Crimson Advocate winning the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot in a photo finish. It was a huge moment and accomplishment for my young syndicate.

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“We were very busy Sunday and by Monday afternoon we were busy again, so I feel pretty good about what we've seen traffic-wise,” he said.

October graduates don't get much important than Crimson Advocate (Nyquist), who was purchased by Dew Sweeper II from the consignment of Beth Bayer, agent, for $100,000 last fall and has won two of her three starts to date. A debut third to future GISW Brightwork (Outwork) at Keeneland this past April, the chestnut earned a trip to the Royal Ascot meeting when taking out the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies in May and made the most of the opportunity by posting a 9-1 upset in the G2 Queen Mary S.

As recently as this past weekend, the October Sale was represented by Time Passage (Tunwoo), an $85,000 purchase by trainer Eddie Plesa for his clients Karl and Cathi Glassman, who prevailed in the Miss Gracie S. at Gulfstream Park this past Saturday.

Nothing inspires confidence in a sale than success at the races, said Wojciechowski.

“Absolutely. When you have those sorts of results, it certainly entices a buyer to come in and maybe they can find one like that,” he said.

The October catalog features a diverse cross-section of stallions from Florida, Kentucky and New York, and should have something for everyone, Wojciechowski said.

“More and more we see a better mix of and we also have some of the sire power that has been in favor as of late,” he said. “We have some Mitoles, Complexitys sold well at the previous sales, so the quality of sire continues to grow for us here.

The October Sale comes on the heels of regional events over the past few weeks which posted mixed results year-over-year. At the Fasig-Tipton California sale, which also included a Horses of Racing Age Section, the average was fractionally higher, but the median took a significant dip while one of every three horses was bought back. The average was down slightly during last week's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale, and there remained an uneasiness in the middle market while buybacks also trended a bit higher.

“From the sales standpoint, I think we're going to see what we've seen at the yearling sales this year,” Wojciechowski offered. “The perceived upper end will sell very well and it might get a little thin in some of the middle spots. But there's no reason we should expect something totally different.”

With sessions beginning at 10 a.m. ET, hips 1-338 and supplemental entries hips 339-359 are set to go under the hammer Tuesday, followed by hips 401-739 and supplements 740-755 on Wednesday. Some 37 yearlings were added to the sale after the catalogs were printed.

The Green family's D. J. Stable acquired last year's joint $210,000 toppers, a colt by Mitole and a Filly by The Factor, each bred in Florida.

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13.30 Curragh, Mdn, €20,000, 2yo, c/g, 7fT
HENRY LONGFELLOW (IRE) (Dubawi {Ire}) wins the award as the day's best-bred runner, being the second foal out of the high-class and versatile Ballydoyle sensation Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who was able to win at the top level at a mile in the 1000 Guineas and QEII and a mile and a half in the Oaks. This is an important maiden for Aidan O'Brien, with last year's TDN Rising Star Hans Andersen (GB) (Frankel {GB}) the latest in a line of winners which includes the luminary Australia (GB) and all eyes will be on this grandson of Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) whose immediate family also boasts Galileo's fellow Classic heroines Tuesday (Ire) and Empress Josephine (Ire).

15.35 Newbury, Cond, £250,000, 2yo, 5f 34yT

RELIEF RALLY (IRE) (Kodiac {GB}) is the star turn in the latest renewal of this valuable Weatherbys Super Sprint S., with William Haggas seeking compensation for the agonisingly narrow defeat of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede's filly in Royal Ascot's G2 Queen Mary S. Denied in the bobber there by Crimson Advocate (Nyquist), the half-sister to the G3 Chipchase S. winner Koropick (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) who was a bargain 58,000gns buy at the Tatts Somerville Sale is a warm order in one of the bigger “sales races” of the calendar but has 20 rivals to overcome.

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Unquestionably, though, the best race anywhere in the world in the last week came at Hanshin on Sunday. In the Takarazuka Kinen, Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) ran the kind of race that few horses can get away with, making his move when nine wide on the turn, but then few horses have his boundless talent. In these parts we will have to console ourselves by watching him on screen rather than in person, but even if Japanese runners couldn't be persuaded to Ascot this year, there was still plenty of international participation to savour. 

Owners from 11 different countries celebrated success at the meeting, including Japan's Tohsihiro Matsumoto, whose Duke of Edinburgh H. winner Okita Soushi (Ire), trained in the increasingly international stable of Joseph O'Brien, was one of two Ascot winners for his trainer, as he was for his sire, the late Galileo (Ire). Though there was no joy for the Australian horses who had travelled, Australia was represented by Terry Henderson's OTI Racing, owner of Docklands (GB) (Maassaat {Ire}), who gave Harry Eustace his second Royal Ascot winner in just two years as a trainer.

