Piz Badile Suffers Fatal Heart Attack

Classic-placed Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}) has died after suffering a heart attack while cantering last Monday. Alan Cooper, the Niarchos family's racing manager, confirmed the news to TDN Europe on Thursday. The G3 Ballysax S. winner and G1 Irish Derby runner-up was five.

“Very sadly he had a heart attack last Monday doing a regular canter under Gavin Ryan who landed safely on his feet,” Cooper said. “No previous indications that this would be likely to happen. He was a lovely individual who everyone liked.”

A Flaxman Stables homebred, the Donnacha O'Brien trainee was also placed in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and the G2 Mooresbridge S. and made his final start a winning one in Dundalk's Listed Dubai Diamond S. in September. His record stands at 9-3-2-2 and $334,337 in earnings.

Piz Badile's dam That Which Is Not, a Listed winner in France who ran second in the G2 Prix Corrida, has also foaled the G3 Anglesey S. second Yosemite Valley (GB) (Shamardal). She was sold for €3.3 million to Coolmore at Goffs last November. His second dam Shiva (Jpn) (Hector Protector) won the 1999 Tattersalls Gold Cup, and her Kingmambo half-sister Light Shift triumphed in the 2007 edition of the G1 Oaks before foaling Piz Badile's dual Group 1 winning sire Ulysses to the cover of Galileo (Ire).

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Niarchos Draft: ‘We’re Not Cutting Ties With Any of the Top Families’

One of the reasons that the Racing League has struggled to catch on is that the organisers have underestimated the attachment that regular racegoers and viewers have to certain sets of silks. We all have our favourites, often depending on when we were born and who the leading lights were at the time. 

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.”

 

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Classic Winner Alpha Centauri To Headline Niarchos Offering At Goffs

The “restructuring” of how the Niarchos family's breeding empire will operate means Classic winner Alpha Centauri and Group 1 scorer Alpine Star will go under the hammer at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale.

Albigna, Fiesolana, Tapestry and a raft of other top-class mares in foal to stallions such as Frankel, Dubawi, Wootton Bassett, No Nay Never and more will feature among the draft.

The offering will number 44 mares all told and Alan Cooper, the operation's racing manager, was keen to stress that the draft was not a dispersal and that the iconic Niarchos silks that were proudly carried by Miesque, Spinning World, Light Shift, Sulamani and Bago are going nowhere anytime soon. 

Speaking exclusively to TDN Europe, he explained, “This is a restructuring process and not a dispersal. The family will have the opportunity to set reserves on the stock as they see fit.”

Cooper added, “The racing stables will continue to be supported by foals, yearlings, two-year-olds and older horses that are already in the system. There will be further offerings at Tattersalls and Arqana in the coming months.”

Three consignors will handle the draft with 18 from Norelands and 13 apiece for Baroda Stud and Kiltinan Castle. The 44 lots feature 10 Group winners.

Announcing the draft, Goffs Group Chief Executive, Henry Beeby said, “The Niarchos Family have proved to be one of the world's preeminent owner-breeders over the last fifty years and have developed a broodmare band that is the envy of the global bloodstock community. 

“It is extremely rare for a draft of this quality and depth to be offered at public auction and Goffs are delighted that we have been chosen to handle this superb sale.”

He added, “As was the case when Paul Makin and David Wildenstein appointed us, we will ensure a global audience at Kildare Paddocks for a draft that would have graced any breeding stock catalogue in the world and offers an unprecedented chance to buy into some of the best bloodlines in thoroughbred racing.”

Alpha Centauri will forever be remembered for providing Jessica Harrington with a breakthrough Classic victory when storming home in the 2018 Irish 1,000 Guineas. She went on to land a trio of Group 1 triumphs in the Coronation S. at Royal Ascot, the Falmouth and then the Prix Jacques le Maroi.

Harrington also trained Alpha Centauri's half-sister Alpine Star as well as top-notcher Albigna to other notable successes. Alpine Star won the Coronation S. in 2020 while Albigna ran out a gritty winner of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc weekend in 2019.

The full list of the Niarchos Mares are as follows. 

Consigned by Baroda Stud

Albigna (IRE) in foal to St Mark's Basilica

Burning Topic (GER) in foal to Ulysses

Innervisions (IRE) in foal to Saxon Warrior

Kanthaka (JPN) in foal to Arizona

Liquid Amber (USA) in foal to No Nay Never

Mirror in Space (IRE) – Maiden

Mississippi Delta (USA) in foal to Camelot

Night Glow (USA) – Maiden

Night of Light (IRE) in foal to Lope De Vega

Nocturne (GER) in foal to State of Rest

Sea Meets Sky (FR) in foal to Churchill

Tierra Del Fuego (IRE) barren

Valle De La Luna (GB) in foal to State of Rest 

Consigned by Kiltinan Castle Stud

Alpine Star (IRE) in foal to Frankel

Diaphora (GER) in foal to New Bay

Foniska (IRE) – Maiden

Heliosphere (USA) in foal to Study Of Man

Light of Joy (USA) in foal to Night Of Thunder

Light of Night (GB) in foal to Saxon Warrior

Lovee Dovee (GB) in foal to Sea The Moon

Martini Glass (USA) in foal to Starspangledbanner

Nature Spirits (FR) in foal to New Bay

Perseids (USA) – Maiden

Phaenomena (IRE) in foal to No Nay Never

Provocateuse (IRE) in foal to Kingman

Spell On You (IRE) in foal to Study of Man

Consigned by Norelands

Alpha Centauri (IRE) in foal to Sea The Stars

Bold As Love (IRE) – Maiden

Cosmic Lady (IRE) – Maiden

Dawn Wall (AUS) in foal to Saxon Warrior

Fiesolana (IRE) in foal to Mehmas

Flutter (IRE) in foal to Wootton Bassett

Forever Be (IRE) in foal to Wootton Bassett

Hand On Heart (IRE) in foal to No Nay Never

Humankind (IRE) – Maiden

La Fiamma (USA) in foal to Mehmas

Malicieuse (IRE) in foal to Wootton Bassett

Only Mine (IRE) in foal to Siyouni

Raja Ampat (IRE) in foal to Baaeed

See (USA) – Maiden

Snakeless (USA) in foal to Circus Maximus

Sunrise Valley (USA) in foal to Study of Man

Tapestry (IRE) in foal to Dubawi

That Which Is Not (USA) in foal to Frankel

 

 

 

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‘We’ve Always Dreamt of Winning the Derby’: Alan Cooper on Passenger

The Niarchos Family has had no shortage of Classic success over the years, including at Epsom, where they won a memorably emotional Oaks with the Sir Henry Cecil-trained Light Shift (Kingmambo), but there is to date one omission from their roll call of big-race wins.

“We've always dreamt of winning the Derby. We haven't yet, but let's hope that Saturday can go the right way,” Alan Cooper, the operation's racing manager, told TDN on Wednesday. 

That dream could become reality if Passenger continues to show the level of improvement that persuaded the Niarchoses to supplement the colt for the Betfred Derby. Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, Passenger has an extra special element to him in that his sire, the dual Group 1 winner Ulysses (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), is also a Niarchos homebred and was trained by Stoute, while his female family traces back through the Niarchos operation for five generations.

Passenger was first seen in action in public during the Craven meeting at Newmarket, where he impressed plenty of onlookers with his three-length victory in the Wood Ditton Maiden over a mile. He then stepped straight into group company at York for the G2 Dante S., a race won last year by his stable-mate and subsequent Derby winner Desert Crown (GB) ((Nathaniel {Ire}), who was also making just his appearance on a racecourse at the time. Denied a clear run at a crucial stage in the Dante, Passenger eventually burst clear to finish a running-on third behind The Foxes (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) and White Birch (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}), both of whom he will meet again at Epsom. 

“He's a horse who probably surprised us a little bit in the Wood Ditton and he has just matured, physically and mentally, since his first racecourse experience,” Cooper said.

“The Dante was a very good education with hindsight. He didn't win but he learnt a lot from it. It's a great compliment to Michael and his team that we are getting him to Epsom.”

He added, “He's by our homebred stallion and the female family has been in the Niarchos family since the early 1980s, going back to Misinskie, who was trained by Peter Walwyn. Then the mare went over to be bred in America and had her breeding career over there.”

Bred by Will Farish III, Misinskie, by Nijinsky, features as the fifth dam of Passenger. Her daughter Ajman (Woodman) was bred under the Niarchoses' Flaxman Holdings banner but raced for Shadwell, who then bred Passenger's third dam El Laoob (Red Ransom). This branch of the family returned to the Niarchos fold when Passenger's grand-dam Pachattack (Pulpit) appeared at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale of 2011 with plenty of black type to her name and was bought for $1.2 million.

Also seeking a first Derby win is Charlie Johnston in his first season with a training licence in his own name since his father Mark stepped back. The trainer is likely to saddle two for the race, and there is a particular poignancy to one of those runners as Dubai Mile (Ire), owned by Ahmad Al Shaikh, is from the sole crop of the late Roaring Lion, who was himself third in the Derby won by Masar (Ire). 

The Group 1-winning juvenile was bought for €20,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale from his breeder Lady Chryss O'Reilly and most recently finished fifth in the 2,000 Guineas. 

“There's no horse in this race that we know is better than ours, on ratings we're right there with them all,” said Johnston. “He's a Group 1 winner who ran a good trial over an inadequate trip in the Guineas, so in that sense I think we've got a rock-solid profile.

“The fact he was a €20,000 yearling and a bit more unfashionable probably explains why he's 14-1 rather than 4-1. There's nothing in there that scares me or we have 7lb to find with. If he improves for the trip, which we all expect he will, then he goes there with a good chance.”

Johnston is also represented by the 100/1 outsider Dear My Friend (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) for Middleham Park Racing.

“He's our first runner in the Derby and we are going into it with our eyes wide open,” said Mike Prince of Middleham Park Racing. “He was well beaten in the Dante but we think the step up in trip will suit him.

“There'll be a few horses in the race who don't stay, there'll be a few horses in the race who don't handle the track and there'll be a few horses in the race who don't handle the occasion – hopefully we'll be there trying to pick up some of the pieces. There's good place money down to sixth and [the owners are] all delighted that we're rolling the dice.”

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