Influential Producer Cassandra Go Dies

Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}-Rahaam, by Secreto), the winner of the G2 King's Stand S. and an influential producer, has died aged 25 at Ballyhimikin Stud.

Bred by John McKay, Cassandra Go was purchased by Trevor Stewart for 82,000gns as a foal through the BBA at the Tattersalls December Sale of 1996. Stewart sent her through the ring as a yearling at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, but opted to retain her at 200,000gns.

Sent into training with Geoff Wragg, Cassandra Go was soundly beaten in her lone start at two but righted that wrong with a first-out maiden victory the following April. She would win a Newmarket conditions race and picked up a listed third before the season's end, and she proved progressive at four, picking up stakes wins in the Listed Lansdown Fillies' S. and the G3 King George S. It was at five, however, that Cassandra Go truly thrived, winning the G2 Temple S. and G2 King's Stand S. before finishing second in the G1 July Cup.

Cassandra Go had been covered by Green Desert prior to her final season on the racecourse, and as a half-sister to G3 Coventry S. winner Verglas (Ire) (Highest Honor {Fr}), expectations must have been high heading into her second career. Cassandra Go more than delivered.

Her first foal, the Green Desert mare Neverletme Go (Ire), produced the German stakes-winning Best Regards (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), but that has been relegated to a footnote in what is a highly accomplished and sought-after line. Cassandro Go's third foal was the G3 Summer S. winner Theann (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), who would subsequently produce the dual American Grade I winner Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and the G2 Richmond S. winner and young sire Land Force (Ire) (No Nay Never).

Theann was followed immediately by Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), who has overshadowed even her elder sister's lofty accomplishments. The winner of the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas, G1 Sun Chariot S. and G1 Nassau S., Halfway To Heaven has gone on to even greater acclaim as a producer; after first supplying the Group 3-winning Flying The Flag (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and the G1 Fillies' Mile, G1 Lockinge S. and G1 Prix de l'Opera victress Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), she outdid herself with the remarkable six-time Group 1 winner Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Theann and Halfway To Heaven were both plucked out of Goffs yearling sales by the Coolmore partners, and that group likewise took home Cassandro Go's most recent filly to appear at public auction, the subsequently Group 3-placed Invincible Spirit (Ire) filly Fantasy (Ire) for 1.6-million gns from the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2017. In the interim, Cassandro Go had produced the filly Tickled Pink (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who was retained by Stewart and won the G3 Abernant S. and G3 Coral Charge S. for trainer Sir Henry Cecil-one of the great trainer's last stakes winners prior to his death–and Stewart told The Owner Breeder he has four of Cassandra Go's daughters in his care. Those include the 3-year-old Holly Golightly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), the winner of a Gowran Park maiden last month for trainer Ger Lyons, and a filly foal by Night Of Thunder born this year. Stewart also retained the mare's 2-year-old colt Once Upon A River (Ire), who was third on debut at Gowran on June 13 for Lyons. Cassandra Go has a yearling colt by Saxon Warrior (Jpn).

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‘She Was A Queen’: Group 1 Winner Magical Retired To Join Broodmare Band At Coolmore

Brilliant seven-time Group 1 winner Magical (Galileo) has been retired and will join the broodmare band at Coolmore Stud, with mating plans yet to be decided.

In September, the Aidan O'Brien-trained mare became the second dual winner of the Irish Champion Stakes and was last seen finishing a close third in the G1 Hong Kong Cup. She retires with an impressive record of 12 wins and 10 placings from 28 starts; her achievements earning connections over £4.8million ($6.4million) in prize money.

“Her mum (Halfway To Heaven) was a queen, she was a queen and she was by Galileo, so I suppose you could call him the king,” O'Brien said of his stable star, adding, “It would be exciting to train her offspring.”

On the highlight of Magical's illustrious career, he said, “The days that stand out are the Champion Stakes. She was amazing, she always turned up. She was tough, she was consistent and had a super mind and was very sound.”

Magical is one of two G1 winners bred by Coolmore out of top-class race mare Halfway To Heaven, herself a daughter of King's Stand Stakes heroine Cassandra Go.

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Japanese-Trained Normcore Upstages Magical In Hong Kong Cup

Zac Purton has crowned a week of stellar milestones by becoming the first rider in history to partner nine Hong Kong International Races winners after Japanese mare Normcore upstaged Win Bright and Magical in the HK$28 million G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin.

Purton, 37, gained the ride on the grey after Christophe Soumillon was forced to forfeit the mount after failing to secure an unconditional release from quarantine following a COVID test on Thursday.

On Wednesday at Happy Valley, Purton became only the second jockey after Douglas Whyte to ride 1,200 winners in Hong Kong.

The reigning jockey champion, Purton was jubilant after breaking the Hong Kong International Races' tie he had shared with Frenchman Gerard Mosse after Normcore outsprinted fellow Japan's Win Bright and Ireland's Magical.

“It's something I'm very proud of, it's a great achievement,” he said.

“To also now be the only jockey to win the full set of international races twice is also for myself somewhat rewarding.

“Hopefully, I can just can continue to have luck at this meeting going forward.

“It's been a great week, I'm very thankful that I get these opportunities.”

Purton was grateful to regain the ride on Normcore, whose previous G1 triumph came in the Victoria Mile when partnered by another Australian, Damian Lane, in May 2019.

“Initially we sort of confirmed the ride and then when it was announced Christophe was coming, they changed their mind. They're entitled to do that,” Purton said.

“It was what it was, I just had to accept that. Thankfully, it came back.”

Purton has been synonymous with Hong Kong International Races success with eight previous triumphs on the jurisdiction's most prestigious day.

The New South Welshman savored Vase glory with Dominant (2013) and Exultant (2018), the Mile with Ambitious Dragon (2012), Beauty Only (2016) and Beauty Generation (2018), Sprint with Aerovelocity (2014 and 2016) and the Cup with Time Warp in 2017.

Purton stalked the 2019 Cup winner Win Bright in the run before peeling widest in a riveting global contest.

Japan's three runners finished in the top four, with Danon Premium trailing Magical to the line.

“She (Normcore) had to fight for it, Win Bright gave a really sharp kick and his love for Sha Tin was starting to show through,” Purton said.

“But she was determined and inch by inch, she just kept putting herself in the frame.”

Trained by Kiyoshi Hagiwara, Normcore ran fourth to Admire Mars in last year's Hong Kong Mile.

Hagiwara has handled several topliners since taking out a trainers' licence in 1996, including Logi Universe, Le Vent Se Leve and Obruchev.

Ryan Moore said a slackening mid-race tempo wrecked Magical's chances of becoming the first horse trained by Aidan O'Brien to snare eight G1s.

“There was a lack of pace so therefore I couldn't go where I wanted to go,” Moore said.

“She ran well.”

Normcore is the first filly or mare to win a HKIR since Ed Dunlop's champion Snow Fairy took the Cup in 2010.

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‘Legend’ Unluckiest Among Favorites at Longines HKIR Draw

A total of 39 horses representing Hong Kong, Japan, Ireland and France were entered and barriers drawn Thursday morning for Sunday’s HK$95 million Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Although Boniface Ho’s Classique Legend (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) has yet to win a race at Group 1 level–he is a multiple Group 2 winner in Australia–he is one of the marquee horses of this year’s HKIR, having arrived in Hong Kong on the back of a dominating victory in the A$15-million The Everest at Randwick Oct. 17. Having come good in his recent trackwork for trainer Caspar Fownes, he figures to jump favourite for Sunday’s G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint, but his chances were done no favours by pulling gate one as the last horse out of the box at the draw.

“I was really hoping for gate five, to tell you the truth, all the way before the draw started,” Fownes told the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Leo Schlink. “He’s a horse that needs a bit of room. Anyway, it is what it is. Most people won’t complain about draw one. He’ll be ridden to get his chance and we’ll see it happens. Just going to hope that the legendary Hong Kong pace is on, like it always is, and then it’s up to [jockey] Vincent [Ho] to ride his race.”

Ballydoyle’s Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will also begin from the pole position as she faces seven other rivals-including three from Japan–in the day’s richest event, the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup (2000m). Ryan Moore takes the ride on the bonny mare as she tries to exact revenge on Win Bright (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn), who got just the better of the Moore-piloted Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in last year’s Cup. The latter will be having the final start of his career Sunday and carries Masami Matsuoka from barrier four.

Moore and Aidan O’Brien will also team up with Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who looms the main danger to reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Exultant (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) in the first of the four internationals, the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase (2400m). A barnstorming winner of the G1 Grand Prix de Paris in September, he was a fair fifth behind a modest pace when last seen in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland Nov. 7. He landed gate four. Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) won the Vase in 2015 and 2017 for Ballydoyle. Exultant, winner of this race in 2018 before a tough-trip third in his title defence last December, was beaten on the square by leading Cup chance Furore (NZ) (Pierro {Aus}) at both his previous starts this season, each over trips short of his best and at something less than peak fitness. He begins one stall to the outside of Mogul in five.

It was lucky seven for Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d’Oro) in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile as he goes in search of a first Group 1 himself and an 11th win on the bounce. To do so, he will have to take down the colors of Japan’s Admire Mars (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}), who became the rare 3-year-old to win the Mile 12 months ago. Moore takes the ride from Christophe Soumillon, who has been stood down owing to COVID-related issues (see related story) and will have to work out a trip from the widest alley in the field of 10.

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