Tag: Battaash

The Soaring Success of Dark Angel

It was fitting that Dark Angel's 100th stakes winner should have come in the Dick Hern S. at Haydock, a milestone which the ultra-reliable Yeomanstown Stud-based stallion reached thanks to the victory of the St. Albans Bloodstock home-bred filly Heredia (GB).

Dick Hern, who sent out 16 British Classic winners including three winners of the Derby as well as his best horse Brigadier Gerard (GB), would have thoroughly approved of Dark Angel. Hern was an archetypal 'old-school' trainer who excelled with every type of horse. Late in his career he prepared two consecutive Horses of the Year (in 1989 and '90). One, Nashwan, successively won the 2,000 Guineas, Derby, Eclipse S. and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S.; the other, Dayjur, was Europe's utterly dominant sprinter. Brigadier Gerard was a champion at two, three and four, from six furlongs to twelve.

Hern gave his charges a solid preparation at two and expected them to last for a few more years after that. Two of his best stayers, Little Wolf (GB) and Longboat (GB), won the Ascot Gold Cup over two and a half miles as five-year-olds, but each had shown very smart form at two, with Little Wolf winning over six furlongs at Hern's local course, Newbury. Little Wolf's high-class elder half-brother Smuggler (GB) had won from six furlongs to two miles. In short, the archetypal Hern horse was tough, started work early in life and thrived on that work over an extended period. One rather suspects that Hern would have loved the progeny of Dark Angel, a stallion whose sons and daughters in general come to hand quickly, hold their form for years, and are notably tough, sound, genuine and consistent.

The irony about Dark Angel's stock being so strongly associated with durability is that he himself did not have the chance to demonstrate whether he could have held his form over several seasons. He raced only as a two-year-old and his career lasted for precisely six months and two days during the spring, summer and autumn of 2007. During that time he raced nine times, showing himself to be a hardy, sound and enthusiastic racehorse. It is easy to believe that he could have put together a great sprinting career had he been asked to do so.

Trained by Barry Hills, an old-school conditioner in the Dick Hern mould, Dark Angel made his debut at Newmarket's Craven Meeting in the spring of 2007 and then ran at most of the traditionally prestigious meetings of the season: Chester, Royal Ascot, Newmarket's July Meeting, York's Ebor Meeting, Doncaster's St Leger Meeting. He then won the G2 Mill Reef S. at Newbury and contested both of Newmarket's juvenile autumn highlights, winning the G1 Middle Park S. before finishing unplaced behind subsequent Derby winner New Approach in the G1 Dewhurst S. It was a proper, old-fashioned two-year-old campaign from which he emerged with honour fully intact, the winner of four races.

A Changing Tide in the Stallion Market

Nowadays it is no longer unusual for a high-class two-year-old to be retired straightaway to stud. Dark Angel was only racing 16 years ago, but that was a different era. However, times were just beginning to change. 

Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) (Danehill) had been a top-class and super-tough two-year-old for Aidan O'Brien in 2006 and began 2007 appealing as a likely 2,000 Guineas winner. However, when it became clear that Coolmore Stud's star recruit, the 2006 2,000 Guineas winner George Washington (Ire) (Danehill), was infertile, suddenly there was a three-figure book of high-class mares looking for a suitable horse (preferably a fast son of Danehill) who could cover them. The solution was to take Holy Roman Emperor out of training and give him the job. Consequently Holy Roman Emperor started covering mares at Coolmore in March 2007, officially aged three but in reality not yet 36 months old.

Perhaps emboldened by this, Gay O'Callaghan put in an offer for Dark Angel in the final weeks of 2007, an offer so good that his connections felt that they could not refuse it.

The son of Acclamation (GB) proved popular at a first-season fee of €10,000, although this had come down to €7,000 by the time that he began to have runners in the spring of 2011. Once his offspring had started racing, though, it soon became clear that he was at least as good a stallion as he had been a racehorse and that he would never cover for a four-figure sum again. In Great Britain and Ireland he was represented by 27 individual winners of 44 races during 2011, headed by his first stakes winner Lily's Angel (Ire), successful in the Empress S. at Newmarket after changing hands for only £8,000 as a yearling.

Lethal Force (Ire), who cost €8,500 as a yearling, should also be mentioned in dispatches in any review of Dark Angel's first juveniles as he finished a close fourth of the 23 runners in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. That admirable grey, though, didn't fully come into his own until his four-year-old season in 2013, when he completed the great summertime six-furlong double of the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. at Royal Ascot and the G1 July Cup at Newmarket. Lily's Angel too did even better at four than she had done at two, her wins in 2013 including the G3 Chartwell Fillies' S. over seven furlongs at Lingfield.

Just this quick snapshot of the stars of Dark Angel's first runners tells the tale of what was to come: a torrent of horses who came to hand early and then thrived on their racing, continuing to improve as they got older. Just how durable they really could be, though, obviously took several years to be established, but in the spring of 2017 it became crystal-clear.

Two of Dark Angel's first-crop two-year-old winners in 2011 were Sovereign Debt (Ire) and Gabrial (Ire). The former won a maiden race at Doncaster in June and a nursery at Ascot in July; the latter scored on debut at the Chester May Meeting before following up in the Two-Year-Old Trophy at Beverley and then, like Lethal Force, running in the Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. They were clearly both precocious two-year-old sprinters; but, as it turned out, that was only the start. Six years later, in the spring of 2017 at the age of eight, Sovereign Debt was in the form of his life. He won the £150,000 All-Weather Championships Mile Conditions Stakes at Lingfield in March; the G2 Sandown Mile in April; and the G3 Diomed S. at Epsom's Derby Meeting in the first week of June. At both Sandown and Epsom, the runner-up was Gabrial. The latter finished second in the Diomed S. again the following year aged nine, with Sovereign Debt recording his 15th and final victory (on his 62nd start) as a nine-year-old in June 2018 when taking a listed race, the Ganton S., over a mile at York.

Attracting Outside Interest

As horses such as these began to show the full extent of Dark Angel's merit as a stallion, his fee began to climb and he found himself covering ever more impressive books of mares. In August 2015 it was announced that Sheikh Mohammed had bought a block of shares in the horse to ensure that he was guaranteed plentiful access to the stallion. Dark Angel had stood for €27,500 that spring but his progeny were winning good races so regularly (at the time that this deal was announced, he had already been represented by 13 individual stakes winners that year alone) that his fee would rise to €60,000 in 2016 (before reaching €80,000 in 2018).

It is not always the case that seemingly better opportunities bring even better results, but in Dark Angel's case that is what has happened. His roll of honour is now gilt-edged. His 14 Group/Grade 1 winners on the Flat are headed by a sprinting great: the mighty gelding Battaash, who in the five seasons 2016 to 2020 inclusive won 13 of his 23 starts (starting with a five-furlong two-year-old maiden race at Bath in May 2016 and ending with his second successive G1 Nunthorpe S.) including 12 stakes races, showing himself to be arguably Europe's fastest horse at ages three, four, five and six.

Aside from Battaash, Harry Angel (Ire) and Mecca's Angel (Ire) stand out among Dark Angel's fastest offspring. The brilliance of Mecca's Angel, a member of Dark Angel's third crop, was particularly impressive bearing in mind that she was conceived at a fee of €7,000 and then changed hands for 16,000gns as a yearling. These two speedsters won 10 Group races between them. Harry Angel's finest hours came when he won both the G1 July Cup and the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup (by four lengths) in 2017; while Mecca's Angel is best remembered for matching Battaash's feat of winning the G1 Nunthorpe S. twice.

The aforementioned Lethal Force and this year's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S. hero Khaadem (Ire) are other top-class sprinters sired by Dark Angel. Khaadem is currently in the form of his life at the age of seven, having continued to progress since winning at Newmarket and Doncaster as a two-year-old in 2018 and then kicking off his three-year-old campaign in 2019 by beating subsequent G1 King's Stand S. and G1 July Cup hero Oxted (GB) in the Carnarvon S. at Newbury.

Dark Angel's best milers have included the US Grade I winners Raging Bull (Fr) and Althiqa (GB); the recently-retired Top Ranked (Ire) who thrived after being exported to Australia where won the G1 Epsom H. at Randwick in October 2022; and Persuasive (Ire) who won her first five races before finally signing off as an autumn four-year-old by beating Ribchester (Ire) and Churchill (Ire) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II at Ascot in October 2017.

The one way in which the stock of Dark Angel differ from the profile of horses trained by Major Dick Hern is that, while Hern trained plenty of stayers, Dark Angel's stock almost exclusively excel as sprinters or milers. There is always the exception which proves the rule, of course, and in Dark Angel's case that exception was his second-crop son Guitar Pete (Ire), who raced 55 times between May 2013 and March 2021.  After starting out on the Flat, Guitar Pete thrived over jumps, his wins including the G1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle over two miles at Leopardstown in February 2014 and the G3 Caspian Caviar Gold Cup Steeplechase over two miles and five furlongs at Cheltenham in December 2017. He might be untypical of Dark Angel's stock as regards the distances and type of race at which he excelled, but as a grey horse who is as tough as old boots he is very much his father's son.

The Flourishing of a Sprint Line

Dark Angel retired to stud on his racing record rather than his pedigree, which at the time that he was sold as a yearling in 2006 at Doncaster's St Leger Yearling Sale for 61,000gns was seen as a page likely to produce the smart sprinter which his muscular physique suggested he should be, but probably not a stallion. In retrospect, of course, it is now tautologous that he has a stallion's pedigree (because he is a stallion). The most obvious aspect which makes it a stallion's pedigree is that he is a member of the first crop of the Royal Applause (GB) horse Acclamation (GB), who was a very good sprinter himself (most notably winning the 2003 G2 Diadem S. at Ascot, which is now the G1 British Champions' Sprint S.) and has turned out to be a far more influential sire than could have been reasonably expected at the outset.

Acclamation was not an obvious candidate to become a notable sire of sires, but that is exactly what he has become, with two of his sons, Dark Angel and Mehmas (Ire), having ended 2022 in the top 20 in the General Sires' Table for Great Britain and Ireland. Furthermore, another son, Aclaim (Ire), sired the 1,000 Guineas winner Cachet (Ire), while Harbour Watch (Ire) was represented by King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S. hero Pyledriver (GB).

Dark Angel himself is now part of the furniture in the uppermost tiers of the General Sires' Table. He is currently sitting in fourth place in the 2023 table behind Frankel (GB), Siyouni (Fr) and Sea The Stars (Ire). Last year he finished fifth behind Dubawi (Ire), Frankel, Sea The Stars and Galileo (Ire). If he were to finish this season where he currently lies, his 'form figures' for the General Sires' Table in the nine years 2015 to 2023 inclusive would be 442763554, figures which represent an extremely high degree of sustained excellence.

Looking ahead, Dark Angel is still aged only 18 and should be among Europe's most successful sires for years to come. Among his sons to retire to stud, things are looking promising. Lethal Force was the first to get Dark Angel going as a sire of sires, retiring to Cheveley Park Stud as a five-year-old in 2014 and producing some fast horses including Golden Horde (Ire) who was twice Group 1-placed as a two-year-old in 2019 before winning the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot in 2020.

In August alone, his son Guitaifan (Ire) has been represented by GI Beverly D S. heroine Fev Rover (Ire), while another, Heeraat (Ire), enjoyed a particular successful Goodwood, with Aberama Gold (GB) winning the Stewards' Cup (on his 60th start) and White Lavender (Ire) finishing second to the great sprinting mare Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) in the race which Battaash won four years in a row, the G2 King George S. Furthermore, Harry Angel is shaping up as a useful young sprinting sire in both Europe and Australia, where he was one of only two first-season sires, along with Justify, to be represented by three individual stakes winners during the 2022/'23 season.

The other marker which adds depth to a stallion's career is his success as a broodmare sire. In this sphere, Dark Angel's influence is also becoming noteworthy, particularly through the exploits of one of the rising stars of the stallion ranks, Havana Grey (GB), who sired his first Group 1 winner last Sunday and is himself out of the Dark Angel mare Blanc De Chine (GB).

 

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Goodwood’s Major Sprint Shows Diverse Influence of Speed in the Breed

   A look back at the winners of Goodwood's King George S. illustrates how sprint lines permeate all areas of the breed, from fellow sprinters to Derby winners.

The win of Khaadem (Ire) in the G2 King George S. at the Qatar 'Glorious' Goodwood Festival has further enhanced the great record in the race of his trainer Charlie Hills, who has now saddled the winner in five of the past six years. Hills has, of course, been helped by having had the mighty Battaash (Ire) under his care, that great horse being responsible for four of those five victories. Even though Battaash at his best was in a class of his own, there are plenty of similarities between these two very fast horses, over and above being sons of Dark Angel (Ire) ideally suited by Goodwood's speed-favouring sprint course, over which Khaadem won the Stewards' Cup three years ago.  Another obvious similarity is that they are both geldings. In an age when so many fast colts are retired to stud early in life, it's no surprise to find geldings winning the King George S. However, that situation is an aberration from the race's overall profile, its roll of honour containing many horses, both male and female, who have made a sizeable contribution to the development of the breed.

First run in 1911 to commemorate the coronation of King George V, the King George S. didn't take long to produce an outstanding winner because Tetratema (Ire) (The Tetrarch {Ire}) won it as a 3-year-old in 1920 before taking the prize again the following year. He had been Britain's dominant 2-year-old of 1919, when he had been the highest prize-money earner of the season thanks to an unbeaten six-race campaign which had begun in the National Breeders' Produce S. at Sandown and ended in the Middle Park S. at Newmarket. Although his stamina limitations were exposed in 1920 in the Derby and the Eclipse S., he was outstanding at distances up to a mile, his two King George S. victories being augmented by triumphs in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and Fern Hill S. at Ascot at three, and the King's Stand S. at Ascot and July Cup at Newmarket at four.

Retiring to stand alongside his father at Ballylinch Stud, Tetratema became champion sire of Great Britain and Ireland in 1929. He sired numerous fast horses including the 1931 1000 Guineas heroine Four Course (GB); 1927 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Fourth Hand (Ire); the brilliant fillies Tiffin (GB) and Myrobella (Ire), both of whom completed the July Cup/King George S. double; St. James's Palace S. winners Royal Minstrel (GB) and Mr Jinks (Ire); and 1938 King's Stand S. winner Foray (GB). Longer-term, his son Theft (GB), runner-up in the 1935 2000 Guineas, was champion sire of Japan for the five seasons from 1947 to 1951 inclusive; his daughter Una (Ire) produced the great sprinter/miler and sire Palestine (Ire); and another daughter Queen Of The Nore (Ire) was the granddam of Horama (Ire) from whom the Moller brothers developed the family which is responsible for the Derby winners Teenoso and Sir Percy (GB). The aforementioned Myrobella did even better at stud than she had done on the racecourse, producing King George VI's 1942 2000 Guineas winner Big Game (GB). She subsequently became ancestress of the Classic winners Snow Knight (GB), Chamossaire (GB), Linamix (Fr), the last two of this trio became champion sires.

Outstanding though Tetratema was, his claim to being the best grey sired by The Tetrarch to win the King George S. did not last long because in 1924 the race was won by HH Aga Khan III's 'Flying Filly' Mumtaz Mahal (GB). A great racehorse, she ultimately became an even greater broodmare. Her sons included the brilliantly fast Mirza II (Fr) and the 1934 Sussex S. winner Badruddin (Fr) but ultimately it was her daughters, headed by Nasrullah's dam Mumtaz Begum (Fr), who made the most lasting impact. Her other daughters included Abernant's dam Rustom Mahal (Fr) and Mahmoud's dam Mah Mahal (Fr). In subsequent generations the celebrities descending from her have included Royal Charger (GB), Migoli (GB), Petite Etoile (GB), Nishapour (Fr), Shergar (Ire), Habibti (Ire), Octagonal (NZ), Alamshar (Ire), Zarkava (Ire), Igugu (SAf)  and Golden Horn (GB), as well as the great matriarchs Eight Carat (GB) and Alruccaba (Ire).

Further Mumtaz Mahal memories flooded back to Goodwood after the Second World War when her grandson Abernant (GB) (Owen Tudor {GB)) took the King George S. in both 1949 and 1950. In both years he preceded the victory by taking the July Cup and followed it up by winning the Nunthorpe S. at  York. Along with his older close relative Tudor Minstrel (both horses were by the Hyperion stallion Owen Tudor and both had Mumtaz Mahal's dam Lady Josephine as their third dam), Abernant was one of two brilliant horses trained in Beckhampton shortly after the Second World War. Tudor Minstrel became the more influential sire of the pair, largely through his son Sing Sing (GB) and that horse's sons Song (GB) and Jukebox (GB), who were lynchpins of British sprint breeding for years. Abernant, though, also made his mark, most notably via the Classic-winning fillies Abermaid (GB) and Even Star (GB).

Mumtaz Mahal was again invoked by the 1956 King George S. result when the prize went to HH Aga Khan III's brilliant filly Palariva (GB) (Palestine {GB}). A daughter of Nasrullah's brilliantly fast full-sister Rivaz (GB), Palariva was trained in France by Alec Head but did most of her racing in England, including winning at Goodwood as a 2-year-old (when she was awarded the Molecomb S. by the stewards after passing the post in second place) before returning to Sussex 12 months later to land the King George S. She subsequently made a massive contribution to the Aga Khan Studs as granddam of the 1973 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Prix Jacques le Marois winner Kalamoun (GB) who was the mainstay of the organisation's sires' roster through the 1970s despite dying after only five years at stud. Kalamoun's influence has lasted well into the 21st century through his Prix Jacques le Marois-winning son Kenmare (Fr), most obviously courtesy of Kenmare's grandson Kendargent (Fr).

Several of the colts who won the King George S. from the late 1950s into the 1970s became decent stallions, most notably the Michael Jarvis-trained So Blessed (GB), successful in the race as a 3-year-old in 1968. A son of the Nasrullah stallion Princely Gift (GB), So Blessed became an excellent sire of sprinters from his base at Lord Howard de Walden's Thornton Stud in Yorkshire. One of the many fast horses whom he sired was the 1977 King George S. winner Scarcely Blessed. Trained for her breeder Tim Holland-Martin of Overbury Stud by Fulke Johnston Houghton, Scarcely Blessed was a terrific filly and then became an excellent broodmare once she returned to Overbury, most obviously producing College Chapel (GB) (Sharpo [GB}) who brought down the curtain on the long-running Vincent O'Brien/Lester Piggott Royal Ascot show with his victory in the G3 Cork & Orrery S. (now G1 Platinum Jubilee S.) in 1993.

Five years before Scarcely Blessed's victory, the King George S. had been won by a filly who became an even more notable broodmare. The redoubtable Stilvi (GB) (Derring Do {GB}) was trained in Palace House in Newmarket by Bruce Hobbs and then became a stalwart at stud for her owner George Cambanis, producing a galaxy of Hobbs-trained stars for him including the 1976 G1 Middle Park S. winner Tachypous (GB) (Hotfoot {GB}), 1978 G1 Dewhurst S. winner Tromos (Busted {GB}) and 1980 Irish Derby winner Tyrnavos (GB) (Blakeney {GB}).

The race's next winner after Stilvi was the charismatic Sandford Lad, an 1,800-guinea yearling who became a champion sprinter from Ryan Price's Findon stable. He became only modestly successful at Airlie Stud, perhaps his most notable son being Spindrifter (Ire), a 13-time winner as a 2-year-old in 1980 when trained by Sir Mark Prescott. More successful were some of the colts who won later in the '70s including Auction Ring (Bold Bidder), the Cheveley Park Stud stalwart Music Boy (GB) (Jukebox {GB}) and the remarkable Ahonoora (GB) (Lorenzaccio {GB}). The latter won the Stewards' Cup at three from Brian Swift's Epsom stable and the King George S. at four when trained in Newmarket by Frankie Durr before becoming a world-class stallion, most notably responsible for the equally influential sire Indian Ridge (Ire) and for the 1991 Derby winner Dr Devious (Ire).

The next horse to complete the Stewards' Cup (as a 3-year-old in 1982) and King George S. (at four) double was the enormously popular David Chapman-trained, David 'Dandy' Nicholls-ridden Soba (GB) (Most Secret {GB}). Bred and raced by Chapman's sister Muriel Hills, Soba showed very little as a 2-year-old, her only placing from nine starts in 1981 coming when she finished third, carrying bottom weight, in a nursery at Edinburgh (now Musselburgh) on her final run of the year. However, she improved out of all recognition over the winter, winning 11 of her 14 starts at three. She is generally held to have ended up as a disappointing broodmare but actually produced nine winners from 10 runners as well as the unraced Sadler's Wells filly Oh So Well (Ire), who became the dam of the 1999 G1 Prix Ganay and G1 Gran Premio di Milano winner Dark Moondancer (GB) (Anshan {Ire}).

Another Goodwood specialist was the 1985 King George S. winner Primo Dominie (GB) (Dominion {GB}), who had won the G2 Richmond S. at the meeting the previous year. He became a successful sprinting sire when standing alongside Music Boy at Cheveley Park Stud. The following year's winner Double Schwartz (Ire) (Double Form {Ire}) was also a terrific sprinter, going on to take the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye, while two years later the race was won by the outstanding filly Silver Fling (The Minstrel), another to follow up in France's top sprint. Her trainer, Ian Balding, subsequently won the King George S. with an even greater sprinting mare: the brilliant Lochsong, successful in both 1993 and '94 (in both of which years she too won the Prix de l'Abbaye) after taking the Stewards' Cup in 1992.

Lochsong became a useful broodmare for her owner/breeder Jeff Smith, without (inevitably) producing anything of her own calibre. That was not the case, though, for a couple of other very fast fillies who won the race soon afterwards: Land Of Dreams (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) and Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), the King George S. winners of 1998 and 2000. The former is now best known as the dam of the superb Dream Ahead (Diktat {GB}) and the latter as the dam of 2008 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and thus as the granddam of seven-time Group 1 winner Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and her three-time Group 1-winning full-sister Rhododendron (Ire).

The King George S. is almost certainly in a lull as regards being a source of star producers, male and female, as eight of its last 10 runnings have been won by geldings. (The jury is still out, though, on George Strawbridge's filly Suesa (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) who won it last year and for whom an interesting breeding career presumably awaits). However, it's still a race which highlights speed at its purest, and we can now look forward to York's Ebor Meeting where Khaadem will aim for the mighty Goodwood/York double completed in the Nunthorpe S. by so many great sprinters including Mumtaz Mahal, Abernant, Mickey The Greek (GB), Right Boy (Ire), Floribunda (GB), Polyfoto (GB), So Blessed and, most recently, Khaadem's erstwhile stablemate Battaash.

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Battaash Primed For a Fifth King George

Shadwell's Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) began his impressive ascent to the top of the sprinting tree in the 2017 edition of the G2 King George Qatar S. and in all his return Goodwood visits he has been unflinching and unbeatable. He returns to the race he has made his own in search of a glorious five-timer on Friday and after Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) was forced out of a similar bid on Tuesday the onus is firmly on him. Immaculate last term with his three starts culminating in successes here and in Royal Ascot's G1 King's Stand S. and the G1 Nunthorpe S. at York, he was probably a touch short of his peak when fourth behind Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) on his return in the June 15 King's Stand and connections are happy they have him spot-on now. “It was well-documented that he hadn't been back in training long before Ascot, so it didn't surprise me that he needed it,” racing manager Angus Gold commented. “Hopefully he has come on from that. It's an obvious fact he's not getting any younger and at some stage he will start to slow down, but hopefully not yet.”

“He showed us all his old dash was still there [at Ascot]–he seemed very happy to be back at the races, behaved himself well, so there were a lot of positives to take out of it,” Gold added. “They went very, very hard – he sat just behind them, came through to take it up and just blew up and got tired. “It would be very special if he could pull it off. It's already pretty remarkable, four years in a row and it's great for racing. We were blessed last year and sadly no one could witness it, so let's hope we can make up for it this year.”

Taking aim at the King of Sussex is 'TDN Rising Star' Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}), who was stripped of his win in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot June 18 only to lose out again at the highest level when Starman (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) proved too strong in the G1 July Cup at Newmarket July 10. Campaigned at this trip only once so far, Yoshiro Kubota's 3-year-old sensation was impressive in a conditions race at Hamilton May 2, the race in which he earned his Rising Star tag. “We're drawn away from Battaash which isn't ideal, but there is pace around us with Good Effort and Ornate,” jockey Oisin Murphy said. “I know it's not been long, but he had a little freshen up after the July Cup. I'm looking forward to coming back to five furlongs with him, his sectionals at Newmarket were very fast. I really respect Battaash, he's obviously a champion, but Dragon Symbol will hopefully give him something to think about if he's at his best.”

Runner-up to Battaash 12 months ago, Bearstone Stud's Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead) bows to very few having won the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp in 2019, The Curragh's G1 Flying Five in September and the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland when last seen in November. She is facing as tough a seasonal bow as is possible to find in a Group 2 in name only, while King Power Racing's Art Power (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) is race-hardened this term and has been knocking loudly on the door of late. It could be that Goodwood and this trip is an ideal combination for the strong front-runner, who was third in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. on Royal Ascot's soft ground June 19 and was caught only in the final strides when fourth in the July Cup.

Also on the card are the G3 l'Ormarins Queen's Plate Glorious S. and the G3 Bonhams Thoroughbred S., with the latter hosting a Shadwell representative at the other end of the career spectrum in the unbeaten 3-year-old Baaeed (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). So impressive over this mile trip in the Listed Sir Henry Cecil S. at Newmarket July 8, the full-brother to Hukum (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) may have an easier task here than on that occasion with Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's El Drama (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) held on the form of his win in Chester's Listed Dee S. over an extended 10 furlongs May 6.

“It's a step up and it's all happened quite quickly for him,” racing manager Angus Gold said of the exciting William Haggas-trained homebred. “He's had three relatively quick runs, but from what William and his team can see at home he seems in good shape. He seems to have a good mind on him–he takes it well. The interesting thing with this horse is, from his pedigree, you would think he wanted further and yet he's got the class to be winning so far–including a decent race last time–over a mile. One day, I'm imagining we will be wanting to go a mile and a quarter with him, but equally at the same time you couldn't say the way he won at Newmarket last time he necessarily needed a jump up in trip just yet.”

Connections are keeping an eye on the weather. “There's talk of rain on Thursday night and I think if it was heavy rain and it went back to what it was on Tuesday, there's every chance he wouldn't be there,” he warned. “If it's just on the easy side of good, I can't see that being too much of a problem. When they've done all their winning on faster ground, until you've seen them go on slower you don't know.”

In the Glorious over a mile and a half, Ballydoyle's 'TDN Rising Star' Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) returns to the course and distance of his success in the G3 Gordon S. at last year's festival. Last seen finishing at the tail of the field in the G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom June 4, the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Hong Kong Vase hero needs the ground to continue to dry out. If he is compromised, the May 27 G3 Brigadier Gerard S. and July 2 Listed Gala S.-winning veteran Euchen Glen (GB) (Authorized {Ire}) will be on his case. “He won here last season and he would take all the beating if in the same form that saw him take care of In Swoop in the Grand Prix de Paris and win the Hong Kong Vase afterwards,” Mogul's rider Ryan Moore said. “He hasn't hit that note in three runs this year and clearly didn't give his running at Epsom last time, but if the ground dries out sufficiently for him and he runs his race than he is a serious Group 1 horse taking on lesser rivals here.”

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Battaash Goes For Fifth Straight King George Stakes At Goodwood

It has become a familiar sight on the Friday of the Qatar Goodwood Festival to see Jim Crowley in the famous blue and white silks of the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's Shadwell Racing blitzing his rivals in the King George Qatar Stakes. This year, Battaash is back for more, and his trainer Charlie Hills paid tribute to the seven-year-old sprinter as he seeks to win the race for a fifth consecutive year at Goodwood Racecourse near Chichester, England.

“We've been very fortunate to have had Battaash in this yard. He's become a massive part of our lives over the last six years. The most important thing is to keep in one piece but we're happy with him at this stage.”

Having suffered a minor setback over the winter, he finished 4th in the King's Stand at Royal Ascot, a performance that left Hills delighted.

“Battaash has been good since his run at Ascot, and we've had no hiccoughs at all. I thought he ran a great race at Ascot, but they probably went a stride too fast which meant, on that track, it just found him out.”

“Goodwood, being a speed track, really suits him. He's a straightforward horse to train these days and we know which races to target him for. He's got a good routine and he enjoys his work which is the most important thing. He's still very competitive when you put a horse alongside him and as long as he's got that, then it's pretty uncomplicated with him.”

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Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum witnessed some great performances from Battaash at Goodwood, but this will be the first King George Qatar Stakes since his passing on what will prove to be an emotional day for connections.

“Battaash was very close to Sheikh Hamdan's heart. Over those five years, he begun to watch him grow. The day he won the Nunthorpe Stakes was a very emotional day. He was a massive supporter of the yard and we had a lot of success and great days together. He is sadly missed but it's great that his daughter Sheikha Hissa will take on the operation and I so hope Battaash can win at Goodwood for her.”

The post Battaash Goes For Fifth Straight King George Stakes At Goodwood appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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