Courage Mon Ami | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gregory to Goodwood with Leger as Main Aim

Wathnan Racing is spoilt for choice when it comes to promising stayers, and it is the G2 Queen's Vase winner Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) who is the more likely runner in the G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup, while Gold Cup winner Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) could wait for York or Doncaster.

“They have both come out of Ascot really well, I was in there looking at them last week and I was absolutely delighted with how they look,” said Richard Brown, advisor to Wathnan Racing.

“Gregory is a big horse who is only going to get better with age and we won't over-race him this year. We will probably only run him twice more. His main aim is the Leger and he may well take in the Goodwood Cup on the way because the three-year-old weight allowance is really significant.

“At the moment we're training both Courage Mon Ami and Gregory for the race, but only one of them will go. We're favouring Gregory because of the weight allowance and we want to keep the miles low on Courage Mon Ami.”

The Anthony Oppenheimer-bred Courage Mon Ami, who, like Gregory, remains unbeaten, has both Longchamp and a return to Ascot on the cards in the autumn after a trip to Yorkshire.

Brown added, “Courage Mon Ami is a four-year-old and we have seen in the past that those horses who get to the top of the staying division can go back and win at Ascot again, so his main aim already is next year's Gold Cup.

“He will probably run twice more this year with obvious back-end targets being Ascot or the [Prix du] Cadran and on the way we can go to York [for the Lonsdale Cup] or the Doncaster Cup if we don't go to Goodwood.”

Brown noted that the aim is for the pair of stayers, two of nine horses currently in training for Wathnan Racing, along with G1 Falmouth S runner-up Remarquee (GB) (Kingman {GB}), to remain apart from as long as possible.

He said, “We will be guided John and his team and where they want to go. We're favouring Gregory at the moment for Goodwood, but they are both going to be trained for it in case Gregory couldn't get there. Then Courage Mon Ami can drop into his spot.

“The St Leger is Gregory's number one target and then we can worry about what we do next year.

“If we are in the fortunate position that they are both fit, sound, healthy and training well then that is when we might not be able to keep them separate. But at this stage we will try to keep them apart.”

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Holding Out For a Hero

ASCOT, UK–Even before the action was underway on Gold Cup day, there appeared to be entertainment aplenty for the King and Queen. Sir Mark Prescott had managed to book the royal version of speedy boarding and was positioned in the first carriage with their majesties for the royal procession. This may well have been a strategic move from them in the middle of a week which requires plenty of stamina, with two processions still to come. It's a long ride by horse-drawn carriage from Windsor Great Park to Ascot Racecourse and who better to entertain the royal party than racing's finest raconteur, who also shares the King and Queen's love of hunting? Indeed, as the carriages came into view on the big screen it certainly appeared to be Sir Mark that was holding court, much to the obvious enjoyment of his carriage companions.

William Haggas had been in the royal procession on Wednesday and he put his name back on the invitation list for next year by becoming the first trainer to provide the King and Queen with a winner at Royal Ascot in the King George V S., named after the present monarch's great grandfather.

Bred by the late Queen, Desert Hero (GB) hails from a family which has been well represented at the royal meeting in recent years. His dam Desert Breeze (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is a full-sister to the G2 Hardwicke S. winner Dartmouth (GB), who appeared at Royal Ascot in three consecutive years, and both siblings were gifted to the Queen by their breeder Sheikh Mohammed.

The 'new Ascot', as old-timers still like to call it, can feel a little devoid of atmosphere on occasion, even on the big occasion, but not so for a royal winner. Every step, every balcony and every tier was stuffed with racegoers cheering in Desert Hero and Tom Marquand, as the King and Queen, accompanied by the Princess Royal and her daughter Zara Tindall, arrived in the winner's enclosure.

“This is what it's all about for us, and when you are given the privilege of training some horses for the late Queen and The King and Queen, it's an honour,” said Haggas.

“They have been looking forward to Royal Ascot for a long time and they hoped to have as many runners as possible. I think they will be absolutely delighted. It's very important for horseracing, but it's also important that the King and Queen enjoy it, which they clearly appear to do. Long may that continue.”

It didn't take long, however, for the King to have his thunder stolen by the upstager-in-chief, Lanfranco Dettori. With the quality of horses on offer from Wathnan Racing, the breakthrough owners on the scene who have made quite a splash this week, Dettori will certainly be enjoying this new, albeit brief, association.

