Tracy Farmer’s Fev Rover Bests Them All in E.P. Taylor

The trip might have been unusual, but rider Javier Castellano knew what he had under him as Fev Rover (Ire) (m, 5, Gutaifan {Ire}–Laurelita {Ire}, by High Chaparral {Ire}) captured Sunday's GI E.P. Taylor S. at Woodbine. The bay showed the way early from the rail, but was quickly under pressure as 50-1 Rocky Sky (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) dogged her from the outside through fractions of :25.66 and :50.29. The rest of the field was strung out and just after the half-mile mark, Fev Rover yielded to let Rocky Sky go while she dropped back to third for about three furlongs. She was far from done, however, and switched outside on the turn to come on again.

Entering the stretch, Fev Rover got the jump several paths to the inside of battling Charlie Appleby trainee With The Moonlight (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), a MGSW/MGISP Godolphin homebred, and last year's Queen's Plate winner Moira (Ghostzapper), the reigning Canadian Horse of the Year. She swapped to her wrong lead about a furlong from home, but had the race in hand, prevailing by 2 1/4 lengths while With The Moonlight outgunned Moira. The latter had beaten Fev Rover in their respective last outs, the GII Canadian S. Sept. 9.

Final time for the 1 1/4 miles over the good course was 2:04.20.

“I expected it to be my horse in the lead,” said Castellano. “I felt a lot of pressure outside. I tried to ride a smart race.”

Fev Rover was no slouch before being imported to North America last year. Under the tutelage of Richard Fahey, she had raced in England, Ireland, France, and Bahrain, with her scores including the G2 Ghadwell Prix du Calvados at two and her placings including the G1 QIPCO One Thousand Guineas at three. Fahey, under Musley Bank Stables, consigned her to the 2021 Tattersalls December Mare Sale, where Tracy Farmer picked her up for 695,000gns. Shipped to North American and Mark Casse in 2022, she made just three starts at four, all at Woodbine, defeating Moira in the GII Canadian S. and finishing third via DQ in that year's edition of the E.P. Taylor. She opened her 2023 campaign with guns blazing, starting her year with three consecutive 99 Beyer Speed Figures. With the E.P. Taylor, Fev Rover was adding her second Grade I score following a victory over Gina Romantica (Into Mischief), winner of Saturday's GI First Lady S. at Keeneland, in the GI Beverly D. S. Aug. 12 at Colonial Downs, where she had earned a fees-paid berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She also has captured the GII Nassau S. and finished third in the GI Diana S. at Saratoga this summer.

Casse had indicated prior to the E.P. Taylor that Fev Rover was indeed being pointed to the Filly & Mare Turf, which will be contested Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

 

Pedigree Notes:

Fev Rover is the first top-level winner for Gutaifan (Ire), who stands at Haras des Faunes in France. The MGSW & G1SP stallion has four black-type winners total, with Fev Rover the only one venturing to this side of the pond. The Dark Angel (Ire) sire raced solely at two.

The late Epsom Derby and Breeders' Cup winner High Chaparral (Ire), sire of Fev Rover's dam, has 69 stakes winners out of his daughters. Laurelita (Ire)'s last reported foal is a yearling colt by Gutaifan's sire, Dark Angel. From the extended family of GISW Seek Again (Speightstown), she also has a 2-year-old filly named Leveret (Ire) (Invincible Army {Ire}), who has placed in one start in England this year.

Sunday, Woodbine Racetrack
E.P. TAYLOR S.-GI, C$766,000, Woodbine, 10-8, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/4mT, 2:04.20, gd.
1–FEV ROVER (IRE), 124, m, 5, by Gutaifan (Ire)
                1st Dam: Laurelita (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Chervil (GB), by Dansili (GB)
                3rd Dam: Nashmeel, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
(£20,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR; 695,000gns 3yo '21 TATMA). O-Tracy Farmer; B-Manister House Stud (IRE); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Javier Castellano. C$450,000. Lifetime Record: GISW-U.S., SW & G1SP-Eng, GSW-Fr, GSP-Ire,19-6-4-3, $1,286,834. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–With The Moonlight (Ire), 124, f, 4, by Frankel (GB)
                1st Dam: Sand Vixen (GB) (GSW-Eng, $119,931), by Dubawi (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Fur Will Fly (GB), by Petong (GB)
                3rd Dam: Bumpkin (GB), by Free State (Ire)
O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charles Appleby. C$150,000.
3–Moira, 124, f, 4, by Ghostzapper
                1st Dam: Devine Aida (MSW & GSP, $273,215), by Unbridled's Song
                2nd Dam: Passion, by Came Home
                3rd Dam: Rajmata, by Known Fact
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($150,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables LLC and SF Racing LLC; B-Adena Springs (ON); T-Kevin Attard. C$90,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1 3/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 4.05, 2.70, 1.55.
Also Ran: Skims (GB), Kalifornia Queen (Ger), Aspen Grove (Ire), Amazing Grace (Ger), Atomic Blonde (Ger), Consumer Spending, Rocky Sky (Ire).

Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Seven Days: Bucanero Fuerte Times His Run to Perfection

Most normal people spend some of August at the beach. Bloodstock folk do too, though the spade work involves no bucket, just plenty of prowling around the Arqana sales ground looking at yearlings. There may be the odd oyster here and there at the hospitality suites of various consignors but, make no mistake, this is gruelling work.

It's curtain up this Friday for the European yearling sales season, and we all know what that means: Christmas is right around the corner. For breeders and stallion masters, results on the track are important at any time of the year, but they become ever more crucial in the coming weeks and months, with a fresh update providing the pedigree equivalent of gold dust when trying to sell a yearling.

There can be none fresher than the Group 1 victory on Saturday of Amo Racing's Bucanero Fuerte (GB) in the Keeneland Phoenix S. The colt, who is named after a brand of Cuban beer, no doubt prompted the imbibing of a similar product for those closely involved in his career, as he provided a first top-level win for Kia Joorabchian's outfit. He also became the seventh Group 1 winner for his sire, Wootton Bassett (GB). Remarkably, two of those have the same dam, Frida La Blonde (Fr) (Elusive City), with Bucanero Fuerte having followed his brother, the Prix de l'Abbaye winner Wooded (Ire), in snaring a Group 1 success.

When you look at their pedigrees and see the names of Wootton Bassett on top and Elusive City on the bottom line, it is not hard to come to the conclusion that all roads lead to Normandy's Haras d'Etreham, and this is indeed where Frida La Blonde is boarded by her breeder Maurice Lagasse of  Gestüt Zur Küste.

The Swiss-based operation has been behind a good deal of decent winners, most notably Teppal (Fr) (Camacho {GB}), the heroine of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches in 2018 on the same day that another Gestüt Zur Küste-bred, Dice Roll (Fr) (Showcasing {GB}), was third in the Poulains. The G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier winner San Huberto (Ire) (Speightstown) won his first stakes race in his breeder Lagasse's colours before being part-sold to OTI Racing.

The pairing of Frida La Blonde, whom Lagasse bred in partnership with Pontchartrain Stud, with Wootton Bassett has also yielded the Group 3-placed Beat Le Bon (Fr), who was her first foal, but the 12-year-old mare has visited Dubawi (Ire) twice since foaling Bucanero Fuerte. Her yearling daughter by the Darley stallion is set to sell on Saturday as lot 214 from the Etreham draft.

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the Amo team rather likes Wootton Bassett. Robson Aguiar was effusive in his praise of Bucanero Fuerte when he spoke to Brian Sheerin last week ahead of the Phoenix, and he can take much of the credit for presenting Joorabchian, who co-owns the colt with Aguiar's wife Giselle, with a commercial stallion prospect, having bought him last year at Arqana for €165,000.

Then there's the imposing King Of Steel, by the same sire, and surely a Group 1 winner in waiting following his runner-up finishes in the Derby and King George, which sandwiched his victory in the G2 King Edward VII S. The contrasting characteristics of these two colts speak to the versatility of Wootton Bassett as a stallion, with his top runners having struck from five furlongs to a mile and a half. Like their sire himself, a number of them are precocious: Al Riffa, Zellie and Bucanero Fuerte are all Group 1 winners at two, and this set may well expand on Sunday if the Coventry S. winner River Tiber (Ire) can extend his unbeaten record in the Sumbe Prix Morny. Wootton Bassett's record with juveniles was further enhanced over the weekend by the victory of Grey Man (Fr) in the G3 Prix Francois Boutin.

Though Wootton Bassett did not really make his mark beyond his own two-year-old season, he atoned for that from the off at stud as he got the European champion three-year-old Almanzor (Fr) from his tiny first crop born in 2013. His Breeders' Cup-winning daughter Audarya (Fr) excelled at four over 10 furlongs, the same distance over which Incarville (Fr) proved best in the Prix Saint-Alary.

After Almanzor's flamboyant start, there was a three-year wait for another Group 1 winner by Wootton Bassett, but let's not forget that his early crops numbered just 23, 18, 45 and 47. Since Audarya, who was foaled in 2016, there has been a Group 1 winner emerge from each of his five subsequent crops.

Almanzor's sterling work in 2016 meant that the following year there were 92 Wootton Bassett foals, a figure which held more or less steady until the three-figure mark was first breached in 2021, when there were 127 on the ground. That was the last batch conceived at Haras d'Etreham, whose Nicolas de Chambure must take great credit in helping to establish the son of Iffraaj (GB) as one of the most desirable stallions in Europe, so much so that he was bought by Coolmore and has stood at their Irish base for three seasons, commanding a fee of €150,000 for the last two years.

It is safe to say that Wootton Bassett has not been short of suitors in Tipperary. He is listed as having covered 229 mares in 2021 and 249 last year. Their names are as starry as they are abundant. Twenty-six members of his first Irish-conceived crop are catalogued for Arqana this week, among them a daughter of the Oaks winner Was (Ire), who is bred on the cross with Galileo (Ire) that has already yielded Al Riffa, who is set to run in Tuesday's G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano. We can expect to see plenty more of his runners bred this way.

With the increase in both the number and the quality of mares that Wootton Bassett has received in recent seasons, it will be a surprise if the exploits of his stock are not filling the racing pages for years to come.

Hot Forecast

Talking of timely updates, the former champion two-year-old Too Darn Hot (GB) was represented by his first group winner at the weekend with a determined performance from Steve Parkin's smart filly Fallen Angel (GB) in the G3 Sweet Solera S.

Simon Marsh, manager of Watership Down Stud where Too Darn Hot was bred, showed a smart turn of foot himself in getting to Newmarket's winner's enclosure to greet the Clipper Logistics colour-bearer, and he was quick to remind us that Too Darn Hot didn't appear on the racecourse until that same week in 2018. From his winning debut in mid-August, he collected a win in every group division to finish the season unbeaten and be crowned champion juvenile. He currently has eight winners from his 33 runners.

Fallen Angel already held the accolade of being her sire's first winner when making a successful debut back in May. She earned her first sliver of black type with a runner-up finish in the Listed Star S., and it would be no surprise to see her chart a similar path to her talented but somewhat ill-fated mother, Agnes Stewart (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), who won the G2 May Hill S. and was second in the G1 Fillies' Mile.

With injury hijacking Agnes Stewart's three-year-old season, and colic claiming her life after Fallen Angel, the last of her four foals, was born, it would certainly be pleasing for the team at Parkin's Branton Court Stud to welcome her daughter back there eventually. As a Group 3 winner, Fallen Angel has already earned her place in the broodmare band, but let's hope there's plenty more to come on the track first.

Up and Coming

It is the time of year when the juvenile races start to become much more interesting. One would question the wisdom of having the pretty much identical Group 1 contests of the Phoenix S. and the Prix Morny just eight days apart, but this coming Sunday's line-up should be pretty stellar, and will hopefully pitch Christopher Head's filly Ramatuelle (Justify) against the aforementioned River Tiber, whose trainer Aidan O'Brien opted for Deauville over the Curragh, and possibly the recent G2 Richmond S. winner Vandeek (GB). The latter's sire Havana Grey (GB) continues to go from strength to strength and was second in the Morny himself to his stable-mate Unfortunately (Ire).

Amo Racing have rarely been unrepresented in juvenile stakes races this season, and this weekend they could have the G2 Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) in action for Bucanero Fuerte's trainer Adrian Murray as well as the Dominic Ffrench-Davis-trained G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. victrix Persian Dreamer (Ire) (Calyx {GB}).

The Irish National Stud's Phoenix Of Spain (Ire), who beat Too Darn Hot in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, has crept into the picture in the first-season sires' table. He's had just 17 runners to date, but six of them have won, including the G3 Vintage S. winner Haatem (Ire). Similarly, another European Classic winner, Lanwades Stud's Study Of Man (Ire), has made an encouraging start with three winners from just eight runners. His dual winner Deepone (GB), trained by Paddy Twomey, garnered some black type on Friday when a close second to Warnie (Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}) in the Listed Coolmore Stud Churchill S.

It is also worth noting that City Light (Fr), Etreham's son of Siyouni (Fr), has eight winners from 19 starters, giving him a strike-rate just above 40%.

Inspiral Emulates Miesque

The Prix Jacques Le Marois has become something of a Gosden benefit in the last decade, with John, and later John and Thady Gosden, winning five of the last ten runnings, including four consecutive victories with just two horses: Palace Pier (GB), who is a son of the 2014 winner Kingman (GB), and now Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Cheveley Park Stud's four-year-old remained unbeaten as a juvenile  and is now a Group 1 winner in each of her three seasons.

Only one other filly, the great Miesque (Nureyev), has won the Jacques Le Marois twice, and in joining her, Inspiral provided Frankie Dettori with an emotional big-race success on his final ride at Deauville. She may yet give him a chance to shine at Santa Anita, with her trainers considering the Breeders' Cup Mile on the first weekend of November after Inspiral's 'win and you're in' success in Deauville.

Thousand Stars

While there was Group 1 action occurring just a stone's throw from his Deauville stable, Stephane Wattel crossed the border to Germany to notch his first win at the top level on Sunday with Simca Mille (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) in the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin.

Torquator Tasso (Ger) and Alpinista (GB) both went on to score in the Arc in the year after winning Hoppegarten's major prize. Perhaps that means we should be following Rebel's Romance (Ire) this year, and Simca Mille in 2024, though Wattel is already eyeing that prize for his four-year-old Haras de la Perelle homebred this season, and rightly so.

Simca Mille has run at Longchamp  on four occasions, winning two Group 2 contests, the Prix Niel and the Prix d'Harcourt, and twice finishing runner-up, in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Prix Ganay. In fact, he has only ever been out of the first two twice in his 14 starts and it had long appeared to be only a matter of time before he claimed his own Group 1 triumph. Simca Mille also gave his young jockey Alexis Pouchin his second Group 1 victory in as many weeks, following the win of Mqse De Sevigne (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the Prix Rothschild a fortnight earlier.

Sweeping the Board

Croom House Stud's Sweepstake (Ire) is already a noted matriarch as the dam of the multiple group winners Broome (Ire) and Point Lonsdale (Ire), who are both sons of Australia (GB). Her two youngest racing offspring have both added to the 18-year-old mare's record since the start of August, with Saadiyat (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) having won at Vichy on Aug. 2 for Al Shira'aa Farms. The juvenile Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) followed suit when making a scintillating debut at the Curragh on Saturday to win his maiden by almost five lengths. He was awarded a TDN Rising Star for his efforts.

As a 2.4 million-guinea yearling, he is his dam's most expensive offspring to date, but his siblings haven't exactly been cheap. Sweepstake has certainly done her bit to help balance the Croom House books, as another eight of her offspring have been sold for six-figure sums as yearlings.

From the first crop of Acclamation (GB), Sweepstake became her sire's second stakes winner in the same week that Pencil Hill (Ire) beat her to the punch when holding off You'resothrilling (Storm Cat) to win a Listed contest at the Curragh. This duo emanated from the same crop that also produced the G1 Middle Park S. winner Dark Angel (Ire), who on Saturday was represented by his 100th black-type winner when Heredia (GB) landed the Listed Dick Hern S for owner/breeder Andrew Stone of St Albans Bloodstock.

Fev Takes The Bev

It takes a little adjustment to get used to the Arlington Million and the Beverly D S. being run at Virginia's Colonial Downs rather than in Chicago, but both those Grade 1 contests last Saturday fell to familiar names on this side of the pond.

Juddmonte's Set Piece (GB), by the late Dansili (GB), took the Million. Winner of the Listed Hyde S. and third in the Craven for Hugo Palmer before joining Brad Cox, the seven-year-old gelding has been a solid performer in America with five graded stakes wins to his credit.

Not quite so advanced in years, the Manister House Stud-bred Fev Rover (Ire), now five, continued her admirable career with her first top-level strike in the Beverley D. The daughter of Gutaifan (Ire), who is by the aforementioned Dark Angel, claimed the first of her wins at two in the Listed Star S. for Richard Fahey, before landing the G2 Prix Calvados and finishing fourth in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac. She was third in the 1,000 Guineas the following May and though she didn't manage another win in Europe, she strung together enough impressive runs to ensure a 695,000gns price tag when she went through the Tattersalls December Sale and was bought by Tracy Farmer. She has rewarded her new owner and her trainer Mark Casse with victories in the GII Canadian S. and GII Nassau S. and two further Grade 1 placings prior to Saturday.

Fev Rover is out of the High Chaparral (Ire) mare Laurelita (Ire), and her three-parts-brother has been catalogued for the Goffs Orby Sale on Sept. 27, selling through breeder Luke Barry's Manister House draft.

Barry was understandably delighted with the latest important update for the family. He said, “We're chuffed to bits. It's becoming more and more important to breed good horses. It's the Group 1 winners that catch people's attention and we've had so many messages from well-wishers.

“She's actually the third Group 1 winner we've sold at Doncaster after La Collina (Ire) and Law Enforcement (Ire). That's always been a lucky sale for us.

“Laurelita's yearling colt was bred specifically to produce a racehorse–it's a good cross–and she is now back in foal to Starspangledbanner.”

 

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Whitebeam Upsets In Italian In Diana; Chad Brown Goes 1-2

With four of the five runners, many figured Chad Brown would get a winner in the GI Diana S. Saturday but most assumed it would come via 1-5 favorite In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). Instead, it was Juddmonte's Whitebeam (GB) (Carravagio) who just nosed out last year's winner to notch her first Grade I win in her third start stateside. Third best as In Italian handled the pace, Whitebeam raced outside of the Mark Casse-trained Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) through much of the early running. Inched up at the top of the stretch under the expert hands of Flavien Prat, Whitebeam needed the entire length of the lane to get by, just prevailing narrowly over In Italian with Fev Rover in third.

Saturday, Saratoga
DIANA S.-GI, $485,000, Saratoga, 7-15, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8mT, 1:48.33, fm.
1–WHITEBEAM (GB), 118, f, 4, by Caravaggio
                1st Dam: Sleep Walk (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB)
                2nd Dam: Scuffle (GB), by Daylami (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Tantina, by Distant View
1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd. (GB); T-Chad C.
Brown; J-Flavien Prat. $275,000. Lifetime Record: SP-Eng,
9-5-2-1, $396,308. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–In Italian (GB), 124, m, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
                1st Dam: Florentina (Aus) (GSW-Aus, $250,958),
                                by Redoute's Choice (Aus)
                2nd Dam: Celebria (Aus), by Peintre Celebre
                3rd Dam: Twyla (Aus), by Danehill
'TDN Rising Star'. (475,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-Peter M.
Brant; B-Fairway Thoroughbreds (GB); T-Chad C. Brown.
$100,000.
3–Fev Rover (Ire), 122, m, 5, by Gutaifan (Ire)
                1st Dam: Laurelita (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Chervil (GB), by Dansili (GB)
                3rd Dam: Nashmeel, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
(£20,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR; 695,000gns 3yo '21 TATMA). O-Tracy
Farmer; B-Manister House Stud (Ire); T-Mark E. Casse.
$60,000.
Margins: NO, HF, 5 1/4. Odds: 7.80, 0.35, 9.20.
Also Ran: Marketsegmentation, Fluffy Socks.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

https://twitter.com/TwinSpires/status/1680289956797861890?s=20

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December Delights As Tattersalls Gears Up For Glittering Finale

In what feels like the blink of an eye, we are now embarking on the final sale of the year at Tattersalls. The Newmarket auction house generally doesn't do things by halves and, if recent sales are anything to go by, the next two weeks at Park Paddocks will include plenty of show-stopping moments, with the mares' catalogues in particular being bolstered by several significant dispersals. 

Before we get to that, however, we have one final day of yearlings to contend with. The December Yearling Sale can offer a second chance for a saunter round the ring for those who may have encountered a setback at earlier sales, but plenty of vendors opt to be included in this catalogue from the outset, whether to stand out in a smaller book, or to give a little extra time to a later-maturing yearling. 

The sale has been streamlined somewhat over the last few years to include around 200 yearlings–the exact number catalogued this year. 

Last year's topper at 300,000gns was a son of Sea The Stars (Ire) and the Oaks winner Talent (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) and it is not a stretch to think that the same sire might top the sale this time around as among the eight yearlings catalogued by Sea The Stars is a full-brother to Sea Of Class (Ire). Offered as lot 30 by Oak Lodge & Springfield House Stud, the June-foaled colt is not just kin to the late Irish Oaks winner but also to four other Group winners, with the tremendous breeding record of her dam Holy Moon (Ire) (Hernando {Fr}) taking up almost the entire catalogue page. 

There will doubtless be interest, too, in lot 47, consigned by New England Stud as the sole Galileo (Ire) yearling in the catalogue. With the same birthdate as the aforementioned colt of June 8, this fellow is a son of the G2 Prix de Sandringham winner Laugh Out Loud (GB) (Clodovil {Ire}) and his full-brother Platinum Warrior (Ire) is both a Grade II winner in the States and a Group 3 winner in Ireland.

Feast your eyes on the foals

There's almost nothing the bloodstock crowd loves more than to get a good look at the first batch of foals by each year's freshman sires. Opinions are quickly drawn, and sometimes have to be revised at a later date, but the acceptance or otherwise of a stallion's first crop by the foal pinhookers can play a big part in his future success at stud. 

The group that retired to stud in 2020 included a quartet of Classic winners, comprised of Godolphin's homebred Derby hero Masar (Ire), Coolmore's 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia (Ire), who is in danger of being usurped by his high-flying half-brother St Mark's Basilica (Fr), Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain (Ire), and the Niarchos-bred Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Ire).

Prospective buyers can hardly have failed to notice the worldwide success this season of graduates of Kirsten Rausing's Lanwades Stud, which stands Deep Impact (Jpn)'s son Study Of Man and offers a weanling by the stallion under the operation's St Simon Stud banner. The colt, lot 859, is the first foal of the treble winner Quintada (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}) and a grandson of the G1 Premio Lydia Tesio victrix Quiza Quiza Quiza (GB) (Golden Snake).

Masar's first batch of foals catalogued include a half-brother to the G2 Railway S. winner Beckford (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), offered by Brook Stud as lot 890, while Norelands Stud, where Magna Grecia was born and raised, consigns a colt by him (lot 948) out of the listed winner Twitch (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) and from the family of Hong Kong champion Viva Pataca (GB).

Waldgeist (GB) was a Group 1 winner at two and missed out by just a short-head when aiming for Classic glory in France but he more than made up for it by winning three more Group 1 races during his four seasons of racing, culminating in the Arc.  Having had all nine of his Goffs November foals sell last week for an average of €54,278 and top price of €180,000, Waldgeist has six weanlings on offer at Tattersalls. These include two fillies from his co-breeder, Newsells Park Stud, with lot 695 being a half-sister to listed winner and Group 2 runner-up Aljezeera (GB), who is by another son of Galileo in Frankel (GB).

The long list of freshman sires with first foals at Tattersalls is completed by Advertise (Ire), Blue Point (Ire), Calyx (GB), City Light (Fr), Crystal Ocean (GB), Eqtidaar (Ire), Flag Of Honour (Ire), Inns Of Court (Ire), Invincible Army (Ire), Land Force (Ire), Le Brivido (Fr), Portamento (Ire), Sogann (Fr), Soldier's Call (GB), Ten Sovereigns (Ire) and Too Darn Hot (GB).

Last week brought the sad announcement of the death of Cheveley Park Stud's celebrated stallion Pivotal (GB). The 28-year-old was pensioned last year and there are two chances to acquire members of his final crop at Tattersalls. A colt out of Royal Seal (GB) (Dansili {GB}), a full-sister to the Breeders' Cup winner Queen's Trust (GB), is among the Cheveley Park Stud draft as lot 589, while Drumroy Farm offers a filly from the family of multiple Group 1 winner Starcraft (NZ) as lot 1024.

Magnificent mares in abundance

We have already seen high levels of demand for quality breeding stock in America and Ireland in the last few weeks and that is unlikely to change as the sales season concludes in Britain and France.

A sad element of sales over the last few months has been the significant downsizing of the Shadwell racing and breeding operation, though as ever, dispersals and reductions of this nature offer tremendous opportunities for breeders to buy into bloodlines that do not regularly come onto the market. Sizeable drafts from major breeders are not unusual, however, though this year's offerings can perhaps be described as supersized. Furthermore, this year's catalogue includes 24 mares and fillies in a dispersal from Sir Robert Ogden and another eight from Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani's Al Shahania Stud.

“Particularly enticing for breeders from all over the world are not just the specific dispersals but effectively we have a dispersal numbering 224 lots from Godolphin, Juddmonte and Shadwell,” said Tattersalls marketing director Jimmy George. “These are not specifically referred to as dispersals but numerically it's bigger than ever and there are some really smart mares and fillies in there from these teams from some of the best families in the world.”

On the equine front, the bloodstock world has been dealt a great blow in 2021 with the deaths of Galileo (Ire) and Pivotal (GB), and there have also been the losses of some major owner/breeders.

George continued, “There were a very sad few months at the beginning of this year when we lost three such significant contributors to the industry in the shape of Prince Khalid Abdullah, David Thompson and Sheikh Hamdan.”

Among the 93 lots on offer from Shadwell is the unraced 2-year-old Shomooly (GB) (Frankel {GB}) whose dam Riqa (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) (lot 1298) was bought at Goffs last week for €550,000 by Barronstown Stud. Listed-placed herself, Riqa's best offspring is the dual Group 3 winner Tantheem (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}).

Tuesday as dusk falls tends to be the time that the sale ring at Park Paddocks truly lights up during the week of mares. There's stiff competition to be the queen of this year's proceedings but one who has justifiable claims to top honours is Newsells Park Stud's Waldlied (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), who is owned in partnership with her co-breeder Gestut Ammerland.

Waldlied (lot 1839) really does have everything one could desire in a top-class breeding prospect. A superior performer herself, she won the G2 Prix de Malleret, and she is foal to Kingman (GB), by whom she has a yearling colt and who is also the sire of her Group 3-winning half-brother Waldkonig (GB). Her foal this year is a filly by Siyouni (Fr). 

Then there's the back story. Waldlied's three-parts brother is the Arc winner and young stallion Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). Their dam Waldlerche (GB) (Monsun {Ger}) was herself a Group 3 winner, while grandam Waldmark (Ger) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}) was Group 2-placed and is the dam of the Classic winner Masked Marvel (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}). Skip back another generation to the third dam and there appears the influential Wurftaube (Ger) (Acatenango {Ger}), who is also the dam of the German Derby winner Waldpark (Ger) (Dubawi {Ire}). In short, this is a family brimming with class. 

In what will be a frenetic couple of hours, Waldlied enters the ring two lots after the Group 1 winner Blond Me (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), who is lot 1837 and is included in the aforementioned partial dispersal from Al Shahania Stud, which will be featured in more depth in a future issue of TDN. 

Another appealing dispersal comes from Sir Robert Ogden, who has been a stalwart supporter of both Flat and National Hunt racing in Britain for decades, with such luminaries as Voy Por Ustedes (Fr), Exotic Dancer (Fr) and Sans Frontieres (Ire) having carried his famous pink-and-mauve checked colours.

The 24 fillies and mares to be offered by Barton Sales on Sir Robert's behalf are led by his homebred dual Group 1 winner Amazing Maria (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), who is lot 1876 and is in foal to Oasis Dream (GB), with two Galileo youngsters still to run for her. Amazing Maria's 3-year-old half-sister Turandot (GB) (Frankel {GB}), the winner of three races this year, is another member of the family to be included in the draft (lot 1874).

Earlier in the session comes one of the hardiest mares in training over the last few years, the 8-year-old globetrotter True Self (Ire) (Oscar {Ire}). She has plenty of stamps in her passport, having twice won the G3 Queen Elizabeth S. at Flemington for Willie Mullins as well as this year's Neom Turf Cup on the Saudi Cup card in Riyadh. On a diverse CV, her 11 victories also include three listed wins on the Flat and three bumpers, as well as a victory over hurdles. She has certainly given her owners in the Three Mile House & OTI Partnership plenty of fun over her five seasons of racing and is consigned by Baroda Stud as lot 1671.

One of the notable elements of this season has been the run of success for Nick Bradley Racing, particularly with some classy fillies. Three black-type winners will be consigned to the December Sale, led by the Oaks runner-up Mystery Angel (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}), who is lot 1746, and will be followed 12 lots later by the 1000 Guineas third and Group 2 winner Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) (lot 1758). The juvenile G3 Six Perfections winner and Group 1-placed Oscula (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}) has also recently been added to sale as a wildcard, lot 1823A.

Another of this year's leading juvenile fillies with obvious Classic claims for next season appears in Tuesday's list as lot 1798, and is the G1 Cheveley Park S. runner-up Flotus (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}). She is consigned by her trainers Simon and Ed Crisford of Gainsborough Thoroughbreds.

Meanwhile a mare with a proven track record will be offered by Goldford Stud and should have transatlantic appeal. Sunday Times (GB) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) is the 12-year-old dam of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) as well as the listed winner Classical Times (GB) (Lawman {Fr}). Back in foal to Lope De Vega on a Mar. 10 cover, she is slated as lot 1810 and hails from a family which also includes the Irish Derby winner Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). A little later in the day, her daughter Daily Times (GB), a juvenile winner by Gleneagles (Ire), will go through the ring also carrying to Lope De Vega (lot 1829).

Looking ahead to a fortnight of what is certain to be brisk trade at Park Paddocks, Jimmy George added, “The market has proved to be incredibly resilient throughout the course of 2021 and it has been a great boost to everybody. The December Sales at Tattersalls are always very much a fitting way to bring the curtain down on the British and Irish sales season and it is regarded as a must-attend fixture for many breeders, not just from Britain and Ireland but throughout the world.”

He continued, “It is widely regarded by a lot of people as the most international bloodstock sale in the world and this year's catalogue definitely looks set to attract the overseas buyers in numbers, especially now that the vast majority of them are able to travel more freely. We staged last year's December Sales under pretty extraordinary conditions and people responded magnificently. It has been great to have been able to stage sales under pretty well normal conditions throughout this autumn and we are looking forward to doing that again for the foals and mares.”

The post December Delights As Tattersalls Gears Up For Glittering Finale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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