Tag: Rossa Ryan

First Winner For Earthlight At Wolverhampton

Kildangan Stud's first-season sire Earthlight (Ire) (by Shamardal) became the latest in his bracket to get off the mark as his daughter Lady Lightning (GB) struck at Wolverhampton on Monday. Sent off at 12-1 for the five-furlong Download The Raceday Ready App EBF Restricted Novice S., the Ed Dunlop-trained 30,000gns Tatts Book 1 purchase was taken straight to the early lead by Rossa Ryan. Staying on strongly up the straight, she registered a 1 3/4-length verdict over Earthlight's Ashen Glow (Ire) to give the freshman a one-two in the bargain.

The listed-winning dam, whose yearling colt is by Twilight Son (GB), is a half-sister to the GI Northern Dancer Turf S. and G2 Jebel Hatta winner Wigmore Hall (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) and the GI Gamely S. heroine Ocean Road (Ire) (Australia {GB}).

2nd-Wolverhampton, £9,650, Novice, 4-8, 2yo, 5f 21y (AWT), 1:02.47, st.
LADY LIGHTNING (GB) (f, 2, Earthlight {Ire}–Lady Liberty {Ire} {SW-Ger}, by Shirocco {Ger}) Sales history: 30,000gns Wlg '22 TADEWE; 30,000gns Ylg '23 TATOCT. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $6,581.
O-The Serendipity Partnership; B-Cashel Rock Bloodstock Ltd (GB); T-Ed Dunlop.

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Lure of Global Riches Alters Face of Jockeys’ Championship

The rider who streaked home in the £4.7m Sheema Classic in Dubai at the weekend is also odds-on to win something rather more quaint.

The title of champion Flat race jockey was once contested with fierce pride by men who thrashed car engines dashing up and down the land to ride a winner at Redcar or Salisbury. Lester Piggott, Willie Carson and Pat Eddery didn't care where it was, provided it landed a blow on their rivals.

Sometimes small private planes would lift them over the motorway traffic. But the mission never changed. Champion jockey was a crown worth fighting for. One year Carson expended so much energy to win it that he needed a week in bed to recover.

William Buick, who won the Sheema Classic on Rebel's Romance, has been No 1 for the last two seasons and is 8/13 to complete his hat-trick. Oisin Murphy finished in front in the previous three campaigns (2019 to 2021) but now says he will not forego a big international ride for the sake of being champion once again.

The truncation of the jockeys' league in 2015 so that it now operates from May 4 to October 19 owed more to politics than stage management. Nobody could pretend the 'narrative' of identifying the top jockey has been strengthened by starting it at the Guineas meeting and calling a halt on Champions' Day. The public isn't exactly on tenterhooks to see whether Buick can hold off Murphy, Rossa Ryan, Silvestre de Sousa and Tom Marquand, who complete the top five in the betting.

But behind the UK Flat Jockeys' Championship's struggle for relevance sits a reality we sometimes take for granted: the extraordinary globalisation of the Flat race pilot's trade.

In prioritising big races abroad above little ones at Bath or Beverley, Murphy was merely adopting a position now assumed by the world's best cricketers. Test matches no longer anchor their career planning. As England's Kevin Pietersen is fond of saying, cricketers are becoming international freelancers, attached to this or that T20 league, with the Indian Premier League the mothership of salaries. Playing for England or Australia may cease to be the defining honour for players who see themselves as hired guns.

Behind the UK Flat Jockeys' Championship's struggle for
relevance sits a reality we sometimes take for granted: the
extraordinary globalisation of the Flat race pilot's trade

In racing, tie-ins with owners and trainers still have a large say in where jockeys go. Buick was riding for Godolphin at Meydan and Ryan Moore was there to accompany Aidan O'Brien's runners. And yet, taking in the sweep of colossally valuable fixtures in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Dubai this winter, it's easy to form a picture of the elite end of racing becoming a game without frontiers.

Moore holds the title of Longines World's Best Jockey (he won it too in 2014, 2016 and 2021). We think of him as Coolmore's 'finisher' in the UK and Ireland. But his cv maps out his global reach (not to mention the time spent on planes). Outside Europe he has won the Japan Cup, Melbourne Cup, Hong Kong Vase and races at the Breeders' Cup. He's unlikely to be tortured by the knowledge that he hasn't been the champ in his homeland since 2009.

The champion jockey title still resonates. It still offers a measure of greatness in the saddle. Nat Flatman claimed the first 13 titles from 1840 to 1852. Gordon Richards won it 26 times between 1925 and 1953. Names still pop out to induce nostalgia: Joe Mercer's lone win in 1979, or Steve Cauthen's three.  Jim Crowley's victory at 38 years old in 2016, 10 years after he switched from jump racing, was a stellar accomplishment.

If Buick is anointed again this autumn the completion of his hat-trick will bring him joy. Nobody however could expect him to crave another winners-ridden victory ahead of a revival for Charlie Appleby's yard in this campaign (Rebel's Romance was a promising start).

Racing isn't alone in pivoting away from the old markers of excellence. The compulsion in world sport is to follow the money, which can be found in new places, new events. Ask the footballers signing for Saudi Arabian clubs.

This isn't just a British and Irish trend. Falling in love with Japanese racing yielded spectacular results for France's Christophe Lemaire. Three times Lemaire has been Japan's No 1 rider, by races won. Numbers though are less of a guarantee of immortality than his partnerships with Almond Eye and Equinox, a conveyance of extraordinary grandeur, and the worldwide horse of the year in 2023.

This free flow of human talent to where the best horses and biggest prizes are follows modern norms. If it means we see a less entertaining scrap for autumn wins at Catterick or Ripon then we'll just have to hope the champion buys us a drink from his or her vast international earnings. 

Racing may sometimes be stuck in a loop of self-doubt, but the growing opulence of the global calendar is one field where decline is not conspicuous. Piggott, Eddery and Carson boarded aeroplanes too, often in Europe, but usually to get them from an afternoon meeting in Britain to an evening one.

 

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Annaf Scrapes Paint for 1351 Turf Sprint Win in Riyadh

UK trainer Mick Appleby, who burst onto the international scene with a win in the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint with Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) last year, doubled up on the world stage with a victory in the $2-million G2 Saudi National Bank 1351 Turf Sprint in Saudi Arabia by Fosnic Racing's ANNAF (IRE) (h, 5, Muhaarar {GB}–Shimah, by Storm Cat). Japan's La La Christine (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}) finished second while Byline (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) was third. Last year's winner, Bathrat Leon (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), was slow away from the gates and never got involved after a troubled trip.

“It's great going abroad winning these races and it puts us on the international map,” said Appleby. “Huge credit to the team in the yard who work hard all year.”

With Rossa Ryan aboard from a wide post, Annaf found cover early and didn't waste an inch as he edged over to the rail. Staying under the radar, he angled steadily up throughout the running and landed in an advantageous spot, finally slipping through the slimmest of seams to thread the needle on the inside and burst clear late. With a move not for the faint of heart, Annaf finished three-quarters of a length the best with a final time of time of 1:17.88 for the 1351 metres, or approximately 6 3/4 furlongs. The Japanese mare La La Christine closed from the clouds with a spectacular turn of foot, but ran out of ground and secured second as Bahrain's Byline found his best stride late to follow in her wake.

“With Annaf I have always tended to ride for luck. It seems to work for him,” said Ryan. “He lets hard-hitters do the work for him and picks up the pieces.

“The owner and trainer don't put any pressure on me and I know he has pace to get me out of trouble. I didn't have a lot of room but he stuck his head out for me. It's brilliant because I picked this lad up as a spare one day in Lingfield, I had to drop him out and bide my time and the relationship formed from there.”

Ryan rode Annaf for the first time in January, 2023 in a Lingfield handicap and the two embarked on a three-race win skein. They went their separate way for a few months and reunited for a third in the G1 King's Stand S. last June at Royal Ascot. A fourth in a Group 3 at Sandown ensued and the two separated once again before finally reuniting in September. They notched two nose wins, including in the Oct. 7 G3 John Guest Racing Bengough S. at Ascot, and were last seen finishing second on the all-weather at Lingfield Feb. 4.

“Rossa gave him a great ride,” said Appleby. “All down to Rossa, not my training. He keeps improving and keeps surprising us. God knows where we go next. He has got an invite to Japan, so possibly we'll go there next. We always thought he was good horse who'd get better with age and he might not be finished yet. The sky is the limit.”

Pedigree Notes

Haras Du Petit Tellier's Muhaarar (GB), new to the operation for 2024 after standing at Haras des Faune, is the sire of Annaf and 23 other black-type winners. The son of Oasis Dream (GB), himself a multiple Group 1 winner and crack English sprinter, famously sired the exacta in the 2021 G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. Also among his dozen group winners is last year's G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Marhaba Ya Sanafi (Ire). In addition, his Byline (GB) was third in the 1351 Turf Sprint, giving Muhaarar a one-three finish in Saturday's race.

