Piz Badile Suffers Fatal Heart Attack

Classic-placed Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}) has died after suffering a heart attack while cantering last Monday. Alan Cooper, the Niarchos family's racing manager, confirmed the news to TDN Europe on Thursday. The G3 Ballysax S. winner and G1 Irish Derby runner-up was five.

“Very sadly he had a heart attack last Monday doing a regular canter under Gavin Ryan who landed safely on his feet,” Cooper said. “No previous indications that this would be likely to happen. He was a lovely individual who everyone liked.”

A Flaxman Stables homebred, the Donnacha O'Brien trainee was also placed in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and the G2 Mooresbridge S. and made his final start a winning one in Dundalk's Listed Dubai Diamond S. in September. His record stands at 9-3-2-2 and $334,337 in earnings.

Piz Badile's dam That Which Is Not, a Listed winner in France who ran second in the G2 Prix Corrida, has also foaled the G3 Anglesey S. second Yosemite Valley (GB) (Shamardal). She was sold for €3.3 million to Coolmore at Goffs last November. His second dam Shiva (Jpn) (Hector Protector) won the 1999 Tattersalls Gold Cup, and her Kingmambo half-sister Light Shift triumphed in the 2007 edition of the G1 Oaks before foaling Piz Badile's dual Group 1 winning sire Ulysses to the cover of Galileo (Ire).

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Sunday Insights: Daisy Devine Filly Debuts For Flaxman, Motion

1st-SAR, $136k, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:10 p.m. ET
The Niarchos Family's Flaxman Holdings went to $1.3 million for GI Jenny Wiley S. heroine Daisy Devine (Kafwain) at the 2013 Keeneland November Sale, and her daughter CARINA NEBULA (Into Mischief) gets her first taste of the races Sunday. The versatile dam, who also won the 2011 GII Fair Grounds Oaks, is a 100% producer from five to the races, and Carina Nebula makes the trip up from Fair Hill, where she most recently breezed five furlongs over the all-weather track in 1:01 (1/7) July 28. Sands of War (War Front) cost $550,000 at last year's Keeneland September Sale and is the latest to the races out of Egyptian Storm (Pioneerof the Nile), a $750,000 Fasig-Tipton November acquisition whose dam Stage Magic (Ghostzapper) produced Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year Justify (Scat Daddy). Speaking of the Coolmore stalwart–recently crowned champion first-season sire in Australia–he is represented here by Bruce Lunsford's Kingdom Come, a homebred half-sister to dual Grade I winner Art Collector (Bernardini) and GSP Classic Legacy (Into Mischief). TJCIS PPs

2nd-SAR, $136k, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:44 p.m.
BENTO (Tapit) was hammered down to D J Stable for $600,000 at last fall's Fasig-Tipton October Sale, the second-dearest price of that four-day auction. The April-foaled gray is out of dual graded winner Carolyn's Cat (Forestry), the dam of Bento's GIII Bayakoa S.-winning full-sister and 'TDN Rising Star' Mufajaah. The MGSP third dam Cassowary (Cormorant) produced 1994 GII Pennsylvania Derby winner Meadow Flight (Meadowlake). Ways and Means (Practical Joke) is by a sire who was campaigned by Klaravich and William H. Lawrence to win the 2017 GI H. Allen Jerkens S. here and is a full-brother to Highly Motivated, who just missed on debut here three summers ago and earned graded-stakes glory in last year's GIII Monmouth Cup. He is perhaps best remembered for his tooth-and-nails battle with champion Essential Quality (Tapit) in the 2021 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. The March foal is also a half-sister to Surge Capacity (Flintshire {GB}), winner of last month's GIII Lake George S. Shore War (Omaha Beach), $350,000 OBSAPR breezer, is out of a half-sister to SW Marion Ravenwood (A.P. Indy), the dam of champion and recent GII Shuvee S. winner Nest (Curlin) and GISW Idol (Curlin). TJCIS PPs

4th-GP, $55k, 2yo, f, (S), 5 1/2f, 2:16 p.m. ET
LAILA BELLA GIRL (Girvin) fetched $100,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July Sale, but blossomed in the months leading up to this spring's OBS March Sale and was knocked down to Champion Equine for $500,000 after working a furlong in :10 flat over the synthetic surface. That price was the most expensive of 23 (30 ring) of her sire's second-crop runners to sell this season. Airdrie-bred top and bottom, the Feb. 8 foal is out of a mare by former Airdrie inmate Mark Valeski who is a half-sister to MSW & GSP Fuerteventura (Summer Front), SW Midnight Soiree (Include) and SW Ciguaraya (Latent Heat). TJCIS PPs

6th-SAR, $136k, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 4:00 p.m.
Godolphin sends out its homebred HOLIDAY ROAD (Into Mischief), whose dam Seventh Street (Street Cry {Ire}) took out the GI Go for Wand H. in these environs in 2009 and has since gone on to produce the Bill Mott-trained 2019 GII Demoiselle S. victress Lake Avenue (Tapit) and GISP 'TDN Rising Star' Marking (Bernardini). Helcia (Bernardini) was hammered down for a healthy $230,000 at KEESEP last fall, but improved into a $600,000 OBS March juvenile after breezing an eighth of a mile in a slick :10 (see Summer Breezes). Honors for the best-named horse of the day go to Before You Go Go (Mitole), a $67,000 KEENOV weanling turned $310,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic breezer (see Summer Breezes). Her dam Wake Me Up (Act of War) is a half-sister to champion Hansen (Tapit). TJCIS PPs

1st-DMR, $82k, Msw, 2yo, f, 5fT, 5:00 p.m. ET
ELLIE MOORE (IRE) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) was bet down to 5-1 for her five-furlong debut in heavy Curragh turf Apr. 16 and got home well to share second spot while finishing a neck behind Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio), subsequent winner of the G3 EBF Fillies' Sprint at Naas in May and the G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot June 23. By a stallion whose progeny have succeeded all over the world, the bay is out of a half-sister to Same World (GB) (ex Tucuman {GB}) (Hawk Wing), a stakes winner in France and Hong Kong and runner-up in the 2012 Hong Kong Derby; and English Group 3 winner San Sicharia (Ire) (Daggers Drawn). TJCIS PPs

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All Set For Derby Delight

Following a quiet few days in the aftermath of Ascot and Chantilly, things get moving again on Saturday with The Curragh staging one of the most interesting renewals of the G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby for some time. A race that has from time to time in recent years been under the shadow of the European Pattern Committee's guillotine has pulled a trick out of the hat this year to ensure it keeps its exalted status for the immediate future at least.

Aidan O'Brien has come to tick off winners of this Classic with metronomic efficiency and it is that which has played a part-role in discouraging potential raiders, but connections of Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) are thankfully unwilling to allow historical precedent to sway them from the challenge. Adding an exotic flavour to this edition, the cream of the Rosegreen colts have been left at home with the baton passed to the Oaks heroine Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Just as Balanchine (Storm Bird) conquered the Derby runner-up King's Theatre (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) the last time this scenario came about in 1994, and her predecessor Salsabil (GB) (Sadler's Wells) disposed of the Blue Riband hero Quest For Fame (GB) (Rainbow Quest) four years earlier, so Tuesday looks to quash the colts as her stable goes leftfield in its undimmed quest for Classic glory.

There's Always A First Time

Aidan O'Brien could write the book on how to win the Irish Derby as he chases success number 15, but there is always new ground to break at Rosegreen, and 2022 sees the year that he mixes things up. This is the Classic in which the runaway pacemaker Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) cut loose three years ago, but there will be no surprise outcome supplied by the stable this time, with the filly due to start at short odds and probably as favourite. Tuesday's success in the June 3 Epsom Classic represents strong form and, while there is an argument that Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was unlucky, there was genuine merit in the winner's performance from a compromising draw in one. Tuesday has surprised her trainer all year and has forced her way into this unique situation with her relentless progress both in training and racing.

“At one time, we didn't think she'd make the Guineas, but every week she gets stronger and stronger and we had planned to give her a break after the Oaks, so it's an unusual thing but maybe it's because she's so young,” O'Brien said of the irrepressible daughter of Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Unlike the trainer, remarkably Ryan Moore has yet to ride the winner of this Classic and will have to be at his tactical best to get Tuesday into a position where she can deliver her dynamite surge. That is no easy task, as he is unconvinced that his mount needs a true stamina test.

“She did exceptionally well to win a strong Oaks last time, even if she probably didn't see out the trip fully,” he said in his Betfair blog.

Keane And Eager

It is clear why Tuesday, who showed with placings in the 1000 Guineas and the Irish equivalent and with fast splits in the Oaks that she possesses the kind of pace that is dangerous in these types of tests, has no pacemaker alongside her due to the fact that she would thrive if this becomes a test of speed. Whether that happens probably depends on Colin Keane, who has been called up to steer Juddmonte's Derby third Westover around this terrain he has come to dominate as his country's undisputed leading rider. Unlike Tuesday, the colt that may turn out to be the best that Ralph Beckett has trained is more in the freight train mold at a mile and a half and the kind of remorseless galloper well fitted to The Curragh.

“When you look back at the replay of the Derby, he was the horse that caught your eye and usually the Epsom form holds up in the Curragh. A more galloping track might suit him and he looks like a very straightforward horse,” his rider said.

Putting the Record Straight

Westover's trouble in running in Epsom's home straight is well-documented, but quite how much that momentum disturbance affected the result of the Blue Riband is an unknown. There is no doubt that it had consequences and adjustments for the G3 Sandown Classic Trial winner's ill fortune there put him close to Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), so the ball is in his and Keane's court on an exciting day for Juddmonte who have not been represented in this since 1996.

That year saw the Derby runner-up Dushyantor (Sadler's Wells) finish a disappointing fourth as the 5-4 favourite, three years on from the operation's only winner Commander In Chief (GB) (Dancing Brave).

“He would definitely be entitled to improve a bit and it's great the family are letting us bring him over to Ireland,” Juddmonte's Barry Mahon said. “There's a big operation here and for all the staff here who looked after him when he was a yearling and a weanling and broke him in and started riding him before he went over to Ralph Beckett's, they're all excited too.”

A Steep Climb

Despite his obvious potential, there is a sense that Flaxman Holdings' imposing Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}) could be one for next year and the G3 Ballysax S. winner's unplaced effort in the Derby shows he is up against it even if he is back on a track that should prove more suitable.

One who is still unexposed is Normandie Stud's Listed Cocked Hat S. scorer Lionel (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), but that form is well short of the Epsom standard and he may need further than this mile and a half with his family featuring Duncan (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}), who dead-heated in the 2011 Irish St Leger here. Since the aforementioned Commander In Chief in 1993, there have been only three British-trained winners showing how hard it is to wrest the prize from the home-trained contingent. Lionel's trainer David Menuisier is habitually optimistic, however.

“In my heart he always was one of the leading contenders, a lot of things are going his way so let's hope for a truly run race and the best horse will win.”

Blackbeard Is Back

Away from the Irish Derby, the G2 GAIN Railway S. is the next best thing on Saturday and Ballydoyle supply another workaholic in Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never), the first to represent the G2 Coventry S. form. Only fourth and beaten some way out as the 5-2 favourite for that juvenile feature of the Royal meeting, the Listed First Flier S. and G3 Marble Hill S. winner may have had an  excuse according to Aidan O'Brien.

“He maybe found the travel a bit funny and was a bit uneasy with it all,” he suggested on Friday. Ryan Moore added in his Betfair blog, “I'd be inclined to think that was a very strong Coventry this year, so his fourth there was a very good effort.”

A short-head second to Blackbeard in the First Flier, Amo Racing's Crispy Cat (GB) (Ardad {Ire}) is also asked to back up after Royal Ascot where he was the chief sufferer of the much-discussed interference caused by The Ridler (GB) (Brazen Beau {Aus}) in the Norfolk.

Best Of The Rest

   Also at The Curragh, the 10-furlong G3 ARM Holding International S. sees last year's Irish 2000 Guineas hero Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) look for a first win since that highlight as he takes on 'TDN Rising Star' Duke de Sessa (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and Ballydoyle's Aikhal (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who was thought worthy of a place in last Tuesday's G1 St James's Palace S. Also in that Royal Ascot feature was another 'TDN Rising Star' in Wexford Native (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and, while he was unable to do himself justice there, is likewise out quickly in the card's Listed Dubai Duty Free Celebration S. over a mile.

In Newcastle's G3 Pertemps Network Chipchase S., St Albans Bloodstock's exciting 3-year-old filly Sense of Duty (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) holds strong claims following her defeat of the top-class Flotus (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) and subsequent listed scorer Benefit (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) in Haydock's Listed Cecil Frail S. May 20. At Newmarket, all eyes will be on Westerberg's exciting Minnetonka (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) in a hot-looking Listed Maureen Brittain Memorial Empress Fillies' S. following her seven-length debut win at Salisbury June 12.

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Appleby Adds Three On Wild Weekend

Del Mar, CA–Racing is a sport of great drama, but it is a fair bet that Charlie Appleby wouldn't have minded a bit less of it this weekend. The trainer enjoyed a banner meeting, recording his fourth, fifth AND sixth wins at the Breeders' Cup with the Dubawi (Ire) colts Modern Games (Ire), Space Blues (Ire) and Yibir (GB), all under William Buick in the Juvenile Turf, Mile and Turf, respectively. Appleby also saw two of his runners scratched at the gates-well, three, technically, with Modern Games sensationally re-instated before going on to win Friday evening's GI Juvenile Turf. “I can take a couple of them home fresh,” an always optimistic Appleby reasoned after winning his third race of the weekend.

After Albahr (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) had flipped in the gate on Friday evening and been withdrawn, it was a case of very unwelcome deja-vu on Saturday afternoon for Appleby and Team Godolphin when Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) reared violently in the stalls, hooking his legs over the side of the gate. And just as had happened the evening before, when the Godolphin second string was withdrawn, the first stepped up to the plate, with Space Blues (Ire) justifying favouritism-this time as a genuine betting interesting-to end his illustrious career on a high in the GI Breeder's Cup Mile.

As the racecourse chapter of Space Blues's story comes to a close, Yibir's is, hopefully, just beginning. Considered among the leading Classic prospects among the Appleby ranks this spring, Yibir never quite hit the heights hoped despite picking up placings in the G3 Classic Trial and the Listed Cocked Hat S., and was gelded. Stepped up to a mile and a half and beyond thereafter, Yibir at last began to hit his best stride, picking off the G2 Great Voltigeur S. and Jockey Club Derby Invitational. As a gelding, with options open all over the globe not least at Meydan in the backyard of his owner, it is likely the racing public will see plenty more of Yibir in seasons to come.

Godolphin undoubtedly welcomed an uneventful starting gate process for its Turf runners Yibir and Walton Street (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) following the theatrics of Master Of The Seas two races earlier, but the race wasn't without its drama, with Buick admitting afterwards that the 3-year-old had been tough to settle before he at last got into a rhythm in a joint last with the defending champ Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal). When the field swung into the short Del Mar straight, it was Ballydoyle representative Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) who hit the front with an explosive kick as Roger Varian's Teona (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) rallied down the middle of the track, but Yibir soon came storming past her on the outside and, in a well-timed ride under Buick, led home Broome and Teona for a decisive victory.

Breeders' Cup weekend was another monumental one for Dubawi, whose only previous winner at the world championships was Appleby's Wuheida (GB) when the event was last at Del Mar in 2017. The spread of races won by his progeny this weekend is yet another advertisement for the versatility and toughness of his stock.

 

Mares Mark Japanese Milestone

The Niarchos Family has been a staunch supporter of the Breeders' Cup since its inception, and on Friday evening was honoured with IFHA's International Award of Merit in Del Mar. While the Niarchos Family didn't have a runner for this year's championships, its legacy at the meeting was keenly felt through Japan's GI Filly & Mare Turf scorer Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). The 5-year-old mare, a Classic winner in her home country, is a descendant of Flaxman Holdings' first Breeders' Cup winner and its best-known horse, the champion racemare and producer Miesque.

Flaxman parted with Monevassia, a daughter of Mr. Prospector and Miesque, for $1.75 million as a 4-year-old at the 1998 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Monevassia is now best known as the dam of the dual Group 1-winning juvenile Rumplestiltskin (Ire) (Danehill), but she has in fact shone even brighter through her producing daughters. Rumplestiltskin herself left behind the high-class Tapestry (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and John F Kennedy (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Another daughter produced the multiple black-type winner Wild Wind (Ger) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), but the most prolific of Monevassia's daughters has been Loves Only Me (Storm Cat), who made her way to the Northern Farm broodmare band. The Deep Impact over Galileo cross has proven a highly prolific one, and from it Loves Only Me alone has produced Loves Only You, the G1 Dubai Turf victor Real Steel (Jpn) and the stakes horses Prodigal Son (Jpn) and Langley (Jpn). The victory of Loves Only You at the Breeders' Cup provides further pomp to the pedigree of Flaxman's own G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Jpn), whose first foals arrived this spring. Not only is he also a son of Deep Impact; he is very similarly bred to Loves Only You, being out of another granddaughter of Miesque, Second Happiness (Storm Cat).

Not only was Miesque the first Flaxman Breeders' Cup winner; she was also the first dual winner of a Breeders' Cup race when taking back-to-back GI Miles in 1987 and 1988. Loves Only You was herself providing a first Breeders' Cup winner for Japan, which has so enthusiastically pitched its runners at the world's best races in recent years. Just three races later, Marche Lorraine (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) sprang the upset of the weekend and provided Japan a day to remember when taking the GI Distaff in a thrilling finish from Dunbar Road (Quality Road). Like Loves Only You, the 5-year-old mare Marche Lorraine was bred by Northern Farm and is trained by Yoshito Yahagi, and she was partnered by Oisin Murphy. Murphy, fresh off his riding championship in Britain, has become synonymous with Japanese runners-in addition to spending time riding in the island nation himself, he was the regular partner of the beloved globetrotting Group 1 winner Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}). With three Breeders' Cup races-the Filly & Mare Turf, Mile and Turf-being beamed to Japan for betting for the first time since 2016, it is doubtless that the celebration in the country was supercharged, and it is a sure bet that the Breeders' Cup will see continued participation, and success, from Japanese runners in the future.

And so another Breeders' Cup is in the books, with the meeting once again advertising why it has been dubbed the world championships. The meeting rewarded some of its strongest supporters and saw new champions crowned, and certainly ensured that the world's best will continue to make the pilgrimage to America on the first weekend in November.

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