Tag: Europe

A Modern Phenomenon At Chantilly

While only Sea the Stars (Ire) has been able to win a 2000 Guineas and Derby in the same year since Nashwan did it in 1989, there have been four colts able to carry their superior miling speed over the 10 1/2-furlong trip of the new “French Derby” at Chantilly and complete the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains-G1 Prix du Jockey Club double. While the purists rave on without end about the fact that the initiative to shave the distance from a mile and a half means that the Qatar-sponsored Classic is “no longer a Derby”, France has itself a unique brace of contests which appeals as diverse and individualistic. Few would argue that Shamardal would have stayed 12 furlongs well enough to win the old version and nor would his son Lope de Vega (Ire), or Brametot (Ire) (Rajsaman {Fr}) or St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). So the dramatic move to break tradition in 2005 has undeniably achieved what it set out to do and the latest to attempt the double on Sunday is Godolphin's Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

 

Rain, Rain, Stay Away

Charlie Appleby's season goes from strength-to-strength and Modern Games has already played a key role with his May 15 Poulains victory providing the middle part of an unprecedented European 2000 Guineas treble for Godolphin. Strong at the mile at ParisLongshamp, as he had been at Del Mar, he is bred to get this trip but if the ground turns testing it may stretch the elastic too far. “Modern Games heads back to France in great order. He is the horse in the field with the Classic credentials behind him and we are looking forward to seeing him over this distance, which we feel is within his compass,” his trainer said. “We are slightly on weather watch with the rain, but hopefully they don't get too much. It would obviously be a negative if it became soft, because he prefers a quicker surface and it would start to bring stamina into play.”

 

The Rising Star Contingent

Heading the opposition to Modern Games are the TDN Rising Stars Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Lassaut (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}), with the former sporting Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois's silks and the latter representing Riviera Equine SARL and Haras d'Etreham. Onesto emerged as a force to be reckoned with when dominating the G2 Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud May 8 and while he has a horror draw, he is one who can be switched off and produced late. Lassaut, who beat the Poulains third Tribalist (GB) (Farhh {GB}) over a mile here Mar. 9 before taking a conditions event at ParisLongchamp Apr. 21, was an eye-catching fifth behind Modern Games in the Classic and is bred to come into his own over this longer trip.

 

Three More For Rouget

Alongside Lassaut, Jean-Claude Rouget also saddles a pair of Al Shaqab colourbearers in the Apr. 17 G3 Prix de Fontainebleau winner Welwal (GB) (Shalaa {Ire}) and May 3 Listed Prix de Suresnes winner Al Hakeem (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), who suffered reverse fortunes when the draw was redone on Thursday. Welwal, who was sixth in the Poulains, lacks the obvious stamina leaning in his pedigree that Al Hakeem enjoys so a revised low draw will have helped his cause. Rouget's other major player is The Aga Khan's impressive May 10 G3 Prix de Guiche scorer Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}), who has the advantage of stall two but needs a strong pace to run at.

 

The Supporting Cast

Sunday's undercard boasts the signature G2 Grand Prix de Chantilly, where Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Thani's progressive May 12 G3 Prix d'Hedouville scorer Mutabahi (Fr) (French Fifteen {Fr}) meets last year's G1 Prix Ganay hero Mare Australis (Ire) (Australia {GB}); the G2 Prix de Sandringham with Lael Stable's G1 Criterium International third Purplepay (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) taking centre stage; the G3 Prix de Royaumont playing host to Ecurie Ama Zingteam's May 15 Listed Prix de la Seine winner Hidden Dimples (Ire) (Frankel {GB}); the G2 Prix du Gros-Chene featuring the unexposed Joseph O'Brien-trained Listed Sole Power Sprint S.-winning 3-year-old filly Brostaigh (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}); and the Listed Prix la Fleche for the juveniles in which Vicious Harry (Fr) looks to provide Harry Angel (Ire) with a first black-type winner.

