Up the Mark won three straight Grade I events, starting off with the GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic in May, adding the GI Manhattan S. in June and the GI Coolmore Turf Mile in October. On championship weekend, he found just European invader Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) too good while trying 1 1/2 miles for the first time in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf.

Inspiral secured her spot in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mark Turf via the 'Win and You're In' G1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay Le Buffard Jacques Le Marois. Championship weekend would mark her only start in the U.S., but without a clear domestic standout, that Breeders' Cup win was enough to best Americans not only on their home turf but in the Eclipse Awards, where she was named champion turf female.

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“[The] 2023 [season] has been another outstanding [one] for the Juddmonte stallions. A season which sees Frankel poised to win his second Champion Sire title in the last three years and a year where the Juddmonte roster was the leading stallion farm at Royal Ascot,” reflected Simon Mockridge, General Manager, Juddmonte UK. “The roster has been further strengthened by the exciting addition of Frankel's most precocious son Chaldean. His physique, conformation, and classic credentials should give him every opportunity to succeed. We look forward to welcoming breeders to the farm to view the stallions by appointment.”

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Amid a huddle of reporters by the tunnel entrance as the runners went to post for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, one of the most seasoned of American racing writers muttered, “The suspense is officially killing me. This is the one we all want to see.”

As it transpired, in the race with true world championship claims, we weren't far off seeing an American winner in the race traditionally dominated by visitors from Europe. Todd Pletcher's Up To The Mark (Not This Time) posted a valiant best-of-the-rest effort but there was no pegging back Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who became the first Derby winner since his fellow Coolmore campaigner High Chaparral (Ire) to go on to win the Turf.

With two duck eggs in the 2,000 Guineas and King George, Auguste Rodin had something of a will-he-won't-he reputation coming into this, but there is no denying the significant body of work he has compiled since winning the G1 Futurity Trophy a year ago. The Derby, Irish Derby, Irish Champion S., and now a Breeders' Cup, on three occasions beating King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who had created such a buzz on Champions' Day at Ascot only a fortnight earlier and who finished best of the other European-trained horses in fifth.

At the post-race press conference, Coolmore's MV Magnier referred to the ease with which Auguste Rodin had handled the dirt in training this week, as outlined in TDN on Friday, and he dangled the tantalising prospect of the colt staying in training next year to return for the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar.

“He's a remarkable racehorse and he's very well bred,” Magnier said. “We could stand him in Ashford [Kentucky]. We could stand him in Europe. Or we could keep him in training next year.

“I have this lovely romantic idea about maybe bringing him back for the Classic next year. Like Aidan said on Thursday, he was floating over the dirt. So there's a lot of options open. We'll have to decide in the next week or so.”

Aidan O'Brien, whose record seven wins in the Turf began with the aforementioned dual winner of the race, High Chaparral, lauded Ryan Moore's “incredible ride” and he wasn't the only one. In fact the only person playing it down was Moore himself, who hopped on third-placed Aesop's Fables (Ire) in the Turf Sprint after his victory and then hotfooted it to the airport for a 16-hour flight to Australia, where he will ride Melbourne Cup favourite Vauban (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) on Tuesday.

“I'm just delighted that a horse like him, he's vindicated himself now,” he said of Auguste Rodin. “Ending up on the rail was Plan F really. I just had to make the best of the opportunities as they came. He was getting a bad trip and I think he won because he's so good. I made the right call but it could have been the wrong call as well, but because I had so much horse he was able to overcome things. To me, he won despite things not going as smoothly as they should have done, and I think that marks him out to be a good horse.”

Moore had earlier been only inches away from another victory when thwarted by a dazzling stretch run by Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the Filly & Mare Turf. Any lingering doubts as to whether the four-year-old would see out the 10 furlongs were quashed as she tanked on round the bend after catching Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the shadow of the post. The lady was not for stopping after gathering her sixth Group/Grade 1 win, but she will be stopping at the Gosdens' Clarehaven Stables, with her owner/breeder Richard Thompson of Cheveley Park Stud swiftly declaring that Inspiral would remain in training at five.

That's great news for racing fans, who, if Inspiral makes it back to Royal Ascot, will almost certainly see Dettori back there too. He may not have confirmed it himself in the aftermath but it is clear that he is the one whom connections will want back in the saddle next year. 

A champion at two, a champion at three and surely this year's champion older filly, Inspiral's defection from Ascot on Champions Day was very much Santa Anita's gain.

“She was pointing for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot but the rain arrived and we didn't even declare her to run,” said her co-trainer John Gosden. “She's very opinionated and very strong-minded. You go with the flow with her, there's no point getting in an argument.”

He added, “I think what is particularly fulfilling is that she's owner-bred.”

Indeed, it was a good day for homebreds, especially those in the royal blue. After Godolphin America's early triumph with Cody's Wish, its two Newmarket stables delivered the closest finish of the day when Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) was cruelly denied on the line by Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Breeders' Cup Mile. Saeed Bin Suroor had got Godolphin's European campaign off to a great start in 2023 when saddling Mawj to win the 1,000 Guineas. After her Grade I win at Keeneland three weeks ago, she failed by the flimsiest of margins to emulate her half-brother Modern Games (Ire) in winning at the Breeders' Cup, with Master Of The Seas completing a rallying late charge from Charlie Appleby's stable, which also won last weekend's G1 Kameko Futurity Trophy with Ancient Wisdom (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}). 

Appleby's Breeders' Cup record is quite extraordinary: he recorded his first ever Grade I winner here a decade ago when Outstrip (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) won the Juvenile Turf, and he maintained his 50% strike-rate by notching his tenth victory with Master Of The Seas. And, who knows, we could yet see Master Of The Seas and Mawj back again in 12 months' time as both are remaining in training and heading next to Dubai.

It was perhaps too much to hope that Live In The Dream (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}) could offer up the perfect finale and clean sweep for Europe in the turf races on Saturday. The bonny little chestnut has been a pleasure to watch in the mornings, sauntering around Santa Anita as if he's been there all his life. He has already perhaps surpassed the wildest dreams of owners Steve and Jolene De'Lemos and trainer Adam West by winning the G1 Nunthorpe S. in August, and he has brought them all on the journey of a lifetime to California. The bullet-fast four-year-old broke as sharply as ever but just couldn't sustain his early exertions, finishing an honourable fourth, a length and a quarter off the winner Nobals, a gelded (obviously) son of Frankel's brother Noble Mission (GB).

There was no Hollywood ending for the most enthusiastic set of connections to arrive in LA this week, but the dream lives on.

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This fatality, coming on the back of Saturday's serious injury to supposed Classic runner Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) and the withdrawal on Tuesday morning from that same race of Arcangelo (Arrogate), one of this season's feel-good stories, means that the 40th running of the Breeders' Cup will take place in less than auspicious circumstances.

Work continued on the track after a pause. It had to, of course. This was the morning when the international shippers were released from quarantine and into the big wide open expanse of the Santa Anita dirt, wrapped around the turf. Take your pick.

John Gosden, striding down the track alongside his long-term lieutenant Tony Proctor, chose the green grass of home for the first spin of Mostahdaf (Ire) and Inspiral (GB). It made perfect sense, as the son and daughter of Frankel (GB) are the leading lights in their respective targets, both on that surface. Gosden is of course more familiar with Santa Anita than his fellow travellers, having been based here for a time during the 1980s and among the winners of the inaugural Breeders' Cup at Hollywood Park in 1984, when Royal Heroine (Ire) landed the Mile for Robert Sangster. 

With the post-work debrief drifting from his own horses to the outstanding performance of Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) at the weekend, Gosden cast his mind back to that champion's great grandsire. 

“He is an absolute freak, isn't he, an extraordinary horse,” he said of Sunday's GI Tenno Sho winner. “When you look at him, he looks almost like a Stubbs painting, or a JF Herring Sr painting. He's not what we are used to. He's just one of those extraordinary athletes who can go at an incredibly strong pace and maintain and maintain it.

“The Japanese breed for this. Deep Impact went two miles, and what a star he was. Sunday Silence, such a great horse, trained by Charlie [Whittingham] right over there,” he added, gesturing across to the barns beyond the quarantine facility. “This aversion to horses who can win over a mile and a half, a mile six, we've gone too far the other way, and we have to be careful. Suddenly a mile and a half becomes a marathon.”

Of his own pair, Gosden added, “They're very happy, they were pleased to get out. They've been behind those screens [of the quarantine area] and they were thrilled to get out and have some fresh air. They flew on Saturday and they cleared quarantine at six o'clock last night.”

Frankie Dettori was aboard Inspiral for her morning exertions, ponied on and off the track by a companion, while Mostahdaf followed at a distance on his own, each of them having an easy stretch of a canter on the turf before taking several turns of the paddock. 

Once they and the trio of Japanese turf workers, Win Marilyn (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}), Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Jaspar Crone (Frosted), had made their way back to the barns, another wave of Europeans took to the track. The O'Brien clan was out in force. Led by Joseph and Lumiere Rock (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), Donnacha took to the saddle of a quarter horse to accompany Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) and the Juvenile Turf Sprint reserve Asean (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns). Finally Aidan, along with a group including his wife Annemarie, owner Paul Smith and vet John Halley, made his way along the apron close to the winning post to watch his team of ten trot the reverse way round the track before turning and hack-cantering back. The dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin (Ire), himself from the final crop of the aforementioned Deep Impact, took in his surroundings with a keen eye, with the sturdy juvenile Mountain Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) a little on his toes some way behind him, and the neat and composed Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) further back still and looking every bit as delightful as her name suggests. 

Ralph Beckett, who has enjoyed a tremendous season back home and notched another stakes win only a day earlier at Saint-Cloud, was on foot between his duo of State Occasion (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) and the youngster Starlust (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) as they proceeded to the main track for an easy exercise. 

The riding skills of Robson Aguiar were on show aboard the Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon), a horse plucked from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale by him and Roger O'Callaghan and now trained by Adrian Murray for a partnership involving their two wives and Amo Racing. Aguiar has also been associated with Champion S. winner and Breeders' Cup Turf runner King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) since his early days, having broken him in for the Amo team, of which he is a key part. He was back on board the giant grey on Tuesday morning and reported that he felt in good order after the exertions of Ascot less than a fortnight ago. “It is a short straight though,” he cautioned of the Santa Anita turf track.

When the sun has risen fully over Santa Anita, defining the contours of the San Gabriel mountains that set the stage for the unmistakable “Great Race Place”, the visual assault is so striking that it is hard to feel that there is much wrong with the world. Young Thoroughbreds appear from every which way, the equine players adorned here and there with colour-coded Breeders' Cup saddle cloths to identify the 'special ones'. But anyone involved closely with horses should know that they are all special, whether they make it to this exalted level, or perhaps just run with great heart in a bog at Catterick, as this correspondent's shared horse was doing, watched from a small screen in the palm of a hand, with the almost bizarre juxtaposition of Auguste Rodin striding alongside in the Californian sun. 

Even with such brilliant beauty close at hand, it was hard to revel in what should have been a joyful morning as the image of the prone Practical Move lingered on in the mind's eye.

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It's curtain up this Friday for the European yearling sales season, and we all know what that means: Christmas is right around the corner. For breeders and stallion masters, results on the track are important at any time of the year, but they become ever more crucial in the coming weeks and months, with a fresh update providing the pedigree equivalent of gold dust when trying to sell a yearling.

There can be none fresher than the Group 1 victory on Saturday of Amo Racing's Bucanero Fuerte (GB) in the Keeneland Phoenix S. The colt, who is named after a brand of Cuban beer, no doubt prompted the imbibing of a similar product for those closely involved in his career, as he provided a first top-level win for Kia Joorabchian's outfit. He also became the seventh Group 1 winner for his sire, Wootton Bassett (GB). Remarkably, two of those have the same dam, Frida La Blonde (Fr) (Elusive City), with Bucanero Fuerte having followed his brother, the Prix de l'Abbaye winner Wooded (Ire), in snaring a Group 1 success.

When you look at their pedigrees and see the names of Wootton Bassett on top and Elusive City on the bottom line, it is not hard to come to the conclusion that all roads lead to Normandy's Haras d'Etreham, and this is indeed where Frida La Blonde is boarded by her breeder Maurice Lagasse of  Gestüt Zur Küste.

The Swiss-based operation has been behind a good deal of decent winners, most notably Teppal (Fr) (Camacho {GB}), the heroine of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches in 2018 on the same day that another Gestüt Zur Küste-bred, Dice Roll (Fr) (Showcasing {GB}), was third in the Poulains. The G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier winner San Huberto (Ire) (Speightstown) won his first stakes race in his breeder Lagasse's colours before being part-sold to OTI Racing.

The pairing of Frida La Blonde, whom Lagasse bred in partnership with Pontchartrain Stud, with Wootton Bassett has also yielded the Group 3-placed Beat Le Bon (Fr), who was her first foal, but the 12-year-old mare has visited Dubawi (Ire) twice since foaling Bucanero Fuerte. Her yearling daughter by the Darley stallion is set to sell on Saturday as lot 214 from the Etreham draft.

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the Amo team rather likes Wootton Bassett. Robson Aguiar was effusive in his praise of Bucanero Fuerte when he spoke to Brian Sheerin last week ahead of the Phoenix, and he can take much of the credit for presenting Joorabchian, who co-owns the colt with Aguiar's wife Giselle, with a commercial stallion prospect, having bought him last year at Arqana for €165,000.

Then there's the imposing King Of Steel, by the same sire, and surely a Group 1 winner in waiting following his runner-up finishes in the Derby and King George, which sandwiched his victory in the G2 King Edward VII S. The contrasting characteristics of these two colts speak to the versatility of Wootton Bassett as a stallion, with his top runners having struck from five furlongs to a mile and a half. Like their sire himself, a number of them are precocious: Al Riffa, Zellie and Bucanero Fuerte are all Group 1 winners at two, and this set may well expand on Sunday if the Coventry S. winner River Tiber (Ire) can extend his unbeaten record in the Sumbe Prix Morny. Wootton Bassett's record with juveniles was further enhanced over the weekend by the victory of Grey Man (Fr) in the G3 Prix Francois Boutin.

Though Wootton Bassett did not really make his mark beyond his own two-year-old season, he atoned for that from the off at stud as he got the European champion three-year-old Almanzor (Fr) from his tiny first crop born in 2013. His Breeders' Cup-winning daughter Audarya (Fr) excelled at four over 10 furlongs, the same distance over which Incarville (Fr) proved best in the Prix Saint-Alary.

After Almanzor's flamboyant start, there was a three-year wait for another Group 1 winner by Wootton Bassett, but let's not forget that his early crops numbered just 23, 18, 45 and 47. Since Audarya, who was foaled in 2016, there has been a Group 1 winner emerge from each of his five subsequent crops.

Almanzor's sterling work in 2016 meant that the following year there were 92 Wootton Bassett foals, a figure which held more or less steady until the three-figure mark was first breached in 2021, when there were 127 on the ground. That was the last batch conceived at Haras d'Etreham, whose Nicolas de Chambure must take great credit in helping to establish the son of Iffraaj (GB) as one of the most desirable stallions in Europe, so much so that he was bought by Coolmore and has stood at their Irish base for three seasons, commanding a fee of €150,000 for the last two years.

It is safe to say that Wootton Bassett has not been short of suitors in Tipperary. He is listed as having covered 229 mares in 2021 and 249 last year. Their names are as starry as they are abundant. Twenty-six members of his first Irish-conceived crop are catalogued for Arqana this week, among them a daughter of the Oaks winner Was (Ire), who is bred on the cross with Galileo (Ire) that has already yielded Al Riffa, who is set to run in Tuesday's G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano. We can expect to see plenty more of his runners bred this way.

With the increase in both the number and the quality of mares that Wootton Bassett has received in recent seasons, it will be a surprise if the exploits of his stock are not filling the racing pages for years to come.

Hot Forecast

Talking of timely updates, the former champion two-year-old Too Darn Hot (GB) was represented by his first group winner at the weekend with a determined performance from Steve Parkin's smart filly Fallen Angel (GB) in the G3 Sweet Solera S.

Simon Marsh, manager of Watership Down Stud where Too Darn Hot was bred, showed a smart turn of foot himself in getting to Newmarket's winner's enclosure to greet the Clipper Logistics colour-bearer, and he was quick to remind us that Too Darn Hot didn't appear on the racecourse until that same week in 2018. From his winning debut in mid-August, he collected a win in every group division to finish the season unbeaten and be crowned champion juvenile. He currently has eight winners from his 33 runners.

Fallen Angel already held the accolade of being her sire's first winner when making a successful debut back in May. She earned her first sliver of black type with a runner-up finish in the Listed Star S., and it would be no surprise to see her chart a similar path to her talented but somewhat ill-fated mother, Agnes Stewart (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), who won the G2 May Hill S. and was second in the G1 Fillies' Mile.

With injury hijacking Agnes Stewart's three-year-old season, and colic claiming her life after Fallen Angel, the last of her four foals, was born, it would certainly be pleasing for the team at Parkin's Branton Court Stud to welcome her daughter back there eventually. As a Group 3 winner, Fallen Angel has already earned her place in the broodmare band, but let's hope there's plenty more to come on the track first.

Up and Coming

It is the time of year when the juvenile races start to become much more interesting. One would question the wisdom of having the pretty much identical Group 1 contests of the Phoenix S. and the Prix Morny just eight days apart, but this coming Sunday's line-up should be pretty stellar, and will hopefully pitch Christopher Head's filly Ramatuelle (Justify) against the aforementioned River Tiber, whose trainer Aidan O'Brien opted for Deauville over the Curragh, and possibly the recent G2 Richmond S. winner Vandeek (GB). The latter's sire Havana Grey (GB) continues to go from strength to strength and was second in the Morny himself to his stable-mate Unfortunately (Ire).

Amo Racing have rarely been unrepresented in juvenile stakes races this season, and this weekend they could have the G2 Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) in action for Bucanero Fuerte's trainer Adrian Murray as well as the Dominic Ffrench-Davis-trained G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. victrix Persian Dreamer (Ire) (Calyx {GB}).

The Irish National Stud's Phoenix Of Spain (Ire), who beat Too Darn Hot in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, has crept into the picture in the first-season sires' table. He's had just 17 runners to date, but six of them have won, including the G3 Vintage S. winner Haatem (Ire). Similarly, another European Classic winner, Lanwades Stud's Study Of Man (Ire), has made an encouraging start with three winners from just eight runners. His dual winner Deepone (GB), trained by Paddy Twomey, garnered some black type on Friday when a close second to Warnie (Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}) in the Listed Coolmore Stud Churchill S.

It is also worth noting that City Light (Fr), Etreham's son of Siyouni (Fr), has eight winners from 19 starters, giving him a strike-rate just above 40%.

Inspiral Emulates Miesque

The Prix Jacques Le Marois has become something of a Gosden benefit in the last decade, with John, and later John and Thady Gosden, winning five of the last ten runnings, including four consecutive victories with just two horses: Palace Pier (GB), who is a son of the 2014 winner Kingman (GB), and now Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Cheveley Park Stud's four-year-old remained unbeaten as a juvenile  and is now a Group 1 winner in each of her three seasons.

Only one other filly, the great Miesque (Nureyev), has won the Jacques Le Marois twice, and in joining her, Inspiral provided Frankie Dettori with an emotional big-race success on his final ride at Deauville. She may yet give him a chance to shine at Santa Anita, with her trainers considering the Breeders' Cup Mile on the first weekend of November after Inspiral's 'win and you're in' success in Deauville.

Thousand Stars

While there was Group 1 action occurring just a stone's throw from his Deauville stable, Stephane Wattel crossed the border to Germany to notch his first win at the top level on Sunday with Simca Mille (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) in the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin.

Torquator Tasso (Ger) and Alpinista (GB) both went on to score in the Arc in the year after winning Hoppegarten's major prize. Perhaps that means we should be following Rebel's Romance (Ire) this year, and Simca Mille in 2024, though Wattel is already eyeing that prize for his four-year-old Haras de la Perelle homebred this season, and rightly so.

Simca Mille has run at Longchamp  on four occasions, winning two Group 2 contests, the Prix Niel and the Prix d'Harcourt, and twice finishing runner-up, in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Prix Ganay. In fact, he has only ever been out of the first two twice in his 14 starts and it had long appeared to be only a matter of time before he claimed his own Group 1 triumph. Simca Mille also gave his young jockey Alexis Pouchin his second Group 1 victory in as many weeks, following the win of Mqse De Sevigne (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the Prix Rothschild a fortnight earlier.

Sweeping the Board

Croom House Stud's Sweepstake (Ire) is already a noted matriarch as the dam of the multiple group winners Broome (Ire) and Point Lonsdale (Ire), who are both sons of Australia (GB). Her two youngest racing offspring have both added to the 18-year-old mare's record since the start of August, with Saadiyat (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) having won at Vichy on Aug. 2 for Al Shira'aa Farms. The juvenile Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) followed suit when making a scintillating debut at the Curragh on Saturday to win his maiden by almost five lengths. He was awarded a TDN Rising Star for his efforts.

As a 2.4 million-guinea yearling, he is his dam's most expensive offspring to date, but his siblings haven't exactly been cheap. Sweepstake has certainly done her bit to help balance the Croom House books, as another eight of her offspring have been sold for six-figure sums as yearlings.

From the first crop of Acclamation (GB), Sweepstake became her sire's second stakes winner in the same week that Pencil Hill (Ire) beat her to the punch when holding off You'resothrilling (Storm Cat) to win a Listed contest at the Curragh. This duo emanated from the same crop that also produced the G1 Middle Park S. winner Dark Angel (Ire), who on Saturday was represented by his 100th black-type winner when Heredia (GB) landed the Listed Dick Hern S for owner/breeder Andrew Stone of St Albans Bloodstock.

Fev Takes The Bev

It takes a little adjustment to get used to the Arlington Million and the Beverly D S. being run at Virginia's Colonial Downs rather than in Chicago, but both those Grade 1 contests last Saturday fell to familiar names on this side of the pond.

Juddmonte's Set Piece (GB), by the late Dansili (GB), took the Million. Winner of the Listed Hyde S. and third in the Craven for Hugo Palmer before joining Brad Cox, the seven-year-old gelding has been a solid performer in America with five graded stakes wins to his credit.

Not quite so advanced in years, the Manister House Stud-bred Fev Rover (Ire), now five, continued her admirable career with her first top-level strike in the Beverley D. The daughter of Gutaifan (Ire), who is by the aforementioned Dark Angel, claimed the first of her wins at two in the Listed Star S. for Richard Fahey, before landing the G2 Prix Calvados and finishing fourth in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac. She was third in the 1,000 Guineas the following May and though she didn't manage another win in Europe, she strung together enough impressive runs to ensure a 695,000gns price tag when she went through the Tattersalls December Sale and was bought by Tracy Farmer. She has rewarded her new owner and her trainer Mark Casse with victories in the GII Canadian S. and GII Nassau S. and two further Grade 1 placings prior to Saturday.

Fev Rover is out of the High Chaparral (Ire) mare Laurelita (Ire), and her three-parts-brother has been catalogued for the Goffs Orby Sale on Sept. 27, selling through breeder Luke Barry's Manister House draft.

Barry was understandably delighted with the latest important update for the family. He said, “We're chuffed to bits. It's becoming more and more important to breed good horses. It's the Group 1 winners that catch people's attention and we've had so many messages from well-wishers.

“She's actually the third Group 1 winner we've sold at Doncaster after La Collina (Ire) and Law Enforcement (Ire). That's always been a lucky sale for us.

“Laurelita's yearling colt was bred specifically to produce a racehorse–it's a good cross–and she is now back in foal to Starspangledbanner.”

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“Goodwood was a sort of disappointment having been the target, but with the ground conditions she just didn't relish that at all,” the Stud's Chris Richardson said. “Frankie made his move to come to the rail and his injection of pick-up was short lived in those conditions. Conditions in France look to have dried up. I think John and Thady were happy with the fact Frankie was kind to her once her chance was gone at Goodwood. Of course there is always a slight concern, but we know she's talented, she's only had two races this year and they tell me she's in a good place. There should be plenty of pace and we will let the filly do the talking. She was kept in training to race on and that's where we are at this point.”

Inspiral was unable to get past Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's Triple Time (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot, but the times show that she had a stiff task attempting to come off that pace and Karl Burke's surprise winner has to do it all again with inevitable pace pressure from Yeguada Centurion SL's Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}). That G3 Prix de Guiche and G3 Prix la Force winner has no meaningful form at this mile trip, but he represents the red-hot G1 Prix du Jockey Club form and is a fascinating contender.

Hisaaki Saito's Good Guess (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) is two-for-two over this straight course this season, but at seven furlongs having mastered the G3 Prix Djebel and G1 Prix Jean Prat and has stamina to prove. He was sixth behind Marhaba Ya Sanafi (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains over ParisLongchamp's round mile in May, but has developed markedly in the interim and is from a family of smart milers. Good Guess is joined by the fellow Fabrice Chappet-trained G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who is making a welcome return to action this term as he gears towards the middle-distance tests of late summer and the autumn.

Jaber Abdullah's Marhaba Ya Sanafi, who has subsequently finished six-lengths third in the Prix du Jockey Club, is one of two representatives for the owner alongside the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Irish 2000 Guineas-placed Hi Royal (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) who is on a retrieval mission. His assistant racing manager Philip Robinson said of the pair, “This race brings out all the top horses, but our two are there and will have some kind of shout if at the top of their game. I think they will both run good races and won't be far away, but they are going to have to find a little bit better and improve a bit to win. Marhaba Ya Sanafi has got form over a mile, but I think the French Derby is his better form.”

A Renewed London In Berlin?
Sunday also sees the G1 Westminster 133rd Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten, with Godolphin's promoted G1 St Leger second New London (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) tackle the Haras de la Perelle and Stephane Wattel's four-times group winner Simca Mille (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) in the 12-furlong feature. Given a wind operation after his disappointing return third in the Listed Fred Archer S. at Newmarket at the start of July, New London needs to catch up now so deep into the season. “New London has definitely come forward since his first start of the year at Newmarket,” trainer Charlie Appleby said. “We have been pleased with him going into this and he showed during his three-year-old campaign that he is a talented campaigner.” Last year's G1 Deutsches Derby and G1Grosser Dallmayr-Preis winner Sammarco (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Eckhard Sauren and Liberty Racing 2020's G2 Grosser Hansa-Preis winner Assistent (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) appear the pick of a smart home team in another intriguing top-level European encounter between the Arc underdogs.

Hot Action Continues At Deauville…
Sunday also sees the 10-furlong G3 Prix Gontaut-Biron, where Al Shaqab Racing and Ballylinch Stud's G1 Prix de l'Opera heroine Place Du Carrousel (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) bids to get her season started in earnest, while the juveniles get their chance in the G3 Circus Maximus Prix Francois Boutin over seven furlongs. Godolphin's Doncaster maiden winner Majestic One (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) adds spice from the Charlie Appleby stable successful twice in the last six years along with Qatar Racing Limited's six-furlong debut course scorer Evade (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) from the Andre Fabre stable. Tuesday's G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano will only serve to ramp up the excitement, as Gousserie Racing and Ecuries Serge Stempniak's G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}) was among eight confirmations revealed on Saturday for the 10-furlong feature. Aidan O'Brien has declared the returning GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}).

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The Kevin Ryan-trained colt had just a neck to spare over Inspiral at Ascot and a rematch is likely for Deauville.

Adam Ryan, son and assistant to the Hambleton trainer, said, “Triple Time has come out of the race absolutely fine and done very well. It was his first run of the year so he'd be entitled to come on for that as well. It was impressive what he did.

“To do that after such a long time off, not only to do that against Group One horses, but horses who'd had a run under their belt, was great.”

Though Triple Time holds an entry in the Sussex S., connections are keen on the August 12 Group One contest over a mile at Deauville instead.

“I think we are probably leaning towards France and the Prix Jacques le Marois,” said Ryan. “It's nice timing between races and it will be more of a conventional track as well. He is obviously in the Sussex, as it was an early-closing race.

“It is tough because you have to make the entries, but at the same time it is never firmed up, because of ground etc. Horses map their own way out. Group One horses, we all know the races for them.”

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“She ran a huge race in the Oaks when just beaten there and had a nice swansong (at Ascot) at the end of last year,” Thady Gosden told Racing TV's Luck On Sunday. “She was heading towards Dubai but with the cold weather in the spring, it didn't quite work out. Obviously she would have been taking on Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) which would have been an interesting one. The Coronation Cup would be a nice early one to start with if she's ready in time, but we'll see how she is and she'll tell us.”

Another star filly from the Gosden string staying in training as a 4-year-old is G1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois winner Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who could head to Newbury on May 20 for the G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S., with all the top mile races on her radar this term.

“She's wintered well and is in good order, enjoying her training and looks great,” continued Gosden. “She is obviously a top-class miler and all these mile races will be the ones for her. She is certainly an independently minded filly. She has plenty of character but is exceptionally talented.”

A return to Royal Ascot could be on the cards for three-time G1 Dubai Turf winner Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). The 7-year-old could bid to repeat his G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes success of 2020 when running on home soil this summer.

“He had a slightly curtailed one last year and it was fantastic to get him back for the Dubai Turf–it was a good team effort there,” Gosden said. “He won the Prince of Wales's Stakes two years ago and he is a horse you could look towards that with.”

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Baaeed's work over the past 16 months has led him to this point of valediction and enhanced rank that only very few enjoy. That it comes a rounded 10 years after Frankel's parting moment lends it an even greater solemnity and few will accept anything other than a last stately flourish from Shadwell's prodigy. The product of four decades of nurture by the late Sheikh Hamdan's celebrated organisation beginning with that seminal acquisition of The Queen's Height Of Fashion (Fr), William Haggas's model pupil returns to Berkshire and the human hubbub that such a day generates armed with his usual supreme proficiency.

“Staying unbeaten is terribly important now that we are nearly there,” Haggas said. “Everything so far this year has gone exactly as we wanted it to go when we sat down in March to decide our programme. It's been half a miracle to get to this situation in the position we are in. It's up to him now.”

What Of Adayar?

There are a clutch of colts in opposition to Baaeed that have at times shown a sufficient level of dexterity in this type of company to command respect despite his overarching presence. After what Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) did at Sandown in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. back in May, it is scarcely believable that he has dwindled to the role of bit-player here while even the likes of the big horse's stablemate My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), who hinted at his latent ability in the summer, is generally disregarded as a genuine threat.

Despite the obvious merits of this select crew, most view the greatest stumbling block to the inevitable coming from Frankel's Adayar (Ire), a towering colossus last midsummer who was dragged into the mire in Paris and here during the autumn. Rebuilt and renewed during a painstaking spell spanning months at Moulton Paddocks, it seems strange to say that he represents a still-unknown quantity, but the fact is that nobody can confidently predict what his limitations are heading to this moment of truth.

“He's had harder home gallops than the race at Doncaster, so theoretically we are going into this weekend as our first start of the year against proper competition,” Charlie Appleby said of Adayar. “We have seen what Adayar can do and he looks in great shape. Last year, we ended up being in front in the Arc and missing his prep race probably told in the end and then he ran in this like a horse whose previous start had gotten to him slightly.”

“Going into it this year, it's a different ball game,” his notably bullish trainer added. “Can we beat Baaeed? We are going there a fresher horse this year in conditions that we are quite relaxed about. It's going to be a fantastic race and hopefully one that will go down in the history books as being one of the great races that we have seen over the past few years.”

Marking The Occasion

In the year of the loss of the UK's longstanding monarch, this renewal of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. almost demands something special to stamp it and Cheveley Park Stud's G1 Coronation S. and G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois heroine Inspiral is the most obvious fit. Bar her eclipse on sun-tightened ground in the G1 Falmouth S., the Gosdens' elite performer of 2022 has set the bar among her age group at this trip while all the time suggesting a deal more to come.

In each of the four occasions that Gosden Sr. has prevailed in this, it has been from left field. After upsetting Giant's Causeway and Henrythenavigator with Obervatory and Raven's Pass, respectively, he delivered Cheveley Park's nearly horse Persuasive (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) to down Ribchester (Ire) before diverting Roaring Lion from middle-distances for his crowning moment. No such guile is needed when it comes to Inspiral, whose claims are as obvious as those of the stable's Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) who was denied in the past two editions by the deep-ground specialist The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and by Baaeed.

“She's been a superstar this season,” commented Frankie Dettori, who after a mixed year will be hoping to compensate for Palace Pier's eclipse 12 months ago. “She's been doing very well at home since and everyone is pleased with how she's coming into the race. Apart from a blip on the July Course, she's been a model of consistency and will hopefully prove hard to beat.”

Let The Games Commence

Charlie Appleby has gone through 2022 with the kind of precision strikes that have become the norm at his Newmarket base in recent years and despite the no-show of his Frankel heavyweights Adayar and Hurricane Lane (Ire) and the demise of Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) arrives at Champions Day still poised to win another trainers' championship. In the QEII, the hardy transatlantic entrepreneur Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) represents key opposition to Inspiral, while the select crew also includes the defending G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. titleholder and favourite Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the prime G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. contender Eternal Pearl (GB) (Frankel {GB}). His biggest “outsider” of the day is Naval Crown (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who returns to the scene of his course-and-distance personal best in the June 18 G1 Platinum Jubilee S., so it is safe to say he is here with a notable party.

“How do you split Creative Force and Naval Crown?,” Appleby asked. “One's been there and done it on the occasion on this ground and that may be Creative Force's edge. Eternal Pearl has been strengthening throughout the year and that's why we purposefully have not dipped our toe into group one company already. She goes into this with a lovely profile and we are quite relaxed ground-wise. Staying is her forte, and if it came up testing it would play to her strengths. Modern Games can do Champions Day and the Breeders' Cup–it has been done many times before. He had a nice break after the Sussex Stakes and found it all very easy in Canada, so it doesn't worry me at all.”

Up For Grabs

With the Champion and QEII featuring strong favourites promising great excitement but little return for the currently beleaguered pound in their pockets, value-hunters will be looking at the first three races on the card. In the last five editions, eight of the 25 group races have been won by horses with double-figure odds and so at a time of year when there is great change in external and internal factors there is all to play for. In the Sprint, which is particularly prone to upsets, Chasemore Farm's G2 Greenlands S. winner Brad The Brief (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), Ballydoyle's G1 Prix Jean Prat and G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine Tenebrism (Caravaggio) and Susan Roy's G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest third Garrus (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) all trade at inflated odds given their high level of form.

A True Test

The opening G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup sees the treble-seeking Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) bid to put a rare defeat on his favoured easy surface in the Sept. 11 G2 Doncaster Cup behind him. Having looked so ill-at-ease behind Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) there, the doubt is that he can deal with two unexposed 3-year-olds in Ballydoyle's Irish Cesarewitch winner Waterville (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and KHK Racing's St Leger hero Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). The latter is adding an extra element as the first winner of the Doncaster Classic to come here, with trainer Roger Varian having meticulously weighed up the pros and cons of tackling this at such a fledgling stage of his career. “We think his best is still to come, hopefully on Saturday and beyond into next year,” he said of the colt, who looks to become the first of his age group to win this. “He shapes like he'll stay two miles and looks like he might be better over it.”

Return Journey

Six years ago, Frankie Dettori steered George Strawbridge's Journey (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) to Fillies & Mares glory as one of the seven Champions Day winners which make him the meeting's leading jockey since its inception, but he has deserted her full-sister Mimikyu (GB) in this year's renewal, with the lure of the long-absent 'TDN Rising Star' Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) too strong. That leaves Rab Havlin to seek a second career Group 1 in the space of just eight days, having deputised for the suspended Italian on Commissioning (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the Fillies' Mile. Frankie's call is a brave one, with Mimikyu having beaten last year's winner Eshaada (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) comprehensively in Doncaster's G2 Park Hill S. Sept. 8 and every bit of her profile suggests she is one of those autumn improvers in which Clarehaven specialises. Emily Upjohn was undone over this course and distance in the King George and will need to cut an entirely different figure on this attempted rival with the conservation of energy essential in the early downhill section.

“Emily has had a long lay-off since the King George, where she never really turned up, and her homework since has been very good,” Dettori said. “She's been working well at home with a hood on to help settle her and she'll have it on for Saturday. She was extremely keen in the King George, so hopefully this helps. Mimikyu is running well and improving a lot, but we've always thought Emily was our number one filly, so I've decided to stick with her. She definitely has the class.”

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Haggas is clearly bullish on his chances and said: “I think people want to see a really, really top horse stay unbeaten and win in style. Staying unbeaten is terribly important now that we are nearly there. Frankel obviously was unbeaten, but few are in a career at that level. It would be sad if he was beaten, but not for the people who beat him.

“I respect Adayar very much, as I respect Bay Bridge, who looked a fantastic horse at Sandown, but they've got to go to beat him.”

Cheveley Park Stud's G1 Coronation S. and G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois heroine Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) meets nine in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., with the 2020 hero The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) heading the opposition, providing the underfoot conditions suit.

“Modern Games will be declared and we will be on weather watch from thereon,” trainer Charlie Appleby told the Nick Luck Daily podcast Wednesday. “If the description was soft then he would be unlikely to run, but the decision will be made potentially on the day.”

Inspiral's trainers John and Thady Gosden also have the returning 'TDN Rising Star' Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S., which has attracted a field of 14, while in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. last year's winner Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) is one of 18. The opening G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup sees Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) bid for a third consecutive renewal against KHK Racing's St Leger hero Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). The former's participation was cemented with the additional precipitation Wednesday.

“It should be fine,” said Trueshan's trainer Alan King. “They had 4-5mm last night so it's good-to-soft, soft, and that should be fine for him. I don't see it drying out much.”

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