Brocklesby Conditions S.

Plat Du Jour…

'TDN Rising Star' Pensee Du Jour | Scoop Dyga

It is at Saint-Cloud that the high-stakes action takes place, however, with Andre Fabre seeking a third straight success with TDN Rising Star Pensee Du Jour (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in the G3 Prix Penelope. Staged over the 10 1/2-furlong trip of the Prix de Diane, the renowned trial has surprisingly not been won by a subsequent heroine of that Classic since Pensee Du Jour 's distant relative Pawneese (Ire), the Wildensteins' champion of 1976. Fabre already holds the record of nine in this and the way the Ballymore Thoroughbred representative went through her maiden at Chantilly in February and the Listed Prix Rose de Mai here early this month suggests that number 10 is imminent.

Come On, Get Happy…

Ballydoyle have begun the year with gusto and the presence of two of the stable's runners in the Penelope is certain to be an indicator of what is to come as Rosegreen look more to France than ever before. Ryan Moore is here and not on the aforementioned favourite for the Lincoln, so it is up to another daughter of Camelot in Be Happy (Ire) to make up for that missed opportunity. Impressive at Cork on debut in September, the relative of the Prix du Jockey Club hero Anabaa Blue (GB) and of the great Urban Sea was only fifth in The Curragh's G3 Staffordstown Stud S. the following month but this is a new year and her rider is quietly confident. “Be Happy will enjoy the expected soft ground and she is a filly we like,” he said. “She probably didn't get the run of the race at the Curragh and this longer trip will suit.” Jean-Claude Rouget saddles Denford Stud's dual Cagnes-Sur-Mer scorer Iznik (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}), while Gainesway Ventures' Arqana December purchase Speirling Beag (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) adds weight having won Leopardstown's G3 Eyrefield S. and been in front of Be Happy when third in the Staffordstown.

Old Habits Die Hard…

In the G3 Prix Edmond Blanc, Al Asayl France's stalwart The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) has everything in his favour as he bids for a third renewal following his win in the course-and-distance Listed Prix Altipan three weeks ago, with the G3 Prix Perth one-two Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) and Tribalist (GB) (Farhh {GB}) and the 2021 G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Criterium International hero Angel Bleu (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) offering stern opposition. Unbeaten at this venue in five starts on ground that rode softer than good, the 8-year-old former QEII hero still sets the standard in this type of company.

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14.40 Wolverhampton, Listed, £57,500, 4yo/up, 7f 36y (AWT)
Marc Chan's 2021 G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Criterium International hero ANGEL BLEU (FR) (Dark Angel {Ire}) makes his seasonal comeback in this Listed Spreadex Sports Lady Wulfruna S., a fast-track qualifier for the Apr. 7 All-Weather Championship Finals at Newcastle. “This is not a prep for the All-Weather Championships finals, but it is a prep for the rest of the year,” insisted trainer Ralph Beckett. Last seen running fifth in July's G1 Sussex S. at Goodwood, the 4-year-old bay encounters seven rivals including 2021 G2 Coventry S. victor Berkshire Shadow (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), representing Andrew Balding; 2021 G2 Superlative S. third Dhabab (Ire) (No Nay Never), from the John and Thady Gosden stable; and last year's winner Tinker Toy (GB) (War Front), a Roger Varian trainee.

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12.40 Lingfield, Nov, £6,800, 2yo, 8f 1y (AWT)
Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa's SWORDOFHONOR (IRE) (Siyouni {Fr}), an Andrew Balding-trained half-brother to last term's G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Criterium International hero Angel Bleu (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}), was the highest-priced colt at the 2021 Arqana August fixture when knocked down for €1.5 million and encounters eight rivals in this debut. Opposition includes the owner's once-raced Laser Guided (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), who is out of a winning half-sister to MG1SW sire Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), from the Simon and Ed Crisford stable; and Ed Walker trainee Waipiro (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who is a half-brother to last year's G1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup and dual G1 Stewards' Cup hero Waikuku (Ire) (Harbour Watch {Ire}).

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Beckett said, “He ran very well at Glorious Goodwood, finishing a running-on fifth in the Sussex S. Unfortunately, he sustained an injury to his fetlock that needs surgery. This means that he is not going to run again in 2022. However, the injury is pretty minor and he should be back next year.”

A winner of the G2 Vintage S. at Goodwood last July, the colt scooped a pair of French Group 1s in October of 2021–the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and the Criterium International. He resumed with a third in the G3 Greenham S. at Newbury on Apr. 16, and, although off the board in the June 14 G1 St James's Palace S., he was rounding back into form when fifth to Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the Sussex.

