The 4-year-old filly captured the G1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois at Deauville on Aug. 13 in her most recent start, which secured her spot in the gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita in November. The Sun Chariot provides a four-week lead into the Breeders' Cup.

“She's in good form and we are probably favouring Newmarket and the Sun Chariot is a possible race for her,” Richardson said. “I suppose it really depends on what she is going to do next year. If she is going to retire, I can see her going to America and retiring, but if she was to stay in training then I don't know, and maybe she will make the Breeders' Cup, but it would depend on what Mrs Thompson would like to do.”

Additionally, Cheveley Park's Group 2 winner Sacred (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) could also make the trip to California, but will have to improve off her fifth-place finish in the G2 City Of York S. on Aug. 26.

“We now know she just does not want to perform at York,” Richardson said of the William Haggas trainee. “She was in great form going in there but she was never happy.

“Tom [Marquand] came back and said she went down unhappy, was unsettled in the stalls and just took a hold and was never prepared to put her best foot forward. We've got various options and the Breeders' Cup is a thought. At the moment it is at the back of our minds when we were hoping it would be at the forefront.

“We might go back for the Listed race at Newbury which she won last year. That could be another opportunity for her.”

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Breaking off from a short holiday to speak to the Nick Luck Daily podcast on Wednesday, Haggas said of Baaeed's future engagements at Goodwood and York, “I think that's the obvious route. We haven't discussed it fully but it seems the obvious thing. He's got to race because he's four years old and there aren't many races left for him.”

Reflecting on last week's victory in the G1 Queen Anne S. on the opening day of Royal Ascot, which took the Shadwell star's unbeaten record to eight, he added, “He won well as he was entitled to do. I was not overwhelmed by his performance, though he never really came off the bridle really. But the handicapper must have seen something because he put him up 3lbs.

“He's just professional. It's like it's automatic for him and it's enough at the moment. He did well and we were really pleased with him.”

Haggas's Somerville Lodge stable celebrated two winners at the royal meeting, with the Barnane Stud 4-year-old homebred Candleford (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) posting an impressive six-length win in the Duke of Edinburgh S. He too could be off to York for the competitive Ebor H.

Haggas told Nick Luck, “He has just in the last few weeks come forward. He has really done well and he looked a really good horse. I couldn't fault his performance and he's gone up 13lbs so he will sneak into the Ebor.”

Posting decent runs in defeat were the Haggas-trained My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) and Maljoom (Ire) (Caravaggio), who finished a close third and fourth behind Coroebus (Ire) ((Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 St James's Palace S.

The performance of Maljoom, who is likely to be seen next in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois in Deauville, was particularly eye-catching, with the colt running home strongly after being blocked in his run. 

“The horse made rapid gains in the last furlong and I think most observers thought that he would have won, and I agree with them,” Haggas said. 

“I think My Prospero is a good horse but I think he just needs further and it was a risk running him in the St James's Palace because we knew he needed further. But it was the last Group 1 for 3-year-old colts and we felt it was worth a shot and it nearly paid off for him, but he won't run at a mile again. Maljoom will stay at a mile for the time being.”

He added of the Tsui family's My Prospero, “He's a great, big horse and I think he will be better next year. If we can nick a Group 1 somewhere we have a chance of him being a proper horse next year.”

Cheveley Park Stud's 4-year-old filly Sacred (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) was only a length off the winner when finishing fifth in the G1 Platinum Jubilee S. on Saturday, and she could now race in France for the first time in Deauville in August.

“I thought Sacred ran a belter,” said Haggas. “It was just too short for her. She's a seven-furlong filly. We've got another One Master (Ire) situation, but the only difference is that One Master loved cut in the ground and Sacred likes it fast. But she ran a really top race. We're desperately trying to win a Group 1 and I think the Maurice de Gheest will be the one we settle for.”

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So states William Haggas of his stable star, the Shadwell homebred Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), whose seasonal debut, which is likely to be in the G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S. on May 14, will be one of the most anticipated returns of the season. At this stage last year, Baaeed hadn't even been seen on a racecourse, but his trainer thought enough of him to nominate him as his horse to follow in Mark Howard's Ahead On The Flat book for 2021.

