Tag: Cadillac

Galway Excited by Next Crop of Alpha Racing Runners After Cadillac Sale

Just over a week after selling the syndicate's flag-bearer Cadillac (Ire) (Lope De Vega) for a cool £500,000 at the Goffs London Sale on the eve of Royal Ascot, Alpha Racing are concentrated on sending out the stars of the future at the Curragh on Derby weekend, headed by G2 Airlie Stud S. contender It's Showtime Baby (GB) (Showcasing {GB}).

A winner of a Dundalk maiden on debut back in April, the Jessica Harrington-trained It's Showtime Baby achieved black type when running third in a Group 3 at Naas last month. 

Connections opted to sidestep the royal meeting in preference for the Curragh this weekend and Richie Galway, who set up the commercially-driven Alpha Racing Syndicate with Harrington, is optimistic about the next batch of 2-year-old coming through.

He said, “We have It's Showtime Baby (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) to look forward to in the G2 Airlie Stud S. at the Curragh on Sunday. We decided against going to Royal Ascot with her because we thought this race would suit. She has won her maiden and has black type. She looks progressive. 

“We have two nice colts running at the Curragh as well. We bought them at the breeze-ups. National Emblem (Ire) (National Defense {GB}) looks to be a lovely horse and he runs on Friday. The First And Last (Ire) (No Nay Never) runs on Sunday so it's a very exciting weekend for the group.”

Galway added, “We try to make Flat racing accessible and give people an opportunity to spread their risk. The syndicate is somewhat commercial. We have fun but we also trade and have been very conscious about that in the four years we've been up and running.

“Everything we run is for sale at a price. When we go to the yearlings sales, we have a limit and we try to limit the syndicate to 20 people at around €50,000 apiece. We all take a share ourselves; myself, Jessica [Harrington] and Patrick [Cooper] so we are all invested in it.”

Cadillac was the last of the yearlings bought in 2019 on behalf of the syndicate. His sale ensured that the owners recorded an overall profit and, according to Galway, the current crop of 3-year-olds in training with Harrington are on course to ensure it will be another lucrative investment for the 20 or so people who make up the syndicate.

He said, “Cadillac's sale was the highlight. He has been a flagship horse for the syndicate and has brought us all over the world. He ran brilliantly at the Breeders' Cup, got us to Bahrain and won at Leopardstown a few times as well. We were sorry to see him go but the objective of the syndicate is to trade.”

Galway added, “In this year's 3-year-olds, we have Nectaris (GB), who ran well in a Listed race at Longchamp, and she's a lovely filly by Sea The Moon (Ger).

“We also have Viareggio (Ire) (Caravaggio) and she has been third now in two Listed races and Cowboy Justice (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) who is another solid horse. We also had an unraced Zoffany (Ire) colt in that year. I'd be disappointed if that syndicate doesn't make a profit on their initial investment as well.”

Excitement levels are on the rise among the syndicate members as Harrington lifts the wraps on the next batch of runners this weekend and Galway is cautiously optimistic about the future, outlining an ability to sell horses all over the world after they show a level of ability in Ireland.

He said, “It's an exciting weekend. But it's been an exciting couple of weeks with the sale of Cadillac and the two runners–Nectaris and Viareggio-at Longchamp. 

“The benefit of having a small stake in all of these horses is that you get consistent and regular action. There are people involved from all over the world–Asia, America, Britain and Ireland.”

He added, “Last year for example, we bought a horse called Pioneering Spirit (American Pharoah) at the breeze-ups. We paid 100,000gns for him and ran him four weeks later in a Curragh maiden.

“He finished fourth and we got him sold straight after that. The syndicate owned the horse for six weeks and got a nice return on the purchase price in that short space of time. Irish racing is held in high regard all over the world. If you can win or be placed in a maiden here you have a pretty good commodity on your hands.”

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Bolshoi Ballets Looks to Take Second Leg of Turf Trinity

GI Belmont Derby hero Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) looks to secure the second leg of NYRA's Turf Trinity Saturday in the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational S. Capturing the G3 Ballysax S. in April, the Aidan O'Brien trainee followed suit with a dominant score in the G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial a month later. Well-beaten as the favorite in the G1 Cazoo Derby June 5, the Coolmore runner rallied to a good-looking score at Belmont July 10 under Ryan Moore, who returns Stateside for this event.

“It's a good opportunity for him,' said T J Comerford, traveling assistant to O'Brien. “He's doing well and came back here in good order. Aidan and the team are very happy with him at the moment. If he runs to his last race, he should be right there again.”

Charlie Appleby saddles another worth a hard look in Godolphin's Secret Protector (War Front). The $800,000 KEESEP buy won a Meydan allowance in February and was runner-up in both the Feilden S. Apr. 13 and Newmarket S. May 1. The bay enters off a third in the G3 Hampton Court S. June 17 at Royal Ascot.

Another strong European contender is Cadillac (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). Victorious in the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. in September, the bay was fifth in the G1 Dewhurst S. in October and finished fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf S. Nov. 6. He enters off a victory in the G3 ARM Holding International S. June 26.

Leading the U.S. contingent is Natalie Baffert and Debbie Lanni's Du Jour (Temple City). The $280,000 OBSAPR purchase won a trio of grass races for Bob Baffert, including the GII American Turf S., and was transferred to Bill Mott for the Belmont Derby, where he finished fourth, after his previous trainer was temporarily banned from entries at NYRA. Baffert won an injunction to return to racing at NYRA, but the colt remains in Mott's care for this event.

Also worth a mention is GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. victor King Fury (Curlin), who tries turf for the first time here after finishing a close second in the GIII Ohio Derby last out June 26. The hulking chestnut was originally scheduled to run in last weekend's GII Jim Dandy S., but was forced to miss that event as his trainer Ken McPeek's barn was under quarantine. Without many options left to prep for the GI Runhappy Travers S., King Fury resurfaces in this test.

“We're really using this race as a prep for the Travers, which is something that Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) pulled off. So that will be interesting,” McPeek said. “I think he'll handle the grass just fine. He's a lovely horse. So hopefully, it's one step and a big one for him.”

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Jessica Harrington: Covid Casts A Different Light On Communication

It has been a strange year and the Covid pandemic has meant that we have had to revolutionise the way we try to keep owners informed. We use a very good system now called Racing Manager and we do a lot of videoing of the horses, talking to their lads, talking to the jockeys. Because people haven't been allowed to come racing we interview the jockeys in the parade ring before racing, take photos of the horses in the parade ring and afterwards and then another video with the jockey's summing up of the race, whether good, bad or indifferent. It's something we have really had to embrace—normally we would ring people but now we have really had to step outside the box and I hope owners have found it useful. 

We don't just do the horses, we have been making funny videos around the yard as well and just trying to make it as though the owners were here. Some people haven't been able to see their horses for well over a year or 18 months, so it's very strange. Some people in Ireland have been able to get down to the yard when they can but for the people who are abroad, very few of them have even been able to get into Ireland.

On the Racing Manager the owners also get pedigree updates if anything else in the family has won, which is great as it can be hard to keep track of all of that. I find it a very good platform to keep people informed.

I have a horse for the Irish National Stud, Kojin (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), which is part of their racing club, and they get great fun out of the app when the videos go up; there are always lots of replies to it and I hope it makes the club members really feel involved, not just in their horse but in every horse in the stable.

We've recently launched a new website and I think it's really important for the fans of racing as well, to see videos of the horses that they've been following on social media or on the website, especially when they haven't been able to go racing.

There's no doubt that Covid has made us look at things in a completely different way.

Roll on the Flat

We're looking forward to the Flat season. We have around 70 2-year-olds coming in and this year for the first year I actually have quite a few more older horses, and that's rather exciting that so many of them have remained in training.

Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Valeria Messalina (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and Silence Please (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) all won either Group or Listed races last year and they have all stayed in training. 

Then of the colts and geldings we have the Niarchos Family's Free Solo (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), who has run very little in his career but he was placed twice in listed races last year and he is now back as a 4-year-old. Then I have the 4-year-old Lobo Rojo (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) for Ballylinch Stud. Leo De Fury (Ire) (Australia {GB}) has also stayed in training. He's now five and was a Group 2 winner last year for Zhang Yuesheng, who has also has the 4-year-old Harpocrates (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) who won up in Dundalk recently. Indigo Balance (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who was second at the Curragh on Sunday, has come back from Australia. I trained him as a 2-year-old and he then went to Peter and Paul Snowden. He returned in the middle of last year but he took a long while to acclimatise so he didn't run last season. 

Then there's Njord (Ire) (Roderic O'Connor {Ire}), who who won the big handicap at Ascot on Champions Day, and of the fillies I have Flor De La Luna (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), who won a maiden in the autumn for her breeder Kirsten Rausing and I think she's a nice filly. 

So I have a really good team of older horses, including a new horse who is new to our yard: King Of Comedy (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). It will be interesting to see how he gets on. I'm not sure I'll ever improve on John Gosden but he came to me in the autumn and he is pencilled in for a race on Sunday at Naas, but it will depend on what the ground is like. 

The Younger Brigade

Among the 3-year-olds we have the two good Lope De Vega (Ire) colts Lucky Vega (Ire) and Cadillac (Ire). I think they will both go directly to their respective Classic targets: Cadillac will go to the Irish 2000 Guineas and Lucky Vega will go to Newmarket. That's my thinking at the moment but I reserve the right to change my mind! 

Then there are quite a few 3-year-old colts who have just had the one or two runs which I think are quite exciting, like Taipan (Fr) (Frankel {GB}), who won on his only start for Fiona Carmichael, Ace Aussie (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Mcpherson (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) and Hell Bent (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire})—the types that were always going to be 3-year-olds.

We are also lucky to have some nice 3-year-old fillies with Classic entries. Oonadatta (Ire) (Australia {GB}) was very good last year and was placed in the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes.  She and Sacred Rhyme (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Loch Lein (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), No Speak Alexander (Ire) (Shalaa {Ire}), Golden Lyric (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Zaffy's Pride (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) all seem to have done well over the winter. And of corse there are some that didn't run last year who were never going to be 2-year-olds, such as Pappina (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who has an Irish Oaks entry. I feel I have a really nice balance of horses.

On the 2-year-old front I have some really well-bred horses including the full-sister to Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) who is called Discoveries (Ire), and a filly by Sea The Stars (Ire) out of Green Room who probably won't make a 2-year-old but she is a lovely filly and is a half-sister to the Group 1 winners Together Forever (Ire) and Forever Together (Ire). It's really exciting to have a nice bunch of 2-year-olds but we don't know how fast they can go yet.

We also have the full-brother to St Mark's Basilica (Fr) named Paris Lights (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) for his Australian breeder Bob Scarborough who also co-owns Oonadatta. Bob is a fantastic and very enthusiastic owner and we've enjoyed increasing the Australian connections in our yard, which includes OTI Racing and several Australian members of our Alpha Racing syndicate which we are running again this year with eight 2-year-olds. 

Syndicates The Way Forward

Alpha Racing was set up by Richie Galway with Patrick Cooper doing the buying and it's in its third year now. The members of the syndicate have had a lot of fun so far, especially with Cadillac, and we're trying to set up some more syndicates on a slightly different level, basically with the aim of trying to get younger and new people into racing. 

The It's All About The Girls syndicate is still going strong and they have one 3-year-old and three 2-year-olds to race this year. They've been a very lucky syndicate and have had winners every year and for a small investment. It's been great fun, which is what it's all about. 

We are fortunate that the investment in Irish racing from overseas has remained strong even throughout this difficult year, and equally importantly the smaller syndicates are still going. That's the one thing I thought might be affected; I was worried that perhaps people might give up when they couldn't go racing. But thankfully most people are hanging in there and saying 'at least we have the racing'. They are able to watch it and still get great fun out of that, but of course it is nothing like actually being there when your horse runs. 

I think this year was the first time in 45 years that I haven't been to Cheltenham, but it is as it is. I just hope that when we all get back out there we will be able to remember the art of socialising. 

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This Side Up: Euros to Dollars

Well, we know that such Europeans as have been able to make the trip–another lockdown began in England on Thursday–won’t be in the slightest danger of catching anything on the dirt track.
If we can meanwhile break the shackles of the pandemic as well, maybe someone might feel sufficiently liberated finally to have another go next year. But at least the raiders should again be in the thick of things over on the grass. Now that the Breeders’ Cup returns to Kentucky, moreover, they will be expecting an especially congenial environment, from the surface to the climate.
Certainly they had a chastening couple of days at Santa Anita last year, when only Iridessa (Ruler Of The World) in the GI Filly and Mare Turf rescued a whitewash. True, it had not looked a vintage group; but even their previous visit to Keeneland, in 2015, for a long time renewed what has sometimes felt like a perennial reproof against complacency. The way Hit It A Bomb (War Front) pulled the opener out of the fire set a misleading tone, with the home team then holding out until the very last grass race the following day.

The duel that restored European self-esteem that year was contested by Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), who had just won the Arc, and Found (Ire) (Galileo {GB}), who would win it the following year. So nobody should be under any illusions about the standards required, especially with the ongoing expansion of the American turf program.
That said, the Euros plainly know their metier and must be weighed by anyone handicapping the grass races. Here, then, are three that can run better than their likely odds. That is saying quite something, in the case of the first, but I think she should be closer to even money.

MAGICAL (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) GI Longines BC Turf) 5-2
No mystery about Magical on tour: she showed her aptitude for the demands of this race when giving Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) herself a scare at Churchill in 2018. But while the big discrepancy in transatlantic odds concerns Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), who is challenging for favoritism in their homeland, my feeling is that even a respectful morning line understates Magical’s prospects. She sets a formidable standard and I’d be pretty amazed if she were beaten.

While unable to win for a third year running on Qipco British Champions’ Day, she only got going late behind two that exult in muddy conditions. She had previously exchanged verdicts with the top-class Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), again over 10 furlongs, and in terms of racing rhythm looks increasingly hungry for a return to this distance for only the third time in 15 starts since her run at Churchill. It can only help, moreover, that the scheduling of the Ascot fixture was this year slightly less parochial than usual, permitting her a third week to recover. Not that she particularly needs it: her battle with Enable in Louisville was her third start in three countries in 27 days.

In contrast Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) arrives after a very light season, having only resumed in August. In that time she has plainly reached a new peak, without yet registering the kind of numbers routinely posted by Magical. While the latter’s sophomore stablemate Mogul (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has now cracked that long-expected Group 1 success (3,400,000gns yearling; stable jockey’s choice at Epsom), the fact is that the only runner to have touched Magical’s regular level even once is Lord North (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose solution to a poor run the other day is to try a new trip.
A demanding pace might conjure a surprising finish from German filly Donjah (Ger) (Teofilo {Ire}) at monster odds. Overall, however, Magical looks a very secure knot to keep those Pick Six lines under control.

CADILLAC (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) GI BC Juvenile Turf (presented by Coolmore America) 6-1
As his name suggests, this guy should get all the traction he needs on an American circuit. Because while even the bare form of two reverses in soft going would give him every chance here, Cadillac has been most impressive on both starts on sounder terrain.

On debut he burst no fewer than nine lengths clear of Ebeko (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}), who has since done sufficiently well for new owners in California to follow him here for a rematch. Having won so easily, Cadillac was still green when turned over at odds-on next time, but the half-length winner went on to show his comfort in the softer ground that day when recently winning a Group 1 in similar conditions.

Restored to better conditions, Cadillac quickened clear of another subsequent Group 1 winner in Van Gogh (American Pharoah), and was well fancied when lining up for the premier juvenile prize in Europe, the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. Unfortunately the going was against him and, though he travelled smoothly through the race, he did not really pick up under pressure and was beaten a little over four lengths into fifth.

His nimble action and build together suggest that he will be well suited by the demands of this race, and he represents a trainer who has made an extraordinary impact since adapting her skills from jump racing to equal effect on the Flat.

Ballydoyle, predictably, has an aristocratic contender in Battleground (War Front), the first foal of Found, but as it stands his form has not worked out anything like as well as that of Cadillac.

LOPE Y FERNANDEZ (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) (GI Fanduel BC Mile presented by PDJF) 30-1
Okay, this is a bit of a wildcard. We were mad on the chance here of that remarkable mare, One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), before her unfortunate scratching. And offering this creature in her stead depends on a bit of a crackpot theory. But the Mile is ever a crapshoot, and it might just be that Lope Y Fernandez can respond to a puzzle very different to those he has been trying to piece together all season.

He flashed big ability when coasting through the field to lead in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas on his reappearance, but didn’t see the race out. Worn down into third behind Siskin (First Defence), he has duly spent all his time since at shorter distances. He has run very well once or twice, notably when beaten under a length into third in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, but there is a suspicion that straight tracks might not suit his style ideally. He might just be one of those that needs things to fall right: a waiting ride, through congestion, in the chaos of a turning mile.

Much his best efforts have come on a faster surface, but he showed enough life in two sprints on heavy ground to suggest that he remains in form this fall. He’s got a great base of experience now, which you need here, and will benefit from plenty more of that in the saddle. It’s a roll of the dice, for sure, but by the same token he would be an absolute blowout at the windows.
Siskin has not really built on that impressive display at the Curragh, and the other Classic winner in the field certainly looked unlucky not to finish in front of him when they crossed swords at Goodwood in the summer. Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) also put in the better rehearsal of the pair, last time out, but his performance round Goodwood—one of Britain’s sharpest tracks—sends mixed messages. He sure can travel, through a race, but couldn’t get his jockey out of trouble and you’d be worried if they were to get trapped on the inside.

With Lope Y Fernandez, perversely enough, that might be just the scenario we’re looking for. And the odds, in contrast, will make ample allowance for things not quite working out.

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