Emma Berry | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Weekly Wrap: The Power And The Glory

It has been quite the week for two young stallions from Tally-Ho Stud. We barely stopped hearing about Mehmas (Ire) last season during his record-breaking assault on the freshman sires' championship, and the big question is always how a stallion will follow up on that early promise. It can be a long way to fall after a reputation is so swiftly created, but in the case of the 7-year-old son of Acclamation (GB) it looks very much as if he is consolidating his position as a stallion to follow with great interest.

He now leads the second-season sires' list in Europe and has accrued progeny earnings almost double his nearest rival, Territories (Ire). A further nine black-type winners have been added this year, including Saturday's G3 Anglesey S. winner Beauty Inspire (Ire) and Going Global (Ire), who has doubtless broadened Mehmas's international appeal by winning three graded stakes in California.

Almost certain to try his hand next in stakes company will be Gubbass (Ire), of whom we will hear more in tomorrow's TDN, the unbeaten winner of the Weatherbys Super Sprint.

Mehmas's fee rose in line with that burgeoning reputation from his 2020 low of €7,500 to €25,000 (he began his career at €12,500). By all accounts, his book was not difficult to fill at that price. Quite the opposite in fact.

Cotai Glory (GB) joined the Tally-Ho roster the following year and, of the 85 named foals from his first crop, more than half of them have already made it to the racecourse: 46 at the time of writing, of which 21 are now winners.

Six of those winners came in an eye-catching week for the 9-year-old stallion, which also included a second group victory for Atomic Force (Ire), who has now landed the G2 Prix Robert Papin and G3 Prix du Bois from his two French forays. Trained by Kevin Ryan for Siu Pak Kwan, the juvenile was gelded after his runner-up finish on debut at Musselburgh and has won all three subsequent starts. Naturally, he is now ruled out of a stud career himself but that only means that, like his sire, Atomic Force could potentially have a fairly lengthy career, whether he remains in Europe or heads to Hong Kong, where his owner is also heavily involved.

Cotai Glory himself raced for four years, winning the G3 Molecomb S. in his debut season. The son of top dual-hemisphere sire Exceed And Excel (Aus) had the G2 Flying Childers S. at his mercy on his next start, only to jink within the final furlong and unship his rider George Baker. An out-and-out sprinter, he raced beyond the minimum trip only five times in his 30 starts, and ran his fellow freshman sire Profitable (Ire) to a neck when second in the G1 King's Stand S. as a 4-year-old.

Over the last few years, there has been a concerted push by French racing to encourage more British owners to race in France for improved prize-money. How much the pandemic and onerous restrictions have acted as a deterrent for owners who would be unable to travel to see their horses is unknown, but undoubtedly the double whammy of Covid and Brexit has led to a significant drop in horse movements between the UK and France.

Ryan is one of those trainers who has persisted with travelling horses and now has two group wins to show for it, while Charlie Appleby landed last week's G1 Grand Prix de Paris in scintillating fashion with the Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

Remarkably, the Robert Papin has been won by British-based trainers in nine of the last 10 years, and has only gone to a French trainer in 11 of the last 30 years. The first three home this time around were all trained outside France, with Italy's Vincenzo Fazio sending out the runner-up Baghed (GB) (Twilight Son {GB}) and George Boughey continuing his good season with the third-placed Hellomydarlin (GB). The latter represents another young Tally-Ho Stud resident, Galileo Gold (GB), who is alone among his peers in having sired two first-crop stakes winners to date in the listed winners Ebro River (Ire) and System (Ire). Both Hellomydarlin and Ebro River were bred by the O'Callaghans at Tally-Ho, as was Saturday's Redcar novice winner Uncs (Ire)–another from the Boughey stable.

Tally-Ho Stud can also claim some reflected praise from Cotai Glory's nearest challenger in the freshman sires' table, Ardad (Ire). The Overbury Stud stallion is currently leading the British charge and has similarly encouraging statistics in that he had only 63 named foals, 31 of which have run to date providing him with 14 winners including the G2 Norfolk S. winner Perfect Power (GB). He is trained by Richard Fahey, who also has Ardad's G2 Coventry S-placed Vintage Clarets (GB). Ardad was himself bred and breezed by Tally-Ho and is a son of the stud's flagship stallion Kodiac (GB), who is now in danger of being upstaged by some of his barn-mates.

Japan's Global Outlook

On the back of a strong Tattersalls July Sale in Newmarket, the JRHA's dominant Select Sale also returned a clearance rate of 93% and some eye-watering figures for its consecutive sessions of yearlings and foals in Hokkaido. The equivalent of roughly £150 million (€175 million) was spent across the two days, and though international participation is not necessarily a theme of the sale, particularly during the pandemic, there is no shortage of global interest when it comes to the bloodlines on offer.

Even among just the top ten lots on each day, the foals and yearlings represented mares who had been recruited, usually by the Yoshida brothers, from around the world, including America, Australia, Argentina, Britain, Ireland, France and Germany.

Katsumi Yoshida also contributed last week to a new world record for the pandemic-inspired boom market of digital sales when buying the Australian Group 1 winner Funstar (Aus) (Adelaide {Ire}) for A$2.7 million. This made her the second highest-priced broodmare sold in Australia this year whether online or in person.

Yoshida's Northern Farm is also home to Funstar's fellow Group 1-winning half-sister Youngstar (Aus) (High Chaparral {Ire}) whom he acquired for A$1.4 million. Another of their half-sisters, the minor winner Baggy Green (Aus) (Galileo {Ire}), is the dam of the treble Group 1 winner Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}), and the family traces its way back through the first two generations at least, to Ireland and Britain.

The sisters are grand-daughters of Bill Gredley's User Friendly (GB) (Slip Anchor {GB}), who won the Oaks, Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and St Leger and was second in the Arc through her outstanding Classic season. She was sold at the end of her racing career at Keeneland for $2.5 million to Kazuo Nakamura and her first two daughters, User History (Mr Prospector) and Lady Venus (Kingmambo), both ended up as broodmares in Japan. Resold four years later to Barronstown Stud for $1.7 million, User Friendly went on to produce seven winners in Europe, including Funstar's dam Starspangled (Ire) (Danehill).

The family has also been represented in Europe in recent seasons by the Gredleys' 2018 champion juvenile filly Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a grand-daughter of User Friendly's half-sister Friendlier (GB) (Zafonic).

Pure Anticipation

This Friday may provide a first chance to witness the latest runner from Ecurie des Monceaux's high-class broodmare Starlet's Sister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

The chestnut filly Pure Dignity (GB), a Dubawi (Ire) half-sister to Arc winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and multiple Grade 1 winner Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), topped Arqana's Select Sale last September when sold to Fawzi Nass and Oliver St Lawrence for €2.5 million. She is now in training in Newmarket with Roger Varian for her owners HH Shaikh Nasser Al Khalifa and KHK Racing and has her first entry at Ascot in the John Guest Racing British EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes on the opening day of the King George meeting.

Meanwhile, ongoing changes to restrictions, particularly between France and England, continues to make planning for the early part of the sales season a little fraught. Arqana's flagship August Yearling Sale had to be delayed last year until September and was thus renamed the Select Sale. The British government's announcement on Friday that travellers returning from France will have to undergo 10 days' quarantine and PCR testing threw a spanner in the works just ahead of so-called Freedom Day.

It is possible to attend both Arqana and the Goffs UK Premier Sale, which starts a week after the end of the August Sale and six days after Arqana's V.2 if taking up the test-to-release option after five days of quarantine, which of course comes at another extra cost. However, the rules are set to be reviewed once more at the beginning of August, so there is still hope that the 10-day quarantine, which does not apply to other countries on the UK's 'amber list' of foreign destinations, is removed before the European sales season gets underway.

At least there is now free movement between Britain and Ireland. Long may that last, especially when it comes to offering some sort of stability for those sales companies and consignors trying to finalise yearling plans.

Royal Flush

The Queen may have only made it to her beloved Royal Ascot for the final day of the meeting but her horses are ensuring that she is enjoying a throughly decent season even if she cannot be on track. Tactical (GB) (Toronado {Ire}), King's Lynn (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) and Light Refrain (GB) (Frankel {GB}) are all homebred listed winners in the royal silks this year, with the latter also winning the G3 Summer S. on her latest outing on July 9.

On Friday, The Queen was represented by three runners from three different stables at Newbury and Newmarket, and all returned victorious, including Portfolio (Jpn), a daughter of Japan's late champion sire Deep Impact (Jpn) out of the listed winner Diploma (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) who has won her last two starts for Sir Michael Stoute.

McCain Girls Chip In

Donald McCain may have trained a Grand National winner of his own and been closely connected to the most famous Grand National horse of all time through his father's training of Red Rum (GB), but a Class 6 handicap and a maiden hurdle on July 14 nevertheless combined to provide an equally special day.

McCain's two daughters, Abbie and Ella, have both pursued a career in the saddle, with Abbie currently riding as a conditional over jumps and Ella as an apprentice on Flat. Last Wednesday, the stable's two winners at Uttoxeter and Ripon were each ridden by a McCain.

The trainer tweeted, “2 daughters, 2 rides, 2 codes, flat and jumps, 2 winners!! A very proud day.” Rightly so.

The post The Weekly Wrap: The Power And The Glory appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Weekly Wrap: A Legend Departs

One horse overshadowed all other news items of the past week as the bloodstock world came to terms with the death of Galileo (Ire) at the age of 23.

Fulsome tributes have been paid to him from across the globe with the overwhelming feeling being that we will never see his like again. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that many of us felt the same when his own extraordinary sire Sadler's Wells died 10 years ago. That colossus of the breeding world appeared in the third or fourth generation of four group winners at Newmarket's July meeting–Starman (GB), Snow Lantern (GB), Sir Ron Priestley (GB) and Sandrine (GB). That's just a snapshot of course, but it is indicative of how Sadler's Wells still shapes the modern-day Thoroughbred even a decade after his death, and often through that most effective of conduits, Galileo. The same will be true of Galileo in the decades to come.

As the suffixes of the above-named horses show, British breeders enjoyed a good week in Newmarket, with both Group 1 races falling to relatively small operations. David Ward's pride and joy Starman, a son of Dutch Art (GB), gave his breeder deserved compensation for having to miss Royal Ascot with both his intended Group 1 starters when the weather turned foul.

When interviewed by TDN in May, Ward outlined his hopes for a future stud career for the Ed Walker-trained Starman, whose sole defeat in six starts came in very soft ground on Champions Day last year. Swerving that soft ground again at the Royal Meeting was understandable, and Starman now has the Darley July Cup on his CV along with the G2 Duke Of York S.

Snow Lantern, who became the fifth Group 1 winner this year for Frankel (GB) when winning the Falmouth S., compensated for the narrow defeat in the same race as her Classic-winning mother Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}) and become the first top-level winner for Ben and Martha Keswick's Rockliffe Stud. The Gloucestershire farm is home to their nine broodmares and Snow Lantern will presumably eventually return there herself, through encouragingly the Keswicks have expressed a wish for the loose-moving grey to race on at four.

The two Group 1 winners at the July meeting are also a feather in the cap of Ed Sackville, who is the bloodstock advisor for both Rockliffe Stud and David Ward, who keeps his mares at Whatton Manor Stud.

Bobby's Girl

The smartest of the juvenile fillies at this stage of the season is certainly Kirsten Rausing's homebred Sandrine (GB), who represents the fourth generation of Lanwades' Sushila (Ire) family. Just as the unbeaten Sandrine–who added the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S to her victory in the Group 3 win at Royal Ascot–is helping to raise the profile of her young sire Bobby's Kitten, so did Sushila's son Petoski (GB) for his sire Niniski.

The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner of 1985, Petoski was a member of the first crop of Niniski, the first stallion stood by Rausing after her purchase of Lanwades Stud in 1980. Petoski's victory in the G2 Vintage S., along with the success of that season's champion 2-year-old Kala Dancer (GB), helped Niniski–winner of the Irish St Leger and Prix Royal-Oak–on his way to becoming the champion first-season sire of 1984. He was later succeeded at Lanwades by his Classic-winning son Hernando (Fr).

It would be fair to say that Rausing wears her heart on her sleeve when it comes to her own stallions and, in a terrific season for runners bearing her famous white-and-green-hooped colours, it is a good bet that none has given her more satisfaction than Sandrine, who at this early stage is the ante-post favourite for the 1000 Guineas.

Her victory continued a real purple patch for Rausing, who the previous weekend had celebrated the success of Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G2 Lancashire Oaks. Rausing's most recent Group 1 victory came with Madame Chiang (GB) (Archipenko) in the British Champions Fillies & Mares S., and it would be no surprise to see Sandrine or Alpinista add to that tally before long.

Andrew Balding, who is also enjoying a fine season, indicated that he would like to give Sandrine a brief spell before tackling the G1 Cheveley Park S., a race the trainer won last year with Jeff Smith's Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never).

The latter, who has gone on to win the G1 Coronation S. this season, had to settle for third in the Falmouth behind Snow Lantern, but Smith's colours were spotted in the winner's enclosure on the July Course aboard Frankella (GB), the second foal of his talented but tiny G1 Juddmonte International winner Arabian Queen (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

The maiden win for the juvenile filly was another example of Frankel working well with a Dubawi mare. The same cross has been season this season in Derby winner Adayar (Ire) and listed winner Mostahdaf (Ire), as well as Frankella's full-brother Spirit Mixer (GB). The 2019 G1 Jebel Hatta winner Dream Castle is also by Frankel and out of Dubawi's Group 2-winning daughter Sand Vixen (GB).

