Tag: Europe

£50,000 Ex-Racehorse Class Added To Cornbury House Horse Trials

A new class for ex-racehorses, worth £50,000, will be conducted at the Cornbury House Horse Trials in 2025, Jayne McGivern and Cornbury House Horse Trials announced on Friday.

The new class is the initiative of McGivern of Dash Grange Stud, who owns top event horses, and David Howden, group CEO and founder of Howden and founder and president of the Cornbury House Horse Trials. Her aim is to also raise the profile of the adaptable nature of Thoroughbreds, especially in terms of their suitability for eventing. She is donating £50,000 in prize-money, and the class will be run alongside the other classes at Cornbury House Horse Trials. The class will showcase Thoroughbreds and their abilities, aiming to encourage riders to take on and retrain ex-racehorses and incentivise riders to work towards the 2025 class. It will also provide an additional opportunity for ex-racehorses, building on the existing resource and guidance provided by Retraining of Racehorses (RoR).

Jayne McGivern of Dash Grange Stud said, “I am thrilled to be able to launch a new ex-racehorse class that will run in 2025 and thank David Howden for his support in allowing my idea to come to fruition. Racing and eventing are both my passions and through this class we will be able to showcase the talent that Thoroughbreds have in their second careers.”

The class will begin at CCI2*/Novice level with further details to be announced in due course.

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Making Waves: Classic Vibes At Kentucky Downs

In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of the Classic-placed Lindy at Kentucky Downs, formerly the “Dueling Grounds”, in Southern Kentucky.

 

Le Havre Filly Wins in Kentucky

The French Classic-placed Lindy (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) won a Kentucky Downs affair for Everest Racing and trainer Brendan Walsh on Thursday (video).

Part of the Ecurie La Vallee Martigny Earl breeding programme, Lindy was knocked down to Ghislain Bozo's Meridian International for €90,000 as a 2021 Arqana August yearling. A winner of her first three starts including a listed race at Toulouse for trainer Christophe Ferland and an ownership group of Ecurie Waldeck, Didier Provost, Ecurie Elag, Et Al, the filly was second in the G3 Prix de la Grotte behind Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), and would be runner-up again to that rival in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches for Everest Racing, Ecurie Waldeck, Meridian International, Ecurie Elag, Ecurie Nininoe, Provost and Frank Dhooghe. Unplaced in the G1 Prix de Diane, she was making her first Stateside start this week.

The third foal, winner and black-type horse out of her multiple stakes-placed dam Llanita (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), Lindy is a half-sister to listed winner Nirliit (Fr) (Iffraaj {GB}) and the multiple stakes-placed Almeida Girl (GB) (Temple City). Her dam has a juvenile colt named Shawnee (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and a yearling colt by Zelzal (Fr).

Sumbe's late Le Havre has 50% winners to runners (10/20) in the U.S. His best is GI Keeneland Turf Mile S. hero Suedois (Fr), while Rymska (Fr) and Orglandes (Fr) have also won at the graded level.

 

 

An Oaks For Saxon Warrior Filly

Ken McPeek trainee Freydis The Red (Fr) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) found the unique undulations of Kentucky Downs to her liking when winning the Listed Dueling Grounds Oaks for Walking L Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm (video).

Bred by Eric Puerari, Ocean Bloodstock, Ecurie du Parc Monceau et. al., the chestnut was plucked by McPeek out of the Arqana August Yearling for €125,000 in 2021. The daughter of the winning Songerie (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}) had previously been placed in the GIII Pucker Up S. at Ellis Park last month. A half-sister to the stakes-placed Sojourn (Ger) (Iffraaj {GB}), the 3-year-old's juvenile half-sister Sogniamo (Fr) (Calyx {GB}) has been placed. Numerous Group 1 winners trace to the stakes-placed second dam Suivez (Fr) (Fioravanti), among them American champion Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}), Japanese champions Soul Stirring (Jpn) (Frankel {GB}) and Stars On Earth (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), and Sunday's G1 Prix du Moulin heroine Sauterne (Fr) (Kingman {GB}).

