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Stars Abound In Final Galileo Crops

Two weeks removed from his death at age 23, Galileo (Ire)'s influence was keenly felt in Europe's feature races this weekend. At Ascot, Adayar (GB)-by Galileo's greatest son Frankel (GB)-became the first horse to do the Derby/King George double since Galileo himself accomplished the feat 20 years ago. On the same card, Godolphin's €260,000 Arqana Select purchase New Science (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) stamped himself a 2-year-old to watch with victory in the Listed Pat Eddery S. He is out of a Galileo mare.

Up North at York, horses from the Galileo sireline took up four of the five spots in the starting gate for the card's featured G2 York S., and they filled the first four spots home, too, with Australia (GB)'s Bangkok (Ire) denying Frankel's Juan Elcano (GB) and Mohaafeth (Ire) in a tight finish and Galileo's Armory (Ire) further back in fourth.

With the yearling sales right around the corner, owners, too, will be eagerly anticipating the catalogue releases to see which progeny of Galileo might be on the market. First up is the Arqana August Yearling Sale, where there are four on Aug. 15 and 16, including Haras de Montaigu's half-sister to Derby winner Wings Of Eagles (Fr) (Pour Moi {Ire}).

The Galileos that show up at public auction, of course, will represent just a small percentage of his 2021 yearling crop, which numbers 100. Some of the standouts of that very deep group include colts out of six-time American Grade I winner and $5-million mare Abel Tasman (Quality Road), the mare's first foal; Again (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), the Classic-winning dam of three stakes horses by Galileo; Dialafara (Fr) (Anabaa), the dam of Classic winner Capri (Ire) and two other stakes horses by Galileo; Pikaboo (GB), the dam of Galileo's 2020 champion 3-year-old filly and 2021 G1 Prince of Wales's S. winner Love (Ire); Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), the first foal for the four-time Group 1-winning mare; Godolphin's Oaks winner and stakes producer Dancing Rain (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}); champion 2-year-old filly and 2.1-million gns purchase Tiggy Wiggy (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}); dual Group 1 winner Amazing Maria (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}); five-time Grade I-winning hurdler Annie Power (Ire) (Shirroco {Ger}); G3 Albany S. winner Different League (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) and G2 Queen Mary S. winner Heartache (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), both purchased by Coolmore at auction for seven figures; and Penchant (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), the dam of Group 1-winning sprinter and sire Garswood (GB).

Fillies from Galileo's current crop of yearlings include the progeny of Classic winner and stakes producer Beauty Parlour (GB) (Deep Impact {Jpn}); Hazariya (Ire), the dam of dual Derby winner Harzand (Ire) by Galileo's half-brother Sea The Stars (Ire) and four other stakes horses; three-time Group 1 and Classic winner Legatissimo (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}); Life Happened, the dam of G1 Queen Anne S. winner Tepin (Bernstein); Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), a Group 1 winner and dam of Galileo Classic winners Minding (Ire) and Empress Josephine (Ire); Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), the Group 1-winning sprinter and 6-million gns record breaker; another Group 1-winning sprinter in Mecca's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}); Meow (Ire) (Storm Cat), dam of dual Guineas winner and young sire Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and his Group 1-winning full-sister Clemmie (Ire); dual Group 1-winning sprinter and 2.1-million gns mare Quiet Reflection (GB) (Showcasing {GB}); GI American Oaks winner and $3.5-million purchase Daddys Lil Darling (Scat Daddy), her first foal; Jacqueline Quest (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), the disqualified G1 1000 Guineas winner and Grade I producer; and Godolphin's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Wuheida (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), her first foal.

A number of those mares returned to the 12-time champion sire the following season, a book that resulted in 87 foals this spring. Producing Galileo colts this year were Amazing Maria, Different League, Hazariya, Legatissimo, Meow, Tiggy Wiggy and Quiet Reflection, while Again, Jacqueline Quest, Mecca's Angel, Penchant and Alpha Centauri foaled fillies.

Triple Group 1 winner Wild Illusion (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) produced a Galileo filly this year as her first foal, and she was the lone mare for Godolphin in Galileo's penultimate book. Sheikh Mohammed sent two mares the year prior, and has six homebred 2-year-olds by Galileo.

Other black-type mares to produce their first foals, by Galileo, this year included Fleeting (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) and Signora Cabello (Ire), who both had fillies.

Other noteworthy mares to produce foals by Galileo this year include G2 Queen Mary S. scorer Acapulco (Scat Daddy), who had a colt; Group 1 producer Beauty Is Truth (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and her daughter Fire Lily (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), who both had colts; Chintz (Ire), who produced a full-sister to dual Group 1-winning miler The Gurkha (Ire); Danedrop (Ire) (Danehill), who foaled a half-brother to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. victress Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}); Devoted To You (Ire), whose colt is a full-brother to G1 Irish Derby winner Sovereign (Ire); Kheleyf's Silver (Ire), who produced a half-brother to Tiggy Wiggy; American champion Lady Eli (Divine Park), who produced a colt; Palace (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who foaled a full-brother to this year's one-time Derby favourite High Definition (Ire); Peter Brant's $3.6-million mare Quidura (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who foaled a colt; Red Evie (Ire) (Intikhab), whose filly is a full-sister to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Found (Ire) as well as Best In The World (Ire), dam of this year's top 3-year-old filly Snowfall (Jpn) and Divinely (Ire), who hit the board in both the English and Irish Oaks; Strawberry Fledge (Kingmambo), whose colt is a half-brother to Group 1 winner and two-time Arc placegetter Cloth Of Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}); and Coolmore's $8-million G1 Queen Anne S. winner Tepin, who foaled a filly.

The steady march of summer into autumn means that we are likely to soon starting seeing what the latest crop of Galileo 2-year-olds has in store. Galileo has had eight starters from his current crop of juveniles with three placed including Minding (Ire) and Empress Josephine (Ire)'s full-sister Tuesday (Ire), who split Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire})'s full-sister Discoveries (Ire) and last weekend's smart maiden winner Mise Le Meas (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) when second at The Curragh on June 25. Galileo's 2018 book of mares was, naturally, as star-studded as ever, and other siblings to Classic winners gearing up for their debuts include Toy (Ire), the eighth foal and eighth Galileo out of the remarkable producer You'resothrilling, and therefore a full-sister to Classic winners Gleneagles (Ire), Marvellous (Ire) and Joan Of Arc (Ire); Downing Street (Ire), a full-brother to last year's Derby winner Serpentine (Ire); Twinkle (Ire), a full-sister to the prior year's Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Ire); One Way (Ire), a full-sister to Classic winner and Group 1 producer Misty For Me (Ire) and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac scorer Ballydoyle (Ire); and Gulliver's Travels (Ire), a half-brother to G1 Irish Oaks winner Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and exciting 3-year-old filly Philomene (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and full-brother to Group 1 winner Magic Wand (Ire) who cost Coolmore €2-million at Arqana last summer.

Other standouts on pedigree among the current Galileo 2-year-olds are Oriental World (Ire), Godolphin's half-brother to dual G1 Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) and four other stakes winners; Ingres (Ire), a colt who is the first foal out of the triple Group 1 winner Esoterique (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}); Nova Legend (Ire), a half-brother to Group 1-winning juvenile and young sire Shalaa (Ire); Denver (Ire), a full-brother to multiple Group 1-winning mares Magical (Ire) and Rhododendron (Ire); Figlio Del Re (Ire), a colt out of the triple Grade I winner I'm A Chatterbox (Munnings) who has been exported to the U.S.; Electress (GB), a filly who is the third foal out of G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Just The Judge (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}); Magical Lagoon (Ire), a half-sister to King George winner Novellist (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}); Champagne (Ire), a full-sister to Found, Divinely and Snowfall's dam Best In The World; Skylark (GB), a full-sister to Group 1 winners Mogul (GB) and Japan (GB) who cost Coolmore 3.4-million gns last year; First Emperor (GB), a half-brother to this year's G1 Falmouth S. winner Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}); Astrologia (Ire), the first foal out of the beautifully bred G3 Musidora S. winner So Mi Dar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}); Georges Seurat (Ire), a colt who is the first foal out of six-time Grade I winner and $6-million mare Stellar Wind (Curlin); General Idea (GB), the second foal out of The Queen's Australian Group 1 winner Sweet Idea (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}); and History (Ire), a filly who is the first foal out of multiple graded stakes winner Prize Exhibit (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) who made 2.8-million gns at Tattersalls last year. Others that have 2-year-olds by Galileo include Beauty Is Truth, Chintz, Dancing Rain, Danedrop, Dialafara, Fire Lily, Life Happened, Quiet Reflection, Tepin and Tiggy Wiggy.

While the loss of Galileo will be heavily felt for years to come, so too will his enduring legacy, not least through his final four crops.

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Influential Producer Cassandra Go Dies

Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}-Rahaam, by Secreto), the winner of the G2 King's Stand S. and an influential producer, has died aged 25 at Ballyhimikin Stud.

Bred by John McKay, Cassandra Go was purchased by Trevor Stewart for 82,000gns as a foal through the BBA at the Tattersalls December Sale of 1996. Stewart sent her through the ring as a yearling at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, but opted to retain her at 200,000gns.

Sent into training with Geoff Wragg, Cassandra Go was soundly beaten in her lone start at two but righted that wrong with a first-out maiden victory the following April. She would win a Newmarket conditions race and picked up a listed third before the season's end, and she proved progressive at four, picking up stakes wins in the Listed Lansdown Fillies' S. and the G3 King George S. It was at five, however, that Cassandra Go truly thrived, winning the G2 Temple S. and G2 King's Stand S. before finishing second in the G1 July Cup.

Cassandra Go had been covered by Green Desert prior to her final season on the racecourse, and as a half-sister to G3 Coventry S. winner Verglas (Ire) (Highest Honor {Fr}), expectations must have been high heading into her second career. Cassandra Go more than delivered.

Her first foal, the Green Desert mare Neverletme Go (Ire), produced the German stakes-winning Best Regards (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), but that has been relegated to a footnote in what is a highly accomplished and sought-after line. Cassandro Go's third foal was the G3 Summer S. winner Theann (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), who would subsequently produce the dual American Grade I winner Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and the G2 Richmond S. winner and young sire Land Force (Ire) (No Nay Never).

Theann was followed immediately by Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), who has overshadowed even her elder sister's lofty accomplishments. The winner of the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas, G1 Sun Chariot S. and G1 Nassau S., Halfway To Heaven has gone on to even greater acclaim as a producer; after first supplying the Group 3-winning Flying The Flag (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and the G1 Fillies' Mile, G1 Lockinge S. and G1 Prix de l'Opera victress Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), she outdid herself with the remarkable six-time Group 1 winner Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Theann and Halfway To Heaven were both plucked out of Goffs yearling sales by the Coolmore partners, and that group likewise took home Cassandro Go's most recent filly to appear at public auction, the subsequently Group 3-placed Invincible Spirit (Ire) filly Fantasy (Ire) for 1.6-million gns from the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2017. In the interim, Cassandro Go had produced the filly Tickled Pink (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who was retained by Stewart and won the G3 Abernant S. and G3 Coral Charge S. for trainer Sir Henry Cecil-one of the great trainer's last stakes winners prior to his death–and Stewart told The Owner Breeder he has four of Cassandra Go's daughters in his care. Those include the 3-year-old Holly Golightly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), the winner of a Gowran Park maiden last month for trainer Ger Lyons, and a filly foal by Night Of Thunder born this year. Stewart also retained the mare's 2-year-old colt Once Upon A River (Ire), who was third on debut at Gowran on June 13 for Lyons. Cassandra Go has a yearling colt by Saxon Warrior (Jpn).

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Hawwaam To Stand At Wilgerbosdrift

South African champion Hawwaam (SAf) (Silvano {Ger}-Halfway To Heaven {SAf}, by Jet Master {SAf}), the winner of five Group 1s in the colours of the late Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, will enter stud in 2021 at Wilgerbosdrift Stud, which co-bred him with Mauritzfontein Stud and sold him for R1,000,000 at the Bloodstock South Africa National Yearling Sale in 2017.

South Africa's champion 3-year-old of 2018-19, Hawwaam won the G1 Premier's Champions Challenge twice, and also collected the G1 Horse Chestnut S., G1 Daily News 2000 and G1 S A Classic for trainer Mike de Kock. Hawwaam is currently in the UK under the care of trainer William Haggas but has not raced since collecting the Champions Challenge in June 2020.

Hawwaam is one of three Group 1 winners produced by South Africa's two-time champion broodmare Halfway To Heaven.

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The Weekly Wrap: Long May They Run

It has been quite a week for the old boys. Continuing a fine season, Way To Paris (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) finally notched a deserved Group 1 victory for himself and his trainer Andrea Marcialis in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. At seven, he is a year younger than the sprinting duo of Limato (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}) and Judicial (Ire)

(Iffraaj {GB}) who respectively recorded their 14^th and 15^th victories in Group 3 contests at Newmarket and Newcastle on Saturday.

Then of course there’s the redoubtable Caspian Prince (Ire), who ran his 101^st race that same day, chalking up his 20^th win at odds of 28/1. The biggest head-scratcher is how this remarkable 11-year-old, by Dylan Thomas (Ire) out of the unraced Crystal Gaze (Ire) (Rainbow Quest), has ended up winning the majority of his races over five furlongs. Now in his tenth season in training, Caspian Prince was an inspired purchase at 11,000gns at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale and yet another credit to the skills of bloodstock agent Gill Richardson, whose bang-for-buck ratio with the horses she selects is as good as any out there. The horse has had seven different trainers in his career, with his highest-profile success coming for Tony Coyle when Caspian Prince beat Judicial’s half-sister, the dual Group 1 winner Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), in the G2 Friarstown Stud Sapphire S. almost three years ago.

The Italian Way
Way To Paris may have the perfect name and sire to win a Group 1 in the Parisian suburbs, but both he and his connections have their roots firmly planted in Italy. Bred by Franca Vittadini’s Grundy Bloodstock, he races in the colours of nonagenarian Paolo Ferrario and is trained in Chantilly by Italian ex-pat Andrea Marcialis. Moreover, Way To Paris’s dam Grey Way (Cozzene), from whom he inherits his grey coat, was herself the winner of the G2 Premio Lydia Tesio among her five victories on Italian soil. Twelve years prior to Way To Paris, who was born when Grey Way was 20, the mare had produced the dual G1 Premio Presidente della Repubblica winner Distant Way (Distant View), who later served his time at stud in Italy.

Champs Elysees, a perfectly capable Flat stallion who was massively popular with the jumps brigade in the three seasons he stood at Castle Hyde Stud, died in 2018, the year his daughter Billesdon Brook (GB) won the 1000 Guineas. The brother to Dansili (GB) and Cacique (GB) also featured among the Italian group-race winners over the weekend via his German-bred and -trained son Durance (Ger), who beat French raider Royal Julius (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}) by a neck to land the G2 Gran Premio di Milano for owner-breeder Gestut Ebbesloh.

The other group race on Sunday’s card at San Siro, the G3 Premio Carlo Vittadini, is named in honour of the father of Way To Paris’s breeder, who was himself the owner of the outstanding triple Classic winner of 1975, Grundy (GB) (Great Nephew {GB}). It brought up a double not just for German runners but also for sons of Hasili (GB) as the race was won by the Juddmonte-bred Runnymede (GB), (Dansili {GB}}, who is now trained by Sarah Steinberg for Stall Salzburg having been bought for 75,000gns at Tattersalls in February 2019.

A further feather in the cap for Italian breeding over the weekend came in Ireland, where Speak In Colours (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) recorded his sixth triumph in the G2 Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands S. Bred by Paolo and Emma Agostini, the 5-year-old raced initially in their Scuderia Archi Romani silks at two when trained by Marco Botti (who also trained his sire). Following his win in the listed Doncaster S. at two, Speak In Colours was sold to Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez and transferred to Joseph O’Brien, subsequently adding another four stakes victories to his record.

The Derby Cross
The main event of the weekend, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, produced the novel result of a Coolmore-owned winner whose sire and damsire both stood as Darley stallions. However much the Irish Derby’s reputation regrettably continues to be devalued, there is much to like about the newest name on the roll of honour, Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}), not least his ability to have bounced back so soon after winning the G2 Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot.

Then there is his pedigree, and the fact that his fifth dam, Allegretta (GB), also pops up in the backgrounds of plenty of top-class horses, most notably as the grandam of Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire).

Santiago’s Classic victory further embellishes the late Cape Cross’s record as a broodmare sire, a position he also occupies in the pedigrees of Derby winners Australia (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), Japanese Derby winner Logi Universe (Jpn) (Neo Universe {Jpn}), South Australian Derby winner Russian Camelot (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), G1 Zabeel Classic winners Authentic Paddy (NZ) (Howbaddouwantit) and Consensus (NZ) (Postponed), and six-time Group 1 winner Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}).

Santiago’s dam Wadyhatta (GB) was bought from Shadwell at Arqana’s Summer Sale when carrying Santiago for €275,000. Sheikh Hamdan has himself enjoyed plenty of success with the family over the years, notably through Tamayuz (GB) (Nayef), a half-brother to Santiago’s grandam Thamarat (GB) (Anabaa).

The 2007 Derby winner Authorized will probably end up being best remembered as the sire of dual Grand National winner Tiger Roll (Ire) and, like so many sons of Montjeu (Ire), he has had decent success with his jumpers, which include Nichols Canyon (GB) and Goshen (Fr). But Authorized is also a Flat sire of some note, his chief earner being the evergreen Hartnell (GB) who, like Santiago, won the Queen’s Vase before he was exported to Australia.

Authorized served 12 seasons at Darley’s British, Irish and French wings before being sold to stand in Turkey for the Turkish Jockey Club for the 2020 season.

Fairy’s Story
In a good week for former Derby winners, the 2014 hero Australia (GB) was represented by a third group win for his first-crop son Buckhurst (Ire) in the G3 Alleged S., as well as a runner-up finish for 3-year-old daughter Cayenne Pepper (Ire) in the G1 Pretty Polly S.

An interesting runner of Australia’s on the pedigree front was Saturday’s Hamilton maiden winner King Fairy (Ire). Trained by William Haggas, he was making his second start in the colours of his breeder, the Tsui family’s Sunderland Holdings, and the 3-year-old colt is inbred 3×3 to their Arc winner and brilliant broodmare Urban Sea (Miswaki) through his grandsires, the half-brothers Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire).

King Fairy’s dam My Fairy (Ire) was unraced but is a sister to My Titania (Ire), who was Sea The Stars’s first group winner back in 2013. The family has also been kind to Haggas who trained another of the mare’s half-siblings, the triple Group 2 winner Muthmir (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

Rude Awakening
The international barriers are slowly lifting and Thursday saw the first English runners in French group races this season. The prizes for both contests were duly smuggled back across the Channel by Hughie Morrison and Charlie Appleby after last year’s G2 Dante S. winner Telecaster (GB) (New Approach {GB}) ran out the easy winner of the G3 La Coupe followed by the triumph of Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G3 Prix de la Porte Maillot.

Following a run of solely domestic contests since racing resumed in France on May 11, these interlopers were clearly not welcomed by all. The next day’s Jour de Galop bore the front-page headline ‘Rude Britainnia’ and went on to grumble about ‘Des Anglais sans pitie’.

But really the only rude thing about the day’s racing was the start time: the Weekly Wrapper was still mucking out when Telecaster romped home at 8.40am Newmarket time. The French don’t usually like to let racing interrupt lunch, let alone breakfast.

More Joy For Darley Matriarch
Eastern World (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) has an awful lot to live up to in following his high-flying siblings onto the racecourse but the 3-year-old looks set to uphold the family honour following his comfortable maiden win at Newmarket on Sunday.

At the very least he has kept a clean sheet for his dam, the celebrated Darley mare Eastern Joy (GB) (Dubai Destination). Eastern World is her sixth winner from as many runners and all those who have gone before him—all by Darley sires—have notched black-type victories. Heading the list is the Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) and he is followed, in ratings order, by Always Smile (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), Ihtimal (Ire) (Shamardal), Winter Lightning (Ire) (Shamardal) and First Victory (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}).

Great Heavens
As we look ahead to the most exciting weekend of action since racing returned, with the Derby, Oaks, Eclipse, Prix du Jockey Club and Prix de Diane all being staged within two days, we must first acknowledge the welcome return of the great mare Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who extended her Group 1 record to five wins with significant ease in Sunday’s Alwasmiyah Pretty Polly S. at an almost deserted Curragh.

In a more normal season, we might have been expecting her to line up again at Sandown on Sunday to try to reverse the 2019 placings with Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the Coral-Eclipse. As it is, she had a pretty easy hit-out for her seasonal debut and we may see her next instead in the ‘King George’ at Ascot, where she completed her magnificent four-year-old season with victory in the G1 QIPCO Champion S.

Magical’s celebrated dam Halfway to Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) was not the only mare of that name to have produced a top-flight winner of the weekend. This is where country suffixes come in handy. Halfway To Heaven (SAf), a daughter of Jet Master (SAf), is the dam of Sheikh Hamdan’s Hawwaam (SAf) (Silvano {Ger}), who won Saturday’s GI Premier’s Champions Challenge at Turffontein, his second Grade 1 victory of the month and, like Magical, fifth in total.

The Irish Halfway To Heaven had already produced a multiple Group 1 winner in Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) but her South African namesake has her matched there, too, as her 5-year-old son Rainbow Bridge (SAF) (Ideal World) is also a dual Grade I winner in South Africa.

And finally…
Well done to the BHA for persuading the government to allow owners to return to the racecourse in time for a belated Derby day. A well-timed decision indeed.

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