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Two-Time Group 1 Winner Siskin To Target Breeders’ Cup Mile, Then Head To Stud In Japan

A Group 1 winner at both two and three, Juddmonte's Siskin could be pointed to the Breeders' Cup Mile on Nov. 7, reports racingpost.com. The sophomore son of First Defence will make the trip if he's doing well and the ground is expected to be relatively firm, according to trainer Ger Lyons.

Following the Breeders' Cup, Lyons indicated that Siskin will head to Japan to begin his stallion career in 2021.

“I'm delighted for him because he's going to get a quality book of mares that he probably wouldn't get in Ireland, but I'd have loved to have trained him at four,” Lyons told racingpost.com. “But it just goes to show you where we are in the industry when powerhouses like Juddmonte, Coolmore still sell their best horses and have to sell their best horses for economic reasons.”

Siskin won all four of his 2-year-old starts, including the G1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes and the G2 Railway, both at the Curragh. He returned to the Curragh to begin his 3-year-old campaign, kicking off with a win in the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas. Siskin then ran third in the G1 Sussex Stakes, beaten just 1 1/4 lengths, and was most recently fourth after missing the break in the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp.

Notable US-Bred & -Sired Runners in Japan: Oct. 17 & 18, 2020

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Niigata and Kyoto Racecourses, the latter of which plays host to Sunday’s G1 Shuka Sho, the final leg of the Japanese Triple Tiara. Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) will go favored to become the sixth to complete the sweep, joining the likes of Gentildonna (Jpn) and Almond Eye (Jpn), but would be the first to do so undefeated. Daughters of US Grade I winners Ria Antonia and Hilda’s Passion will try to play the role of spoiler:

Saturday, October 17, 2020
4th-KYO, ¥13,400,000 ($127k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400m
LUCKY MO (JPN) (c, 2, Uncle Mo–Lucky to Be Me, by Bernstein) is a half-brother to 2016 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Champagne Room (Broken Vow) and was purchased in utero for $1.25m at the Keeneland November sale in 2017. Bred on the same cross over Storm Cat as champion and GI Kentucky Derby hero Nyquist, Lucky Mo is also a half-brother to a colt by Yoshida (Jpn)’s sire Heart’s Cry (Jpn) that fetched ¥190m ($1,775,701), the joint sixth-highest price at this year’s JRHA Select Yearling Sale. B-Northern Farm

5th-NII, ¥13,400,000 ($127k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400mT
MOON BEAD (JPN) (f, 2, American Pharoah–Evening Jewel, by Northern Afleet) is the first Japanese-foaled produce for her dam, winner of the GI Ashland S. on the Polytrack and the GI Del Mar Oaks on turf and the unluckiest of losers in the GI Kentucky Oaks in 2010. The dam of the SP Bernardiva (Bernardini), Evening Jewel was sold for $950K in foal to Pioneerof the Nile at KEENOV in 2016 and was covered by this sire in Kentucky prior to her export. Evening Jewel is the dam of a yearling colt by Deep Impact (Jpn). B-Shadai Farm

Sunday, October 18, 2020
12th-NII, ¥28,600,000 ($271k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1200m
PRIMO D’ARC (f, 3, Bernardini–Wilshewed, by Carson City) enters this test with a tidy record of 2-2-0 from five starts, including a front-running, 2 1/2-length victory going this distance in the mud at Hanshin June 14 (see below, gate 1). A half-sister to GISW Stormello (Stormy Atlantic) and GSW My Best Brother (Stormy Atlantic); a full-sister to SW & GISP ‘TDN Rising Star’ Cherry Lodge and GSW Gala Award; and a half to the dam of 2019 Sovereign Award winner Curlin’s Voyage (Curlin), Primo d’Arc was a $400K KEESEP yearling and $500K OBS April breezer. Her 2-year-old half-sister Jacquelyn d’Oro (Medaglia d’Oro), who RNAd for $450K at KEESEP and for $245K at OBS in June, breezed a half-mile in :49 (9/25) at Keeneland Oct. 14. B-Estate of William L Currin (KY)

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Grade 1 Winner Nadal To Enter Stud In Japan

Nadal, a Grade 1 winner who went unbeaten in his four career starts, has been sold to enter stud at Shadai Stallion Station in Japan for the 2021 breeding season.

A fee will be announced at a later time for the 3-year-old son of Blame, who raced for owners George Bolton, Arthur Hoyeau, Barry Lipman, and Mark Mathiesen. Bob Baffert trained the colt, who was retired in May after suffering a condylar fracture in his left foreleg, requiring surgery.

Up until that point, Nadal was considered one of the favorites for this year's Triple Crown races, boasting an imposing record in California and Arkansas. He debuted in January of his 3-year-old season, winning a maiden special weight at Santa Anita Park by 3 3/4 lengths. He then made his stakes debut in the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes, winning by a half-length.

The colt began pointing toward the Triple Crown in earnest with a shift to Oaklawn Park, where he took the G2 Rebel Stakes, then exploded to win a division of the G1 Arkansas Derby by three lengths.

Nadal retired with earnings of $1,053,000.

Bred in Kentucky by Sierra Farm, Nadal is out of the placed Pulpit mare Ascending Angel, putting him in the family of champion Pleasant Stage and Grade 1 winner Journey Home. He was a $700,000 purchase at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Selected 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale.

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Magical Set To Defend Her Title In Saturday’s QIPCO Champion Stakes

The £750,000 (approximately US$885,866) QIPCO Champion Stakes held on Saturday, Oct. 17, will be the richest race in Great Britain this year and looks set to be the race of the season with Magical and Addeybb, who dominated the finish of last year's renewal, renewing old rivalries again.

Magical prevailed by three-quarters of a length 12 months ago, after which her trainer Aidan O'Brien intimated she had run her final race.

However, the daughter of Galileo was kept in training and the decision has been handsomely rewarded, with the mare chalking up three more Group 1 victories (taking her overall haul to seven) and probably running as well as she's ever done when getting the better of Ghaiyyath, the world's highest-rated turf horse, to win a second Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown last time.

She could be joined in the line-up for the mile-and-a-quarter showpiece by star stablemates Serpentine, this year's Investec Derby winner, plus Mogul, winner of the Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris, not to mention last year's Juddmonte International winner Japan, and Sovereign, winner of last year's Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby.

Addeybb has not rested on his laurels, either, chalking up two Group 1 victories in Australia in the spring before finishing runner-up in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. He swiftly got back to winning ways in a Listed race at Ayr last time.

Standing in the way of the O'Brien contingent and Addeybb are two outstanding candidates trained by John Gosden in Mishriff, the Prix Du Jockey Club victor, and Lord North, emphatic winner of the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.

Mishriff followed up his French Classic success by landing a Group 2 contest at Deauville, while Lord North was third behind Ghaiyyath and Magical in the Juddmonte International at York on his latest start.

Another fascinating runner among the home team is the William Muir-trained Pyledriver, who drops half a mile in distance after being beaten just over a length into third in the Pertemps St Leger at Doncaster last time. His exploits earlier in the season included emphatic wins in the King Edward VII Stakes, at Royal Ascot, and Sky Bet Great Voltigeur, at York.

Muir is delighted by the well-being of his stable flagbearer and is relishing dropping him back in distance. The trainer, seeking a first Group 1 win after 29 years with a licence, said: “He's getting stronger and is starting to retain his weight easier. His work has been good, the same as ever, and I'm very confident I've still got him at his best.

“I think if it hadn't been for this type of year, we would probably not run him over a mile and a six in the St Leger. You can't be dogmatic and say he didn't stay because he ground it out, but that was his class. He wasn't as effective because we took his gears and speed away from him. Martin [Dwyer] was sitting, waiting and having to hold him on to him when he wanted to kick.

“I'm not worried about the ground and the trip won't be a problem. Straight after he won the Voltigeur, the jockey went on TV and said he had the pace to win a Group 1 over a mile and a quarter.”

Pyledriver will be staying in training next year. Muir said: “We've got loads to look forward to with this horse and, no matter what else, the boys [the trio who own the horse] have had a fantastic time. We've enjoyed every minute of it and we've got next year and the year after with him, when we will be looking at the big races all around the world.”

Cirrus Des Aigles (2011) and Almanzor (2016) have been French-trained winners of the QIPCO Champion Stakes in the past decade and Skalleti will attempt to again take the prize across the Channel.

The 5-year-old grey, trained by Jerome Reynier, has won 12 of his 15 races and scooped the Group 2 Qatar Prix Dollar for a second time at Longchamp this month. Before that, he had mastered Sottsass, the subsequent Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, in a Group 3 contest at Deauville.

Other possibles among the 16 entries include three-time Group 1 winner Benbatl, who is also engaged in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO).

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