Multiple Group 1 winner A Case Of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}–Karjera {Ire}, by Key Of Luck) will enter stud at Drakenstein Stud in South Africa later this year, Sporting Post reported on Thursday. The deal was brokered by Robin Bruss of Northfields Bloodstock.
Bred by Limestone and Tara Studs in Ireland, the Gary Devlin-owned entire claimed the G3 Anglesey S. at two, before going on to take the G3 Lacken S. at three. He progressed that year to run second in the G1 Flying Five S. and later won the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye by a nose in October of 2021. Trying Meydan in March of 2022, he ran second in the G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint, and then added the G1 Al Quoz Sprint later that month. Purchased by Australian interests, he traveled Down Under in March of 2023 and raced four more times before retiring with a mark of 22-7-2-3 and $1,427,755.
“A Case Of You represented a great opportunity to get a terrifically fast horse with different bloodlines into South Africa,” Drakenstein said in a statement. “We are excited to stand him and look forward to his career going forward.”
The son of Hot Streak, who is from the family of stakes winner Akanti (Ire) (Key Of Luck) and G3 Prix Gladiateur winner Big Call (Animal Kingdom), is in the process of being syndicated and will stand alongside What A Winter (SAf), One World (SAf), Futura (SAf), Jet Dark (SAf), and Charles Dickens (SAf) for the upcoming breeding season.
Drawn widest of all in the 16-strong G1 Al Quoz field, Gary Devlin's A Case of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) gave Ireland a reason to celebrate with an emphatic victory in Meydan's 1200-metre marquee race for turf sprinters. Pinned to the outside rail but in close contention under regular pilot Ronan Whelan in the early going, the 4-year-old forged to the front in the final two furlongs, and found Man of Promise (Into Mischief), who ran on determinedly to his outside, difficult to shake. Undeterred, the entire inched clear of that rival late and was not for catching as British raider Happy Romance (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) gave her best effort, but having to settle for second, beaten 1 1/4 lengths. Favoured Man of Promise finished a neck back in third.
“I was worried I might be getting there a bit early but he was going so well,” said Whelan. “His last furlong is always his strongest and he's such a tough and genuine horse. Five furlongs, six furlongs, soft ground, fast ground, it doesn't matter to him. I love him. He came on so much from the prep run on Super Saturday. Having that experience stood to him and he improved so much from it. It means the world to all the team. To win such a big race at Meydan, it's the stuff you dream of but don't think will happen.”
Happy Romance's jockey Sean Levey added, “She ran a blinder. I thought the draw [post 6] maybe cost me a length and I think she would have been bang there with a better draw. She's run a blinder and the year is young.”
Bred by Derek Iceton at Tara Stud, A Case Of You failed to attract the reserve price of €3,000 at the Goffs Sportsman's Sale as a yearling, and began his career with trainer John McConnell before selling privately to the McGuiness stable after winning the G3 Anglesey S. as a juvenile. In 2021, he won at Dundalk in the spring and later added a score in the G3 Goffs Lacken S. at Naas. Given some time off following a lackluster finish in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, he returned to finish third in the G3 Phoenix Sprint S. followed by a runner-up finish in the G1 Derrinstown Stud Flying Five S. in September. Registering a career high win in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye at ParisLongchamp in October, he was given a crack at the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar the following month, finishing an even fifth. Coming into the Al Quoz, he had to play the bridesmaid to Man of Promise, beaten 4 3/4 lengths in the G3 Nad Al Sheba Sprint Mar. 5.
“I knew he had improved plenty from the [Nad Al Sheba Sprint],” said winning trainer Ado McGuinness. “Ronan Whelan gave him a great ride, he was super cool.”
He added, “Ian Brennan has looked after him [at Meydan] and has done a great job with him. He's a very, very good horse. We might get some credit now! People said it was a weak Abbaye he won, but one thing is for sure, it wasn't a weak race today. He's only four and he'll only get better. I think he'll win another Group 1 this year and the long-term target at the end of the year will be back at the Breeders' Cup.”
Pedigree Notes:
A Case of You is the fifth foal out of Karjera (Ire), a full-sister to MSW Akanti (Ire) and Lock And Key (Ire), Grade III/Group 3-placed in both Ireland and America. The dam of six foals, the 14-year-old Karjera also is responsible for a pair of winners, Loose Chippings (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) and Knight of Luck (Ire) (Mukhadram {GB}). Her latest produce is Ali Babes (Ire), a 3-year-old filly by Alhebayeb (Ire).
Saturday, Meydan, Dubai AL QUOZ SPRINT SPONSORED BY AZIZI DEVELOPMENTS-G1, $1,500,000, Meydan, 3-26, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:08.81, gd.
1–A CASE OF YOU (IRE), 126, c, 4, by Hot Streak (Ire) 1st Dam: Karjera (Ire), by Key of Luck 2nd Dam: Lock's Heath, by Topsider 3rd Dam: Lock's Dream, by Youth
(€3,000 RNA Ylg '19 GOFSPT). O-Gary Devlin; B-Limestone and
Tara Studs (IRE); T-Adrian McGuinness; J-Ronan Whelan.
€870,000. Lifetime Record: MGSW & G1SP-Ire, G1SW-Fr,
14-7-2-2, $1,364,424. Werk Nick Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Happy Romance (Ire), 121, f, 4, Dandy Man (Ire)–Rugged Up
(Ire), by Marju (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (£25,000 Ylg
'19 GOFFPR). O-The McMurray Family; B-Redpender Stud Ltd
(IRE); T-Richard Hannon. $300,000.
3–Man of Promise, 126, g, 5, Into Mischief–Involved, by Speightstown. 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. ($170,000 Ylg '18
KEESEP). O-Godolphin; B-Betz/Magers/Coco
Equine/Kidder/Lamantial/Davidson (KY); T-Charlie Appleby.
$150,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, NK, HF.
Also Ran: Naval Crown (GB), Casa Creed, Taxiwala (Ire), Khuzaam, Mutafawwig (GB), Lauda Sion (Jpn), Berneuil (Ire), Air De Valse (Fr), Entscheiden (Jpn), Suesa (Ire), Creative Force (Ire), Emaraaty Ana (GB), Get Smokin. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Group 1 winner A Case Of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) will remain in Dubai and target the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on Mar. 26. He was a distant second to Godolphin's Man Of Promise (Into Mischief) in the six-furlong G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint at Meydan on Mar. 5. Gary Devlin's 4-year-old colt captured the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp on Oct. 3 and was a good fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 6. He made his 4-year-old bow a winning one, with an easy 3 1/2-length win in a Dundalk all-weather affair on Feb. 11 prior to his Meydan second.
“He's good and we're very happy with him,” said trainer Ado McGuinness. “He grubbed up well after the race, he had a nice roll on Sunday morning. I don't know how we are going to beat the winner but we're going to try again.
“I suppose if the winner wasn't in it, we'd be hot favourite for the Sprint on World Cup night because we beat the third easy enough.
“It's definitely the Al Quoz next barring any mishaps. We'll see what we do then. We'll sit down and maybe make a plan for Ascot after that. The Al Quoz will be his first port of call.
“He's staying over there. I was out with him before I came home. He looks great and there's not a bother on him. He looks a million dollars in the sun.”
Fast-becoming renowned for his lethal finishing kick, Gary Devlin's A Case of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) had just missed out in the G1 Flying Five but the line was there in time for him in Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines, a “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in November.
Having only his second start at this five-furlong trip, the 3-year-old who was supplemented following his Curragh flourish on Irish Champions Weekend needed every centimetre of it to break the heart of the runaway Air de Valse (Fr) (Mesnil Des Aigles {Fr}) and prevail by a short head. Kept in the hunt by Ronan Whelan racing amongst the pack early, the 10-1 shot matched his rider's tenacity in carving out enough space to begin his pursuit of Corine Barande-Barbe's ParisLongchamp specialist who had shrugged off Winter Power (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) on the front end passing two out. It was desperate stuff entering the closing stages, with the 48-1 looking set to cling on but the star of the Adrian McGuinness yard pointed his head out for the mirror and had it there marginally ahead for the judge. Nothing else was able to close out of the main bunch and there was a yawning five-length margin back to Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead), who had won this in 2019 and was second last year, while the 5-2 favourite Suesa (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) was a laboured fifth. “When he was second in the Flying Five he was my first ever runner in a group 1 and we supplemented him for this race last week because I knew he'd improve,” trainer “Ado” explained. “He was a three-grand yearling and a very cheap horse–I just can't believe it.”
Coming to the fore when taking The Curragh's re-arranged G3 Anglesey S. in October for trainer John McConnell, A Case of You the G3 Goffs Lacken S. showed he was no flash-in-the-pan on his seasonal return when comprehensively accounting for the subsequent black-type scorers Logo Hunter (Ire) (Brazen Beau {Aus}) and Mooneista (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) in a six-furlong conditions event at Dundalk Mar. 19. Last of 12 trying an extra furlong in the Listed Ballylinch Stud 2000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown Apr. 11, the bay had the eventual G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Laws of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}) back in fourth reverting to six in the G3 Lacken S. at Naas May 16. Only 11th in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot June 18, he was third after a break in The Curragh's G3 Phoenix Sprint S. Aug. 8 before his late show against Romantic Proposal (Ire) (Raven's Pass) in the Sept. 12 Flying Five.
“He's just got better and better and I think he'll be a very good horse next year,” McGuinness said. “He's thriving and I knew he was right today–he wasn't when he ran in the Commonwealth Cup. I have a good sprinter that won the other night and he can't lay up with this horse. Ronan's a world-class jockey and I told him not to panic, as I knew he'd stay really well. He'll be better on better ground and we'll definitely look at the Breeders' Cup. It's either that or we put him away and look at Dubai in the spring–he's definitely going to travel.”
Barande-Barbe had to suffer the dejection of losing out so late in the game, having looked certain to prevail with her homebred Air de Valse whose efforts over this strip include a win in the 2020 G3 Prix du Petit Couvert when she had beaten last year's Abbaye hero Wooded (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). “It is so frustrating to lose by so little, as to win a group 1 race changes the life of a trainer,” she said. “I'm so proud of my filly–Longchamp is her garden.”
A Case of You, who becomes the first group 1 winner for his Haras d'Annebault-based sire, is out of Karjera (Ire) (Key of Luck) who is a full-sister to the Listed Rochestown S. winner Akanti (Ire) and to Lock and Key (Ire) who was placed in the GIII Las Cienegas H., the G3 Brownstown S., G3 Round Tower S. and G3 International S. From the family of the GII Delaware H. winner Summer Wind Dancer (Siberian Summer) and the GIII All American H. and G3 Diomed S.-winning sire Bluegrass Prince (Ire), Karjera's unraced 2-year-old filly by Alhebayeb (Ire) is named Ali Babes (Ire).
Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France PRIX DE L'ABBAYE DE LONGCHAMP LONGINES-G1, €350,000, ParisLongchamp, 10-3, 2yo/up, 5fT, :58.02, hy.
1–A CASE OF YOU (IRE), 131, c, 3, by Hot Streak (Ire) 1st Dam: Karjera (Ire), by Key of Luck 2nd Dam: Lock's Heath, by Topsider 3rd Dam: Lock's Dream, by Youth 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (€3,000 RNA Ylg '19 GOFSPT). O-Gary Devlin; B-Limestone and Tara Studs (IRE); T-Adrian McGuinness; J-Ronan Whelan. €199,990. Lifetime Record: MGSW & G1SP-Ire, 10-5-1-2, $345,390. Werk Nick Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Air de Valse (Fr), 133, m, 5, Mesnil des Aigles (Fr)–Air Bag (Fr), by Poliglote (GB). O/B/T-Corine Barande-Barbe (FR). €80,010.
3–Glass Slippers (GB), 133, m, 5, Dream Ahead–Night Gypsy (GB), by Mind Games (GB). O/B-Bearstone Stud Ltd (GB); T-Kevin Ryan. €40,005.
Margins: SHD, 5, SHD. Odds: 10.80, 48.00, 5.60.
Also Ran: Mo Celita (Ire), Suesa (Ire), Ponntos (Ire), O Trasno (Fr), Winter Power (Ire), Lady In France (GB), Romantic Proposal (Ire), Pradaro (Fr), Wild Majesty (Ire), Dandalla (Ire), Berneuil (Ire). Scratched: Urban Beat (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.
