O’Brien’s Hong Kong Challenge Headed By Stone Age And Broome

Aidan O'Brien is preparing a twin assault on the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase, a race he has won three times in the past, and Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) are set to represent the Ballydoyle maestro in Sunday's race.

Globetrotting sensation Highland Reel (Ire) won the Hong Kong Vase in 2015 and 2017 before Mogul (GB) bolstered O'Brien's record in the race when landing the Group 1 contest in 2020.

Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who tasted high level success on the international circuit in 2020 by taking out the Breeders' Cup Mile, will be O'Brien's sole representative in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup.

Stone Age was last seen running a fine second in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, a race in which stablemate Broome could only manage a sixth-placed finish, but O'Brien has provided an upbeat bulletin on both horses ahead of Sunday's contest.

He said, “We were delighted with Stone Age at the Breeders' Cup, he ran a very good race and had progressed from his previous run at Ascot. We've been happy with everything we've seen from him since then.

“It had been on my mind to go to Hong Kong since the Breeders' Cup, we thought the track, trip and ground should all suit him fine, we're all looking forward to it.”

Asked if Stone Age could stay in training next year, O'Brien added, “We think and hope he will. Obviously we think he's progressing and he definitely could progress again from three to four.”

Broome will be having his first taste of racing at Sha Tin on Sunday but O'Brien says he thinks the battle-hardened 6-year-old is up to the challenge.

He said, “We were very happy with his run in America, he was a bit slow away, got back a little bit and finished off very well. We had it in our heads that we might go to the Japan Cup, it just came maybe a week or two too early and that's why we waited.

“We were delighted to have the opportunity to come to Hong Kong with him. He's in good form and is a very good natured, very sound horse.”

O'Brien will bid to land the Hong Kong Cup for the first time with Order Of Australia, who he says is capable of being effective over the 10-furlong trip.

“He's been running all the time over a mile, but we always thought stepping up over a-mile-and-a-quarter would improve him more. He's obviously by Australia and we're very happy with him, we'll see what happens on Sunday.

“He has won over seven furlongs twice as well, so we kept him at a mile after the Breeders' Cup win, but we'd think there's a pretty good chance that [10 furlongs] will be fine.”

He added, “Obviously you need horses that don't mind travel, have experience and are still in good shape. It's a fantastic meeting, we speak to a lot of people who will tell you it's a great day. We always like to be involved and are delighted to be invited, especially for very competitive, high-class racing.”

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Observations: Book 1 Kingpin Starts Out at The Curragh

1.20 Curragh, Mdn, €16,500, 2yo, c/g, 8fT
GULF OF MEXICO (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) debuts for Ballydoyle in the maiden won by Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) in recent times and, at 1.1 million gns was the joint-second highest-priced colt at the Book 1 Sale in October alongside stablemate Age Of Kings (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). A son of the G2 Queen Mary S. winner and G1 Cheveley Park S. runner-up Anthem Alexander (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), the May-foaled bay encounters experienced opposition including his stable's eye-catching course maiden runner-up Cairo (Ire) (Quality Road), a relative of Galileo's Gustav Klimt (Ire); and Qatar Racing's Warrior Lion (GB) (Roaring Lion), a Joseph O'Brien-trained son of the group 3-placed Stroll Patrol (GB) (Mount Nelson {GB}) who was second to another Ballydoyle juvenile in Denmark (GB) (Camelot {GB}) on debut at Naas at the start of the month.

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Newsells Park Stud’s Blue Hen Shastye Dies After Foaling

By Brian Sheerin

Newsells Park Stud manager Julian Dollar has led the tributes to the multiple Group 1-producing Shastye (Ire) (Danehill), who has died at the age of 21 shortly after giving birth to a Dubawi (Ire) colt on Sunday.

The dam of five individual black-type performers, including Group 1-winning brothers by Galileo (Ire), Japan (GB) and Mogul (GB), who are now stallions, the progeny of Shastye have been sensational on the track and in the sales ring.

Described by Dollar as “one of the most inspirational and life-changing horses” he has ever been associated with, Shastye's progeny fetched over £15 million at public auction and they also delivered where it mattered most.

Japan, a 1.3m guineas yearling, famously put Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) to the sword in the 2019 G1 Juddmonte International at York a month after winning the G1 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp.

Mogul, who fetched 3.4m guineas as a yearling, also won the Grand Prix de Paris in 2020 and bolstered Shastye's reputation as a Group-1 producing phenomenon by snaring the Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin in 2020.

Dollar said, “Many an hour has been spent with Shastye or her progeny. Often because they were special, and you often knew you were in the presence of something special, but mostly because Shastye was just such a lovely mare and such a pleasure to be around. She was the best therapy any man could have and I already know I owe her more than I will ever realise.”

Shastye, a half-sister to the 1998 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triompohe winner Sagamix (Fr) (Linamix {Fr}), was a dual winner and was placed at Listed level when in training with John Gosden. She was bought by Klaus J Jacobs and John Warren as a 4-year-old at the Tattersalls December Sale in 2005 for 625,000gns and almost single-handedly put Newsells Park Stud back on the map after it was renovated by the Jacobs family in 2000.

Her terrific relationship with Galileo, highlighted by Japan and Mogul, was the overriding theme of her brilliant career as a broodmare.

Sir Isaac Newton, the top-priced colt when sold for a whopping 3.6m guineas at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2013, was also by Galileo, as was while Secret Gesture, who finished second in the Oaks at Epsom in 2013 and was controversially demoted to third after finishing first past the post in the Beverly D S. at Arlington Park in 2015. She later sold for $3.5 million at Keeneland's November Sale to John Ferguson.

The ink may not have run dry on the story behind Shastye's progeny by Galileo as Skylark (GB), who was knocked down for 3.4m guineas in 2020, is in training with Aidan O'Brien and, while she has yet to grace the track, holds Group 1 entries.

Shastye was said to have succumbed quickly and peacefully after hemorrhaging following the birth of her Dubawi colt. She leaves behind her a legacy and record that will be hard to match, and Dollar counts himself lucky to have been associated with such a renowned producer of top-notch talent.

He said, “She was wonderful for the stud and we wished she could have lived forever but it just wasn't to be. One of the things I was most proud of was how fantastic she looked. She was just the most special mare and a lot of us at Newsells feel we owe a lot to her. I feel like I owe her a huge amount. Not only to get the stud going for the Jacobs family and kept us going when but she was also one of our best adverts when it came to selling the stud.”

Asked if there was a particular highlight during his long and successful association with Newsells Park's blue hen, Dollar added: “There were lots of highlights and obviously going for the Oaks with Secret Gesture as part owners with Qatar Racing Ltd was great but, in a funny way, the day John Warren, who was an agent for the Jacobs family at the time, came to see Sir Isaac Newton as a yearling stands out. It was about three weeks before the yearling sales and he looked at him for some time. I remember him asking us if we had him insured. When we told him that we hadn't he said that we better do so and not for anything less than a million pounds.

“We went to the sales with huge expectations and he really stood out as an excellent specimen. We expected him to make over one million, we never had a horse to make over a million, but we fully expected him to make that. We had every indication that it was going to happen but, when he made 3.6 million guineas, we were blown away. I was standing next to Andreas Jacobs and we were pretty amazed by it all and gave each other a big hug. He said to me 'my Dad would be so proud.' Even though it was a sale and not a race, it was a very special moment, and it was the first time I experienced taking a horse through the ring that made over a million, let alone what he made.”

A statement released by Newsells Park Stud on Monday read, “The exploits of [Shastye's] progeny, most notably formed from her wonderful partnership with the extraordinary Galileo, gave us all the most unforgettable moments, whether they came amid the silence of a hushed sales ring, or accompanied by the roar of the crowd at Epsom, York, Longchamp or Sha Tin.

“When Newsells Park Stud was put up for sale at the end of 2020, it was Shastye that stood out more than any other mare to prove what was achievable. Shastye put Newsells Park Stud back on the map, made the stud commercially successful and helped to attract a new, considerate, enthusiastic and passionate owner in Graham Smith-Bernal to take on the custodianship of the stud for another generation. Rest in peace you wonderful, wonderful lady.”

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Mogul Joins Coolmore National Hunt Roster

Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}-Shastye {Ire}, by Danehill), winner of the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. at two and the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Hong Kong Vase at three, has been retired from racing and will enter stud at The Beeches Stud in 2022 under the Coolmore National Hunt banner. He will stand for €4,000.

Among those that Mogul beat in his top-level wins were the G1 Deutsches Derby scorer and G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe runner-up In Swoop (Ger), who he will stand alongside at The Beeches; G1 Epsom Derby winner Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Hong Kong Horse of the Year Exultant (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). A 3.4-million gns yearling, Mogul is out of Newsells Park Stud's excellent producer Shastye and is a full-brother to multiple Group 1 winner Japan (GB)-who goes to stud next year at Gestut Etzean-and the Group 2-winning and multiple Classic-placed Secret Gesture (GB).

“As you'd expect of a horse who cost 3.4-million gns as a yearling, Mogul is a very-impressive looking individual with a great walk and an outstanding pedigree,” said Robert McCarthy. “His dam has produced five black-type horses and there are six Group 1 winners under his first two dams. And of course, like Frankel, he's bred on that great Galileo/Danehill cross. We are very excited to have himself, In Swoop and Santiago all joining the Coolmore roster for 2022.”

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