Click here for the group fields.

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Strawberry Fields Forever

“The Derby is a different game,” breeder Gary Robinson told TDN's Alayna Cullen on camera last week, and he now knows that for sure, for his Strawberry Fields Stud just outside Newmarket can proudly boast of being the birthplace of the Derby winner Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}).

While most of Robinson's team from the farm travelled to Epsom to watch their graduate's crowning moment, the stud owner himself took a leaf out of The Queen's book and watched the race at home from the comfort of his own sofa.

As the horse's trainer Sir Michael Stoute received three cheers from the Epsom crowd so delighted to see him back in the winner's circle he first visited on Derby day with Shergar (GB) 41 years ago, Robinson said via telephone, “I'm going to the pub now to tell everyone I don't do handicaps.”

He added, “I stayed at home with my daughter and her partner and it was just so exciting to watch. I wasn't a bit nervous, I have nerves of steel.”

The breeder said that he had believed in the horse from the start, and indeed he had employed a bold marketing approach when offering Desert Crown during Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, with an advert including the strapline, “A future Classic winner?”

It worked, as Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock went to 280,000gns to purchase the half-brother to Hong Kong Group 3 winner Flying Thunder (GB) (Archipenko) for owner Saeed Suhail.

Robinson can now remove that question mark, with Desert Crown having freewheeled around Tattenham Corner and down the hill to a sixth Derby success for Stoute and a second for Suhail, who also owned the 2004 winner Kris Kin (Kris S.), as well as 2000 Guineas winner King's Best (Kingmambo).

“When I sold him I said to people, 'do yourself a favour and buy something for the weekend'. I always knew he was going to be a Classic winner,” Robinson said with a laugh. “But joking apart he was a lovely horse and he went to a fantastic stable.”

Desert Crown's Juddmonte-bred granddam Foreign Language (Distant View) is a half-sister to Binche (GB) (Woodman), whose four stakes-winning offspring for Prince Khalid Abdullah include the Group 1 winners Proviso (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and Byword (GB) (Peintre Celebre).

“We're not breeding sprinters, we've gone for Classic types if we can,” Robinson added. “We're in to the end.”

Those are words that Julian Dollar of Newsells Park Stud would doubtless be pleased to hear more often from breeders of varying sizes, and indeed Robinson has returned to that particular well twice, as Desert Crown's dam Desert Berry (GB) (Green Desert) has a full-brother to the Derby winner at foot and is now back in foal to him. The well-bred Nathaniel, a Group 1 winner at 10 and 12 furlongs and one of the stud's three resident stallions, has had dwindling support from Flat breeders despite producing one of the standout performers of the modern era, Enable (GB), from his first crop. The 14-year-old son of Galileo (Ire) has been busy this season but an increasing number of mares sent to him in Royston are from the National Hunt sector.

“I feel a bit of vindication,” said Dollar as he left Epsom on Saturday. “People have started to doubt him and that has made me question if we can stand him at Newsells Park Stud as he is not fashionable enough.”

He continued, “The owner/breeders who should be supporting him have not been supporting him as much, but he has proven himself over and over again. He's had Enable, and now this horse, who looks seriously exciting, but it's not just them, he's had a French Oaks winner and plenty of other good horses.

“I can't change things and we all know how the market is but it does frustrate me when some horses get so hyped and Nathaniel doesn't get the respect he deserves. But we are governed by the market, and that is just the way it is.”

Prior to Saturday, Nathaniel's five other Group/Grade 1 winners were all fillies: the Classic winners Enable and Channel (Ire), along with last season's Nassau S. victrix Lady Bowthorpe (GB), God Given (GB), and the former French-trained Mutamakina (GB), who won the EP Taylor S. at Woodbine.

