Tag: Darley

Dubawi’s Indigo Girl Takes the May Hill

Earning TDN Rising Star status on debut when winning over a mile at Yarmouth Aug. 30, George Strawbridge’s Indigo Girl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) made an impressively rapid jump forward to capture Thursday’s G2 bet365 May Hill S. at Doncaster. Held up in last early by Frankie Dettori after an awkward start, the 10-3 second favourite was delivered with an eye-catching move stand’s side to swamp the long-time leader Dubai Fountain (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) with 1 1/2 furlongs remaining. Despite running green in front, the full-sister to the same connections’ group 1 winner Journey (GB) carved out a comfortable 3/4-of-a-length success from that rival, with the 6-5 favourite Zabeel Queen (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) a length further behind in third. “I rode Journey and she’s the same type–not over-big, but she’s got loads of gears,” Dettori said. “She travelled smoothly and quickened well. She ran a bit green and ducked left and right, but it’s only her second start so you can excuse her for that. She’s from a talented family and everything is in the right place. She seems easier to handle than her siblings. She’s got a good future and fingers crossed she can go all the way.”

John Gosden was enjoying a fifth renewal of this Classic pointer and said, “She did it very smoothly at Yarmouth and she’s been in great form since. The race didn’t knock her back a bit–it was rather like a piece of work. If we’d gone for another novice race, she would have had to lump a lot of weight and I don’t like doing that with two-year-olds. You can end up giving seven pounds to a group horse and you don’t know it. The May Hill is a beautiful race over the straight mile. The track is in beautiful nick and I thought we’d bring her here and see if we could nick a bit of black-type. She relaxed beautifully, which is key, and smoothly came through. I admit when she hit the front she ran around, but that’s the trainer’s fault because when I work them at home, I don’t like them bursting clear and breaking another one’s heart.”

Of targets, he added, “She’s obviously got a lot of talent. As long as she continues to enjoy her racing, she can move upward. There are two options this year–the [G1] Prix Marcel Boussac and the [G1] Fillies’ Mile. We could look at either of those or wait until next year, we’ll just have to see at this stage. Her mother won a Prix Royal-Oak and her full-sister won the Fillies & Mares Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot over a mile and a half. Funnily enough, I see this one as more of a mile to a mile-and-a-quarter filly. She travels strong and has a great turn of foot.”

As mentioned by her trainer, Journey captured the 2016 G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. when she beat Speedy Boarding (GB) (Shamardal) by four lengths. Also runner-up in that race the previous year and successful in the G3 Pinnacle S. and second in the 2017 G1 Prix Vermeille, she is out of Montare (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) who took the G1 Prix Royal Oak, G2 Prix de Royallieu and G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris. Her dual listed-winning dam Contare (GB) (Shirley Heights (GB) is also the second dam of Worth Waiting (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), winner of the G2 Dahlia S. and G3 Prix Minerve. Montare’s other black-type performer is Travelling Man (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who was placed in three pattern races including when third in the G2 Grand Prix de Deauville. Her 3-year-old filly Mostly (GB) (Makfi {GB}) has won at Kempton this term, while her yearling filly is also by Dubawi.

Thursday, Doncaster, Britain
BET365 MAY HILL S.-G2, £60,000, Doncaster, 9-10, 2yo, f, 8fT, 1:38.84, gd.
1–INDIGO GIRL (GB), 126, f, 2, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Montare (Ire) (G1SW-Fr, $852,544), by Montjeu (Ire)
2nd Dam: Contare (GB), by Shirley Heights (GB)
3rd Dam: Balenare (GB), by Pharly (Fr)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. O/B-George Strawbridge (GB); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £34,026. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $49,762. *Full to Journey (GB), Hwt. Older Mare-Eng at 11-14f, G1SW-Eng & G1SP-Fr, $912,717; and 1/2 to Travelling Man (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), MGSP-Fr, $127,771. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Dubai Fountain (Ire), 126, f, 2, Teofilo (Ire)–Nafura (GB), by Dubawi (Ire). O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum; B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Mark Johnston. £12,900.
3–Zabeel Queen (Ire), 126, f, 2, Frankel (GB)–Dubai Queen, by Kingmambo. O/B-Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum (IRE); T-Roger Varian. £6,456.
Margins: 3/4, 1, NK. Odds: 3.33, 8.50, 1.20.
Also Ran: Lilac Road (Ire), Star of Emaraaty (Ire), Prado (GB), Great Vibes (GB), Mere Green (Ire), Ubuntu (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Astern Yearlings Could Embody Best of a Rich Pedigree

Three years ago, Darley’s Sales Manager Darren Fox boarded a plane for Australia to see if  Astern (Aus), their highly-rated son of Medaglia d’Oro, could be a good fit for the American roster.

