Tag: Godolphin

Sons Of Dubawi Shine As Ghaiyyath Colt Leads The Way At Goffs

Sons of Dubawi (Ire) shot the lights out at Goffs on Tuesday as a colt by first-season sire Ghaiyyath (Ire) topped the November Foal Sale at €185,000 followed by a Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt who made €180,000.

Ghaiyyath himself was sold at this sale in 2015 for €1,100,000 before proving himself a world-class performer on the track for Godolphin and the Kildangan Stud-based sire has enjoyed a good start at Goffs this week.

The Ridge Manor Stud-drafted colt was sold to Pier House Stud, whose Brendan Morrin revealed that any hopes of nabbing lot 474 cheaply soon dissipated when Tony O'Callaghan appeared ringside.

But it was Ridge Manor who fought off a strong drive from the Tally-Ho Stud boss to secure the colt who will be offered for resale as a yearling.

Morrin said, “I was talking to the people at Darley about him and I thought he was the best horse in this sale here today. He's by a son of Dubawi–sire of New Bay (GB) and Night Of Thunder –so for me, those Ghaiyyaths were all very much to type.

“He's a grand big scopey horse for the first foal. We didn't think we'd have to pay €185,000 to get him but we were anxious to get him all the same. He's coming from a good farm.”

The Tuesday sale topper is out of three-time winner Cross My Mind (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), whose dam Zaaqya (GB) (Nayef) has produced Group 3 scorer One Voice (Ire) (Poet's Voice {GB}).

Morrin added, “Ghaiyyath was the highest-rated horse in the world at one point and we've bred to the horse twice ourselves. We bred to Space Blues (Ire) as well. You couldn't have enough Dubawi in any family.

“He's the best sire in the world. The horse spoke for himself and Tony O'Callaghan was the runner-up on him. To tell you the truth, I was disappointed when I saw Tony there because I knew he was going to make him expensive on me. I try to buy them as cheap as I can and sell them as dear as I can. This lad will come back to the yearling sales.”

Three foals by Ghaiyyath sold on Tuesday for an aggregate of €314,000 and an average of €104,667.

 

The Night Of Thunder colt (lot 516) was consigned by Airlie Stud and signed for by Brendan Holland of Grove Stud. He is out of the black-type performer Good Place (Street Cry {Ire}) and Holland is hoping that his luck continues with the sire whose progeny is in high demand.”

He said, “Night Of Thunder is a super stallion. There are not a lot of them on the market and there's only three for sale at Newmarket next week. He's out of a black-type mare who's produced a 2-year-old winner this year. He's just a nice horse by a nice stallion.”

Holland added, “I've been lucky with the sire with the few that I have had by him. I sold a black-type winner [Lady Penelope (Ire)] and a 2-year-old winner this year.”

The aggregate on day two was €8,316,750 which represents a 10.5% rise on last year's figures. The average of €38,863 was also up 12.6% and the median was up 7% to €30,000. Of the 257 foals offered, 214 were sold, equating to a 83% clearance rate.

 

New Bay And Mehmas: The Emerging Powerhouses

The progeny of New Bay and Mehmas (Ire), the emerging powerhouse stallions in Europe, went down a bomb at Goffs and made up €850,000 of the day's trade.

If Saffron Beach (Ire) laid the groundwork for a memorable season for the Ballylinch-based New Bay, well then Bay Bridge (GB) and Bayside Boy (Ire) cemented his status as a top tier stallion when storming to Group 1 triumphs within the space of an hour on British Champions Day.

Mehmas had a similarly productive season, highlighted by Group 1-winning sprinter Minzaal (Ire), who was introduced at €15,000 for his first year at Derrinstown Stud.

And it was a colt by Mehmas, whose 2023 fee at Tally-Ho Stud has been set at €60,000, who first broke the €100,000 barrier at Goffs on Tuesday, eventually selling to John Rowe for €115,000.

Rowe, a graduate of the Darley Flying Start programme, was signing for the colt (lot 365), consigned by Dermot Kilmartin's Kildallan Farm, on behalf of Lilly Bloodstock.

He later went on to buy a New Bay colt consigned by Ballylinch Stud for €145,000 on behalf of Spirnac Bloodstock and revealed the plan for both acquisitions will be to return to the yearling sales.

Speaking about lot 424, the New Bay colt, Rowe said, “We really liked him and thought he was the nicest foal here today. New Bay is absolutely killing it and he ticked all the boxes. The sire is going in the right direction and this colt is just a king. He had everything; the walk, the physical and great strength. We loved him.”

On the Mehmas colt, a full-brother to Mehmar (Ire), who sold for €200,000 to Michael O'Callaghan at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale in April, Rowe added, “He will come home to the farm and he'll come back to the sales next year. He's a lovely colt with a great walk and great presence about him. He had the page and ticked a lot of boxes for us.”

That sale cemented a productive opening two days to the sale for Kilmartin's Kildallan Farm after they sold a Saxon Warrior colt (lot 231) for €88,000 to Ballyhimikin Stud on Monday.

Kilmartin said, “He is a cracking colt. All the right people were on him and we're delighted with the price that he made. We kept it local going to Tally-Ho Stud and it worked. The mare is back in foal to Starman (GB).”

Tally-Ho also supported their star stallion when going to €145,000 to secure Amy Marnane's Mehmas colt (lot 446) out of the three-time winner and black-type performer Azagba (Fr) (Deportivo {GB}).

 

However, it was the sale of another New Bay colt, lot 401, for €140,000, that supplied one of the more emotional stories of the day at Goffs.

Sold to Camas Park Stud, the colt was consigned by Oghill House Stud, who recently mourned the death of Hugh Hyland, the head of the family dynasty, at the age of 72.

John Hyland said, “My father passed away about six weeks ago and he would've loved to have seen that today, so it's a little bit emotional. We're going to enjoy it and we'll raise a glass to my father this evening. This is his legacy and we're going to continue it on for him and make sure we do him proud.”

“It's a brilliant result. This is a tremendous colt and from the day he was born we've been really fond of him. New Bay has gone from strength to strength and has had a great season, you can see that with his new fee, which is well deserved because he's a phenomenal stallion.

 

Wheeler Dealer Does It Again

English football manager Harry Redknapp famously stormed off a television interview when a sports reporter labelled him a “wheeler dealer”. One assumes Jerry Horan would not take such offence to a similar appraisal.

In fact, Horan, well-known for being adept with sniffing out a bargain, would take pride in his ability to get deals done, which was thrown sharply into focus with the sale of his Dark Angel (Ire) filly (lot 352) for €72,000.

Under the banner of Paragon Bloodstock, Horan secured the dam Scotch Bonnet (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) for 5,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale in 2020.

After securing a foal-share with Yeomanstown Stud to Dark Angel, the resulting foal was on Tuesday offered by Fearghal Hogan's recently-formed Churchland Stud, with the hammer falling Peter and Ross Doyle's way.

Hogan was full of praise for Horan afterwards and said, “Jerry owned her and gave her to me to prep six weeks ago. Everything went very straightforward with her and she is a lovely filly with a good page.

“She is a good physical and we're delighted with what she made. Jerry took a chance on the mare and it has worked out. She was an older mare but, in fairness to Jerry, he's a serious dealer and he was clever enough to get a foal share to Dark Angel after he found the mare. He deserved to get well-paid for her as she was a lovely filly.”

Hogan added, “He's just top-class at that kind of stuff–an unbelievable operator and I'm lucky he sent her to me to prep. I'm only after setting up on my own at Churchland Stud a year and a half ago and I've been lucky that people have sent me a few nice foals to consign. She was up there with some of the best of what was here today.”

All told, it was a productive day for Dark Angel, with Yeomanstown signing for two colts for the sire–lot 394 for €98,000 and lot 409 for €75,000–for a combined €173,000. Eight foals from the Classic-producing sire sold for an aggregate of €430,000 which averaged out at €53,750.

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A Dozen Declared For Bahrain International Trophy

A field of 12 was declared Sunday for the fourth running of the £600,000 G3 Bahrain International Trophy to be run over the 2000 metres Friday, Nov. 19, at the Rashid Equestrian & Horseracing Club.

Magny Cours (Medaglia d'Oro) was beaten less than one length into third behind the since-retired Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper) in last year's main event, and the US-bred galloper could be one of as many of four entrants this time around. The seven-year-old was victorious in the G3 Prix Perth at Saint-Cloud in 2021, but was well-beaten in this year's G1 Saudi Cup and the G1 Dubai World Cup, in which he was third in 2021. Given a lengthy spell, the Andre Fabre trainee prepped for this challenge with a three-length victory over the all-weather track at Chantilly Oct. 8. He could be joined by Meydan listed winner Dubai Future (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), eighth here last year, and Passion And Glory (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) from Saeed bin Suroor; and by the Charlie Appleby-conditioned G3 Dubai Millennium S. hero Royal Fleet (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Shadwell's Alflaila (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) comes into the Bahrain Trophy in top form, having won the G3 Strensall S. at York Aug. 20 and the Oct. 8 G3 Darley S. at Newmarket in his last two outings.

“I've been really, really pleased with him since Newmarket,” trainer Owen Burrows told the Bahrain Turf Club. “He has come out of the race well. He looks great and although we're coming towards the end of the year, he's showing me no signs that he has had a hard season. He's really well.”

The Aga Khan-bred Simsir (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) took the 2020 renewal of this race for Victorious and trainer Fawzi Nass, and Dilawar (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) will try to see that lightning strikes twice for the same connections. Previously trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, the five-year-old won the 2021 G3 Prix Quincey in the Aga Khan colours and was only narrowly beaten in this year's G2 Prix du Muguet and G3 Prix Bertrand du Breuil Longines. He was acquired for €500,000 at last month's Arqana Arc Sale with this race in mind.

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Appleby And O’Brien Repeat The Dose

LEXINGTON, KY–This was a day that seemed to hang suspended, if not quite on a single hair of his tail, then certainly on the fate of a single horse. Even the gale that blew through the afternoon had a portentous quality, as though the very elements were anticipating some complementary melodrama of wind and fire from Flightline (Tapit). Yet history is often made not to a blaring fanfare but in quiet increments–and the 39 steps taken by the Breeders' Cup since its inauguration in 1984 here brought the Europeans to a new pinnacle of their own.

True, the raiders' contribution nowadays tends to be diffidently confined to the turf races. And nor did they spread their spoils at all widely. Saturday was very much a case of rounding up the usual suspects. For the measurement of their superiority over the domestic grass talent once again contained an internal rivalry of its own, with two powerhouses of the European industry ending up evenly dividing six of the seven grass races staged across the two days.

On the juvenile programme, Aidan O'Brien and Charlie Appleby had traded a winner apiece before a desperate duel between their respective representatives in a “decider” was settled in favour of Ballydoyle. And their contention on Saturday was virtually a mirror image, O'Brien resuming with Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the GI Filly and Mare Turf before Appleby responded with Modern Games (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the GI Mile and finally Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the GI Turf, where he was inevitably pursued home by a colt from Ballydoyle.

These winners limited Appleby's wilful impairment of his apparent invincibility on this side of the water: he had necessarily eroded his Breeders' Cup strike-rate by saddling two runners in two races. As a result, he must settle for having advanced to nine winners from 18 career starters at the meeting. Good grief, you would think the man might have the basic common sense at least to ensure a dead-heat when he runs more than one in a race.

Appleby has an exceptionally astute sense of the kind of animal that thrives on the hectic racing environment over here: tough, nimble horses that know how to hustle. Modern Games is a luminous example, as attested by three Grade I wins in three North American starts, though he also contributed to Appleby's remarkable sweep of three different mile Classics in Europe this spring. But this horse will probably never shake off his principal eligibility as a quiz answer, after contriving to win at Del Mar last year as a “ghost” for wagering purposes.

Evidently the intention is to keep Modern Games in training, alongside the gelded Rebel's Romance who has really blossomed with maturity after a staccato start to his career. For James Doyle, his success bookends a campaign in which he similarly benefited from William Buick's selection of another runner in the G1 2000 Guineas.

Ballydoyle's latest winner, meanwhile, proved yet another example of the way O'Brien manages to make the very process of proving a horse a stimulus to its ongoing development. This was Tuesday's eighth consecutive Group 1 start since breaking her maiden at Naas on Mar. 27. She was placed for the second time in a mile Classic just 12 days before winning one over a mile and a half. She ran against colts in the G1 Irish Derby, and bumped into the subsequent Arc winner at York. Yet all these months after drawing the cork, she performed here with more effervescence than ever.

The system, by this stage, is honed to a nearly metronomic degree. The maiden Tuesday won at Naas, for instance, had also been chosen to launch her sister Empress Josephine (Ire) towards her own Classic success last year. Their dam Lillie Langtry disappointed as hot favourite for the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf of 2009, at Santa Anita, but she came up with no less a filly than Minding (Ire) as her second foal; and their trainer, who has over the years had his ups and downs here, will have stifled any lingering scepticism at the wagering windows with three winners and a second from six starters overall. It must be said that the cause was especially well served by Ryan Moore, who really is riding at the peak of his powers.

So that left the GI Turf Sprint as the one and only race in which the speed of the indigenous opposition proved too much for the invaders, at least round a single turn. Even then, Emaraaty Ana (GB) (Shamardal) excelled for Yorkshire in getting within a neck of shock winner Caravel.

To those of us who considered Mizzen Mast a neglected stallion, this was a welcome reminder of the value he had long provided as a conduit to the splendid versatility of his own sire. Pensioned last year at the age of 23, his legacy has been sadly confined by a preponderance of geldings and females among his best stock–as, for instance, when two ladies gave him a famous double at the 2012 Breeders' Cup (Mizdirection in this race, and Flotilla {Fr}). Mizzen Mast did not always throw the most commercial conformation, but you can't put a price on the genetic nostalgia offered by a son of Cozzene out of a Graustark mare.

Someday, no doubt, the name of Flightline will have no less resonance in the Stud Book. But while even he must start with a blank state, as and when he enters stud, Saturday gilded the epoch-making heritage of two of the European breed's great modern bulwarks. Both Appleby's winners were sons of Dubawi, now in the evening of his career, while Tuesday is by the lamented Galileo.

It's striking that O'Brien and Appleby both use very similar language when trying to explain how Galileo and Dubawi have assisted their respective careers. The way they handle their stock will certainly have evolved with their growing familiarity, but both trainers stress how that elusive concept, class, is essentially a function of mental commitment, naturally alongside the physical capacity to support it.

And that's exactly where breeders need to be on the same page as trainers. They need to make sure that they prioritise constitution in their matings, because that is the foundation of brilliance. Flightline, notoriously, has only run six times–but what sets him apart is that you can throw anything at him and he will come right back and ask if that's all you have.

That is always said to be the classic trademark of his sire Tapit, while Flightline's second dam is by that doughty influence Dynaformer out of the Phipps matron Finder's Fee (Storm Cat)–who herself went seven-for-27 through three seasons.

If Flightline is to match his first career in his second, these are the seams he will be drawing on: much like Dubawi, and Galileo, and now the latter's son Frankel (GB). So when all these horsemen leave town, dispersing to far-flung coasts and continents and cultures, let them think about the type of animals they want to bring into the world. If their foals are born to run, and not just to stand on the dais in the adjacent pavilion, then it will be called the Breeders' Cup for a reason.

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Cody Makes Many Wishes Come True in Dirt Mile

LEXINGTON, KY–Godolphin homebred Cody's Wish (Curlin) made quite a few wishes come true beneath cloudy skies Saturday when rallying from well back and edging MGISW Cyberknife (Gun Runner) to take the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland.

The colt was named for 16-year-old Cody Dorman, who met the bay when he was just a foal at Gainsborough as part of Keeneland's Make-a-Wish day. Cody's Wish put his head in the young boy's lap, making an instant connection, and his story has touched many in the racing world. Dorman and his family were on hand all week ready to root his namesake on. Click here to read about both Codys.

“That was very special,” said trainer Bill Mott. “There's a big story behind it. Goes to show that the Make A Wish Foundation can make it very special for someone. The performance was awesome. He made a huge run turning for home.”

Favored at 2-1 off a win in the GI Forego S., Cody's Wish was unhurried early, caboosing the field as Pipeline (Speightstown) blitzed through a :22.20 first quarter with Gunite (Gun Runner) in tow and Cyberknife keeping close watch from a two-wide fourth. Cyberknife moved first as the half went in :45.71, but Cody's Wish had been popped the question as well by Junior Alvarado and began to make rapid progress up the outside. Gunite inherited the lead entering the bend with Cyberknife breathing down his neck and Cody's Wish charging up to confront them. They entered the lane three abreast and Gunite quickly waved the white flag, leaving the top two to battle it out. And they did indeed. The colts went stride-for-stride down the lane with Cody's Wish edging his younger foe late for a storybook ending to the Dirt Mile.

Longshot Slow Down Andy (Nyquist) rounded out the trifecta with Gunite holding fourth. Slow Down Andy's rider Mario Gutierrez claimed foul against Cyberknife for interference in the stretch, but the stewards left the result as is after an inquiry.

“I probably didn't have the trip that I was planning,” said an exuberant Junior Alvarado, who is a first-time Breeders' Cup winner. “He didn't break great, so I just took my time with him. I didn't want to rush him. He's a horse that can get a little rank. I took it little by little. By the 3/8th pole I was getting excited, but I knew there was a lot of race left to run. He finished up really well for me. When we turned for home, I knew I had the horse.”

A three-time winner during his 2021 campaign, Cody's Wish kicked off 2022 with a neck second in Tampa's GIII Challenger S. Mar. 12 and romped by five lengths next out in the one-mile GIII Westchester S. in the slop at Belmont May 7. Scoring by a neck next out over the re-opposing Three Technique (Mr Speaker) in Churchill's Hanshin S. July 4, the homebred came running late to take down champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in Saratoga's Forego Aug. 27, earning a gaudy 112 Beyer Speed Figure.

Pedigree Notes:

Cody's Wish became the third Breeders' Cup winner for the mighty Curlin, following GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero Vino Rosso and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile scorer Good Magic and later added two more winners. While Tapit has sired several Breeders' Cup winners, this is his first as a broodmare sire. Godolphin went to $750,000 to acquire his dam Dance Card (Tapit) and the 2011 FTFFEB sale. She captured the GI Gazelle S. and was third in her trip to the Breeders' Cup in 2013 for the GI BC F/M Sprint S. Prior to Cody's Wish, she produced MGSP Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro) and SP Bocephus (Medaglia d'Oro). Her recent produce includes a yearling colt by Into Mischief and a weanling filly by Street Sense. She was bred to Gun Runner this year.

Saturday, Keeneland
BIG ASS FANS BREEDERS' CUP DIRT MILE-GI, $910,000, Keeneland, 11-5, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:35.33, ft.
1–CODY'S WISH, 126, c, 4, by Curlin
                1st Dam: Dance Card (GISW, $502,200), by Tapit
                2nd Dam: Tempting Note, by Editor's Note
                3rd Dam: Tempt, by Devil's Bag
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado.
$520,000. Lifetime Record: 11-7-1-3, $1,332,130. *1/2 to
Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro), MGSP, $713,903. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Cyberknife, 123, c, 3, Gun Runner–Awesome Flower, by
Flower Alley. ($400,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Gold Square LLC;
B-Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $170,000.
3–Slow Down Andy, 123, c, 3, Nyquist–Edwina E, by
Square Eddie. O/B-Reddam Racing, LLC (CA); T-Doug F. O'Neill.
$90,000.
Margins: HD, 1 3/4, 2 1/4. Odds: 2.16, 3.26, 17.62.
Also Ran: Gunite, Law Professor, Three Technique, Simplification, Senor Buscador, Pipeline. Scratched: Informative, Laurel River.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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