Freydis The Red is the second stakes winner for Saxon Warrior in the U.S. after GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Victoria Road (Ire). Three of his four starters (75%) are winners in America, while worldwide he has seven stakes winners. His Zulu Warrior (Fr) took the Listed Prix Turenne on Friday.

 

 

Siyouni Gelding Takes Rich Kentucky Downs Event

Representing Qatar Racing and Marc Detampel, Beuys (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) won for the first time on American soil at Kentucky Downs for trainer Brendan Walsh on Thursday evening (video).

Bred by Ecurie David Salabi, the gelding was a €220,000 Arqana October yearling in 2019 when picked up by Oceanic Bloodstock. He won his first two starts for Peter Brant's White Birch Farm and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget, and was subsequently transferred to the Chad Brown barn in the U.S. two starts later. Sold following a pair of tries at Gulfstream Park in Florida earlier this year, he brought $82,000 at the Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale on the bid of agent Fergus Galvin.

Out of the winning Kendor (Fr) mare Plain Vanilla (Fr), Beuys is a half-brother to the G3 Prix Fille de l'Air second Vespera (Ire) (Teofilo {Ir}), and is from the family of G2 Prix de Sandringham heroine Volta (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), herself placed in both the G1 Prix Rothschild and the G1 Prix de Diane.

Standing under The Aga Khan Studs' banner at Haras de Bonneval, Siyouni has 15 winners from 37 runners (40%) in the U.S. to his credit. Four of them has struck at stakes level (10.1%), including Grade III winners Sacred Life (Fr), La Signare (Fr), and Love And Thunder (Ire).

 

 

Del Mar Route The Trick For Zoustar Filly

Lunar Impact (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) won at fourth asking stepping up to a mile for trainer Dan Blacker and D K Racing, Qatar Racing, Radley Equine, Rick Gold and Dave Odmark on the Del Mar grass on Saturday (video).

The P. E. Barrett-bred chestnut was a 100,000gns graduate out of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale when picked up by David Redvers and Boomer Bloodstock's Craig Rounsefell in 2021. She is the third winner for her dam, whose best result was a third at listed level in Germany. Button Moon (Ire) (Compton Place {GB}) has the juvenile filly Wedyan (GB) (Advertise {GB}), a yearling filly by Mohaather (GB), and a full-brother to Lunar Impact to come. This is the family of multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).

From just six U.S. runners, reverse shuttle stallion Zoustar is responsible for three winners (50%) to date, with his first Northern Hemisphere-bred crop just 3-year-olds. Worldwide, the Widden Stud (SH)/Tweenhills Stud (NH) resident has 39 stakes winners, with his Northern Hemisphere best the G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine Lezoo (GB).

 

 

Honourable Mentions

GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. victor Gold Phoenix (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) secured his third graded stakes of the year, with a 1 1/4-length win in the GII Del Mar H. Presented by The Japan Racing Association for trainer Phil D'Amato (video).

Another D'Amato trainee was also already featured in a March column of Makings Waves, Anthony Fanticola's Motorious (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}). He earned his second graded stakes victory in Del Mar's GIII Green Flash H. last week (video). Thanks to the solid racecourse results for his progeny, his sire has earned a place at Haras du Petit Tellier for the coming year under a new partnership.

West Point Thoroughbreds and Dream With Me Stable's Parnac (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) claimed a career high in the GII Flower Bowl S. at Saratoga for Christophe Clement near the end of the meet (video). Her sire just sired his first Group 1 winner in Germany on Sunday.

 

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Vespertilio Al Shira’aa’s ‘Best Chance’ At Irish Champions Festival

Al Shira'aa's Kieran Lalor has nominated Vespertilio (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) as the operation's best chance of a winner at the Irish Champions Festival where the rapidly-progressive filly lines out in Sunday's G1 Moyglare S. at the Curragh. 

Vespertilio forms part of a three-pronged attack on Ireland's flagship Flat festival that features homebred Atlantic Coast (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in Saturday's G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. at Leopardstown and Ocean Jewel (Ire) (Sioux Nation) in the Matron S. on the same card. 

“We've six horses in training in Ireland and three of them are competing at the Irish Champions Festival, so we need to keep pinching ourselves,” racing and bloodstock manager Lalor said on Friday. 

The black and red silks of Al Shira'aa has already enjoyed top-level triumphs with Mutamakina (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in America and Jannah Rose in France (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Lalor has talked up the chances of Vespertilio in Sunday's eagerly-anticipated Moyglare. 

Vespertilio comes into that race off the back of a wildly impressive display in the G2 Debutante S. over the same course and distance and, while Lalor is respectful of the opposition with G3 Silver Flash S. conqueror Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) heading the market, he is expecting a bold show.

He said, “Vespertilio is getting better and better with experience. She had a fantastic run in the Debutante, showing a tremendous turn of foot to come from last under Billy [Lee] and I don't think he had to ride her too hard to do that, either. I'd say if she had been closer to Ylang Ylang in the Silver Flash, I think she would have been right there at the line. She's only a May foal so is developing and growing all the time.”

Lalor added, “She's just getting better and better with racing. It's a tough task and to have a runner in the Moyglare is very special for us. We're going in there with a lot of confidence but obviously it's Group 1 and anything can happen. We're very excited. She's our best chance of the weekend and it's great for Willie [McCreery, trainer], who is a big part of our operation. He's a top-class trainer–he was a bloody good footballer but some would argue he's an even better trainer and he's hugely important to us.”

Atlantic Coast has the unwanted task of staring down the barrel of another Ballydoyle big gun in Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) at Leopardstown. 

Trained by Joseph O'Brien, the homebred colt made a fine start to his career when winning a Curragh maiden in good fashion, and Lalor is expecting more to come.

He said, “This is actually a good story because we usually sell all of our colts but the day before the Orby, David Cox of Baroda Stud called to say that this lad had kicked a wall and that he had to be scratched. Thank God he did! 

“Now, he probably would have made three or four hundred grand because he's such a beautiful-looking colt, but it's very special for everyone on the farm to have a homebred running in a Group 2 at the Irish Champions Festival.”

Lalor added, “It's a big step up from a maiden into a Group 2 but Joseph has done a brilliant job with him and I don't think stepping up to a mile will be an issue for him either. It's a good race, with Deepone and Formal Display in there, but it seems as though we all have to beat Diego Velazquez.”

Should Diego Velazquez justify his short price in the betting, it wouldn't be all that bad for Al Shira'aa, the emerging bloodstock force of Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan. 

Lalor wisely secured Saadiyat (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), a half-sister to Diego Velazquez, at Book 1 at Tattersalls in 2021 and the page has gone from strength to strength ever since. 

Saadiyat, like the majority of the Al Shira'aa string, will return to the farm just off the Curragh at Maddenstown and join the broodmare band when her career is over. 

The small but select approach to one of the newest owner-breeding operations in Ireland is paying rich dividends and, while Al Shira'aa were not active at Arqana last month, Lalor explained that it was not for a lack of trying and he revealed the team would be out in force at the Goffs and Tattersalls sales in the coming weeks. 

Lalor said, “We didn't get anything at Arqana but we plan on being active at the Orby at Goffs and at Tattersalls as well. I must say that the Orby looks very good this year. I've gone through the catalogue a couple of times and it looks like one of those great Orbys from the late nineties when everyone was scrapping for Flame Of Taras and the like. We've a very big list to get through and, in fairness to the breeders and to Goffs, they've put on a good book. Hopefully the physicals match up.”

But before then, Al Shira'aa also has Ocean Jewel to look forward to the Matron, and Lalor is not ruling out McCreery's filly out-running her odds of 33-1. 

He said, “Ocean Jewel is much better than what she showed at Naas a few weeks back. She won a Group 3 at Leopardstown over seven furlongs earlier this season and the question with her is if she will get the mile or not. If she does, she could get a slice of it but Tahiyra is the one to beat, for sure. The ground will suit Ocean Jewel and anything can happen at this level. She's a very good filly and deserves a shot at her Group 1 here. This has been the plan for a while.”

He added, “The really exciting thing about this is, when I speak to the boss, everything points to the future and with these fillies, they will all retire here and are exciting broodmares for us to look forward to.”

.

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Can The Real Auguste Rodin Stand Up In Irish Champion Stakes?

He has become something of an enigma, but Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) has the x-factor most dream of despite his sharp falls from grace and has the ball in his court ahead of Saturday's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. Adept on Epsom's lively surface either side of unequal struggles through the rain-dampened sod at Newmarket and Ascot, Ballydoyle's beau ideal has the aid of the current heatwave at a Leopardstown track that he has already mastered when on the rise as a juvenile. Whatever the reason for his white-flag moments in the 2000 Guineas and King George, this is a colt that has proven that he can truly shift when it rides on top and none will be finishing to greater effect.

Like all good Derby winners, Auguste Rodin has a nemesis in King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Ryan Moore has his sights on that rival above all others.”King Of Steel probably deserves to head the betting given the way he beat our Voltigeur winner Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) at Royal Ascot and backed that up with a good third in the King George, but don't forget Auguste Rodin beat him fair and square in the Derby and he showed a lot of speed to win that day,” he said. “My colt obviously has a big question to answer after his lifeless run in the King George, but if he returns to his Epsom form then he has a big chance.”

Aidan O'Brien added, “We're really happy with him, the circumstances are all different for this. It's a mile and a quarter, quicker ground, he's drawn in rather than out and we've been happy with him since Ascot. There are a lot of things different this time. Ryan felt him come off the bridle early last time and didn't take a chance, he took the decision to protect him rather than damage him, which definitely wasn't the wrong thing.”

Amo Racing's game-changing King Of Steel, who at this stage could be argued has the edge in their private dispute having run a bigger average over their two encounters, is one of the best big horses of recent times and Ascot's mile and a half on soft ground would not have been his bag either. At least he kept fighting in the wake of the older, more seasoned boys up ahead and this, a qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, is a golden opportunity to settle the argument once and for all.

Kevin Stott, who has been catapulted to the limelight by his partnership with this colossus, believes he is on the one with the bragging rights at present. “I wouldn't swap him for anything in the race and honestly believe he's the one they all have to beat,” he said on his William Hill blog. ” Going that slightly quicker tempo should allow him to get into a rhythm quicker and I can't wait to get back on board him again. He's been given plenty of time to get over his run in the King George and while it was a hard race, we think he'll have learnt a lot from it and I expect him to step forward mentally as much as anything here. He could easily go back to up in trip, but we feel this might be where he is at his optimum so the fact we haven't actually run him over it is something we are all really looking forward to.”

At this stage, the older horses hold sway after the big summer clashes and with the likes of TDN Rising Stars Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in here there is no guarantee that the Classic generation will win out. Nashwa is probably a dubious stayer at this distance and has the QEII written all over her, so Onesto looks the more intriguing given that he was less suited to the easier ground 12 months ago than Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). He has arguably shown more in one run in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois than that rival has in his major tests this term and this is undoubtedly the French colt's big moment.

Luxembourg has been so disappointing since his dynamic success in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup that it looks as if he is on the downward curve, while Shadwell's Alflaila (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) needs more than a fair share of Owen Burrows spell-casting if he is to jump from the G2 York S. to these kind of heights.

 

Is The Matron The Graveyard Of The Favourites?

Leopardstown's G1 Coolmore America “Justify” Matron S. is prone to surprise results, with five of the last six winners priced at 10-1 or bigger and two of them trading at 20-1 and 25-1. Perhaps it is the slight change of the season throwing the midsummer femmes fatales off track and bringing the autumn goddesses into their element, but this is a race where the formbook rarely holds water. With that in mind, The Aga Khan's G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and G1 Coronation S. heroine Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) is in the same boat that her opposing stablemate Homeless Songs (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was 12 months ago as she returns from her sojourn in this “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

Homeless Songs looked a “good thing” back then and faltered, much as Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) had done in the preceding renewals. This ground is as quick as connections of Homeless Songs would like, while Tahiyra needs to do more than she has in her last two races to justify short odds. Perhaps Juddmonte's unflinching Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) is the answer, given her relentless run of success in her native country, or the newly-blinkered Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never).

Tahiyra's jockey Chris Hayes thinks she has what it takes to hold on to her mantle of leading 3-year-old filly miler. “She just finds everything so easy–she finds going fast easy, she finds going slow easy and there are no issues or anything with her,” he said. “I've sat on her plenty and she has strengthened up quite well–she's a stronger filly than she was earlier in the year.”

Moyglare Stud's Fiona Craig warned that Homeless Songs may yet be taken out of the Matron. “Homeless Songs is in good shape, she might be a week or two short and if Leopardstown don't water and it stays as hot and sunny as this and the ground is fast she probably won't run, but she's declared and we'll just see,” she said.

 

Can Shaquille Get Away With A Slow Start Again?

Saturday's third Group 1 is at Haydock and with the heat unrelenting the Betfair Sprint Cup is to staged on unusually fast ground which will not daunt connections of the seemingly-flawless G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup hero Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}). That said, his tendency to gift rivals a headstart might catch up with him eventually as it did the habitually stalls-wary Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). In terms of sheer ability, the Camacho colt has a healthy advantage over a collection of sprinters that have found many ways to undermine their reputations.

Shaquille has undergone stalls schooling with specialists Craig and Jake Witherford and Camacho's husband and assistant Steve Brown is hoping they have got to the bottom of that particular quirk.

“You'd rather we had a conventional situation, but we haven't in his last two races. We've acknowledged that we had a problem, we've tried to do something about it, we're pleased with what happened at home and we hope to see that on the track on the day,” he said. “He looks really fit and well and everything has gone to plan. We planned four good bits of work, which he's done, and we haven't missed a day with him–I don't think we can have any gripes about his preparation at all.”

If there is one unknown in the line-up it is Peter Harris's Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) and while his last two wins in Deauville's Listed Prix Moonlight Cloud and G3 Prix de Meautry leave him with a bridge still to cross, he is at least a young colt on the up with confidence high. One of the older brigade who has been at times frustrating is Cheveley Park Stud's talented Sacred (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), but she is at least still unexposed at this trip with her four outings over six resulting in a narrow second to Khaadem (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in Royal Ascot's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S. in June. She will love the flat track, fast surface and fast pace and this could be her day at last.

Sacred's jockey Tom Marquand said, “Going back to a flat six furlongs on fast ground should be right up her alley and hopefully we will see her back to where she was before. She has shown on so many occasions that she belongs at this level. Hopefully she can get the job done on Saturday.”

 

The Supporting Cast

This is one of the European season's finest weekends and Saturday's action is boosted by the appearance of Ballydoyle's TDN Rising Star Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S., a “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf; and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) in the G2 Dullingham Park S. on the Leopardstown card. There is also Kempton's G3 September S., which sees the high-class Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) tackle a mile and a half for the first time, and G3 Sirenia S. where TDN Rising Star Eben Shaddad (Calyx {GB}) puts his reputation on the line for Prince Faisal bin Khaled and Najd Stud and the Gosdens.

 

Sunday's Fixtures Set

Sunday's Curragh card and the ParisLongchamp Arc Trials fixture were firmed up on Friday, with Aidan O'Brien suggesting that the stable's big 2-year-olds City Of Troy (Justify) and Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) could line up in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. Declared alongside each other in opposition to the G1 Phoenix S. hero Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), the pair of TDN Rising Stars would make for a stellar clash.

“It's possible they could both run,” O'Brien said. “Obviously City Of Troy would prefer the ground to be quick, whereas Henry Longfellow handles an ease but they are both in good form.” The stable's multiple Group 1-winning stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is one of five in the G1 Irish St Leger, while their unbeaten TDN Rising Star Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) heads the nine fillies engaged in the G1 Moyglare Stud S.

Last year's G1 Flying Five heroine Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) has nine to beat in her repeat bid, while in Paris the eight fillies confirmed for the G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille include the starlets Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) and Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Jean-Louis Bouchard's G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero Feed The Flame (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is back in the G2 Qatar Prix Niel.

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