Seven Days: Jumping Back to the Flat

Yes, I know. It's a bit early for this, isn't it? We usually have a strict No-Seven-Days rule until the week after the Brocklesby but this winter has dragged on and on and I just can't wait any longer.
We have the small matter of the Cheltenham Festival to get through this week, and we'll be giving it our full attention, but as we have counted down the days to the 'The Roar' it has been impossible to ignore the sneaky French getting their Turf season underway with a couple of Listed races at Saint-Cloud. And what better way to usher the Flat back in than with last season's Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Marhaba Ya Sanafi (Ire) exhibiting that he retains plenty of zest for racing with his victory in the Listed Prix Altipan? We may see him back in action as soon as the G3 Prix Edmond Blanc on Easter Monday as he gears up for a tilt at the G1 Prix d'Ispahan.
Marhaba Ya Sanafa's sire Muhaarar (GB) is now ensconced in his new home of Haras de Petit Tellier and has already been represented this year by the G2 1351 Turf Sprint winner Annaf (Ire) on Saudi Cup night.
On the subject of returning Classic winners, Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) won Saturday's Listed Randwick City S. for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott to claim his first stakes success since that extraordinary romp in the 'Covid' Derby at Epsom in 2020. It's almost unheard of for a Derby winner still to be in training at the age of seven, let alone to have been gelded.

Flags Flying High for Zoffany

Coolmore lost Zoffany (Ire) three years ago when he succumbed to liver failure at the age of just 13 ahead of the start of the 2021 covering season. Members of his final crop are now three, and they include the Jerome Reynier-trained Fun With Flags (Ire), who kept Classic hopes intact for her owner Erika Gilliar by claiming her third successive victory in the Listed Prix Rose de Mai.
Out of the Galileo (Ire) mare Marie Celeste (Ire), Fun With Flags was bred by Sonia Rogers from a family which has been at Airlie Stud for three generations and traces back to Rough Shod (GB) (Gold Bridge {Fr}) through her celebrated daughter Thong (Nantallah). The latter is in turn the dam of Special (Forli), whose offspring include Nureyev (Northern Dancer) and Sadler's Wells's dam Fairy Bridge (Bold Reason).
With entries in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix de Diane, Fun With Flags is one to follow as she attempts to become a Classic winner from her sire's farewell crop. She would be the first for her prolific trainer Reynier, who is currently behind only reigning champion Jean-Claude Rouget in the French trainers' table.

Listed Double for Scott at Home and Away

On Thursday it was a Dandy Man (Ire) gelding out of a Dark Angel (Ire) mare out in front in the Listed Spring Cup at Lingfield and 24 hours later the reverse of that cross was seen to good effect at Chantilly in the Listed Prix Maurice Cauillault.
Watch My Tracer (Ire) was the Dandy Man three-year-old in question, and he set up a thrilling 24 hours for his trainer George Scott and owners Victorious Racing with his debut success of the year, which was followed the next day by the triumph of Isle Of Jura (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) in the King's Cup in Bahrain.
That second Listed win was hailed by Scott as “the highlight of my career to date, miles ahead of anything else”, and it is easy to see why he would be walking on air after the winter campaign his four-year-old has had in Bahrain. Having won twice at Newmarket and Newbury last summer in for his Bahraini owners, Isle Of Jura travelled to the Gulf to compete in Bahrain's lucrative turf series and he has been a near-unstoppable force there, winning four of his five starts, including two Listed races, and finishing second, beaten a short-head, on his only other run. Pattern company back in Europe now beckons for the Godolphin-bred gelding, who is a full-brother to the treble Australian Group 1 winner Cascadian (GB).
The aforementioned Prix Maurice Cauillault was yet another strike for Jerome Reynier, trainer of the easy winner Darlinghurst (Ire), who was bred by Yeomanstown Stud and, as noted, is by their kingpin Dark Angel. It was the second stakes winner of the day for the 19-year-old stallion after Godolphin's Real World (Ire) landed the Listed Al Methaq Mile in Bahrain.

Donworth Goes Dutch

There is nothing like seeing the Chateau de Chantilly in the backdrop of races to make one feel that life is again worth living and, though Friday's card was on the Polytrack, it provided plenty of interesting pointers for the season ahead.
There won't be many Dutch-bred stakes winners this year (or ever), but Tim Donworth, once of the parish of Roundhill but now a fully assimilated French dweller, saddled the Listed Prix Montenica Skylight Brochard (Hol) who may remain unique in that regard this year.
“I think he's probably the only Thoroughbred who's been bred in Holland in the last couple of years,” Donworth told TDN. “It's worked out great. His breeders happened upon the mare, they'd never had a horse before and they've now bred this horse.”
The son of Mehmas (Ire) was bred by his owner Jill Brochard and is a full-brother to eight-time winner The Covex Kid (Ire). Their dam is Fonseca (Ire), by the late Red Clubs (Ire) who has a notable record as a broodmare sire despite his having stood for only three seasons before dying at the age of seven. His daughters have produced the Group 1 winners Lucky Sweynesse (NZ), Snow Lantern (GB) and Lezoo (GB), as well as the useful sire and Group 2 winner Ardad (Ire), Group 3 winner Spycatcher (Ire), last season's Lincoln winner Migration (Ire) and the Listed-winning half-siblings Arthur Kitt (GB) and Eartha Kitt (GB).

Like Mother, Like Son

Perhaps the largest scribble in the notebook from Friday in Chantilly was the name Dolayli (Fr) after the running of the Prix Darshaan. The Aga Khan Studs-bred son of Siyouni (Fr) and Group 1 winner Dolniya (Fr) (Azamour {Ire}) has won six of his eight starts, including all three of his runs this year for Francis Graffard. It is a rare Aga Khan runner that remains in training at five, but Dolayli may well repay his owner further as he is aimed at classier assignments through the spring and summer. His trainer told the Jour de Galop that he is looking at the G2 Prix d'Harcourt and considering the Ganay and perhaps even the Ispahan as potential Group 1 targets. Dolayli had the G1 Hong Kong Vase winner Junko (GB) (Intello {Ger}) five lengths behind him in second as the latter winds up for a shot at the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic later this month.
It seems scarcely believable that it is nine years since Dolayli's dam Dolniya took the Sheema Classic herself after she too had won the Prix Darshaan, each time beating Flintshire (GB). She is now the dam of three black-type offspring, including Group 3 winner Dilawar (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Listed-placed Dolia (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). Her current two-year-old is an unnamed Frankel (GB) colt who is also assigned to Graffard.

Heating Up

Darley's second-season sire Too Darn Hot (GB) has four colts and two fillies entered for the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas in May, and he may well have a Classic hope even farther afield following the victory on Sunday of Etes Vous Prets in the G2 Hochi Hai Fillies' Revue at Hanshin. The daughter of G1 Falmouth S. winner Nahoodh (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}) was bred by Godolphin and exported as a yearling to Japan, where she races in the colours of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum.
She is the fifth Group/Graded winner in a fourth different country for Too Darn Hot following Fallen Angel (GB), Darnation (GB), Alyanaabi (Ire) and Carolina Reaper (GB).

A Fitting 19th G1 Winner for Exceed And Excel

In the week in which the retirement was announced of successful shuttle sire Exceed And Excel (Ire) there could have been no more appropriate winner of the G1 Newmarket H. at Flemington than his son Cylinder (Aus). The Godolphin homebred became his sire's 19th Group/Grade 1 winner in the race won by Exceed And Excel 20 years ago. Following that victory he was bought by Sheikh Mohammed and became a valuable addition to the Darley stallion ranks on both sides of the globe.
We may yet see Cylinder racing in Europe, with Godolphin Australia's Nacim Dilmi suggesting after his victory that a trip to Royal Ascot in June could now be on the cards.

 

The post Seven Days: Jumping Back to the Flat appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Exceed And Excel Retires After ‘Journey of Excellence’

Former Australian champion sire and influential shuttle stallion Exceed And Excel (Aus) (Danehill), described as “an amazing horse from day dot”, has been retired from stud duties by Darley at the age of 23.

The announcement came on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the sprinter's victory in the G1 Newmarket H. at Flemington. After that win for owners Nick Moraitis and Alan Osburg, he was bought by Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum as a stallion prospect and made one final start for Tim Martin in the July Cup in the UK. Exceed And Excel was crowned champion sprinter in Australia in 2003/04, with seven wins from 11 career starts, six of which came at Group level, including the G2 Todman S.