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Trainer Ralph Beckett said, “Angel Bleu certainly won't run [in the Guineas]. He is going to go to France. He is in good shape. It is just the ground.

“There is the slight element that the form book indicates all his best form is round a bend. There is an element of that as well.”

In other Guineas news, trainer Dermot Weld indicated that Apr. 2 G3 Ballylinch Stud “Priory Belle” 1000 Guineas Trial S. victress Homeless Songs (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) would skip the fillies' equivalent in Newmarket and wait for the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches.

“I just feel that she might appreciate more time since her group win at Leopardstown and her style of running might suit Longchamp better than Newmarket,” Weld told Racing Post of the Moyglare Stud homebred on Wednesday.

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“I think he's changed a few people's minds, even among our owners,” Beckett admits. “One in particular, who hasn't sent me a colt in I don't know how long. So, yes, I hope it will have made quite a difference.”

Conceivably, perhaps, this horse may even have changed his trainer's own self-image. It's not as though Beckett has ever been remotely uncomfortable with his reputation as a trainer especially proficient with home-bred stayers, especially fillies. After all, a congenial environment for the nurturing of a filly is one of the selling points of the tranquil downland sanctuary of Kimpton Down Stables, on the Hampshire-Wiltshire border. And besides, no horseman could ever object to being considered something of a Henry Cecil for his generation, in showing a similar flair for one of the more delicate challenges of their vocation.

“Maybe it bothered me a bit more 10 years ago than it does now,” Beckett says of any stereotyping. “But as I've got older, it's bothered me less and less. Okay, so if you're pigeonholed as a trainer of fillies, you might miss out on one hand. But it's not a bad business model. You'll always have a chance that somebody, among those great owner-breeders—whether it's Miss Rausing, or Jeff Smith, or someone else—will keep sending you nice fillies. And one of them is going to step up.”

Regardless, Angel Bleu has now left no doubt of his trainer's versatility—albeit Beckett recalls the gamble of turning him round for Goodwood with wry self-deprecation. Reflecting on his Ascot run, Beckett and his old friend Jamie McCalmont, agent and manager for owner Marc Chan, had been on the point of suggesting the colt be gelded for export to Hong Kong.

“It was only when I fed him in the morning, and he nearly knocked me over, that we even started thinking about it,” Beckett recalls. “We jogged him up, and he just bounced up the yard. And I said would we be mad to run him again, and my headman Adam Kite—who's actually just retired, after 15 years with us—said it was going to rain, and that we should at least declare and see what the weather did. But what the horse did was obviously a real tribute to his constitution.”

As such, the people who keep asking Beckett whether Angel Bleu will go for the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas, or head back to France for the local equivalent, are asking the wrong question. If favoured by suitable conditions, a colt like this is perfectly capable of running in both.

“Absolutely,” replies Beckett, asked whether that possibility might be in the back of his mind. “No reason he couldn't. Last year we didn't even gallop him between the two races in France. And we never worked him on the grass between Goodwood and his race on Arc weekend. He'd have done one or maybe two bits on the all-weather, that's all. He didn't need more. Some horses are just made that way.”

Rain will probably end up determining Angel Bleu's ultimate schedule, as Beckett feels that he might benefit from a preliminary spin in the G3 Watership Down Stud Greenham S. at Newbury on Apr. 16. That would potentially put him on a schedule almost as hectic as the one followed by Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) last spring—but at least we already know this horse to be made of the right stuff.

What's so encouraging is that even the alacrity he showed at two doesn't rule out further progress in his second season. Angel Bleu is out of a sister to none other than Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), while his sire—despite being carted off to stud prematurely himself—has produced plenty of horses that thrive with maturity.

“Which is why some people say Dark Angel isn't a sire of sires,” Beckett remarks. “This horse was actually his first 2-year-old Group 1 winner. To look at him now, he's probably lengthier, he looks like a horse that's developed from two to three—as his pedigree says he should. Remember that Highland Reel also won the Vintage, and just got better and better with racing.”

Having sent out over 1,100 winners since taking out a licence at the turn of the century, Beckett is a trainer in his prime. Mentored in his youth by a series of great horsemen, from Jimmy FitzGerald to Arthur Moore to Martin Pipe, he has become an assured and accomplished presence on the English Turf, with a clientele commensurate with the excellence of his facilities—ranging from Juddmonte to Qatar Racing, from John Gunther to Julian Richmond-Watson.

