Kingman’s Epictetus Oozes Class In TDN Rising Star Display

George Strawbridge's 2-year-old colt Epictetus (Ire) (Kingman {GB}–Thistle Bird {GB}, by Selkirk) was the pick of a baker's dozen on breeding, but not so in the betting, for Friday's Weatherbys British EBF Maiden S. at Newmarket and made a mockery of 11-1 odds with a 'TDN Rising Star' display in a heat won last term by subsequent G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere runner-up and G3 Jersey S. victor Noble Truth (Fr) (Kingman {GB}). The 2022 G1 Derby entry was swiftly into a comfortable rhythm behind the leaders and raced on the bridle through halfway in this seven-furlong contest. Making eyecatching headway under a motionless Martin Harley to ease ahead at the quarter-mile marker, he was given a shake of the reins when threatened approaching the final furlong and kept on powerfully up the hill to easily outpoint Leadman (GB) (Kingman {GB}) by 1 1/4 lengths in impressive fashion.

“He's done nothing at home, he's worked gently on the bridle with another horse and wasn't wound up in any way for the race,” explained trainer John Gosden. “He was so sensible in the proceedings beforehand and in the race he did it all very professionally. He's not been on the grass for seven weeks, he's just been on the all-weather. Martin [Harley] gave him a lovely ride and I'm overjoyed. James Wigan bought the mare for Mr Strawbridge at the Rothschild dispersal and she was an exceptionally talented Group 1 winner that Roger [Charlton] trained. We'll go a step at a time and won't go jumping in the deep end. I think he'll be very comfortable over a mile, we'll go to a novice and then see where we go from there.”

Epictetus is the fifth foal and winner for G1 Pretty Polly S. heroine Thistle Bird (GB) (Selkirk), herself a half-sister to dual Group 3-winning G1 Cantala S. second McCreery (GB) (Big Bad Bob {Ire}) out of the dual stakes-winning G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest third Dolma (Fr) (Marchand de Sable). Thistle Bird was a 750,000gns purchase, carrying the winner, at Tattersalls' 2019 December Mares fixture and has also produced Listed Radley S. victrix and G3 Fred Darling S. runner-up Jumbly (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}) and a yearling colt by Lope De Vega (Ire). The May-foaled bay's stakes-placed third dam Young Manila (Manila) is kin to a trio of stakes performers headed by MGSW G2 Prix de Royallieu victrix Fabulous Hostess (Fabulous Dancer).

1st-Newmarket, £15,000, Mdn, 7-8, 2yo, c/g, 7fT, 1:24.28, g/f.
EPICTETUS (IRE), c, 2, by Kingman (GB)
1st Dam: Thistle Bird (GB) (Hwt. Older Mare-Ire at 9.5-11f, G1SW-Ire, MGSW & G1SP-Eng, $577,634), by Selkirk
2nd Dam: Dolma (Fr), by Marchand de Sable
3rd Dam: Young Manila, by Manila
1ST-TIME STARTER. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, £8,100. O/B-George Strawbridge (IRE); T-John & Thady Gosden. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

 

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New Bay’s Saffron Beach Wins The Duke of Cambridge

Wednesday's G2 Duke of Cambridge S. offered another episode of stalls drama that seems to have dogged the first two days of Royal Ascot, but by the time Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) had come home alone there was a sense that Sibila Spain (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) would have needed wings had she not been removed from the contest after going down in the gates. Making her European return under a five-pound penalty due to her winning exploits in Newmarket's G1 Sun Chariot S. in October, the Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained 5-2 joint-favourite gifted William Buick an easy task from the time the field left behind the withdrawn Sibila Spain. Helped by the target of Novemba (Ger) (Gleneagles {Ire}) dead ahead, the chestnut who was last seen finishing fourth in the G1 Dubai Turf S. at Meydan Mar. 26 slid by passing the three-furlong marker and was soon beyond recall. At the line, she rated as the second widest-margin winner so far at the meeting with a 3 1/2-length verdict over the outsider Thunder Beauty (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}), with Primo Bacio (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) a further head away in third. “We were going slow, but she got into a nice rhythm. I wanted to get there in good time and not turn it into a two-furlong sprint, but she won very well and it was straightforward for her,” Buick said.

Saffron Beach had won the G3 Oh So Sharp S. at Newmarket in October 2020 before finishing second to Sacred (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) in the seven-furlong G3 Nell Gwyn S. and to Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in the 1000 Guineas last Spring. Getting it together in the G3 Atalanta S. at Sandown last August and the Sun Chariot, she had failed to fire at Meydan but her trainer had worked on having her at fever-pitch for this. “It is hard going to Dubai off a winter break,” Chapple-Hyam explained. “She was up against hardened colts and geldings and it showed in the finish. We didn't have a prep race, whereas here we went to Chelmsford and the July Course to get the work into her. I presume it will be the [G1] Prix Rothschild [at Deauville] on August 2, the Sun Chariot at Newmarket, and then the Breeders' Cup.”

Jason Kelly, assistant to David O'Meara, said of the runner-up who outran her 40-1 odds. “Thunder Beauty has run a great race. We'll probably drop back to seven furlongs. There is the [G3] Oak Tree Stakes at Goodwood and that will be high on the agenda. She is a high-class filly and is versatile ground-wise. She was big odds and we thought Saffron Beach would be handy so, instead of getting into a duel early, we thought we'd take our time and challenge late. She is probably slightly better over seven furlongs, so we wanted to make sure she got home. It was a super run. My uncle David Kelly owns her and we are creeping up. She was listed-placed last year, then group three-placed and now we are group two-placed.”

Primo Bacio was regaining some form after a lean spell and trainer Ed Walker said, “Finally she has got her ground! This race was a bit of an afterthought really, so we are hoping there will be improvement to come. I did not think we'd get here, but she worked really well and, due to a lack of alternative options, we thought let's have a go. On that basis, you have to be super happy with that. I think she would have been a clear second if she was A1. I think we will go to the [G1] Falmouth, as she ran so well in it last year.”

Saffron Beach, who cost a mere 55,000gns at the 2018 Tattersalls December Foal Sale, is out of Falling Petals (Ire) (Raven's Pass) who was sold by Godolphin to the China Horse Club for €235,000 at the 2016 Goffs November Mares Sale. She is a half-sister to the G1 Middle Park S. third Huntdown (Elusive Quality), whose full-sister Continua produced the G3 World Trophy S. and G3 Molecomb S.-winning sire Cotai Glory (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}). The third dam Eternal Reve (Diesis {GB}) annexed the G3 Matron S. and was runner-up in the G1 Coronation S. here and is connected to the leading sire Miswaki. Falling Petals' unraced 2-year-old filly Providenciales (Ire) (Australia {GB}) was a 450,000gns purchase by Blandford Bloodstock at the Book 1 Sale, while she also has a yearling full-brother and foal full-sister to Saffron Beach.

Wednesday, Ascot, Britain
DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE S.-G2, £175,000, Ascot, 6-15, 4yo/up, f/m, 8fT, 1:39.99, g/f.
1–SAFFRON BEACH (IRE), 133, f, 4, by New Bay (GB)
1st Dam: Falling Petals (Ire), by Raven's Pass
2nd Dam: Infinite Spirit, by Maria's Mon
3rd Dam: Eternal Reve, by Diesis (GB)
(55,000gns Wlg '18 TATFOA). O-Mrs B V Sangster, J Wigan & O Sangster; B-China Horse Club International Ltd (IRE); T-Jane Chapple-Hyam; J-William Buick. £103,600. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Eng, 10-5-2-0, $793,851. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Thunder Beauty (Ire), 128, f, 4, Night of Thunder (Ire)–Quiania (Ire), by Dansili (GB). (€42,000 Ylg '19 TIRSEP; £175,000 RNA 4yo '22 GOFLON). O-D K Kelly; B-Kildaragh Stud & Michael Downey (IRE); T-David O'Meara. £39,183.
3–Primo Bacio (Ire), 128, f, 4, Awtaad (Ire)–Suvenna (Ire), by Arcano (Ire). 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (100,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-David Ward; B-Kildaragh Stud (IRE); T-Ed Walker. £19,583.
Margins: 3HF, HD, 1. Odds: 2.50, 40.00, 14.00.
Also Ran: Novemba (Ger), Bashkirova (GB), Mother Earth (Ire), Kennella (Fr). Scratched: Sibila Spain (Ire). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

 

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New Bay’s Bay Bridge Brilliant In The Brigadier Gerard

Sandown witnessed something truly special on Thursday evening as James Wigan and Ballylinch Stud's Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}–Hayyona {GB}, by Multiplex {GB}) brought up a sensational 12th renewal of the G3 Coral Brigadier Gerard S. for Sir Michael Stoute. The way the seasonal debutante hit the line with five lengths to spare over Shadwell's exciting Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who was previously unbeaten here, with Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) another length away in third, it is hard to say that any of the former Freemason Lodge winners of this vital 10-furlong staging post have been any more impressive.

Finally unveiled after a winter under wraps, the Listed James Seymour S. winner who had only hinted at his deep talent in 2021 was the subject of a notable gamble into 7-4 second favouritism with Ryan Moore keen to hold on to him in fourth early. Moving to the the 6-5 favourite Mostahdaf with unerring ease approaching the furlong pole, the bay set off to the line with minimal encouragement to spreadeagle a class field. “We thought there was something special in him last year and Ballylinch bought into him in the winter,” James Wigan commented. “We have always thought a lot of him and Sir Michael's been very complimentary about him, so it is a very nice surprise. He is such a big strong boy and we rather thought in the paddock that he might just need the race, so we are particularly pleased.”

Attempts to dampen enthusiasm for this display could centre around the fact that Mostahdaf was carrying a three-pound penalty for a win in the G3 Gordon Richards S. and that Addeybb was coming back from a lengthy spell out due to serious illness, but Bay Bridge was himself operating under a mix of inexperience and rustiness that should have curtailed something this impressive. Brought along quietly last term, he broke his maiden first up and at the third career attempt by five lengths over this trip on Newcastle's Tapeta in April but sidestepped anything major and instead added Newbury's prestigious London Gold Cup to his tally by four the following month. His light was still under a bushel when next appearing after a sizeable break with a half-length verdict in another handicap at York in early October and he was still only pushing a small amount of his raw material at Newmarket when upstaging Majestic Dawn (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) in the James Seymour late that month.

While not exactly a ghost orchid to date, Bay Bridge is now out in the harsh rays as he catapulted himself to another environment altogether. “He is in the Prince of Wales's and the Hardwicke,” Wigan added. “We will ask Sir Michael what he thinks, but I think we will probably be inclined to stick to a mile and a quarter at the moment. I think we would have thought he would go to group one level, as he has won a group three with some good horses in the race today. Ryan said he didn't have to get too serious with him and he is a very exciting prospect.”

“What excited me was the way he quickened away from good horses,” Wigan continued. “He was sitting there going easily and you could see Ryan did not want to expose him too early and he was keeping him in. There was obviously something in the tank and he didn't know what. I would have thought, on the dam's side, a mile and a half would be within reach.” Moore added, “He picked up very nicely and went through the line well. He had a few issues last year, nothing major, he just had to wait but he has improved with every run.”

Mostahdaf's rider Jim Crowley admitted to an element of surprise afterwards. “I thought he ran a good race and I hold my horse in quite high regard, but the winner came past me quite easily and was very impressive,” he said. “I think my fellow would like faster ground, but there are no excuses–we were in the right spot, it's just the winner is a very good horse. I'm sure there are top races in our lad throughout the season.”

Bay Bridge's dam, a modest sprinting maiden for Prince Faisal and Mick Channon, was bought by London Thoroughbred Services for just 18,000gns at the 2013 Tattersalls December Mares Sale. She is a half-sister to the G2 Prix Eugene Adam winner Shimraan (Fr) (Rainbow Quest) and a granddaughter of The Aga Khan's Shemaya (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}), who captured the Listed Prix Casimir Delamarre before producing the G1 Prix du Jockey Club runner-up Shamkiyr (Fr) (Sea the Stars {Ire}).

Shemaya is kin to the G3 Prix Allez France winner Shemima (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}), in turn the dam of the G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial scorer Cormorant (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) and the Listed Prix Madame Jean Couturie winner Shemala (Ire) (Danehill), whose descendants include the G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero Shakeel (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}). Descended from the G1 Prix de Diane heroine Shemaka (Ire) (Nishapour {Fr}), Hayyona also has the unraced 2-year-old filly Stormy Sea (GB) (Territories {Ire}) and a yearling colt by Time Test (GB).

Thursday, Sandown, Britain
CORAL BRIGADIER GERARD S.-G3, £80,000, Sandown, 5-26, 4yo/up, 9f 209yT, 2:08.10, gd.
1–BAY BRIDGE (GB), 128, c, 4, by New Bay (GB)
     1st Dam: Hayyona (GB), by Multiplex (GB)
     2nd Dam: Shemriyna (Ire), by King of Kings (Ire)
     3rd Dam: Shemaya (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
1ST GROUP WIN. O-James Wigan & Ballylinch Stud; B-London Thoroughbred Services Ltd (GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute; J-Ryan Moore. £45,368. Lifetime Record: 7-5-0-1, $162,243. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mostahdaf (Ire), 131, c, 4, Frankel (GB)–Handassa (GB), by Dubawi (Ire). O/B-Shadwell Estate Company Ltd (IRE); T-John & Thady Gosden. £17,200.
3–Addeybb (Ire), 128, g, 8, Pivotal (GB)–Bush Cat, by Kingmambo. (200,000gns Ylg '15 TAOCT). O-Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum; B-Rabbah Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-William Haggas. £8,608.
Margins: 5, 1, 5. Odds: 1.75, 1.20, 4.50.
Also Ran: Dubai Future (GB), Lord Glitters (Fr). Scratched: Passion and Glory (Ire). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Beach A Winter Warmer For Chapple-Hyam

With few natural barriers to blasts of icy wind, Newmarket’s flatlands can make the winter feel extra arduous, particularly in a year which begins with the third British lockdown in the midst of a pandemic which refuses to abate.

More than ever, we all need something to look forward to, and for Jane Chapple-Hyam, hope is embodied in the form of a robust chestnut filly. The trainer is blessed with an irrepressible spirit which has surely seen her through some tougher times and, in early January, despite the absence of her annual return to her native Melbourne, she is full of aspiration for the season ahead. With a genuine Classic prospect in a stable of just 32 horses, it is easy to see why.

The filly who can be described as a proper winter warmer is Saffron Beach (Ire). She didn’t enter training until last July but quickly became one of the star performers from the first crop of her Ballylinch Stud sire New Bay (GB). In fact, it was fortuitous that the filly came to Chapple-Hyam’s stable in the first place. Initially bought as a foal by Liam Norris on behalf of the trainer’s erstwhile step-brother Ben Sangster as a pinhooking prospect, Saffron Beach missed two yearling sales and was also withdrawn from last July’s sale at Tattersalls as a foot problem took its time to be resolved. In partnership with co-owner James Wigan, Sangster and his wife Lucy eventually opted to place the filly in training with Chapple-Hyam, who the previous season had won the listed Chalice S. with Love So Deep (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) for a syndicate involving Sangster’s brother Adam, the owner of Swettenham Stud in Australia.

“She had issues with her feet but Ben and Lucy’s farrier and then my farrier Ian have sorted her out and we haven’t looked back,” says Chapple-Hyam of Saffron Beach. “Everything has been fine, but that’s why she came in very late. Back in July when the first lockdown was lifted I went down to Manton to view her and she was just about over all her issues.”

Whatever frustrations may have been felt at the filly missing her sales engagements were quickly dispelled when she made an eye-catching debut at Newmarket in late September, winning a seven-furlong maiden by more than four lengths. A fortnight later she was back on the Rowley Mile and made light work of the heavy ground to win the G3 Oh So Sharp S. It has been a short and sweet racing career to date, but very much one which entitles her connections to dream their way through lockdown.

Chapple-Hyam recalls, “As she was getting fitter, Abi Harrison, who rides her every day, said that she had a good gear change and that she really liked her very much.  Then I got Adam Kirby to come in and sit on her once and he also liked her, and away we went. But by then the turf season was getting close to finishing.”

This year, the trainer’s eye will be firmly on the start of the turf season, with her preferred path to the 1000 Guineas being via the G3 Nell Gwyn S.

“The obvious thing for her would be to start just up the road in the Nell Gwyn. She’s two from two at Newmarket so it makes sense to go there instead of the Fred Darling,” she says.  “She’s versatile on the going having won on good and very soft. We haven’t really seen what she can do on good quick ground. At the moment I’m just looking forward to the Nell Gwyn and we’ll take it from there.”

Following her Group 3 success, Saffron Beach was turned out for a six-week break with the Sangsters at Manton, a place with which her trainer has had a long association. She started out working there for her stepfather Robert Sangster, initially when Michael Dickinson was the resident trainer and later under Barry Hills. During this time she met her now-former husband Peter Chapple-Hyam, to whom she was assistant trainer for 16 years before she started training in her own right in Newmarket in 2005 following their separation. 

“I must have had a good 18 years at Manton,” she says. “I took the filly back down there in the horse box so it was nice to have another tour around with Ben and Lucy. It has changed, as things do, but is’s still a special place.”

Known at home as ‘Petal’, after her dam Falling Petals (GB) (Raven’s Pass), who is a half-sister to the dam of young Tally-Ho Stud stallion Cotai Glory (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), Saffron Beach appears to have blossomed over the winter and she undertook her first canter of the year under Harrison on Wednesday morning.

“She’s definitely grown and she’s a good doer, in fact she’s a monster like that,” says Chapple-Hyam. “She loves her food and guards it in her stable. You want to leave her alone when she’s munching but she has a lovely character though. She’s sweet and kind, but as soon as the bridle and saddle are put on she turns into a pro athlete. And she has a lovely presence when she’s out. You instantly look and say, ‘who’s that?'”

The trainer knows she is fortunate still to have Saffron Beach in her stable as, inevitably for a horse who made such a notable start to her career, the offers came in for her after her black-type win.

“I am obviously very pleased that Mr Wigan and Mr Sangster are both at that age when they don’t really need to sell,” she says with a laugh. “I think we are all really excited to see how far we can go with her this season. To me, she has trained on. Physically you can see that. It’s great for Ben and Lucy. They have another good filly [Sense Of Style] with Joseph O’Brien as well so it could be a good year for them.”

In Chapple-Hyam’s first full season with a licence in 2006, with just ten horses in her care, she sent out the 100/1 winner of the Ebor H., Mudawin (Ire) (Intikhab), and has had a decent amount of stakes performers in the ensuing years, including treble Group 3 winner Mull Of Killough (Ire) (Mull Of Kintyre), from a string which has rarely grown beyond 30. 

She says, “Saffron Beach is certainly a nice one to progress with, but we also have some other older horses in the yard that we are looking forward to getting going again.

“Albadri (Ire) has a Saudi Derby entry, he’s a Dandy Man (Ire) and I’m looking forward to him, and I’m also looking forward to seeing Ambassadorial running again. I’m aiming at Super Saturday in Dubai with him. He pulled up lame on the July Course at Newmarket but thankfully it wasn’t anything that required surgery. We gave him the rest and the time and he’s been cantering for the last few weeks. I don’t know what the travel restrictions will be like for Dubai but we will aim to have him fit for then.”

She adds, “I still call myself a rookie trainer but I have been training for 14 years now so I guess I’m over that. But it’s a thrill for me to be aiming at a Guineas. Obviously we don’t know what’s going to happen but I don’t think she was just a 2-year-old. At the moment it’s exciting enough for me that she is just having her first canter back.”

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