Wathnan Racing is the operational name for the horses owned by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, whose brother Sheikh Joaan is already a familiar face on the international racing scene as the principal of Al Shaqab Racing and owner of Haras de Bouquetot.

First, Gregory (GB) gave the team the Queen's Vase, only for Courage Mon Ami (GB) to plunder an even bigger prize 24 hours later after an epic stretch battle with the plucky Coltrane (Ire) in the Gold Cup. What these hugely exciting emerging stayers have in common, as well as being trained by John and Thady Gosden, is that their Royal Ascot victories were both their first runs in the colours of Wathnan Racing.

Courage Mon Ami was bred and raced until recently by Anthony Oppenheimer of Hascombe and Valiant Studs, who was also the breeder of Gregory's sire Golden Horn (GB). Gregory represents Philippa Cooper's Normandie Stud and a family which has been replete with quality stayers over the years. While the latter has the target of the St Leger, the four-year-old Courage Mon Ami, similarly unbeaten, has announced his presence at the top of the staying division having arrived in the Gold Cup straight from a Goodwood handicap. This he won a day after Gregory landed the Cocked Hat Stakes at the same course.

“It's a wonderful day for Hascombe and Valiant,” said Oppenheimer as he congratulated the horse's new connections by the winner's circle.

“We're very pleased. We've got plenty of the family. We very nearly retired him before he ran because he was so big, but he had those two fantastic races last year when he won by about ten lengths.”

As Oppenheimer watched the presentation, made by the King to Courage Mon Ami's new owners, he was joined by Jayne McGivern, who now owns Golden Horn, having bought him last year to stand at Overbury Stud, where he has covered 184 mares this season.

“Your horse is doing very well!” Oppenheimer said to McGivern with a grin. “I'm very pleased with Golden Horn, he's doing much better than ever before. I have a couple of really nice horses by him coming up.”

While Courage Mon Ami's victory means that the extraordinary Frankel (GB) has been represented by a Group 1 winner on every day of Royal Ascot so far, from a mile to two and a half miles, it cannot be overlooked that Oppenheimer has enjoyed great success in the past with another of his sons, Cracksman (GB). Now a Darley second-season stallion, Cracksman is responsible for one of the most exciting three-year-old colts of the season in the Prix du Jockey Club winner Ace Impact (Fr).

Olly Tait of Australia's Twin Hills Stud and his old friend Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock have been charged with the advising and buying duties for the Qatari-based Wathnan Racing, and both have passed with flying colours in delivering on their brief.

“I was asked to buy some proper horses who could go to the big meetings and compete in the big races, and this is as big as it gets,” said Brown. “Olly is the advisor for Wathnan Racing, which was the leading stable in Qatar over the winter. He approached me and said that they were interested in buying a few horses. I obviously jumped at the opportunity. I've know Olly for 25 years. We actually lived next to each other in Newmarket when we first there in about 1998. The opportunity to work with him was extraordinary. We haven't bought very many, we've been very selective, but there are a couple more to come out.”

There is just one part of the brief that Tait and Brown may struggle to adhere to if the current level of success continues.

Brown added, “The owners want to be under the radar slightly, though I think the last two days has just blown that apart, but they are private people. It was just a case of getting started with a few horses and this has been a dream start.”

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Seven Days: Bahrain’s Burgeoning Success

It has been another banner week for the breeze-up sector, not to mention the burgeoning Bahraini participation in European racing.

Following Classic victories for Cachet (Ire), Native Trail (GB) and Eldar Eldarov (GB), more graduates of the two-year-old sales scene lifted one of last weekend's major races in Britain, the G2 Mill Reef Stakes, and also the G3 Stockholm Cup.

Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) was imperious in the Mill Reef, and was the standout in a magnificent seven winners on Saturday for Roger Varian, which also included landing a Group 3 with Mitbaahy (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}) and the Listed Doonside Cup with Royal Champion (Ire) (Shamardal).

Varian had also featured prominently the previous weekend, claiming his second St Leger with Eldar Eldarov, who, like Sakheer, is owned by Bahrain's Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who races under the banner of KHK Racing, a name which only appeared on the British racing scene in 2020. This season KHK Racing has had 12 individual runners from six different stables.

Through trainer Fawzi Nass and bloodstock agent Oliver St Lawrence this is an outfit that has been making quite a splash at the sales in recent years, its purchases including the 2020 Arqana Select Sale topper Pure Dignity (GB), the Dubawi (Ire) half-sister to Sottsass (Fr), who is raced in partnership by Shaikh Khalid and his brother Shaikh Nasser Al Khalifa. She has raced just once, winning well on debut at Newmarket, and is entered on Wednesday at Kempton.