The latter has been a stalwart supporter all the way through, and Beckett felt corresponding delight when Angel Bleu's G1 Grand Criterium de Saint-Cloud was complemented, the very same weekend, by the G1 Prix Royal-Oak success of Richmond-Watson's homebred Scope (GB) (Teofilo {Ire})—a bespoke fit, as a maturing stayer, for the stable's more familiar modus operandi.

Beckett had originally hoped that Scope might be the type to give him a second St Leger. Unfortunately the Lingfield trials day, a trademark learning experience for the stable's best 3-year-olds, was followed by a three-month lay-off and he had to be rushed into the G2 Great Voltigeur S. to have any chance of making it to Doncaster.

“I really had no idea how he'd run at York: if he'd been a furlong last, I couldn't have been surprised,” Beckett recalls. “I just hadn't been able to get the work into him. So he had a rather fraught preparation for the St Leger, and on the day he never got into it after missing the break. I'm not for a moment pretending he might have won, in different circumstances, but I'm sure he could have finished a good deal closer.”

As it was, everything clicked into place next time when Scope won a listed race by seven lengths at Ascot, emboldening a roll of the dice at Longchamp. With ongoing maturity, Scope will now be trained for the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, ideally resuming in the G2 Yorkshire Cup on May 13. His penalty there is confined to 5lbs, and Beckett likes the intermediate distance as a starting point.

But if Scope exemplifies the merit of those owner-breeders who entrust the same family to the same trainer, so that its traits become familiar, he also reminds us how very precarious is any Thoroughbred's path to fulfilment.

His dam, Look So (GB) (Efisio {GB}), is a half-sister to Look Here (GB), who became the only Classic winner ever trained at Whitsbury in the 2008 G1 Oaks.

“Look So was a 3-year-old when Look Here was a 2-year-old,” Beckett recalls. “She'd won a couple in the summer but had then gone off the boil and we'd sent her back to her owners. Of course we had no idea at that stage what Look Here was going to be, she probably hadn't even galloped. And Julian said, 'Don't forget to enter her [Look So] in the Horses-in-Training Sale.' But I did—I completely forgot! So then he said that I'd better come up with another plan. So I said, 'Why don't you cover her with Compton Place (GB), and we'll run her in foal, and sell her in July?' She came back, won, didn't get in foal, won again—and then cracked her pelvis. And a month later Look Here won the Oaks. So somebody was really looking after us that day. Because she'd have made, what, 15 grand at the horses-in-training sale? And of course she has become the better broodmare of the two.”

Remarkably, even in excluding the three Group 1 prizes exported from France, Beckett ended 2021 with the best domestic haul of his career, falling just short of £2 million. Yet he still feels that 82 winners represented a shortfall in quantity, when measured against that undoubted quality.

“In a funny sort of way, I enjoyed 2020 at least as much,” he says. “Because although we had only had three winners by the time everything restarted on June 1, we ended up getting to the other side of 100. Whether the whole hiatus suited me, and the way they then laid out the programme, I don't know. But it was a year when everything went right. We didn't get a Group 1 but everything that should have won, did win. And don't forget that the 'quantity' is typically driven by the people who have always looked after you. If you're training a lot of winners, it's those owner-breeders who will tend to benefit.”

Richmond-Watson, of course, has generously contributed time and expertise to the service of the industry, notably with the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association and Jockey Club. And Beckett, too, is striving to do his bit, having recently been appointed President of the National Trainers' Federation. (Though he doesn't say so, you get the impression that he has limited regard for those who complain shrilly about the state of the racing nation, without being prepared to do anything about it.)

“My hope and belief is that there's a real chance for the Horsemen's Group to work more cohesively than has been the case in the recent past,” he says. “And we need to take that opportunity. I'd really like the Levy Board to take a stronger line—and a more independent line. It was set up to be independent of the different constituents, and to distribute the money to the benefit of the sport. And there are people in there who are capable of pulling that off.

“As for the BHA, let's say I'd like it to 'strip fitter'. They keep introducing new layers of regulation, rather than applying the rules already available. Nobody, for instance, has been sanctioned for their behaviour in the sales ring since the Jockey Club handed over regulation—but they were before. Instead, the BHA has gone out there to make a few headlines; to say, 'Look what I'm doing!' Everything is already in place to police the sport, I'm just not quite sure they have the will or the wherewithal.”

Like so many, Beckett is anxious about the sustainability of a sport effectively banking on heritage and the export market as a substitute for prizemoney.

“The only way to survive as a trainer is to be a good horse dealer, really,” he says. “The 80-to-100 horse, the decent handicapper, just isn't here anymore. We saw that in the Spring Mile [eight runners only] at Doncaster the other day. The idea that a horse rated 86 could get into the Lincoln! I was told that the last time that happened was 2002. And the race then was worth the same as it is now.”

In terms of his own business, however, things are plainly flourishing. True, he's always a little nervous of April, with pollen counts rising and the weather so fitful. But for all the additional excitement of launching a top-class 2-year-old at the spring Classics, the bedrock appears secure. Because the horses Beckett most enjoys training also happen to be owned (and, often, bred) by the patrons he most enjoys training for.

“When I started out there was a perception that the waters weren't quite so deep over longer distances,” he reflects. “Perhaps that isn't quite so true anymore. Probably all that really happened was that I inherited David Oldrey from Peter Walwyn and everything just rippled out from there. If you're training light-framed middle-distance fillies, I suppose it tends to be a bit easier on them at a place like this. But the set-up works for me too. I wasn't great at sharing, in Lambourn. And yes, definitely, I do enjoy being able to take my time. You need the right clients to be able to do that, obviously. But the whole beauty of it is that those are the people who are in it for the long haul.”

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“He really is extraordinary and you don't get horses like this very often,” said Ralph Beckett. “We haven't had one like him and I'd say the softest part of him is his tooth enamel. He's danced every dance and I thought [racing manager] Jamie McCalmont summed it up very well earlier in the week when he said it's a privilege to be involved with him. It really is a privilege, horses like this don't come along very often and I'm very proud of him. He had a tough race in the Lagardere and he really does have the most extraordinary constitution. Any horse that can do what he's done has to have a fantastic constitution. Soft ground is very important to him and the form book tells you that. Whatever happens next, he's done it twice inside a month in a different country, which takes a lot of doing.”

Looking ahead to Classic targets for next year, the trainer added, “If I was going to bet on it, at this stages I'd say he's likely to turn up at Longchamp [for the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains] rather than Newmarket [for the G1 2000 Guineas]”

Angel Bleu, half-brother to a yearling colt by Siyouni (Fr) and one of nine Group 1 winners for his sire (by Acclamation {GB}), is the first of two foals produced by a full-sister to MG1SW sire Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). His dam Cercle de La Vie (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of G2 South Australian Oaks runner-up Hveger (Aus) (Danehill), is also a full-sister to G1 Caulfield S. hero Cape of Good Hope (Ire), MG1SP G2 Great Voltigeur S. and G2 Hardwicke S. victor Idaho (Ire) and G3 Ballysax S. victor Nobel Prize (Ire). The February-foaled bay's G1 Australia Oaks-winning third dam Circles of Gold (Aus) (Marscay {Aus}) threw MG1SW Australian champions Elvstroem (Aus) (Danehill) and Haradasun (Aus) (Fusaichi Pegasus). Circles of Gold is the leading performer for Olympic Aim (NZ) (Zamazaan {Fr}), whose descendants include MG1SW sire Starspangledbanner (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}) and G1 Schweppes Thousand Guineas victrix Amicus (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).

Saturday, Saint-Cloud, France
CRITERIUM INTERNATIONAL-G1, €250,000, Saint-Cloud, 10-23, 2yo, c/f, 8fT, 1:44.40, vsf.
1–ANGEL BLEU (FR), 126, c, 2, by Dark Angel (Ire)
1st Dam: Cercle de la Vie (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Hveger (Aus), by Danehill
3rd Dam: Circles of Gold (Aus), by Marscay (Aus)
(€120,000 Ylg '20 ARDEAY). O-Marc Chan; B-Pan Sutong Racing Bloodstock (FR); T-Ralph Beckett; J-Frankie Dettori. €142,850. Lifetime Record: GSW-Eng, 7-4-1-1, €492,051. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Ancient Rome, 126, c, 2, War Front–Gagnoa (Ire), by Sadler's Wells. O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Westerberg; B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt (KY); T-Andre Fabre. €57,150.
3–Purplepay (Fr), 122, f, 2, Zarak (Fr)–Piedra (Ire), by Lawman (Fr). (€100,000 Ylg '20 ARQSEP). O-Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois; B-Mme Lisa Lemiere Dubois (FR); T-Cedric Rossi. €28,575.
Margins: HD, 1 1/4, HD. Odds: 1.70, 1.20, 4.30.
Also Ran: Aikhal (Ire), Toimy Son (Fr), Oscula (Ire). Scratched: Glounthaune (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.

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