“I've since looked back and thought, 'what if I'd run him in the Dewhurst?',” Haggas says. “Because the criticism of him when he goes to stud will be that he didn't run as a 2-year-old. I would say that if I had trained him to run as a 2-year-old he wouldn't have been the horse he is now, but the trouble is nobody knows the answer to that.”

He adds, “When he was two I thought he would want a mile and a half because his brother did, but he has a huge sprinter's backside. He was always nice looking and of course he has a lovely pedigree. I love Sea The Stars. But I didn't envisage Baaeed doing what he did.”

What he did was to progress from his June 7 debut in a Leicester maiden, through a Newmarket novice race carrying a penalty, to the Listed Henry Cecil S. on the July Course, which he won easily by four lengths. 

“Then I rang Sheikha Hissa and asked her if she would like to supplement him for the Sussex,” Haggas recalls. “He hadn't even run when the Sussex entries closed. I told her there was a Group 3 option for 3-year-olds only the next day and she said she would think about it. Sheikha Hissa decided it was best to go quietly, and then the Sussex was run in a ploughed field and I wasn't sure that I would have wanted to run him in that ground, but fortunately she said to go for the Group 3 [Thoroughbred S.] and he won that easily too.”

From that point on there was no avoiding a Group 1 challenge, and after a five-week break between runs, Baaeed travelled overseas for the first time to France for the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, in which he beat the GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}), G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Victor Ludorum (GB) (Shamardal) and the G1 Falmouth S. heroine Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

“We had a bit of a wobble after Goodwood and I was worried that he was too fresh in the Moulin,” Haggas continues. “When I saw him go to post I was worried that I had underdone him. He was drawn wide and he was wide the whole way. He wasn't that impressive really, but I knew then, and I said to Angus [Gold, Shadwell's racing manager] 'he must be a good horse, because he has done it in spite of his stupid trainer'. Then he was really good going to Ascot and we were extremely happy with him.”

Baaeed concluded his spotless season by beating the top older miler Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. on QIPCO British Champions Day, with Her Majesty in attendance to present the prize for the race named in her honour. He has remained at Haggas's Somerville Lodge as autumn turned to winter and now spring, and as he approaches his actual fourth birthday this Friday he has just completed his first piece of strong work in the countdown to Newbury.

Haggas, an avowed supporter of the brilliantly versatile Sea The Stars, with a keen interest in pedigrees, appears to be itching to try Baaeed beyond the mile at which he has so far proved so superior. He says, “He was always going for the Lockinge then the Queen Anne. He's going to be given an entry in the Prince of Wales's because I feel that he has to go up in trip at some stage. The difficulty is knowing when. Frankel did the Lockinge, Queen Anne, Sussex and then he went to a mile and a quarter and was imperious. I'm quite keen to try him at a mile and a quarter. I think if he relaxes and breathes properly then he should be better [at that distance]. I can't believe he won't stay.”

The only dark cloud on an otherwise bright horizon for Baaeed and those around him is the fact that his owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan did not live long enough to see this fifth-generation descendant of his hugely important foundation mare Height Of Fashion (Fr) (Bustino {GB}) make such an impact on the racecourse. The reins have been passed now to his daughter Sheikha Hissa, who has already signalled her enthusiasm for the turf with appearances at track work during the Dubai International Racing Carnival, at which Baaeed's full-brother Hukum (Ire) was victorious on Super Saturday in the G2 Dubai City of Gold for trainer Owen Burrows.

“However much we mourn Sheikh Hamdan, sadly he's not coming back,” Haggas says. “Sheikha Hissa has her own identity and this is now the new era of Shadwell, and our focus is on what we can do for her and her operation.”

Among Sheikha Hissa's team of runners to look forward to this season is another Lockinge entrant, Aldaary (GB) (Territories {Ire}), who was last seen when rounding off a memorable Champions Day for the team by winning the Balmoral Handicap.

“Aldaary is a heavy-ground horse and he's pretty lethal at Ascot,” says his trainer. “Newbury is straight and just occasionally the Lockinge is heavy. If  suddenly I thought that it wasn't great for Baaeed then it would be great for Aldaary. But the idea is to run Baaeed, and he will probably run, but if it came up heavy Aldaary will run. He's never run in a stakes race before but he's rated 115 so is officially 10lbs behind Baaeed, but he's ahead of a lot of others and he's a lovely horse.”

He adds of the 4-year-old gelding, “He was very difficult to break, but he was gelded and he is a really kind horse now.”

Another in the stable for whom Haggas reserves the warmest of praise, and who is watching us keenly as we speak from his stable which is almost an annexe to the trainer's home, is the four-time Group 1 winner Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), now eight and thankfully recovered from an infection which nearly claimed his life last year. 

“Addeybb is marvellous,” Haggas says simply of the horse who brightened the early stages of lockdown, not just for his own stable, but for much of the local racing fraternity as Addeyyb claimed back-to-back Group 1 wins in Sydney while British racing was brought to a standstill by the pandemic. 

“He's going to go for the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown and then the Wolferton, unless he wins the Brigadier Gerard, in which case he'll go for the Prince of Wales's. Otherwise he'll go for the Wolferton, which he won three years ago. It's only listed, he's dropped all his Group 1 penalties and he's eight years old, so it might give him a chance of winning again.”

He continues, “He was really good in 2020 and his performance in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes [at Randwick] and the Champion Stakes [at Ascot] were his best two. He was never quite the same in 2021 but he ran second behind St Mark's Basilica (Fr) with Mishriff (Ire) behind him in the Eclipse, and that was commendable effort. But then it didn't rain at all and we couldn't get a prep run into him before the Champion Stakes. Then I didn't think there would be much pace on, so I said to Tom [Marquand] to slide forward but Adayar took him on up front.”

Haggas adds, “We nearly lost him. He got an infection in his hock and I thought he was going to die. He went off to the vets and lost a lot of weight, so it's taken him a long time to recover, but he's going to do his first piece of work this week. He's getting on a bit and he will probably be a very nice hack eventually when he retires.”

Last season's G2 King Edward VII S. winner Alenquer (Fr) (Adlerflug {Ger}) has already been seen in action twice this year when beating Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) to win the G3 Winter Derby before running sixth of 15 in an ultra-competitive staging of the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic. 

“I think the ground was too firm for him [in Dubai],” says the trainer. “He lost a shoe but he looked uncomfortable on the ground, certainly turning for home. But he dug in quite well and ran a respectable race. I'm going to go to Ireland with him for the Tattersalls Gold Cup. We've got another six weeks which I think will be fine. I don't think he wants it firm, but he can cope with soft ground.”

He continues, “Everyone looked at Lord North winning [in Dubai] and thought Alenquer had to run well but nobody looked at the other side, which was Fancy Man (Ire), who was third in the Winter Derby and was then got rolled over in a listed race at Kempton the same day as Dubai.

“As training performances go, that was a pretty amazing training performance with Lord North, and John [Gosden] didn't get much credit for it. But to bring him back in three and a half weeks from looking ring-rusty to winning a race of that nature was pretty impressive.”

Haggas adds with a laugh, “Don't tell him that though.”

Of the fillies' division in Somerville Lodge, Haggas notes that he may send last season's G3 Nell Gwyn S. and G2 Hungerford S. winner Sacred (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) straight to Royal Ascot for the renamed G1 Platinum Jubilee S. 

“I think she's best fresh,” says the trainer, who also has Sacred's unraced 3-year-old sister Enshrine (GB), by Ulysses (Ire), for breeder Cheveley Park Stud. 

He may even have a contender to keep the Nell Gwyn trophy in his clutches for this year in the form of Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's Perfect News (GB), a daughter of Frankel (GB) and Haggas's former star performer Besharah (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who sadly died recently. 

“Perfect News runs next week, probably in the Fred Darling, but I'm also going to put her in the Nell Gwyn,” he says. “I think she wants soft ground but she's won on the track at Newmarket and I think that's a bit of a plus. I might also put her in the Free Handicap because she sneaks in at the bottom and there's quite often only about six runners in that race.”

Haggas has recently received news that another former stable star, the brilliant treble G1 Prix de la Foret winner One Master (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) has been scanned in foal to Frankel after delivering her first foal, a colt by Dubawi (Ire), on Jan. 27. And he has been sent another potentially top-class filly by One Master's American owner-breeders Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who snapped up the G1 Criterium International third Purplepay (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) for €2 million at Arqana last December.

“The Jacksons are marvellous and they have sent me a bit of a bonus really,” says the trainer. “Purplepay was going to America and she missed the flight. They decided to send her over here for now and I have just put her in the Irish Guineas. They would come to Ascot if Purplepay ran there, even though they are in their mid-80s now. They are wonderful people.”