Brothers In Command

The draft of Shadwell fillies, mares and horses in training accounted for almost a sixth of the turnover at a very strong edition of the Tattersalls July Sale last week, and runners bred by the late Sheikh Hamdan also fared well on the track.

Vying for leading honours were the full-brothers Hukum (Ire) and Baaeed (GB), sons of Sea The Stars (Ire) and the listed winner Aghareed (Kingmambo) trained respectively by Owen Burrows and William Haggas.

Hukum, now four, was a star for Burrows last season, winning the King George V S. at Royal Ascot before landing the G3 Geoffrey Freer S. and finishing fifth in the St Leger. He has continued in similar vein this year with a listed win at Goodwood in May and now his second group win in York's John Smith's Silver Cup.

This came two days after his year-younger sibling Baaeed remained unbeaten when posting one of the most visually impressive wins of the meeting at Newmarket in the listed Sir Henry Cecil S. Baaeed looks capable of contesting bigger and better targets, and though his three wins have all come at a mile, he should be effective over further. His dam won the listed Prix de Liancourt over 10 furlongs for John Hammond, and she is out of the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Lahudood (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), herself a great grand-daughter of Height Of Fashion.

Another mare in line for top broodmare honours this year is Susan Hearn's Reckoning (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), though there were mixed fortunes for her two star offspring last week.

On the day that Sir Ron Priestley (GB) (Australia {GB}) posted his third stakes win of the season after returning from a 571-day absence, it was revealed that his half-brother, the impressive Ascot Gold Cup winner Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), has suffered a leg injury and has been ruled out of running again this season, if not for good.

That regrettable news, particularly for Subjectivist's owner Dr Jim Walker, was partially softened by the latest hard-earned success of Paul Dean's Sir Ron Priestley, who ground out his second Group 2 win in the Princess of Wales's S. in utterly determined fashion over the strongly backed Al Aasy (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). We may see him next in the King George unless he is supplemented to take his brother's place in the Goodwood Cup.

Ireland On Tour

Aidan O'Brien would certainly have preferred to see Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) notch a double at Epsom, but instead their Derby and Oaks wins came in the New York version, with Ryan Moore in the saddle for both Grade 1 victories at Belmont Park. Santa Barbara's win is particularly noteworthy as she becomes the third consecutive Group/Grade 1 winner for her dam Senta's Dream (GB) (Danehill) after Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}) and Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}).

The overseas runners from Ireland were rampant at the weekend with Ken Condon taking another Group 1 at Deauville in the Prix Jean Prat with Laws Of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}), who finished just a head in front of the Joseph O'Brien-trained Thunder Moon (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}). The latter, like Santa Barbara, was bred by Aidan and Annemarie O'Brien's Whisperview Trading.

They were backed up by the victory of the Jessica Harrington runner Loch Lein (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), a homebred for Denis and Joan Brosnan of Crooom House Stud, in the listed Prix Amandine.

Laws Of Indices may well go down as the bargain buy of the year, though he has a rival in that department in Helvic Dream (Ire), who less than two months ago became the first Group 1 winner for their sire Power when defeating Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. Helvic Dream was a €12,000 Tattersalls Ireland September yearling bought by Peter Nolan, while Laws Of Indices was bought for €8,000 by Dermot Farrington at the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale.

Laws Of Indices had already proved himself a talented individual last season when beating Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) to win the G2 Railway S. He is a fine advertisement for the ability of his trainer who also sent out last year's G2 Lowther S. winner Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}). The filly was another value buy as a £7,500 Ascot yearling after selling for just €1,000 as a foal.

They followed the 2019 G1 Prix Jacques le Marois victory of the Condon-trained Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), who has just completed his first season at Haras de Bouquetot.

It was also a good week for Power's sire Oasis Dream (GB), who was represented by the winner of the G2 Superlative S., Native Trail (GB). The colt had been a decent pinhook by Norman Williamson, who bought him for 67,000gns through Mags O'Toole at Book 1 and resold him at Tattersalls in April at the Craven Breeze-up sale for 210,000gns to Godolphin. Native Trail, who is unbeaten in two starts, became the fourth winner of the Superlative S. For Charlie Appleby in the last six years following Boynton (GB), Quorto (Ire) and Master Of The Seas (Ire).

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The Weekly Wrap: Full Mark’s For Top Colt

A fortnight to go, apparently, until England casts aside all restrictions following the 16-month weirdness of the pandemic era. 'Freedom day', as it has been dubbed by those of Boris Johnson's government who are not currently serving time on the naughty step, has unfortunately not come in time for the regular 'July week' festivities in Newmarket. There will be racing with a reduced crowd and a sale taking place pretty much as normal, but without any of the parties and stallion parades that have become the staple of the town's midsummer highlight. As long as there's still an ice-cream stall at Tattersalls this week the bloodstock press bench will be happy.

It is fervently hoped that Ireland is granted similar freedom by its government before too long, for in our own small world the ongoing uncertainty regarding dates and locations of the yearling sales, in particular the Orby, is not helpful at all. The conflicting press releases of last week first clarified then muddied the situation and as much as it provides ongoing headaches for the sales companies, it can also be no fun for the consignors currently trying to line up staff for the season.

The past week's highlight came of course in the Coral-Eclipse, courtesy of the increasingly admirable St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). Last season's champion 2-year-old and the second Classic winner bred by Bob Scarborough from the Galileo (Ire) mare Cabaret (Ire), the colt was apparently oblivious to the lofty, globetrotting reputations of Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) and Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) as he strode past them up the Sandown hill. A potential rematch in the Juddmonte International is a thrilling prospect, as is the potential battle between Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) in the Sussex S.

It seems crazy to think that up until this weekend there had been the pervading feeling that Aidan O'Brien was having something of a quiet season. He had by that stage won six European Classics, which is hardly slacking, but the overturning of talking horses High Definition (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the latter managing just seventh in the Derby as the lone Ballydoyle runner, exacerbated that impression.

We've come to expect the Ballydoyle colts to dominate, but so far this year the stable has been largely carried by the fillies. Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) made a sensational belated return at Royal Ascot and she is backed up by a strong Classic generation that includes the mightily impressive Oaks winner Snowfall (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), English and Irish 1000 Guineas winners Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) and Empress Josephine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), and Prix de Diane heroine Joan Of Arc (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

That is, of course, apart from St Mark's Basilica, who emulated Shamardal, Lope De Vega (Ire) and Brametot (Ire) in winning both the Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Prix du Jockey Club since the latter was reduced in distance to 10.5 furlongs in 2005. Beating a pair of seasoned older horses, even in a small field for the Eclipse, puts him to the head of his generation for now, until we see how Poetic Flare fares at Goodwood and Adayar at Ascot, in what could be a King George for the ages.

Also of significance for St Mark's Basilica, whose future lies at Coolmore, will be the early stud careers of his aforementioned half-brother and of Sottsass (Fr), who is bred on the same Siyouni-Galileo cross.

Sweeping The Board

In the mix for the King George among the older brigade is the quiet achiever Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who secured a memorable international Group 1 double for Aidan O'Brien over the weekend when landing the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. The 5-year-old, who became his sire's fourth Group 1 winner, has been a model of consistency this year, winning at each stakes level up to Group 1 since the opening day of the season, as well as being beaten a short-head when second in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and finishing runner-up to Wonderful Tonight (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) in the G2 Hardwicke S. at Royal Ascot.

While Australia's season is gathering a head of steam, credit must also be given to Broome's dam Sweepstake (Ire), who was a member of the first crop of Acclamation (GB) and became his second black-type winner in a matter of days when landing the listed National S at Sandown in May 2007.

Though she visited Galileo in 2012, her best results to date have come from her two matings with his son Australia, with Broome's full-brother Point Lonsdale (Ire) adding further lustre to the family by winning the listed Chesham S. The 2-year-old is also the most expensive of her yearlings to have passed through the sales. He was bought at Book 1 last year for 575,000gns, while the mare's 3-year-old Malathaat (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was a €500,000 purchase by Shadwell from breeder Croom House Stud at the previous year's Orby Sale.

Acclamation's first crop also included Dark Angel (Ire), who became his first group winner and has done more to enhance the line than any of his paternal half-brothers–though he may yet be challenged for that accolade by Mehmas (Ire).

While his male line is thriving, Acclamation is also enjoying a decent season as a broodmare sire. In this field he had three winners at Royal Ascot, with Point Lonsdale being joined by Perotto (GB) (New Bay {GB}) and Rohaan (Ire) (Mayson {GB}), who is to be supplemented for Saturday's G1 Darley July Cup.

High On The Hill

The weekend's results also provided the second stakes winner of the season–in fact, in eight days–for Tiana (GB) (Diktat {GB}), the pride of Fiona and Mick Denniff's broodmare band.

Racing in Fiona's own colours, Tiana's 3-year-old daughter Auria (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) landed the listed Coral Distaff at Sandown the Saturday after her elder half-sister Chil Chil (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) had won the G3 Chipchase S. The latter will line up again this coming Saturday in the July Cup.

The pair are the second and third stakes winners for their dam following the hugely talented Beat The Bank (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}), who notched five Group 2 wins as well as a Group 3 and listed success among his nine victories for Andrew Balding. He was also an important first group winner for his late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha of King Power Racing, who was then emboldened to give 500,000gns for Chil Chil at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Tiana was herself also bred by Denniff from the second mare she purchased, Hill Welcome (GB), back in 2001. The daughter of Most Welcome (GB) was bought as a 3-year-old at Doncaster having placed just once in seven starts for Barry Hills. Despite an underwhelming race record, she owned a decent pedigree as a half-sister to the G1 Middle Park S. winner Stalker (GB) (Kala Shikari {Fr}), but she was overlooked at the sale by all bar Denniff, who picked her up for just 3,000gns. The breeder will undoubtedly view that sum as money very well spent.

Hill Welcome went on to produce 10 winners from her 12 foals, with the Oh So Sharp S.-placed Tiana being one of three black-type performers along with the G3 Molecomb S. runner-up Mary Read (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}) and the 103-rated Aboyne N Beyond (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}).

Tiana is not the only daughter to have established her own successful branch at the Denniffs' Nottinghamshire farm as Mary Read's treble-winning daughter Dubai Bounty (GB) (Dubai Destination) is the dam of the late Kachy (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), whose nine wins included the G3 Molecomb S.

Now a black-type winner herself, Auria will be an exciting returnee to Denniff Farms eventually, but her next task looks likely to be the G3 Atalanta S. back at Sandown in August.

Tiana's current 2-year-old by Dubawi (Ire) could broaden the family's success as she is now in America having been bought last October by Mike Ryan. The agent is pleased with her progress and told TDN that she has been given some time to mature before she heads into training this autumn, most likely with Chad Brown.

Breakthrough Success For Isfahan

Sisfahan (Fr) may have been bred in France but he brought about a notable breakthrough for his German-based sire Isfahan (Ger) when emulating his father by winning the G1 Deutsches Derby on Sunday.

It was not only an important first-crop Classic winner for the Gestut Ohlerweierhof stallion but it also makes Isfahan the only one of the second-crop sires in Europe to have been represented by a Group 1 winner this season. Of that group, Mehmas was the only sire to achieve that feat last year.

Isfahan was bought by Holger Faust for owner Stefan Oschmann's Darius Racing for €35,000 at the BBAG Yearling Sale of 2014 and, following a racing career which saw him win the German Derby, G3 Bavarian Classic and G3 Preis der Winterfavoriten, he was retired to stud by the owner. Oschmann has supported Isfahan not just with his own mares but also at the sales, and was last year rewarded with the stallion's first group winner, Isfahani (Ger), who landed the G3 Premio Guido Berardelli in Rome on debut.

Isfahan was the second-busiest stallion after Soldier Hollow (GB) in his first year at stud, but German covering numbers are significantly lower than those recorded by some stallions in Britain, Ireland and France. He covered 67 mares in 2018, followed by 46, then 35 in 2020.

Sisfahan, who is the first winner of Germany's most prized race for the country's champion trainer Henk Grewe, is also yet another feather in the cap of Guy Pariente's Haras de Colleville. Pariente is currently the leading breeder in France–ahead of such luminaries as Wertheimer & Frere and the Aga Khan–and so much of his success rests on his stallion Kendargent (Fr), the broodmare sire of Sisfahan.

Now 18, it is perhaps remarkable that Kendargent only notched a first Group 1 winner this season with Skalleti (Fr), who was also bred by Pariente, as was his Group 2-winning brother Skazino (Fr).

He had, however, already been represented with a top-flight winner as a broodmare sire when Sealiway (Fr) won last season's Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. That result was doubly pleasing for Pariente as not only was the colt another Haras de Coleville graduate but he is by Kendargent's young stud-mate Galiway (GB).

In France this season, Pariente has already celebrated 38 wins from 65 starters bred at his Normandy farm, which has now also supplied the toast of Germany.

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The Weekly Wrap: Happy and Glorious

On each day of Royal Ascot, there was at least one result truly to savour, if not more. Moreover, the meeting in its entirety felt at last like a return to some sort of normality. Even the British weather played its typically quirky part: boiling one day, rain of biblical proportions the next.

One regrettable absence was the buzz of the crowd. The maximum number of 12,000 attendees per day is of course low by usual standards. With the late announcement that even this number would be permitted, not to mention the complications surrounding Covid-testing, it is perhaps no surprise that there was not a capacity crowd, but those who opted not to go missed out on an extremely special occasion.

One of the relatively few international visitors, Mariam Zerehi, the Californian part-owner of the G2 Queen Mary S. winner Quick Suzy (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}), perhaps summed it up best when she said, “We had Sharing last year in the Coronation Stakes and she placed second but none of us were able to be here to witness that so I am just happy to be here.

“This is a really big moment because we are in a very different place today than we were just a year ago. I think this Royal Ascot represents a lot of hope and optimism that we are all moving in the right direction, so that's special to be a part of–it's not just an ordinary Ascot for me.”

Indeed, ordinary it was not. For a start, Her Majesty the Queen did not make an appearance at her own racecourse until Saturday, but when she finally arrived–by car this time, rather than horse-drawn carriage–the reception she was given was properly rousing even with fewer people on course on normal. And after all, there can be no party without the host, especially one who has done more than most to ensure that Britain retains its reputation as the foremost racing nation, even though it is very much now a pauper compared to some of its ostentatiously rich neighbours.

Honours Even

There was a pleasingly egalitarian feel to the results of the week. The eight Group 1 contests went to eight different trainers, with John and Thady Gosden setting the tone in the first race of the meeting with a victory for the world's current top-rated horse, Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}). The Gosdens would end the week as leading trainers–the first time that accolade has gone to a partnership but surely not the last. Their four winners equalled the tally of Andrew Balding but the Gosdens secured the title on countback for placed horses.

Balding and the Kingsclere team can look back on the week with immense satisfaction, however. As well as the victory of Alcohol Free (No Nay Never) in the G1 Coronation S there were two juvenile group-race winners in Berkshire Shadow (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Sandrine (GB). The latter provided a first group success for her sire Bobby's Kitten and the first winner at the Royal Meeting for her owner/breeder Kirsten Rausing, who also stands the stallion and has nurtured Sandrine's family for five generations since her purchase of the filly's fourth dam Sushila (Ire) (Petingo {GB}) in 1976.

It was particularly enjoyable to see Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) bounce back to form for Roger Teal, just as it was pleasing to see Sir Michael Stoute back in the winner's enclosure after a Group 1 race with the 7-year-old Dream Of Dreams (Ire) (Dream Ahead), who had been beaten a head in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. in the past two seasons.

Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) continued Wesley Ward's love affair with Royal Ascot, albeit only after a fairly lengthy stewards' enquiry following interference from first-past-the-post Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}). The eventual winner continued an excellent season for her breeder Tally-Ho Stud, which also bred the G2 Norfolk S. winner Perfect Power (Ire), as well as his first-season sire Ardad (Ire), who, like Campanelle, is by their resident stallion Kodiac.

Without doubt, however, breeder of the season at this stage–and it's hard to see him being beaten–is Jim Bolger. Poetic Flare (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) may have won the Guineas by a short-head and lost the Irish Guineas by a short-head to his stable-mate Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) either side of his comparatively lacklustre French Guineas attempt, but his victory in the St James's Palace S. was nothing short of emphatic.

It is still rather extraordinary to think that we first saw Poetic Flare in public when he won the first 2-year-old race of the season in Ireland in 2020. This was also the final meeting before Irish racing went behind closed doors, and that is where it has remained. Fortunately, this brilliant colt has been tested far and wide beyond his own shores by his trainer/breeder who had the sense to know when to back off last season when Poetic Flare went through a growing spell. After winning his maiden on Mar. 23 we didn't see him again until the G1 Dewhurst S on Oct. 10. At the time his reappearance may have seemed as if Bolger was tilting at windmills, and his tenth-place finish behind the winner St Mark's Basilica (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) that day initially appeared to back that up. But time has taught us never to underestimate his trainer. Poetic Flare went to his winter quarters on the back of a Group 3 victory at Leopardstown just a week after the Dewhurst and he has since developed into the pre-eminent colt of his generation ahead of St Mark's Basilica, who has only enhanced his own reputation by taking both colts' Classics in France.

Lots To Love

The long-awaited comeback of last year's sensational 1000 Guineas and Oaks winner Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) proved to be one of the highlights of Royal Ascot and, despite the defection of Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), the G1 Prince of Wales's S. turned into a battle royal between Coolmore's golden girl and the returning GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

While Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) couldn't claw back the sweeping surge of Wonderful Tonight (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) when taking second in the G2 Hardwicke S., his full-brother Point Lonsdale (Ire) backed up his impressive Curragh debut to give Aidan O'Brien a sixth win in the Chesham S. The trainer was polite enough to apologise in the post-race debrief for beating the Queen's Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) by half a length, but the 95-year-old monarch almost certainly knows by now how to take racing's rough with the smooth and will surely have been pleased with a second and a third from her runners on the day she attended the meeting.

The previous evening at Newmarket, her homebred Wink Of An Eye (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) had won his second race in eight days, with William Haggas having increased his chances of becoming racing's next knight by saddling the 3-year-old to win his first race on what would have been the late Duke of Edinburgh's 100th birthday.

Pure Gold

The Queen had not been in attendance to present the Gold Cup on Thursday, as is her usual custom, but the great staying race nevertheless provided one of the best moments of the week.

Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was odds-on to win the race for a fourth time and to set a new record for five consecutive wins at the meeting, but instead we witnessed the coronation of a new staying king, Dr Jim Walker's Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}).

Gratifyingly, it was a race that had everything: the reigning champion, the up-and-coming star, last year's Derby, Irish Derby and Melbourne Cup winners, and the remarkable Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}). The latter's jockey Joey Sheridan must be congratulated for riding an astutely tactical race, keeping the master tactician Frankie Dettori firmly in an unenviable position, and bringing the mare home in second. But it was Subjectivist's day, and it will be staggering if his dam Reckoning (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) is not Broodmare of the Year in Britain in 2021.

Third to Hukum (GB) in last year's King George V S., Subjectivist then won the listed Glasgow S. and the G3 March S. by a whopping 15 lengths before landing his first Group 1 in the Prix Royal Oak at Longchamp last October. A warm up in the desert in March in the G2 Dubai Gold Cup proved to be the perfect, if lengthy, lead in to his Gold Cup success.

Since his victory at Meydan, his half-brother Sir Ron Priestley (GB) (Australia {GB}) returned from a 571-day absence to win first the listed Further Flight S. and then the G2 Jockey Club S., beating Pyledriver (GB) at Newmarket on Guineas weekend.

The brothers are both with Mark Johnston, as is their stakes-placed half-sister Alba Rose (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) and the mare's 2-year-old, a full-sister to Sir Ron Priestley who was retained by her breeder Susan Hearn of Mascalls Stud.

This may have been a fourth Gold Cup victory for Johnston, following Double Trigger (GB) in 1995 and Royal Rebel (GB) in 2001 and 2002, but it was no less enjoyed by the team at Kingsley House Stables, especially the trainer's wife Deirdre, who still had tears in her eyes 48 hours later when recalling the round of applause given to Subjectivist as he appeared in the yard the following morning.

“It just meant so much to the whole team at home,” she said.

It was a memorable week for Deirdre Johnston as she is also the co-owner of the hugely promising eventer JL Dublin, who won the CCI4* at Bicton International Horse Trials with rider Nicola Wilson the previous weekend.

All The Young Dudes

Age is merely a number, as they say, but there was a youthful feel to plenty of the winning trainers and jockeys at Royal Ascot. Among those scoring a first-time success was the 40-year-old David Menuisier, whose Wonderful Tonight posted one of the most visually impressive performances of the week on her favoured soft ground and will surely be a force to be reckoned with again this autumn.

Gavin Cromwell is perhaps not the youngest of bucks but he is incredibly versatile and increasingly prominent as a trainer. In the last three months he has saddled the winner of the G1 Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and now the smart juvenile Quick Suzy, who is arguably his standout Flat performer in a stable in which the jumpers outnumber the Flat horses three to one.

The filly, who became the first group winner for her first-season sire Profitable, also provided a Royal Ascot first for Gary Carroll. The Irish rider was joined in this regard by Cieren Fallon, Ben Coen, Hector Crouch and Clifford Lee, as well as Marco Ghiani and Laura Pearson, two of the most impressive apprentices riding at present in Britain.

The last tip of the top hat should go to Dave Evans, who is not young but is certainly a dude and arguably hugely underrated as a trainer. Rohaan (Ire), one of two Royal Ascot winners for the similarly underrated Cheveley Park Stud stallion Mayson (GB), was picked up by Evans at last year's Horses-in-Training Sale for 20,000gns having made two underwhelming starts as a 2-year-old. Awarded a rating of 55 after his first run for his new stable, he has progressed through the ranks, winning seven times since last December, including the G2 Sandy Lane S. and the Wokingham S.

The fact that he was gelded before he made his debut precluded Rohaan from running in the G1 Commonwealth Cup, but it will not stop him from attempting to emulate his sire in the G1 Darley July Cup on July 10. From 55-rated handicapper to Group 1 winner in the space of eight months would be quite something, and Evans would surely be vying with his son-in-law Adam Kirby for having provided the feelgood racing story of the season.

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