Dollar added, “A day like today makes me feel like it's a bit of a two fingers up to the market and to the sales houses who won't take a Nathaniel. I'm overwhelmingly proud of him and it is my privilege to work alongside him. He has three mares left to cover today, and another three tomorrow, and probably three the day after that given the type of mares he is covering these days.

“This is a fantastic day for the breeders. I saw the team from Strawberry Field Stud and had a glass of champagne with them. They are all delighted and so they should be. It's what we all still want to do, to breed a Derby winner.”

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Derby Glory For Desert Crown

There were stage-managed fireworks exploding from Epsom's stands minutes before the 243rd staging of the G1 Cazoo Derby In Memory of Lester Piggott, but the real pyrotechnics were provided on the grass by Saeed Suhail's superb Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}–Desert Berry {GB}, by Green Desert) as he proved a class apart in this special edition. Sent off the 5-2 favourite for a race which looked deep both numerically and in terms of talent and promise, the unbeaten TDN Rising Star marked the occasion with a performance to place alongside the best of recent times as he provided Sir Michael Stoute with a momentous sixth Blue Riband. Always cruising ominously under an admirably cool Richard Kingscote in mid-division staying wide out of trouble, the bay was let loose approaching two out and sprinted to the lead to win without being fully extended by 2 1/2 lengths from the 150-1 longshot Hoo Ya Mal (GB) (Territories {Ire}). As there had been on Friday, there was a hard-luck story as the race's clear second-best colt Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) got out of a traffic jam to storm home and finish a head back in third. It had been a dozen years since the 76-year-old Stoute had enjoyed Epsom glory, but the man who is officially the oldest trainer to win the Blue Riband had remained philosophical during the lean spell. “You realise your chances lessen, but I wasn't paranoid about it,” he said. “You just hope one would come along, and it did.”

If some had come to expect a slight demise in the fortunes of Newmarket's Knight, whose recent personal trials have served to put this sport into context, then the dramatic arrival of Desert Crown and his year-older stablemate Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) have put such thoughts firmly to the side. Freemason Lodge is abuzz once more, much as the neighbouring Warren Place had been at the start of the last decade, and in this Derby hero the establishment now boasts a totem to generate fear and awe in all as the season progresses. This was as far from a surprise as it gets in racing, as anybody who is more than a casual observer of racing would have known that Desert Crown's impressive display in the Dante on his seasonal debut and second career start off an interrupted preparation was only for starters. Only the yard's last Derby winner Workforce (GB) had come here with the audacity to win with such little race experience under his belt and it is worth remembering that he had been beaten 3 1/4 lengths by Cape Blanco (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at York prior to his seven-length rout on the Downs.

There was never a stage during Saturday's race that the blue-and-yellow first put into Epsom folklore by Kris Kin did not catch the eye, with Changingoftheguard (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) merely providing the target up ahead. Despite the presence of the likes of Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Star of India (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Westover around him, the overwhelming feeling watching it all unfold was that nothing could go quick enough to take him out of his remarkable comfort zone. Kingscote took a sit for several yards passing three out with Ryan Moore struggling to make a fist of it even at that point on Ballydoyle's number one and there were echoes of Eddery on El Gran Senor. This time, there was no Secreto looming and not even a worthy competitor to hand and so it was left to Desert Crown to come home alone and allow connections a two-furlong-long spell to soak in the moment.

“He was very good today,” Kingscote stated humbly in the aftermath of his career-defining moment. “It was very smooth–he took all the preliminaries professionally, but then every time I've sat on him he has been very calm and today was no exception. I was hung out a little wide, but he was very comfortable and really well-balanced, changed leads over the road and off he went into top gear. The others weren't able to take him along and he has a good deal about him. At York, he took time to wind up but today was much more solid and alert. He's got gears and a lot of class, so I can't pigeon-hole him in terms of distance–at the two pole it was all over. It took guts for the connections to stick by me and let me ride. I'm not a champion jockey, not Ryan Moore, so that takes a lot for them not to look elsewhere.”

Stoute was quick to pay tribute to the rider. “I've been impressed with Richard since the time he got involved with us and I was very confident he would do the job today,” he said. “He's a deep thinker with beautiful hands and is calm.” Racing's most famous septuagenarian admitted to an aura of calm himself as he watched a sixth Derby victory unfold. “I was comfortable from the time he got to the top of the hill and he came down it very smoothly–he has a lot of talent and a good mind, which is very important,” he said.

“We were very hopeful after York that he might win the Derby. His performance delighted me as he had it won a long way out,” his handler added. “From an early stage, he was having little niggles and that is why he didn't run until the backend last year. There was nothing serious–he was maturing and developing and that was causing a few little problems with niggles. Shergar was very special and he hasn't quite reached that stage, but he has potential.” Of future plans, he said, “I think you have to just go home and see how they take it and we will just try and get it right and see how his recovery is. These good horses have good acceleration and he won the Dante over a mile and a quarter, so I think 10 or 12 will be no problem.”

The 2022 Derby's most significant footnote was the misfortune of Juddmonte's G3 Sandown Classic Trial winner Westover, who was stopped just as he was winding up heading to two out. As the gap between Stone Age and West Wind Blows (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) shut, the route to the inside was taken by the slaloming outsider Hoo Ya Mal and Rob Hornby had to wait several seconds to angle wide and unleash his mount's closing effort. When it came, it was impressive as he ate up an abundance of lengths and it was no surprise to hear connections mention the St Leger afterwards.

“He ran an amazing race and showed his quality and what an exciting horse he is to look forward to,” Westover's jockey Rob Hornby said. “Full credit to Sir Michael Stoute, who produced the winner beautifully and to Richard. Ryan and Richard were drawing me into it and he brought himself into a real nice position and warmed into it well, but when the gap was there he wasn't quite quick enough to get in. It got quite messy and I had to check and check again, but he really powered home and galloped through the line very strongly.”

“Epsom is tough and as Frankie said yesterday, you'd love to be beaten fair and square but he didn't really have a clear run,” Hornby added. “A lot goes into these days–it's a big team effort and it didn't go our way, but he's a hell of a horse. I'm gutted, but we'll pick ourselves up and go again–how he took the preliminaries, travelled in the race and hit the line makes me excited about what a future he is going to have. He stays very well and is relaxing nicely, so he's going to keep improving.”

For Ahmad Al Shaikh, a runner-up finish at big odds in the Derby was again the end result of the decision to pitch one of the race's apparent fringe players into the fray. This was a significant upgrade on Hoo Ya Mal's third in the G3 Craven S. and distant second in the Listed Newmarket S., but it was no fluke over the furthest trip he has raced and he was duly able to emulate the 2020 runner-up Khalifa Sat (Ire) (Free Eagle {Ire}). It is beginning to feel like Green Team Racing are genuinely lucky around here and trainer Andrew Balding, who also saddled the fourth-placed Masekela (Ire) (El Kabeir) at 66-1, was quick to put all the credit at the owner's door. “I have Ahmad Al Shaikh to thank entirely, because I didn't want to run in the race but he insisted,” he explained. “At the end of the day, he made a very good argument that if the horse who was supplemented won it we'd think where would we have finished, so it was great decision. He just got the trip and has a lot of class, while Andrea [Atzeni] said that Masekela needs further which surprised me.”

David Probert said of the runner-up, “Second in the Derby is massive for me and it hasn't really sunk in yet. I looked up about a furlong out and I could see Richard was only really teasing me, which was quite heartbreaking in a way. Obviously he was trying a mile and a half for the first time and he'd never run at this level, so it was all about keeping a lid on him and getting him to relax. He got into a very good rhythm the whole way around and we got a nice position and then hunted our way up the inside. It opened up quite nicely and his last furlong was his best. He saw it out really well and there are better things to come.”

This was a first Derby victory for Nathaniel, fittingly a year on from that of his great rival Frankel, and a huge moment for the Teversham-based Strawberry Fields Stud. Sold for 280,000 guineas at Tattersalls October Book 2, Desert Crown boasts a group-winning half-brother in the G3 Premier Cup scorer Archie McKellar (GB) (Archipenko) but little of major note close up in his pedigree. Where the alchemy comes in is via the dam Desert Berry's own second dam, Juddmonte's listed scorer and group-placed Binary (GB) (Rainbow Quest) who was responsible for the Scandinavian champion Binary File (Nureyev) and, more importantly, the top producer Binche (Woodman). She was responsible for the G1 Prince of Wales's S. hero Byword (GB) (Peintre Celebre), the four-times top-level scorer Proviso (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and the G2 Prix Eugene Adam winner Finche (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Also connected to another multiple grade I winner in Wandesta (GB) (Nashwan), Desert Berry's 2-year-old filly is by Al Kazeem (GB) while she also has a yearling colt by Study of Man (Ire).

Saturday, Epsom, Britain
CAZOO DERBY-G1, £1,604,000, Epsom, 6-4, 3yo, 12f 6yT, 2:36.38, gd.
1–DESERT CROWN (GB), 128, c, 3, by Nathaniel (Ire)
     1st Dam: Desert Berry (GB), by Green Desert
     2nd Dam: Foreign Language, by Distant View
     3rd Dam: Binary (GB), by Rainbow Quest
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (280,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT). O-Saeed Suhail; B-Strawberry Fields Stud (GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute; J-Richard Kingscote. £909,628. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $1,264,597. *1/2 to Archie McKellar (GB) (Archipenko), GSW-HK, $513,497. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Hoo Ya Mal (GB), 128, c, 3, Territories (Ire)–Sensationally (GB), by Montjeu (Ire).
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. (40,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT). O-Ahmad Al Shaikh; B-Meon Valley Stud (GB); T-Andrew Balding. £344,860.
3–Westover (GB), 128, c, 3, Frankel (GB)–Mirabilis, by Lear Fan.
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-Ralph Beckett. £172,590.
Margins: 2HF, HD, 5HF. Odds: 2.50, 150.00, 25.00.
Also Ran: Masekela (Ire), Changingoftheguard (Ire), Stone Age (Ire), Nahanni (GB), Nations Pride (Ire), West Wind Blows (Ire), El Habeeb (Ire), Grand Alliance (Ire), Piz Badile (Ire), Star of India (Ire), Glory Daze (Ire), Sonny Liston (Ire), Royal Patronage (Fr), Walk of Stars (GB). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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MGSW Cadillac Leads Late Additions To Goffs London Sale

The Goffs London Sale catalogue grew to 26 lots, with three-time group winner Cadillac (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) leading the late entries. A group winner at two and three, the 4-year-old son of Seas Of Wells (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) has already added the Listed Glencairn S. at Leopardstown to his haul for trainer Jessica Harrington.

Another new lot is the placed Pivotal (GB) mare Cartesienne (Ire), a half-sister to Classic and Breeders' Cup winner Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the listed winner Modern News (GB) (Shamardal), second in Saturday's G3 Cazoo Diomed S., who is carrying to Cadillac's sire Lope de Vega. A trio of Camelot (GB) weanlings bred on Southern Hemisphere time out of stakes winner Keystone Gulch (Gulch); Tawaareekh (Monsun {Ger}), out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Tamayuz (GB) (Nayef); and Whazzup (GB) (Zoffany {Ire}), a daughter of Group 3 winner Whazzis (GB) (Desert Prince {Ire}), respectively, have also joined the sale. Finally, a breeding right to smart, young sire Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}), who already has 15 first-crop winners to his credit, will also be auctioned. The sale will be held at the Kensington Palace Gardens in association with Privat 3 Money on the eve of Royal Ascot, June 13.

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