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The Jessica Harrington Column: Breeders’ Cup Triple Threat

The trainer originally best known for many high-class jumps winners that has made an eye-catching advance on Flat racing’s top contests in recent years will share her thoughts with the TDN on a monthly basis in this most unusual of seasons.

The Breeders’ Cup is a fantastic meeting, one that serves as an end-of-year championship between Europe and the U.S. In a year such as this it is fantastic that we are still able to go over and have those great match-ups.

I had my first runner at the Breeders’ Cup last year at Santa Anita, with Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) finishing fourth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and I am looking forward to running three horses at Keeneland next weekend. I can remember Breeders’ Cups going way back, like when Lester Piggott came out of retirement and won the 1990 GI Breeders’ Cup Mile aboard Royal Academy. That was the most amazing race and there have been loads of fantastic races at the Breeders’ Cup, so it’s great to be part of it. I’m hoping the weather in Lexington stays nice and dry; I’m hearing they had some rain recently but that it’s supposed to be nice and dry next week, so as long as the ground is nice ground I’m perfectly happy.

This year I’ll be running Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, Oodnadatta (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and Cadillac (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. They all did a breeze on Wednesday and they all seem very well. They’ll leave here on Friday and fly to England before heading on to the U.S. The plan is for our stable rider Shane Foley to go across and ride them. He has had an excellent year and is in contention for the Irish jockeys championship, but the Breeders’ Cup is too big an opportunity for him to miss.

Sarah Kelly’s 3-year-old filly Cayenne Pepper has been very good this year. She was a bit slow to come to hand, not running until June after showing such promise last year when winning her first three starts, including the G3 Flame of Tara S. and finishing fourth in the G1 Fillies’ Mile. Cayenne Pepper was second behind Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) on her first run this season over 10 furlongs in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup on June 28, and then was twice beaten over 12 furlongs when second in the G1 Irish Oaks, beaten by Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), and by Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), Dermot Weld’s horse who also goes to the Breeders’ Cup, in the G3 Give Thanks S. in Cork.

I suppose both those runs were a bit disappointing, but then I brought her back to a mile and a quarter at The Curragh where she won the G2 Blandford S. very easily from Amma Grace (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who won the Listed Trigo S. at Leopardstown last weekend, so our form has been well franked. I think Cayenne Pepper is a proper mile and a quarter filly. She’s run on good ground, good to yielding ground, and good to soft ground so she’ll go on any sort of ground. She’s in good form, she’s had just the four races so far this year so she hasn’t done too much.

Bob Scarborough and Susan Magnier’s Oodnadatta won her maiden impressively first-time out at Leopardstown on June 21 and then she ran back at Leopardstown in the G3 Silver Flash S. She got a bump jumping out of the stalls and the whole thing went wrong and she finished fifth, beaten 7 1/2 lengths. So we then let her be and the next time we ran her in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. on Irish Champions Weekend. She ran very well again over seven furlongs to be a fast-finishing third. She will appreciate the step up in trip as long as the ground is nice ground, and I think she’s improved a bit since her last run.

Cadillac ran very well the first time he ran, winning first-time up in Leopardstown very easily and we were delighted with him. He then went to The Curragh for the G2 Futurity S. and he finished second, a half-length behind Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), who won the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy last Saturday. In September he went to the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. on Irish Champions Weekend and he won that beating Van Gogh (American Pharoah), who won the G1 Criterium International last weekend, so his form has been franked a few times.

We then went to Newmarket for the G1 Dewhurst S. and the ground was very soft and he finished fifth, beaten 4 1/4 lengths, behind St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). He just got stuck in the ground; both times he’s been beaten the ground has been soft so we really are looking for a bit of nice ground for him, and they seem to think it’s going to be nice at Keeneland.

Cadillac is owned by Alpha Racing, which is a syndicate we set up and it’s got some American interest in it as well. This is the second year we’ve been running Alpha Racing and we’ll be continuing next year. It’s very exciting for the syndicate members because Cadillac was bought for €40,000 as a yearling at Goffs Orby, so it’s very exciting for them to have a horse that can run in the Breeders’ Cup.

We set up Alpha Racing two years ago with a double view of both racing and trading horses. We want to give the syndicate members lots of action on the racecourse with also a very strong commercial objective of trying to generate a return on investment. It can be a lot of fun owning a racehorse, but in the long term if you’re spending a lot of money it’s important to see some return on investment. We have eight horses in the syndicate and we do take it strongly into consideration that they’re traded at the opportune time-from the first year we’ve traded seven of the eight.

The syndicate members were keen that if we came across a horse that was of the highest order that we’d roll the dice and let him run and that decision was taken with Cadillac. But in general a part of our job, as much as it is to race them and win, is to make it commercially viable and trade them.

While we have been preparing our Breeders’ Cup runners we have also been out shopping for our next stars at the yearling sales. With the bulk of the yearling sales now over for another season, I can say it was a strange year. I feel for Goffs, who suffered having had to move their sales overseas; that made a big difference to them. Tattersalls Book 1 was down and suffered a bit, but then you came along to Tattersalls Book 2 and it defied all the trends, which was great. That was good for the industry and the breeders, but it made it quite hard to buy horses, being on the other end of it.

It is always interesting to see the first progeny of new sires, and a few first-season sires stood out to me. The yearlings by Churchill (Ire) were very good-looking horses, and the Caravaggios looked very speedy; they look like they’ll run. And we saw some very nice yearlings by Almanzor (Fr).

In terms of other young sires, I think Belardo (Ire) has done very well as a first-season sire; he is probably still a bit under the radar. I think another who has done very well this year is Pride Of Dubai (Aus). And of course there is Sea The Moon (Ger), who is the sire of the Niarchos Family’s Alpine Star, with whom we won this year’s G1 Coronation S. Sea The Moon has had a very good year on the racecourse and people are starting to follow up in the sales ring, too.

I am very fortunate to be able to train for some leading owner/breeders, but also supplement those with some stock from the sales for groups like Alpha Racing. For the syndicate, when we’re out at the sales we’re looking for a horse that will run at two. Hopefully they will go on at three, but firstly we want them to run at two. We’re looking for the same things that most people look for: a good-looking, well-balanced horse, and hopefully the mare has produced a winner or it’s the first foal, and by a sire we like. When you get them in from owner/breeders they are as they are, but when you buy them you can pick and choose what you like.

There is plenty to look forward to with the next generation set to arrive in the yard in the months ahead, and in the meantime there is the Breeders’ Cup. I’ll be traveling to Lexington on Tuesday; having three runners in the Breeders’ Cup might never happen again, so I must be there to see it. Although I have been to Keeneland for the sales I have never been there for racing, so I’m greatly looking forward to it. I’m thrilled with all the horses and I think all three go in with an each-way chance.

The post The Jessica Harrington Column: Breeders’ Cup Triple Threat appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Bloodlines Presented By Gary Contessa’s Integrity Bloodstock: Galileo’s Grandkids Now Make Their Mark

This is not another article exclaiming that racers by the legendary Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) won all the Group 1 stakes over the weekend. Indeed, from 10 G1s on Saturday and Sunday, they won “only” four of those: marvelous Magical (Irish Champion), Search for a Song (Irish St. Leger), Mogul (Grand Prix de Paris), and Shale (Moyglare Stud Stakes).

Instead, this is an article about how the Galileo daughters and a particular son of the old boy are doing.

The son is English Derby winner Australia (out of Oaks winner Ouija Board), who sired his first Group 1 winner in Galileo Chrome, the winner of the Group 1 St. Leger at Doncaster. The oddly-named Galileo Chrome – who's a plain bay – galloped comfortably to the outside of the well-regarded Pyledriver for most of the mile and three-quarters and 115 yards, then maneuvered through traffic, and finished fastest to win the longest classic.

A winner in his three prior starts, including the Yeats Stakes at Navan on his last outing, Galileo Chrome is a progressive colt who appears to have a lot of scope and can only improve for greater maturity and strength.

In addition to the winner of the St. Leger, Australia sired Cayenne Pepper, who won the G2 Blandford Stakes at the Curragh from Galileo's daughter Amma Grace. Also this weekend, Australia had the third-place racer behind Shale in the Group 1 race mentioned above.

Shale and other daughters of Galileo are broodmare prospects of a high order, and they tend to go to some of the better sires around the world. Over the past weekend, one daughter of Galileo was the dam of the winner of the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden, Barney Roy, and another daughter produced Ghaiyyath, who was second to Magical in the Irish Champion.

