Tag: G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S.

Verry Elleegant Dies From Foaling Complications

The 2021 Australasian Horse of the Year Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}) has passed away due to foaling complications, announced Chris Waller via X on Sunday evening.

The 11-time Group 1 winner tallied the 2021 G1 Melbourne Cup to a venerable career and had been sent to France to race for conditioner Francis-Henri Graffard. After four winless outings in the Northern Hemisphere in 2022, including appearances in the G1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet, G1 Qatar Prix de Royallieu, and her final jump in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S., the four-time champion had been retired and bred to Sea The Stars (Ire).

“It is incredibly sad that we pass on the news on behalf of the ownership group that Verry Elleegant has passed away due to complications giving birth to her foal,” said Waller.

“The news is just filtering through to stable staff now and other close connections who are coming to terms with the tragic news. She was in fantastic hands on a farm who did all they could for her, and we would like to thank them for their efforts which we will be forever grateful for.”

The post Verry Elleegant Dies From Foaling Complications appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Inspiral To Avoid Ascot; Paddington To The QEII

Storm Babet has decided the final shape of the fields for Saturday's Qipco Champions Day fixture, with the softening ground ruling Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) out of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and making up Aidan O'Brien's mind as to where to point Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}). That four-times group 1 winner takes up his engagement in the QEII, leaving a total of nine to take part in the G1 Qipco Champion S. Heading the list for the 10-furlong highlight is last year's winner Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}), with the improving Horizon Dore (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) and Derby runner-up King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) declared alongside Shadwell's G1 Juddmonte International and G1 Prince of Wales's S. hero Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who had been a doubt earlier in the week due to the dire forecast. There are 11 engaged in the QEII, with The Aga Khan's Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) a doubt to tackle Paddington if the ground worsens again, while Imad Al Sagar's Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) has been diverted from the Champion by the Gosdens.

Cheveley Park Stud's managing director Chris Richardson said of Inspiral on Thursday, “We've obviously been monitoring the weather and the rain that's fallen. I know John Gosden walked the track yesterday, there's been a subsequent 12 millimetres and it looks like there's more to come. As we know, when she ran on soft ground in the Sussex at Goodwood in the summer, Frankie looked after her as it wasn't the sort of performance she was enjoying. The decision now is whether the Breeders' Cup [Filly & Mare Turf] is an option. John is going to speak to Mrs Thompson about it and then we'll know more, but it's very much up to her to decide whether she wants the filly to go to America. They're liaising between them and there's decisions to be made on whether she runs again this year and whether she's kept in training next year. She's a wonderful filly, Mrs Thompson is the owner of the horse and will make the decision.”

In other news, the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup hero Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) will not run in the G1 Qipco British Champions Sprint. Steve Brown said of the 3-year-old, who was disappointing in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup, “He wasn't just tracking through as normal behind with his movement. It looks minimal, but given the ground conditions, which are obviously going to be pretty testing, we're just not prepared to take any chances with him. It's as simple as that really.”

Marc Chan's defending Champions Sprint title-holder Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) will face 14 in the six-furlong bonanza, there are 14 declared for a wide-open G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares S., and Ballydoyle's star stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) faces seven in the G2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup. The storm has resulted in 13mm of rain falling, with further rain forecast on Friday.

Ascot's clerk of the course Chris Stickels is ready to switch the Long Distance Cup, Filly & Mares and Champion S. to the drier inner hurdles track for the first time since 2019. “If we have heavy ground on any part of the round course, we can move the round course races to the inner track and we have to decide that before 8 a.m. on Saturday,” he explained. “Looking at the forecast for Friday, I would say that is quite likely. I think the rain we will get overnight will turn us back to soft on the round course and maybe even if we get the top end, some heavy places on the round course. It's a shame we are a week later in the calendar this year and even today, John Gosden said if we were racing today the ground would have been perfect.”