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Sacred was among the top of her generation at two when runner-up in the G2 Queen Mary S., G2 Lowther S. and G2 Flying Childers S., and the only blip on her 2021 CV came when she was seventh in the G1 1000 Guineas.

“Sacred is to remain in training as she only raced on three occasions in 2021, so we would like to think she will be fresh for a full campaign this year which may start off at the Royal Ascot meeting,” said Cheveley Park Stud's Senior Manager John Marsh. “Her dam Sacre Caroline, who is a half sister to Lady Eli, is in foal to Frankel and will return to him.”

Another filly Cheveley Park has high hopes for in 2022 is champion 2-year-old filly Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}), and her dam Starscope (GB) (Selkirk) is due late to Ulysses (Ire) and may be rested after foaling, however, Marsh said, “should she foal early there is every chance she will return to Frankel this year.”

Cheveley Park's 2021 Royal Ascot winner, the G2 Duke Of Cambridge S. winner Indie Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), has been retired to the broodmare band and visits Frankel. Another Cheveley Park mare visiting Frankel is Furbelow (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), the dam of three-time Group 1-winning sprinter and young sire Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}). Furbelow is currently in foal to Mohaather (GB).

Cheveley Park's G1 Falmouth S.-winning daughter of Frankel, Veracious (GB), is due to deliver her first foal by Dubawi this year and will return to him. Another Falmouth winner, the dual Group 1 winner and stakes producer Integral (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}), is in foal to Blue Point (Ire) and visits first-season sire Palace Pier (GB), while G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. winner Persuasive (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) is in foal to Dubawi and visits Kingman.

GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Queen's Trust (GB) (Dansili {GB}) will return to Kingman for the third consecutive season to begin her stud career. Marsh described the mare's first foal, a filly, as “quite simply stunning.”

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Sacred, second in a trio of key juvenile events in 2020 for trainer William Haggas in the G2 Queen Mary S., G2 Lowther S. and G2 Flying Childers S., won the G3 Nell Gwyn S. and the G2 Hungerford S. this season over seven furlongs. On her only other run, she was seventh in the G1 1000 Guineas.

Cheveley Park Stud Managing Director Chris Richardson said, “We've decided not to go. We would have got our ground, but she's a very special filly, and Mrs Thompson took the view she's staying in training next year, and we didn't want to travel her. If all is well, and she's still in competitive heart, we will consider it as a 4-year-old. She's back here [at Cheveley Park Stud] for her holidays. Let's hope she develops physically and we can stretch her to a mile, which would be good. We'll see how we get on. The programme is a little easier for those fillies.”

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“Before the Foret the only possible is the [G2] Park S. at Doncaster, but she has to have to fast ground,” said Haggas. “Unfortunately fast ground Arc weekends are few and far between these days. I don't know whether [Cheveley Park owner Patricia] Mrs Thompson would like to travel, but the Breeders' Cup is certainly something I would consider. If she was keen on the idea then we'd go. But if she isn't then we'll wait; I think there's a chance she stays in training next year.”

Sacred has won twice over seven furlongs this season-the G3 Nell Gwyn S. and the Hungerford-either side of finishing seventh in the G1 1000 Guineas.

“Seven furlongs is the worst trip to have a good horse at; it's a pain,” Haggas lamented. “There is one Group 1 and four Group 2s, three of which fall in the same month. So you can't do them all–well, Jim Bolger might.

“There's then the Park S., and that's it. So it is a bad distance to have a good horse at, but that's the way it is. I think we'll try her over a mile again at some stage.”

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While significant pointers were staged for the middle-distance and sprinting divisions, all eyes were on the Classic trials, with now under two weeks until the Newmarket editions. And while a handful of black-type races shook up the betting markets, it was the winners of non-stakes races that made some of the biggest moves in the odds for the 2000 and 1000 Guineas.

On the opening card of the Craven meeting at Newmarket last Tuesday, third-generation Shadwell homebred Mutasaabeq (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) followed up a first-out maiden win over course and distance last October for Charlie Hills with a stirring six-length conditions score going seven furlongs. The son of the 2009 G1 1000 Guineas winner Ghanaati (Giant's Causeway) needs to be supplemented to the 2000 Guineas, but should he line up Mutasaabeq would be a poignant potential winner for the late Sheikh Hamdan, he being a great-grandson of Height Of Fashion, one of the first fillies purchased by Sheikh Hamdan-from The Queen, who herself celebrated an important win with Tactical (GB) (Toronado {Ire}) at the meeting-and one who would go on to reward him so richly across the decades.

