Thanks to the contentious prohibition of his ban by a gaming corporation, GI Arkansas Derby winner Muth is ineligible to give Good Magic a second GI Kentucky Derby from two attempts. (Though the Hill 'n' Dale sire might yet manage that with the same mare who gave him the first one, with Mage's brother Dornoch heading to the GI Blue Grass S. this weekend.) The stunning return to form of Fierceness in Saturday's other big rehearsal meanwhile renewed that colt's priceless service to City of Light.

Over the water, a Classic coronation is widely anticipated for the Justify colt who achieved equivalent superiority over his crop in Europe last year, City Of Troy. Oscar Performance, for his part, was so unabashed by last week's celebration of his work that his three runners last Saturday comprised two new stakes winners plus the neck runner-up in a graded stakes. Army Mule and Girvin have maintained terrific ratios from limited opportunity; the latter's neighbor Collected is quietly moving up the rail; and of course it was Bolt d'Oro who headed the whole class, as freshmen, in 2022.

Some of these impressive young sires will have to ride out a familiar bump in the road, their books having dwindled as commercial breeders showed their habitual nervousness about reputations actually being tested on the racetrack. The traffic of several duly rallied last year: Girvin, for instance, from 86 to 181; Oscar Performance from 63 to 160; Army Mule from 115 to 199; Good Magic from 126 to 179; Justify from 156 to 222. But that extra quantity, often matched by extra quality, obviously won't tell on the racetrack for a couple of years yet.

Expectations about City of Light had been so high (his fee, most unusually, was hiked from $40,000 to $60,000 after a stellar debut at the yearling sales) that he actually lost support last year, down to 85 from 132, but his quiet start was then redressed by the emergence from his second crop of Fierceness. Remember that City of Light was himself a fairly late developer, not really breaking out until the GI Malibu S. at the end of his sophomore campaign, and none of his stock has yet reached the maturity that disclosed the peak of his prowess. Nonetheless he has been prudently returned to $35,000 for the current season, an acknowledgement that he still only has one other winner at graded stakes level (Mimi Kakushi, UAE Oaks).

It says much about the way these Thoroughbreds like to tease us that the owner of Fierceness, such a committed spender at the yearling sales, should have come up with consecutive champion juveniles that were respectively a $110,000 Book 4 yearling (co-owned with St. Elias Stables) and a homebred.

As has been well chronicled, Fierceness is out of a daughter of Nonna Mia (Empire Maker), named for Mike Repole's grandmother (“nonna”) and one of the foundations of his program when acquired as a $200,000 Saratoga yearling in 2008. Herself precocious and Grade I-placed, Nonna Mia gave Repole a homebred scorer at that level in Outwork (by the horse that really put him on the map, Uncle Mo), while her own pedigree had meanwhile been gilded by the emergence of three-parts brother Cairo Prince (Pioneerof The Nile).

In a light career, Nonna Mia's daughter by Stay Thirsty, Nonna Bella, won her first two starts and only missed black type by a neck. Nonna Bella's first two named foals, both by Uncle Mo, did not make the track, but the explosive debut of Fierceness at Saratoga last summer certainly proved well timed for the family: a couple of weeks later Nonna Bella's half-brother by Into Mischief topped the September Sale at $3 million, Repole himself retaining a stake alongside West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Thoroughbreds and Chuck Sonson.

All in all, then, this has become a pretty illustrious family and Fierceness, when he goes to stud, can duly be promoted as born for the job-especially if his own sire, having capitalized on its precocity and class, can now keep consolidating.

Background Genes Needed Against Throwback Horse

Muth's performance the same afternoon itself underlined the freakish talent of Fierceness, as he had been the least embarrassed of his panting pursuers at the Breeders' Cup last fall.

Muth | Coady

In contrast with all the action under Nonna Mia, Muth has a compressed page: he's the first foal of a mare who was herself one of just two named foals out of her own mother. Obviously shoppers at OBS last March had all the evidence of functionality they could require, however, and Muth duly turned himself into a spectacular pinhook: sold to Bishop Bloodstock for $190,000 at Keeneland the previous September, he left Top Line Sales for $2 million. The gentleman who signed the docket is a genius at any level of the market, and Muth has already paid off three-quarters of that investment with a stud career now secure.

Muth was bred by Don Alberto Corporation out of Hoppa (Uncle Mo), who had shown bright ability in a curtailed career, romping in a Churchill sprint maiden on her second start but derailing next time. Hoppa had herself been acquired in utero when Don Alberto gave $170,000 for her dam Handoverthecat (Tale Of The Cat), winner of two of five starts, at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale. Unfortunately they appear to have lost her after delivering only one more foal, a son of Tiznow, though at least he covered her purchase cost-to the cent-when sold as a yearling. And Hoppa has meanwhile become so valuable that an attempt to cash her out at Fasig-Tipton last November, carrying a sibling to Muth, stalled at $1.9 million.

Though his foreshortened page obviously doesn't increase their actual influence, Muth must advertise such interesting genes as he can and those are all clustered around his fourth dam, Beautiful Bedouin (His Majesty). She was an unraced half-sister to Silver Hawk, third in the Derby at Epsom and one of the most inspired stallion discoveries of the late Brereton C. Jones.

One of her daughters similarly had a transatlantic impact: Wandering Star (Red Ransom) was a stakes winner in Europe before being acquired by Joseph Allen and winning the GII E.P. Taylor S., while two of her sons became juvenile Group winners in Allen's silks: War Command (War Front) won two of Britain's signature juvenile prizes for Ballydoyle (G1 Dewhurst/G2 Coventry); and Naval Officer (Tale Of The Cat), the G3 Prix de Conde.

Beautiful Bedouin had two other foals by Red Ransom: one produced a Classic winner in New Zealand, Rollout The Carpet (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}); the other is the third dam of Muth. She, too, was unraced, meaning that the first four dams of Muth have a grand total of eight starts between them.

That history of fragility finds a striking contrast in the colt whose pursuit of Muth on Saturday carried him so far clear of the third. The way Just Steel (Justify) is thriving on his 11 starts is not only a trademark of his venerable trainer but also offers his young sire scope for a historic double, hours after City Of Troy is scheduled to line up for the G1 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

A $500,000 vote of faith in D. Wayne Lukas by BC Stables in Book I of the 2022 September Sale, Just Steel's teak constitution completes one of the most wholesome and cosmopolitan packages on the Triple Crown trail. He's out of an Australian Classic winner by the top-class distaff influence Fastnet Rock (Aus), and has siblings that have cut the mustard at Group level in both hemispheres; while his third dam was an Affirmed half-sister to matriarch Fall Aspen (Pretense). That puts Just Steel on the fringe of one of the modern breed's great dynasties and, with a throwback tenacity apt to his name, he will have more relish than many for the demands of the Derby.

Darling's Double Derby Impact

It feels like only a matter of time before the Japanese give American breeders the ultimate wake-up call in the GI Kentucky Derby itself. Whether or not Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) proves to be the horse to deliver that shock to the system, his rehearsal in the G2 UAE Derby for now actually locates the race's genetic center of gravity in familiar territory.

For, quite remarkably, we now find that two of its strongest candidates share the same granddam. Forever Young's mother Forever Darling (Congrats) is a half-sister to GI Alcibiades S. winner Heavenly Love (Malibu Moon), whose son Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) is favorite for the GI Blue Grass S.

Forever Young | Dubai Racing Club

Their dam is Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister), purchased as a yearling at Keeneland in 1998 by John C. Oxley for $300,000. Her dam, GI Ballerina H. winner Roamin Rachel (Mining), was sold in the same ring that November to Nubuo Tsunoda for $750,000, a price vindicated the following summer when Darling My Darling (her second foal) won on debut at Saratoga and then finished second in consecutive Grade Is. Roamin Rachel was sold carrying a Storm Cat filly, who produced three Group winners in Japan, while her next cover by Sunday Silence produced Japanese Horse of the Year Zenno Rob Roy (Jpn).

This appeared to do curiously little for Darling My Darling's daughter by Congrats, who was pinhooked at $8,000 to become a $65,000 R.N.A. at OBS the following April. Surfacing in the silks of a partnership including trainer Richard Baltas, Forever Darling won a Santa Anita maiden on her second start and then the GII Santa Ynez S. on her sophomore bow. With her family thriving in Japan, Katsumi Yoshida moved to secure her in a private deal and, while she did not really continue her progress, she has since handsomely vindicated him in her second career.

Forever Darling was certainly given purposeful covers, starting with Frankel and Deep Impact (Jpn), and her son from the second crop of Real Steel made a sum equivalent to $700,000 as a yearling. (Yes, second crop! Forever Young is yet another Derby candidate sired by a stallion from the 2019 intake.)

This son of Deep Impact is a more resonant proposition overseas than some Japanese stallions, both as a winner of the G1 Dubai Turf in 2016 and as brother to ground-breaking Breeders' Cup winner Loves Only You. His third dam, moreover, is none other than the great Miesque (Nureyev)-one of the jewels of the program that also, as we'll see in a moment, played a key role in the headline act at Meydan.

Deep Impact | Junji Fukuda

A River Swollen by Niarchos Tributary

What Laurel River did in the desert on Saturday is hard to comprehend, but if any Thoroughbred is capable of doing that, it might be one bred like him.

If anything, he has now surpassed even two Kentucky Derby winners as the ultimate proof of how a steep upgrading of Into Mischief's mares has enabled him to stretch his trademark speed to Classic distances. Having been around as long as he has, Laurel River was admittedly conceived at no more than $75,000, but his dam certainly offered the Spendthrift phenomenon plenty of complementary stamina. In fact, Laurel River's first three dams are GI Belmont S. winners to a man: Empire Maker, Touch Gold and A.P. Indy.

True, his mother couldn't break her maiden in eight starts; nor could her own dam in six. But it was the latter whose recruitment by Juddmonte (for $550,000 at the 2005 Keeneland September Sale) gave one of the world's great breeding programs an invigorating injection of the best genes cultivated by another. Soothing Touch (Touch Gold)-who has additionally given Juddmonte multiple Grade I winner Emollient (by Empire Make, so a sister to Laurel River's dam) and GI Florida Derby runner-up Hofburg (Tapit)-was a granddaughter of Coup De Genie (Mr Prospector), one of several foals to qualify her dam, Coup De Folie (Halo), as a cornerstone of the modern breed. Having just noted that Forever Young's sire traces to Miesque, we really must salute again the Niarchos family's priceless legacy.

Coup De Folie was inbred 3 x 3 to Almahmoud, through her celebrated daughters Natalma and Cosmah. That's a blend for which I will always forage, even with its inevitable attenuation by the generations. In fact, that's one of the reasons I deplore the way breeders nowadays hop from one unproven new stallion to the next, with books as many as seven times greater than was standard in the old days. It means that too many modern pedigrees squash down the generations: how many foals born this spring, for instance, will be by very young sires out of mares by stallions that never achieved lasting viability?

Into Mischief's own pedigree shows what you risk that way. His granddam was sired by Stop The Music when 19 years old. I'm not sure how many commercial breeders today would still send a mare to a stallion with his kind of profile, at that kind of age. And that just makes it harder and harder for modern pedigrees to retain a meaningful trace of precious brands like Stop The Music's sire Hail To Reason (who of course also gave Halo to Cosmah).

Regardless, Into Mischief is surely on his way to beating his own earnings record as well as a sixth consecutive general sires' championship. He has never needed one of these modern megaprizes to dominate his rivals, but Laurel River has got him up to $12.6 million by the start of April, now just a few cents behind Senor Buscador's veteran sire Mineshaft. With his unrelenting quantity matched by the ongoing elevation of his mares, Into Mischief appears a lock to exceed his 2022 haul of $28.56 million.

The post Breeding Digest: Chinks of Light Against Fierce Competition appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Some have now faded from everyday use, and for this fan the Ballymacoll Stud colours are much missed. Certain silks have such resonance that one almost doesn't need to have a race card handy to have an educated guess at the standard of certain races about to happen, and if the colours of the Niarchos family are spotted in the parade ring then it's a safe bet that there's a classy maiden or Pattern race in store. 

Happily, those distinctive colours are not about to disappear, though the restructuring of the family's bloodstock operation has brought about a proper 'bloodstock event', and one which offers a mouthwatering opportunity for other breeders to buy into some of the best Niarchos pedigrees. 

Forty of their fillies and mares will be offered at Goffs next week. Friday's session is likely to be the liveliest of the November Breeding Stock Sale since the Wildenstein Stables dispersal of 2016 or the Paulyn dispersal a decade ago when Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), sold for €6 million to Coolmore, became the most expensive horse ever to sell in Ireland.

“We had a big draft last November at Goffs but this one is exceptional because the offerings include three homebred Group 1 winners,” says Alan Cooper, who has been the Niarchos family's racing manager for almost 40 years.

He adds with no little understatement, “It's a very special gathering of the family's stock.”

Before we run through some of the bluebloods on offer, it is worth emphasising that the Niarchos family will still be developing these equine families through the young stock being retained. More than 100 horses, including those in training, remain within their ownership.

“It's not a dispersal,” says Cooper. “These are going to auction but from each of the core families, we've got several fillies who are either foals, yearlings, or two-year-olds of this year going forward. We're not cutting the tie with any of the top families. That is important because Maria and her father and her brothers have built this up, and it's still ongoing.”

Stavros Niarchos, the Greek shipping tycoon, made a significant impact on the world of Thoroughbred breeding in the second half of the twentieth century, and his passion for the sport was shared by his daughter Maria Niarchos-Gouaze, one of his five children, who took on the running of the bloodstock sector of her father's empire following his death in 1996. 

Earlier this year, Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard, the Normandy farm bought by Stavros Niarchos in 1979, was put up for sale. It had previously been home at different times in their lives to such luminaries of the turf as Nureyev, his incredible daughter Miesque, and her influential son Kingmambo (Mr. Prospector). Other top names include Hernando (Ire) (Niniski) and his son Sulamani (Ire), both of whom were winners of the Prix du Jockey Club, and the Breeders' Cup Mile victrix Six Perfections (Fr) (Celtic Swing {GB}).

Members of those families and more are included in the draft for next week's sale. As referred to above, three Group 1 winners form the cornerstone of that elite group. 

Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), the Prix Marcel Boussac winner whose first foal by Wootton Bassett (GB) sold for €460,000 as a yearling this season, is offered as Lot 1212 from Baroda Stud and is in foal to St Mark's Basilica (Fr). She also has a weanling filly by Dubawi (Ire) on the ground. 

Later, as Lot 1240 from Kiltinan Castle Stud, comes Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), the G1 Coronation S .winner who was runner-up in the G1 Prix de Diane, G1 Jacques Le Marois ad G1 Prix de l'Opera. She is in foal to Frankel (GB) and had a colt foal by the same stallion.

It remains to be seen which of the draft becomes the jewel of the crown in broodmare terms, but as a racehorse it is easy to argue the case for Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), who sells last of all as Lot 1263 from Norelands and is in foal to Sea The Stars (Ire), carrying what will be her fourth offspring. On the track she was both the European champion three-year-old filly and champion three-year-old miler of 2018, when her wins included the Irish 1,000 Guineas, Coronation S., Falmouth S., and Prix Jacques Le Marois, which ran under the long-term sponsorship of the Niarchos family. 

Alpine Star and Alpha Centauri are half-sisters and daughters of the Rahy mare Alpha Lupi, representing the family which has become synonymous with the name Niarchos. Their granddam was another Jacques Le Marois winner and dual Classic heroine, East Of The Moon (Private Account), herself a daughter of one of the most revered mares of the modern era, Miesque. The latter's many Group/Grade 1 triumphs included back-to-back wins in both the Jacques Le Marois and Breeders' Cup Mile, as well as victories in the 1,000 Guineas, Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, Prix Marcel Boussac, Prix de la Salamandre, and Prix d'Ispahan. And that was just the entree to Miesque's celebrated career at stud.

The Hall of Famer produced the aforementioned Classic winners Kingmambo and East Of The Moon, as well as the Group 3 winners Miesque's Son (Mr. Prospector) and Mingun (A.P. Indy), Listed winner Moon Is Up (Woodman) and stakes-placed Inventing Paradise (Mr. Prospector). Another daughter, Second Happiness (Storm Cat), is the dam of  the Prix du Jockey Club winner and young sire Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), while another, Kingmambo's full-sister Monevassia, is the dam of Group 1 winner Rumplestiltskin (Ire) (Danehill).

Along with the aforementioned Group 1 winners, Miesque's direct line is also represented in the three-year-old Frankel filly Humankind (Lot 1104). Meanwhile, another branch of the family appears through Miesque's half-sister Yogya (Riverman), the dam of Six Perfections whose daughter Raja Ampat (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) features as Lot 1259 and is carrying a member of the first crop of Baaeed (GB). 

Six Perfections's unraced four-year-old granddaughter See (War Front) is Lot 1105, and that filly's full-sister La Fiamma is Lot 1181, and is sold in foal to Mehmas (Ire).

Another family which has stood the operation in great stead is that of Coup De Folie, the Halo mare bought from her breeder EP Taylor as a yearling who went on to win the G3 Prix d'Aumale. She later become the dam of Machiavellian (Mr. Prospector), his fellow Group 1 winner and full-sister Coup De Genie, and Exit To Nowhere (Irish River {Fr}), who was yet another winner of the Jacques Le Marois in the Niarchos silks.

That line thrives still, notably through Coup De Genie's daughter Moonlight's Box (Nureyev), the dam of Arc winner Bago (Fr) (Nashwan), dual Group 1 winner Maxios (GB) (Monsun {Ger}) and Listed-placed Malicieuse (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose Deep Impact daughter Bold As Love (Ire) gets the ball rolling when offered as Lot 1102, the first of the draft.

Worldwide influences loom large among the Niarchos broodmare band, which has ties beyond Europe, to America, South Africa, and Australia. Significantly the family has long had strong links to Japan, before other major owner-breeders caught on to this fertile source of class. 

“Maria was definitely a precursor of the modern age on that,” says Cooper. “And thanks to the good relations we built up with Teruya and Chizu Yoshida, which came through Hector Protector going over [to stud in Japan]. We sent him mares and then sent mares to Sunday Silence and then Deep Impact as well. And we branched out every now and again, we took mares to Bago, of course, and Lord Kanaloa, Daiwa Major.”

He continues, “And we've even got some Australian influence in the draft, with Dawn Wall [by Fastnet Rock] in there and Provocateuse by Pride of Dubai. It's truly global.”

One of those mares sent to the Classic-winning homebred Hector Protector, who was later sold to Zenya Yoshida of Shadai Farm for his stallion career, was Lingerie (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}), a daughter of another important founder of a dynasty in Northern Trick (Northern Dancer), winner of the G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Prix Vermeille. 

Lingerie's daughter Shiva was foaled in Japan and exported to Europe where she won the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. Her half-sister Light Shift (Kingmambo), also trained by Henry Cecil, later won the Oaks. Five members of Lingerie's family are catalogued, including Shiva's Listed-winning daughter That Which Is Not (Elusive Quality), the dam of Group 3 winner Piz Badile (Ire), who is by another Niarchos-bred stallion in Ulysses (Ire).

The 40 mares are spread between the drafts of Norelands, Baroda and Kiltinan Castle Studs, and are also dotted evenly through the Friday of the catalogue in groups of five or six. 

“All those studs have boarded mares for us,” Cooper explains. “With this number of horses we thought it was best to divide them up between these teams, who all do a wonderful job. We thought it was very manageable that way for us, too. It would be too much for everybody to sit and watch 40 horses go through together.”

Cooper arrived at the Niarchos family's London office in February 1984 to work as assistant to Sir Philip Payne-Gallwey, the former racing manager to Stavros Niarchos who played such a key role in the operation's success through his purchase of Miesque's sire and dam, Nureyev and Pasadoble, as well as Northern Trick, as yearlings in Kentucky.

“He went back to the BBA in 1987 and I've been here ever since,” says Cooper. “Karen Clark was here before me, and she's still very much part of the original team.”

Of the draft itself, he adds, “It goes back to the yearling fillies purchased in the 80s: you've got Pasadoble, the dam of Miesque; Coup De Folie, the dam of Coup De Genie, and so much has come down from those two alone. But then you spread out and another branch of Miesque's family was Yogya, the dam of Six Perfections, another family goes back to Rare Mint, and we've got a great-granddaughter of hers, Celestial Lagoon, represented through several of her daughters. Then you've got Lyrism, the dam of Whakilyric, who is the third dam of Nature Spirits.

“So there's a lot of families that we've had for generations. It's quite a history.”

The post Niarchos Draft: ‘We’re Not Cutting Ties With Any of the Top Families’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Actually, my first job in the Thoroughbred industry is my current one, manager of our racing operation.

Biggest influence on your career?

Without hesitation, my dad from the beginning. I have a very high regard for him, and for what he has done. He is a self-made man.

Favourite racehorse of all time, and why?

Miesque, she had everything. A magnificent racehorse with a sturdy character, and in addition, she was a wonderful mare.

Who will be champion first-season sire in 2023?

Ten Sovereigns. His first yearlings were impressive at the sales, a mix of power and tenacity. He was a superb, unbeaten 2-year-old.

Greatest race in the world?

The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is such a historical race. Super popular and hard to win.

If you could be someone else in the industry for a day who would it be, and why?

Maybe a top-class jockey like Mickael Barzalona (a very good friend) to feel his sensations. It must be a lot of adrenaline on a big day like Arc day or the Dubai World Cup.

Emerging talent in the industry (human)?

I would say Christopher Head, it runs in the family. For his first season as trainer, he has already trained a Group 1 winner. That is just the beginning for him.

Name a horse TDN should have made a Rising Star, and didn't?

Horizon Dore. An unbeaten two-year-old and very, very impressive.

Under-the-radar stallion?

Intello, he has done a really good job so far. Fantastic racehorse, superb pedigree, already produced Group 1 winners. And at €8,000 for 2023.

Friday night treat?

Popcorn (and Netflix).

Guilty pleasure outside racing?

Eat well and drink white wine or my favorite cocktail 'HUGO' with St Germain Liqueur.

Race I wish I'd been there for…

Flightline's Breeders' Cup Classic this year.

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Prior to his training career which started in 1997, Head was a celebrated French champion jockey, with wins spanning all of the French Classics, a G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and both the colts' and fillies' Guineas in Newmarket.

“I won my first race at 16 and during all these years, I almost never stopped,” the 75-year-old told Jour de Galop. “It's time for me to take some rest and enjoy.”

The post Freddy Head To Retire At The End Of 2022 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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But until Loves Only You and jockey Yuga Kawada burst through a narrow opening in midstretch to beat My Sister Nat to the wire in Saturday's Grade 1, $2-million Filly & Mare Turf, no Japanese-bred and Japanese-trained horse had been successful on the world's biggest stage for Thoroughbreds, the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

The 5-year-old mare by Japanese Triple Crown winner Deep Impact, a son of 1989 U.S. Horse of the Year Sunday Silence, was considered the best runner ever sent by a Japanese horseman to the Breeders' Cup, and the globe-trotting Loves Only You did not disappoint. Sent off the 4-1 third betting choice, she secured a ground-saving spot just behind the early leaders in the 1 3/8-mile Filly & Mare Turf, awaited room at the top of the stretch and then demonstrated a quick turn of foot to overtake the front-runners and hold off a fast-finishing My Sister Nat by a head.

War Like Goddess, the 2-1 favorite, finished a head back in third after moving to the lead with an eye-catching, wide rally from the three-eighths pole to the wire. Love, the Aidan O'Brien-trained multiple Group 1 winner from Ireland, finished fourth as the 3-1 second betting choice, with defending Filly & Mare Turf winner Audarya fifth in the field of 12 fillies and mares. She was followed across the finish by Ocean Road, Rougir, Pocket Square, Acanella, Dogtag, Going to Vegas and Queen Supreme.

Loves Only You, owned by DMM Dream Club Co. and bred by Northern Farm, ran the 1 3/8 miles on firm turf in 2:13.87, about 2 4/5 seconds off the course record, and paid $10.60 on a $2 mutuel.

Going to Vegas went to the front, as expected, setting fractions of :24.10, :47.83, 1:13.06 and 1:38.20 while under pressure Dogtag. War Like Goddess, last early, turned up the heat with her move entering the far turn and was in front with an eighth of a mile to run after a mile and a quarter was clocked in 2:02.46.

A classic winner of the G1 Japanese Oaks at 3, Loves Only You was winless in five starts as a 4-year-old in 2020, but rebounded this year to win the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong in April after finishing a close third to Mishriff in the G2 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in Dubai. After a summer freshening, Loves Only You returned with a second-place finish in the G2 Sapporo Kinen in Sapporo, Japan, her last start before the Breeders' Cup.

“You know, when we finished second at Sapporo, I picked that race because the turf track is similar to Del Mar,” said trainer Yahagi.

The Filly & Mare Turf winner was produced by the U.S.-bred Loves Only Me, an unraced daughter of Storm Cat who was purchased by Japan's leading breeder, Katsumi Yoshida, for $900,000 from the Lane's End consignment at the 2009 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Loves Only Me was bred by the Niarchos and is a granddaughter of two-time Breeders' Cup Mile winner Miesque.

“I'd like to say thank you to my horse,” Yahagi said. “She did a great job. It's a dream come true for Japanese horse racing history. I'd love to come back Breeders' Cup at Keeneland next year and do the same thing, to win!”

Quotes from other connections:

Trainer Chad Brown (My Sister Nat (FR), second) – “My Sister Nat ran great. Pocket Square just couldn't run that far. Jose (Ortiz) rode a great race. We had a plan to follow War Like Goddess, which he executed perfectly. I just said, 'If you have any chance to win, just follow her and draw alongside of her in the stretch and if our horse is good enough battle it out.' That's what Jose did. I'm so proud of this mare. It's bittersweet because she ran the race of her life, but it was her last race, and unfortunately, she never got that Grade 1 win that she deserves. She had a couple of tough beats. Nevertheless, she is off to the breeding shed and she has been a wonderful mare to train. I look forward to training her babies.”

Trainer Bill Mott (War Like Goddess, third as favorite) – “Being third's not as good as first. She ran hard. She made the lead a little early, maybe, and was a little wide off the turn – didn't have much choice about that.”

Jockey Julien Leparoux (War Like Goddess, third as favorite) – “We had a good trip.  She was nice and relaxed relaxed early.  Just before the three-eighths pole she took a hold of the bridle on her own and made that big move.  I had to go on with her then and we got carried wide.  It was sooner than I would have liked.  She ran a very good race.”

Jockey Ryan Moore (Love, fourth) – “She ran well just not good enough on the day.”

Jockey William Buick (defending winner Audarya, fifth) – “She ran a very big race considering the run we had. She got boxed in then denied a clear but ran on strong to the line.”

Jockey Oisin Murphy (Ocean Road, sixth) – “Had a great run round and she's put up a good performance.”

Trainer Hugo Palmer (Ocean Road, sixth) – “She ran very well and is going to be a lovely filly for next year. I expect her to keep improving.”

The post Loves Only You Breaks Through For Japan With Thrilling Filly & Mare Turf Triumph appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Niarchos family breeds and races Thoroughbreds around the world and has done so with great success for decades. More than 125 Group or Grade 1 winners have been bred and/or campaigned under their banner, and they have been long-time supporters of the Breeders' Cup.

The late Stavros Niarchos served as a Greek naval officer in World War II and made his fortune in the shipping business. He first became involved with Thoroughbred racing in the 1950s, took a break, and returned in full force in the 1970s. His first major winner was Pipe of Peace, who won the 1956 Middle Park Stakes.

At the 1978 Keeneland July sale, Niarchos paid the second-highest amount ever, at the time, for a yearling colt. Named Nureyev, he went on to be an extremely influential sire. Among Nureyev's most well-known progeny is Miesque, who raced as a homebred for the Niarchos family and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame of the United States in 1999.

Miesque, who won the Breeders' Cup Mile in both 1987 and 1988, was a champion in England, France, and the United States during her racing career. As a broodmare, she went on to produce elite runner and stallion Kingmambo as well as three-time Group 1 winner East Of The Moon. A multiple Group 1 winner in Europe, Kingmambo became one of the leading stallions in Kentucky, siring classic winners and champions in North America, Europe, and Japan. East Of The Moon, meanwhile, is the granddam of three Group 1-winning sisters in Alpha Centauri, Alpine Star, and Discoveries.

Niarchos was the leading owner in France in 1983 and 1984 as well as the leading breeder in 1989, 1993, and 1994. His daughter Maria took over the family's Thoroughbred business after his death in 1996, and Alan Cooper serves as the family's racing manager.

The Niarchos family has won seven Breeders' Cup races with six homebred colts and fillies. Six of those victories have come in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1): Miesque (1987, 1988), Spinning World (1997), Domedriver (2002), Six Perfections (2003), and Karakontie (2014). Additionally, Main Sequence won the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) in 2014. The six Mile winners were trained in Europe, while Main Sequence began his career in Europe before being transferred to the United States. This record as an owner-breeder at the Breeders' Cup makes the Niarchos family one of the event's most successful participants.

A sampling of other notable international wins for the family as owner or breeder also includes Bago (2004 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe), Divine Proportions (2005 Prix de Diane), Light Shift (2007 English Oaks), Ulysses (2017 Eclipse Stakes and International Stakes, son of Light Shift), Alpha Centauri (2018 Irish Horse of the Year), Study of Man (2018 Prix du Jockey Club), War of Will (2019 Preakness Stakes), and Circus Maximus (2019 St James's Palace Stakes and 2020 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot).

Representatives from both Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), as well as the Breeders' Cup and The Jockey Club, will be in California to celebrate the Niarchos family. As the Official Partner and Official Watch of the IFHA, Swiss watchmaker Longines and the IFHA conjointly created the Award of Merit in 2013. Longines is also an Official Partner, the Official Timekeeper, and the Official Watch of the Breeders' Cup, as well as the title sponsor for the Breeders' Cup Classic, Turf, and Distaff.

Previous winners of this award include John Messara, the owner and chairman of Arrowfield Stud in Australia; the Magnier family and trainer Aidan O'Brien, the driving forces behind Coolmore and the Ballydoyle Racing Stable in Ireland; Yutaka Take, legendary Japanese jockey; the Romanet family, long renowned leaders in both the French and international world of horseracing; Jim Bolger, leading Irish trainer, owner and breeder; Alec Head, past champion trainer and patriarch of prominent stud farm Haras du Quesnay; Seth Hancock of historic Claiborne Farm in America; and the late Marcel Zarour Atanacio, former chairman of the South American organization for the promotion of Thoroughbreds (OSAF).

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The late Stavros Niarchos, a Greek naval officer in World War II who made his fortune in the shipping business, first became involved with Thoroughbred racing in the 1950s before taking a break and returning with a major commitment in the 1970s. The Niarchos Family has bred and/or raced 125 Grade and Group 1 winners around the globe.

One of the Niarchos Family's first notable horses was Nureyev, who they purchased at the 1978 Keeneland July Sale. Nureyev went on to be a highly influential sire, and among his best progeny was the Niarchos Family's homebred Miesque, a champion in England, the U.S. and France, a dual GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner, Hall of Famer and influential broodmare, her progeny perhaps highlighted by the Group 1-winning sire Kingmambo. Miesque's influence is still felt today through numerous branches, including the one that has produced Group 1-winning sisters Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) and Discoveries (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) for the Niarchos Family.

Stavros Niarchos was leading owner in France in 1983 and 1984, and leading breeder in 1989, 1993 and 1994. Niarchos died in 1996, at which point his daughter Maria Niarchos-Gouaze took over the family's Thoroughbred business.

The Niarchos Family has been strong supporters of the Breeders' Cup since the meeting's inception and has won seven Breeders' Cup races with six homebreds: Miesque, Spinning World, Domedriver (Ire), Six Perfections (Fr), Karakontie (Jpn) and Main Sequence. The Niarchos Family will be honoured during a ceremony on Nov. 5 in Del Mar during the Breeders' Cup, where Niarchos-Gouaze will accept the Award of Merit on behalf of the family.

Other prominent horses raced by the Niarchos Family include Bago (Fr), Divine Proportions, Light Shift, Ulysses (Ire), Alpha Centauri (Ire), Study Of Man (Jpn) and Circus Maximus (Ire). They also bred War Of Will, the 2019 GI Preakness S. winner.

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But how have brilliant racemares fared in their second career down through the years? They are certainly a select bunch with only 42 having attained a Timeform mark of 130 or higher since the 1970s. Predictably, many–just like Enable–have earned their high ranking by winning or going close in Europe's premier middle-distance race, the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. No fewer than 15 among our 42 have won or finished runner up in the Longchamp feature. Dual winners Enable and Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) take pride of place, but they are not the best Arc-winning females in the past 50 years according to Timeform.

The great Allez France (Sea-Bird {Fr})–one of five fillies on our list that raced for Daniel Wildenstein–achieved a rating of 136, two pounds above the 134 of Enable, Treve and All Along (Fr) (Targowice). In fact, only four from the group of 42 have risen higher than 134, the brilliant sprinter Habibti (Ire) (Habitat) matching Allez France's 136, while dual King George heroine Dahlia (Vaguely Noble {Ire}) and brilliant Pebbles (GB) (Sharpen Up {GB}) peaked at 135.

Several fillies, such as Balanchine (Storm Bird), Salsabil (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) and Triptych (Riverman), were talented enough to beat their male counterparts in traditionally male-only Classics such as the Irish Derby and Irish 2000 Guineas. There have also been top milers like triple Breeders' Cup Mile heroine Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) and even a few 2-year-olds have made the list, with Phoenix S. winner Cloonlara (Sir Ivor), Prix Morny heroine Broadway Dancer (Northern Dancer), plus Cawston's Pride (GB) (Con Brio II {GB}) making it to the exalted 130 mark.

In assessing this group of brilliant fillies as broodmares, along with Enable, we can also discount speedster Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) another yet to have runners, while a few more, including Treve and even Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}), are only at the dawn of their broodmare careers. We are also obliged to leave out two more on account that they never produced any foals. The outstanding Habitat filly, Flying Water (Fr), rated 132 by Timeform after a career that included victories in the 1000 Guineas, Prix Jacques le Marois and Champion S., died in an accident at Belmont Park as a 5-year-old, while Triptych, a sometimes brilliant but always tough daughter of Riverman, lost her life in a paddock accident while carrying her first foal by Mr. Prospector.

That leaves 36–all foaled more than 15 years ago–whose stud records can be examined. This group had a combined 260 runners, an average of 6.5 per mare. This low number is a clue in itself as to how they have fared in their second careers. Some struggled with their fertility while others simply couldn't produce the goods. Given that these were all top-class fillies, their owners might have expected at least a group winner from their prized broodmare prospects. In the event, 20 of the 36 produced at least one group winner. Moreover, the sum total of 38 group winners produced by the 36 mares made up 14.6% of the 260 runners, a pleasing return no doubt.

Less impressive is the fact that only 14 produced a Group 1 winner and only three had more than one Group 1 winner. But the most disappointing aspect of all is that only a single Timeform 130-plus female in the past 50 years of European racing has produced a runner good enough to join the Timeform 130-plus club. That mare was Cawston's Pride, the Champion 2-Year-Old Filly of 1970 and dam of the brilliant Vincent O'Brien-trained sprinter Solinus (GB) (Comedy Star), who set the summer of 1978 alight with consecutive victories in the King's Stand S., July Cup and Nunthorpe S., or William Hill Sprint Championship as it was known then.

Of all the group's produce records, Dahlia's is easily the best. Though none of her foals approached anywhere near her own ability, four won at the highest level with three requiring American turf races to secure their Group 1 status. The brilliant miler Miesque (Nureyev) produced influential sire Kingmambo (Mr. Prospector), a 125-rated three-time Group 1 winner, plus Classic winner East of the Moon (Private Account), who won the French Guineas and Oaks, plus the Jacques le Marois during a rich vein of form as a 3-year-old in 1994.

The only other dam of two or more Group 1 winners in the group was the brilliant sprinter Marwell (Ire) (Timeform 133), one of four 130-plus Habitat fillies on our list. She was responsible for Lomond's daughter Marling (Ire), who scored in the Cheveley Park S., Irish 1000 Guineas, Coronation S. and Sussex S. Meanwhile, Marling's Caerleon half-brother Caerwent (Ire) secured a Group 1 victory in the National S. at The Curragh.

The fact that the 36 top-class European racemares since 1970 collectively managed but a single horse in their own class may seem disappointing, but it's perhaps better to hang on to the 14.6% group winner figure. All the more so when we learn that fillies and mares rated between 125 and 129 by Timeform typically produce 7.2% group winners to runners–an excellent return, but only half the rate of their more-talented peers.

There are numerous examples of brilliant racemares that failed completely at stud. The first five foals produced by Pebbles never even saw a racecourse despite being by the best sires of the day. She ended up with only two minor winners from 11 foals. Indian Skimmer (Storm Bird) was another who failed to fire a shot, her first six foals being unraced, before her last foal won six sprint races over a period of eight years. The brilliant Habibti had only two winners from 12 foals with no sign of class whatsoever. Arc heroines, Ivanjica (Sir Ivor) and Akiyda (GB) (Labus {Fr}) were also bereft of stakes horses, as were Oaks and St Leger winner Dunfermline (GB) (Royal Palace {GB}), King George heroine Pawneese (Ire) (Carvin II {Fr}), April Run (Ire) (Run the Gauntlet), Milligram (GB) (Mill Reef) and Luth Enchantee (Fr) (Be My Guest). Even the great Allez France struggled, her best offspring being Group 3 scorer Action Francaise (Nureyev).

Of course, some made amends for their lackluster produce records and went on to establish good legacies. Pawneese is ancestress of Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) while Lianga (Dancer's Image)–dam of a single stakes winner–is in the direct female line of important sires Danehill Dancer (Ire) (Danehill) and Street Sense (Street Cry {Ire}), while Milligram has her own vibrant dynasty at Meon Valley Stud with Oaks winner Anapurna (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Speedy Boarding (GB) (Shamardal) listed among her best descendants.

Of course, this study by design excludes many fine fillies and mares than went on to have great careers at stud. Perhaps the two most worthy of mention are the 126-rated pair Urban Sea (Miswaki) and Detroit (Fr) (Riverman), Arc winners who produced Arc winners. And there is none with a more profound influence on the modern-day breed than Urban Sea.

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