Harry Sweeney | Horse Racing Free Tips

Dubai In Play For Godolphin’s Lemon Pop Following February S.

Stepping up to the top level for the first time in what has already been a productive career, Godolphin's Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid) ran a strong 1600 metres and comfortably held a final-furlong rally from the classy Red le Zele (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) to land Sunday's February S. at Tokyo Racecourse. A fourth consecutive American-bred winner of the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, Lemon Pop will remain over shorter trips and holds an invitation to the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen in five weeks' time. Despite the obvious appeal of such a journey, connections were playing it close to the vest post-race.

“Lemon Pop has been invited to Dubai, but we won't be making a decision on this for some time yet,” said Godolphin Japan President Harry Sweeney, who purchased the chestnut in the name of Paca Paca Farm for $70,000 as a weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November Sale. “Thrilled that Lemon Pop has won a Group 1 race at his first attempt and won in good style. We are relieved that he now has a JRA Group 1 on his curriculum vitae which will be very important for his next career whenever he finishes racing.”

Handed a good draw in gate seven, Lemon Pop was in the vanguard early, but was content to drift back a few spots as the mare Shonan Nadeshiko (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) took the 16-strong field through an opening half-mile in a solid :46.60. Tipped out into the four path with about 600 metres to travel, Lemon Pop traveled strongly into the race and was under a long hold–having yet to be asked for his best–as the field hit the quarter pole. Finally given a dig by Ryusei Sakai approaching the final furlong, Lemon Pop pinched a break as Red le Zele flashed and loomed a momentary danger, but the favourite had the race well and truly in safe keeping and proved a clear-cut winner. Meisho Hario (Jpn) (Pyro) nearly unseated jockey Suguru Hamanaka at the break and was a long last down the backstretch, but rallied strongly to finish third.

The other US-bred winners of the race include Mozu Ascot (Frankel {GB}) in 2020 and Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah) the last two years.

The victory was the second at group level for Lemon Pop, who rebounded from a tough loss in the G3 Musashino S. over course and distance Nov. 12 to reverse form with Gilded Mirror (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) in the G3 Negishi S. over seven panels Jan. 29. Jockey Keita Tosaki had ridden Lemon Pop to each of his seven previous wins, but opted for fourth-placed Dry Stout (Jpn) (Sinister Minister) Sunday, much to Sweeney's surprise.

“[We] were shocked to read in the sports papers just two weeks ago that Keita Tosaki had decided to get off Lemon Pop to ride another horse,” said Sweeney. “We then had to scramble to find a replacement and we are delighted with Sakai-san's performance today. It was a pressure ride for him too as he was riding Lemon Pop, the favourite, for the first time and in a Group 1 race.”

Added the winning jockey: “I am grateful to be given the chance to ride such a strong and favored horse and am happy we won. He responded well and pulled away strongly all the way to the wire.”

'TDN Rising Star' Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) sat an inside trip from a disadvantageous low draw and was beaten about 10 lengths into ninth.

“From what the jockey was telling me, he wasn't enjoying the kickback that much, but I think he ran an OK race,” said trainer Roger Attfield. “I just think he's a superiour turf horse, but we gave it a try.”

Pedigree Notes:

On behalf of former Darley executive Olly Tait and his wife, Blandford Bloodstock went to 165,000gns for Unreachable from the Juddmonte draft at the 2012 Tattersalls December Mares Sale. Unreachable is a daughter of Harpia, a full-sister to the highly influential Danehill as well as Eagle Eyed and Shibboleth, etc., and is a half-sister to the stakes-placed First Word (Chester House) and the young American regional stallion Redesdale (Speightstown). This is also the family of Dundonnell (First Defence), a Group 3 winner in England, a listed winner in Hong Kong and Group 3-placed in Dubai.

Unreachable was offered in foal to Good Magic at the 2020 Keeneland January Sale but was led out unsold on a bid of $55,000. The mare was privately acquired by Jay and Christine Hayden's Saintsbury Farms and the colt the mare was carrying at the time–an Ontario-bred now named Equivoque–would go on to fetch $325,000 from China Horse Club/Gandharvi at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Unreachable is also the dam of a 2-year-old colt by Good Magic and a yearling colt by Maclean's Music. A Maximum Security colt out of Lemon Pop's half-sister Regal Rags (Union Rags) was sold for $110,000 at Keeneland November last fall. Unreachable, now 14 years of age, was entered for, but was unsurprisingly withdrawn from this year's Keeneland January Sale when again in foal to Maclean's Music.

Lemon Pop is the 10th worldwide Grade I/Group 1 winner for his sire, who was pensioned from stud duties at Lane's End in 2021 and is his second top-level winner out of a Giant's Causeway dam. The late 'Iron Horse' is now the broodmare sire of 32 G1SW/GISW.

Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
FEBRUARY S.-G1, ¥232,860,000, Tokyo, 2-19, 4yo/up, 1600m, 1:35.60, gd.
1–LEMON POP, 128, h, 5, by Lemon Drop Kid
1st Dam: Unreachable, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Harpia, by Danzig
3rd Dam: Razyana, by His Majesty
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. ($70,000 Wlg '18 KEENOV). O-Godolphin; B-Mr & Mrs Oliver S Tait (KY); T-Hiroyasu Tanaka; J-Ryusei Sakai; ¥123,403,000. Lifetime Record: 11-8-3-0, ¥288,439,000. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Red le Zele (Jpn), 128, h, 7, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn)–French Noir (Jpn), by French Deputy. O-Tokyo Horse Racing; B-Shadai Farm; ¥48,972,000.
3–Meisho Hario (Jpn), 128, h, 6, Pyro–Meisho Ohi (Jpn), by Manhattan Cafe (Jpn). O-Yoshio Matsumoto; B-Mishima Bokujo; ¥30,486,000.
Margins: 1HF, 2HF, 1. Odds: 1.20, 8.00, 9.70.
Also Ran: Dry Stout (Jpn), Admire Lupus (Jpn), Speedy Kick (Jpn), Helios (Jpn), Soliste Thunder (Jpn), Shirl's Speight, Kenshinko (Jpn), Sekifu (Jpn), Auvergne (Jpn), Keiai Turquoise (Jpn), T M South Dan (Jpn), Shonan Nadeshiko (Jpn), Jasper Prince.
Click for the JRA chart.

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Will Take Charge To Darley Japan

Champion Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song–Take Charge Lady, by Dehere), whose 13 black-type winners includes this year's GI Hollywood Gold Cup hero There Goes Harvard, will join the stallion roster at Darley Japan in 2023, according to a post on the nursery's website. Will Take Charge has stood his first eight seasons at stud at Three Chimneys Farm.

Campaigned by the late Willis Horton during his first two seasons at the races and trained by D. Wayne Lukas, Will Take Charge won the 2013 GI Travers S. and GII Pennsylvania Derby before dropping a heartbreaking decision in that year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. A defeat of his elders in the GI Clark H. secured him the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old male. With Three Chimneys joining in as part-owner for his 4-year-old season, the blaze-faced chestnut won the GII Oaklawn H. at Horton's home track and was placed in the GI Stephen Foster H. and GI Whitney S. prior to his retirement to stud.

Overall, Will Take Charge is the sire of 224 winners from five crops to race and a dozen stakes winners in addition to There Goes Harvard, including this year's GII Phoenix S. upsetter Manny Wah and Grade III winners Will's Secret and Abaan. His four Japanese winners from five to race includes France Go de Ina, who participated in the 2021 GI Preakness S. and GI Belmont S.

Will Take Charge is out of the gifted MGISW Take Charge Lady, making him a half-brother to WinStar stallion Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy); GISW As Time Goes By (American Pharoah); and to Charming (Seeking the Gold), the dam of promising young Spendthrift sire Omaha Beach (War Front) and Horton's Eclipse Award winner Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway). This is also the family of GISP 'TDN Rising Star' Charge It (Tapit) and of Japanese MSW Strong Souther (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), a son of Take Charge Lady's MSW/GSP half-sister Eventail (Lear Fan).

“We are delighted to be able to introduce this horse at a time when he has produced a Grade I winner in the U.S. and has further enhanced his reputation in Japan,” said Darley Japan CEO Harry Sweeney. “We are confident he will be a success in Japan.”

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Notable US-Bred and -Sired Runners in Japan: Oct. 30, 2021

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. With plenty activity this weekend, we will serve up two helpings of American-bred and -sired runners, beginning with Saturday's runners at Hanshin and Tokyo. Sunday's featured event is the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn), which will feature 2020 Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), this year's G1 Japanese 2000 Guineas hero and Derby runner-up Efforia (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) and Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), the champion daughter of Breeders' Cup and MGISW Tapitsfly (Tapit):

Saturday, October 30, 2021
4th-HSN, ¥13,400,000 ($118k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800m
BAHIR DAR (c, 2, Pioneerof the Nile–Llanarmon, by Sky Mesa) is the third foal from his GII Natalma S.-winning dam, a $240K Keeneland November purchase in foal to Into Mischief in 2017 before being acquired privately by Shadai Farm in 2018. Llanarmon foaled this colt Apr. 28, 2019 and was subsequently bred to Mendelssohn prior to her export to Japan. She foaled a filly by the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf-winning half-brother to Into Mischief last April. B-Shadai Farm (KY)

5th-TOK, ¥13,400,000 ($118k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1600mT
TOSEN CHIARA (JPN) (f, 2, American Pharoah–Giulia, by Sky Mesa) is the first produce of a dam who broke her maiden by many at two in Brazil before continuing her career in Uruguay, where she won the G1 Gran Premio de Ciudad de Montevideo on the dirt by 10 1/2 lengths in 2016 (see below, saddle cloth 7). Well beaten in two starts for trainer Michael Matz in this country in 2018, Giulia was acquired privately by this breeder and was covered by American Pharoah before continuing on to Japan. The bay hails from the extended female family of champion Chief's Crown (Danzig), winner of the inaugural GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 1984. B-Takaya Shimakawa

6th-TOK, ¥13,400,000 ($118k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400m
SHIRAKINU (f, 2, Frosted–Meets Expectations, by Valid Expectations), a half-sister to dual-surface GISW and Hill 'n' Dale stallion World of Trouble (Kantharos), SW Money Or Love (J Be K) and SP Alfie Solomons (Kantharos), cost Harry Sweeney's Paca Paca Farm $335K on behalf of Godolphin to buy out breeding partners Darsan Inc. at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. The Florida-bred filly's dam is a half-sister to dual GII Woodford S. winner, two-time GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint alum and popular young Florida stallion Bucchero (Kantharos). B-Darsan Inc & Godolphin (FL)

LADY SHIKA (f, 2, American Freedom–Lakefront, by Deputy Minister) becomes the first Japanese starter for her freshman sire (by Pulpit). The Feb. 18 foal, a half-sister to SW Dattts Our Girl (Thunder Gulch), was produced by an unraced daughter of Lakeway (Seattle Slew), a four-time Grade I winner and runner-up in the 1994 GI Kentucky Oaks and third behind Inside Information (Private Account) in her romping 1995 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff score. Lakeway's SW daughter Sluice (Seeking the Gold) was responsible for GISW Mushka (Empire Maker), second to Life Is Sweet (Storm Cat) in the 1999 GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic. Sluice is also the dam of Aqua Julia (Exaggerator), who flew home from far back to graduate at first asking on Santa Anita debut Oct. 8. A $22K short yearling at KEEJAN last year, Lady Chika was RNAd for $45K at KEESEP and fetched $160K from Hideyuki Mori at this year's OBS March after breezing an eighth of a mile in the bullet time of :9 4/5. B-Mr & Mrs Craig L Minten (KY)

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Frankel Foals Head Goffs Market

KILDARE, Ireland–It was a case of saving the best until last as the Goffs November Foal Sale finished with a flourish on Sunday evening. Despite a few high-profile withdrawals, there were still plenty of highly sought after lots on offer and it was three foals by Frankel (GB) who shared the honour of co-top lots with each commanding €440,000. While there may not have been the depth of trade evident in previous editions, the session was underpinned by a solid clearance rate of 82%, with 135 foals sold for a total of €10,374,000. The average for the day was €76,844, while a median price of €52,000 was recorded. There were 47 six-figure transactions on day three last year’s record sale, and 28 on Sunday.

Frankel fever began to set in around mid-afternoon and it was ignited by the sale of the supplementary lot 663A. The brilliant Juddmonte stallion sired Grenadier Guards (Jpn), the winner of the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity in Japan on Sunday morning, and that fact wasn’t lost on Harry Sweeney, who signed the buyer’s docket. The son of the multiple stakes winner Lily’s Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) will make his way to Sweeney’s Paca Paca Farm in Japan where Sweeney hopes he will build on his sire’s impressive record.

“Frankel has been quite successful in Japan; they are big strong horses and they seem to operate well there,” Sweeney said. “I hoped to get this one for slightly less but he is a fine foal and we look forward to getting him home.”

The next Frankel foal that entered the ring brought the exact same price when knocked down to online bidder Blackstar Bloodstock. Lot 673 was consigned by Des Leadon and Mariann Klay’s Swordlestown Little Stud and was bred by Graeng Bloodstock Ltd out of the G3 Brownstown S. winner Marvada (Ire) (Elusive City). The mare has already bred the top class G2 Dahlia S. winner and G1 Queen Anne S. runner up Terebellum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), while Marvada’s 2-year-old Miss Finland (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) broke her maiden recently for John Gosden.

It was an intense half hour for Swordlestown Little as no sooner had the dust settled on lot 673 than they were back in the ring with another Frankel colt, lot 684. This colt was bred by Leadon and Klay out of Nisriyna (Ire) (Intikhab) and completed the Frankel €440,000 trifecta, this time to the bid of Juddmonte’s Barry Mahon. The 13-year-old Nisriyna has been a star for Swordlestown Little and is the dam of the former prolific Hong Kong runner Dinozzo (Ire) (Lilbourne Lad {Ire}), who after amassing over £1.1-million in his racing career was repatriated back to Swordlestown Little to spend an honourable retirement.

“It’s been some rollercoaster,” said Leadon after the second of his headline sales. “We think the world of this Nisriyna colt, he looks a proper racehorse and he really took to this new environment like a duck to water. Nothing seems to faze him. It’s a wonderful family and the mare really deserved an upgrade in the type of stallion she was visiting. We were delighted that her 2-year-old Qaasid (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) recently got off the mark for Sir Michael Stoute, who is a dear friend of ours, and we are thrilled that Juddmonte have bought this foal.”

Barry Mahon had been underbidder on an Expert Eye (GB) foal earlier in the session and was determined not to leave without this one. “Prince Khalid was very keen on this colt and he looks a good fit for the Juddmonte programme,” Mahon said. “He also came from a top farm and was beautifully prepped. Frankel has become a true international sire with the horse in Japan this morning another example of what he can do and it’s great for Irish breeders who have supported him to be rewarded like this.”

In a flurry of Frankel sales, lot 685 rewarded the perseverance of successful buyer Gerard Lowry of Oneliner Stables. Lowry had tried hard to buy the previous lot but was more than happy to come away with this son of Noyelles (Ire) (Docksider) when the hammer dropped at €360,000. Similarly bred to the first Frankel sold being a half-brother to Lily’s Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), this colt was consigned by Neilstown Stud on behalf of the foal’s breeders Nick and Alice Nugent.

“Both Frankels were top of our list so we’re delighted to get this one,” Gerard Lowry said. “Frankel is a global commodity, this horse is a half-brother to two good fillies and he will be back for resale next year.”

There may not have been as much international representation as in previous years at this sale, but that didn’t prevent Goffs Scandinavian agent Filip Zwicky getting stuck in on behalf of clients. His purchases were headed by lot 707, a Footstepsinthesand (GB) half-brother to G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) that cost €300,000. Consigned by Baroda Stud, the colt is a grandson of G1 Prix de l’Opera winner Satwa Queen (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}), and while bought for Scandinavian interests he will be making an appearance at Goffs again next year.

“I bought him for the owner of Swedish Derby winner Bullof Wall Street (Tapizar), who we bought in the Orby two years ago,” Zwicky said. “This is the owner’s first pinhook and the horse will come back here for the Orby next year.”

Philipp Stauffenberg is another who is no stranger to paying big money for foals to resell and more often than not the gamble pays off. He struck for lot 659, a No Nay Never full-sister to both GII Mrs Revere S. winner Nay Lady Nay (Ire) and G2 Coventry S. winner Arizona (Ire). The Ballintry Stud-consigned filly set Stauffenberg back €260,000, but with a pedigree that also features two individual champions further down in Bright Generation (Ire) (Rainbow Quest) and Dabirsim (Fr) (Hat Trick {Jpn}), the filly looks well bought. Bred by Stephen Sullivan out of Lady Ederle (English Channel), the sale is the latest success story for the mare that keeps on giving. Sullivan bought the mare in Keeneland eight years ago for $27,000 and is beginning to really reap the rewards from the 11-year-old.

“I’m delighted, Lady Ederle is turning into a real cash cow but all credit to Joe [Rogers] and his team at Ballintry Stud,” Sullivan said. “He looks after the foals so well and I would recommend him to anyone. The mare is in foal to Frankel (GB) and I imagine we’ll see that foal back here hopefully next year. Goffs do a great job and despite everything happening we are here trading horses.”

Lot 583 from The Castlebridge Consignment already had good credentials being an Acclamation (GB) half-brother to two fast stakes horses in K Club (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Back To Brussels (Ire) (Starspangledbannner {Aus}), but there could be more to come from the family next year particularly from a yearling half-sister by Mehmas (Ire) that cost £330,000 at the Orby Sale in Doncaster and goes into training with Joseph O’Brien. That was surely at the forefront of JC Bloodstock’s Mick Fitzpatrick’s mind as he traded bids with Gay O’Callaghan with Fitzpatrick eventually winning the battle with a bid of €195,000. The foal was bred by Horse Racing Ireland Chairman Nick Hartery out of the mare Big Boned (Street Sense), who has proved a fine investment since being purchased at Goffs in 2014 by Rathasker Stud for €27,000.

Mick Fitzpatrick added to Kilminfoyle’s pinhooking squad for next year when seeing off a parade ring bidder to secure lot 603 for €225,000. The strapping Camelot (GB) colt offered by Oghill House Stud is a full-brother to the very smart Ado McGuinness- trained Current Option (Ire) and Fitzpatrick said, “He is a very nice foal by a proven stallion and is a brother to a good horse so he ticks plenty of boxes.”

For the foal’s breeder Craig English it was a fine return as he only bought the mare Coppertop (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) at this sale last year for €50,000. She was carrying this foal at the time and in the meantime Current Option (Ire) has won a premier handicap at Galway, a listed race at Cork and the G3 Concorde S. at Tipperary, exploits which have seen his rating climb to 107.

Another Camelot (GB) foal to find favour was lot 708. Bred by Kilcarn Stud, the full-sister to stakes winner Fighting Irish (Ire) was bought by Peter and Ross Doyle for €185,000. Camelot’s popularity was again evident when Oaklawn Stud’s filly, lot 735, was bought by Highbank Stud for €190,000.

Former Curragh trainer Takashi Kodama stepped in to purchase lot 649 on behalf of Japan’s Big Red Farm. The Irish National Stud-consigned son of Invincible Spirit (Ire) cost €210,000 and is a half-brother to a pair of stakes winners by Sea The Stars (Ire) in Chemical Charge (Ire) and Dalgarno (Fr), while the early pace was set by a son of Kodiac (GB) bought by the Tally-Ho team for €190,000. Bred by Michael Ryan and consigned by his Dungarvan-based Al Eile Stud, lot 567 is a grandson of Ryan’s brilliant dual 1000 Guineas winner Finsceal Beo (Ire) (Mr Greely) and out of the winning Galileo mare An Cailin Orga (Ire).

The Goffs November Sale and indeed the reshuffled Irish 2020 sales calendar culminates with the single-session breeding stock sale which begins at 10 a.m. on Monday.

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