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Trailblazing Choisir Dies At 22

The dual Royal Ascot winner, Group 1-winning sprinter and influential sire Choisir (Aus) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) has died at Coolmore Australia at the age of 22.

Trained by Paul Perry for Terry Wallace and Partners, Choisir can be considered an equine pioneer for the role he played in opening the floodgates through the early part of this century for Australian sprinters to travel north during the Southern Hemisphere winter and put the locals in their place.

A top-class 2-year-old who was placed in all three legs of Australia's juvenile Triple Crown, Choisir went on to win the G2 Emirates Classic and G1 Lightning S. at Flemington at three before departing for Britain. He first set foot on the English turf on June 17, 2003, and in three starts in just over three weeks, he ensured that his name would be remembered and revered for decades to come.

On the opening day of Royal Ascot, he was sent off an unconsidered 25/1 chance under Johnny Murtagh for the King's Stand S., which was then still a Group 2. A strong field which included Oasis Dream (GB), Elusive City, the previous year's winner Dominica (GB), and eventual runner-up Acclamation (GB), was blown away by the Aussie raider's dominant performance, which saw him break sharply and make all to win by a length.

More deference was paid when he returned to Ascot four days later, stepping up a furlong for the G1 Golden Jubilee S. Choisir still wasn't favourite, however, with the British crowds unused to a horse backing up so quickly in major races. That honour went to Henry Candy's 3-year-old filly Airwave, who was carrying 10lbs less than Choisir, whose Southern Hemisphere birth date meant that he was considered a 4-year-old despite still technically being three. The extra weight failed to halt him in notching a rare double at the Royal Meeting, the first time this had been achieved since the great Irish mare Stanerra won the G2 Prince of Wales's S. and G2 Hardwicke S. 20 years earlier.

Choisir met Oasis Dream and Airwave again in the G1 Darley July Cup on what would transpire to be the final start of his career, but this time he had to settle for second behind Juddmonte's Oasis Dream, who later dropped back in trip for an emphatic victory in the G1 Nunthorpe S. on his next outing.

Choisir's glorious form on both sides of the world made him of obvious appeal as a shuttle sire, following in the footsteps of both his sire Danehill Dancer and illustrious grandsire Danehill. He started his stallion career in Australia at Coolmore, where he covered for 17 seasons until his retirement just over a year ago. During that time he also shuttled for 10 years to Ireland, standing initially at Castle Hyde Stud, before joining Coolmore's main farm in 2008.

His 100 stakes winners in 12 different countries include 11 individual Group 1 winners. Choisir's Australian-bred son Starspangledbanner (Aus) emulated him by winning the Golden Jubilee S., and went one better in the July Cup, as well as winning two Group 1 sprints at Caulfield, before beginning his own successful shuttle career. Despite suffering fertility issues in his early years which halted his trips north, Starspangledbanner resumed covering at Coolmore in Ireland after a two-year break and his own leading offspring are headed by The Wow Signal (Ire) and State Of Rest (Ire).

Choisir is also represented at stud in Australia by Aquis Farm's Group 1 winner Divine Prophet (Aus), while four-time Group 1 winner Olympic Glory (Ire), the sire of G1 Prix Jean Romanet winner Grand Glory (GB), is at Haras de Bouquetot in France, and G2 Coventry S. winner Rajasinghe (Ire) is at the National Stud in England.

Another of his Royal Ascot winners, the Wokingham S. victrix Laddies Poker Two (Ire), went on to become the dam of the dual Classic winner and four-time Group 1 scorer Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), and in this sphere Choisir's influence continues to be felt.

He is also the broodmare sire of G1 Prince of Wales's S. winner My Dream Boat (Ire) (Lord Shanakill) and July Cup winner Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}), while another of his daughters, the listed winner Choose Me (Ire), has produced two Group 1 winners to have starred on QIPCO British Champions Day in Persuasive (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), as well as the listed winner and group-placed Tisbutadream (Ire) (Dream Ahead).

“I was lucky enough to be at Ascot in 2003 to witness his incredible triumphs on the Tuesday and then the Saturday where he was ridden by Johnny Murtagh,” said Coolmore Australia's Tom Magnier. “It was a great achievement for his trainer Paul Perry and paved the way for future Australian sprinters to compete with distinction on the world stage.”
He added, “Since he retired to the farm in 2003 he has been a favourite with all those who have worked with him, especially our longtime stallion manager Gerry Ryan who was particularly fond of him. Choisir was the ultimate professional in all he did and every stud dreams of having a stallion like him. We are so grateful to him and he will be sorely missed by the entire Coolmore team.”

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Mintd Runs Down Juliet Foxtrot For 12-1 Mint Julep Surprise

Getting a ground-saving trip under Ricardo Santana Jr., Irish-bred Mintd was up in the final sixteenth of a mile to deliver a 12-1 upset of 1-2 favorite Juliet Foxtrot in Saturday's Grade 3 Mint Julep Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky..

Trained by Brendan Walsh for the partnership of Bradley Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables LLC, Team Hanley, Tim and Anna Cambron, Mintd covered 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in 1:43.92, winning by a half length. Juliet Foxtrot, coming off a G1 victory in the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April, finished second under Tyler Gaffalione, 2 1/2 lengths ahead of She'sonthewarpath. They were followed by Handy Woods, Vezpa, Tuned, Lashara and Flash n' Dance in the field of eight fillies and mares, four years old and up. Crystal Ball, Dominga and Sister Hanan were scratched.

Mintd, a 5-year-old mare by Olympic Glory, was registering her first stakes victory in nine career starts – the first four in her native Ireland and five U.S. starts since March 2020. She paid $27.20 to win.

Longshot Flash n' Dance led the field of eight fillies and mares through early fractions of :23.90 and :48.66 as Juliet Foxtrot (GB) tracked from second with Hendy Woods in the clear in third and Mintd (GB) rated along the inside in fourth.

Juliet Foxtrot put away the pacesetter while leaving the far turn in 1:13.41 for six furlongs. The odds-on favorite spurted clear at the head of the stretch but Mintd was determined down the lane, drew within a half-length of Juliet Foxtrot (GB) at the sixteenth pole and put her away in the final yards for the win.

“Brendan and his team were very confident in this filly today, which gave me a lot of confidence as well,” Santana said. “I tried to keep her close to the early pace and we had a great trip.”

“It was a tough field on paper with a lot of nice fillies and mares entered,” said Walsh. “This horse has been very progressive in her development. She ran a great race on Kentucky Oaks Day and had a beautiful breeze over the turf (at Churchill Downs). I thought we had a good chance against some very nice fillies and Ricardo gave her a fantastic ride.”

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Hensey A Valuable Hire For Al Shaqab

Since Al Shaqab Racing's first foray into racehorse ownership, the organization has grown exponentially with strong investment in bloodstock globally. The company has built an impressive stud farm at Haras de Bouquetot, which houses its nine-strong stallion roster as well as playing host to a broodmare band that includes dual G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) and multiple Group 1 winner Qemah (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) to name a few. However, it may be Al Shaqab's investment in personnel that sees the company thrive and prosper for many years to come. Among the list of industry professionals that help Sheikh Joann achieve the goals set for his silver and maroon silks is new recruit Paul Hensey, who started as Chief Operating Officer for the company in July of 2020.

“Just before the very first lockdown last year we more or less agreed that I was going to move to Al Shaqab,” said Hensey on how his position came about. Starting with any company usually involves a transition period of getting to know the team and in the case of Al Shaqab it would involve travel, as the operation has entities in five different countries around the world. Naturally, trying to do this in a global pandemic made things a little more difficult for Hensey.

“It is going very well given the difficult year,” he said. “Al Shaqab is such a big international operation, with entities in France, the UK, Ireland, Australia and America, so from my point of view we have been trying to manage where I'm going so I can quarantine. I've managed quite well to get around to meet everybody. We've managed to keep in touch with Zoom calls, emails and telephone calls. It's been a challenge, but it's been good.”

While there is no denying that 2020 posed many challenges globally, Hensey's extensive experience in the Thoroughbred industry has doubtless stood him in good stead to hit the ground running in his new guise. A graduate of the Irish National Stud Thoroughbred Breeding Course, Hensey spent 14 years at the helm of The Curragh Racecourse, a period in his career that he remembers as being “a great, great time,” before helping to found and build Rifa Mustang's European operation.

“When I left the Curragh Racecourse, Rifa approached me to do some work for them on a consultancy basis,” recalls Hensey. “They already had an operation in Australia and they were exploring options in Europe. I joined them full time as the European CEO.”

Although the decision to join Al Shaqab meant a huge opportunity for Hensey, it is understandable that leaving Rifa wasn't an easy decision.

“It was close to my heart because I had been involved in it from the very start,” he said. “But, obviously when Al Shaqab came along it was a huge opportunity. When I met Sheikh Joaan Al Thani last February, it became very clear to me that he certainly had great enthusiasm and great ambition for Al Shaqab. He wanted to get it back to where it had been. Hopefully I can play a part and help them along the road.”

The part Hensey hopes to execute for Al Shaqab will be to see the operation return to the glory days of its early successes which included Treve, Olympic Glory (Ire) and Toronado (Ire), the latter two standing as stallions for the operation. Joining the existing horses in training carried over from 2020 will be roughly 90 2-year-olds that are a combination of homebreds and horses bought at the sales, as “Al Shaqab was very active at the yearling sales.”

While there is every hope that 2021 will welcome many more high-class performances on the racetrack, it would be remiss not to look back on the success of a stallion Al Shaqab stands in partnership with Tally Ho Stud. “[Mehmas] was fantastic. I think everybody expected him to get lots of winners but I don't think anybody really expected the quality that has come through,” Hensey said. “Tally Ho have done a fantastic job with him.”

With Mehmas having earned the crown as champion first-season sire in 2020, the operation will be hoping one of their four stallions with first 2-year-olds this year will be able to make a similar impression.

“We have Al Wukair (Ire), who is a really classy horse,” Hensey said. “He was a Group 1 winner over a mile. Then there is Ectot (GB) and Zelzal (Fr), who are both Group 1 winners over a mile too. Then Galileo Gold (GB) is a stablemate of Mehmas at Tally Ho. We have big hopes for him as well.”

Joining the stallion roster at Haras de Bouquetot for the forthcoming season are Wooded (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). The former carried Al Shaqab's silks to victory in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye and provides breeders with an opportunity to visit the Wootton Bassett line after that sire's departure from France.

“With Wootton Bassett going to Coolmore, we thought long and hard about whether we would keep [Wooded] in training or not. But we felt that if there was ever a year to retire a son of Wootton Bassett in France this was it,” said Hensey.

With the wheels in motion, 2021 could see Sheikh Joaan's ambitions being met for Al Shaqab. Speaking with Hensey there seems to be a real buoyancy about the future for the operation with the established teams having already laid an excellent road map for success. As COO, Hensey needs to ensure smooth passage. Given his capability and personable nature, it seems that Al Shaqab is set for a straight line to success.

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