Marhaba Ya Sanafi | Horse Racing Free Tips

Seven Days: Jumping Back to the Flat

Yes, I know. It's a bit early for this, isn't it? We usually have a strict No-Seven-Days rule until the week after the Brocklesby but this winter has dragged on and on and I just can't wait any longer.
We have the small matter of the Cheltenham Festival to get through this week, and we'll be giving it our full attention, but as we have counted down the days to the 'The Roar' it has been impossible to ignore the sneaky French getting their Turf season underway with a couple of Listed races at Saint-Cloud. And what better way to usher the Flat back in than with last season's Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Marhaba Ya Sanafi (Ire) exhibiting that he retains plenty of zest for racing with his victory in the Listed Prix Altipan? We may see him back in action as soon as the G3 Prix Edmond Blanc on Easter Monday as he gears up for a tilt at the G1 Prix d'Ispahan.
Marhaba Ya Sanafa's sire Muhaarar (GB) is now ensconced in his new home of Haras de Petit Tellier and has already been represented this year by the G2 1351 Turf Sprint winner Annaf (Ire) on Saudi Cup night.
On the subject of returning Classic winners, Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) won Saturday's Listed Randwick City S. for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott to claim his first stakes success since that extraordinary romp in the 'Covid' Derby at Epsom in 2020. It's almost unheard of for a Derby winner still to be in training at the age of seven, let alone to have been gelded.

Flags Flying High for Zoffany

Coolmore lost Zoffany (Ire) three years ago when he succumbed to liver failure at the age of just 13 ahead of the start of the 2021 covering season. Members of his final crop are now three, and they include the Jerome Reynier-trained Fun With Flags (Ire), who kept Classic hopes intact for her owner Erika Gilliar by claiming her third successive victory in the Listed Prix Rose de Mai.
Out of the Galileo (Ire) mare Marie Celeste (Ire), Fun With Flags was bred by Sonia Rogers from a family which has been at Airlie Stud for three generations and traces back to Rough Shod (GB) (Gold Bridge {Fr}) through her celebrated daughter Thong (Nantallah). The latter is in turn the dam of Special (Forli), whose offspring include Nureyev (Northern Dancer) and Sadler's Wells's dam Fairy Bridge (Bold Reason).
With entries in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix de Diane, Fun With Flags is one to follow as she attempts to become a Classic winner from her sire's farewell crop. She would be the first for her prolific trainer Reynier, who is currently behind only reigning champion Jean-Claude Rouget in the French trainers' table.

Listed Double for Scott at Home and Away

On Thursday it was a Dandy Man (Ire) gelding out of a Dark Angel (Ire) mare out in front in the Listed Spring Cup at Lingfield and 24 hours later the reverse of that cross was seen to good effect at Chantilly in the Listed Prix Maurice Cauillault.
Watch My Tracer (Ire) was the Dandy Man three-year-old in question, and he set up a thrilling 24 hours for his trainer George Scott and owners Victorious Racing with his debut success of the year, which was followed the next day by the triumph of Isle Of Jura (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) in the King's Cup in Bahrain.
That second Listed win was hailed by Scott as “the highlight of my career to date, miles ahead of anything else”, and it is easy to see why he would be walking on air after the winter campaign his four-year-old has had in Bahrain. Having won twice at Newmarket and Newbury last summer in for his Bahraini owners, Isle Of Jura travelled to the Gulf to compete in Bahrain's lucrative turf series and he has been a near-unstoppable force there, winning four of his five starts, including two Listed races, and finishing second, beaten a short-head, on his only other run. Pattern company back in Europe now beckons for the Godolphin-bred gelding, who is a full-brother to the treble Australian Group 1 winner Cascadian (GB).
The aforementioned Prix Maurice Cauillault was yet another strike for Jerome Reynier, trainer of the easy winner Darlinghurst (Ire), who was bred by Yeomanstown Stud and, as noted, is by their kingpin Dark Angel. It was the second stakes winner of the day for the 19-year-old stallion after Godolphin's Real World (Ire) landed the Listed Al Methaq Mile in Bahrain.

Donworth Goes Dutch

There is nothing like seeing the Chateau de Chantilly in the backdrop of races to make one feel that life is again worth living and, though Friday's card was on the Polytrack, it provided plenty of interesting pointers for the season ahead.
There won't be many Dutch-bred stakes winners this year (or ever), but Tim Donworth, once of the parish of Roundhill but now a fully assimilated French dweller, saddled the Listed Prix Montenica Skylight Brochard (Hol) who may remain unique in that regard this year.
“I think he's probably the only Thoroughbred who's been bred in Holland in the last couple of years,” Donworth told TDN. “It's worked out great. His breeders happened upon the mare, they'd never had a horse before and they've now bred this horse.”
The son of Mehmas (Ire) was bred by his owner Jill Brochard and is a full-brother to eight-time winner The Covex Kid (Ire). Their dam is Fonseca (Ire), by the late Red Clubs (Ire) who has a notable record as a broodmare sire despite his having stood for only three seasons before dying at the age of seven. His daughters have produced the Group 1 winners Lucky Sweynesse (NZ), Snow Lantern (GB) and Lezoo (GB), as well as the useful sire and Group 2 winner Ardad (Ire), Group 3 winner Spycatcher (Ire), last season's Lincoln winner Migration (Ire) and the Listed-winning half-siblings Arthur Kitt (GB) and Eartha Kitt (GB).

Like Mother, Like Son

Perhaps the largest scribble in the notebook from Friday in Chantilly was the name Dolayli (Fr) after the running of the Prix Darshaan. The Aga Khan Studs-bred son of Siyouni (Fr) and Group 1 winner Dolniya (Fr) (Azamour {Ire}) has won six of his eight starts, including all three of his runs this year for Francis Graffard. It is a rare Aga Khan runner that remains in training at five, but Dolayli may well repay his owner further as he is aimed at classier assignments through the spring and summer. His trainer told the Jour de Galop that he is looking at the G2 Prix d'Harcourt and considering the Ganay and perhaps even the Ispahan as potential Group 1 targets. Dolayli had the G1 Hong Kong Vase winner Junko (GB) (Intello {Ger}) five lengths behind him in second as the latter winds up for a shot at the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic later this month.
It seems scarcely believable that it is nine years since Dolayli's dam Dolniya took the Sheema Classic herself after she too had won the Prix Darshaan, each time beating Flintshire (GB). She is now the dam of three black-type offspring, including Group 3 winner Dilawar (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Listed-placed Dolia (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). Her current two-year-old is an unnamed Frankel (GB) colt who is also assigned to Graffard.

Heating Up

Darley's second-season sire Too Darn Hot (GB) has four colts and two fillies entered for the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas in May, and he may well have a Classic hope even farther afield following the victory on Sunday of Etes Vous Prets in the G2 Hochi Hai Fillies' Revue at Hanshin. The daughter of G1 Falmouth S. winner Nahoodh (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}) was bred by Godolphin and exported as a yearling to Japan, where she races in the colours of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum.
She is the fifth Group/Graded winner in a fourth different country for Too Darn Hot following Fallen Angel (GB), Darnation (GB), Alyanaabi (Ire) and Carolina Reaper (GB).

A Fitting 19th G1 Winner for Exceed And Excel

In the week in which the retirement was announced of successful shuttle sire Exceed And Excel (Ire) there could have been no more appropriate winner of the G1 Newmarket H. at Flemington than his son Cylinder (Aus). The Godolphin homebred became his sire's 19th Group/Grade 1 winner in the race won by Exceed And Excel 20 years ago. Following that victory he was bought by Sheikh Mohammed and became a valuable addition to the Darley stallion ranks on both sides of the globe.
We may yet see Cylinder racing in Europe, with Godolphin Australia's Nacim Dilmi suggesting after his victory that a trip to Royal Ascot in June could now be on the cards.

The post Seven Days: Jumping Back to the Flat appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Marhaba Ya Sanafi Seeking Classic Double

Twelve horses stood their ground for Sunday's G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club, led by Jaber Abdullah's homebred G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Marhaba Ya Sanafi (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), and there will be one supplementary entry in Feed The Flame (Fr) (Kingman {GB}).

The Andreas Schutz-trained Marhaba Ya Sanafi is joined by Yeguada Centurion's Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), who has won a pair of Group 3 contests for Christopher Head this season and is the current market favourite.

The unbeaten Feed The Flame is trained by Pascal Bary, a six-time winner of the French Classic, who said, “Feed The Flame had a few issues at two and it was only in February that he started to come to hand and he has improved throughout with each run.

“He has only run twice, but he is professional enough that he can handle the Prix du Jockey Club. He's a very big horse and like all big horses, he needed time to grow into himself. At the time the entries were made I never thought he'd be running this Sunday.

“He only made his debut six weeks ago. I thought he would win but I didn't think he would win that easily. We then ran him again quickly because I felt if he had any chance of running in this, he would need time between a second run and a Classic. When he won easily again we then made the decision the supplement him.”

Almost half the likely field is supplied by two stables, with Jean-Claude Rouget keeping Rajapour (Ire) (Almanzor {GB}), Padishakh (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}) in contention, while Aidan O'Brien also has the trio of Adelaide River (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Cairo (Ire) (Quality Road) and Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) still engaged.

The French Classic has long been the target for the John and Thady Gosden-trained Epictetus (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who won the Blue Riband Trial at Epsom for owner/breeder George Strawbridge. Another homebred, the G3 Prix Noailles winner Flight Leader (GB) (Frankel {GB}), represents Juddmonte Farms and Andre Fabre.

Malcolm Parrish's American Flag (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) had the beating of Marhaba Ya Sanafi in the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau before running fourth in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains. He represents the Deauville stable of Yann Barberot, while Chantilly-based Alessandro Botti, whose brother Endo recently won the G2 Derby Italiano with Goldenas (Ire) (Golden Horn {GB}), will saddle Listed Prix de l'Avre winner Winter Pudding (Fr) (Seahenge).

The post Marhaba Ya Sanafi Seeking Classic Double appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Modern-Day Heist – How McGregor Bought Dam Of Classic Winner For 16k

Anyone familiar with the French TV series Lupin, which was inspired by gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, would be forgiven for thinking that stealing the dam of Sunday's French 2,000 Guineas winner Marhaba Ya Sanafi (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) for just €16,000 would be even too far removed from storyline material.

Breaking into the Louvre museum in Paris and walking out with the Mona Lisa under your arm would be easier than buying the Galileo (Ire) mare who would produce a subsequent Classic winner for just €16,000, but that's exactly what Duncan McGregor did in broad daylight at Goffs last November.

The mare in question is Danega (GB) and, by the time of her sale date, Marhaba Ya Sanafi had made a promising start to his career at ParisLongchamp but nothing to suggest that he'd be storming to Classic glory the following spring.

It may be viewed as the greatest stroke of luck that McGregor could speculate about Danega's prowess as a broodmare but the truth is that the Scottish native who has been based in Ireland for the best part of 40 years is better versed on the family of Sunday's French 2,000 Guineas winner than most.

He explained, “A good friend of mine said to me after the race, 'my God you are lucky to have picked that mare out,' but I told him how I almost wrote the book on that whole family.

“About 30 years ago, I bought Gradille (Ire) (Home Guard), who Marhaba Ya Sanafi can be traced right back to by about five or six generations.

“With the help of Robert Hall, I bought three mares to start off with at my stud in Kildare almost 40 years ago, which included Gradille. In fact, the most expensive one of the three died but the other two turned out to be black-type producers left, right and centre.”

He added, “Before I bought Gradille, she had a foal which turned out to be La Meilleure (GB) (Lord Gayle), who is the dam of a host of black-type winners, including Sholokhov (Ire) (Sadler's Wells).

“I also bred Dolydille (Ire) (Home Guard) out of the mare, and she turned out to be another good horse for Jim Bolger. Actually, Jim bought a lot of horses off me at that time, all from this family. I had the family for 15 or 20 years but, unfortunately, we lost the only daughter we kept out of Gradille.

“So I was out of the family for a good few years before this mare [Danega] came up. The old mare [Gradille] was my wife's favourite so I thought it would be nice to try and get back into the family. When I saw this mare entered up at Goffs, I said to my wife that we could buy back into the family and she told me to go and buy her.”

McGregor, 80, suffered an accident last year which has limited his mobility, but his closest advisors Larry Stratton and Jaqueline Norris provided him with every encouragement that Danega was worth acquiring from the Godolphin draft after they inspected the mare on the ground at Goffs on his behalf.

He recalled, “I got Larry Stratton to look at the mare for me and he gave me the nod. Jaqueline Norris, who runs Jockey Hall Stud, also looked at her and gave me the thumbs up. So all of my associates liked the mare and we bought her.

“But the funny thing is, the Muharaar was not listed on the page. I can remember a friend of mine was sitting in my house one day and asked me, 'Duncan, what is the name of that mare again,' and then she told me that the Muharaar had won in France.

“People say to me that it was a lucky pick but, given our back story and that we know all about the family, it wasn't a lucky pick at all.”

So when did McGregor realise that he had really hit the jackpot?

“When the horse won his second race, a conditions race at Chantilly, I said, 'Jesus, we have something here, there's no doubt about it,'” comes the reply.

“I was thinking that they'd have to go up in class with the horse after that. Well, they did go up in class, they went to the Prix de Fontainebleau, where he was second to American Flag (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

“That is the premier colts' trial for the French 2,000 Guineas over there and, while he was well-beaten by American Flag on the day, he ran a great race to finish second in a Group 3 and of course I was delighted for the mare.”

He added, “In the meantime, the mare had a cracker of Hello Youmzain colt foal. He is one of the best foals I have ever had. Then the next thing was an entry for the Guineas and now, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

“She is covered by Minzaal (Ire) and is due for scanning soon. I love speed and Minzaal was an exceptionally fast horse. I'm not sure what I am going to do with the Hello Youmzain foal that we have on the ground but he is a smasher.”

It tells you everything you need to know that McGregor, who worked in the oil business up until his early forties before relocating to his base at Newtown Lodge Stud in Kildare to concentrate on breeding and racing, ranks Sunday's victory with Marhaba Ya Sanafi as his greatest day in the sport.

That is saying something given he has had his colours carried to many big-race successes in the 1980s in Ireland and bred some top-notchers along the way.

He said, “We've very few horses now, just because of age, but we've bred some good ones before, the likes of Captain Marvelous (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Fort Bastian (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}).

“I also raced Dashing Colours (Ire) (Be My Native) and Dash Of Red (GB) (Red Sunset {GB}). They both won stakes races and a host of handicaps for me. When I was consigning horses myself, I did it under Newtown Lodge Stud, but recently I have been using Jockey Hall Stud, which is Jaqueline Norris.”

McGregor added, “But of all that we have done in the game, Sunday probably ranks as number one. Dashing Colours and Dash Of Red won a lot of big races, and that was a great thrill, but Sunday was different. I still get a great kick out of the sport. I wouldn't be doing it otherwise.”

Lupin and Sherlock Holmes may have been fictional characters but McGregor is the real deal. This is the story of a modern-day heist.

The post Modern-Day Heist – How McGregor Bought Dam Of Classic Winner For 16k appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post