“Upon making the trip to Australia to make sure he would work physically, it took all of about three seconds of looking at Astern to say, ‘Yes, this horse will work in America,'” Fox recalled. “He has a lot of attributes that we look for and he was, in any jurisdiction, a high-level, high-performing racehorse. So it was really a no brainer.”

Astern joined his sire at Jonabell Farm’s stud barn in 2018 as a shuttle stallion, and is now seeing his first American yearlings take to the sales ring.

Having raced exclusively in Australia for trainer John O’Shea, Astern won on debut before taking the G2 Silver Slipper S. and the G3 Kindergarten S. From there, he won the G2 Run to the Rose followed by the G1 Golden Rose.

“He was an unbelievably impressive winner of that race,” Fox said of his record-breaking victory in the Golden Rose. “He’s rated as the best winner of that race in Australian racing history. And that, of course, is a key stallion-making race for them. So he was a very accomplished 2-year-old and 3-year-old, and [his 126 Timeform rating] makes him the highest-rated son of Medaglia d’Oro anywhere in the world, past or present.”

He added of Astern’s racing ability, “He had very fluid, beautiful, efficient action. His jockey, James McDonald, called him the best-moving horse he’s ever ridden and described it as like being airborne. That’s high praise from a highly-accomplished jockey down there.”

Fox said that he believes Astern has inherited the very best from both sides of his pedigree.

“You can see a lot of his sire about him,” he said. “He’s got a great hip, a better hip than Medaglia d’Oro himself. We can attribute that to his broodmare sire Exceed and Excel (Danehill), who is the leading sire of 2-year-old stakes winners in the world. He gets a lot of strength and precocity from the broodmare sire.”

Astern is out of the winning mare Essaouira, who also produced Alizee (Sepoy), a champion 3-year-old filly and three-time G1W in Australia. He also hails from the family of G1W La Baraka (Euclase), as well as Triscay (Marscay), a champion 3-year-old in Australia with five Group 1 wins to her name.

“His dam is arguably the best broodmare in Australia,” Fox said. “It’s an extremely rich, deep, high-caliber family. A large part of Astern’s appeal is the family he brings to the table.”

In his first year at stud in the U.S., Astern filled a book of 120 mares with a $15,000 stud fee. While still reverse shuttling to his home base in Australia, he bred an additional 180 mare in his next two books.

“While Astern stood for $15,000 in his first year at stud in the U.S., he stood for close to $A40,000 in Australia,” Fox noted. “So we like to think of him as an equivalent to Frosted or Nyquist coming to Australia from the U.S. and being offered to [Australian] breeders at a great value to account for the fact that they are from another jurisdiction.”

At the Australian sales, Astern’s progeny sold for up to $A725,000. Now his first yearlings will take on the American market.

“We’ve been pleased with what we have seen with the Asterns,” Fox said. “We have been impressed by their size and he is definitely stamping them. I love their length of body. They’re very correct like he is, with great bone, and they look like natural athletes. I can see a lot of Medaglia d’Oro coming through, which gives us confidence that this is a stallion who will get horses effective on both surfaces.”

Twenty-eight of his yearlings are cataloged for the Keeneland September Sale. Hip 1736, a filly out of Grade III winner Dancing Solo (Giant’s Causeway) and from the family of dual Grade I winner Voodoo Dancer (Kingmambo), sells out of the Small Batch Sales consignment.

“She’s a big filly with natural athleticism,” said Small Batch Sale’s Fletcher Mauk. “To put condition on her is really easy as she holds muscle a little better than most horses. She has the frame and the natural muscle tone. In the barn, she’s easy to be around and takes everything in stride. It’s fun to watch her exercise. She trains like she enjoys it, sets her head and steps underneath herself, and keeps a nice, steady pace.”

Also at Keeneland, Hip 2455 is out of the stakes-winning mare Alex’s Allure (Sky Classic), whose dam Ava Knowsthecode (Cryptoclearance) has produced five graded stakes winners including Grade I winners Justin Phillip (First Samurai) and Greenpointcrusader (Bernardini).

“Astern’s yearlings are spread the right way throughout the sale, and they’re there to be found,” Fox said. “He’s going to appeal to a large cross-section of buyers. These are fast-looking horses. They will be precocious, but I think they will train on at three like he did. I think they will appeal to both surfaces, given what we’re seeing from the yearlings themselves. He has crossed beautifully with the American mare, and we’re excited to see what that can bring to Astern and his progeny.”

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Kodiac’s Campanelle Dominates Morny Rivals

Sent postward as the 17-10 favourite for Sunday’s G1 Darley Prix Morny at Deauville, Stonestreet Stables’ Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) added lustre to a banner season for Tally-Ho Stud with a dominant performance in her first outing beyond the five-furlong trip. She had opened up with an impressive 3 1/2-length score over five in her May 31 unveiling at Gulfstream Park, stepping up to garner Royal Ascot’s June 20 G2 Queen Mary dash on black-type bow in her only other start, and the April-foaled bay went straight to the head of affairs in this straight six-furlong test. Campanelle was comfortable in front for the most part, but a battle looked in store when rivals stacked up in behind as she came under pressure approaching the final furlong. However, any concerns about stretching out to six on softened ground were quickly dismissed as she found more than enough under Frankie Dettori’s urgings inside the final furlong to comfortably hold the vain bids of G2 Coventry S. victor Nando Parrado (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) and Rhythm Master (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) by two lengths and a neck, respectively, and remain undefeated.

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International Glory For Ghaiyyath

Godolphin’s Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) continues to go from strength to strength and only had to go about his usual business to add Wednesday’s star-studded G1 Juddmonte International to his G1 Coronation Cup and G1 Eclipse S. triumphs. Always content on the front end with William Buick holding on to something, the 11-8 favourite was brought up the centre of the home straight and stayed out of reach of Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to win by three lengths, with Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) 1 1/4 lengths away in third. “This horse can do all the things most horses can’t. His high cruising speed, the way he keeps going and at the business end he has another gear just to finish the race off completely,” Buick said. “I love him. He’s a high-class horse and he’s now got everything on his CV. He’s beaten the best around at this trip. He’s the best I’ve ridden without a doubt.”

Despite the line-up being anything but ordinary, this was remarkably uneventful as a race and once Ghaiyyath had shed the attentions of the G3 Musidora S. winner Rose of Kildare (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) soon after the start it was a case of plain sailing. Dubai Millennium (GB) never had the chance to strut his stuff on this pan-flat terrain, but his paternal grandson is making a stellar effort of appearing as his ultimate tribute act in 2020. There were already shades of the extraordinary in his G2 Prix d’Harcourt win at ParisLongchamp last April, but for every big performance during that season there was a drop-off that followed.

Another of his tours de force came in the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden in September, where he issued a 14-length beating to the recent group 1 winner Donjah (Ger) (Teofilo {Ire}), with another 4 1/4 lengths back to the G1 Deutsches Derby hero Laccario (Ger) (Scalo {GB}), but the downside of that was his subsequent 10th in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The real test of whether he could stand up to a racing schedule this year came in the Eclipse, with his spellbinding display in the re-routed Coronation Cup at Newmarket June 5 too far away from his 8 1/2-length success in the Feb. 20 G3 Dubai Millennium at Meydan. With Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in opposition there, any faltering would have been punished but Ghaiyyath stayed strong all the way up Sandown’s unforgiving hillclimb to the line.

Presented with a different test here, he was equally at home pounding along on the even strip of green that runs along the Knavesmire and by the time he had reached the two pole it was clear that he had put Magical in just as uncomfortable a place as Enable had in last year’s Yorkshire Oaks. Despite the typically genuine chase of the second favourite, there was no hope to be found for Ryan Moore as the leader continued in his merciless fashion. Connections of the G1 2000 Guineas winner Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) found out in the last half a furlong that a mile is where he needs to be as he cracked and let Lord North by, but this was simply all about the winner who deserves to be placed in the elite on the honour roll.

Charlie Appleby commented, “I’m delighted with that performance today. To have a horse like that on our hands is an honour. It was a fantastic ride by William and a nice race to watch. He got into a lovely rhythm and I knew coming up the straight, once I saw William gather him up and change his hands, I was confident he would gallop on strongly to the line. It has been noticeable post-race this year that we have been dealing with a mature horse. Thankfully, Ghaiyyath has hit every target. It can be challenging at times but he hasn’t let us down at all.”

Appleby has a rematch with Enable on his mind now and added, “The Arc has always been in our mind–we ran him in the race last year because we felt he was an Arc contender–and I think, on what we have seen this season, he seems to have it all in his bag at the moment. I think everyone will agree that it was very soft ground in the Arc last year and we were drawn out in stall 12, so we wanted to get on the front-end because we felt that it was his style. I think we all held our hands up and said it was the wrong decision as he was doing far too much and never finished the race off at all.”

“We always felt that a mile and a half around two turns in the Breeders’ Cup Turf would be his gig, but we are all in the same position in this unprecedented year,” he added. “We don’t know if we will be able to travel or not, so it’s a matter of firstly appreciating today, enjoying it all and making sure Ghaiyyath is fit and well. Then we can start to map out where we might be able to try and get to. I feel he deserves to be up there with the Godolphin greats. Knowing how sporting His Highness is, I would say a percentage call on whether Ghaiyyath stays in training next year would hopefully be yes.”

John Gosden said of Lord North, “He found the ground a little loose–James [Doyle] said when he asked him to quicken he was spinning his wheels a little. It is a little loose out there with the rain on it. He’s finished off well to be third and we’re delighted. The winner is great–if you let him bowl in front you’ll never see him again. We’ll look at the [G1] Irish Champion Stakes next with our horse.” Andrew Balding said of Kameko, “It looked like he didn’t stay. Oisin [Murphy] felt he travelled into the race really well and just didn’t see it out. We’ll go back to a mile. We’ve got limited options, because he wouldn’t want the ground too soft, so we’ll just have to see.”

Ghaiyyath’s dam is the Late Gita Weld’s runaway G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Nightime (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who also produced the GI Man o’War S., G3 Kilternan S. and G3 Blue Wind S. winner Zhukova (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and the listed-placed Sleeping Beauty (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}). The latter is in turn the dam of the GIII With Anticipation S. runner-up Irish Territory (Ire) (Declaration of War), while Zhukova was purchased by Godolphin for 3.7million gns at the 2017 Tattersalls December Mares Sale. Nightime’s full-sister Phaenomena (Ire) has produced King of Koji (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), winner of this year’s G2 Meguro Kinen.

The second dam is the Listed Platinum S. winner Caumshinaun (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}) who is connected to the GI Sword Dancer Invitational hero King’s Drama (Ire) (King’s Theatre {Ire}). Nightime’s 2-year-old full-brother to Ghaiyyath topped the 2018 Tattersalls December Foal Sale when selling to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for 700,000gns and he is named New Kingdom (Ire). At Goffs November, her latest son of Dubawi set a new record when again being knocked down to Godolphin for €1.2million. Her 2020 foal is a son of Kingman (GB).

Wednesday, York, Britain
JUDDMONTE INTERNATIONAL S.-G1, £275,000, York, 8-19, 3yo/up, 10f 56yT, 2:07.38, gd.
1–GHAIYYATH (IRE), 132, h, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Nightime (Ire) (G1SW-Ire, $299,507), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Caumshinaun (Ire), by Indian Ridge (Ire)
3rd Dam: Ridge Pool (Ire), by Bluebird
(€1,100,000 Wlg ’15 GOFNOV). O-Godolphin; B-Springbank Way Stud (IRE); T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick. £155,953. Lifetime Record: Hwt. Older Horse-Ger at 11-14, G1SW-Ger, MGSW & G1SP-Fr, GSW-UAE, 12-9-0-2, $969,302. *1/2 to Zhukova (IRE) (Fastnet Rock (AUS)), Hwt. Older Mare-Eur at 9.5-11f, GISW-USA & MGSW-Ire, $499,594; and Sleeping Beauty (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), SP-Ire. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Magical (Ire), 129, m, 5, Galileo (Ire)–Halfway To Heaven (Ire), by Pivotal (GB). O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt (IRE); T-Aidan O’Brien. £59,125.
3–Lord North (Ire), 132, g, 4, Dubawi (Ire)–Najoum, by Giant’s Causeway. O-HH Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed Racing; B-Godolphin (IRE); T-John Gosden. £29,590.
Margins: 3, 1 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 1.38, 2.25, 4.00.
Also Ran: Kameko, Rose of Kildare (Ire). Scratched: Aspetar (Fr). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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