Emma Berry | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Weekly Wrap: Positives To Be Found In Yearling Market

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Weekly Wrap: Virtual Reality

In ordinary times, this week would mark the revving up of the European bloodstock charabanc: standing room only, destination Deauville. As the threat of a second quarantine hangs over visitors or returnees from France to the UK like the Sword of Damocles, it’s probably just as well that the traditional start to the yearling season has been delayed.

This coming weekend, there will be no short shuffle between racecourse and sales ground for the Prix Jacques Le Marois and other delights ahead of a frenetic evening of activity in the ring at Arqana. Instead, those of us in the UK will look on with envy as the permitted 5,000 racegoers in the Normandy seaside town enjoy a feast of action. Meanwhile the British government on one hand urges people back into offices and restaurants but bans an essentially outdoor Goodwood spectator test day at the eleventh hour.

Confused? Yep, that’s pretty much the mindset of the British population right now. For our friends in Ireland, we can add frustration to that description. No bloodstock sale has been held on the island since February, and the 14-day mandatory quarantine for incomers from all countries bar those on the ‘Green List’ means that the store sales of the coming fortnight at Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland will be held without the usual melée of Irish, British and French participants. It is fair to expect that there will be further tinkering with the yearling sales programme ahead of its start at Doncaster on Sept. 1.

As it has been shown already through these strange times, it is of course perfectly feasible to conduct bloodstock auctions online and, for those forced to remain remote, to engage local agents to do their bidding. But, just as dreaded Zoom meetings are a poor substitute for talking to people face to face, so is it pretty unsatisfactory for the sales to be so limited in the number of attendees. Gone are those ringside conversations that end with one or more people agreeing to a leg in a previously unconsidered purchase, or that chance sighting of a horse not on the list who just happens to catch an owner’s eye as he turns to go back in his stable.

It will work, up to a point, because it has to, and we have all had to adapt to change in life and routines. But, as we are seeing with crowdless racing, our sport as entertainment is so much more than just what happens on the track. It’s also the raised glasses between races, the hubbub of banter at the pre-parade ring and, for this particular train nerd, that feeling of anticipation as the doors hiss closed at Ely station en route to York for a spotless summer’s day on the Knavesmire. One can only hope that the yearning for those days is felt throughout racing’s fan base and that we can return in our droves next year, all the more grateful for having missed out on so much in 2020.

In Doyle We Trust
This column makes no apologies for repeated mentions of Hollie Doyle this season because: a) we’d love nothing more than seeing a woman crowned champion jockey, and b) she’s great.

In the three years from when Doyle first started race-riding in 2013 she rode just six winners. Now she notches almost double that number in a fortnight and, in the last month, she has been rewarded with her first two group winners. The second of those came on Saturday on the Roger Charlton-trained Extra Elusive (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in the G3 Rose of Lancaster S. It was the perfect start for her association with owner-breeder Imad Al Sagar, for whom she was named retained jockey on July 26.

The following day Doyle added the listed Prix Moonlight Cloud to her burgeoning tally of stakes wins when she guided Maystar (Ire) (Mayson {GB}) to his first black-type win.

Maystar’s win prompted double celebrations for trainer Archie Watson and the Hambleton Racing syndicate, who also combined to win the G3 Rathasker Stud Phoenix Sprint S. at the Curragh with Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}).

Watson tends to work in tandem with Blandford Bloodstock’s Tom Biggs at the sales and the pair picked up Maystar at last year’s Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-up Sale for €35,000. The five-time winner is entered for the Tattersalls August Sale. Meanwhile, 6-year-old Glen Shiel, who is closely related to Godolphin’s dual Group 1 winner Farhh (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), also joined Watson’s stable last year from the Goffs UK Spring Sale. A treble winner at up to nine furlongs for Andre Fabre before being sold to Biggs and Watson for £45,000, Glen Shiel has looked more and more effective since sliding down the distance scale and his three wins this year have all come at six furlongs.

The past week was also tinged with sadness for another Godolphin graduate as James McAuley’s bargain buy Sceptical (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) suffered a fatal injury on the gallops. The 4-year-old had been a revelation since joining Denis Hogan’s stable as an unraced 3-year-old after his purchase for £2,800. He won four of his seven starts and finished in the first three in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. and G1 Darley July Cup.

A Regal Dynasty
Lagrion (Diesis {GB}) may have been only a moderate campaigner herself but she was an over-achiever at stud, her 12 foals including the Group 1 winners Dylan Thomas (Ire) (Danehill), Queen’s Logic (Ire) (Grand Lodge) and Homecoming Queen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). Through one of her daughters, Lagrion’s dynasty extends to this year’s Derby winner Serpentine (Ire), a son of Galieo (Ire) and the Oaks runner-up Remember When (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), whose exclusive matings with the champion sire have resulted in five black-type winners.

Queen’s Logic was crowned the champion 2-year-old filly of 2001 and her exploits for Jaber Abdullah and Mick Channon led to the move of Lagrion from the ownership of her breeder Kip McCreery to the Coolmore team. Queen’s Logic has exerted quite an influence on York’s G2 Lowther S., a race won by herself, her daughter Lady Of The Desert (Rahy) and grand-daughter Queen Kindly (GB) (Frankel {GB}), all of whom raced for Abduallah.

In the last week, however, it was the turn of the tiny 1000 Guineas winner Homecoming Queen to increase the family’s standing when her daughter Shale (Ire) won the G3 Frank Conroy Silver Flash S. with apparent ease on just her third start. Like her three-parts-sister Remember When, Homecoming Queen has also been wedded to Galileo since retiring to stud and all four of her foals of racing age are winners, including the group 2-placed Berkeley Square (Ire). It would be no surprise to see Shale enhancing the family’s Classic record next year.

Family Matters
There’s nothing like starting the year with a promising run from a 3-year-old. Back on Jan. 23, 2012, Bernard Benaych and Jocelyn Targett almost certainly left Cagnes-Sur Mer delighted—the latter perhaps slightly over-refreshed by a pale rosé—after their representatives Keira (Fr) (Turtle Bowl {Ire}) and Bunny Lebowski (Fr) (Echo Of Light {GB}) ran first and second in the 3-year-old maiden.

Fast-forward eight years and the refreshment is still flowing freely for Targett, who indulged in some Paul Gascoigne-style celebrations following the victory of Bunny Lebowski’s daughter Velma Valento (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) in the listed Prix du Pays d’Auge at Clairefontaine.

The following day, there was cause for further celebration for Benaych who co-owns Keira’s son Port Guillaume (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) with Claudio Marzocco and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. The 3-year-old colt, who started his career winning the same newcomers’ race, the Prix du Suquet, as his mother on Jan. 23 of this year, has since progressed into a worthy Arc contender. His sole defeat came when fifth in the Prix du Jockey Club and his latest victory was Saturday’s strike in the G2 Prix Hocquart Longines.

The continuity of these two families will be similarly pleasing to the trainers of Velma Valento and Port Guillaume, Christophe Ferland and Rouget, who in each case also trained the sire and dam of the winner.

Cup Runs Dry For Europeans
Opinions are divided as to whether the increasing international allure of the Melbourne Cup is a good thing for Australia’s iconic staying contest. Those who believe that the high number of overseas participants in a field limited to 24 runners has irreparably changed the profile of the race for “battlers” may find some consolation in this woeful year that there will be reduced competition from European stables.

With heightened coronavirus restrictions now in place in Melbourne, it was confirmed last week that Godolphin’s Newmarket stables of Saeed Bin Suroor and Charlie Appleby will not be sending runners to the Spring Carnival. Lloyd Williams, who has won the Melbourne Cup six times, most recently with the Joseph O’Brien-trained Rekindling (GB), has also stated that “health is paramount” when it comes to considering which, if any, of his horses currently in training with O’Brien will travel this year.

While the OTI Racing-owned San Huberto (Ire) (Speightstown), winner of the G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier in June, looks set to make the journey from Fabrice Chappet’s stable, plans are still uncertain for his fellow resident Skyward (Fr) (Camelot {GB}). The 4-year-old won Sunday’s G3 Prix de Reux and has now triumphed in four of his six starts, including last season’s listed Prix Turenne. He is owned in the majority by Arrowfield Stud’s John Messara.

“He’s only lightly raced and has a lot of upside,” Messara’s son Paul told our sister publication TDN AusNZ. “We bought him for the Melbourne Cup, so we’d like to go down that direction if at all possible. We will have a discussion this week. We need to work out what we can do with him and what options we have in the current environment.”

When Rekindling won the Cup in 2017, he led home an Irish-trained trifecta filled by Aidan O’Brien’s Johannes Vermeer (Ire) and the Willie Mullins-trained Max Dynamite (Fr). The following year it was won by another 3-year-old, Cross Counter (Ire), trained by Charlie Appleby. The Hughie Morrison-trained Marmelo (GB) was second and Prince Of Arran (Ire), representing Charlie Fellowes, was third, delivering a clean sweep for Britain.

In 2019, Flemington-based trainer Danny O’Brien scored a massively popular home win with Vow And Declare (Aus) (Declaration Of War), who narrowly held off runners trained by Aidan and Joseph O’Brien as well as Prince Of Arran again. While Danny O’Brien will set Vow And Declare for a return mission on the first Tuesday of November, he also has the exciting northern hemisphere 3-year-old Russian Camelot (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) as a potential Cup runner. The stable-mates are due to have a jump-out at Flemington on Tuesday and could take each other on over a mile in the G1 Makybe Diva S. on Sept. 12.

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The Weekly Wrap: Ladies of a Certain Age

Let’s not forget, however great the lure of the sales ring or a wafting cheque book may be, thoroughbreds are bred to race. In the case of Prince Khalid Abdullah, Coolmore and Peter Brant, it could be said that we have three owner-breeders who are somewhat immune to commercially-based decisions when it comes to keeping a horse in training. Nevertheless, they are to be commended for racing on mares of the calibre of Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}).

At ‘only’ five, Magical is the youngster of the trio. Even at six, the other two clearly still have many good years ahead of them at stud, granted a normal run. Their eventual offspring will likely race for their respective breeders, initially at least, so it’s not a case of missing out on sales of potentially lucrative yearlings, but remaining in training does present a degree of risk, however sound and talented the individual in question. It would have been all too easy to opt for the safe route and retire any of these horses after their 4-year-old seasons but, thankfully for the racing public, we are still able to enjoy their exploits on the track, putting them in an elite bracket of older racemares alongside the likes of Goldikova (Ire), Ouija Board (GB), Treve (Fr), Winx (Aus) and Black Caviar (Aus).

One vagary of this year’s disrupted and delayed season was that the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup was run two months later than its usual late May slot and only a day after the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO S., thus giving Magical the option of staying at home rather than meeting Enable for a fourth time. Last year she was runner-up to the Juddmonte titan in both the G1 Coral-Eclipse and G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks.

Plenty has been committed to print regarding the three-runner King George and, yes, it was unsatisfactory but, as already stated last week, far more unsatisfactory was the fact that the eight remaining runners at the five-day stage hailed from just two stables. Perhaps more concerning, in a week in which Investec dropped its Derby and Oaks sponsorship six years ahead of schedule, was to see the social media comment from Sheikh Fahad, who sponsors the King George with his brothers under their QIPCO banner, that it was “such a shame” to see the race attract only three runners after the scratching of Anthony Van Dyck (Ire).

Let’s hope that this is just a blip and that, in hopefully more regular seasons to come, the race holds its appeal for connections of the top 3-year-olds. It was a desperate shame not to see Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) take on Enable—perhaps we will at York. Now a record-breaking treble winner of the King George, Enable herself won it as a 3-year-old, as did her sire Nathaniel and grandsire Galileo.

Sistercharlie, representing one of France’s pre-eminent breeding operations, Ecurie des Monceaux, was perhaps a little ring-rusty in her delayed return in Saturday’s GII Ballston Spa S., in which she could manage only third. The winner, Canadian turf champion Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind) is another in the twilight years of a Flat career at the age of seven. That has clearly been no barrier to success in 2020, as this was her fourth consecutive victory of the year and she looks likely to be asked to defend her title in the GI EP Taylor S. The admirable mare has won 18 of her 36 starts and more than $1.6 million in prize-money. Not bad for a horse plucked from a Gulfstream Park claimer for $16,000 back in 2017.

Fine Season For Maglietta Fina
Enable remains the pin-up girl for her sire Nathaniel but he was also represented over the weekend by Lady Bowthorpe (GB), who recorded her first stakes success in the G3 Betfred Valiant Fillies’ S. at Ascot. In fact, all bar two of Nathaniel’s group winners are fillies, including his other two Group 1 winners Channel (Ire) and God Given (GB).

Lady Bowthorpe was contributing to a fine spell for her dam, Maglietta Fina (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}), a five-time winner over the minimum trip for her Rome-based owner-breeders Paolo and Emma Agostini of Scuderia Archi Romani. The Agostinis keep just two mares at Fittocks Stud and have had a long association with Luca and Sara Cumani, notably through their homebred G2 Challenge S. winner Le Vie Dei Colori (GB) (Efisio {GB}), who was trained by Luca.

For Maglietta Fina, Lady Bowthorpe was a second group winner of the season after her first foal Speak In Colours (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) added the G2 Greenlands S. and G3 Ballycorus S. to his improving record. Some black type is also surely within reach of the mare’s 3-year-old Pretty In Grey (GB) (Brazen Beau {Aus}), who won her fourth consecutive race at Newmarket on Saturday off a mark of 86. The Italian connection continues as she is trained by Speak In Colours’s former trainer Marco Botti and still races in her breeders’ colours.

“The Agostinis are very small breeders but they have done very well over the years, particularly with fast horses,” said Sara Cumani. “What we have to decide now is whether Maglietta Fina’s Muhaarar (GB) colt goes to Book 1 or Book 2 of the October Sale.”

Maglietta Fina was herself a vendor buyback when offered at the SGA Select Yearling Sale in Milan in 2010, and both Speak In Colours and Pretty In Grey were retained at 25,000gns and 24,000gns when offered as foals. The William Jarvis-trained Lady Bowthorpe was bought by James Toller for her owner Emma Banks for 82,000gns, while last year’s Mayson (GB) yearling filly was the mare’s first six-figure sale when bought by John Foote for 100,000gns. Sadly, she has subsequently died while in quarantine in Australia.

Cumani added, “Lady Bowthorpe was a very good walker but she was the exception, and the reason Maglietta Fina’s progeny have not sold so well so far is that they are not terribly good walkers, but walking is not everything, as we know.”

Maglietta Fina has no foal this year but is now in foal to Holy Roman Emperor (Ire). She is a half-sister to the multiple group winner Tullius (GB), who won 11 of his 42 races and was a member of the second crop of Le Vie Dei Colori, who stood at Rathbarry Stud for three seasons until his premature death at the age of just eight.

Le Vie Dei Colori was not the only stallion bred by the Agostinis, who were also responsible for Italian group winner Per Incanto (Street Cry {Ire}), who stands at Little Avondale Stud and is currently fourth in the New Zealand sires’ table.

Meanwhile Lady Bowthorpe became the first group winner for Emma Banks, who also owns the useful Arigato (GB) (Poet’s Voice {GB}), who has two entries at Goodwood this week, and previously raced fellow Jarvis trainee and dual listed winner Mrs Gallagher (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}).

Santosha Memorable For Many
The form of the G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S., won by Dandalla (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), has been boosted twice in the last week. Firstly, runner-up Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) won the listed Star S. over seven furlongs at Sandown and, on Sunday at Ascot, third-placed Santosha (Ire) reappeared to win the G3 Princess Margaret S. The filly became not just the first group winner for her trainer David Loughnane and young jockey Tom Greatrex, but also for her freshman sire Coulsty (Ire), who stands at Rathasker Stud.

Coulsty has had just nine runners so far, four of which are now winners, and he is one of four sons of Kodiac (GB) in the first-season sires’ list along with Prince Of Lir (Ire), Adaay (Ire) and Kodi Bear (Ire).

A daughter of Princess Zoffany (Ire), Santosha also became the first group winner as a broodmare sire for Zoffany (Ire) in the same week that Tiger Tanaka (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}), who was third in the G2 Prix Robert Papin, provided his first black type in this regard. To date, there are just 20 horses of racing age out of Zoffany mares.

It was also a good week for Zoffany’s father Dansili (GB) in the broodmare sire division, where he was represented by G2 York S. winner Aspetar (GB) (Al Kazeem {GB}), and the listed winners Dark Vision (Ire) (Dream Ahead) and Valia (Fr) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

Ladies First
Two breakthrough racing moments were provided in the last week by Claire Kubler and Hollie Doyle.

Kubler joined her husband Daniel as official co-trainer, the pair becoming the first husband-and-wife team in Britain to hold a training partnership. The BHA rule was changed in this regard in May to allow more than one name to appear on a training licence. To date, Paul Cole has been joined by his son Oliver, and Simon Crisford by his son Ed.

Doyle broke new ground by becoming the first female jockey in Britain to be retained officially by an owner, in this case Imad Al Sagar, who has previously raced Group 1 winners Authorized (Ire), Decorated Knight (GB) and Araafa (Ire).

Doyle has ridden 38 winners since the Flat jockeys’ championship started on June 1 and is currently lying in fifth place, ahead of former champions Jim Crowley, Ryan Moore and Silvestre de Sousa.

The post The Weekly Wrap: Ladies of a Certain Age appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Weekly Wrap: Time For British Racing To Heed Warnings

If we can view Europe’s largest training centre of Newmarket as a microcosm of the wider racing world, then events in the last week give a pretty concerning snapshot of the future of the sport.

On the positive front, there was a first winner for the town’s newest trainer, Terry Kent, who, at 53, is also one of the longest-serving members of its workforce, having previously been a jockey and worked for trainers Michael Jarvis, Julie Cecil, Saeed Bin Suroor and Roger Varian. Another recent recruit to the training ranks, George Boughey, continued to show his aptitude for the job when Songkran (Ire) (Slade Power {Ire}) completed a hat-trick from just four runs for his stable. We’ll hear more about Boughey in a TDN feature later in the week.

Along with the good news came the sad announcement that Ed Vaughan, an extremely popular member of the racing community in Newmarket and beyond, is to relinquish his licence at the end of the season. This news came barely a week after Vaughan had celebrated the biggest win of his career with Dame Malliot (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) in the G2 Princess Of Wales’s S. and just a day after Miss Chess (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), a juvenile half-sister to the G1 Prix de Diane winner Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), had made an extremely promising debut for him at Yarmouth. Then on the day of the announcement Magic J (Scat Daddy) underlined Vaughan’s capabilities by pushing his rating into the 90s with victory in a decent Sandown handicap.

Here we have a trainer with decent horses for major owners deciding that training racehorses is no longer a viable business. Vaughan isn’t the first to have come to this conclusion and he won’t be the last, certainly not in this awful year. But the plight of British racing, and its stakeholders’ apparent inability to hold racecourses to account regarding what many of those providing the show believe to be a fair return, is now desperate enough for the cracks to be showing vividly through the paper.

The National Trainers Federation (NTF) was moved to release its own statement later that day which acknowledged Vaughan’s success in selling horses on to race abroad in Hong Kong and Australia and calling for a reform to the funding of the sport. It read, “It is all the more sad that such a trainer is being forced to relinquish his licence due to the inadequate levels of prize-money in British racing and the resulting economic pressure on his business. While a successful record of capitalising on the value of British-raced horses in the overseas market is admirable, this should not be a prerequisite for running a sustainable training business in the most highly regarded horseracing industry in the world.

“The funding model of our sport requires two reforms: an improved return on betting turnover; at 0.6% this is by far the lowest of our international competitors. And a revenue sharing agreement with the media rights holders to ensure a fair distribution of the commercial revenue that is jointly created by horsemen and racecourses.”

Ralph Beckett, who is currently president of the NTF, added his personal thoughts on the situation via his website, on which he stated, “I hope that those who are in a position to do something about it, i.e. the racecourses (who receive £1,000 per runner from media rights) and bookmakers, are proud of what they haven’t achieved.

“Don’t forget Ed made this announcement one week after the biggest success of his 16-year training career. This is a man with no dependants, training successfully for owners who pay their bills on time, who owes no one, and cannot make it pay. He is the proverbial canary in a coalmine.

“One of the things that used to attract people to racing is that no one knew where a good horse would come from. Nowadays, the best horses are in fewer and fewer hands and it is damaging irreparably the sport as a spectacle.”

To further emphasise this point, on Monday morning it transpired that only two stables would be represented through eight potential runners in Saturday’s G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. The fact that Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) are entered guarantees a thrilling contest if both mares stand their ground, and they of course represent the two most powerful stables in Britain and Ireland respectively. But how have we reached a situation where only two stables in the British Isles contain a horse good enough to contest our premier weight-for-age race?

Courses Must Help The Cause
While one does not begrudge the success of the big stables it is hard not to view the growing void between 200-horse yards and smaller outfits, which seem to be ever contracting, as similar to supermarkets and corner shops. Sooner or later the former push the latter out of business. Owners of course have the right to send their horses wherever they wish, and the rise of the ‘super yard’ in turn provides an awful lot more business for pre-training yards, some of which charge a higher daily rate than many small trainers.

But Beckett’s comments about damaging the sport as a spectacle are accurate, and this is why so many people revelled in the July Cup victory of Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) for Roger Teal. It was simply refreshing to be hearing about some different names for a change.

We have come a long way from racing being the ‘Sport of Kings’ to one of greater inclusivity for a wider range of owners through syndicates. Current COVID-19 restrictions are in the process of being eased further to allow a greater number of racegoers to be in attendance, but the utmost priority must be given to ensuring that all owners can attend with a horse if they wish to do so and, taking sensible precautions, be allowed to convene on course with their trainer and jockey.

This year has been testing but racecourse bosses need to take a longer-term view. Prize-money was already poor before the pandemic and, while many will accept a short-term cut in levels while tracks get back up and running, this cannot be sustained. Owners and smaller breeders leaving the sport—which they will if the situation doesn’t improve rapidly—will inevitably lead to smaller race fields and a decline in media rights income for the racecourses.

Calls for unity between the Horsemen’s Group and the RCA are well meaning, and of course the united front presented in order for racing to resume ahead of any other sport in Britain shows what can be done, but this must not come at the continuing detriment to the people whose support is at the root of the industry: the owners.

Red In The Black
Four years apart by birth, Red Evie (Ire) and Snow Fairy (Ire) were the standout performers for their sire Intikhab, who died shortly after his retirement at Derrinstown Stud in 2016. The influence of both mares has been felt this season, with Snow Fairy’s second foal, Virgin Snow (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), winning a fillies’ handicap before gaining black type when second in the G3 Hoppings S.

Red Evie had a head start on Snow Fairy and has been mated exclusively with Galileo (Ire). The outstanding Found (Ire), winner of the Arc among her three top-level victories, is the highest achiever of Red Evie’s six winners. Found it turn has made a promising start to her own stud career as the dam of this year’s Chesham S. winner Battleground (War Front).

With a proliferation of Galileo mares at its disposal, the Coolmore team has made good use of the American-based War Front to provide a successful blend, and another cross with the very best Japan had to offer, Deep Impact (Jpn), also proved fruitful up until his death last year.

Saxon Warrior (Jpn) is the flagbearer for this particular cross but Sunday’s Curragh maiden winner Snowfall (Jpn) looks like another we’ll be hearing plenty about in future. The 2-year-old filly is the first foal of Found’s sister Best In The World (Ire), and if the mare didn’t quite live up to her portentous name she was certainly more than useful and posted a listed win at two followed by a Group 3 victory at three.