Damsire Storm Cat, leading broodmare sire in the U.S. three times, has 308 stakes winners out of his daughters, including a long list of champions. Interestingly, two of Muhaarar's 12 group winners are out of Storm Cat-line mares, including Paris Peacock (Ire), a group winner in Ireland in 2022 and graded stakes-placed in the U.S. last year.

Annaf is a fourth-generation Shadwell-bred. His dam, one of the top fillies in Ireland in her day, also produced English stakes winner Mushir (GB), who is by Muhaarar's sire, Oasis Dream. Her last reported foal is the sophomore colt Mitwaa (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a winner in Qatar. Shadwell also bred and raced Muhaarar. Fosnic Racing picked up Annaf as an unraced 2-year-old for 16,000gns at the 2021 Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale.

Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia
SAUDI NATIONAL BANK 1351 TURF SPRINT-G2, $2,000,000, King Abdulaziz, 2-24, NH4yo/up, SH3yo/up, 1351mT, 1:17.88, gd.
1–ANNAF (IRE), 125, h, 5, by Muhaarar (GB)
                1st Dam: Shimah (Hwt. 2yo Filly-Ire, SW & G1SP-Ire,
                                $161,479), by Storm Cat
                2nd Dam: Sayedat Alhadh, by Mr. Prospector
                3rd Dam: Muhbubh, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
(16,000gns HRA '21 TATOCT). O-Fosnic Racing; B-Shadwell
Estate Company, Ltd. (Ire); T-Michael Appleby; J-Rossa Ryan;
$1,200,000. Lifetime Record: GSW & G1SP-Eng, 26-8-3-3,
$1,590,994. *1/2 to Mushir (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), SW-Eng
& SP-UAE, $171,335. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–La La Christine (Jpn), 121, m, 6, Mikki Isle (Jpn)–Super
Madame (Jpn), by Tanino Gimlet (Jpn). (¥18,900,000 Ylg '19
JBBAAUG). O-Fujii Kosan Co., Ltd.; B-; T-T. Saito; J-C. Demuro;
$400,000.
3–Byline (GB), 125, g, 7, Muhaarar (GB)–Lauren Louise (GB), by
Tagula (Ire). 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (140,000gns Ylg '18
TATOCT; 110,000gns HRA '20 TATOCT). O-Al Adiyat Racing; B- (GB); T-A. Smith; J-G. Mosse; $200,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3/4, HF.
Also Ran: Win Greatest (Jpn), Matilda Picotte (Ire), Aguri (Jpn), King Gold (Fr), Raaed (Ire), Jumby (Ire), Bathrat Leon (Jpn), Dr Zempf (GB), Art Power (Ire), Mysterious Night (Ire), Cold Front (GB). Click for the JCSA chart and video.

 

 

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Amo Racing Announces David Egan As New Number One Rider

David Egan is the latest jockey to have been snapped up as the number one rider for Amo Racing, with Kia Joorabchian saying the 24-year-old will help bring “long-term stability” to the team.

At just 24, Egan has already scaled some of racing's peaks. He won the Saudi Cup, the world's richest race, aboard Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in 2021 and more recently enjoyed great success with trainer Roger Varian, for whom he has partnered Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}}) to St Leger successes in Britain and Ireland. 

Joorabchian said, “I'm very pleased to announce David as our first jockey. We have had a brilliant ongoing relationship over the years and used David consistently on our horses, going back to Mojo Star's brilliant second in the [2021] Derby. We now feel it's the perfect time to consolidate our team and having David on board will be a valuable addition. 

“David is a talented, ambitious jockey with experience at the top of the sport having won races of the highest calibre all over the world, and growing up as Roger Varian's stable jockey has given him invaluable experience and maturity. Aware of the size of our organisation, we must implement systems to ensure longevity and I have tremendous confidence in this decision.”

He added, “Having David on board for the next two years will help us develop long-term stability as a team. I would also like to thank Roger for his tremendous support, confidence and blessing in this decision.” 

Egan was crowned champion apprentice in 2017 and has also ridden as the retained jockey to Prince AA Faisal. He takes over as Amo Racing's new number one rider one a two-year deal from Kevin Stott, who was removed from his post in September just one season after taking over from Rossa Ryan.

Egan commented, “I'm delighted to have signed a two-year contract with Amo Racing. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Roger and Hanako Varian, and all the Varian Stable team. 

“They have been like family to me since I first started in racing, and I'd just like to thank them for their friendship and support over the last seven years.”

 

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