Dual-hemisphere Group 1 winner Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}–Patineuse {Ger}, by Peintre Celebre), who won the 2014 G1 Melbourne Cup for Australian Bloodstock, died recently at 13.
Australian Bloodstock, who raced Protectionist later in his career, said via X, “Sad to hear of the passing of 'our champ' Protectionist. A remarkable horse with such a strong character who meant a lot to so many people. #Lifechanger.”
Bred by Dr. Christoph Berglar, the bay won the G2 Hansa-Preis and G2 Prix Kergorlay for his breeder and trainer Andreas Wohler before being purchased by Australian Bloodstock. He later won the “Race That Stops A Nation” and switched stables to Kris Lees after that victory. Sent back to the Northern Hemisphere in 2016, he won three straight including the G2 Grosser Hansa-Preis and the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin while under the care of Wohler, and retired to Gestut Rottgen with a record of 22-8-3-1 and $3,785,601 in earnings.
From four crops of racing age, the son of Broodmare of the Year Patineuse has sired 43 winners, including Group 2 winner Amazing Grace (Ger) and Group 3 winner Lambo (Ger). He also has two other listed winners to his name, as well as the G3 Silbernes Pferd third Lion's Head (Ger).
In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Behind Enemy Lines (GB) (Sioux Nation) in the Cutler Bay S. at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.
Rockingham Ranch, Talla Racing, LLC and David Bernsen's Behind Enemy Lines (GB) (Sioux Nation) ran like a 1-9 favourite should to give his Coolmore sire his fifth stakes winner and first Stateside in the Cutler Bay S. at Gulfstream on Saturday (video).
Trained by Jack Sisterson, the son of the once-raced Autumn Snow (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) was bred by The Brigadier Partnership. An 88,000gns weanling when picked up by Alex Elliott from Barton Stud at the Tattersalls November Foal Sale, the bay made 90,000gns from J B Bloodstock when re-offered by The Castlebridge Consignment as a Tattersalls October Book 2 yearling. Sent through the ring yet again, this time he did not meet his reserve as a €173,228 Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale buyback (breeze video). As noted by colleague Alan Carasso, Behind Enemy Lines is the second stakes winner to emerge from the inaugural Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale.
Unplaced for Justin Casse and Joseph O'Brien at the Curragh in August, he put it all together over the Dundalk synthetic to win by 4 3/4 lengths in January. Purchased privately by these connections, the Cutler Bay was his American bow.
The second foal, first runner and first winner out of his dam, Behind Enemy Lines is followed by the colt Looking Bere (Fr) (Le Brivido {Fr}), who is catalogued as lot 247 in the upcoming Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale by Dolmen Bloodstock, and a yearling half-brother by Whitecliffsofdover. Second dam Epic Similie (GB) (Lomitas {GB}) was placed in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, while her Manduro (Ger) half-brother Ultra (Ire) won that race in 2015 before standing under the Darley banner in France. Eclipse champion Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) is also under the third dam.
Although his eldest foals are just 3-year-olds, Sioux Nation has sired 58 winners from 106 runners worldwide (55%). Stateside, he has three runners and Behind Enemy Lines is his first winner (33%) among that trio.
How Sweet The Sound
Amazing Grace (Ger) (Protectionist {Ger}) is no stranger to black-type victories, and, bearing the Moyglare Stud silks, secured a half-length victory in the GIII Orchid S. in Florida on Saturday (video) for trainer Christophe Clement.
Profiled in Emma Berry's Seven Days column earlier this week, the German-bred is starting to pay back her €850,000 Arqana December purchase price. Bred by Dr. Christoph Berglar, she won the G2 Diana Trial in 2021 and the G2 T. von Zastrow Stutenpreis last term. Also Group 1-placed in the G1 Preis von Europa, Amazing Grace is the second foal out of German stakes winner Amabelle (Ger) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Her dam foaled her winning full-sister, Ad Astra (Ger), the year after producing the Orchid winner, while her 3-year-old full-brother, Astaire (Ire), has yet to race. Amabelle's juvenile has already been named Alvorada (Ger) (Gleneagles {Ire}), and she has a yearling filly by the 2014 G1 Melbourne Cup hero.
From limited crops, Protectionist has sired 33 winners from 64 runners worldwide (51%). His other stakes winner besides Amazing Grace is G3 Bavarian Classic hero Lambo (Ger). In America, he's been represented by two runners total, and Saturday's winner is his only scorer.
An Island Of Breathing Space
The third and final stakes-winning European to prevail at Gulfstream on Saturday was Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Steven Rocco, and Tango Uniform Racing's Breath Away (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), who scooped the Sanibel Island S. by 2 1/2 lengths (video).
Part of the Highgate Stud breeding programme, she caught the eye of Canirola Bloodstock as a 92,000gns foal at Tattersalls November, and blossomed into a 230,000gns yearling at that venue's October Yearling Sale Book 1 when offered by Taroka Stud. Stephen Hillen was the buyer that day. A winner of her Gulfstream debut back in January, she missed by only a nose in an allowance optional claimer a month later for trainer Christophe Clement.
A full-sister to GIII Wilshire S. heroine Simply Breathless (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), Breath Away is a daughter of Darling Grace (GB) (Nayef), who scored her lone victory as a 3-year-old. Her latest foals are fillies by Advertise (GB) and Bated Breath, foaled in 2021 and 2022, respectively. G1 Falmouth S. heroine Giofra (GB) (Dansili {GB}) is under the third dam.
From just 29 runners in the U.S., Juddmonte's Bated Breath has 17 checks in the winners' column (58%). He's firing in stakes winners at a rate of 38% (11 from 29 runners), with his leading light the 2016 filly Viadera (GB), heroine of the GI Matriarch S. at Del Mar. She is supported by GII Edgewood S. heroine Gift List (GB), the aforementioned Grade III winner Simply Breathless, and Tezzaray (GB), successful in the GIII Jimmy Durante S. and fourth in the GI Del Mar Oaks.
Emperor Of The Mill
Team Valor International's Tuddenham Mill (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) eked out a head victory in a maiden special weight at Tampa Bay Downs on Sunday. Third in a pair of starts for Hankers and Maccas and trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy, Tuddenham Mill switched to the ownership of Team Valor for start three and was eventually transferred Stateside. The 3-year-old was bred by the Imperial Crown Syndicate.
A £29,000 Tattersalls Ireland September yearling, Tuddenham Mill was picked up by Troy Steve Bloodstock from The Castlebridge Consignment. His dam, who won as a juvenile and is a full-sister to GI Suburban H. hero and sire Frost Giant (Giant's Causeway), has a 2-year-old filly by Magna Grecia (Ire) still to come.
Coolmore Stud stallion Holy Roman Emperor sports 25 winners from 49 runners in America (51%). Besides his 11 stakes horses in that jurisdiction, six of his progeny have won stakes (12%), led by top-drawer winners Glorious Empire (Ire), Rockemperor (Ire), and Rich Tapestry (Ire).
Group 2 winner Amazing Grace (Ger) (Protectionist {Ger–Amabelle {Ger}, by Danehill Dancer {Ire}), twice placed at the highest level in her native land, will be offered during Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale, from Dec. 3-6.
Slated to enter the ring on Dec. 3, the G2 T. von Zastrow Stutenpreis heroine also took last year's G2 Diana Trial for breeder Dr. Christoph Berglar and trainer Waldemar Hickst. Her final race was a solid third in the G1 Preis von Europa and her record stands at 15-4-4-5 with earnings of $229,353.
Currently rated 105, the 4-year-old is out of the listed winner Amabelle. This is the same family as the high-class runners Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and National Defense (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), as Amazing Grace's fifth dam is the influential Anna Paola (Ger) (Prince Ippi {Ger}).
Ronald Rauscher said of the filly, “As the racing manager, I have been lucky enough to look after Amazing Grace since she was born. She is one of those fillies that takes your heart and makes you believe in her from day one. I always thought she was full of potential, and she has never let me down. Very consistent, she came better with age to have her best season this year.
“She's finished second to Sammarco (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), the winner of the [G1] German Derby, showing us just how talented she is and that she could give him a run for his money. I think she is a perfect example of the best of German breeding. Her sire is a German stallion, and comes from a wonderful Gestut Rottgen familly, one of the pillars of which is Anna Paola, who is at the origin of one of Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum's most prestigious lines as well as many other breeders.”
Gestut Rottgen's homebred 2-year-old colt Aspirant (Ger) (Protectionist {Ger}–Aussicht {Ger}, by Haafhd {GB}), who holds an engagement in Krefeld's Nov. 13 G3 Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen, went postward as the 16-5 second choice for Sunday's one-mile Preis der Holschbach Immobilien Gruppe at Dusseldorf and returned home with a 'TDN Rising Star' after disposing of his rivals in impressive fashion. Aspirant was professional from the gate and broke well to gain a narrow advantage going into the first turn. Comfortable on the lead throughout this debut, he was nudged along at the top of the straight and powered clear under urging inside the final quarter mile to easily outclass Alpenjager (Ger) (Nutan {Ire}) by an impressive 3 1/2 lengths.
“I'm a little bit surprised that he won so easily,” trainer Markus Klug admitted to GaloppOnline after welcoming back the first of his two winners on the card. “Even though his siblings [Akribie and Ariolo] were good 2-year-olds, he is a late-foaled son of Protectionist and didn't come into training until very late. So, of course, we have to be tentative with him at first.”
Aspirant is the fifth foal and scorer produced by a winning daughter of G3 Hamburger Stutenpreis victrix Anna Thea (Ire) (Turfkonig {Ger}). The April-foaled bay is a half-brother to G2 Diana-Trial winner Akribie (Ger) (Reliable Man {GB}) and last term's G3 Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen runner-up Ariolo (Ger) (Reliable Man {GB}). Descendants of Anna Thea also include this term's G2 Derby Italiano hero and G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin third Ardakan (GB) (Reliable Man {GB}), G2 Union-Rennen victor Aspectus (Ire) (Spectrum {Ire}), stakes-winning G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud runner-up Willie The Whipper (GB) (Whipper) and G1 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) third Andrea (Ger) (Dashing Blade {GB}).
2nd-Dusseldorf, €7,000, Mdn, 9-11, 2yo, 8fT, 1:39.18, g/s. ASPIRANT (GER), c, 2, by Protectionist (Ger) 1st Dam: Aussicht (Ger), by Haafhd (GB) 2nd Dam: Anna Thea (Ire), by Turfkonig (Ger) 3rd Dam: Anstandige (Ger), by Star Appeal (Ire)
1ST-TIME STARTER. O/B-Gestut Rottgen (GER); T-Markus Klug. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, €4,200. *1/2 to Akribie (Ger) (Reliable Man {GB}), GSW-Ger, $123,658; and Ariolo (Ger) (Reliable Man {GB}), GSP-Ger. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Aspirant 2yo c, Protectionist – Aussicht (Haafhd), bred & owned by Gestüt Röttgen @Sternkoenig trained by Markus Klug breaks his maiden on debut over 1600m at Düsseldorf