Barney Roy's dam, Alina, was unplaced in a pair of starts, whereas the dam of Ghaiyyath is Nightime, winner of the 2006 Irish 1,000 Guineas. The simple statistics of racing success, with about 3 percent stakes winners to foals, mean that far more of any stallion's racers will fail than will succeed at a high level. Therefore, some nice prospects and subsequent producers will show little on the racetrack.

Another of the great sire's non-winning daughters produced Pista, this year's winner of the Park Hill Stakes, which is the filly equivalent to the St. Leger.

In her third victory from four starts, Pista has risen rapidly since winning a maiden at Galway in early August to become a listed stakes winner and now a group winner.

Bred in Kentucky by Lynch Bages Ltd. and a $675,000 yearling at the 2018 Keeneland September sale, Pista is out of Mohini, a daughter of the Storm Cat mare Denebola, who was the highweight 2-year-old filly in France in 2003 after victory in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac.

That proved the high point of Denebola's racing, but she has three stakes-producing daughters, including Beta Leo (A.P. Indy), who is the dam of Senga (Blame), winner of the G1 Prix de Diane.

And the sire of Pista?

American Pharoah.

Four Star Sales's Tony Lacy acted as agent for the Heider family in the purchase and recalled the process that led to the acquisition of Pista. He said, “We'd been looking at the first-crop yearlings by American Pharoah and had been very impressed. They were largely big, athletic prospects with scope and great minds. With their bone and toughness, I thought they might be very effective on turf.

“And this prolific family, that had been developed in the Niarchos family stud for generations, had a lot of turf excellence that I'd seen first-hand during my time working in France. This is the family of the highweight filly Coup de Folie, her full brother Machiavellian” (both by Mr. Prospector), who was a highweight on the European handicaps and then a leading sire, “and it goes right on back to a half-sister to Northern Dancer.”

Yeah, nice family.

As an individual, Lacy noted, “This filly was a big yearling who turned into a growthy 2-year-old, and we decided not to race her at 2 because she wasn't ready. Even early at three, she didn't show much promise until the late spring and early summer, and then she began to come on so strongly that Joseph O'Brien (who trains the filly) became optimistic about her debut. Pista, however, walked out of the gate and raced greenly.

“Joseph said the penny dropped after the first race, and in her second start, Pista jumped off nicely, laid up with the pace, and powered away to win her maiden” by 6 1/2 lengths at Galway. “Then we stepped her up to a listed race against colts,” Lacy continued, “in the Vinnie Roe Stakes at Leopardstown.”

The elegant filly won again, this time while competing at a mile and three-quarters and winning from Sunchart (Teofilo) and Dawn Patrol (Galileo), who ran eighth and sixth respectively in the St. Leger. So that is positive form suggesting that Pista could have beaten at least half the field in the classic.

Another reason that the connections, including the trainer, were quite pleased with the effort at Leopardstown is that Pista “is so laid back on the gallops that she doesn't show what she's capable of till she's put in a race,” Lacy said. “So we said, 'let's try the Park Hill,' and that result was a resounding 'yes.' The plan now is to go for the Group 1 Prix de Royallieu on the Arc weekend.”

That will be a further step up in a race that typically draws a set of experienced Group 1 fillies, three and up, but with the mental and physical toughness of the American Pharoah and Galileo stock, don't discount her chances.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Gary Contessa’s Integrity Bloodstock: Galileo’s Grandkids Now Make Their Mark appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Weekly Wrap: Positives To Be Found In Yearling Market

September ushered in the early rounds of the yearling sales in Europe, with the Goffs UK Premier, BBAG, Tattersalls Ascot and Arqana Select sales all having taken place within the last fortnight. Three of that quartet have at least been able to take place in their intended venues, albeit Arqana’s flagship sale was three weeks later than usual. The one-day Tattersalls Ascot Yearling Sale was moved to Newmarket, and Park Paddocks will also host the Tattersalls Irelend September Sale next week, which has been reduced to two days from three, presumably because some vendors will be unable or unwilling to ship their horses to Newmarket at significant extra cost.

Of the sales to come, Tattersalls October has remained intact and in situ, as has the Arqana October sale which will also incorporate horses from the cancelled Osarus September Sale and will now be held over five days. Further relocations from Ireland will be faced by vendors at the Goffs Orby and Sportsman’s Sales, which will now be held in Doncaster from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1.

It is fair to say that this year has been a logistical nightmare for sales houses, vendors and buyers, with the need to weigh up varying travel and quarantine restrictions from country to country. A number of Irish pinhookers have made their way to Kentucky for the Keeneland September Sale, which is taking place across the next fortnight and has proved such a fertile source of material for the European breeze-ups in the last few years. But almost every trip now comes at the cost of another in a sales season which has become increasingly crowded. It will almost certainly contract somewhat in the coming years as the full economic force of the pandemic is felt and breeders fall by the wayside. One of the very few upsides to the current situation may be that breeders take a keener look at the quality of mare they cover, particularly if they have no intention of racing her offspring themselves.

So how have the yearling sales held up so far in Europe? Given the extraordinarily awful backdrop of 2020, the answer has to be not too badly, with positive indicators to be found at each.

At the Goffs UK Premier Sale, which has been notably upwardly mobile in recent years, a clearance rate of 84% has to be considered a success, even though average and median figures dropped by 29% and 25% respectively. This is a level of reduction that many in the industry had anticipated and which is generally being seen elsewhere.

The clearance rate at both BBAG and Arqana was lower, but that tends to be the norm for those sales, where the best of Germany’s and France’s yearling crops are offered and top-end breeders in those countries can be selective over whether to sell or not. In a difficult year, it is perhaps better to stick than to twist.

But it is worth reiterating that, despite pre-sale nerves from vendors, each of these auctions saw some decent action within the almost recession-proof top tier. At Baden-Baden, last year’s record price of €820,000 was matched, once again for a filly by Sea The Stars (Ire), though the number of six-figure lots was less than half of the 2019 tally of 21. Just as Goffs UK missed Sheikh Hamdan, so did BBAG miss Sheikh Mohammed, as well as the Australian buyers who have visited the sale in pursuit of staying-bred yearlings in recent years.

International participation is also a cornerstone of Arqana’s August Sale (which was renamed the Select Sale this year in its later slot). Three million-plus yearlings were sold, compared to two last year, and the two highest prices of €2.5 million and €2 million both surpassed last year’s top price, albeit for collector’s items. Of the seven-figure lots, Coolmore and Godolphin took home one each, but were otherwise very selective in their purchases, buying five yearlings between them. The same number was purchased by the sale’s emerging Bahraini force of the brothers Sheikh Khalid and Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, two of eight sons of the King of Bahrain. Sheikh Nasser owns Queen Daenerys (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who helpfully won the listed Prix Joubert at Longchamp on Thursday just hours before the Dubawi (Ire) half-sister to Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) and Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) took to the ring. Through Fawzi Nass and Oliver St Lawrence, the sheikhs ended up outbidding Sheikh Mohammed for the sale-topper. Sheikh Khalid’s KHK Racing has also enjoyed some success lately with the unbeaten Bahrain Pride (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), winner of the listed EBF Ripon Champion Two Yrs Old Trophy.

Furthermore, the most expensive colt at the BBAG Sale, a €260,000 offering by Sea The Moon (Ger), was purchased by fellow Bahraini, Shaikh Duaij Al Khalifa, the owner of four-time Group 2-winning sprinter A’Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}), whose intention it is to buy some more middle-distance types at this year’s yearling sales.

The relatively new Tattersalls Ascot Yearling Sale, which has only been in existence for four years, continues to progress gradually, and it is no small feat in this year to have improved on both the average and the median at the same time as the catalogue has expanded. It is probably fair to say that this particular sale was introduced to provide an outlet for lower-tier yearlings, but some decent horses have emerged from the Ascot Yearling Sale since its inception, most recently the G2 Lowther S. winner Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}). Again, a clearance rate of 81% was encouraging. However, when one considers that only around 25% of the yearlings sold will have covered their production costs, the precarious nature of breeding at this end of the market is all too apparent.

Believe In Ringfort
It was perhaps fitting that Derek and Gay Veitch’s Ringfort Stud topped the Ascot Yearling Sale with a first-crop daughter of Profitable (Ire). If any operation deserves to have a profitable year it is Ringfort. The Veitches must by now have a particular fondness for Yorkshire racecourses. During York’s Ebor meeting, Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) became the farm’s second consecutive G2 Gimcrack S. winner, and that victory came a day after the aforementioned Miss Amulet had won the G2 Lowther S.

