“That's 14 crates we're up to now,” he says, rolling his eyes and smiling. “Wasn't like that back in the day.”

Appleby is a lifer when it comes to racing, from his days as a youngster working for Jackie Retter and Susan Piggott, to his role as Godolphin's trainer at Moulton Paddocks. To say that the private Newmarket estate on which his horses stretch their legs each morning is state of the art doesn't even begin to do justice to the eye-popping facilities available, from figure-of-eight covered rides, to spas, and a selection of gallops on turf, irrigated woodchip, and Polytrack.

By far the most endearing trait of Appleby–a widely-liked member of both the Newmarket and wider racing community–is the lightness with which he wears his success. In fact, he barely acknowledges it for himself, referring regularly to what “we've achieved”. Not the royal we, it's the team of which he is nominally the captain and very much a part.

As he stands alongside the canters that spread across the side of a gentle hill awaiting his first lot of 60 horses, Appleby chats about which surface he prefers (turf or woodchip over Polytrack) and says wryly, “I dread having a bad spell because when you look at all this, it's not like we could be let down by the facilities.”

Fortunately, he hasn't had to worry about too many bad spells, and certainly not in the last few years. As his ten-year anniversary at the helm approaches, he can boast of a record that most of his colleagues in the training ranks could only dream about. Not that he does. 

Since taking up the reins at Moulton Paddocks in July 2013, following a turbulent spell in the operation's history culminating in an eight-year ban for his former boss Mahmood Al Zarooni, Appleby, with his collaborative approach, has deftly steered Godolphin back into the big time of top-class winners the world over. In that relatively short time he has trained two Derby winners, an Irish Derby winner, six Breeders' Cup winners, Horse of the Year Ghaiyyath (Ire), champion two-year-old Native Trail (GB), Melbourne Cup hero Cross Counter (Ire), and a dual Royal Ascot Group 1 winner in one week in Blue Point (Ire). Following last year's sensational hat-trick at the Breeders' Cup, a season in which he became champion trainer for the first time, Appleby followed up this spring by becoming the first trainer to win 2,000 Guineas equivalents in three countries with three different horses.

“It's amazing how, when you come to the end of the season now, it just seems so far away what was achieved in the spring,” he says as he casts his mind back to Coroebus (Ire) beating Native Trail in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, before the latter took the Irish 2,000 Guineas and Modern Games (Ire) won the Poule d'Essai des Poulains.

“I have to remind myself of that, and also remind the team. It's like a football team here, all the players play their part and so you want to keep morale up during times where sometimes it might be a bit quiet. But it is also to just remind them of what they've achieved. Three Guineas winners in three different countries–that hadn't been done before. I take great pride in what the whole team has achieved.”

A key factor in the success of that team is in its longevity. Appleby himself, now 47, has been with Godolphin for almost quarter of a century, and he is surrounded by many longstanding colleagues, as well as an abundance of highly regarded former jockeys, both still in the saddle and on the ground.

As we head out to meet first lot, led by Modern Games, appearing from the trees after their warm-up, a figure emerges from the darkness and Appleby says, “Here's Benny The Dip's rider.” Step forward Derby-winning jockey Willie Ryan, the trainer's eyes and ears as the horses approach the canter. Among those still riding, spotted as daybreak eases the viewing, are former champions Kieren Fallon and Seb Sanders, one rather more stylish than the other.

Three equine-related subjects occupy Appleby's mind this morning. Uppermost is his septet about to depart for the Breeders' Cup, all of whom came through a final strong workout on Wednesday with no issues, and who will board the flight to America on Saturday. Next comes the matter of the trainers' championship, in which he has been duelling with fellow Newmarket trainer William Haggas for much of the season but now has the upper hand. Of no less importance on the personal front is how his twin daughters, the eldest two of four children he has with his wife Aisling, are faring in a half-term show jumping championship in Cheshire. Very well, it appears, and it will be no surprise to see the name Appleby become a dominant force in the pony racing ranks in the not-too-distant future.

The vagaries of the British Flat racing season mean that both the owners' and the jockeys' championships have already been decided, with Godolphin and William Buick lending a true blue hue to Champions Day when collecting their trophies at Ascot. The trainer has to wait until the end of the year to see if he will retain his title, but it is hard to imagine now that he won't. Furthermore, the stallion to whom Appleby owes a significant debt of gratitude, the 20-year-old Darley stalwart Dubawi, looks set to earn his first champion sire title in Britain and Ireland this year. It is nothing short of a bluewash.

“I know people will say, 'Well, it's done', but the championship runs until the end of the year and I think there are still some little chances for both myself and William to try and gain a bit more,” says Appleby, clearly not resting on his laurels.

“We've had those three Guineas horses, but we haven't had that standout horse that's gone through the season, and I take my hat off to William and Baaeed for keeping that consistency throughout the season at that top level. We've not had that horse.”

At the beginning of the year, it could well have been hoped that the standout horse would be Derby winner Adayar (Ire), but niggling problems meant that his return was delayed until September, when we saw him easily win a conditions race before chasing home Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) for second in the G1 Champion S. Happily, the imposing son of Frankel will remain in training at five, while his fellow Classic winners Native Trail and Modern Games look set to return at four.

This will no doubt be music to the ears of those who remember the elite Godolphin team of yesteryear, which was famed for its globetrotting older horses such as Fantastic Light, Kayf Tara (GB), and Daylami (Ire). Appleby, who certainly doesn't want for firepower when it comes to the bluebloods in his stable, has added another dimension of dominance at home and abroad.

“Most importantly, it was a brief from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed right at the start of all of this, very kind words, which were, 'I've got the confidence in you to do what you need to do, and the horses will repay you'. And, frankly, that's what they've done,” says Appleby.

“Last year, winning the championship was fantastic, but some people forget what we've achieved internationally. We're going to the Breeders' Cup hopefully with seven runners, and legitimate runners as well. And we've got a horse that campaigned in Germany all summer, and horses have been to France, and obviously we had our small team in America that did well. And that draws away from your home team. We are going out to try and win a championship, but we're also going out to try and win as many Grade 1 races as possible, because at the end of the day, we're an operation that is trying to produce stallions and trying to improve the broodmare band, so that's foremost in our programme.”

The cyclical nature of such a business means that next season the trainer will be overseeing the careers of some of the first-crop runners of his first Derby winner Masar (Ire), as well as top sprinter Blue Point. 

“That's exciting,” he says, “Especially with Blue Point being so close to everybody's heart. The only thing is that it reminds you you're getting a bit older.”

Season's end can also bring with it pause for reflection but, despite some rip-roaring years, Appleby appears intent on looking forward rather than revelling in past glories. 

He adds, “Every year since we've started training, myself and the management, we've got together at the end of the year and pointed out our highs and our lows. We look at what we can try to do to make things better. 

“We're approaching that time now, and one thing I want to applaud them all for is the consistency. We haven't dropped below a 30% strike-rate, thankfully, throughout the season. I don't purposely go out there to try and achieve good stats, but it's something that I will monitor throughout the season to see how we are doing, because at the end of the day, they don't lie.”

An international racing programme, peppered with regular trips to Dubai's Marmoon Stable for the trainer, means that consistency in the personnel at home, too, is paramount.

“Alex Merriam and Marie Murphy will represent us at a lot at race meetings internationally,” says Appleby. “They've got a great support team behind them as well, in the head lads that are involved here. We've all worked together for years and I very rarely have to give an instruction now, everything just happens.

“When I'm away and I phone the guys, we're all speaking the same language and we all look at the horse in the same manner. When I go round into those stables and I look at the horses, and I might say a certain horse looks light perhaps, Marie will already be on it because they're seeing it the same way as I'm seeing it.”

He continues, “And again, with the travelling team, Chris Connett and Chris Durham, they do such fantastic jobs on these trips, looking after these horses and training them in the same way. We're in a very luxurious position in that I very rarely have to tell them what to do. There's a system in place. The same people jump the horses off at the bottom of the canter, and the same people meet them at the top. I don't have to see those parts of their training because they will report back to me and say, 'So and so is sweating, he doesn't normally sweat'. We'll get straight back and look at the horse ourselves, and if we feel there's something that needs to be investigated, then we'll ask the farriers and the vets to be involved as well. You're always trying to nip something in the bud early.”

It would appear that Sheikh Mohammed shares his trainer's desire to look to the future. As well as an abundance of homebreds to come into training next year, Appleby can presumably anticipate the arrival of a significant number of the 35 yearlings recently bought by his boss for the equivalent of £26.5 million at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

“The enthusiasm from His Highness and the royal family is relentless, and it's fantastic for us, as well as for the sport and the industry,” says Appleby. “All we've spoken about lately is the yearlings. How are the yearlings getting on? That's the new generation, looking to the future, and that's why Dubai is what it is. There's always a vision there to keep driving on.”

The season may be coming to an end, but even in winter, there is little downtime for the modern-day Flat trainer. The yearlings are already being broken in by Tim Denniff and his team at a separate yard on the Moulton Paddocks estate, and of course the Dubai Carnival is another important focus for all employed at Godolphin. No wonder then that Appleby says in a brief reflection on the events of the last decade, “Where's the time gone?” 

He adds, “We all stood at the top of that hill back in 2013 talking about what we were going to try to achieve. There have been some bumps in the road, when the winners haven't flowed, or we haven't had those group winners that we'd like to have had. But I think generally, if I step back and look at our anniversary of 10 years, we could say we've not done too badly.”

Not too badly at all. 

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The latter will now presumably be obliged to retain his partnership with the Longchamp-bound Mendocino, and Torquator Tasso's trainer Marcel Weiss acted swiftly to book Dettori for the 5-year-old's defence of the Arc as soon as his debrief was concluded. 

It was a dramatic denouement to the 152nd running of the Grosser Preis von Baden in a year when the racecourse had been planning to celebrate the great race's 150th anniversary until the realisation dawned that a miscount some 25 years ago meant that we have jumped straight from the 149th edition last year without a proper fanfare. That won't bother Mendocino's trainer Sarah Steinberg, owner Stall Salzburg and breeder Gestut Brummerhof, who rightly enjoyed this major breakthrough success for the 4-year-old who had previously come closest to winning at group level when finishing second to Alpinista (GB) in last year's G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern. 

And this drama was nothing compared to the awful scene played out only ten minutes earlier in Paris as Coroebus (Ire) suffered a fatal injury when launching his challenge in the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp. William Buick, the red-hot favourite to be Britain's champion jockey for this first time this year, stood himself down for the rest of the day but appears, thankfully, to have been relatively unscathed in the shocking fall for the 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace S. winner.

Dettori on the other hand received a 14-day ban for going one strike over the permitted whip-use limit on Torquator Tasso which, equally thankfully for him, ends just in time for the duo to renew their acquaintance in the Arc.

Hammer Time

One jockey who kept clear of drama and became well acquainted with the Baden-Baden winner's enclosure on Sunday was Thore Hammer-Hansen. Though currently British-based, Hammer-Hansen has in fact been well acquainted with the racecourse at Iffezheim for most of his life.

“Mum and Dad live at the six-furlong start and I used to go running round here all the time,” he explained after notching the first group win of his career in the G2 Oleander-Rennen for owner-breeder Karl-Dieter Ellebracke of Gestut Auenquelle aboard Dapango (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}). The 22-year-old jockey was joined on the presentation rostrum by his proud father, Danish-born Lennart, formerly a hugely successful jockey in Germany with more than 1,000 wins to his name.

“The whole family is here,” continued Thore, who was previously apprenticed to Richard Hannon and rode out his claim almost a year ago. “I've always said that I'd love to come over for the big races and Gestut Auenquelle have been great supporters from the very beginning, and I am absolutely delighted that they have called me over again. I'd love to come over as much as possible as long as Sir Mark Prescott and the other people I ride for in England are happy about it.”

Hammer-Hansen junior followed up his big-race success immediately when winning the following race on New Moon (Cze) for Jan Korpas, and later made it a treble when winning the Stadt Baden-Baden Cup on Fellow (Ger) for Dr Andreas Bolte.

Vandeberg Enjoying The Moment

Among the crowd was Torquator Tasso's breeder Paul Vandeberg who had made the trip to Iffezheim with two friends and is still pinching himself following the  triumphant return of the Arc winner's younger half-brother Tünnes (Ger) (Guiliani {Ger}) in the BBAG sales race at Baden-Baden on Wednesday. That victory for the 3-year-old came in his first run since he won the G3 Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen last November.

“I still cannot believe it, that he would come back like that after 10 months off the track,” said Vandeberg, a breeder of some 50 years' standing, as he reflected on the fact that his sole broodmare Tijuana (Ger) (Toylsome {GB}) has hit the jackpot twice already with her second and fourth foals.

“Sometimes you just have the luck,” he added. “And Tijuana is the most wonderful mare. Eight times I have sent her to be covered on foal heat, and eight times she has got in foal straight away.”

Vandeberg was not disheartened by Torquator Tasso's narrow defeat in the Grosser Preis and is already looking forward to him returning to Paris, where he believes the chance of softer ground and the right-hand track will once again play to the horse's strengths. The breeder has plenty more to look forward to than just the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as he has a yearling and foal full-sibling to Torquator Tasso and Tunnes respectively at home.

HKJC Broadens German Link…

There will be hope among the German racing community that a number of its major races may soon feature in the World Pool series. After the Grosser Preis von Berlin being made available for those betting into the Hong Kong Jockey Club pools last month, a further three races from Baden-Baden on Sunday benefited from the same arrangement, including the day's feature, the Grosser Preis von Baden. This led to a busier race programme than usual for the finale at the Iffezheim track, with 12 races in total, starting from 11.15am. Not a day for the fainthearted.

…And American and German Links Deepen

Twenty-four hours after buying the top lot, a Kingman (GB) colt from Gestut Fahrhof, at BBAG's Yearling Sale on Friday, the Roth family's LNJ Foxwoods enjoyed Grade I glory at a different spa town, Saratoga, as the co-owner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Olympiad (Speightstown) with Cheyenne Stables.

There could be a strong contingent with a German background at this year's Breeders' Cup, following the 'win and you're in' success of Virginia Joy (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) in the GII Flower Bowl S. for Peter Brant and Chad Brown. The 5-year-old mare joined Brown's stable last spring having previously been trained in Germany by Torquator Tasso's trainer Marcel Weiss for her breeder Gestut Auenquelle, which is also home to her sire, and previously to the sires of two of her first three dams, Doyen (GB) and Big Shuffle.

With the Gestut Ammerland-bred GI Beverley D S. winner Dalika (Ger) (Pastorius {Ger}) already being aimed towards the Breeders' Cup, and the possibility of Saturday's G2 T von Zastrow Stutenpreis winner Amazing Grace (Ger) (Protectionist {Ger}) sure to have a strong chance if she heads to the GI EP Taylor S. in October, it will not be a surprise to see more American visitors attending Germany's major yearling sale in the future. 

Minzaal Boosts Shadwell's Great Season

Of course, it hasn't all been happening in Germany this week. For Owen Burrows, the wheel of fortune has spun both ways this season, sometimes in a dizzying fashion, with Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) claiming the trainer's first Group 1 win in the Coronation Cup only to be ruled out of the rest of the season the next day, having picked up an injury in the race. 

As Britain's departing Prime Minister Boris Johnson likes to say, “Them's the breaks”. Burrows is an altogether much more honourable type of Englishman than Johnson, and it was therefore pleasing indeed to see him gain his second top-flight victory at the other end of the distance spectrum but for the same owner with Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) in the G1 Sprint Cup at Haydock.

Hukum's brother Baaeed (GB) has gained all the plaudits this season, but he is far from the only star in the Shadwell constellation. Hukum and Minzaal have contributed to a hugely successful season for Sheikha Hissa Hamdan Al Maktoum, who also won the G3 September S. at Kempton on Saturday with the Gosden-trained homebred Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and has another two exciting prospects in the Burrows stable in the Group 3-winning duo of Alflaila (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Anmaat (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}).

The victory of Minzaal also provided a first Group 1 winner as breeder for Derek and Gay Veitch of Ringfort Stud, who have enjoyed some terrific seasons of late, including Minzaal's G2 Gimcrack S. win two years ago, which followed the success of Threat (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) in the same race a year earlier, while Group 2-winning fillies Indie Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) have also advertised the stud's credentials in recent years.

Ringfort Stud is selling two yearlings at the Tattersalls Somerville Sale on Tuesday, and interested parties will have to get in quick as the colts by first-season sires Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) and Inns Of Court (Ire) go through as lots 9 and 18 respectively. 

Vale, Jack de Bromhead

The racing and sales wheels keep turning in relentless fashion at this time of year but, absorbed as we all may be with this hectic scene, none of it really matters when set against the tragic accident at the Glenbeigh pony races on Saturday. That young Jack de Bromhead died doing what he loved will be of little comfort or consolation in these saddest of days to those who mourn his absence. To Jack's family and friends we offer our sincere condolences.

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The pair looked set for a mouthwatering clash with the unbeaten Baaeed having to concede weight to the Classic-winning colt, however, Godolphin broke the news that Coroebus has been forced to sit out the much-anticipated clash due to a minor injury.

A post from the official Godolphin account on Twitter read, “Unfortunately Coroebus will not run in this week's Sussex Stakes @Goodwood_Races.

“He was lame in his box this morning and after examination, was found to have an abscess in his left hind pastern. This is being treated and he will now target the Prix Jacques le Marois.”

William Buick will instead ride the Charlie Appleby-trained stablemate Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) after a final field of seven was confirmed for the race.

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Having gone so close in last year's 2000 Guineas with Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who was narrowly denied by the Jim Bolger-trained Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}), Appleby left nothing to chance this year when aiming both barrels at the Rowley Mile and firing in a one-two with Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Though the second-favourite overturned the favourite, for the Godolphin team that was very much the right result, the winner being a homebred by the operation's beloved flag-bearer Dubawi and a member of a family which has brought repeated success for Sheikh Mohammed. That includes two Dubai World Cups courtesy of Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}), a half-brother to Coroebus's dam First Victory (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). The 2000 Guineas was just the first of an extraordinary run of success for Teofilo as a broodmare sire over the weekend. He popped up again as the damsire of 1000 Guineas winner Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}), just 40 minutes after he filled the same role in the breeding of Ed Walker's G2 Dahlia S. winner Dreamloper (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Fifteen years ago, Teofilo's own Classic season spluttered to a halt without ever really getting started. Having finished the previous season as champion 2-year-old in Europe, a tendon problem ruled him out of the 2000 Guineas, and his trainer and breeder Jim Bolger eventually retired him in August with just his juvenile credentials to his name as he joined the Darley roster. But what credentials they were, representing a faultless progression through the summer of 2006, from maiden, to Listed and Group 2 success, followed by a brace of Group 1s, both at the expense of Coolmore's Holy Roman Emperor (Ire).

At stud, Teofilo has never quite had the flashy profile of some of his major rivals in the stallion list, which include of course his own over-achiever of a sire, Galileo (Ire). But as we have discussed in these pages before, Teofilo has steadily compiled an admirable record, with 22 Group 1 winners worldwide, and as every proper stallion should become as they age, he is now a force to be reckoned with as a broodmare sire. His three Classic winners in this sphere include the Bolger-bred Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}).

Though Teofilo is not represented by many sons at stud, it is worth nothing that the speedy Havana Gold (Ire) has already notched three stakes winners this season–among the British-based sires only Dubawi and Frankel (GB) have had more–and Havana Gold's son Havana Grey (GB) is currently the co-leader with Sioux Nation in the freshman sires' table with four winners apiece.

Riotous Response For Cachet 

The 1000 Guineas winner Cachet turns out to have been very well named. Her antics have not only brought her much respect and distinction, but also for her trainer George Boughey, for whom she was a first Classic winner in only his third full season with a licence. She is not the first to have demonstrated Boughey's prowess, of course. Mystery Angel (Ire) became the trainer's first black-type winner exactly a year earlier when landing the Listed Pretty Polly S. and, after being boldly supplemented for the Oaks, she ran a mighty race to be second to Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

Cachet only had to leave her back gate at Saffron House Stables and stroll across Southfields to land the biggest victory of her career to date, but some longer-distance travel may soon be required again.

“She makes my job very easy,” Boughey told TDN on Monday. “She has always been sound, she eats up and trains. She's very hard to fault because she's so willing. I had a long chat to Jake Warren and Harry Herbert and it's almost not doing her justice to not consider another Guineas. 

“The French Guineas might just suit her a bit better than Ireland and she loves her racing. I've never thought I've over-raced her. I'm sure some people would say that they thought I have, but she loves it and I think we are going to consider the French Guineas before Royal Ascot.”

Six of Cachet's ten starts have come on her neighbouring racecourses in Newmarket, but she has already made overseas trips to Longchamp and to Del Mar, when she was fourth, beaten only a length, in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Boughey added, “It's a long year and I quite want to end up in the Breeders' Cup again. For me, having a Breeders' Cup winner is perhaps my biggest career goal. Of course everyone wants to win the Derby but travelling horses is something I really want to do, and we've done it with a degree of success already to France.”

