High Chaparral’s Sons Boxing Clever Across the Globe

Flat and jumps, north and south, in many ways Boxing Day belonged to the late High Chaparral (Ire), whose sons Karaktar (Ire) and Contributer (Ire) were responsible for group/graded doubles, one under each code, in Britain, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia.

It is beyond dispute that High Chaparral was a brilliant racehorse. Retired to stud in the era of Galileo (Ire) and Montjeu (Ire), the horse who won two Derbys, two Breeders' Cup Turfs, an Irish Champion S. and a Racing Post Trophy perhaps never received quite the level of support he might otherwise have enjoyed but he was a good stallion nonetheless, and was notably successful in Australia. 

For his southern hemisphere stints, High Chaparral stood initially at Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand before his good results prompted him to be brought 'in house' to Coolmore Australia. Among his good runners in Australasia, he sired the outstanding multiple dual-hempishere Group 1 winner So You Think (NZ), six-time Group 1 winner Dundeel (NZ), Australian Derby winner Shoot Out (Aus), and the VRC Derby winners Monaco Consul (NZ) and Ace High (Aus). The latter won the Derby at Flemington just three days before High Chaparral's British-foaled son Rekindling (GB) won the Melbourne Cup for Joseph O'Brien in 2017.

Another of his sons from 'the north', Contributer, who was bred by the late Lady Chryss O'Reilly's Petra Bloodstock Agency, raced initially in Britain for Ed Dunlop and George Bolton before joining Godolphin's Australian stable of John O'Shea. To his two Listed wins in England, he added four group victories in Australia, including the G1 Chipping Norton and G1 Ranvet S. 

Syndicated by Darley in partnership with Mapperley Stud, Contributer has stood in New Zealand since 2016, two years after High Chaparral died at the relatively young age of 15. Already the sire of G1 Randwick Guineas winner Lion's Roar, Contributer's tally of Group 1 winners was doubled on Boxing Day when Campionessa (NZ) landed the Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic at Pukekohe Park. Two hours later the aforementioned Lion's Roar won the G3 Schweppes Summer Cup in Sydney. Both horses are now six and are members of Contributer's first crop.

In Europe at this time of year, the major action is of course all about the jumps and while it was 'King George Day' at Kempton Park, there was a three-way tie for the top race of the afternoon, with lovable underdog Hewick (Ire) landing the feature contest but receiving strong competition for top billing from the return of the best hurdler in training, Constitution Hill (GB), and French raider Il Est Francais (Fr), who won the G1 Kauto Star Novices' Chase.

It is no faint praise for the man who has won 13 King George Chases, Paul Nicholls, to compare Il Est Francais to his mighty former stable star, Kauto Star, whose name is now attached to the race formerly known as the Feltham Novices' Chase. A scintillating prospect, the five-year-old Il Est Francais is from the first crop of Karaktar, an Aga Khan Studs-bred dual Group 3 winner on the Flat. On his retirement, he found his way to Haras de Cercy, where he was always likely to be given an excellent chance to succeed on the roster at one of the best National Hunt stallion studs in France. As a side note, the final race won by Karaktar was the 2015 G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange. Behind him that day in third was the indefatigable Not So Sleepy (GB), who is now 11 and won the G1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle earlier this month.

As one might expect, Karaktar has a decent pedigree behind him and is from a family which includes the group-winning stayers Kasthari (Ire) and Kargali (Ire), as well as the G2 May Hill S. winner Karasta (Ire) who is now the dam of Listed-winning hurdler Karasenir (Ire). And with the weight of Cercy and its strong clientele of National Hunt breeders, he is making a noteworthy start to his stud career. Il Est Francais, who was already a Grade 1 winner in France, heads a list which includes his fellow French graded winners Incollable (Fr), Janeiro Verde (Fr) and Ile O Vent (Fr). 

Ten minutes before the victory of Il Est Francais in England, Karaktar was also represented by Kala Conti (Fr), who won the G2 Mercedes-Benz South Dublin Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown. Karafon (Fr), who is by the same sire, was less than six lengths behind him in fifth. 

Both wins will have brought not just reflected glory to the Aga Khan Studs but also plenty of enjoyment to the team there as Fanny Cyprés, who works in nominations and client relations at Haras de Bonneval, is the daughter of Jacques and André Cyprés who are both heavily involved in the co-operative behind Haras de Cercy, while Amanda Zetterholm, who co-trains Il Est Francais with Noel George, also worked for a number of years for the Aga Khan Studs in France.

Moreover, the victory of Il Est Francais was the first winner in his homeland in seven seasons for jockey James Reveley. The grandson and son respectively of trainers Mary and Keith Reveley, James left England in 2016 to pursue a career in France, initially working for champion trainer Guillaume Macaire. It was clearly a sensible decision as he is the reigning French champion jump jockey, a title he has won on three occasions, and is currently second in the table for 2023 behind fellow Brit Felix de Giles. 

 

The post High Chaparral’s Sons Boxing Clever Across the Globe appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Seven Days: And They’re (Almost) Off

Cheltenham is behind us and, yes, we still have Aintree and Punchestown to come of the major jumps fixtures but, with the clocks on the turn, really the only thing to think about now is the return of the Flat.

The turf season makes its staggered return in Ireland on Sunday, and in Britain the following Saturday. France is already racing ahead and packed in four stakes races at Saint-Cloud last Saturday, with the Listed Prix Omnium II providing the first TDN Rising Star on the European turf for 2023 in Malcolm Parrish's American Flag (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

Some people love Paris in the springtime but William Haggas prefers Sydney in the autumn. The trainer has a tremendous strike-rate with his Australian runners and he has already claimed two big prizes this year. He won the G3 Sky High S. on March 11 with Protagonist (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who previously ran in the colours borne to glory by Constitution Hill (GB) last week at the Cheltenham Festival but has now been bought from Michael Buckley by Australian Bloodstock. A week later back at Rosehill the Haggas team was at it again, with Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) providing Ryan Moore with one half of his Group 1 double in last Saturday's G1 Ranvet S., a race Haggas also won in 2020 with Addeybb (Ire).

The latter went on to strike two years in a row at Sydney's Championships, each time winning the G1 Queen Elizabeth S., which is now the target for Dubai Honour on April 8.

Issuing an update to TDN on Monday, Haggas said of Dubai Honour, “We're really pleased with him. He lost two kilos, which means he was either very fit or he didn't exert himself. He was very fresh this morning and is obviously very happy. He's a better horse, in our opinion, than he was at any stage last year. His last three furlongs on Saturday were quicker than the last three furlongs of Anamoe [in the 1500m George Ryder S.] and the last three furlongs of the Golden Slipper, and I think that puts some merit into his performance.”

The 5-year-old gelding could well aim for a Queen Elizabeth double of a different kind, with Sha Tin's G1 QEII Cup on April 30 also under consideration.

“I've entered him this morning for Hong Kong and if all goes well he could take that in on the way home,” Haggas said. 

Not all has gone swimmingly for the four Haggas horses who made the trip to Australia as recent Kempton winner and last year's Ebor third Earl Of Tyrone (Ire) (Australia {GB}) is now facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines. 

“Earl Of Tyrone was the one we were quite excited about but he has sadly damaged a tendon,” reported the trainer. “It's really sad and so disappointing. He did well at Kempton and we would have had to decide between going for the Tancred or the Sydney Cup, but that's all over now.”

Earl Of Tyrone was another bought last year by Australian Bloodstock, who could yet enjoy more success with Protagonist, who has several options in the coming weeks.

“Protagonist probably put up a career best when he won last weekend and we felt he would come on for that,” said Haggas. “He may go to the Tancred on Saturday, or the Doncaster on April 1, or the Queen Elizabeth against Dubai Honour, but I don't think he'd beat Dubai Honour. I think his connections are leaning towards the Doncaster, which is a very valuable mile handicap in which he's got a weight of 50kg, which is nothing. 

“I'm not convinced [dropping back in trip is] the right way forward but he has won over a mile and he does seem in good form, and he'll probably never get the opportunity again of running off such a light weight in such a valuable race.”

Haggas's regular jockey Tom Marquand missed out on riding Dubai Honour at the weekend as he continues his recovery from a shoulder injury sustained in a fall at Randwick on February 11. However, he arrived back in Australia on Sunday night and is ready to resume riding.

Haggas said, “Tom has a couple of rides in trials tomorrow [Tuesday] and at Kensington on Wednesday. He says he feels great and he knows his body better than anyone. He was here last Wednesday [in Newmarket] and he could fully extend his arm. He can't ride Protagonist in the Doncaster because he can't do that weight but he will ride Dubai Honour and also Purplepay in the Queen of the Turf.”

The trainer will join Marquand and his team in Australia once he has overseen his runners on Lincoln day at Doncaster a week on Saturday.

The successes of Dubai Honour in Australia and the Japanese-trained Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the G1 Saudi Cup last month have put the late Montjeu (Ire) in a strong position at the head of the broodmare sires' table in the early stages of this year. 

Toronado Blows Hot Down Under

Toronado (Ire) has not returned to Haras de Bouquetot for the 2023 covering season, remaining instead at Swettenham Stud in Australia, where he is likely a favourite of the farm's owner Adam Sangster, who bred Saturday's G1 Galaxy H winner Mariamia (Aus). The 6-year-old mare is a daughter of Toronado, who has now sired back-to-back Galaxy winners, following the success last year of Shelby Sixtysix (Aus).

Toronado has also been represented in Australia by the G1 William Reid S. winner Masked Crusader (Aus) and, like his sire High Chaparral (Ire), has enjoyed more notable success in the southern hemisphere than in Europe. 

The brilliantly tough High Chaparral shuttled to Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand and it is in that country where his influence remains the most keenly felt. His son Redwood (GB) is currently third in the New Zealand general sires' table, and he is joined on that list by fellow High Chaparral sires So You Think (NZ), Dundeel (NZ), Contributer (Ire), Wrote (Ire) and Tivaci (Aus). In Europe the only sons of the dual Derby and Breeders' Cup winner at stud are Free Eagle (Ire) and Tai Chi (Ger).

Deep Impact's Influence Extends

Another shuttle stallion who looks a decent addition to the New Zealand ranks is Satono Aladdin (Jpn}, a Northern Farm-bred son of Deep Impact (Jpn) and winner of the G1 Yasuda Kinen.

From his first crop conceived at Rich Hill Stud hails Saturday's G1 New Zealand Oaks winner Pennyweka (NZ), who was bred by her trainer Jim Wallace with his brother Les. Satono Aladdin is also responsible for the Group 1-winning juvenile Tokyo Tycoon (NZ), and on Saturday he had the third home in the G2 Alister Clark S. at Moonee Valley. The latter result represented something of a triumph for Japanese sires, who filled the trifecta courtesy of the winner Bank Maur (Aus), a son of Shadai/Arrowfield shuttler Maurice (Jpn) and runner-up Suizuro (Aus), by Real Impact (Jpn).

A top-class miler, who, like so many Japanese gallopers, raced until he was six, Satono Aladdin stands at Hokkaido's Breeders Stallion Station when on duty in Japan. He is bred on the same Deep Impact/Storm Cat cross as Kizuna (Jpn), who was Japan's leading first-season sire of 2019 and ended last year in fourth place on the general sires' list behind the big-hitters Deep Impact, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) and Heart's Cry (Jpn).

That same cross is also found in Kizuna's fellow Shadai resident Real Steel (Jpn), who was second in the freshman sires' table last year, the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Loves Only You (Jpn), and the Lanwades stallion and Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Ire), who has his first runners in Europe this year.

The post Seven Days: And They’re (Almost) Off appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

What’s in a Name: Mr Moliere

4th-Chantilly, $29,000, Debutantes, 2-6, 3yo, c/g, 8f (AWT), 1:39.82, ft. MR MOLIERE (GB) (g, 3, Kingman {GB}–Armande {Ire} {GSW & G1SP-Fr, $222,116}, by Sea The Stars {Ire}). O-Baron Edouard de Rothschild & Lady O'Reilly; B-SC Ecurie de Meautry & Petra Bloodstock Agency Ltd (GB); T-Andre Fabre; J-M. Guyon.

Horseracing is a game of old. Appropriately, there is so much from the 17th and 18th centuries in the pedigree of Chantilly demolition winner Mr Moliere (GB).

“Monsieur Moliere” for the French race commentator, evidemment.

Moliere was the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673), the French playwright [and actor] dominating the theatre of the times of Louis XIV, who loved and protected him. Armande, the namesake of the dam of the Andre Fabre trainee, was the name of Moliere's young wife, also a famous practitioner of the stage in her own right. And not for nothing there is a full sister in the pipeline baptized Mlle Moliere, the very stage name of Armande Poquelin [1640-1700] and, supposedly, also a yearling filly by No Nay Never carrying the name of Mme de Pomadour, the famous lover of King Louis XV and royal mistress par excellence. All in the [very historical] family.

2nd-Pau, $19,400, 2-5, 5yo/up, 10f (AWT), 2:05.60, ft. MON OURAGAN (FR) (h, 7, Toronado {Ire}–Lady Of The House {Ire}, by Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). Lifetime Record: 27-10-5-0, $156,532. O-Laurent Dassault; B-Framont Limited, M Matthew & M Beaumont (FR); T-Jean-Claude Rouget; J-J Eyquem.

The name of multiple French winner Mon Ouragan (Fr) appears to be the result of clever word-play across different languages. But… is it so?

Let's take a step back. Years ago, when I first realized that there was a Group 1-winning horse called Toronado (High Chaparral–Wana Doo, by Grand Slam), I thought that he had been named after the famous 1960s Oldsmobile model, the first U.S.-produced car with front-wheel drive. I was ill-informed. In fact, when I eventually inquired with one of the professionals connected with the Richard Hannon Sr. trainee, she told me that it was named after the horse of Zorro!

Twice true, confirmed Google: “Tornado (occasionally Toronado) is a horse ridden by the character Zorro in several films and books. Tornado is said to be intelligent and fast. His name is pronounced in the Spanish way, 'tor-NAH-do' (except in the 1998 movie The Mask of Zorro)”.

As it happens, tornado is also Spanish for “tornado” and ouragan is French for, “hurricane, tempest, storm.” You do not have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing and understand that the connection is there.

Moral of the story: although there is power in names, names' power depends heavily on how much or how little we know. Phenomenology (the supposed science of how things may present themselves to people) is not my favorite philosophy, but it does win this round.

The post What’s in a Name: Mr Moliere appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

A Classic Game Of Play Your Cards Right

The betting for the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas suggests that Godolphin has a very strong hand for Europe's early Classics, with Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) a solid favourite and Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) a clear second pick. However, such strength in depth brings its own complications. The European calendar boasts three principal Guineas races (chronologically, in Great Britain, France and Ireland) and the obvious aspiration when one has the two most likely candidates is to win all three.  It is a tough, albeit not impossible, assignment for one horse alone, so the conundrum is which horse to run where. Godolphin will be hoping that things work out as well as they did in 2005, when its two stars were Dubawi (Ire) (Dubai Millennium {GB}) and Shamardal (Giant's Causeway). Similar pairings of stable talent were seen in 2002 with Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) (Danehill) and Hawk Wing (Woodman), as well as during a different era in Ballydoyle with the Northern Dancer colts El Gran Senor and a certain Sadler's Wells.

In the days when Saeed bin Suroor was Godolphin's principal trainer he had masterminded Dubawi's 2-year-old campaign superbly, the colt from the sole crop of Dubai Millennium ending the 2004 season unbeaten after winning the G1 National S. at the Curragh. Shamardal had been with Mark Johnston as a 2-year-old. He too had ended 2004 with a perfect three-from-three record, his hat-trick culminating in victory in the G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket.  Already Dubaian-owned, he was transferred to bin Suroor's stable after the race and bore the royal blue livery for the rest of his career.

Shamardal was the first to run in 2005 but it was not an auspicious start: he ran poorly on dirt in the UAE Derby and clearly needed longer than four weeks to recover from that chastening experience so he didn't run in the 2,000 Guineas, in which Dubawi started the 11/8 favourite.  On the day Dubawi wasn't good enough, finishing fifth behind Foostepsinthesand (GB) (Giant's Causeway), but thereafter things fell into place perfectly.

Shamardal made a victorious return to European racing 15 days later, taking the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains at Longchamp to initiate a top-level hat-trick, completed by wins in the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club over 2100m at Chantilly and, dropping back to a mile only nine days later, the G1 St. James's Palace S. Sadly that proved to be his final race as he went amiss shortly before the G1 Eclipse S., in which he had been due to clash with the wide-margin Derby winner Motivator (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}).

Dubawi, meanwhile, had also kept himself busy. Heading to the Curragh three weeks after Newmarket, he was a ready winner of the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas, beating Oratorio (Ire) (Danehill) by two lengths. Saeed bin Suroor had played his cards perfectly, with both Dubawi and Shamardal ending the spring as Classic winners.

Despite the obvious doubts about Dubawi's potential stamina, Sheikh Mohammed took the sporting option of sending his diminutive star to Epsom two weeks after his Classic triumph. The genuine little horse did his best, but the testing 12-furlong course proved to be a bridge too far as Dubawi weakened in the final two furlongs, finishing third of the 13 runners.  Undaunted, he returned to the fray later in the summer, confirming himself to be a top-class miler with two excellent efforts in weight-for-age company, winning the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville before coming off second best in a terrific duel with the international superstar Starcraft (NZ) (Soviet Star) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., run that year at Newmarket.

Happily, the history books now show that the splendid racecourse achievements of Dubawi and Shamardal were merely the first part of their stories as each proceeded to establish himself in the highest echelons of the world's stallion ranks.

Godolphin, of course, is not the only operation to have found itself with the enviable but tricky task of making the most of a strong hand.  It is a problem to have faced both of the O'Briens to have brought glory to Ballydoyle, Vincent and Aidan. For Vincent O'Brien, the year in which Ballydoyle most notably contained a pair of great Classic colts was 1984.

At the start of 1984, all eyes in Europe were on the unbeaten Dewhurst winner El Gran Senor. Bred in partnership by E. P. Taylor, Vincent O'Brien, Robert Sangster and John Magnier, El Gran Senor was a full-brother to the 1977 Dewhurst winner Try My Best and had oozed class from the outset, so much so that his connections had opted to name him in honour of the human 'El Gran Senor', Northern Dancer's trainer Horatio Luro.  The equine El Gran Senor lived up to this compliment during an unbeaten 2-year-old campaign, his final victory coming when he trounced Rainbow Quest (Blushing Groom {Fr}) in the Dewhurst, winning with such authority that Timeform gave him the startlingly high rating (for a 2-year-old) of 131, the same figure with which Nijinsky II (Northern Dancer) had ended 1969.

The highest hopes generally lead to disappointment, but on 2000 Guineas Day the dreams of racegoers came true as a great Classic was run before their eyes. Pat Eddery deployed El Gran Senor's brilliant acceleration to devastating effect. Chasing El Gran Senor home were three outstanding horses: Chief Singer (Ire) (Ballad Rock {Ire}), Lear Fan (Roberto) and Rainbow Quest.

Timeform's Racehorses of 1983 had rated El Gran Senor's chances of staying the Derby distance as “doubtful” but Vincent O'Brien naturally took up the challenge of the greatest race of all, as he had previously done so successfully with the other supposedly doubtful stayers Sir Ivor and Nijinsky after their brilliant 2,000 Guineas victories in 1968 and '70.  It turned out that El Gran Senor was indeed not nearly as effective at a mile and a half as he was at distances up to a mile, but even so he nearly won the Derby (only just touched off by his paternal half-brother Secreto, trained by Vincent O'Brien's son David) before cruising home in the Irish Derby ahead of the valiant Rainbow Quest (himself, of course, subsequently the winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe).  

El Gran Senor's form kept being franked throughout the summer as Chief Singer won successively the G2 St. James's Palace S., the G1 July Cup and the G1 Sussex S., while Lear Fan took the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. However, during this period it became clear that El Gran Senor was not the only outstanding 3-year-old colt in Ballydoyle.

Two members of the stable contested the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh.  One of these had been rated the second best 2-year-old colt in Ireland in 1983, 10lb behind El Gran Senor.  That colt, Sadler's Wells, reappeared in the spring in the same race (the G3 Gladness S. at the Curragh) in which El Gran Senor resumed, finishing a respectful runner-up behind his superior stablemate.

Winner of the G3 Derrinstown Derby Trial on his next start, Sadler's Wells was the less-fancied of the Ballydoyle duo in the Irish Guineas, with stable jockey Pat Eddery electing to ride the shorter-priced Capture Him (Mr Prospector).  This left the mount on Sadler's Wells free for George McGrath, who had ridden him in his two previous races that spring.  McGrath, Ireland's champion jockey of 1965 and '70, was then in the twilight of a distinguished career, employed mainly as a Ballydoyle work-rider. He had won the Irish Derby 11 years previously but it turned out that, Eddery having chosen the wrong horse, he was able to record his most famous victory when Sadler's Wells came home in front, with Capture Him only fourth.

Sadler's Wells's true ability thus having started to appear, it became ever more clear during the coming months, most notably thanks to two great triumphs at weight-for-age in the G1 Eclipse S. and the G1 Phoenix (now Irish) Champion S. at Phoenix Park.  He further demonstrated his class and toughness with second placings behind Darshaan (with Rainbow Quest third) in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and behind the previous year's Derby winner Teenoso (Youth) in the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S., ahead of Tolomeo (Ire), Time Charter (Ire) and Sun Princess (Ire).

Earlier comments about Dubawi and Shamardal going on to glory at stud can be applied, of course, even more emphatically to El Gran Senor and Sadler's Wells.  The latter holds the record for the most sires' championships of Britain and Ireland (14), while in one respect El Gran Senor's figures are even better.  Having retired in 1985 to Windfields Farm in Maryland alongside his father, El Gran Senor was bedevilled by poor fertility throughout his stud career, which ended when he was pensioned aged 19 in 2000. All told, he sired fewer than 400 foals, but his 55 stakes winners (12 of whom won at the highest level) gave him a lifetime stakes winners-to-foals ratio of just over 14%.

As numbers in Ballydoyle are now far larger than was ever the case when Vincent O'Brien was at the helm, Aidan O'Brien nowadays can find himself blessed/cursed (delete as applicable) with an even greater embarrassment of riches. This has never been more obvious than was the case in the spring of 2002.

Hawk Wing was the name on everyone's lips in advance of the 2002 season.  Although beaten by his more experienced stablemate Rock Of Gibraltar in the G3 Railway S. early in the summer of 2001, by the autumn Hawk Wing had been promoted to ante-post favouritism for the 2,000 Guineas, having stormed home in the G1 National S. at the Curragh.  He had captured the public's imagination even more than any of his stablemates, notwithstanding that he had plenty of competition from within his own stable: there were 22 juveniles in Europe in 2001 rated 110 or more by Timeform, and Aidan O'Brien trained half of them!

The aforementioned Rock Of Gibraltar had followed up that Railway S. victory by winning the G2 Gimcrack S., the G1 Grand Criterium and the G1 Dewhurst S.  In the last-named he led home a Ballydoyle trifecta, beating Landseer (GB) (Danehill) and Tendulkar (Spinning World).  Landseer had previously won the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot, with Rock Of Gibraltar only sixth.

Arguably the pick of the squad, though, was another Royal Ascot winner.  Johannesburg (Hennessy) had won all seven of his races as a juvenile including, uniquely for a 2-year-old, top-level contests in four countries: the G1 Phoenix S. at Leopardstown, the G1 Prix Morny at Deauville, the G1 Middle Park S. at Newmarket and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Belmont. Another Group 1-winning juvenile for Ballydoyle in 2001 had been High Chaparral (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), successful in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster.

The hand of cards which Aidan O'Brien thus had to play in the spring of 2002 was overflowing with aces. The situation became slightly clearer when it was decided that Johannesburg's Classic target in the spring would (understandably) be at Churchill Downs rather than Newmarket. The policy decided upon was to maximise the advantage conferred by strength in depth and though Johannesburg's Kentucky Derby attempt ended in disappointment, in Europe that plan bore fruit. 

Hawk Wing was the stable's first string in both the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby but he was a beaten favourite in both, each time finishing second to a lesser-fancied, Johnny Murtagh-ridden stablemate: Rock Of Gibraltar at Newmarket and High Chaparral at Epsom. Those two horses, of course, went on to compile magnificent records, ultimately retiring with a Group 1 tally of seven and six respectively; while Hawk Wing went on register the admirable feat of winning at the highest level in each of three consecutive seasons, courtesy of wins in the G1 Eclipse S. at three and the G1 Lockinge S. (by 11 lengths) at four.

Charlie Appleby's hand this year isn't quite as strong as the cards which Aidan O'Brien was holding 20 years ago, but it's strong enough. And the certainty is that Appleby, like O'Brien, is a trainer with the skill to play them to best advantage.

The post A Classic Game Of Play Your Cards Right appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights