Group 1 winner Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who races for Juddmonte, is reportedly in good order ahead of a start in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas on Saturday, according to trainer Andrew Balding.
The colt, who dislodged Frankie Dettori at the start of the G3 Craven S. before completing a circuit of the course, worked “extremely well” on Saturday, Balding noted.
“We will only know on Saturday what we missed out on at Newbury and the benefits of having a run as obviously it would have been far more of a benefit for him to have had a jockey on board and have a proper race,” he said.
“At the same time, it wasn't totally lost as he had to go through the preliminary tests of saddling, walking around the paddock and cantering down to the start, which are the extras that go with a run and not just a gallop at home. Thankfully he didn't go and do another circuit loose. He was fairly sensible.
“I couldn't be happier with him at the moment and Frankie rode him on Saturday and he worked extremely well. It was a very solid piece and his fitness levels are as good as we could hope for in the circumstances.”
Chaldean won the G3 Acomb S., G2 Champagne S., and G1 Dewhurst S. in succession as a juvenile. The Craven was his 3-year-old bow. Dettori, who has won the Guineas three times, will be aboard on Saturday, and the duo face a stiff challenge, especially from Ireland, in the form of the Coolmore partners' Group 1 winners Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).
In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Belouni (Fr) (Fast Company {Ire}) in the Woodhaven S. at Aqueduct.
Belouni Finds His Haven at Aqueduct
Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Michael Kisber and William Rucker's Belouni ran out a 1 1/2-length winner of Aqueduct's Woodhaven S. last Saturday (video). The son of Vienna View (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}) was making his second U.S. start.
Bred by Le Thenney and offered by Arcadia Elevage, the colt brought €20,000 as an Arqana October yearling from future trainer Christophe Escuder. He would subsequently win two of his four starts for Scuderia Il Fino culminating with a second in the Listed Criterium de Lyon last September. Sent back through the Arqana ring, he attracted a bid of €180,000 during the Arc Sale from Hubert Guy before joining the Chad Brown barn.
One of four winners for his placed dam, Belouni is followed by a 2-year-old colt by Sommerabend (GB). He is kin to numerous top-level winners including Dominant (Ire) (Cacique {GB}), Aristia (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Teppal (Fr) (Camacho {GB}), and the In Clover (GB) (Inchinor {GB}) foals–Call The Wind (GB) (Frankel {GB}), With You (GB) (Dansili {GB}), and We Are (Ire) (Dansili {GB}).
Deceased in 2020, the Danehill Dancer (Ire)-line stallion Fast Company now has two stakes winners to his name in the U.S. (14%), with the Woodhaven scorer joining 2018 GI Arlington Million hero Robert Bruce (Chi). Altogether, the former Darley stallion has eight winners out of 14 runners (57%).
Wide West (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) led gate-to-wire to take a Gulfstream Park all-weather allowance optional claimer by a neck last Saturday and put a second notch in her win column in the process (video). The Tom Proctor trainee is bred and raced by Craig Bernick's Glen Hill Farm.
Wide West was shipped Stateside before ever racing, and got off the mark sprinting over the Gulfstream Park all-weather in August of 2022. One start later, she was a good fourth in the Hollywood Beach S. there, and Saturday's tally was her sixth start.
A half-sister to GI Santa Anita Oaks winner Crisp (El Corredor), Deer Valley was picked up by Glen Hill Farm for $340,000 out of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2015. She would go on to win a Monmouth Park stakes in the orange, black and white Glen Hill colours back in 2017, and Wide West is her first foal. Her juvenile Kingman (GB) colt is named King Julien, and she was covered by both Candy Ride (Arg) and Quality Road last spring. GI Futurity S. hero Whywhywhy (Mr. Greeley) and multiple graded winner Spellbinder (Tale Of The Cat), both sires, are under the third dam.
Few stallions are more sought after on an international stage than Juddmonte's Frankel, and Wide West is one of 25 winners from 43 runners (58%) in America. Of his nine stakes winners (21%) in the U.S., five are graded winners led by GI Belmont Oaks heroine McKulick (GB).
Wesley Ward unveiled favoured Fandom (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) at Keeneland on Thursday, and the Stonestreet Stables silksbearer did not disappoint, reporting home 6 3/4 lengths to the good of his nearest rival (video).
Part of the Chasemore Farm breeding programme, the March foal sold for 170,000gns during Book 2 of the 2022 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale to Barbara Banke's agent Ben McElroy. His year-younger half-sister is by Masar (Ire), while their dam, the Chasemore homebred Brogan (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), won over 1400 metres at Haydock as a juvenile. Brogan is a half-sister to none other than 2022 Cartier Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus), one of the leading fancies for the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas in one week's time.
Twenty-two progeny of Whitsbury Manor Stud's Showcasing have competed in the U.S., with an even 50% winning at least once. His quartet of stakes winners in that jurisdiction stands at four (18%), with Prize Exhibit (GB), Projected (GB), and Bodhicitta (GB) all striking at Grade II level.
King For A Day
Already featured in Making Waves this February, Turf King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) maintained his perfect record with a narrow score in a one-mile Keeneland grass allowance for trainer Chad Brown and Wise Racing (video) on Friday.
The relative of Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) is one of 26 winners from 49 runners (53%) for his Juddmonte sire in the U.S. Seven of Kingman's get (13%) have won stakes, among them multiple Group 1 winner Domestic Spending (GB), who is also trained by Brown.
From an international standpoint since the turn of the year, five of Kingman's progeny have take black-type races led by Group 1 winner Schnell Meister (Ger) in the G2 Yomiuri Milers Cup in Japan. Remarquee (GB) claimed the G3 Fred Darling S. at Newbury, and 'TDN Rising Star' Epictetus (Ire) and Laurel (GB) both won listed races in England. In France, Sauterne (Fr) landed the Listed Prix du Pont Neuf earlier this past week.
Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Friday's Observations feature the debut of a half-sister to a Classic winner.
14.00 Chantilly, Mdn, €27,000, unraced 3yo, f, 10fT THE PLANETS (IRE) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is a half-sister to the G1 Prix du Jockey Club-winning sire Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who debuts for the Andre Fabre stable in the famed Niarchos silks. The granddaughter of Miesque (Nureyev) is met by Al Shira'aa Farms' Caelestis (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a 1.25-million guineas Tattersalls Book 1 half-sister to MG1SW sire Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who accounted for Study Of Man in the 2019 G1 Prix Ganay. Other contenders of note include Princess Zahra Aga Khan's Marindja (Fr) (Zarak {Ire}), who is a daughter of three-time Group 1 heroine Mandesha (Fr) (Desert Style {Ire}); Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's Lady's Slippers (Fr) (Frankel {GB}), who is a half-sister to G1 Prix Marcel Boussac victrix Lily's Candle (Fr) (Style Vendome {Fr}); and Alex Pantall representative Jalapao (Ire) (The Grey Gatsby {Ire}), who is a half-sister to last term's G1 Prix de Diane runner-up and G1 Prix Vermeille third La Parisienne (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}).
12.40 Chantilly, Mdn, €27,000, unraced 3yo, c/g, 10fT
Haras de Treli's homebred GOT LAND (FR) (Shalaa {Ire}), a half-brother to November's G1 Melbourne Cup hero Gold Trip (Fr) (Outstrip {GB}), encounters nine rivals in this newcomers' heat. They include His Highness The Aga Khan's Saghany (Fr) (Harzand {Ire}), who is a gelded half to G3 Prix du Pin victrix and G1 Prix Rothschild runner-up Sagamiyra (Fr) (Sea The Moon {Ger}).
Now that Indestructible (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) has boosted the 2000 Guineas credentials of Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) when winning Newmarket's G3 Craven S., it is up to the star of Andrew Balding's Kingsclere base to strengthen them further in a fascinating G3 Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham S. at Newbury.
Relentless during a 2-year-old campaign that took in York's G3 Acomb S., Doncaster's G2 Champagne S. and the all-important G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket, the chestnut offers perhaps the sternest competition to Ballydoyle's pair of loaded guns in a fortnight's time but first he has to get through soft ground again as he did at Doncaster.
“Like all of these trials, he's not 100% tuned up, but he's fit and well and ready to run a good race and we will see where that takes us,” Juddmonte's racing manager Barry Mahon explained. “These trials are so tight, it's only two weeks to the Guineas from Newbury, so you don't want to go there 100% and have a hard race and leave your Guineas behind. He'll be 85 to 90% and in good form and as long as he runs a race with promise, no matter where he finishes, it will build us into the Guineas in two weeks time.”
Into The Heat Of Battle
Up against Chaldean is KHK Racing's unbeaten TDN Rising Star Knight (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who overcame heavy ground in the G3 Horris Hill S. over this course and seven-furlong distance in October. Into black-type company for the first time, the similarly unbeaten money-spinner Streets Of Gold (Ire) (Havana Gold {Ire}) and impressive Doncaster novice scorer Theoryofeverything (GB) (Frankel {GB}) add weight to a Classic trial far deeper than its Newmarket equivalent.
Thady Gosden said of the latter, “He is a smartly-bred colt, so we decided he should take his chance in a very competitive race. It is as strong a Greenham as we have seen for a while, with plenty of smart horses in there and obviously it will be only his second run of his life. He is a good-moving colt who obviously handled deep ground at Doncaster and he'll handle the ground at Newbury.”
Is She Remarqu-able?
If the Greenham is hot, the G3 Fred Darling S. is equally intriguing despite not boasting a standout performer like Chaldean. Any one of the unexposed fillies in the line-up could burst on to the 1000 Guineas scene and one who is attracting notable support is Julian Richmond-Watson's smooth Salisbury novice winner Remarquee (GB) (Kingman {GB}). From the family of the Oaks heroine Look Here (GB) (Hernando {Fr}), the Ralph Beckett trainee has something to find on bare form but has abundant promise and will be doing all her best work at the finish. “She has done well this winter. She will need the run, but she is training well,” Beckett simply said.
Clarehaven Ambitions Clear
John and Thady Gosden are still looking for Guineas candidates and throw three at this with Godolphin's Yarmouth novice scorer Bridestones (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), a daughter of White Moonstone (Dynaformer), and Lady Bamford's Doncaster maiden winner Soul Sister (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) the ones with genuine potential. Amo Racing's golden spell could continue with Magical Sunset (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who issued a five-length beating to another Gosden runner here in Fully Wet (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) in the course-and-distance Listed Radley S. in October. It is worth remembering that she beat Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) on debut at Windsor in August, a point that Amo's racing manager Tom Pennington was ken to stress on Friday.
“To beat Sakheer on debut on quick ground at Windsor was impressive and she was a bit unlucky not to win the Goffs Million at the Curragh, she suffered some really bad interference at halfway. We thought she would run well at Newbury but we didn't think she would win by five lengths, so we were delighted by that. Richard [Hannon] is very happy with her and she has been showing him all the right signs at home.”
Making Up For Lost Time
In Newbury's opening G3 John Porter S., Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) bids to remind all what he is made of after a frustrating 2022 campaign. Denied a clear run at any stage by the lengthy dry spell, one of the previous season's leading lights is re-opposed by old foe Mojo Star (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) who also showed up only briefly as a 4-year-old.
“You cannot fault the horse at home. He retains all his old zest and he looks great,” Charlie Appleby said of Hurricane Lane. “We will know early in his 5-year-old campaign whether or not the Arc is a realistic target.”
In front of Hurricane Lane in the 2021 Derby but behind him in the Irish equivalent and St Leger, Amo Racing's older flagship Mojo Star split the staying giants Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in Royal Ascot's G1 Gold Cup on what was to be a notable sole visit to the races last term.
Trainer Richard Hannon said, “He's done plenty of work and been away to gallop, so should be pretty straight. But this is his first run in a while, so he's entitled to improve for it and we're working back from the Ascot Gold Cup. I'm very happy with him and while the trip is on the short side, this is a good place to kick off his season.”
Big Guns Re-Emerge At Navan
At Navan, the Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Committed S. sees a star cast assemble in Ballydoyle's G1 Middle Park S. runner-up The Antarctic (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and G2 Futurity S.-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Aesop's Fables (Ire) (No Nay Never) and The Aga Khan's G2 Railway S. winner Shartash (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), with Royal Ascot's sprints on the horizon.
Starting the road to the G1 Gold Cup at that meeting are the impressive G3 Loughbrown S. scorer Emily Dickinson (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and fellow Aidan O'Brien-trained Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Listed Vintage Crop S. which is often the launchpad for the stable's key stayers.
The 2023 Oaks contenders take in the Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Salsabil S., with another from Rosegreen in the Naas maiden scorer Jackie Oh (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) looking set to start favourite. Out of Jacqueline Quest (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), the Triermore Stud colour-bearer encounters Flaxman Stables' Foniska (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of the 2015 Salsabil winner Bocca Baciata (Ire) (Big Bad Bob {Ire}) from the same Jessica Harrington yard.
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