He added of his home track, “The good thing about racing at Newmarket is that they're back in their box in an hour. She's had two runs [this season], and obviously [the 1000 Guineas] was a hard race, but the run before was like a racecourse gallop. She hardly did a stroke. It's a big advantage being here.”

The Newmarket faithful certainly gave Boughey and Cachet a rousing return to the winner's enclosure on Sunday. The Rowley Mile can sometimes lack atmosphere but that was not the case after the 1000 Guineas, when the sense of collective joy was infectious. 

“I've never known a reception like it,” said the trainer. “It was almost like Best Mate winning a third Gold Cup. My biggest task now is trying to get through my messages. I've got 400 to read still. All my family was there yesterday–aunts, uncles, brother, sisters, cousins, mum, dad, it was amazing. That was probably where quite a lot of the noise came from.”

A lot of the noise also came from the 20 members of the Highclere Racing Syndicate which owns Cachet. As one of the Coolmore contingent mentioned as he passed by the winner's enclosure, a major winner for a syndicate is a superb result for racing's broader appeal, as that joy was multiplied and shared by so many.

“That's the families of all those owners celebrating now, and it's great to see,” he said. 

With one riotously happy weekend stored in the memory banks to sustain them through the darker months of winters, the smiling riders of George Boughey's string pulled out on Monday morning as usual. It may have been a Bank Holiday in Britain but the work never stops in a racing stable, even if it started a little later than usual, with eyes a bit blearier following the previous night's celebrations. The trainer was back in his usual spot atop Warren Hill, keenly observing his string as they completed a steady canter. As he drove back down the Moulton Road, he received a cheery wave of congratulation from fellow trainer Chris Wall, cycling by.

Chatting to TDN a little later on, the equable Boughey confessed, “I never thought I'd have one like her in a lifetime. The first horse I bought, I made Sam Haggas buy me something to try to win a classified race, so it's come a long way for sure.”

That was only in 2019. Boughey has indeed come a long way. He'll go farther still, for sure.

Acclaim For Aclaim

There has been plenty of interest in the offspring of Time Test (GB) at recent sales but he has been firmly usurped by his National Stud mate Aclaim (Ire) in the second-crop sires' race. A Group 1-winning son of Acclamation (GB) from the family of Montjeu (Ire), Aclaim is the first of that intake to sire a Group 1 winner this year. Cachet remains his sole black-type winner, but his first crop also contains the Group 2-placed Jacinda (GB), and he has the clearly highly regarded Royal Aclaim (Ire) entered for both the G1 King's Stand S. and the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.

Trained by James Tate, Royal Aclaim is on the comeback trail since her sole run at Newcastle in May 2021, three weeks after graduating from the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up Sale with a price tag of 60,000gns, the same amount paid by Highclere for Cachet at the earlier Craven Sale. We may have seen nothing of Royal Aclaim since her maiden victory but she had some pretty smart horses behind her that day, notably the subsequent dual Group 1 winner Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) and the Listed winner and multiple Group-placed Fearby (Ire) (Havana Gold {Ire}).

Like Dark Angel (Ire) and Mehmas (Ire) before him, Aclaim could yet prove to be another influential member of the expanding line of one of Northern Dancer's less heralded sons, Try My Best, through grandson Royal Applause (GB). The latter remains in luxurious retirement at The Royal Studs in Sandringham at the age of 29.

On The Attack

In Rome on Sunday, the Endo Botti-trained Swipe Up (Ire) rather appropriately became the 50th group winner for Teofilo's old friend Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) when landing the G3 Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1000 Guineas). Bred by George Kent at Knockenduff Stud and sold for just £6,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale, she was followed home, at a five-length distance, by another daughter of the same sire, Nonna Ercolina (Ire). Another Coolmore stallion Highland Reel (Ire) provided the third home, Atamisque (Ire), to bring up an Irish-bred trifecta. 

In the Italian 2000 Guineas, the G3 Premio Parioli, the winner See Hector (Ger) represented, like Cachet, another European second-season sire in Counterattack (Aus). The son of Redoute's Choice (Aus) may be less familiar to European breeders as he did all of his racing in Australia, where he won a Group 3 sprint and earned three Group 1 placings. Bred on the same Redoute's Choice-Snippets cross as Australian supersire Snitzel (Aus) and a half-brother to the Dane Shadow-sired Group 1 winners Red Tracer (Aus) and Shellscrape (Aus), Counterattack joined the Faust family's Gestut Karlshof in 2018. He was represented by his first stakes winner, Pirouz (Ger), in the Listed Premio Emanuele Filiberto, a trial for the Derby Italiano, in Milan on Saturday. This was swiftly followed by his first group success with See Hector, both winners having been bred by Gestut Karlshof. 

“It's extraordinary. We're very happy to see Counterattack have a Classic winner in his first crop, especially as he has only 20 to 25 horses in training,” said Holger Faust, the racing manager for See Hector's owner Cometica Ag and whose parents run Gestut Karlshof.

He added, “We were looking for a son of Redoute's Choice. Back in the days when Counterattack started at our place Redoute's Choice was the sire of 11 stallions who have produced a Group 1 winner, and now I think that number is 15. We are very keen to stand stallions by a good sire of sires. In our opinion that is very important.”