Ringfort’s good year was enhanced further on Friday by the G2 Flying Childers S. victory of another of the farm’s graduates, Ubettabelieveit (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).

As has already been noted in this column, Miss Amulet was sold for just €1,000 as a foal before being brought to Ascot by Rockview Stables, who sold her for £7,500.

The good updates on the track this year led to Ringfort consigning two of the top four lots at Ascot. The sale-topper at 58,000gns was a filly out of Sassy Gal (Ire) (King’s Best), a half-sister to the dam of Minzaal, while Miss Amulet’s half-sister by another freshman sire, El Kabeir, sold for 45,000gns to Nick and Michael Bell.

There’s likely to be plenty of traffic to the boxes holding the 22 yearlings for the Ringfort Stud consignments at Goffs Orby and Tattersalls October.

Advance Australia Fair
There were 28 group races across Britain, Ireland, France and Germany in the last week, with nine of them falling to the offspring of Galileo (Ire) or two of his lesser-heralded sons Australia (GB) and Noble Mission. In fact, the weekend has to be viewed as a successful one for dual Derby winner Australia, who was represented by his first Classic winner, Galileo Chrome (Ire), in the St Leger, while Cayenne Pepper (Ire) saw off her run of seconds this season with victory in the G2 Moyglare ‘Jewels’ Blandford S. for Jessica Harrington. The latter races for American owner Sarah Kelly, whose husband Jon died in July and was a great supporter of the British and Irish bloodstock scene over a number of years.

The Harrington stable also sent out a promising juvenile by Australia, Oodnadatta (Ire), to be third in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. The three-parts sister to G3 Glorious S. winner Pablo Escobarr (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) races for Australian co-owner/breeder Bob Scarborough in partnership with Susan Magnier. Melbourne-based Scarborough has played a significant role in the story of another Coolmore stallion as the breeder of 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) as well as his half-brother St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who was third in the G1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National S. on Sunday. Their dam Cabaret (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has a yearling full-brother to St Mark’s Basilica for sale through Norelands Stud in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Dreaming Of Autumn
Though the sun is still shining across much of Europe, there’s an autumnal chill to the mornings, which is good news for fans of Dream Ahead, as this appears to be the time of year for the 12-year-old stallion to shine. Last year his two Group 1 winners Glass Slippers (GB) and Donjuan Triumphant (Ire) came within weeks of each other at the Arc meeting and British Champions Day.

The 4-year-old Bearstone Stud homebred Glass Slippers found only Battaash too fast for her when second in the G2 King George S. at Goodwood and she bounced back to claim another international Group 1 win in Sunday’s Flying Five at the Curragh for Kevin Ryan, who reported that a return to Paris to defend her Prix de l’Abbaye title is very much on the cards. The filly’s win came just eight days after Dream Of Dreams (GB) landed the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup, while in Germany on Friday the hardy Dark Vision (Ire) gained his sixth victory, and second at Group 2 level, when winning the Kronimus Oettingen Rennen at Baden-Baden.

Having started his career at Ballylinch Stud, Dream Ahead has recently completed his third season at Haras de Grandcamp in Normandy. He remains in the ownership of his original syndicate, including Ballylinch, which is also enjoying a golden run with its Irish-based stallions. At the head of the roster, commanding a €100,000 service fee, is Lope De Vega (Ire), whose popularity extends beyond Europe to the southern hemisphere. He is also a stallion very much on the radar of American buyers following the success of his Grade 1-winning daughters Capla Temptress (Ire) and Newspaperofrecord (Ire), while another recent White Birch Farm purchase Editor At Large (Ire) was impressive in her debut at Saratoga last week.

Lope De Vega’s ten yearlings sold at the Arqana Select Sale returned an average of €226,500 and he appears to have another exciting juvenile on his books in Ireland in the form of G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. winner Cadillac (Ire). Yet another from the Harrington stable, the colt, bred by Sunderland Holdings, was a €40,000 Orby purchase by Patrick Cooper last year.

Lope De Vega’s younger stud-mates are also showing very promising signs. Make Believe (GB), with his first crop of 3-year-olds this year, has been represented by the Classic winner Mishriff (GB) as well as the G3 Musidora S. winner Rose Of Kildare (Ire), and is second in the second-crop sires’ table behind Night Of Thunder (Ire). Meanwhile freshman sire New Bay (GB), who boasts a near-50% strike-rate with his runners, notched a first stakes winner on Friday, New Mandate (Ire), in the listed Flying Scotsman S. at Doncaster.

Where Aigles Dare
The Duke of Devonshire’s memoir of his great mare Park Top carried the lovely title A Romance of the Turf, and it is one that could equally be applied to the story of Cirrus Des Aigles (Fr) and his trainer Corine Barande-Barbe.

An epilogue to the latter was started at Longchamp on Sunday when Air De Valse (Fr) became the first group winner for her late and little known sire Mesnil Des Aigles (Fr), a half-brother to Cirrus Des Aigles by the equally obscure stallion Neverneyev (Fr).

Barande-Barbe’s name is woven alongside a number of the names in the bottom half of the pedigree of Air De Valse, whom she bred, co-owns and trains. Sunday’s G3 Prix du Petit Couvert winner is from the largest crop of Mesnil Des Aigles, but that numbered just eight—precisely half the number of foals he left when he died in August 2015 at Haras de Saint Roch.

With her former husband Patrick Barbe, Barande-Barbe bred the filly’s dam Air Bag (Fr) (Poliglote {GB}), whom she trained to win four races in her own colours. She also trained Air Bag’s dam, Avrilana (Fr), a dual winner for Ecurie Muserolle, and that mare’s sire Deep Roots (Fr) was owned by Barande-Barbe and trained by Pascal Bary to win the G1 Prix Morny and G1 Prix de la Salamandre in only Bary’s second year with a training licence.

The front-running Air De Valse didn’t make her debut until last year as a 3-year-old and she has a long way to go to equal the 22 victories, including seven Group 1s, of her ‘uncle’ Cirrus Des Aigles. But she has already won seven of her 17 starts, and she will return to Longchamp for the G1 Qatar Prix de l’Abbaye on Oct. 4.

Her trainer described Air De Valse on Sunday by saying, “Like me, she’s a bit of a character.”

It would be folly to think that Air De Valse is not capable of taking the next step up to the top level. After all, all great stories need strong characters, and what better setting for a romantic tale than Paris?

The post The Weekly Wrap: Positives To Be Found In Yearling Market appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Jessica Harrington Column: Breeders’ Cup Is More Than A Race Meeting

It is an understatement to say that it has been a very strange year. In Ireland we managed a few meetings behind closed doors before racing shut down completely, and we then had some uncertainty over when it was going to start again. We eventually accepted the fact that there was going to be no Aintree, no Fairyhouse, no Punchestown, no Guineas at the right time.

For a while it looked like we might get back before the end of May, but then that was scuppered, and that was really like having all your toys taken away from you in one go. It felt like you’d been hit in the stomach and it knocked all the wind out of you.

The Flat has been relatively unaffected and it was a particularly good effort by the authorities to ensure that all of Ireland’s Group 1 races will have been run this year, even if not necessarily all in their usual slots. The jumping calendar has obviously been more disrupted, and this week we received the news, disappointing but understandable, that the Boylesports Irish Grand National won’t be run at all this year. Initially it had been postponed from its usual Easter Monday slot to some unspecified point in the autumn, but now it has been cancelled. I can understand that. It’s such a special occasion that it’s much more than a raceday. It’s always been a real social occasion in the Dublin area and, while no race-meeting is the same without crowds, that is one in particular which revolves around the general public. Everyone always has so much fun there. We’ve been lucky enough to win it (courtesy of Our Duke in 2017) but it’s fun however your horse runs and whatever role you attend in. We’ll just have to look forward to going there again, hopefully next year.

When racing did eventually start up again in June it was great to be back, except of course I was told I couldn’t go racing because I was too old. That was a bit annoying at the time but I kind of got used to it. Richie [Galway], my son-in-law, went to England three times, so he effectively had six weeks of isolating here, and then Kate went to York and to Deauville for me, so I’m lucky to have lots of people and family around, and that does make a difference.

At the beginning of July I was finally allowed to go racing again, and that was a great novelty but I have to say that going racing behind closed doors is not a great experience, especially when the weather is bad. Over here, there’s only a smattering of other trainers present but at least now you can get a cup of coffee and a sandwich. For the first few meetings there were absolutely no facilities like that at all. So it’s been different and it’s been challenging, but it has worked. My feeling is that we’ll put up with all these things as long as we can in order to keep racing going. That’s the most important thing for the whole industry–

for the breeding, for the stallions–and not just in Ireland.

When we were in lockdown we were videoing the horses on the gallops, walking round, trotting round, and we kept trying to think of new ways to film the horses for the owners to make sure they weren’t getting the same thing every week. Now we’ve started racing, we do a video of the horse going round the parade ring, then a clip of the jockey before the race saying what he’s going to do, and then we record some more comments when he comes back in, and the owners get a video of the race. So even though they can’t be there to see their race, we are trying to keep the horses’ owners involved as much as possible.

The last few years have been great fun, having fillies, and now hopefully a few colts, who have competed at the top level on the Flat. This year would of course have been much more fun if I could have gone to Ascot or to Deauville or Chantilly, but we will just have to look forward to it next year. The fillies especially have been very good this year.

Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) is a really tough filly. She won the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot so well and has tried so hard in her two races in France since then. She is very different physically to her half-sister, [four-time Group 1 winner] Alpha Centauri, who was a big strapping filly. This one is rather small, but she just wants to please you. Then we’ve had Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who runs in the G2 Moyglare Blandford S. on Irish Champions Weekend, One Voice (Ire) (Poet’s Voice {GB}), Millisle (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) and Silence Please (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}). They’ve all competed at the top level, and hopefully our G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany Ire}) is on her way back to doing that as well.

Last year Albigna became our first runner at the Breeders’ Cup and I’m very much hoping to get to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup this year. We’ll have to see how difficult, or not, that is. Hopefully we can at least get the horses there and the American owners can see them run. It doesn’t matter if I can’t go. The Niarchos family have always been tremendous supporters of the Breeders’ Cup, and I know Craig Bernick would love One Voice to be there, and we also have Silence Please for Team Valor. We would very much like to be there.

The same could be said about the Breeders’ Cup as the Irish Grand National, in that it’s much more than just a race meeting. Obviously as a race meeting it’s top class, with some of the best horses in the world. But it’s also a great occasion, particularly as in America the sport in general has a lower profile and it doesn’t break through to the wider consciousness that often. The Breeders’ Cup provides a great opportunity for racing in America to do that, and so it too just won’t be the same without crowds. However, it does look like it’s definitely going ahead, which will be a great feat of organisation as, with the overall COVID-19 situation in the States and with the consequent restrictions on travel etc., it’s not going to be easy. We’re lucky enough to have some horses good enough to attend, so God willing we’ll be there.

There are of course plenty of options for those horses here in Europe but we want to keep our options open and hope we can get to America. It’s going to be challenging to get the staff out there and we need to find out what isolating they will have to do once they get out there or when they come home. The staff have been fantastic and anyone who looks after a horse who is good enough to race internationally is very keen to go with them. We’ll do our best to go because it’s good for racing and good for owners, and it’s good for the sport internationally.

It’s the time of year when the National Hunt horses are starting to increase their work again. We don’t have as many jumpers in as usual but Sizing John (GB) (Midnight Legend {GB}) is working away and we are hoping to run him at Listowel–that’s our plan. We are keeping everything crossed and we hardly dare speak about it, but we’d love to get him back.

The Flat and the National Hunt horses all do the same thing really. I train them all muddled up together. The jumpers are great when the yearlings come in and start to be ridden. There’s always a few who go out with the jumpers, and the older horses behave so the yearlings realise there’s no point in jumping around because the other horses don’t jump around, and they learn like that.

We have a couple of very nice horses to look forward to, like Sizing Pottsie (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}), who was a good novice chaser from last year and he seems to have come back very strong. And of course we have the evergreen Magic Of Light (Ire) (Flemensfirth), who was runner-up to Tiger Roll (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) in the Grand National in 2019 and will go for the National again this season. She’ll probably go down her usual route of mares’ hurdles and mares’ chases first. It’s nice for her to do that and to get her confidence up before Aintree.

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