Docklands was ridden by Hayley Turner, who in 2019 became only the second woman to ride a winner at the royal meeting after Gay Kelleway. Times are a-changing so fast that only four years later it barely counts as news to say that Hollie Doyle rode three winners at the same meeting, all trained by her main boss Archie Watson, and was third in the jockey rankings behind Ryan Moore and Dettori. Doyle may have outshone her husband Tom Marquand, but he had a memorable day of his own on Thursday when riding a double, the highlight of which was providing the King and Queen with their first Royal Ascot winner in the William Haggas-trained Desert Hero (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

Driven to Success 

The feisty little homegrown hero Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) was one of the feelgood stories of the week in the G2 Hardwicke S. on his first start in 11 months, along with that of Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Fr}), who came from a long last to first when blasting past favourite Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) to take the G1 Commonwealth Cup for Julie Camacho and Steve Brown.

Pyledriver should return to Ascot next month in an attempt to defend his King George title, and there he could meet his fellow Coronation Cup winners Hukum (GB) and Emily Upjohn (GB), not to mention up to three Derby winners.

No fewer than four of the Royal Ascot winners had American owners. Wesley Ward would probably admit to having had a meeting to forget but he remains the most successful overseas trainer with 12 winners to his credit. Flying the flag for the USA was his colleague George Weaver with the demure Crimson Advocate (Nyquist). The filly was one of two juveniles he brought to the meeting but not the one who was sold for £800,000 on the eve of Royal Ascot at the Goffs London Sale. That was No Nay Mets (Ire) (No Nay Never), who finished ninth in the G2 Norfolk S.

The sale-topper, incidentally, Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {Ire}), who was bought for £1.1 million by the Sands family's Bronsan Racing, wasn't beaten far when fourth in the G2 Coventry S. less than 24 hours after he changed hands.

Trading is an ever more ubiquitous element of the racing game these days, with an actual sale, an online sale, or a pop-up sale happening almost every week of the year, along with frequent private transactions.

The Coventry winner River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is almost a rarity in that he had been through just one sale as a yearling when sold by his breeder Pier House Stud for 480,000gns. Queen Mary heroine Crimson Advocate was a $100,000 Ocala October yearling, but a number of her owners bought into her last month after she had shown encouraging form on debut at Keeneland. 

The Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) was sold as both a weanling and a yearling and then withdrawn from the Craven breeze-up by Robson Aguiar, who also does much of the pre-training for the colt's co-owner Amo Racing. Meanwhile, Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio), winner of the Albany S., raced initially in the colours of her breeder Annemarie O'Brien before being sold privately to her American syndicate of owners after winning on debut.

The Arrival of Wathnan Racing

By far the biggest splash on the recent transaction front, however, was made by Wathnan Racing, whose presence on the main stage at Royal Ascot was almost as noteworthy as Elton John's farewell (of sorts) at Glastonbury.

The name Wathnan Racing, which was revealed last week as being owned by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, first appeared in sales results at last year's Horses-in-Training Sale at Tattersalls. The operation's Australian advisor Olly Tait spent 1.75 million gns on nine horses, including Bolthole (Ire) (Free Eagle {Ire}). Now four, he was subsequently twice placed for Alban de Mieulle in Doha before winning two Listed races in France in the last month, including on Saturday at Compiegne.

The most expensive of that set of horses was Inverness (Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}), at 380,000gns, and he got off on the right foot for his new owner when winning the Khor Al Adaid Cup, a local Group 3 in Qatar, from Hamaki (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), who was bought at the same time for 260,000gns. They too are with the French-born, Qatar-based trainer de Mieulle, who has now raced seven of the nine bought at Tattersalls.

The mutterings are that Wathnan Racing has intentions of major expansion. If that is indeed the case, then that aim will likely have been reinforced by two sparkling results at the royal meeting, ably assisted by John and Thady Gosden and Frankie Dettori. 

After the win of Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) in the G2 Queen's Vase on Wednesday, the identity of the main man behind Wathnan Racing was still being guarded. By Thursday, however, when Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) leapt from being a talented handicap winner to a Gold Cup hero on just his fourth start, it was clear that the horses' ownership could not remain under the radar.

With the help of agent Richard Brown and Tait, the Emir of Qatar has secured arguably the two best staying prospects in Britain who achieved the quite remarkable feat of each winning a major group race at Royal Ascot on their first start in the Wathnan Racing colours.

Gregory and Courage Mon Ami were bought respectively from their breeders Philippa Cooper and Anthony Oppenheimer. Courage Mon Ami was gelded over the winter, and Oppenheimer confided at Ascot that at one stage he had considered retiring him unraced because he was so big. Thankfully, his patience prevailed, and the staying division has a potential new superstar in its midst. 

It is of course encouraging to witness the emergence of a major new overseas owner wanting to race horses of this profile. In Courage Mon Ami's case, no stallion career beckons for him, and even the hugely progressive Gregory, who is being aimed at the St Leger, is, sadly, of lesser appeal to commercial stallion farms and was thus perhaps a little easier to buy than a horse of a similar level racing over shorter distances. 

What could become a concern for European nations in the longer term, particularly Britain with its relative paucity of prize-money, is how much the expanding racing programmes in the Middle East will have an effect on field sizes and the general quality of racing.

It is nothing new to see strong participation from a range of Qatari owners at the European sales. The Emir's brother Sheikh Joaan Al Thani established the largely French-based Al Shaqab Racing just over a decade ago, and has been represented by the likes of Treve (Fr), Galileo Gold (GB), Shalaa (Ire) and Toronado (Ire). Their cousin Sheikh Fahad was the trailblazer for the family in Britain, and has an increasing interest in America, through his Qatar Racing operation. The 2011 Melbourne Cup victory of Dunaden (Fr), when the sheikh was still racing under the Pearl Bloodstock banner, can be credited as a major driver for his own expansion, which has included significant sponsorship through QIPCO of the British Champions Series and British Horseracing Hall of Fame. In France, the Arc meeting and the Prix du Jockey Club are both sponsored by Sheikh Joaan under the name of Qatar.

In recent years, Saudi Arabian owners have become more prolific buyers at the horses-in-training sales and it is easy to see that this will only increase given the expansion of the racing programme and boost to prize-money on offer in Riyadh and Ta'if, coupled with a small domestic breeding programme.

Dubai was of course the forerunner in the Gulf region when it came to establishing a major international race day that morphed into a carnival. The inaugural Dubai World Cup was run in 1996 with a line-up of horses from America, Australia, Britain, and Japan, as well as three trained by Saeed Bin Suroor. It took Dubai's neighbours several decades to attempt to catch up, with the Saudi Cup launched in 2020 and with $20 million in prize-money for that race alone, overshadowing the $12 million on offer in the Dubai World Cup.

With its Emir's Trophy meeting primarily, Qatar also launched a bid to attract international runners to Al Rayyan racecourse in Doha, though this hasn't really caught on in the same way. Meanwhile, Bahrain launched its own Turf Series in 2021 with a specific aim of luring overseas runners, and has ambitions to add to the limited number of pattern races currently run on the island, headed by the G3 Bahrain International Trophy. Members of Bahrain's ruling family have also become more prominent as owners in Britain in recent seasons, with St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB) and G2 Mill Reef S. winner Sakheer (Ire) representing Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa's KHK Racing, while last week's G1 King's Stand S. winner Bradsell (GB) runs for his brother Shaikh Nasser's Victorious Racing. Both operations have been active at the top end of the breeze-up and yearling sales, while Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, chairman of Bahrain's Rashid Equestrian and Horse Racing Club, is the co-owner/breeder with Shaikh Abdullah bin Isa Al Khalifa of last season's G1 Fillies' Mile winner Commissioning (GB).

With various members of Dubai's Al Maktoum family and Saudi's Prince Khalid Abdullah having had long established ties to Europe and beyond as the heads of significant owner-breeder operations, Arab participation in world racing is nothing new. What is new, however, is the establishment of a significant Gulf season with a more joined-up feel, starting in Bahrain in November and with lucrative meetings in Dubai, Saudi and Qatar through to the end of March. This will not only draw more foreign-trained runners with the promise of big purses, but will almost certainly mean that more horses than ever are bought at horses-in-training sales from outside that region and exported permanently, a situation that can only exacerbate the issue of dwindling field sizes in Britain.

To say change is coming is to overlook the fact that the racing and bloodstock scene is permanently evolving. What hasn't changed is the allure of Royal Ascot, the crown jewels of British racing, with its irrepressible pulling power. Similarly precious jewels, however, are the horses at the core of this event, or more pertinently, their bloodlines. Lessons should be learned from other European neighbours with dwindling broodmare bands and fewer top-class races, that there is long-term pain to be had from the short-term gain of selling off too many prized assets.

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The daughter of Nyquist has been well travelled in her short career, racing in Kentucky, Florida and now England in the last two months. From a debut third at Keeneland, she landed the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies' S. at Gulfstream Park, a win-and-you're-in qualifier for the royal meeting. 

Among the combined ownership group is Jake Ballis's Black Type Thoroughbreds, who bought into the George Weaver-trained Crimson Advocate after her first start.

The Lexington-based syndicator said, “George really liked the filly on debut at Keeneland and I have a lot of horses with him. She ran third and George called me up after the race and said 'We've got to put some people together to buy this filly. She's very, very fast'. The people who owned her originally buy to race and then sell.”

He continued, “George said he was going to put her on the turf at Gulfstream and then we're going to Royal Ascot. When we bought into her, that was the dream, but plans in this sport don't always work out. This one did, and we brought all our friends and families here; it couldn't be better. I've brought two people here who have never owned a horse before and they're my good luck charm–they're two for two.”

Of the tight finish, in which his filly held on by a nose, Ballis added, “From my vantage view I had zero idea who had won and I just said 'Please one time just give me the photo', and then my phone started ringing.”

The Kensington Palace S. which followed the Queen Mary may not have carried black type but it was no less celebrated for myriad reasons. The Crager family, who own the 25/1 winner Villanova Queen (Ire), have horses in their native America with Graham Motion, but the daughter of Mastercraftsman (Ire) was a special Royal Ascot winner for Jessica Harrington in the joyful week that she was given the all-clear following recent treatment for cancer. It was also a first win at the meeting for Ireland's champion jockey Colin Keane.

“We have a few in training with Mrs Harrington in Ireland and a few with Roger Varian in England. We also keep a few mares at Baroda Stud,” said New York-based William Crager, whose father Bill, the CEO of Envestnet, missed out on their first Royal Ascot victory but is due to join the celebrations in England later this week.  

He continued, “We really love racing over here especially. We get treated so very well and this is just incredible. The Harringtons are incredible–they are so good at what they do. We felt hopeful about what the filly could come and do but I don't think we could have expected that. And Colin–what a ride! All in all, what an experience. We're very thankful.”

Joining the celebrations in the winner's circle was Ben McElroy, who is no stranger to success at Royal Ascot thanks to the dual winner Campanelle (Ire). The agent also bought Villanova Queen, for €60,000, at the Goffs Orby Sale and she has gone on to win twice in Ireland, as well as being Group 3-placed and finishing eighth in last year's Irish 1,000 Guineas. Bill Crager also tasted success at last year's July meeting at Newmarket with his first homebred Miss Carol Ann (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) but this was the family's first runner at Royal Ascot.

“We've gone in right on top but we're in for the long ride,” William Crager said. “Dad and Paul Hondros are flying over later in the week and we'll all be celebrating. 

“Ben bought this filly at Goffs; he's a phenomenal agent. [Eventually] She'll be back at Baroda and bred here [in Europe].”

There were plenty of first-time winners at Royal Ascot on Wednesday, one of those being Wathnan Racing, a name we will surely hear plenty more if their high-profile purchases continue apace. The G2 Queen's Vase winner Gregory (GB) was bought by Wathnan Racing, the leading owner in Qatar this season, after his victory in the Listed Cocked Hat S. for owner-breeder Philippa Cooper. Similarly, the group now owns Isaac Shelby (Ire), runner-up in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains and fourth in the St James's Palace S., while on Thursday Wathnan Racing will be represented by Courage Mon Ami (GB) in the Gold Cup. If their colours look familiar it is because they are only a shade away from those made famous by Germany's Gestut Rottgen.

As Gregory was led in triumphant, Frankie Dettori aboard, the inevitable roar from the crowd turned to cries in some quarters of, “Jump, Frankie, jump.”

Jump he did. How could he not? As Dettori beamed from the rostrum he was joined by Thady Gosden as the latter's father John, co-trainer of two group winners on the day ,watched on from the sidelines. Two doors about to close, perhaps, as one is pushed open, strengthened by new foreign investors in British racing. 

https://twitter.com/Ascot/status/1671560821867171840?s=20

The Royal Ascot 'firsts' continued with George Weaver being joined on the trainers' roll of honour by Tom Clover, who saddled Rogue Millennium (GB) to win the G2 Duke of Cambridge S. for The Rogues Gallery syndicate.

The story of the Dubawi (Ire) filly was widely reported last year when she ran in the Oaks as she was bought by Billy Jackson-Stops for 35,000gns as an unraced two-year-old from her breeder Shadwell during that operation's reduction of stock.

Any lingering regrets that the Shadwell team may have had about 'one who got away' will soon have been erased by the barnstorming victory of Mostahdaf (Ire) in the day's feature, the G1 Prince of Wales's S. His half-sister Nazeef (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) is already a dual Group 1 winner for the operation and now Shadwell has another enticing stallion prospect in the form of Mostahdaf, who has appeared at the royal meeting in each of the last three years and is bred on the same Frankel-Dubawi cross as Adayar (Ire), whom he beat into third, half a length behind the runner-up Luxembourg (Ire).

Sheikh Hamdan was the leading owner during what would transpire to be his final Royal Ascot in 2020. It is easy to imagine that he would be delighted to see the foundations he laid being built upon by his daughter Sheikha Hissa with many of the same trusted lieutenants at her side for wise counsel. 

Since Sheikh Hamdan's passing in March 2021, Shadwell has been represented by no fewer than six Group 1 winners in Baaeed (GB), Hukum (GB), Eshaada (GB), Minzaal (Ire), Anmaat (Ire), and now Mostahdaf: four homebred, and two bred by the remarkable team at Ringfort Stud. That those results have been provided by four different trainers spreads the enjoyment further still. Sometimes the red isn't needed: the white and blue has been doing just fine for Shadwell. 

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Cannonball (Aus) (Capitalist {Aus}) and Artorius (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) have separate sprint engagements, in the G1 King's Stand S. and G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S. respectively, and with no fear of rivalry next week, the two made happy companions as they strolled along Newmarket Heath on Thursday morning.

A day after Cannonball's strong work on the track at Ascot, his co-trainer Peter Snowden remains delighted with the colt's preparation for his first start outside Australia next Tuesday. It's hard to fault the three-year-old. With a gleaming deep chestnut coat and relaxed demeanour, he looks to have taken the travel and change of scenery in his stride, and he will have Brett Prebble, who won the G3 Maurice McCarten S. on Cannonball in March, back in the saddle.

A year apart in age, Artorius and Cannonball previously shared the same training duo Anthony and Sam Freedman, with the latter having been moved to the Snowdens after his last start of 2022. For the next couple of weeks they are stabled alongside each other in a wing of Charlie Fellowes' Bedford House Stables. 

Sam Freedman has returned to Newmarket with Artorius, who spent a fair portion of last year in Europe, finishing third in both the G1 Platinum Jubilee S. and G1 July Cup before going on to Deauville to run sixth  behind Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest.

There's talk of “unfinished business” from Freedman, who says that the four-year-old colt is thriving. He currently tops the market for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S. a week on Saturday. He's not the only Aussie challenger for that prize as The Astrologist (Aus) (Zoustar {Aus}), who has been in town for a while at Marco Botti's yard, will make his third British start at Ascot, having most recently finished runner-up to Jumbly (GB) in the G3 John of Gaunt S. at Haydock last weekend.

Coolangatta (Aus) (Written Tycoon {Aus}) has kept her distance from Newmarket despite it being the former home town of her co-trainer David Eustace. His father James was spotted on board his hack as Cannonball and Artorius sauntered past on Thursday, perhaps keeping tabs on one of the filly's main opponents for the King's Stand on Tuesday.

Artorius and Cannonball on Newmarket Heath on Thursday | Emma Berry

Over on the other side of town in the Heath Stud yard at the National Stud are George Weaver's two juveniles No Nay Mets (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Crimson Advocate (Nyquist), each of whom won their respective Royal Ascot qualifying races over five furlongs at Gulfstream Park on May 13. Under the watchful eye and guiding hand of Blair Golen, riding the saintly Angus, borrowed for ponying duties from Jamie Lloyd, the filly then the colt had a gentle canter on the 'Between the Ditches' turf gallop and seemed unfazed by their new surroundings.

More on his toes on his first morning out on the Heath was the Kenny McPeek-trained Classic Causeway, ridden by the evergreen 72-year-old Danny Ramsey. Last year's G1 Belmont Derby winner looks set to take on Adayar (Ire), Luxembourg (Ire)  and co in what will be an intriguing edition of the G1 Prince of Wales's S., some 23 years after his late sire won the St James's Palace S., ushering in a run of five Group 1 victories through the summer of 2000.

Meanwhile, No Nay Mets is set to take part in what looks to be one of the hottest contests of the week, the G2 Norfolk S., a race his sire won a decade ago. Prior to that, he has an engagement in the Goffs London Sale on Monday.

“We have just been getting him accustomed to things,” said Golen. “Everything we run on in America is pretty much flat, so we have been taking him out on the seven-furlong stretch here to get him used to things.

“We have come here to win. In American racing, there is very rarely a big field, so that is a big challenge. Luckily, we have Frankie Dettori riding him and, if anybody knows how to ride the course, it is definitely him. So I think that is to our advantage. It means everything to have him riding and, if that makes Wesley Ward jealous, then even better.”

While McPeek arrives in the UK on Friday, Ward touched down on Wednesday afternoon, shortly before his horses arrived at Stansted airport and made the brief onward journey to Chelmsford City Racecourse, where they will stay until early next week. 

The quartet of runners, which was joined by a stable pony who is reportedly named Shanahan, contains one whose progress from his dazzling debut will be of huge interest next week and beyond. American Rascal (Curlin) is of course a son of the much vaunted Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy), a dual winner at Royal Ascot in the G2 Queen Mary S. and G1 King's Stand S. Her firstborn has big shoes to fill.

Keeping Norfolk S. entrant American Rascal company is the Chasemore farm-bred Fandom (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who has returned to not far from where he was born to run, most probably, in the Windsor Castle S.

The maiden Bundchen (Gun Runner) is Queen Mary-bound with the help of Joel Rosario, while Twilight Gleaming (Ire) (National Defense {GB}), who was runner-up in that race two years ago, returns for the King's Stand. 

Ward has stolen a march on all visiting trainers for Royal Ascot by saddling 12 winners at the meeting since his first–and second 24 hours later– in 2009. No Nay Never was his next four years later. 

Recalling his meeting the late Queen in the royal box following that victory in 2013, Ward said, “What was great about it was she did most of the chatting. When you first get up there you are nervous and she just starts firing questions at you and it puts you so at ease. She was just picking my brain and asking all these questions about how I train, how I came here and asking about all the success I had.

“It was unbelievable how much knowledge she had, not just of racing but myself–I couldn't believe the Queen of England even knew who a trainer like myself from a different country like America was and what I had accomplished.

“You would think she would just be coming to the races and focused on English racing and everything else she had going on in her life. She was just a wonderful person.”

She was indeed. The final Group 1 race of the meeting will be named in perpetuity in memory of the monarch who, for almost 70 years, cleared her diary for the week of Royal Ascot. The pandemic interrupted Queen Elizabeth II's attendance in recent years, and her absence from the royal procession next week will be keenly felt. The show goes on, however, and from the opening race named to commemorate Queen Anne, who founded the racecourse that is now one of the most famous in the world, right through to the longest Flat race in the calendar, the Queen Alexandra S., action of the highest calibre will be played out in front of a global audience.

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No Nay Mets, in particular, has had an extraordinary month. On Apr. 17, he posted the fastest two-furlong work at the OBS Spring Sale, blitzing :20 4/5 for Ciaran Dunne. It looked very much as though a pinhooking experiment for Houston Astros third-baseman Alex Bregman, looking to finance his nascent program with a few colt sales, was going to prove a rewarding experience. The Bregman family, through agent Mike Akers, had exported this one for €180,000 from Arqana last August, as the first foal of Group-winning juvenile Etoile (War Front), herself out of a Classic-placed sibling to G1 Derby winner Pour Moi (Ire). In the event, however, bidding in Ocala stalled at $335,000. Dunne called Weaver and asked whether he could turn the horse round in time for the Royal Palm Juvenile S., a Royal Ascot qualifier carrying a $25,000 travel bursary.

Crimson Advocate | Ryan Thompson

Wavertree Stables had also overseen the education of Crimson Advocate, after her acquisition by a pinhooking partnership for $100,000 at the OBS October Yearling Sale. Weaver was asked to put her in the shop window on the racetrack, and she duly shaped with abundant promise when a green third in a dirt sprint at the Keeneland spring meet. At the price they were asking, however, Weaver put together a syndicate of his own patrons-for whom she then switched to turf, for the fillies' equivalent stake at Gulfstream.

Both horses broke fast and never looked back. Wesley Ward had the odds-on favorite in each race, and now Weaver is hoping to emulate his colleague's pathfinding success at Ascot.

“Ciaran called after the colt didn't make his reserve and asked if I thought I could get him ready for the stake,” Weaver recalls. “I quickly glanced at the calendar and saw I had about 15 days to get it done, but I said yes. It wasn't going to be a matter of physical fitness. Those 2-year-olds at the sales, they work the quarter in 20-and-change and gallop out strong. It was mostly just a matter of getting him educated at the gate.

“And he adapted very well. Every horse has their own personality and make-up, and he's just very classy and smart and willing. Every time we asked him to do something, he did it. The gate can be a little stressful for a lot of racehorses and many of them wouldn't handle an accelerated program. But I took him five or six times, and he never batted an eye.”

That reflects well both on this particular colt but also on Dunne, who like all 2-year-old consignors must strike that difficult balance between satisfying the market's addiction to a “bullet” and keeping a horse confident and progressive.

“But Ciaran's just an all-round horseman,” Weaver says. “He could train at the track if he wanted to. He's one of many that do a great job over there. I'm sure some people perhaps don't pay as much attention to the horse's mental wellbeing, and do the crazier stuff, but Ciaran's horses are well educated and ready to go on when he's done with them.”

Crimson Advocate has been in the barn rather longer, since around March 20. She was part of a package assembled with an eye on precocity and private resale, with the Horses of Racing Age Sale in July as safety barrier.

“She trained like she had some early speed and kind of shocked me at Keeneland, where I really expected her to be up on the pace,” Weaver says. “But in a 12-horse field, going four and half furlongs, she just got a bit scared and backed off the bridle for a moment. A couple of offers came in, and from my standpoint I thought, 'Hell, at that price I'd like to buy her for my own people.'

“I hadn't really seen the bottom of her in the morning, and hadn't breezed her on turf, so there was some guessing involved. But she'd shown me enough that, if they were going to sell, I'd rather keep her in the barn than not. It was a good deal for both sides. Luckily, these guys stepped up and got paid back pretty quickly.”

Weaver has made one previous foray to Ascot, sophomore sprinter Cyclogenesis (Stormy Atlantic) finishing down the field in 2015. While that horse proved not to be the right fit, the experience certainly left his trainer eager to try again.

“He was undefeated at the time,” Weaver reflects. “But just looking back-and hindsight's always 20-20-he was a big, heavy horse that was hard to keep fit. He needed company to breeze, and not really sound enough to take the kind of training he needed anyway. But I did think, 'Man, wouldn't it be cool to come back over here with something that had a good chance!' We went to Dubai early in my career, when I won the [G1] Golden Shaheen [with Saratoga County (Valid Expectations)] in 2005, and obviously had fun on that trip. But I'd never been to England and, while I'd heard about Ascot, there's just no way to explain it unless you can be there and take in the pageantry, the whole experience.”

Ward's best Ascot raiders have tended to leave the home defense standing at the gate, which obviously augurs well for the dash shown by Weaver's pair at Gulfstream. But he is under no illusions that any single dimension will suffice on its own.

George Weaver | Ryan Thompson

“They do have a great first gear and that gives them a little bit of an advantage, particularly with the 2-year-olds,” Weaver acknowledges. “But look, you need to bring a good horse there, whether they're quick out of the gate or not. A lot will also depend on the conditions, but we're hoping they get a fair chance to show what they can do because I think they've both earned a shot.”

The whole enterprise promises to be a stimulating new chapter for the respective owners-whether for Bregman, whose Turf adventure began only a year ago, or for the Crimson Adventure partnership, which features several barn stalwarts.

Some of those, in fact, are also involved in Pass The Champagne (Flatter), who finally nailed her graded stakes in the GII Ruffian S. two years after running Malathaat (Curlin) to a head in the GI Ashland S.

“She really deserved that,” Weaver says. “I'm ashamed it's taken me this long to get her to win one of those races, but after the [GI Kentucky] Oaks she needed time and then she only got back for one race last year before going back to the shelf. Now she's finally been able to put some races together in a row, and learned how to use her acceleration at the right time. I think that's the key. She's got a burst of speed that has to be timed correctly. But she's always been a really talented filly and we'll put her in a position to win some big races this year.”

The obvious next assignment is a return to Belmont for the GI Ogden Phipps S. With luck, perhaps, Pass The Champagne can take up the baton of Vekoma, who has naturally been greatly missed since his departure for Spendthrift. For now, however, it remains too early to know whether these Ascot raiders can build sufficiently on their promising foundations to help fill the void left by the GI Carter H. and GI Met Mile winner.

“At the very least, they're going to be nice 2-year-olds,” Weaver says. “Whether they go on, after five-eighths of a mile, we'll have to see. Not many horses that are so speedy and precocious do you see running a mile and a quarter the next year. But every horse is different. More Than Ready won at Keeneland as a 2-year-old and went on to a very prolific career.”

That was a horse Weaver saw develop at close quarters during six years as assistant to Todd Pletcher. Both men, of course, had previously been with D. Wayne Lukas. That Hall of Fame grounding means that Weaver was always going to feel comfortable with the kind of opportunity he seized, among 929 winners since 2002, with Vekoma.

“It does help to have that experience,” he accepts. “Being in Wayne's barn, initially, and then with Todd was certainly a blueprint. You recognize those horses when you get them, and know what to do. I'm forever grateful for the education I had, from [walking hots for] John Hennig right through to when I went out on my own.”

Like so many other graduates of the Lukas academy, Weaver has exulted in the rejuvenation of the old master at 87.

“I pull for him every time he runs that good mare,” he says of Secret Oath (Arrogate). “Wayne was a great coach and role model and obviously a lot of great trainers worked underneath him. I look back on those days fondly and I'm amazed and so proud that he's still doing it like he always has.”

The elixir, plainly, never loses its hold. So Vekoma has gone? You just go out and seek another one.

“You want horses in your barn that take you to those great races,” Weaver says. “As a trainer, when you get your hands on an elite racehorse, it's a whole different feel you get. They start to amaze you. It almost feels like it doesn't matter what you do: breeze once or twice, half-mile or mile. That's the type of horse Vekoma was. He was so determined, I'm not sure I know a horse that would beat him around one turn as a 4-year-old, when he was right.”

Yet there are times when even this all-consuming obsession is placed in chastening perspective; when even training a Vekoma is no more than getting one quadruped to run a circle faster than another. Last summer at Saratoga, a meet full of great memories for the couple, Weaver's wife and assistant Cindy suffered a serious brain injury in a training accident. Her ongoing rehabilitation has demanded immense fortitude and patience. There have been times when everything else has seemed trivial; but there have been times, too, when the horses have offered not just distraction but purpose.

“Initially, when she was unconscious-for a little over three weeks-it was hard to get through [the meet],” Weaver admits. “But at the same time I needed to focus on keeping the business going, keeping the pace going. And she moved on from there, she emerged, and she's slowly but surely getting better and better as time goes by. She's put a lot of work into it and, yes, the whole experience has put a lot of perspective on everything. You just can't help but be a changed person, both of us.

“We're sad that she can't go out to the barn and do what she's always done, which is love those horses and teach them their job and make them happy. She's just a terrific horse person. Luckily, a lot of her inspiration and lessons had rubbed off, on me and all our staff, and we try to carry that on while she's not there. And we always hope for the best. You never know what's going to happen in life, so you try to take whatever silver lining you can.”

And those consolations can abide, whether you win a maiden claimer or, indeed, find a couple of horses for Royal Ascot.

“I don't know,” Weaver says. “It's so hard to get to that winner's circle, sometimes it feels like at any level. And I think that that's part of the satisfaction. Because, man, you know how much goes into it, how much can go wrong. In that moment, watching your horse, there's just such majesty in the way they go out there and do what they know to do. It's something really rare to be a part of. Obviously I made a life out of that, and I can't imagine doing anything else.”

The post London Calling Weaver Pair appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“We really liked her going into the race up there,” said winning trainer George Weaver. “I expected her to be on the lead or close to it, but she was green. We put some blinkers on her today and she broke sharp and looked good the whole way.”

Out of a half-sister to the dam of champion 2-year-old filly Caledonia Road (Quality Road) and MGSW Officiating (Blame), Crimson Advocate also calls both GISW Hymn Book (Arch) and GISW Data Link (War Front) as members of her family. Her only younger sibling is a newborn colt by Leinster. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

ROYAL PALM JUVENILE FILLIES S., $100,000, Gulfstream, 5-13,
2yo, f, 5fT, :56.25, fm.
1–CRIMSON ADVOCATE, 118, f, 2, by Nyquist
                1st Dam: Citizen Advocate (MSW & GSP, $327,450), by
                                Proud Citizen
                2nd Dam: Twilight Service, by Horse Chestnut (Saf)
                3rd Dam: Sunset Service, by Deputy Minister
($100,000 Ylg '22 OBSOCT). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-R. A. Hill Stable, Swinbank Stables, Black Type Thoroughbreds, RAP Racing, Chris Mara, BlackRidge Stables LLC and Amy E. Dunne; B-Whitehall Lane Farm (KY); T-George Weaver; J-Edwin Gonzalez. $58,280. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-1, $65,580.
2–Ocean Mermaid (GB), 118, f, 2, Kingman (GB)–Sparkling Surf
(GB), by Frankel (GB). (210,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-P. Winkworth (GB); T-Wesley A. Ward. $18,800.
3–The Myth, 118, f, 2, The Factor–Honey Trap, by Medaglia d'Oro. ($210,000 Ylg '22 OBSOCT). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Gary Barber, and D. J. Stable LLC; B-Hickstead Farm (FL); T-Mark E. Casse. $9,400.
Margins: 3HF, 5 3/4, HF. Odds: 3.70, 0.80, 13.30.
Also Ran: My Sweetheart Dani-(DH), Turf Rocket-(DH), Kiss, Bucchera, She Has Class, Scootaloo, Fumblerooski, Girvin Star.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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