St Lawrence said, “This is only the second crop of three-year-olds for KHK Racing in Britain, so to have a Classic winner and then a very promising two-year-old is very exciting.

“It's also very important for racing, and all the shaikhs that are involved in Bahrain are really enjoying it.”

Bred by Drumlin Bloodstock, Sakheer, who was bought as a foal by Camas Park Stud, was sold at Arqana 18 months later by one of the original breeze-up men, Willie Browne of Mocklershill. St Lawrence signed for him at €550,000 a year after picking up Eldar Eldarov at the same sale for £480,000 from Norman Williamson.

On the forthcoming return of a lovely broodmare prospect, St Lawrence said, “The intention is for Pure Dignity to run on Wednesday and if all goes well, Roger will try to find a black-type race for her later in the season. Then we will put her away, and she will race on next year, all being well.

“I think both Shaikh Nasser and Shaikh Khalid are very keen to try to build up a quality broodmare band which will obviously take a bit of time.”

Shaikh Khalifa, who also races horses individually as Victorious Racing, has enjoyed success this year at Britain's flagship meeting, Royal Ascot, where Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}), yet another breezer, won the G2 Coventry Stakes for Archie Watson. He also owns the Listed winner and Group 3 runner-up Rocket Rodney (GB) (Dandy Man {Ire}).

St Lawrence added, “It has been a dream season and I am lucky enough to be buying these expensive horses, With that comes a lot of weight of trying to produce some good ones, but I think so far we are fulfilling that remit, though this season will be a tough one to follow.”

Those charged with running racing in Bahrain have signalled their intent to increase the domestic racing programme, with the G3 Bahrain International Trophy steadily gaining more traction, and the second Bahrain Turf Series set to kick off just after that in early December. On the back of recent results it is not hard to imagine that we will see increased Bahraini participation in British racing, too.

Easy to Please

In Scandinavia, the Lodge Park Stud-bred Hard One To Please (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) has been making merry this season. The winner of the Swedish and Norwegian Derbys in July and August, he stepped into Pattern company to land Sunday's G3 Stockholm Cup in the hands of Pat Cosgrave for trainer Annike Bye Hansen.

An £8,000 Goffs Sportsman's yearling-turned-80,000gns breezer, Hard One To Please was bought by Walter Buick at the Tattersalls Guineas Sale. It could be a big week for the family as his half-sister Dandy Alys (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who was recently runner-up in the G3 Sweet Solera Stakes, is entered for Friday's G2 Rockfel Stakes. Their dam, the nine-year-old New Approach (Ire) mare Alyssum (Ire), has a Camacho (GB) yearling filly in Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Sale.

Move Over Hollie and Tom

Hollie Doyle and Tom Marquand are rightly feted, both individually and as racing's unofficial golden couple, but two other young jockeys, Saffie Osborne and David Egan, who also happen to be a couple, stole the limelight in the last week.

On Thursday, the second Racing League drew to a close in Britain, with a sensational 6,539/1 treble from Saffie Osborne, who duly lifted the £20,000 prize as the leading rider of the series. The 20-year-old jockey's most enjoyable moment of that evening would surely have been her victory on 40/1 shot Raising Sand (GB) for her father Jamie. The 10-year-old son of Oasis Dream (GB) has been a stalwart of the Osborne stable and his eighth win came two years after his last victory.

Osborne's recent run of success has propelled her into the top 50 riders in the country, the only other female on that list along with Doyle, who is second behind William Buick.

For David Egan, 22, it has been an up-and-down year. He lost his retainer with Prince AA Faisal in July, having previously ridden the owner-breeder's Mishriff (Ire) to victory in the $20 million Saudi Cup, G1 Dubai Sheena Classic, and G1 Juddmonte International. Taking the news of that reversal with admirable equanimity, Egan kept his head down, kept riding, and for his boss Roger Varian has been at the heart of a real purple patch for the stable, winning his first Classic on Eldar Eldarov and notching four wins at Newbury on Saturday, including in all three group races, two of which were for Varian and one for Hughie Morrison on Stay Alert (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).

Angel Shouldn't Be Kept in the Dark

It is hardly a news flash to say that Dark Angel (Ire) is an excellent stallion but Yeomanstown Stud's 17-year-old somehow seems to be a little overlooked. He shouldn't be, for he is currently riding high in the European sires' table in fourth position behind Dubawi (Ire), Frankel (GB), and Sea The Stars (Ire). That leading trio can perhaps be percieved more as 'Classic' sires, but Dark Angel has also been among the Classic winners this season via his daughter Mangoustine (Fr), winner of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, in which she narrowly beat the 1,000 Guineas winner Cachet.

The son of Acclamation (GB) was among the major winners on three continents on Saturday. In Canada, Dark Angel's two-year-old son, the Godolphin homebred Mysterious Night (Ire), strolled to victory in the G1 Summer Stakes to become his sire's twelfth Group/Grade 1 winner. This followed Mysterious Night's triumph in last month's G3 Prix Francois Boutin and was one of three graded stakes winners for Charlie Appleby in North America on Saturday, along with Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}).

Another of his juveniles, Barefoot Angel, bred by Guy O'Callaghan, landed the G3 Firth of Clyde Fillies' Stakes at Ayr, while earlier that day in Australia, the six-year-old Top Ranked (Ire), a former Group 3 winner for James Tate in Britain, had claimed his first southern hemisphere stakes win in the G3 Bill Ritchie Handicap for Annabel Neasham and Australian Bloodstock.

Bravo, Mon Ami

Cracksman (GB) is making a pleasing start to his stud career with ten winners already on the board from his 26 runners to date, including the Listed winner Dance In The Grass (GB). It will also be worth following the progress of another son of Frankel (GB) bearing Anthony Oppenheimer's colours who made the most eye-catching start to his racing career last week.

Courage Mon Ami (GB), out of a full-sister to Group 2 winner Bronze Cannon (GB) (Lemon Drop Kid), was well adrift of the main pack in the early stages when making his debut at Kempton on Friday, but that slow start gradually turned into a steaming finish as the three-year-old passed all his rivals with a ground-eating stride that saw him win eased down by five lengths. Certainly one for the notebook.

Tijuana's Record Enhanced by Tunnes

It would seem that the fairytale of the small breeder Paul Vandeberg still has a few chapters to be written. Vandeberg's lone broodmare Tijuana (Ger) (Toylsome {GB}) is already the dam of Arc winner Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}), and her three-year-old son Tunnes (Ger) (Guiliani {Ger}) has now added the G3 Deutsches St Leger to his victory last season in the G3 Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen.

The latter had seen him made winter favourite for the Deutsches Derby, but a setback ruled him out of a spring campaign. Trainer Peter Schiergen indicated on Sunday that the colt will now be aimed at the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern in early November, the race in which his elder brother was second two years ago after winning the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin. Before that, Tunnes could head to Longchamp for the G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris, a fortnight after Torquator Tasso will attempt to defend his Arc crown.

Meanwhile, Vandeberg is sitting pretty with a yearling full-brother to Torquator Tasso and a weanling full-brother to Tunnes at home.

The Americans are Coming

Lope De Vega's excellent run, which has seen him recently notch his 100th stakes winner, was extended on Sunday across the pond with the victory of Faith In Humanity (Fr) in the G3 Pebbles Stakes at Belmont at the Big A (so named for the races held at Aqueduct while Belmont Park undergoes development work).

Faith In Humanity, bred in partnership by Ecurie des Monceaux and Lordship Stud, is yet another European-bought stakes winner for Klaravich Stables to add to the list which includes the Grade 1 winners McKulick (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Digital Age (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Word has it that American buyers will be out in force for the Orby and October Sales, and who can blame them? With a seeming reluctance from American breeders to use turf sires based in the US, and the exchange rate for the dollar against euros and sterling currently extremely favourable, the best place to shop for horses for an expanding turf programme is in Europe.

Farewell to Her Majesty

As this column was being written, the solemnities of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II had brought much of Britain to a near standstill.

On Sunday in Newmarket during the Henry Cecil Open Weekend, the public gallops which preceded a morning of stable tours were led by two of the Queen's horses, Educator (GB) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Saga (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), ridden respectively by Michael Hills and Rab Havlin wearing the royal silks in tribute.

A number of the Queen's racehorse trainers were observed among the congregation at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle for the service of committal. For many involved in racing, the last we saw of the Queen in public was at Ascot last October for Champions Day when she presented the trophy for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and was herself awarded with a commemorative medal to mark her induction in the British Horseracing Hall of Fame. Her Majesty's fellow inductee Lester Piggott was also at Ascot to be honoured that day. Now, in a mournful time for the sport, both are gone, but neither will ever be forgotten.

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