The victory of Mutasaabeq likely turned the heads of followers of racing transatlantically; the name was first carried to prominence last summer by a Shadwell-owned colt trained by Todd Pletcher in the U.S. who was third in the GI Hopeful S. before switching to the turf to win the GII Bourbon S. at Keeneland. The American Mutasaabeq was last seen winning the Listed Mucho Macho Man S. going a mile on the turf at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 2, and while he is currently on the sidelines with a minor shin injury, it is very much within the realm of possibility that we will see two high-class Mutasaabeq's running on each side of the Atlantic later this year. Is it possible that we could even see a Mutasaabeq match-up-maybe in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile? The British-bred Mutasaabeq currently rates an 8-1 fourth choice for the 2000 Guineas.

The Richard Hannon-trained Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}) saw her odds for the 1000 Guineas halved to 8-1 following a mile Newbury maiden win at second asking, in which she joined the 'TDN Rising Star' ranks. It was Richard Hannon Snr's name on the license when Snow Lantern's dam, Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}), won the 2013 1000 Guineas, but Hannon Jnr was no doubt in the thick of it and he didn't hide his admiration for Sky Lantern's third foal in the aftermath of the race, indicating he would persuade owner/breeder Rockcliffe Stud to push on to the Guineas, where she will have to contend not only with the one-raced favourite Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) but also with the likes of 2-year-old champion Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}) and Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never), who backed up her G1 Cheveley Park S. win with a short-head score in the G3 Dubai Duty Free S. on the same Newbury card on which Snow Lantern was successful. That card-shifted to Sunday from Saturday to accommodate the funeral services for the Duke Of Edinburgh-also included a victory by Snow Lantern's stablemate Chindit (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the featured G3 Greenham S. Chindit had impressed last year with three consecutive wins to begin his career before coming undone over the soft going when ninth in the G1 Dewhurst S., and after he accelerated in the dying strides to collar Mehmento (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) and The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}) on Sunday, Hannon noted that Chindit has recently begun relaxing in his work after initially training like a sprinter through the winter.

Frankel's Classic Fillies

It was 10 years ago last weekend that Snow Lantern's sire Frankel kicked off a legendary 3-year-old campaign with a four-length score in the G3 Greenham S., and the results for the ascendant Juddmonte sire continued to roll in last week. Another of his recent 'TDN Rising Stars', Sibila Spain (Ire), backed up a nine-length maiden victory with a clear-cut conditions score at Lyon-Parilly last Thursday and seems firmly on course for a tilt at the G1 Prix de Diane. She has the chance to follow in the footsteps of Hungry Heart (Aus) as an Oaks winner, with that Yulong Investments homebred (out of the Pivotal {GB} mare Harlech {GB}) having become a first Classic winner Down Under for Frankel with a win in Saturday's G1 Australian Oaks. Hungry Heart, in fact, closed out a double for Frankel on The Championships card at Randwick; his 2-year-old gelded Australian-bred son Converge (Aus) won the Listed The Agency Real Estate Mile on his fourth start for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. The colt races as a homebred for Bott's father, Tony Bott of Evergreen Stud. Converge's dam, Conversely (Ire) (Shamardal), was plucked from the Godolphin draft at Goffs February in 2017 as an unraced 3-year-old for €6,000 and covered by Frankel before traveling Down Under.

With the likes of Juddmonte homebred filly Wensleydale (GB) also in the reckoning for the French Classics after becoming a 'TDN Rising Star' on Apr. 6, Frankel could be sitting on a huge spring.

The Beast Of Britain Crowned Again

For those watching from afar in Britain the highlight of The Championships card had to be the win of the evergreen 7-year-old Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) over his archrival Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}) in the A$4-million G1 Queen Elizabeth S. Sheikh Ahmed's gelding had traveled Down Under to beat Verry Elleegant in both the G1 Ranvet S. and the Queen Elizabeth last Australian autumn prior to returning north to win the G1 Champion S. and finish second in the G1 Prince of Wales's S., and while Addeybb and Tom Marquand had been overturned by the mare in the latest edition of the Ranvet on Mar. 27, trainer William Haggas had gone on the record as saying he thought the chestnut would be sharper for the outing and, on Marquand's advice, added half blinkers to Addeybb's arsenal. Marquand made two decisive moves mid-race-first to position Abbeybb in closer order after traveling in the second half of the field, and then gunning him up to sit second at about halfway-and Addeybb responded by grabbing the lead at the 400 and very bravely boxing on to win by three quarters of a length. Addeybb could have been reasonably labeled as a soft-ground specialist previously, but his rousing win over a track rated Good 4 sets him up as a legitimate key player for all the top middle-distance contests this summer, and it was particularly exciting the way he refused to fold in the lane despite having some very good horses breathing down his neck.

Credit, too, must go to the supremely talented Verry Elleegant, who stuck around for second after a nightmare run in which she severely over-raced, was taken back through the field for cover then had to sprint widest of all. The longevity of Australian mares, and Addeybb's ineligibility to breed, mean that another set of match ups isn't out of the realm of possibility; in fact, there were reports in the Australian media on Monday that Verry Elleegant's co-owner Brae Sokolski called Haggas on Sunday proposing a match race between the two horses in two weeks' time, with each owner putting up A$5-million, winner take all. With Marquand already on his way back to Britain and Addeybb not far behind him, Haggas reportedly declined.

Addeybb was a key factor in an electric start to the turf season for Haggas. The Newmarket trainer took both black-type contests on the second day of the Craven meeting last Wednesday-My Oberon (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G3 Earl Of Sefton S. and Sacred (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) in the G3 Nell Gwyn S.-and made it a treble with Sheikh Hamdan's 3-year-old Mohaafeth (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in a 2000-metre handicap, while Al Aasy (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was the eye-catching winner of the 2400-metre G3 John Porter S. on Newbury's Greenham card. Sacred made a seamless preparation for the 1000 Guineas, traveling near the rear of the pack and slicing through rivals late to score comfortably, and Haggas said in the aftermath that it is all systems go for May 2. Running a bang-up race in second was Jane Chapple-Hyam's G3 Oh So Sharp S. winner Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), though she may not have been the most exciting 3-year-old filly to emerge from her trainer's yard at the Craven meeting. The next day, Chapple-Hyam sent out Sir Edmund Loder's homebred Bellosa (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) to a seven-length debut maiden win going seven furlongs over the Rowley Mile, though the bay looks set for a gradual rise through the ranks, targeting listed company next rather than returning for the Guineas.

A Sea Of Talent

The Craven meeting also provided some clarity to the ranking of Godolphin's Guineas colts, which are a substantial squad. Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) returned to the course over which he won the G2 July S. last year to slash his 2000 Guineas odds to 10-1 after accelerating late to cut down stablemate La Barrosa (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) by three quarters of a length. Master Of The Seas has been far from a straightforward project for trainer Charlie Appleby, his exuberance getting the better of him in both the G1 National S. last year, when he was fourth, and when second to stablemate Naval Crown (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})-who was second in the Craven meeting's Listed European Free H.–on seasonal debut in the Listed Meydan Classic on Feb. 25. Appleby has Master Of The Seas, Naval Crown and the 5-1 favourite and G3 Autumn S. winner One Ruler (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) still in the reckoning for the 2000 Guineas, while the G3 Tattersalls S. scorer La Barrosa holds an entry for the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas. La Barrosa appeared to struggle with the heavy going when trailing home in the G1 Criterium International last October, and the horse that finished one placing ahead of him that day, Policy Of Truth (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), also made a favourable return to the races on Sunday when beating the G1 Jean-Luc Lagardere scorer Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) in the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau for trainer Pia Brandt. Policy Of Truth completed a group-race double on the card for Maxime Guyon, who also took the fillies' Classic trial, the G3 Prix de la Grotte, aboard Christophe Ferland's Cirona (GB) (Maxios {GB}) in a blanket finish, though the fillies came home more than four seconds slower than the colts.

