Dark Angel’s Top Ranked New Group 1 Winner Down Under

Yeomanstown Stud's Dark Angel sired a new top-level winner overnight, his 13th, when Top Ranked (Ire) (known as Top Rank in the Northern Hemisphere), proved inseparable with Ellsberg (Aus) (Spill The Beans {Aus}) at the finish of the A$1.5-million Epsom H. over heavy ground at Randwick on Saturday. It was a neck back to Hinged (Aus) (Worthy Cause {Aus}) in third in the 1600-metre feature.

A winner of the G3 Superior Mile S. in England in 2020, the 6-year-old entire is out of the winning Countess Ferrama (GB) (Authorized {Ire}), a daughter of the dual Group 2 winner Madame Dubois (GB) (Legend Of France). Countess Ferrama is also a half-sister to G1 Gran Criterium winner Count Dubois (GB) (Zafonic), G1 Irish 2000 Guineas hero Indian Haven (GB) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), and the stakes-placed dam of group winners Imperial Stride (GB) (Indian Ridge {Ire}) and High Pitched (GB) (Indian Ridge {Ire}).

Dark Angel's good day was not limited to Top Ranked, as he also sired his 93rd stakes winner earlier in the day at Flemington, when Visinari (Fr), third in Newmarket's G2 July S. before being sold Down Under, claimed the Listed Paris Lane H.

Euro-breds also enjoyed a brace of near misses out of the highest drawer, with Le Don De Vie (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), bred like his paternal half-brother, the decorated Aussie Group 1 victor Zaaki (GB) by Kirsten Rausing, a nose back of No Compromise (NZ) (Pins {NZ}) in the Metropolitan H. at Randwick. The £460,000 Goffs London Sale alumni has joined the ranks of listed winners since switching to the Southern Hemisphere. Rausing has a great chance in the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with her homebred Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) on Sunday. Juddmonte-bred Maximal (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), second in May's G1 Doomben Cup, earned his second Group 1 placing in Flemington's Turnbull S. for an ownership group, of which Juddmonte is part-owner.

Godolphin homebred Cascadian (GB) (New Approach {GB}), a two-time Australian Group 1 victor, added the G2 Peter Young S. to his ledger, as well on Saturday.

The post Dark Angel’s Top Ranked New Group 1 Winner Down Under appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Australia: Randwick Stakes Racing Feast This Friday Night

If field sizes and wagering value are a beacon for horse players, two of Sydney's oldest and most prestigious races at Randwick are a prime attraction this Friday night. The Group 1 Epsom and Metropolitan Handicaps, each inaugurated in the 1860s, have drawn fields of 20 and 18 respectively. Yet, Friday's most anticipated race might be The Premiere Stakes, one of five supporting stakes on tonight's stellar card, as Nature Strip and Classique Legend clash in their final tune-up for the $15 million The Everest.

Sydney's leading trainer, Chris Waller, will saddle an incredible seven runners in the Epsom (G1). While post positions are not a huge impediment at the Randwick mile start, favoritism changed as a result of the draw and now rests with a Waller trainee who will break from the rail. Star of the Seas (4-1) finished third in last year's Epsom – one of four G1 minor placings in the past 12 months, at odds ranging from 11-1 to 30-1. The 6-year-old gelding is finally receiving the respect he deserves atop the market, and few would begrudge him a breakthrough at the elite level.

If there is such a thing as a race within a race, the fillies Probabeel (7-1) and Funstar (10-1) carry a terrific rivalry from their 3-year-old season into the Epsom as newly-turned 4-year-olds. The pair has met six times and share the honors (3-3) in head-to-head clashes. Appropriately, they will be neighbors in the starting gate (18 and 19, with Probabeel losing favoritism as a result). Probabeel and Funstar will be ridden by two of Australia's most accomplished jockeys, Kerrin McEvoy and Glen Boss respectively, who also share a 3-3 scoreline – in Melbourne Cup victories. By coincidence, they have also won the first three runnings of The Everest (McEvoy leads 2-1). Boss captured his first Epsom last year, a prize that has so far eluded McEvoy.

In Friday night's co-feature, Kerrin McEvoy will get a leg-up on the Metropolitan (G1) favorite, Mugatoo (9-5). Since arriving from England in the second half of 2019, Mugatoo has been a gradually growing force in the Australian staying ranks for respected trainer, Kris Lees. The gelded son of Henry the Navigator has won his past three races and is primed for this Group One test at 1-1/2 miles, with regular rider McEvoy declaring Mugatoo to be “the best he's been” in his Australian career. While Mugatoo appears one of the soundest investments on the card, Rondinella (15-1) is ticking over nicely and has been set for this specific target. The mare represents value beneath Rachel King, one of numerous talented female jockeys plying their trade Down Under.

McEvoy's strong book of rides extends to the final prep for The Everest, the world's richest turf race which is now just two weeks away. The Premiere Stakes (like The Everest, at six furlongs) pits a pair of prodigiously gifted sprinters against each other: Nature Strip (4/5) and Classique Legend (2-1). McEvoy rides the latter, a lightly raced gray who was third in last year's Premiere before an unlucky midfield finish in The Everest at just his seventh career start. Classique Legend's resumption from a layoff two weeks ago was breathtaking, as he unleashed a paralyzing burst once hooked into the clear by McEvoy.

Trainer Les Bridge is based at Randwick, where he was the youngest trainer when beginning his career as a 22-year-old – and is now the oldest resident trainer at 82. In the 1980s, Bridge trained the winner of a Golden Slipper (world's richest juvenile race) and a Melbourne Cup (two-mile handicap). The highly respected, veteran conditioner has no hesitation in declaring Classique Legend the best horse he's handled.

In the Premiere – as in the forthcoming The Everest – the horse to beat is Nature Strip, whose raw speed and immense talent are matched only by his enigmatic nature. In a recent “barrier trial” (training race), Nature Strip dumped rider James McDonald at the start and was ordered by stewards to trial satisfactorily before his entry for Friday's race would be accepted. Trainer Chris Waller fulfilled that obligation, but any appearance by Nature Strip creates anticipation on multiple levels: at his best, there is simply no turf sprinter on the planet capable of beating him, but his record of 24:14-3-0 shows that he's more likely to completely bomb than fill a minor placing — he is the epitome of equine “must-see TV.”

The Randwick card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 10:25 p.m. ET / 7:25 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Eagle Farm and Gold Coast. All races will be live-streamed in HD on skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpiresXpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWagerHPIbetAmWager, and BetAmerica. Wagering is also available via these ADW platforms. Fans can get free access to live-streaming, past performances and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.

A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Michael's vast U.S. experience includes: race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Michael also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway

The post Australia: Randwick Stakes Racing Feast This Friday Night appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights