Tag: Europe

“It Would Be A Huge Upset Were He To Be Beaten” – Desert Crown Back In The Brigadier Gerard

If there were one race you could have bet that TDN Rising Star and unbeaten Derby hero of 2022 Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) would make his comeback in it would have been the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. which carries Sir Michael Stoute's stamp more than any other in the British Pattern. One of his record-setting dozen successes in the key Sandown staging post was the yard's penultimate Blue Riband hero Workforce (GB) (King's Best), so with all the stars aligning the stage is set for the return of Saeed Suhail's beau ideal on what promises to be an exciting and nerve-jangling Thursday evening.

While most connections of horses that carry this kind of gravitas err on the side of caution when commenting on a comeback after so long off the track, the owner's racing manager Bruce Raymond is having none of it. “I'm more than hopeful. It would be a huge upset were he to be beaten,” he bullishly stated on Wednesday. “Of course, they can all be beaten but I don't expect him to be.”

“Michael is definitely 100% happy with him, he's fine, he's working good and while there's enough improvement to come, he's fit enough to do himself justice,” Raymond added. “We've got a pacemaker in Solid Stone to make sure it's not a crawl. He leads him in all his work and he didn't run at Chester recently just so he could run in this.”

 

 

Is Hukum The Fly In The Ointment?

Another who hasn't been seen since last year's Derby meeting is Shadwell's Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), with his career-best G1 Coronation Cup success looking shortly after to have been his last. Nursed back from the brink by the team at Shadwell and trainer Owen Burrows, the 6-year-old who had the audacity to beat Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) by 4 1/4 lengths at Epsom is not to be underestimated although his participation depends on an inspection of the surface by connections.

“Timing-wise it really works out, it slots in well with the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot as a prep run,” Burrows said. “Fingers crossed he can show his old enthusiasm, run a nice race and get his season on track. Myself and Richard Hills are going to walk the track beforehand, I've been liaising with Andrew Cooper, the clerk, and he normally does a great job. I just don't want to run him for the first time in the year on fast ground and it's an evening meeting, so there's plenty of time throughout the day for it to dry out. We'll just be taking a look to make sure we're happy.”

 

Two Points To Make

Also at Sandown is the Listed National S., where Sultan Ali's Blue Storm (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}) bids to confirm the merit of the form of his Newmarket novice win at the Craven meeting. The James Tate trainee is up against eight other winners among the 10, including Godolphin's fellow Newmarket scorer On Point (Ire), another son of Blue Point (Ire) in a fascinating renewal of the Royal Ascot pointer.

“We were very impressed with him first time and the form couldn't have worked out any better,” Tate said of Blue Storm. “He's been impressing at home and it's all positives really. Having said that, I've ran horses in the National S. a few times and on paper it looks a strong renewal, so it's a good job we're bringing what we think is a good horse in to it.”

 

 

TDN Rising Stars Cast Long Shadows

ParisLongchamp also stage a card running into the evening, with the feature G3 Prix Hocquart seeing Stall Nizza's ultra-impressive G3 Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen winner Alpenjager (Ger) (Nutan {Ire}) take on the French middle-distance colts. He split TDN Rising Star Mr Hollywood (Ire) (Iquitos {Ger}) and Sunday's G3 Baden-Baden Derby-Trial scorer Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) in Munich's G3 Bavarian Classic at the start of the month and that form looks red hot. Andre Fabre, whose record stands at seven winners of this, saddles two with Michael Tabor's First Minister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) set to act as barometer of the merit of the pair of TDN Rising Stars he split in this track's Prix de Ferrieres conditions event last month. Pascal Bary will be watching keenly to see if the winner of that, Feed The Flame (GB) (Kingman {GB}), gets a boost while Jean-Claude Rouget will also be hoping that the Fabre runner shows the third-placed Silver Crack (Fr) (Cracksman {GB}) in a favourable light.

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Making Waves: Frankel Filly Stars In Florida

   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 Wide West (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the Roar S. at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.

 

Golden Number 10 For Frankel

The Roar S. went to Frankel's Wide West for Craig Bernick's Glen Hill Farm and trainer Tom Proctor (video). The homebred is the first foal out of her dam, Deer Valley (Speightstown), who won Monmouth's Crank It Up S.

Besides Wide West, Deer Valley has the juvenile colt King Julien (Kingman {GB}) and was bred to both Candy Ride (Arg) and Quality Road last spring. She is a half-sister to GI Santa Anita Oaks winner Crisp (El Corredor)–herself the dam of Listed Japan Dirt Derby winner Danon Pharaoh (American Pharoah)–and GI Futurity S. winner and sire Whywhywhy (Mr. Greeley) is under the third dam.

Juddmonte's Frankel now has 118 stakes winners internationally with Wide West's victory. From 43 runners in the U.S., 25 have won (58%), 15 are stakes horses (35%) and 10 are stakes winners (23%). His quartet of American graded winners are led by GI Belmont Oaks heroine McKulick (GB).

 

Anodin Filly Victorious At Churchill

Chervenell Thoroughbreds, LLC's Frivole (Fr) (Anodin {Ire}) won at Churchill in her first U.S. start last week (video). Trained by Graham Motion, the 4-year-old was previously well-tried in France for breeder Wertheimer & Frere and trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias.

Knocked down to Gary Chervenell for €155,000 at Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale, the bay is a half-sister to the dam of listed winner and dual group-placed Around Midnight (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}), to G2 Prix de Malleret runner-up Fuse (Fr) (Teofilo {Ire}), and the yearling filly Bourrasque (Ghostzapper). Her dam, Houleuse (Dynamformer), was covered by Uncle Mo in 2022 and is distant kin to G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud heroine Plumania (GB) (Anabaa).

Anodin, who stands at Haras de la Haie Neuve, has an 80% winners-to-runners ratio with his four U.S. winners coming from a pool of five runners. His first American stakes winner is Neige Blanche (Fr).

 

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Soldier’s Call’s Born To Rock A New TDN Rising Star

Aptly-named, Laurence Holder's 2-year-old Royal Ascot-bound debutante Born To Rock (Ire) (Soldier's Call {GB}–Love To Rock {Ire}, by Fastnet Rock {Aus}) burned up Yarmouth's ever-drying turf on Wednesday to become the latest TDN Rising Star. Prepared for the five-furlong British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Fillies' S. by Jane Chapple-Hyam having been purchased for 110,000gns at the Tatts Guineas Breeze Up Sale, the bay fitted with the stable's white bridle and reins showed key early pace under Robert Tart racing away from the main pack towards the far side. Always in command on the front end, the 7-2 second favourite opened up passing two out and was being eased late as she registered a 4 1/4-length defeat of the Gosdens' newcomer Jiwin (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), with 3/4 of a length back to the Michael Bell-trained Mirroring (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}).

 

Ballyhane Stud-based Soldier's Call's first TDN Rising Star from his first crop, the winner is on target for the G2 Queen Mary S. according to Chapple-Hyam. “She's worked with the horse in the previous race and with the colt that won last week and they've all been thereabouts in the gallops, but she's turned it on this afternoon,” she said. “We have to go for the Queen Mary, definitely.”

“She was a gorgeous physical as a yearling,” Derryconnor Stud's Katie Mcgivern told TDN Europe. “She had a huge walk, great use of herself with strength and size.”

Mcgivern purchased the filly for €17,000 at the Goffs Sportsman's Sale and subsequently sold her for 110,000gns to Amanda Skiffington (agent for Laurence Holder) at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale.

“She toed out a little which reflected her €17,000 price tag but my husband Tom and I couldn't leave her behind. She was always such an athlete,” she said.

“She was easy to break and prep for the breeze-up sales throughout the winter. We knew we had something special as she not only had the pace but she had this huge stride to go with it and loved her work.”

“We were very excited about her heading to the Guineas Sale but Soldier's Call only had one winner at that stage so knew there was going to be a limit to what she was worth.”

The Ballyhane stallion has since had a flurry of winners taking his total to nine.

“She's a filly with a very exciting future as she's not just a sharp 2-year-old type. She has size and scope and more developing still to do so we look forward to how she progresses throughout the season. We very much look forward to her lining up in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot with a fighting chance.”

One of nine winners from the first crop of the speedy and accomplished son of Showcasing (GB), Born To Rock is a grandson of the GIII Athenia H. runner-up I'm In Love (Zafonic) who produced the G3 Stockholms Stora Pris scorer Match Maker (Ire) (Declaration Of War) and the GIII Miesque S. winner More Than Love (More Than Ready). A distant relative of the sire Weldnaas, the moderate performer Love To Rock has just the sole progeny to date.

4th-Great Yarmouth, £30,000, Mdn, 5-24, 2yo, f, 5f 42yT, 1:00.57, g/f.
BORN TO ROCK (IRE), f, 2, by Soldier's Call (GB)
     1st Dam: Love To Rock (Ire), by Fastnet Rock (Aus)
     2nd Dam: I'm in Love, by Zafonic
     3rd Dam: Bank On Her, by Rahy
(€17,000 Ylg '22 GOFSPT; 110,000gns 2yo '23 TATBRG). Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $19,196. O-Mr Laurence Holder; B-Equos Ltd & Troy Cullen (IRE); T-Jane Chapple-Hyam. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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“This Is Massive For Us” – Asadna Has Aughamore Team Excited For Ascot

Aughamore Stud's Michael Gleeson has said that producing Asadna (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), arguably the most impressive two-year-old winner there has been so far this season and a genuine Royal Ascot contender, eclipses anything the family-run farm has achieved in the sales ring. 

Gleeson runs one of the shrewdest breeding and pinhooking operations in Ireland along with his brother Laurence. The Westmeath men have made a habit of producing a number of big results at the sales in recent years and are now savouring what looks a real Coventry S. contender in TDN Rising Star Asadna. 

He said, “This is massive for us. The sales ring is brilliant but it's the winner's enclosure where you really want to be. We were fortunate enough to have sold a Group 1 winner [Champers Elysees (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus})] who won the Matron S. during lockdown so we couldn't be there for that. That's always going to stick in the back of your mind so we're going to make sure we're at Royal Ascot to see Asadna run.”

That might be a good idea. The ratings suggest that what Asadna did on debut at Ripon was something out of the ordinary. In actual fact, no two-year-old has posted a bigger Timeform rating than Asadna did when pulling a massive 12 lengths clear of his rivals to win over six furlongs on debut at Ripon for George Boughey. 

For Asadna to win on debut didn't come as a surprise to anyone close to him. But for him to go and post one of the most impressive speed figures in recent times for a debutant, just over a month after selling from Church Farm and Horse Park Stud to owner Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah for 160,000gns, could not have been predicted by anybody. 

Gleeson said, “We spoke to John Cullinan and Roger Marley, who breezed him, and they were very keen on the horse. But then again, he didn't blow the lights out at the Craven but still managed to sell well. 

“Obviously, they got him sold on their reputation because it was probably the soft ground that killed him in the breeze. We heard he was going well with George and everyone liked him but you never want to get too far ahead of yourself. 

“You hear so many stories about horses who are going to be the next big thing and it normally doesn't work out so you have to try and keep your feet on the ground.”

He added, “When you first saw him win by that distance, you were in shock. And then the more information that came out in the following hours and days made you wonder if it actually happened. At the same time, it was still only a maiden, but he looks very exciting.” 

Asadna is a best-priced 4-1 for the Coventry but most firms are quoting just 5-2 about him winning one of the most prestigious two-year-old races in the calender. His success is a triumph for the Gleeson brothers' patience and once again highlights their ability to sniff out a bargain given the dam Looks Great (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) was picked up for just 10,000gns through Hamish Macauley at the Tattersalls July Sale seven years ago.  

Gleeson said, “We've seven broodmares on the farm now but a lot of those have only been purchased in the past couple of years. Asadna is out of one of the original mares that we bought when we moved back home to the farm to try and give it a go so it has taken time. It's a long time since she was bought from the sales as a three-year-old. 

“As her name suggests, she was an outstanding individual and we knew that her dam [Danehill Dreamer (Danehill)] produced lovely-looking stock. There was a Nathaniel (Ire) colt  [Ecole d'Art (Ire)] out of the mare that made 675,000gns as a yearling. 

“You need to find an angle and have to forgive something somewhere when you are shopping at that level. So we forgave her page because she had a strong backpage and felt that New Approach (Ire) would be a very good broodmare sire, which he now looks to be. He looks to be the next big thing as a broodmare sire.”

He added, “We were actually debating whether or not to put her in training after we bought her off Godolphin but we just didn't have the finances to test the waters.”

The Gleesons kept it local by travelling just 20 minutes from their base in Streamstown, County Westmeath, to their near neighbours in Tally-Ho Stud to visit Mehmas just before his first runners hit the track. It turned out to be an inspired decision given the heights Mehmas has scaled in the interim and Gleeson is hoping that Asadna can be the latest star for the popular sire. 

He said, “We went to him during his first season and it just made sense to go back. He is local to us there in Tally-Ho Stud and they have always been very good to us. It was an easy decision. When we used him the second time with the mare, with the resulting progeny now being Asadna, there was actually a lot of word about his first runners so we decided to send two mares to him before anything hit the track. It proved to be the last chance saloon when you consider what his stud fee is now. 

“But with the way the market is gone now, there has to be an element of risk because sire power is everything, especially with the mares who don't have the big pages. You need to land on the right sire to potentially upgrade your mare.”

Gleeson added, “Looks Great now has a Belardo (Ire) yearling filly who I imagine we will bring to the Tattersalls Ireland September Sale. She's also in foal to Nando Parado (GB, who we have a share in, so we were keen to support him this year with something decent.”

“Even though The Fugue (GB) (Dansili {GB}) is in the pedigree, you also have Limato (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}), while Fille De Reve (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) and Sulaalaat (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) were other highly-rated performers in the pedigree as well. Sulaalaat actually won over six furlongs so we just said that we'd embrace the speed element of the pedigree. From a commercial point of view, it made sense to go that way with that level of a stallion.”

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