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Nashwa Will Skip Breeders’ Cup In Favour Of Champions Day; Will Remain In Training Next Year

Imad Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud silks will be carried by his star filly Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) for another year, but the multiple Group 1 winner will skip the Breeders' Cup in favour of competing at QIPCO British Champions Day later this month, The Sun reported on Thursday.

Both the one-mile G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. or the 1 1/4-mile G1 QIPCO Champion S. are under consideration for the 4-year-old at Ascot on Oct. 21. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the regular mount of Hollie Doyle was third in last year's G1 Oaks before taking the French equivalent and the G1 Nassau S. and running second in the G1 Prix de l'Opera. Fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf last November, Nashwa added a second at Group 3 level in June before padding her Group 1 resume in the Falmouth S. in July. She has run third in both the Aug. 3 G1 Nassau S. and Sept. 9 G1 Irish Champion S. in her last three starts, with a second in the G1 International S. in late August in between.

Al Sagar told The Sun's Matt Chapman, “Nashwa is heading to Ascot and is entered in both the QEII and Champion. She will run on one or the other.

“There will be no Breeders' Cup for her but Ascot is not her last race. She will train on as a 5-year-old.”

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Purton Booked On Mullins’s Absurde In Melbourne Cup

Hong Kong-based jockey Zac Purton will ride Willie Mullins trainee Absurde (Fr) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the G1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington in November.

“The Melbourne Cup is the race that Zac wants the most,” Purton's manager Paul 'Popup' Webster told Racenet. “Earlier this year we discussed targeting Willie Mullins.

“Whatever he brings over, lets do everything we can to get on it and it's come to fruition. We've picked up the ride on Absurde.”

A winner of the Ebor H. in August, Absurde and his Mullins stablemate Vauban (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) are both targeting the iconic two-mile race and have arrived at the Werribee Quarantine Centre.

“The Melbourne Cup is the dream, it's the pinnacle for any Australian jockey,” Purton said. “Willie Mullins is a training genius, as good as anyone I've come across anywhere in the world.

“There's none better at travelling horses and he's had a couple of near misses already in the race. He knows the right type of horse to bring and I'm honoured to be riding one for him.”

Mullins has placed twice in the Melbourne Cup with Max Dynamite (Fr) (Great Journey {Jpn}) when second in 2015 and third two years later.

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Group 1 Winner Sheeza Belter Hammers At 1.35 Million To Yulong At Magic Millions Virtual Auction

Group 1 winner Sheeza Belter (Aus) (Gold Standard {Aus}–Saxabelle {Aus}, by Saxon {Aus}) sold for A$1.35 million to Victoria's Highway Farm during a Magic Millions virtual auction hosted by auctioneer Clint Donovan on Thursday. Yuesheng Zhang's Yulong was buying as Highway Farm.

“It is a very nerve-wracking experience selling a horse around that level,” her original buyer and part owner Justin Warwick said. “I'm relieved that the process has been a success and I'm very happy to see where she is going and the opportunity she will have.”

Bred by Mt Hallowell Stud, the chestnut was an A$35,000 buy back before being sold to Warwick for A$50,000 out of the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale in 2021. Put into training with trainer Luke Fernie, the filly would take her debut on New Year's Day in 2022. Transferred to Peter and Paul Snowden for all barring her last start, a listed race win followed two starts later and she ran third in the G3 Ken Russell Memorial Classic. Successful in the G2 Sires Produce S. that May, the filly added the G1 J.J. Atkins that June. As a 3-year-old the filly would also add the G2 Hot Danish S. and run third in the G1 Coolmore Classic, and was retired in the care of Annabel Neasham in September with a mark of 14-5-1-2 and $1,279,661 in earnings at four.

“She has taken all of us on such a wonderful ride,” Warwick added. “When you buy a horse you dream of what might be to come.

“This girl delivered on that dream. She gave us so much joy on the racetrack and we are excited about her prospects for the next stage of her journey.

“One chapter of the book has now finished but the best thing is, she will get looked after so well and be given a chance with the best stallions in the world. Breeding is not what us part owners do, but we can now sit back and hope that her offspring go well and we can say we played a part in that.”

Out of the winning mare Saxabelle, Sheeza Belter is also related to group winners Special Reward (Aus) (Demerit {Aus}) and Showy Chloe (Aus) (Alfred Nobel {Ire}).

The virtual auction was the first of its kind for Magic Millions, and the sales company's managing director Barry Bowditch said, “I believe moving forward this is the most genuine and transparent way to sell horses outside of a large auction.

“We are delighted with the way today's auction played out and we look forward, when the right opportunity arises, to doing more of these in the future.

“Thanks to Justin and the ownership group for entrusting us to offer Sheeza Belter. We're proud to have a delivered a great result.”

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Westover Retired With Injury Sustained in the Arc

Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}), winner of the G1 Irish Derby and G1 Grand Prix de Saint Cloud, has been retired after sustaining a “career-ending injury” when finishing runner-up in Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Announcing his retirement on Thursday, the colt's owner-breeder Juddmonte stated that stud plans for the 4-year-old would be announced at a later date.

Juddmonte's racing manager Barry Mahon said, “It's devastating news, unfortunately he suffered a career-ending injury on Sunday and he'll have to be retired. Long-term he'll be fine and he'll be okay for a stallion career, but we had such good days with him this year and last year, we had an exciting end to the season planned and we were all very excited about it. Unfortunately it's come to an end.

“We were looking at the Breeders' Cup and we actually only entered him in the Japan Cup on Tuesday. We were planning on doing a bit of travelling and seeing a bit of the world with him, but unfortunately that's not to be.”

A winner on debut at two, the Ralph Beckett-trained Westover came to greater prominence on his 3-year-old bow when winning the G3 Classic Trial at Sandown. An imposing son of Frankel and the Lear Fan mare Mirabilis, herself a stakes winner in both France and America, he went on to finish third behind Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in last year's Derby before claiming his own Classic victory in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh.

Westover's career has also included a number of gallant runs in defeat: he was second in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic to Japanese superstar Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) and was also runner-up to Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in a memorable running of the G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom this June. He claimed his second Group 1 prize in France after that before adding another two admirable second-place finishes to his record when beaten a head by Hukum (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 King George and Queen Elizabeth S. and, finally, on Sunday behind Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}) in the Arc.

Mahon added, “I'd say he'll be a top-class stallion. He's one of Frankel's best sons and, as we saw with Ace Impact, Frankel's sons are off to a flying start.

“He's been beautifully trained by Ralph, Rob Hornby has obviously built up a good association with him last year and this year, and Colin Keane was exquisite on him the day he won the Irish Derby. It's been a great story for a lot of people, none more so than Juddmonte. We're very lucky to have had him.”

A fourth-generation Juddmonte homebred, Westover is a full-brother to the Group 3 winner Monarchs Glen (GB), who was one of Frankel's earliest Royal Ascot winners in the Listed Wolferton S. Their dam is a half-sister to the G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Prix du Moulin winner Nebraska Tornado (Storm Cat) and to the G2 Prix Eugene Adam winner Burning Sun (Danzig).

Westover's trainer Ralph Beckett said, “I am very proud of the horse and what he has achieved, he gave his all every day at home and on the racecourse and we will all miss him.”

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