Since those days he has compiled a comprehensive record at stud both in his native Australia and during shuttle stints at both Dalham Hall Stud in England and Kildangan Stud in Ireland. 

“We priced him at A$50,000 in his first season (at stud) and that was aggressive back then. He was immediately very popular, he covered a really good book first year and they sold very well,” said Darley Australia's Head of Stallions Alastair Pulford.

“His first crop was absolutely outstanding so he really announced himself as a stallion immediately. Exceedingly Good won the first two-year-old race of the season at Flemington and we thought, 'We're in business here'.

“A few months later he quinellaed both the divisions of the Blue Diamond Preludes. He got the Blue Diamond winner in his second crop, Reward For Effort, who went on to a career at stud himself.

“His sixth crop was an exceptional crop; we sent a lot of high-class mares of our own to him that year. The level of mares he was getting was high and that crop included the Golden Slipper winner Overreach, Guelph and Sidestep.”

One of the few reverse shuttlers to properly make a mark in Europe, Exceed And Excel's northern hemisphere Group/Grade 1 winners include Margot Did (GB), Excelebration (Ire), Outstrip (GB) and Mischief Magic (Ire). Most recently he was represented by a British Classic winner when the homebred Mawj (Ire) won last year's 1,000 Guineas for Godolphin and Saeed Bin Suroor. He is also the broodmare sire of Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and, through Outstrip, features as the grandsire of Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip (Fr).

Bred by the Ascot Breeding Partnership, Exceed And Excel is a son of Patrona (Lomond) and was bought for A$375,000 at the 2002 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. 

As he embarks on his retirement he is the sire of 18 Group/Grade 1 winners worldwide and is the only Australian-bred horse to have sired more than 200 stakes winners.The elite group of seven stallions to have achieved that feat is completed by his own sire Danehill, Sadler's Wells, Galileo (Ire), Dubawi (Ire), More Than Ready and Deep Impact (Jpn).

Along with the aforementioned Anthony Van Dyck, Exceed And Excel's record as a broodmare sire in Europe is extended by the Group 1 winners Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}). His sons remaining at stud in Ireland include Cotai Glory (GB), Bungle Inthejungle (GB) and Kuroshio (Aus).

Godolphin Australia's bloodstock manager Jason Walsh also paid tribute to the horse. He said, “He's been the most reliable source of early speed for so many seasons in both hemispheres, and his effect on the breed, and certainly on our organisation, globally has been profound.

“The other thing that makes him remarkable is the number of seasons he would have shuttled consecutively, just amazing.”

“He's been a pleasure to have around, from a personality perspective he's a true gentleman and has been a statesman in our stallion complex for so long. He's got some outstanding young stock coming through from some of our best-performed young mares.”

 

The post Exceed And Excel Retires After ‘Journey of Excellence’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Seven Days: Kings and Queens of the Heath 

It's a heady time of year to be on Newmarket Heath of a Saturday morning. You can tell by the convoy of smart cars when one of the big strings is about to arrive at the Al Bahathri, with Guineas weekend providing the perfect opportunity for owners to watch their horses work. 

This past Saturday, either 2,000 Guineas day, Kentucky Derby day, or Coronation Day, depending on your persuasion, was no exception. With the car park double-stacked and trainers and jockeys all about, Joe Foley, waiting for the off with Steve Parkin and Danny Tudhope, exclaimed, “It's just like being at The Yard”, in reference to Newmarket's famous watering hole not far from Tattersalls. 

The Gosden string swept by, with Teddy Grimthorpe on hand to watch Imad Al Sagar's Classic heroine Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in action, and they were followed by Sir Michael Stoute's team from Freemason Lodge. Philip Robinson and Richard Brown were in attendance, guaranteeing the appearance of reigning Derby hero Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), with Kevin Bradshaw in the saddle, Sarah Denniff at his side, as the countdown continues to his much-awaited comeback. 

The previous evening, Stoute has been a special guest at a reception at the National Horse Racing Museum to mark his induction into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame, along with Sea The Stars (Ire). The latter's owner and co-breeder Christopher Tsui had flown in from Hong Kong for the event, and his trainer John Oxx from Ireland. In the hands of the excellent Lydia Hislop, the interviews at the ceremony were both revealing and emotional.

Earlier on at the Rowley Mile, Stoute and Sea The Stars had combined to provide a maiden success for Infinite Cosmos (Ire), a market springer for the Oaks, which may just come a stroke too soon following the unfortunate abandonment of Sandown's meeting a week earlier, at which she had been set to make her seasonal resumption.

Stoute, ever the master of the slow burn with his Classic prospects, would not be pressed on the matter of the likelihood of Epsom for the elegant chestnut filly. As the great owner-breeders of yore fade into the past, it would be a poignant marker for Infinite Cosmos to contest a Classic this year, running in memory of her late breeder Sir Evelyn de Rothschild. Interviewed after the race, the trainer's mouth twitched a little, which may just have been irritation at the reporters' questions, or may, in a more fanciful light, be a flicker of evidence of the regard in which he holds the long-striding filly who represents connections who have provided his stable with such names as Crystal Ocean (GB) and Notnowcato (GB). We look forward to seeing her next in the G3 Tattersalls Musidora S. at York on May 17, which was confirmed as her next start to TDN on Monday.

There was less twitching and more active wriggling and fidgeting by the time Stoute was put under an actual spotlight in the Museum and grilled by Hislop, who thanked him profusely for not running away from her, as he is wont to do when faced by a microphone at the races.

The horses may speak for themselves there, but when Stoute is pressed to speak on their behalf, remembering which of them he loved the best, he is reluctant to choose from a swathe of greats but eventually leans on those global gallopers, Singspiel (Ire) and Pilsudski (Ire). Quite a response from the man who trained Shergar (Ire), but Stoute is rarely predictable.

“Because they raced until they were five-year-olds,” he explained. “And they were international horses, they had a wonderful record. Their constitutions were tremendous, their temperaments. They were just lovely horses to have.”

Of course the irony with Stoute is that the less he says, the more people want to know what he thinks. Like his favoured jockey, Ryan Moore, he is clearly uncomfortable in the media glare. His deliberate pauses before answering and mid-sentence are unlikely to be because he is at a loss for words; more probably because he knows how readily words can be pounced upon and misinterpreted. Clearly, however, at 77, he has lost none of his appetite for training. In an industry so preoccupied with viewing racehorses as commodities rather than than the living works in progress that they all are at their tender ages, to hear Stoute's few words was heartening.

“I think you're got to love horses,” he told Hislop. “They are fascinating, so it's intriguing work. But the staff are so important, and relationships with the staff are so important. So I find that quite fascinating, getting their opinions.

“It's all team work. The rider has to contribute a great deal and the people that feed him early in the morning. I'm not trying to be immodest. It's interesting, if you love horses and you love racing.”

The many long-serving members of staff at Freemason Lodge speak volumes as to the two-way loyalty of those involved at the Stoute stable, top to bottom. 

The Understated Oxx

From one of the most cherished members of the British racing fraternity, the microphone was passed to John Oxx, for whom the same comments apply in Ireland. Standing alongside him was Christopher Tsui, who, as an 11-year-old boy, watched his parents' horse Urban Sea win the Arc. Though that occasion was memorable enough in itself, who there that day could even have imagined the legacy that mare would leave, both for her owners and for the Thoroughbred breed? To the wider world, it could be argued that her greatest gift was Galileo (Ire). To the Tsui family, it was another of her sons, Sea The Stars.

When Christopher Tsui was asked by Hislop when John Oxx had first let on that Sea The Stars was something special, he replied, “John is very careful. So I think it was after he won the Guineas.”

As the laughter died down, Oxx added in his own defence, “You have to manage owners' expectations, so if you set the bar too high to begin with, there's only one way, and that's down. Mind you, I could have been rash in my early assessments and he wouldn't have let you down.”

But his sensible caution, which one imagines would be echoed by Stoute, was evident again when he said, “The most commonly asked question for me was 'When did you know he was a great horse?' Each race is a new test, and until you've won the next one you can never be sure.”

In the Footsteps of Frankel

For John Oxx and Christopher Tsui, the dream season for Sea The Stars was only really beginning this week 14 years ago when he won the 2,000 Guineas. This year, the King's procession after the Coronation reached Buckingham Palace just ahead of the off for the first race on 2,000 Guineas day, precision timing of which Her Late Majesty would surely have approved. 

On a momentous day for the Balding family, Clare was perhaps able to conclude her royal commentating duties for the BBC in time to switch on ITV Racing to watch her brother Andrew land the third British Classic of his career. 

Claiming a fifth victory in the 2,000 Guineas for Juddmonte Farms, Chaldean (GB) was the first of son of Frankel (GB) to emulate his sire's jaw-dropping performance on the Rowley Mile 12 years ago, and happily this came on the first occasion that Prince Saud, son of the late Prince Khalid Abdullah, had visited a British racecourse.

With such a powerful stallion roster and broodmare band at its disposal, the Juddmonte name doesn't appear on the buyers' lists at sales too often, but when it does, those charged with making the purchases don't often get it wrong. Arrogate was one such example in recent years, and Chaldean, whose Guineas success came four days shy of his actual third birthday, can be added alongside him.

The chestnut colt is the product of Whitsbury Manor Stud's breeding programme, and his dam Suelita (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) has been making a determined bid for blue hen status of late, with five of her six offspring having earned black type, including the Group 2 winner Alkumait (GB) (Showcasing {GB}).

Whitsbury Manor also featured as the breeder over the weekend of the Listed Charles II S. winner Shouldvebeenaring (GB) and easy juvenile debutant winner Elite Status (GB), both by resident stallion Havana Grey (GB). 

Despite this great run, the stud's director Ed Harper was still doing a very convincing Eeyore impression at Newmarket, claiming ahead of the race that Chaldean had little chance. Perhaps he was just taking a leaf out of the John Oxx book of expectation management, and we are happy to report that, despite the teeming rain that had persisted throughout Saturday afternoon, Harper was more Tigger-like after the Guineas. 

A Delight of Derby Winners

Many more people had that Tigger bounce to their step by Sunday, when sunshine brought an altogether more upbeat feel to proceedings at Newmarket. 

From the vision of Desert Crown's more substantial four-year-old frame on Saturday morning, we were treated to the sight of the second of three Derby winners currently remaining in training when the magnificent beast that is Adayar (Ire) stepped into the parade ring. Frankel had his fingerprints all over Newmarket's group contests, with his Irish Derby and St Leger winner Hurricane Lane (Ire) having made a return to the winner's enclosure after Friday's G2 Jockey Club S., followed by his old mucker Adayar in the rescheduled G3 Gordon Richards S. on Sunday. 

Royal Ascot for the Prince of Wales's S. Is the most likely target for the latter, who will surely relish better ground but did everything required to get his career back on track after his narrow defeat by Bay Bridge (GB) in the Champion S. during a season in which he appeared only twice. 

Godolphin's excellent day continued when Mawj (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) doggedly repelled the favourite Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {FR}) in the 1,000 Guineas to give Saeed Bin Suroor his first Group 1 win in Britain in a decade and a first major success for Oisin Murphy since his comeback from a 14-month suspension.

Murphy was excellent, too, on Classic prospect Running Lion (GB) (Roaring Lion), who was one of two stakes winners over the weekend for David Howden, whose eponymous company had stepped in to sponsor the entire undercard at Newmarket, backing up QIPCO's sponsorship of both Guineas races. 

“That was a magical moment,” shouted Howden to David Redvers, with whom he bred Running Lion from the Dansili (GB) mare Bella Nouf (GB).

A man not short of enthusiasm, he told the crowd of journalists, “Amazing. It's so wonderful to see her win today. She's such a special horse, being by Roaring Lion, who had a very special place in our hearts. Today, for me, that's as good as it gets.”

Explaining the relationship a little further, Redvers added, “Bella Nouf was one of the first mares we bought together. When we bought her I had to take a big loan because I came to the conclusion that we had to buy some nice mares to support Roaring Lion. David came in as a partner in several, and I think he's probably got 25 horses in total now.

“Isn't it weird the way it happens? Originally, he bought a day on the gallops at the school my sister's children go to and his children went to. I rang him recently and said there was the opportunity to sponsor the whole undercard here, and he's never said no to me–though I usually have to take a leg in something.

“He's been incredibly lucky but I think it's a bit like his business, where he gets enthusiastic people around him who are investors in the business in exactly the same way as I am with the horses.”

Redvers is understandably emotional when it comes to the late Roaring Lion, who died after covering for only one season at Tweenhills, and who was trained, like Running Lion, at the Gosdens' Clarehaven Stables. 

“I went and stood at the back of the lift on the way down [from the grandstand]. I didn't want to have anyone around me,” he said in the winner's enclosure.

“I also have to stress that this is all down to Sheikh Fahad. If he hadn't bought Roaring Lion, and stood Roaring Lion, and sponsored this meeting through QIPCO, then we wouldn't have any part of it either. David gets on really well with Sheikh Fahad and they have shares together in several horses. It's a happy marriage. Unless you are running your own country, to play in this game at a decent level you need to have partnerships. It's a much better sport when you're sharing the fun, and it's a much easier sport when you're sharing the downside.”

He added, “You pick out horses in your life. That's the great thing about this game. My career started with a filly called Lady Rebecca, and then Dunaden changed it beyond recognition, and Roaring Lion changed it again. Now we have Running Lion. That's the reason we do it, for horses like this.”

Time to Heed the Warnings

Whether we call it a sport, a business, or an industry, many people involved with horse racing will share the sentiments expressed above by Redvers. We all hope for that good horse to come along, and we love the ones who are not so good just the same. 

However, as events at the signature meetings of Churchill Downs and Aintree have shown in recent weeks, we must never rest when it comes to doing the very best for the horses in our care. This has to start at the top and be upheld throughout, and if horsemen and women cannot get behind reforms to the sport made in the best interests of the creatures on whom many of us base our life's work, then they have no business being in the business. 

On a personal note, I know of almost no happier feeling than standing on Newmarket Heath, training morning or racing afternoon, with the sun on my face and the drumming of horses' hooves in my ears. How to reconcile this near-lifelong love with the portrayal of the sport on mainstream platforms outside racing is a question I am finding harder to answer. And it's not just ill-informed protest groups being given uncontested airtime in the build-up to the Grand National. 

Consider these lines, from the Washington Post on the day the Kentucky Derby was run at a Churchill Downs reeling from the fall-out from the fatalities of five horses during the previous week: “Thoroughbred horse racing is to drug abuse as the Fourth of July is to beer and hot dogs. Win or die.”

Or these, from the New York Times the next day, after another two horses were euthanised on the Derby undercard: “It is the horses that are feeding everyone in a multibillion-dollar industry. It is the humans who are letting them down.”

For most participants within the sport, abusing horses with so-called performance-enhancing drugs is unthinkable, but that's not enough. It must become abhorrent to all. Now is not the time for complacency or obstinance or cheating. If we want this great love affair to continue, now is the time for a public display of commitment.

The post Seven Days: Kings and Queens of the Heath  appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Exceed and Excel’s Mischief Magic Rallies to Win the BC Turf Sprint for Godolphin

LEXINGTON, KY–Godolphin's Mischief Magic (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) started off the Breeders' Cup action on an unseasonably warm and picture perfect day at Keeneland Friday in style with a late-rallying victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

Dispatched at 6-1 in this 5 1/2-furlong event, the homebred was off slowest of all, leaving him trailing the field early. Meanwhile Speed Boat Beach (Bayern) and previously unbeaten Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) sped out to the early lead, dueling through a :21.65 opening quarter. American Apple (American Pharoah), a 51-1 shot, charged up the fence to take the lead approaching the far turn, just as William Buick asked Mischief Magic to begin his bid. The flashy bay responded, taking closer order up the fence to put himself in contention, but still had plenty left to do entering the bend. Stuck behind a wall of horses at the top of the stretch as Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) took control, Mischief Magic attempted to get out of traffic, but was quickly blocked off. However, another seam opened just in time as Speed Boat Beach called it quits and Mischief Magic punched through horses, forging clear late for a one-length score in front of a very appreciative crowd.

Dramatised held second with Private Creed (Jimmy Creed) in third. Tyler's Tribe was pulled up and vanned off after bleeding in this first start without Lasix.

“I have to say I knew they were going to go hard,” winning trainer Charlie Appleby said. “From the gate, William [Buick] is riding in such great form and has so much confidence in his horses. I can see what he was doing. He was just going to get him on his lead. But he made a lovely run (up the backside) and he was trying to angle out and just got pushed back (inside). He didn't do the horse any harm as I said to William, the one thing he wants is to give him gaps. Give him daylight and the old bugger just might have a second chance. Fantastic ride by William and great effort by all the team. Great to be back.”

“I expected to him to be outpaced early,” Buick said. “He's a comfortable closer at six furlongs at home. I knew the 5 1/2 furlongs here with the speed in the race would catch him out early. I knew if I got behind a horse that would take me into the straight, he would finish off real good. He felt super.”

The jockey continued, “He ran very well in the middle part (of his last race). It was a good race at Newmarket. This is only his sixth race. He's still learning. He enjoys this ground and everything came together for him today.”

As for the runner-up, trainer Karl Burke said, “She ran a fantastic race. We couldn't have asked for anything more, really. She's just a little bit slow for gate speed, which we were always a little bit concerned with, but Ryan (Moore) gave her a beautiful ride and was committed to go down the rail once we were slow away. Maybe we were a bit lucky to get the gaps in the straight. We thought we had it won a half-furlong out. Fair play–Charlie's horse is a very good horse. She's probably a stiff five-furlong horse.”

Breaking through at second asking at Goodwood in July, Mischief Magic romped in an allowance at Newmarket next out Aug. 13. He followed suit with a victory in Kempton's G3 Sirenia S. Sept. 3 and was fourth when last seen in the G1 Middle Park S. at Newmarket Sept. 24.

Pedigree Notes:

Mischief Magic represents Sheikh Moahmmed's operation from top to bottom. The chestnut is the 17th Grade I winner for Darley Australia's Exceed and Excel and his second Breeders' Cup winner, following 2013 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Outstrip (GB). He is also the 11th top-level scorer out of a daughter of Elusive Quality, who is now the broodmare sire of a whopping four Breeders' Cup winners. The other three all came on dirt with subsequent Eclipse winners in two-time GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Roy H, GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint victress Shamrock Rose and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Essential Quality, who is also a Godolphin homebred. Mischief Magic is bred on the same Exceed and Excel/Elusive Quality cross as MG1SW Guelph.

His unraced dam Veil of Silence, also a product of the Godolphin operation, is a daughter of English and Irish Highweight and MG1SW Gossamer (GB) (Sadler's Wells), who is a full-sibling to European Horse of the Year Barathea (Ire). Mischief Magic is the second graded winner for his dam, who is also responsible for GSW Sound and Silence (GB). The 16-year-old mare's most recent produce is a full-sister to Mischief Magic.

Friday, Keeneland
BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE TURF SPRINT-GI, $920,000, Keeneland, 11-4, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.41, fm.
1–MISCHIEF MAGIC (IRE), 122, c, 2, by Exceed And Excel (Aus)
                1st Dam: Veil of Silence (Ire), by Elusive Quality
                2nd Dam: Gossamer (GB), by Sadler's Wells
                3rd Dam: Brocade (GB), by Habitat
1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charles Appleby;
J-William T. Buick. $520,000. Lifetime Record: GSW-Eng,
6-4-0-1, $607,317. *Full to Sound And Silence (GB), GSW-Fr,
MSW & GSP-Eng, SP-USA, $244,281. Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Dramatised (Ire), 119, f, 2, Showcasing (GB)–Katie's Diamond
(Fr), by Turtle Bowl (Ire). 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Clipper
Logistics; B-Branton Court Stud (IRE); T-Karl Burke. $170,000.
3–Private Creed, 122, c, 2, Jimmy Creed–South Andros, by
Sky Mesa. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE.
($45,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $155,000 2yo '22 EASMAY). O-Mike
McCarty; B-Sierra Farm (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $90,000.
Margins: 1, NK, 2. Odds: 6.92, 12.96, 10.33.
Also Ran: Persian Force (Ire), Lady Hollywood (GB), American Apple, Sharp Aza Tack, Love Reigns (Ire), Speed Boat Beach, Oxymore, The Platinum Queen (Ire), Tyler's Tribe. Scratched: Bushido, Mounsieur Coco, No Nay Hudson (Ire).
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Exceed and Excel’s Mischief Magic Rallies to Win the BC Turf Sprint for Godolphin appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights