Tag: Frankel

Snow Lantern Delivers ‘Very Special’ Redemption For Richard Hannon In Falmouth

Trainer Richard Hannon hailed Snow Lantern's victory in Friday's Group 1 Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes as “very special” and admitted he was relieved to have settled a score eight years after her mother's defeat by a neck in the same race.

The three year old Frankel filly and jockey Sean Levey were the decisive winners of the Group One feature contest on day two of the Moët & Chandon July Festival at Newmarket, defeating QIPCO 1000 Guineas winner Mother Earth (5-1) and a high class field.

Afterwards Hannon admitted the result provided some compensation following the defeat of her dam, Sky Lantern, in 2013 when the winner Elusive Kate kept the race after a stewards' enquiry.

Owned and bred by the Keswick family's Rockclife Stud, Snow Lantern prevailed by half a length, with Alcohol Free, the 5-2 favorite, another neck away in third.

Hannon said: “It is very special because there was a score to settle in terms of Sky Lantern a few years ago. The stud, Rockcliffe Stud, hadn't bred a Group One winner until today.

“We went to York to try and bag a Listed races but it didn't work out. She has learned to settle since then and I always thought she was not just good, but extremely good – this filly has a pedigree.

The Richard Hannon-trained Sky Lantern wins the G1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot 2013

“Sky Lantern is by Red Clubs and she was exceptional and I think this filly is exceptional. She has that pedigree being a Frankel out of a Classic-winning mare. She was a little bit unlucky in the Coronation, as you know, and she looked exceptional when she won her novice at Newbury.

“Normally in the Falmouth there are two or three nice fillies but all the good fillies were there today and she showed how good she is and what she is capable of.

“All you feel is relief more than anything. After she ran at York you are out on a limb and she needed to do something otherwise you look a bit of a plonker. I think she showed that at Royal Ascot on ground that probably didn't suit her.

“She has been working absolutely awful, as she does, and I took her to Newbury and she worked moderately there. She is one of those fillies that is not moody or anything but she just doesn't do a lot at home, but she is extremely good.

“I'm delighted for Rockcliffe Stud after everything that has gone on with the mare and she has always created a lot of interest and a big following. Of course you feel immense pleasure but it is more relief than anything.”

Asked about the way the race unfolded for jockey Levey, Hannon added: “She looked like she was going to struggle for room and if you struggle for room it is generally because you have not got the horse but he had the horse and it is great for him.

“Sean is riding great but a winner like this does an awful lot for him and for us. I think I shouted down there and I never shout because as soon as I shout they tend to stop.

“You look around and all the people were looking at you but they were shouting louder than me. She is a Frankel and he is having a phenomenal year, but her revs are a little bit high sometimes.

“She will get a mile and a quarter I think. She is in Nassau and the Sussex Stakes. I'd probably say she would go to the fillies' race (the 10-furlong Nassau Stakes at Goodwood). She is also in the Juddmonte International. I'm very hopeful she will stay in training next year. I love her.

“These Group One races you need to be at your best and there are no weak ones at all. I'm delighted to win one and not be unlucky for a change.”

On Sky Lantern he added: “You don't want to win a race in the stewards' room and when the day is over and I think 'do you want to win a race in that way?' That is done and today is great all these years on.”

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of runner-up Mother Earth, said: “She ran very well and we're delighted with her run. I'm not too sure in terms of where next – there may be a fillies' race in France for her but we'll wait and see how she is.

“We'll keep her to these fillies' races. We could try her over further but she's got plenty of speed.”

Oisin Murphy, the jockey of third home Alcohol Free, said: “She relaxed well in front and I just felt the race went to plan apart from at the three (furlong pole) when we got racing a little early. I tried to save horse but the last 50 yards told.”

Kieran Shoemark, who was aboard fourth home, Lady Bowthorpe, added: “It was a good run and I think the 10 furlongs of the Nassau Stakes (at Goodwood) will really suit her. She'll get the extra two furlongs easy and she was unlucky here.

“She didn't get the splits so I had to switch out and she's run well. I have no doubts that she's the best filly in the race.”

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‘A Score To Be Settled’: Snow Lantern Will Try To Go One Better Than Her Dam In Friday’s Falmouth Stakes

Richard Hannon insists Snow Lantern is capable of “settling a score” by going one better than her mother Sky Lantern eight years ago in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at the Moët & Chandon July Festival on Friday (July 9th) at Newmarket.

The Frankel filly will bid to secure victory in the race that eluded her illustrious mother, who finished second in the 2013 renewal, when attempting to open her own account at the top level in the mile Group One feature.

Arriving on the back of victories in the QIPCO 1000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, Sky Lantern had to settle for second best in her quest for a Group One hat-trick behind Elusive Kate, who held on to first place following a stewards' inquiry.

After running out a stylish winner of a maiden at Newbury on her return Snow Lantern ran below expectations when finishing third in a Listed race at York before finding only Alcohol Free too strong on her Group One debut in the Coronation Stakes at the Royal meeting.

Hannon said: “We were disappointed on the day with Sky Lantern. I thought we should have been given the race but we weren't, but we then beat Elusive Kate later in the season in the Sun Chariot Stakes.

“She hasn't won a 1000 Guineas like her mum but she is going there hopefully to win where her mother didn't but should have and it would be nice if she did just that.

“She is as fresh as a daisy. It would be nice if she could win the race as her mother deserved it. She is in good nick and is good enough to win a race like this.

“There is a score to be settled there and it would give us some sort of closure.”

Assessing Snow Lantern's season so far, Hannon believes her effort at the Royal meeting last time out confirmed that she firmly belongs at the top table.

He said: “Her performance in the maiden at Newbury was top class. She has been brilliant apart from that one bad race at York, where she was disappointing. She didn't breathe for three furlongs – she just held her breath.

“She was back to her best at Ascot. She came with a lovely run, she just got tight for room for a little bit but she ran a lovely race and it showed you could put a line through the York effort.

“She hasn't been thrown in the deep end every time this year or last year but we are there now and she is able to compete at that level, she just needs to get a bit of luck.”

Among the likely opposition Snow Lantern will face is her conqueror from the Royal meeting, Alcohol Free, and Hannon is confident that with a bit of luck his filly can turn the tables.

He said: “The winner won well at Ascot but we look forward to taking her on again in the Falmouth. I always hate saying we could reverse the form as the winner that day at Ascot ran well.

“We didn't really have the rub of the green that day. Hopefully the ground will be better this time which will help our filly.”

Although Snow Lantern has a long way to go to match the exploits of Sky Lantern, Hannon admits there are plenty of similarities between mother and daughter.

He explained: “She has got a smaller profile than her mother at the moment but she is just coming good. She is a Frankel out of a Guineas winner. She really is the image of her mother. I've never known one so similar.

“She is quite a butch filly and thick-set. The revs are a bit higher than her mother because she is a Frankel but she could easily be as good as her mum.”

Meanwhile Hannon is leaning towards dropping recent course winner Lusail back to six furlongs on Thursday in the Group Two Tattersalls July Stakes.

Having made a winning debut at York, the son of Mehmas then lost his unbeaten record at Pontefract before making his first start over seven furlongs a winning one at the July Course last time out.

He said: “I think he might be a six furlong horse but we don't know whether to go for the July Stakes or the Superlative Stakes.

“We will work him at home first and go from there. He is still not there in his coat but he has been like that all his life.

“He won well at York then I don't know what went wrong at Pontefract but it did. He is going to go to Newmarket for one of the two but at the minute I'm thinking of the July Stakes.”

The post ‘A Score To Be Settled’: Snow Lantern Will Try To Go One Better Than Her Dam In Friday’s Falmouth Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Bloodlines: Frankel Continues Living Up To The Hype At Stud

When the great racehorse Frankel (by Galileo) retired to stud in 2013 at Banstead Manor outside Newmarket, England, one of the subjects of continuing conversation (and no little controversy) was whether the brilliant bay ever could match his racecourse performances with comparable accomplishments at stud.

The consensus was that there was little likelihood the great son of Galileo – a champion and unbeaten in each of his three seasons of training – would pull together all the qualities to make a sire equal to that great record. Then especially when the first foals and yearlings came on the public sales market for the broad spectrum of professionals who look at and assess the young stock of new sires, the rumblings were grave indeed.

The word among the cognoscenti was that the Frankels were all over the place; in size, color, and type, they were quite varied, and few seemed to resemble their famous father.

Then, in the Frankel fashion, he and his herd of offspring went to work disproving the wise guys and nay sayers. He became leading freshman sire in Europe, the sire of classic prospects, classic performers, and winners at elite levels around the globe. Those foals may not have looked like Frankel, but more than a few had considerable talent and a willingness to show it.

Certainly, the events of the past 30 days have brought a luster to the sire and his reputation that is hard to rival. At the beginning of June, Frankel's son Adayar won the Derby at Epsom, and on June 26 at the Curragh, the stallion's son Hurricane Lane would not be denied through the long straight to win the Irish Derby over Lone Eagle (Galileo).

With five crops age three and older, Frankel has provided us with a reasonably firm answer to the question about his quality as a stallion. The affirmative is found in the facts that the young stallion was the fastest to gain 40 group winners, although this distinction does not extend back beyond the 1970s, when the pattern race scheme was introduced.

To date, Frankel also has sired the winners of each of the English classics: Adayar has won the Derby; Anapurna the Oaks; Logician the St. Leger. Conspicuous by their absence are winners of the Guineas.

That in itself gives the careful observer much to think about because Frankel won the 2,000 Guineas, then was judged too rash a young rascal to attempt the Derby over the demanding and peculiar course at Epsom by no less a judge than trainer Henry Cecil.

He was probably correct. Frankel was a very powerful and potentially willful racer who wanted to tear away from his opponents, especially in his first season and a half. A combination of the horse's volatile talent and Cecil's judicious training and management kept him unbeaten in all his races.

But was there stamina in the grand bay that was never tapped?

Quite possibly there was, and quite possibly Cecil was correct in believing that wasn't the direction to head in terms of managing the horse's overall career. Cecil did train four winners of the Derby and eight winners of the Oaks; so he was passing acquainted with the demands of the course and the preparation required for its premier races.

But now that Frankel's a stallion, there's no question, not a sliver of lingering doubt, that Frankel imparts stamina. Overall, he seems to impart more stamina than speed, and there's a fair measure of speed in many of his offspring.

Hurricane Lane won the Irish Derby over the weekend by staying the distance more emphatically, more powerfully, at the finish than Lone Eagle, whose stamina had allowed jockey Frankie Dettori to set the pace and slip the field in an apparently winning move early in the straight.

Unbeaten in three starts prior to his start at Epsom, Hurricane Lane had been the second favorite for the Derby in England, then seemed to labor up the rising ground to the finish behind his less-fancied stablemate Adayar, eventually beaten 7 3/4 lengths. (Hurricane Lane, however, had lost both front shoes in the race, according to a veterinary statement after the classic.)

At the Curragh, Hurricane Lane faced a similar task of reeling in an opponent who was well ahead, but this time, he proved up to the task. And when it comes to stamina, that will not be a worry for the grandson of Galileo and German Derby winner Shirocco (Monsun), who also won the G1 Coronation Cup and Breeders' Cup Turf over his preferred distance of 12 furlongs.

An insightful race for evaluating the speed and stamina of Frankel's offspring came the same day as the Irish Derby. The Fred Archer Stakes at Newmarket featured a one-two finish for Frankel's sons as Outbox outran the year-younger Logician, winner of the St. Leger two years ago.

Looking in rather plush condition, despite already having a race this year, Logician stayed on well in this 12-furlong event but was caught out for speed by Outbox. Logician was getting closer with every stride, but if the gray son of Frankel is placed to win at the G1 level again, he almost certainly needs to race at a longer distance, not a shorter one.

So, in mating to Frankel, it would appear, breeders sending him mares with some speed may reap the rewards with offspring suited for the prestigious mile events and races up to 10 furlongs.

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The Weekly Wrap: The Derby Sire

Coming into 2021, there was little Frankel (GB) hadn't yet accomplished in his rise to the top of the stud ranks. In four crops of racing age he could already claim a world's highest-rated horse, a champion middle-distance horse and champion 2-year-old, Group 1-winning milers and stayers, and an Oaks winner.

This weekend, the Juddmonte sire exceeded even his own lofty standards by siring Godolphin's Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane (Ire), and thus giving him victory in both the English and Irish Derbys following on the heels of Adayar (Ire) at Epsom–a feat Frankel's sire Galileo (Ire), who has become synonymous with Derby success, has thus far been able to accomplish only once with two different horses, Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) and Sovereign (Ire) in 2019. Since the turn of the century, the only other sire to have done so is Montjeu (Ire) in 2005 with Motivator (GB) and Hurricane Run (Ire).

While the last four weeks have seemingly answered any lingering questions about Frankel's scope as a sire, they have also reignited the what-could-have-beens of his racing career. Could he himself have excelled at a mile and a half? Doing so at Epsom or The Curragh in June seems a much greater question mark, given his early exuberance, but as he settled into the finished product and got the mile and a quarter at York and Ascot with ease, it is difficult to imagine that he didn't have a G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. or G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victory within him. Now, we'll have to rely on his sons and daughters to fill those voids, and Adayar and Hurricane Lane could be among those to get the chance. Charlie Appleby, trainer of both horses, noted after the Irish Derby that future targets for both colts would depend upon how Adayar performs against older horses in the July 24 King George. While Adayar has remained ensconced at Moulton Paddocks since his blue riband win, Hurricane Lane has given him a significant boost, having himself been third at Epsom.

As it had been when Adayar and Essential Quality (Tapit) won Classics for Godolphin on opposite ends of the Atlantic on June 5, Saturday was another red-letter day for the royal blue transatlantically, with Maxfield (Street Sense) easily winning the GII Stephen Foster H. at Churchill Downs. He forms part of an enviable squad that Godolphin America will have for that country's marquee middle-distance races this summer and autumn, joining Essential Quality and G1 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), who makes his return in Saturday's GII Suburban H. at Belmont Park. Godolphin's stallion arm, Darley, will have some serious ammunition to add to its stud ranks on both sides of the Atlantic in the coming years. While Appleby has already left the door cracked open for 4-year-old campaigns for both his Derby winners, they will surely eventually take up residence at either Dalham Hall or Kildangan Stud, and likely alongside Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). And while Godolphin and Appleby's 3-year-old ranks have been fast off the blocks this year, the divisional ranks are far from decided within Moulton Paddocks, with talented Dubawi (Ire) colts like Master Of The Seas (Ire), Highland Avenue (Ire) and Naval Crown (GB) still in with a chance to make their mark at the highest level.

Big Day For Night Of Thunder

Those sons of Dubawi will have lofty footsteps to follow in thanks to Night Of Thunder (Ire). The standout young Darley sire reached an important milestone this weekend, with the progressive 4-year-old filly Thundering Nights (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) giving him his first European Group 1 winner in Sunday's G1 Pretty Polly S. at The Curragh. Victorious over the Group 1-winning Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in last summer's G3 Snow Fairy Fillies S. at The Curragh, Thundering Nights was beaten a head in the GII New York S. at Belmont Park just three weeks ago, and bested the highly regarded Santa Barbara (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) on Sunday. Thundering Nights is owned by Shapoor Mistry, whose Manjri Farm is one of the most renowned studs in India. Thundering Nights's dam, Cape Castle (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), was exported to India in foal to Dawn Approach (Ire) after being bought by Mistry for 32,000gns-the same price Night Of Thunder cost as a yearling–at the Tattersalls February Sale in 2017 while carrying Thundering Nights. Thundering Nights was herself offered as both a foal and yearling and failed to sell for €17,000 and €19,000.

The G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Lockinge S. winner Night Of Thunder burst onto the scene as a freshman sire in 2019 with seven stakes winners in his first season, equaling a 19-year-old record. His upward trajectory continued last year, with three of his first-crop 2-year-old stakes winners adding black-type success at three and eight additional members of that crop winning stakes races. Night Of Thunder's fee was hiked to €75,000 from €25,000 for 2021, so without a Group 1 winner upon the completion of his first crop's 3-year-old season it was crucial that he achieved that feat this year. He accomplished it Down Under on May 29 with the New Zealand-bred Kukeracha (NZ)'s win in the Queensland Derby, with Thundering Nights continuing the momentum up north.

Night Of Thunder remains his sire crop's leader across most parameters, with Gleneagles (Ire) closing the gap on the heels of a highly productive first half of 2021. Gleneagles has 14 overall stakes winners compared to Night Of Thunder's 17, but one more stakes winner (six) in 2021 alone. Novemba (Ger) became his first Classic winner in the May 30 G2 German 1000 Guineas, while Loving Dream (GB) burst onto the scene with victory in the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot and 2-year-old filly Velocidad (GB) won the G2 Airlie Stud S. at The Curragh on the weekend.

Japan's Arc Dreams Alive

Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) looked the real deal when winning Hanshin's G1 Takarazuka Kinen for the second consecutive year on Sunday. It was the fourth Group 1 win for the 5-year-old mare since her victory in the 2019 G1 Shuka Sho, and she is firmly on course to be the latest Japanese challenger in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Oct. 3. Can she at last break her country's hoodoo in the race they most want to win? Her sire, Bago, won the 2004 Arc, she has won over 2400 metres and looks versatile ground-wise. In the realm of racing, however, the Arc is still eons away, and with more immediate implications is the fact that Chrono Genesis and her compatriot Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), second and third in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March, have both flattered the winner, Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}), with Group 1 wins since. Mishriff returns in Saturday's G1 Eclipse S.

Also from the Takarazuka Kinen, it is also worth noting the excellent second-place performance of Unicorn Lion (Ire) (No Nay Never). An 850,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 yearling purchase by JS Company, Unicorn Lion was his sire's most expensive first-crop yearling and while the 5-year-old has been slow to come to hand, he has shown marked improvement in 2021, earning a first black-type win in the G3 Naruo Kinen earlier this month and holding on valiantly after setting the pace on Sunday.

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