Snowfall wasn’t the only good winner over the weekend to represent the Deep Impact-Galileo cross as Harajuku (Ire) earned herself a TDN Rising Star for her debut success at Chantilly. The Andre Fabre trainee represents the Niarchos family, who were among the first European breeders to patronise Deep Impact and were rewarded for this with the G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Ire).

Harajuku is herself from a family which has also been in the news this year as her dam Phaenomena (Ire) is a full-sister to Nightime (Ire), the dam of Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Furthermore, Harajuku’s 4-year-old half-brother King Of Koji (Jpn), by another Shadai resident, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), won the G2 Meguro Kinen in Tokyo in May. Their 3-year-old sibling Mystical Land (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) is also with Fabre and is entered for a Dieppe maiden on Wednesday.

Don’t Stop Believing
Ubettabelieveit (Ire) had originally been entered for the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale by pinhookers Roger Marley and John Cullinan of Church Farm and Horse Park Stud, who bought the Kodiac (GB) colt for 50,000gns from breeder Ringfort Stud at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale. But in a delayed season the youngster was one of a number of horses sold privately and he notched his first win on his second start on the track adjacent to the Goffs UK sales complex the day before the sale eventually took place. He then stepped up a level to win the listed National S. at Sandown last week, with another colt withdrawn from the breeze-ups, Mcmanaman (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), taking third.

Trained by Nigel Tinkler, Ubettabelieveit continued a fine season for Derek and Gay Veitch’s Ringfort Stud, which has recently been represented in the winner’s enclosure as co-breeders with Paul Hancock of the Cheveley Park Stud-owned Indie Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). The same breeding combination was also responsible for fellow Newmarket July meeting winner, the 2-year-old Youth Spirit (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), while Ringfort alone bred Mayfair Spirit (Ire) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), who won his sixth race on June 28.

Juvenile winner Rebel At Dawn (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) is another winning Ringfort graduate, as is last year’s dual Group 2 winner Threat (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), who holds an entry for next week’s G1 Qatar Sussex S. at Glorious Goodwood.

Eagles Has Landed
Steve Parkin’s Clipper Logistics has become a major force in the owners’ ranks and has been represented by 41 runners already this season in Britain. Over the weekend a pair of Group 3 races came Parkin’s way via Eagles By Day (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Queen Jo Jo (GB) (Gregorian (Ire}), whom he owns in partnership with Roger Peel.

Eagles By Day, the first son of Vanessa Hutch’s excellent staying mare Missunited (Ire) (Golan {Ire}), has a somewhat different profile to the earlier, faster type of horse with which one usually associates Parkin’s all-grey silks. His victory in the John Smith’s Silver Cup on his first start for David O’Meara should see him go on to bigger and better things, perhaps even back at Parkin’s local track, York, where he is being aimed at either the Ebor or the Lonsdale Cup.

Queen Jo Jo was the first group winner for the hugely likeable Gregorian, who raced 25 times in his four seasons in training with John Gosden and is now back at his breeder Maurice Burns’s Rathasker Stud.

Joe Foley and Federico Barberini, who regularly work in tandem at the sales on Parkin’s behalf, bought the group-winning duo and it was to Foley’s Ballyhane Stud that one of the most exciting runners in the Clipper Logistics silks, Soldier’s Call (GB), was retired at the end of last year.

The young sprinter has been well supported in his first season and he will do a good job if he can match the popularity of his stud mate Dandy Man (Ire), who is enjoying another good season. The unbeaten dual group winner Dandalla (Ire) is his flagbearer to date, and on Sunday Dandy Man was responsible for the valuable Weatherbys Super Sprint heroine Happy Romance (Ire), who was the first winner for new owners The McMurray Family. Her trainer Richard Hannon is already eyeing another lucrative pot which will entail a trip to Ireland for the new €320,000 Irish EBF Ballyhane Stud S. The race also carries a bonus of €50,000 if the winner is by a Ballyhane stallion. Joe Foley had better start emptying his piggy bank.

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