Broome Features In Coolmore Sweep

Ireland, too, had its fair share of quality racing over the past week. Saturday's card at The Curragh saw the Coolmore partners (in various different ownership combinations) sweep the first five races. Five-year-old Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) continued in his quest to re-ascend to Group 1 level with a win in the G3 Alleged S., while Lancaster House (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) put two disappointing efforts firmly behind him with a repeat victory in the seven-furlong G3 Gladness S. Wordsworth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), second to the G1 Cazoo Derby favourite High Definition (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in his lone start last August, was a notable maiden winner upped to 2000 metres, being a full-brother to G1 St Leger and G1 Grand Prix de Paris scorer Kew Gardens (Ire). One of the more welcome victories of the week for team Coolmore, however, must have been the winning return of Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the Listed Heritage S. at Leopardstown on Wednesday. Lope Y Fernandez had not won since taking the G3 Round Tower S. at two, though he was placed in four Group 1s last year from six furlongs to a mile. Aidan O'Brien said post-race that Lope Y Fernandez would be campaigned as a miler this year, with the G1 Lockinge S. and G1 Queen Anne S. the key early targets.

Practicality, Not Flash, At Craven Sale

Last week provided an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the stars of the future not just on the racecourse but also in the sales ring, with Tattersalls raising the curtain on the breeze-up season with its Craven sale. The sector so ravaged by the onset of the pandemic last year got off to an encouraging start with the clearance rate, at 88%, the sale's highest in 21 years. The average (86,021gns) and median (68,000gns) have some way to go to reach pre-pandemic levels and indicate sellers have adjusted their expectations somewhat to move on stock after a tumultuous year, but the signs overall are encouraging and indicate a market on the mend.

The 360,000gns sale-topping filly–who was a $185,000 foal pinhooked by Tally-Ho Stud and the American-based Archie St George–continued the early bull run of Coolmore America first-season sire Practical Joke, who had also supplied the top lot at America's first juvenile sale of the season, OBS March–a $750,000 filly bought by Japan's Hideyuki Mori-and a $800,000 filly bought by the Coolmore partners at Fasig-Tipton's Gulfstream Sale. There were two by Practical Joke at the Craven Sale and the other, a colt pinhooked by Powerstown Stud, brought 140,000gns, having been a $75,000 yearling. Practical Joke is by the red-hot Into Mischief and won a pair of Grade Is at two before adding the seven-furlong GI H. Allen Jerkens S. at three, and he is one of the first elite sons of Into Mischief, following the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Goldencents, to have runners.

The Craven Sale once again provided excellent returns for numerous juveniles sourced from America; in addition to the Practical Joke colt, Tom Whitehead pinhooked a Union Rags colt bought for $115,000 for 185,000gns; Michael Cleere turned a $18,000 Hard Spun colt into 90,000gns and a $37,000 Street Boss colt was flipped for 110,000gns. Getting the European pinhookers to Kentucky last year was a herculean task for the sales houses in the midst of the pandemic, but these early results reaffirm that their efforts were worthwhile.

Other first-season sires to make their mark at the Craven Sale included Caravaggio (five sold for an average of 112,400gns), who started out at Coolmore in Ireland but now stands alongside Practical Joke at Ashford Stud in Kentucky and was the first of his sire crop to post a winner with the 'TDN Rising Star' Tenebrism (Ire) on Mar. 28; and Cotai Glory (GB), who had colts sell for 130,000gns and 110,000gns just hours after recording his first winner at Newmarket last Tuesday. Aclaim (Ire), likewise, had a colt sell for 150,000gns.

Making a resurgence at the Craven sale was Dabirsim (Fr), who had three juveniles sell for 140,000gns, 190,000gns and 240,000gns, with two of those being shrewd pinhooks by Robson Aguiar sourced from last year's Deauville Select Yearling Sale. Dabirsim's average of 190,000gns at Craven far outpointed the $14,165 average he achieved for six sold at last year's breeze-up sales, and it is worth remembering that this crop of 2-year-olds is the one bred immediately after Dabirsim produced the G3 Albany S. winner Different League (Fr) in his first season with runners and was bred on a career-high fee of €30,000.

Tragic Death Of Lorna Brooke

We were devastated to learn on Monday of the death of 37-year-old amateur rider Lorna Brooke, who had been placed in an induced coma after a fall at Taunton on Apr. 8. Just last week in this column, Emma Berry was celebrating the groundbreaking achievements of jockeys like Rachael Blackmore and Jamie Kah, and the contrast in tones to what we feel today is a stark reminder of just how fragile life is, and the risks that our riders take every day to do what they love. Our thoughts today are with Lorna's family and everyone who loved her.

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