The post Inspiral To Avoid Ascot; Paddington To The QEII appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Sea The Stars’s Emily Upjohn Dominates The Fillies & Mares

Nursed back from a deflating heavy defeat in the King George by John and Thady Gosden, TDN Rising Star Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) returned to Ascot's same mile and a half with a flourish to capture Saturday's G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. and complete a Frankie Dettori double on QIPCO British Champions Day.

Keen initially as she had been last time, the newly-hooded bay was restrained to race halfway down the field trapped wide throughout the early stages. Travelling strongly on the turn into the straight, the 3-1 favourite, who was sporting the Lloyd Webber silks, took command passing two out and was soon clear and in control.

At the line, she had three lengths to spare over the 50-1 shot Thunder Kiss (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), with the 80-1 shot Insinuendo (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) a further half-length away in third as the Irish contingent performed with credit.

“It would have been heartbreaking not winning a Group 1 with this filly,” Dettori said. “Nothing went right at Epsom and she ran no race in the King George for whatever reason, but the team have done a great job with her and she had given me the 'wow factor' again in her last pieces of work.”

Prior to her no-show in this track's midsummer showcase, Emily Upjohn had looked one of the better middle-distance fillies of recent times with comparisons to her stable's Taghrooda (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) not out of place. Her slim defeat by Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Oaks came after she had blown the start, having powered to ante-post favouritism in York's G3 Musidora S. at the May Dante meeting and this was her rolling back the clock to that moment.

Pulling too hard in the King George, she looked to be potentially over-racing again in the first two furlongs but those fears were ultimately put to bed as she tanked around the final bend with most of her rivals at work.

“We were all very nervous, but we knew she had it in her,” Lady Lloyd Webber said. “Frankie rode a peach of a race, we're very lucky to have him.”

John Gosden added, “I will never work out the King George as long as I live. The whole team have done a great job to get her confidence back, that's the thing as when you run a race like that and finish a distance last you're going to be a little shaken mentally. She is a big girl and hasn't fully strengthened in her frame. She is still quite light and I thought 'will she handle the ground?', but she's handled it well. Mind you, she was so wide she was probably on fresh ground. She stays in training and the aims next year will be the King George and the Arc.”

Shane Lyons said of Thunder Kiss, “She has been retired now, so her last run was her best run. The conditions suited her–ease in the ground, a mile and a half and a good pace. I thought she'd be in the mix somewhere, because these type of races suit her. The better the race, the better she runs. Maybe we should have run her in more Group 1 races, but anyway she has been a star for us, very consistent.”

Insinuendo's rider Gary Carroll said, “I had a lovely position–I had Frankie on my outside and he stole first run on me and his filly was the better on the day, but my filly ran her heart out. We are delighted.”

 

Pedigree Notes

Emily Upjohn, who was snapped up by Blandford Bloodstock for a remarkable 60,000gns at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 2, is a granddaughter of The Aga Khan's Hazaradjat (Ire) (Darshaan (GB) who boasts an abundance of top-class descendants. Her progeny list is headed by Hazarista (Ire), a full-sister to Emily Upjohn's listed-placed dam Hidden Brief (GB) (Barathea {Ire}) who captured the G3 Blue Wind S. and was third in the G1 Irish Oaks and G1 Yorkshire Oaks. Her G3 Athasi S.-winning half-sister Hazariya (Ire) (Xaar {GB}) was the other black-type scorer out of Hazaradjat and she provided her owner-breeder with the Derby and Irish Derby hero Harzand (Ire) by Emily Upjohn's sire Sea The Stars, as well as three other notables including including the G1 Moyglare Stud S. third Harasiya (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and the Listed Finale S. winner Hazarafa (Ire) (Daylami {Ire}) who in turn produced the G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial and G3 Amethyst S. scorer Hazapour (Ire) (Shamardal).

Emily Upjohn becomes the second QIPCO British Champions Day winner for the family after the G1 Fillies & Mares S. heroine Seal of Approval (GB) (Authorized {Ire}), a half to the dam of last year's G1 Irish Derby, G1 St Leger S. and G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). Also related to the group scorers Hunaina (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), Swashbuckling (Ire) (Raven's Pass), Vadream (GB) (Brazen Beau {Aus}) and Hamariyna (Ire) by Sea The Stars's son Sea The Moon (Ger), Hidden Brief's yearling daughter of Cappella Sansevero (GB) is named Hidden Jewel (Ire).

 

Saturday, Ascot, Britain
QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS FILLIES & MARES S.-G1, £500,000, Ascot, 10-15, 3yo/up, f/m, 11f 211yT, 2:33.76, g/s.
1–EMILY UPJOHN (GB), 127, f, 3, by Sea The Stars (Ire)
                1st Dam: Hidden Brief (GB) (SP-Fr), by Barathea (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Hazaradjat (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
                3rd Dam: Hazy Idea, by Hethersett (GB)
   1ST GROUP 1 WIN. 'TDN Rising Star'. (60,000gns Ylg '20
TATOCT). O-Lloyd Webber, Tactful Finance, S Roden;
B-Lordship Stud & Sunderland Holding Inc (GB); T-John &
Thady Gosden; J-Frankie Dettori. £283,550. Lifetime Record:
6-4-1-0, $586,117. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Thunder Kiss (Ire), 133, m, 5, Night Of Thunder (Ire)–Desert
Snow (GB) (MSP-Eng), by Teofilo (Ire). O-Newtown Anner Stud
Farm; B-Newtown Anner Stud (IRE); T-Ger Lyons. £107,500.
3–Insinuendo (Ire), 133, m, 5, Gleneagles (Ire)–Obama Rule
(Ire) (GSW-Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK
   TYPE. (€110,000 Ylg '18 GOFOR). O-Deegan Racing Syndicate;
B-Mount Armstrong Stud. (IRE); T-Willie McCreery. £53,800.
Margins: 3, HF, HF. Odds: 3.00, 50.00, 80.00.
Also Ran: Eshaada (GB), Rosscarbery (Ger), Emily Dickinson (Ire), Lilac Road (Ire), Albaflora (GB), Verry Elleegant (NZ), Sea La Rosa (Ire), Sweet Lady (Fr), Mimikyu (GB), Eternal Pearl (GB), Stay Alert (GB). VIDEO.

 

The post Sea The Stars’s Emily Upjohn Dominates The Fillies & Mares appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Muhaarar’s Eshaada In Fillies & Mares Upset

Saturday's G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. was all about Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) beforehand, but in the end it proved as a showcase for Shadwell's Muhaarar (GB) whose daughters Eshaada (GB) and Albaflora (GB) fought out a thriller. Moving forward dramatically from a poor effort in the Aug. 19 G1 Yorkshire Oaks, Eshaada was 16-1 to provide the upset for the Roger Varian stable returning to Ascot where she had finished second in the June 17 G2 Ribblesdale S. Settled in a clear third early by Jim Crowley, the homebred who had taken the Listed Haras de Bouquetot Fillies' Trial at Newbury May 15 stayed on to gain the lead two out and despite the game effort of Albaflora clung on for a short-head verdict, with the 8-11 favourite Snowfall 3 1/2 lengths away in third. “She loves cut in the ground, had track form and has always looked a class filly, so I thought she was a touch over-priced,” Varian commented. “She had to be really tough and stuck her neck out and was very game.”

Eshaada, who had been beaten 3/4 of a length by the subsequent G1 Prix de Royallieu winner Loving Dream (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}) in the course-and-distance Ribblesdale, had finished last of seven in the Yorkshire Oaks as Snowfall dominated Albaflora and Loving Dream had been sixth. An entirely different proposition in this race staged in contrasting conditions, the bay proved what can happen in only a matter of weeks as fillies begin to strengthen heading to the autumn. “York was her only poor performance and the Ribblesdale form had worked out very well two weeks ago,” Varian said. “Everything went right today and she always had a good position. The discussion as to whether she will stay in training will be had with the team at Shadwell, but obviously I'd like to have her around for another year. She's a great big, scopy filly who is very lightly-raced, so you'd think her best days are perhaps still ahead of her. She doesn't look like a sprinter–she is leggy with plenty of stamina on the dam's side and Muhaarar seem to be getting a bit beyond sprint distances.”

Jim Crowley said, “I had a very willing partner–she tried very hard and loves that ground. She was unlucky here at Royal Ascot, I just got a bit far back on her but we had the perfect trip round today and she toughed it out.” Ralph Beckett said of Albaflora, “It was just a very good horserace, wasn't it? I'm thrilled with her, but disappointed to run so well and not win! We were beaten by a better filly on the day, it's as simple as that. She's a good filly and it was a great effort by both of them.”

Aidan O'Brien said of the beaten favourite, “She ran an okay race, obviously you would be disappointed she didn't win. She's had plenty of racing and it was a steadily-enough run race. They quickened and she followed them, but she just didn't get to them. Ryan said he would have preferred the pace to be a bit stronger early. Snowfall was slow away and didn't want to come out and around them. There you go–that's the way it is. We'll see how she is, but that is probably it this year.”

Eshaada, who beat Albaflora to the bragging rights of becoming Muhaarar's first group 1 winner, is the third foal out of Muhawalah (Ire) (Nayef) who is a full-sister to the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois and G1 Prix Jean Prat-winning sire Tamayuz (GB). Their dam Al Ishq (Fr) (Nureyev) also produced the listed-placed Thamarat (GB) (Anabaa), who is in turn responsible for the Listed Grand Prix de Compiegne winner and G1 Prix du Jockey Club third Motamarris (Ire) (Le Havre {Ire}) and is the second dam of last year's G1 Irish Derby hero Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}), this race's protagonist La Joconde (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) who had been third in the Yorkshire Oaks and in the G1 Prix Vermeille, and the day's G3 Killavullan S. winner Glounthaune (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).

The third dam Allez Les Trois (Riverman), who annexed the G3 Prix de Flore before throwing the G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero Anabaa Blue (GB) by Thamarat's sire, is kin to the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine and legendary producer Urban Sea (Miswaki). That links the winner to the Epsom Derby heroes and stellar sires Galileo (Ire) and Sea the Stars (Ire) and to the G1 2000 Guineas hero and sire King's Best (Kingmambo) and this month's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}). This family has been boosted in recent months by the G3 Newcastle Gold Cup win of Great House (Ire) by Galileo, the Listed Ingabelle S. success of Panama Red (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) and the G1 Sun Chariot S. second of Half Light (Ire) (Shamardal). Muhawalah also has an unraced 2-year-old full-brother to Eshaada named Moonis (GB) and a filly foal by
Kingman (GB).

Saturday, Ascot, Britain
QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS FILLIES & MARES S.-G1, £500,000, Ascot, 10-16, 3yo/up, f/m, 11f 211yT, 2:34.05, g/s.
1–ESHAADA (GB), 125, f, 3, by Muhaarar (GB)
     1st Dam: Muhawalah (Ire), by Nayef
     2nd Dam: Al Ishq (Fr), by Nureyev
     3rd Dam: Allez Les Trois, by Riverman
1ST GROUP WIN, 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O/B-Shadwell Estate Company Limited (GB); T-Roger Varian; J-Jim Crowley. £283,550. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-0, $503,275. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Albaflora (GB), 131, f, 4, Muhaarar (GB)–Almiranta (GB), by Galileo (Ire). O/B-Kirsten Rausing (GB); T-Ralph Beckett. £107,500.
3–Snowfall (Jpn), 125, f, 3, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Best In the World (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Roncon, Chelston Ire, Wynatt (JPN); T-Aidan O'Brien. £53,800.
Margins: NO, 3HF, 5HF. Odds: 16.00, 3.00, 0.73.
Also Ran: La Joconde (Ire), Invite (Ire), Tribal Craft (GB), Lady Hayes (Ire), Mystery Angel (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.

The post Muhaarar’s Eshaada In Fillies & Mares Upset appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights