Connections Of Believing And Mill Stream Supplement For Sprint Cup

Believing (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) and Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) have been supplemented at a cost of £20,000 to take on Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) in the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday.

A total of 23 speedsters are in contention for the six-furlong Group One, with the Julie Camacho-trained Shaquille very much the star attraction as he looks to add to his previous top-level wins this summer in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and the July Cup at Newmarket.

The George Boughey-trained Believing and Jane Chapple-Hyam's Mill Stream are two interesting contenders after their respective connections decided to add them to the field.

Believing has won two Listed races and a Group 3 this season and is one of two potential runners for the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing team along with Karl Burke's Spycatcher (Ire) (Vadamos {Fr}), who was beaten a short head by King Gold (Fr) (Anodin {Ire}) in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville last month.

Mill Stream won a Listed race and a Group Three at the French track in August and fully merits his place in Group One company.

“Mill Stream has come out of his Deauville race in good order, so we have decided to take the opportunity to run him again while he is good form as there are no other options for him until Champions Day,” said Chapple-Hyam.

Ralph Beckett has left in both Kinross and Lezoo after on Sunday suggesting he is likely to rely upon the latter, while Aidan O'Brien could run Aesop's Fables and The Antarctic.

Other hopefuls include Ed Bethell's Regional, the William Haggas-trained Sacred and July Cup runner-up Run To Freedom from Henry Candy's yard.

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‘That’s What We Like, Nice, Fast Families’ – Redpender Enjoys Listed Double In France

Jimmy Murphy of Redpender Stud had double reason to celebrate on Sunday when the progeny of his mare Swirral Edge (GB) (Hellvelyn {GB}) landed back-to-back Listed race triumphs at Deauville. 

The renowned breeder knows better than most that these crucial updates are what drives the results in the sales ring and, for Swirral Edge to produce a memorable double through Asymmetric (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) and Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), it took even Murphy by surprise. 

At one point in his career, Asymmetric was one of the smartest juveniles in Britain having landed the G2 Richmond S. at Goodwood before filling the frame behind Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) in the G1 Prix Morny. 

However, after an unsuccessful stint in America for Wesley Ward, the four-year-old made a winning return to France by taking out the Prix du Cercle on debut for trainer Maurizio Guarnieri. 

That proved the perfect aperitif for what was about to come next as the Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained Mill Stream, cruelly denied by winning machine Quinault (Ger) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in a valuable handicap at Newmarket last month, grabbed that all-important black-type success in the Prix Moonlight Cloud.

Murphy commented, “It's seldom the likes of that happens but it did, thank God. I genuinely didn't know where Asymmetric was up until the evening before the race. With Mill Stream, there was more relief involved because he had been running to a good level and deserved to get his head in front. 

“I know a lot of his form was in handicaps but he had bumped into some smart horses and was running to a high rating. You'd have to say he won well at Deauville on Sunday and there could be more to come.”

The same sentiments could apply to Murphy's Swirral Edge who, at 10 years of age, has the potential to become a hugely important part of the Gowran operation in County Kilkenny for the coming years. 

Murphy said, “The mare has a yearling colt by Mehmas (Ire) going to Book 1 at Tattersalls and she is covered by Minzaal (Ire). It seems to be a very fast family and you'd like to be sticking to sprinters with her. Mehmas is obviously a very good sire and Minzaal could be the same. I thought he was a very good racehorse and obviously won his Group 1 as a four-year-old.”

He added on how he came across Swirral Edge in the first place, “Geoffrey Howson and Matt Holdsworth brokered the deal for me. When I was a young lad going to the Doncaster Sales years back, Joe Foley's father PJ was very pally with a fella in the north of England by the name of John Ellis and he had that family at Bolton Grange. 

“I had been following the family for years and years but could never find anything to come into it from a strong side. Even though this mare is by Hellvelyn (GB), her dam [Pizzara (GB)] is by Shamardal. Pizzarra had five runners and five winners, including the Listed winner Fashion Queen (GB) (Aqlaam {GB}).”

Swirral Edge is not the only multiple stakes producing mare to have made a name for herself at Redpender Stud. It was here where Danetime Out (Ire) produced the classy Richard Hannon-trained performers Toormore (Ire) and Estidhkaar (Ire) and things will turn full circle on Wednesday when the late mare's final produce graces the track. 

“We've 10 or 12 mares on the farm,” Murphy explained. “We had Danetime Out (Ire) (Ire), the dam of Toormore (Ire) and Estidhkaar (Ire), but unfortunately she's dead now and we've got nothing left from the family. Believe it or not, her last foal, Point Given (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), runs at Pontefract on Wednesday. He made 270,000gns at Book 1 at Tattersalls last year.”

Point Given was bought by Blandford Bloodstock on behalf of Saeed Suhail, whose blue and yellow silks were carried to Derby glory by Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) last year. 

Like Desert Crown, Point Given is trained by Sir Michael Stoute, who has booked Ryan Moore to ride the colt at Pontefract. 

Like every other consignor, the next few months will be busy for Murphy and, while he admits to having “some nice yearlings and some flat tyres as well,” he is approaching the upcoming sales with cautious optimism following his rare double with Swirral Edge.

He said, “I learned a long time ago that what I think doesn't really matter. What matters is what the market and what the people viewing the horses thinks. But we like the Mehmas going to Book 1. Asymmetric and Mill Stream are two nice colts and he's similar to them.”

He added, “I have a nice Equiano (Fr) colt for the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale at Doncaster and a lovely homebred Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly who is a three-parts sister to Aloha Star (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}. She's a tasty lady. That's what we like, nice and fast families because it's so hard to take on the bigger breeding operations.”

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Seven Days: Never Again

It was a weekend in which the Scat Daddy sire-line shone through, at Newmarket and in Deauville, with Group 1 victories for his grand-daughters Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Tenebrism (Caravaggio).

No Nay Never now has five crops of racing age and has twice supplied the winner of the July Cup: first Ten Sovereigns, who is now his stud-mate at Coolmore, and now Jeff Smith's Alcohol Free, whose transformation from miler to sprinter has added an interesting element to what is unfurling into an extraordinarily good season.

The 4-year-old filly did of course win a Group 1 at six furlongs as a juvenile, just over the dyke from the July Course when landing the Cheveley Park S. on the Rowley Mile. But, following her G3 Fred Darling S. in 2021, she then logically stepped up to a mile and looked every bit the star at this trip, winning the Coronation S. and then defeating 2,000 Guineas winner Poetic Flare (Ire) in the Sussex S., for which she will return to Goodwood at the end of the month. 

Her July Cup victory on Saturday brought up a second Group 1 success in two days for Rob Hornby, who started his riding career with Andrew Balding at Kingsclere, a yard which has been synonymous with Jeff Smith's colours, most notably through another fast female, his great homebred sprinter Lochsong (GB) (Song {GB}).

Hornby, who secured his first Group 1 victory aboard Scope (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) at Longchamp last October after battling back from injury, could have been forgiven the odd grumpy moment after being replaced on Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the Irish Derby. Westover duly won in the hands of Colin Keane, and days later Scope was put down after being injured on the gallops at Ralph Beckett's stable. Two weeks on from the Irish Derby, however, it was the quietly-spoken Hornby's chance to shine, first on Prosperous Voyage (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in the Falmouth S., and then for his old boss Balding with Alcohol Free in the absence of the suspended champion jockey Oisin Murphy. Hornby's rewards were well deserved. 

Immortal Beloved

Another Coronation S. winner was involved in the production of Sunday's G1 Prix Jean Prat winner as Tenebrism, by far the leading light of Caravaggio's first crop, is a daughter of the great Kilfrush Stud-bred Immortal Verse (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), who, a year after her racing career ended, put in another star turn when topping the Tattersalls December Mare Sale at 4.7 million gns. The foal she was carrying then, Literary Society (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), retired winless but his subsequent siblings have made up for that as all four of racing age are winners. These include Immortal Verse's current 2-year-old, Statuette (Justify), who became a TDN Rising Star when winning on debut at Navan in May, and then confirmed that early promise with victory in the G2 Airlie Stud S. on Irish Derby weekend. Like Tenebrism, she races for a partnership which involves her breeders Merriebelle Stables and Coolmore, along with Westerberg.

Mehmas a Friend to Lacy Family

There was a pleasing touch of symmetry to the victory of Persian Force (Ire) in Thursday's G2 July S. Like his sire Mehmas (Ire), he had won the conditions race at Newbury on Lockinge day before running second in the G2 Coventry S. and then triumphing at the July meeting. Furthermore, both father and son were bought by Peter and Ross Doyle to be trained by Richard Hannon. Mehmas went on to win the G2 Richmond S. and end his career with placings in the G1 National S. and G1 Middle Park S. before quickly establishing himself as one of the most exciting young sires in Europe.

There is also a sense of deja vu for Persian Force's breeders Tom and Barry Lacy. We featured their Ballyheashill Stud in Rhode, Co Offaly, after the Weatherbys Super Sprint win of Persian Force's full-brother Gubbass (Ire) last season. Now the Lacys' 8-year-old mare Vida Amorosa (Ire) has come up with another good 'un.

“She has just the two foals on the ground to have hit the track and both of them are pretty good, and Persian Force looks better than his brother last year,” Barry Lacy told TDN on Monday. “We just took a chance on Mehmas because we really liked him and we just happened to hit the right sire at the right time.”

For the mare's third mating, the Lacys returned to Tally-Ho Stud, sending her to Inns Of Court (Ire) who has his first yearlings at the sales this year. Like Persian Force, the Inns Of Court colt was bought as a foal by the team at Tally-Ho.

Lacy continued, “She has a very nice yearling now at Tally-Ho and he was the nicest of the three foals. If he turns out to be a good racehorse next year we can start to say perhaps it's down to the mare, but at this moment in time we are going to say that it's all about the stallion.

“It does take two to tango but I am trying to keep my feet on the ground, and I do think Mehmas is a very good sire, and he looks like he's going to turn out to be one of the better sires in the country.”

Casting his mind back to Persian Force as a youngster, he added, “He was just such a likeable individual and so relaxed. I wish I could tell you a special story about him as a foal but he was just very straightforward and nothing was an issue. If they were all like him it would be easy. He was just one of those horses who you hoped everything would work out for him and so far it has.”

As her Inns Of Court colt was foaled relatively late, Vida Amorosa missed last year's covering season and is now in foal to another Tally-Ho Stud newcomer, Starman (GB).

“If everything goes well with the foaling, the obvious thing would probably be to go back to Mehmas,” said Lacy.

The family also received a boost over the weekend from Garrus (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), who remains a force to be reckoned with at the age of six and won the G3 Prix de Ris-Orangis at Deauville. His dam Queen Of Power (Ire) is a Medicean (GB) half-sister to Vida Amorosa.

Harris Back in Winner's Enclosure

Prior to last Thursday, no horse had run in the name of Peter Harris in Britain since 2015, although we have seen his distinctive silks carried to Group 1 glory by Audarya (Fr) Wootton Bassett {GB}), who is owned by by his daughter Alison Swinburn. Harris's own name made a reappearance last week alongside the promising Gleneagles (Ire) colt Mill Stream (Ire). The half-brother to last season's G2 Richmond S. winner Asymmetric (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) was bred by Redpender Stud, who sold him as a yearling for 350,000gns, and won on debut at Doncaster for Jane Chapple-Hyam. 

A former breeder and trainer, Harris, now 88, had notable success with his homebred G1 Middle Park S. winner Primo Valentino (Ire) (Primo Dominie {GB}) and his half-sister, the G2 Cherry Hinton S. winner Dora Carrington (Ire) (Sri Pekan). The latter was one of 43 horses which formed the dispersal of Harris's Pendley Farm Stud stock at Tattersalls in 2010.

Epic Debut

Another more recent dispersal, that of Lady Rothschild's Waddesdon Stud, saw the G1 Pretty Polly S. winner Thistle Bird (GB) (Selkirk) bought by James Wigan on behalf of George Strawbridge for 750,000gns when in foal to Kingman (GB). The mare's resultant foal, Epictetus (Ire), made his debut at Newmarket on Friday and became the latest runner in Europe to earn a TDN Rising Star badge when cruising to the line in front with his ears pricked. 

All of Thistle Bird's five foals of racing age are winners, and they include current 3-year-old Jumbly (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), who has remained within the Rothschild fold and won last year's Listed Radley S. before finishing runner-up this spring in the G3 Fred Darling S. Her yearling colt is by Lope De Vega (Ire). 

Leigh's Influence Continues To Be Felt

Putting herself firmly in the frame to take leading broodmare honours this years is Godolphin's Modern Ideals (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), who is the dam of G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Modern Games as well as Friday's G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. victrix Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}). Moreover, in May her 4-year-old son Modern News (GB) (Shamardal) won the Listed Royal Windsor S. and was subsequently second in the G3 Diomed S. at Epsom.

Their grand-dam Epitome (Ire) (Nashwan) was, like Gossamer (GB) (Sadler's Wells), acquired by Sheikh Mohammed when he bought the breeding operation of the late Gerald Leigh, who died 20 years ago last month. Modern Ideals was the seventh of Epitome's 14 foals, born three years before her half-brother Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), winner of the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and now resident at Haras du Logis. 

The aforementioned dual Group 1 winner Gossamer, a sister to Barathea (Ire), turned out similarly to be a great addition to the Godolphin/Darley fold, breeding the G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Ibn Khaldun (Dubai Destination) among three black-type performers.

Aclaim Breezing Up the Table

The National Stud resident Aclaim (Ire) can now count two special fillies among his first crop following the emphatic win of Royal Aclaim (Ire) in the Listed City Walls S. at York. The James Tate-trained 3-year-old is now unbeaten in three starts, having got the better of no less a star than Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) when breaking her maiden in May 2021. But she was then absent from the racecourse for more than a year, and didn't return until June 11 at Bath when she won her second novice contest with ease.

Both she and Aclaim's 1,000 Guineas winner Cachet (Ire) graduated from the breeze-ups, bought from the Craven and Guineas sales respectively for the same sum of 60,000gns. Earlier in the year, Nancy Sexton spoke to Ellie Whitaker and Tegan Clark of WC Equine who consigned Royal Aclaim in their first draft of only two fillies on behalf of breeder Pier House Stud.

Aclaim now sits in second place in the European second-season sires' table behind Churchill (Ire), sire of the Prix du Jockey Club and Eclipse S. winner Vadeni (Fr). Though ahead on prize-money, that pair falls behind Zarak (Fr) when it comes to the number of stakes winners, with the Aga Khan Studs stallion leading that division on five.

Wedding Bells at the Double

It was a hectic week for the bloodstock press pack at a roasting edition of the July Sale at Tattersalls, and particularly so for two members, who were also counting down to their wedding days on Saturday. TDN's own Alayna Cullen married amateur rider and assistant trainer Ross Birkett on the same day that Racing Post sales reporter James Thomas was also trying to juggle reciting his wedding vows with keeping an eye on the July Cup result.

To Ross and Alayna, and James and Molly, we send our congratulations and best wishes for much future happiness. 

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