He added, “So Redoute's Choice was one factor, but the other was that Counterattack ran 27 times in three years, so he was tough. Also it was a question of quality, because the Australians maybe have the best sprinters in the world. Last but not least, on his dam side, he is a brother to two Group 1 winners. The fact also that he is out of a Snippets mare made it more and more exciting.”

Along with See Hector, potential forthcoming runners for Counterattack in Classics in Germany and Italy include Pirouz, Open Skies (Ger), and Zandjan (Ger), who broke his maiden in Munich on Saturday. 

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G3 Craven S. winner Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) are currently first and second favourites for the 2000 Guineas ahead of the Aidan O'Brien-trained Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}).

“William [Buick] sat on Native Trail on Saturday and was very pleased with the way he galloped, and from what we have seen to date we are very pleased with how he has come out of the gallop most importantly,” Appleby said in an update Godolphin.com.

“James [Doyle] will get the ride on Coroebus. He sat on him on Saturday. He sat on him midweek as well as he hasn't ridden him in any of his races to date. He looks great and has definitely come forward for that racecourse gallop at Newmarket.

“We go in there with two live chances and we are very much looking forward to it. It will be an exciting weekend.”

Appleby also runs G3 Fred Darling S. winner Wild Beauty (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in Sunday's QIPCO 1000 Guineas.

He continued, “[Wild Beauty] is a Grade I stakes winner in Canada. In the trial over seven [furlongs] in the Fred Darling she put up a brave performance and did it the right way round. We are confident going back up to the mile will see some further improvement from the trial.”

The opening day of the Guineas meeting, which has reverted to a three-day format this year, sees the return to Britain of the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf winner Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). The 4-year-old gelding was last seen finishing runner-up in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March and on Friday he contests the G2 Betfair Exchange Jockey Club S.

“Hopefully that will springboard him on to a trip to America for the Man O' War Stakes,” said Appleby.

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In the days when Saeed bin Suroor was Godolphin's principal trainer he had masterminded Dubawi's 2-year-old campaign superbly, the colt from the sole crop of Dubai Millennium ending the 2004 season unbeaten after winning the G1 National S. at the Curragh. Shamardal had been with Mark Johnston as a 2-year-old. He too had ended 2004 with a perfect three-from-three record, his hat-trick culminating in victory in the G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket.  Already Dubaian-owned, he was transferred to bin Suroor's stable after the race and bore the royal blue livery for the rest of his career.

Shamardal was the first to run in 2005 but it was not an auspicious start: he ran poorly on dirt in the UAE Derby and clearly needed longer than four weeks to recover from that chastening experience so he didn't run in the 2,000 Guineas, in which Dubawi started the 11/8 favourite.  On the day Dubawi wasn't good enough, finishing fifth behind Foostepsinthesand (GB) (Giant's Causeway), but thereafter things fell into place perfectly.

Shamardal made a victorious return to European racing 15 days later, taking the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains at Longchamp to initiate a top-level hat-trick, completed by wins in the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club over 2100m at Chantilly and, dropping back to a mile only nine days later, the G1 St. James's Palace S. Sadly that proved to be his final race as he went amiss shortly before the G1 Eclipse S., in which he had been due to clash with the wide-margin Derby winner Motivator (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}).

Dubawi, meanwhile, had also kept himself busy. Heading to the Curragh three weeks after Newmarket, he was a ready winner of the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas, beating Oratorio (Ire) (Danehill) by two lengths. Saeed bin Suroor had played his cards perfectly, with both Dubawi and Shamardal ending the spring as Classic winners.

Despite the obvious doubts about Dubawi's potential stamina, Sheikh Mohammed took the sporting option of sending his diminutive star to Epsom two weeks after his Classic triumph. The genuine little horse did his best, but the testing 12-furlong course proved to be a bridge too far as Dubawi weakened in the final two furlongs, finishing third of the 13 runners.  Undaunted, he returned to the fray later in the summer, confirming himself to be a top-class miler with two excellent efforts in weight-for-age company, winning the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville before coming off second best in a terrific duel with the international superstar Starcraft (NZ) (Soviet Star) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., run that year at Newmarket.

Happily, the history books now show that the splendid racecourse achievements of Dubawi and Shamardal were merely the first part of their stories as each proceeded to establish himself in the highest echelons of the world's stallion ranks.

Godolphin, of course, is not the only operation to have found itself with the enviable but tricky task of making the most of a strong hand.  It is a problem to have faced both of the O'Briens to have brought glory to Ballydoyle, Vincent and Aidan. For Vincent O'Brien, the year in which Ballydoyle most notably contained a pair of great Classic colts was 1984.

At the start of 1984, all eyes in Europe were on the unbeaten Dewhurst winner El Gran Senor. Bred in partnership by E. P. Taylor, Vincent O'Brien, Robert Sangster and John Magnier, El Gran Senor was a full-brother to the 1977 Dewhurst winner Try My Best and had oozed class from the outset, so much so that his connections had opted to name him in honour of the human 'El Gran Senor', Northern Dancer's trainer Horatio Luro.  The equine El Gran Senor lived up to this compliment during an unbeaten 2-year-old campaign, his final victory coming when he trounced Rainbow Quest (Blushing Groom {Fr}) in the Dewhurst, winning with such authority that Timeform gave him the startlingly high rating (for a 2-year-old) of 131, the same figure with which Nijinsky II (Northern Dancer) had ended 1969.

The highest hopes generally lead to disappointment, but on 2000 Guineas Day the dreams of racegoers came true as a great Classic was run before their eyes. Pat Eddery deployed El Gran Senor's brilliant acceleration to devastating effect. Chasing El Gran Senor home were three outstanding horses: Chief Singer (Ire) (Ballad Rock {Ire}), Lear Fan (Roberto) and Rainbow Quest.

Timeform's Racehorses of 1983 had rated El Gran Senor's chances of staying the Derby distance as “doubtful” but Vincent O'Brien naturally took up the challenge of the greatest race of all, as he had previously done so successfully with the other supposedly doubtful stayers Sir Ivor and Nijinsky after their brilliant 2,000 Guineas victories in 1968 and '70.  It turned out that El Gran Senor was indeed not nearly as effective at a mile and a half as he was at distances up to a mile, but even so he nearly won the Derby (only just touched off by his paternal half-brother Secreto, trained by Vincent O'Brien's son David) before cruising home in the Irish Derby ahead of the valiant Rainbow Quest (himself, of course, subsequently the winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe).  

El Gran Senor's form kept being franked throughout the summer as Chief Singer won successively the G2 St. James's Palace S., the G1 July Cup and the G1 Sussex S., while Lear Fan took the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. However, during this period it became clear that El Gran Senor was not the only outstanding 3-year-old colt in Ballydoyle.

Two members of the stable contested the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh.  One of these had been rated the second best 2-year-old colt in Ireland in 1983, 10lb behind El Gran Senor.  That colt, Sadler's Wells, reappeared in the spring in the same race (the G3 Gladness S. at the Curragh) in which El Gran Senor resumed, finishing a respectful runner-up behind his superior stablemate.

Winner of the G3 Derrinstown Derby Trial on his next start, Sadler's Wells was the less-fancied of the Ballydoyle duo in the Irish Guineas, with stable jockey Pat Eddery electing to ride the shorter-priced Capture Him (Mr Prospector).  This left the mount on Sadler's Wells free for George McGrath, who had ridden him in his two previous races that spring.  McGrath, Ireland's champion jockey of 1965 and '70, was then in the twilight of a distinguished career, employed mainly as a Ballydoyle work-rider. He had won the Irish Derby 11 years previously but it turned out that, Eddery having chosen the wrong horse, he was able to record his most famous victory when Sadler's Wells came home in front, with Capture Him only fourth.

Sadler's Wells's true ability thus having started to appear, it became ever more clear during the coming months, most notably thanks to two great triumphs at weight-for-age in the G1 Eclipse S. and the G1 Phoenix (now Irish) Champion S. at Phoenix Park.  He further demonstrated his class and toughness with second placings behind Darshaan (with Rainbow Quest third) in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and behind the previous year's Derby winner Teenoso (Youth) in the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S., ahead of Tolomeo (Ire), Time Charter (Ire) and Sun Princess (Ire).

Earlier comments about Dubawi and Shamardal going on to glory at stud can be applied, of course, even more emphatically to El Gran Senor and Sadler's Wells.  The latter holds the record for the most sires' championships of Britain and Ireland (14), while in one respect El Gran Senor's figures are even better.  Having retired in 1985 to Windfields Farm in Maryland alongside his father, El Gran Senor was bedevilled by poor fertility throughout his stud career, which ended when he was pensioned aged 19 in 2000. All told, he sired fewer than 400 foals, but his 55 stakes winners (12 of whom won at the highest level) gave him a lifetime stakes winners-to-foals ratio of just over 14%.

As numbers in Ballydoyle are now far larger than was ever the case when Vincent O'Brien was at the helm, Aidan O'Brien nowadays can find himself blessed/cursed (delete as applicable) with an even greater embarrassment of riches. This has never been more obvious than was the case in the spring of 2002.

Hawk Wing was the name on everyone's lips in advance of the 2002 season.  Although beaten by his more experienced stablemate Rock Of Gibraltar in the G3 Railway S. early in the summer of 2001, by the autumn Hawk Wing had been promoted to ante-post favouritism for the 2,000 Guineas, having stormed home in the G1 National S. at the Curragh.  He had captured the public's imagination even more than any of his stablemates, notwithstanding that he had plenty of competition from within his own stable: there were 22 juveniles in Europe in 2001 rated 110 or more by Timeform, and Aidan O'Brien trained half of them!

The aforementioned Rock Of Gibraltar had followed up that Railway S. victory by winning the G2 Gimcrack S., the G1 Grand Criterium and the G1 Dewhurst S.  In the last-named he led home a Ballydoyle trifecta, beating Landseer (GB) (Danehill) and Tendulkar (Spinning World).  Landseer had previously won the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot, with Rock Of Gibraltar only sixth.

Arguably the pick of the squad, though, was another Royal Ascot winner.  Johannesburg (Hennessy) had won all seven of his races as a juvenile including, uniquely for a 2-year-old, top-level contests in four countries: the G1 Phoenix S. at Leopardstown, the G1 Prix Morny at Deauville, the G1 Middle Park S. at Newmarket and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Belmont. Another Group 1-winning juvenile for Ballydoyle in 2001 had been High Chaparral (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), successful in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster.

The hand of cards which Aidan O'Brien thus had to play in the spring of 2002 was overflowing with aces. The situation became slightly clearer when it was decided that Johannesburg's Classic target in the spring would (understandably) be at Churchill Downs rather than Newmarket. The policy decided upon was to maximise the advantage conferred by strength in depth and though Johannesburg's Kentucky Derby attempt ended in disappointment, in Europe that plan bore fruit. 

Hawk Wing was the stable's first string in both the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby but he was a beaten favourite in both, each time finishing second to a lesser-fancied, Johnny Murtagh-ridden stablemate: Rock Of Gibraltar at Newmarket and High Chaparral at Epsom. Those two horses, of course, went on to compile magnificent records, ultimately retiring with a Group 1 tally of seven and six respectively; while Hawk Wing went on register the admirable feat of winning at the highest level in each of three consecutive seasons, courtesy of wins in the G1 Eclipse S. at three and the G1 Lockinge S. (by 11 lengths) at four.

Charlie Appleby's hand this year isn't quite as strong as the cards which Aidan O'Brien was holding 20 years ago, but it's strong enough. And the certainty is that Appleby, like O'Brien, is a trainer with the skill to play them to best advantage.

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Ridden by William Buick and accompanied in his seven-furlong piece of work by stable-mates King Of Time (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) and Falling Shadow (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Coroebus pulled easily clear of that duo as he quickened out of the dip.

“That was just what we needed really,” said Appleby, whose Newmarket season started well with stakes victories for Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and New Science (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) on the opening day of the Craven Meeting.

He continued, “Last year as a 2-year-old, in the Royal Lodge [Coroebus] whooshed past and was quite aggressive in the way he wanted to do it – he was taking William on. You saw it in the Autumn Stakes as well. He's a very strong traveller and when you press the button it's instant.

“What I was pleased to see this morning is that he did it smoothly. That is what we've been teaching him to do all spring – to go through the gears rather than going from third to fifth. We've managed to find that extra gear in between and teach him to do it the right way round.”

Unlike Appleby's stable star Native Trail, who reappeared in the Craven S., Coroebus will not take in a formal Classic trial ahead of the Guineas, with his racecourse gallop serving as an alternative to his mooted start in Saturday's Greenham S. at Newbury.

The trainer explained, “Native Trail and himself both worked very well last Saturday and after that work I just felt this horse has only ever run at Newmarket in his three starts. Going down to Newbury would be something we haven't challenged him with before and, two weeks out from a Guineas, do we really want to be challenging him?

“I probably got as much out of that this morning as I would had we taken him to Newbury, apart from taking home some prize-money potentially. We just felt taking him to Newbury was an exercise that didn't need to be done, we could do it here on our doorstep and hopefully turn up here in two and a half weeks' time.”

Appleby added, “This fellow is by Dubawi and you can see him filling out behind as the season progresses. In the autumn of his 3-year-old career and hopefully in his 4-year-old career, I'd like to think you'll see a different individual altogether.

“He's very much a work in progress, which is why I don't want to be running in a trial to try to work stuff out when we can see it at home ourselves.”

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First season or proven: Proven.

Speed or stamina: Speed that stretches; most occasions call for a bit of both.

Cold beer or vintage Claret: Claret.

Newspaper or podcast: I'm easy, so long as it's daily.

Royal Ascot or Breeeders' Cup: Breeders' Cup.

Rock or classical: Classical.

Bright young thing to follow: Alice Haynes (trainer) and Jonathan Harding (journalist).

Wise owl to look up to: Too many to mention–Rob Hyland in television, Graham Motion epitomises playing the game the right way, while I'll never stop learning from James Willoughby.

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The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 84 stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which will be held at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California on Nov. 5-6.

A son of Wootton Bassett (GB) out of the Dalakhani (IRE) mare Shaloushka (IRE), Royal Patronage (FR) reeled in joint favorite Coroebus (IRE) in the shadows of the post to win the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes by a neck.

Trained by Mark Johnston and ridden by Jason Hart, Royal Patronage raced prominently in the early stages in the seven-horse field. Godolphin's Coroebus (IRE) took up the running at halfway and surged clear from the field under William Buick, before being run down and headed on the line by the eventual winner. The Donnacha O'Brien-trained Unconquerable (IRE), the 33-1 outsider of the field, finished 2 ½ lengths back in the third. Joint favorite Masekela (IRE) finished fourth.

Celebrating his fourth Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes victory, Johnston was delighted with the performance of his 2-year-old colt.

“I thought we were going to finish second even well inside the final furlong,” said Johnston. “At that stage, I was happy. He was running away from the chasing pack and I was thinking he's going to be a lovely horse for stepping up in trip next year. Jason [Hart] said the moment he hit the rising ground he was just gaining with every stride. He won well in the end.”

No immediate plans have been made for the exciting juvenile, but a tilt at next year's Group 1 Epsom Derby is under consideration.

Johnston added: “He looks like a Derby horse. It's great when you've got a horse who you're thinking might stay a mile and a half, but is showing so much speed early on as well. That's ideal.”

Royal Patronage (7/2) finished the mile in 1:38:06 over a course listed as good to firm. It was his third consecutive win after breaking his maiden in a novice stakes at Epsom Downs on July 29, and capturing the seven-furlong Group 3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes at York Racecourse on Aug. 18 in his previous start.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, the Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for Royal Patronage to start in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, which will be run at one mile over the turf course at Del Mar Thoroughbed Club in Del Mar, Calif. Breeders' Cup also will provide a travel allowance of $40,000 for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships.

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