Seven Days | Horse Racing Free Tips

Seven Days: The Sophomore Kings

We've a while to wait before any firm conclusions can be drawn about this year's crop of first-season stallions, though Darley's Blue Point (Ire) and Ballyhane Stud's Soldier's Call (GB) are pulling ever clearer in what has developed into something of a duel at the half-way stage of the Flat season. In the Coolmore camp, Calyx (GB) was the first to strike with a group winner when Persian Dreamer won Friday's G2 Duchess of Cambridge S.

As an aside, one wonders how much the clamour to run two-year-olds at Royal Ascot affects some decent juvenile races that follow in the wake of that meeting. At Ascot the six juvenile contests drew a total of 117 runners, while the four Group 2 two-year-old races in England and France in the last week attracted just 27.

When it comes to the current batch of second-crop stallions, it is notable that a number of them in both Europe and America have featured among this year's Classics. Cracksman (GB) has the best three-year-old colt in France, if not in Europe, in the Prix du Jockey Club winner Ace Impact (Fr). Havana Grey (GB) may not have sired a Classic winner yet but he is streaking ahead with stakes winners, the latest being the G2 Kingdom of Bahrain July S. winner Jasour (GB).

Five years ago, Justify and Good Magic finished first and second in the Kentucky Derby, but the latter is now a Kentucky Derby-winning sire thanks to the exploits of his first-crop son Mage. Justify, however, has since seized the limelight, both in his native country, where he stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud, and in Europe.

Last weekend he was responsible for two head-turning juvenile group winners, first at Newmarket, where the beautifully made City Of Troy stepped up on his impressive Curragh maiden win to post an emphatic success in the Bet365 Superlative S. for the Ballydoyle team. Rain-softened conditions from a torrential day on Friday may have exacerbated the winning margin but there was no disputing the scintillating manner of his performance.

You don't need to take my word for that, however. On Monday morning, Timeform revealed its rating for City Of Troy, whose dam Together Forever (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was a smart juvenile herself as the winner of the G1 Fillies' Mile. The son of Justify was duly given a mark of 119p, the highest ever awarded to a winner of the Superlative, and six pounds higher than that of Master Of The Seas (Ire), who went on to be beaten a short-head by Poetic Flare (Ire) in the following year's 2,000 Guineas (and indeed returned at the age of five to win Saturday's G2 Summer Mile by four lengths).

On Sunday, the Justify bandwagon rolled on as his daughter Ramatuelle continued her fine season which opened on April 11 when she became the first juvenile winner of the year for her fast-rising trainer Christopher Head. The G2 Prix Robert Papin was added to her earlier win in the G3 Prix du Bois and, as night follows day, a start in the G1 Sumbe Prix Morny on Aug. 20 is now very much the obvious target. The Deauville juvenile highlight is a race that has seen horses from this Scat Daddy sire-line play a major role in recent years, with Scat Daddy's son and daughter, No Nay Never and Lady Aurelia, triumphing in 2013 and 2016 respectively, while No Nay Never's son Blackbeard (Ire) won last year.

Justify, a member of Scat Daddy's penultimate crop, won solely on dirt in America, and he has been represented on that surface by last month's GI Woody Stephens S. winner Arabian Lion. Back on Belmont's turf track, however, his purple patch continued with the win last weekend of the Glen Hill Farm-bred Aspen Grove (Ire) in the GI Belmont Oaks. Trained by Fozzy Stack, she races for Glen Hill's Craig Bernick in partnership with Sue Magnier, and was a Group 3 winner in Ireland last season but disappointed when last in the Irish 1,000 Guineas prior to shipping to New York. We can look forward to her resumption in the Saratoga Oaks. It is also worth noting that Justify is leading the first-season sires' table in Australia, where he has the G2 Riesling S. winner Learning To Fly (Aus).

We have of course seen plenty of examples of what members of this sire-line can do on the grass, and in fact Aspen Grove's close relative is the G1 Moyglare Stud S. victrix Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy), who is a half-sister to the filly's dam Data Dependent (More Than Ready), who raced solely on turf.

Ramatuelle's dam Raven's Lady, whose sire Raven's Pass featured as the broodmare sire of two of the three group winners at Chantilly on Sunday, was also a turf runner who won the G2 Goldene Peitsche and G3 Summer S. for Marco Botti before being transferred to the US.

Unsurprisingly, Justify's European feats have not gone unnoticed by the team at Ashford Stud, particularly as both City Of Troy and Ramatuelle were raised there. Coolmore's Adrian Mansergh Wallace said on Monday, “City Of Troy getting seven furlongs so comfortably early on as a two-year-old bodes very well for him being effective over a mile as a three-year-old.

“Versatility is what this business is all about. If you look through his best runners so far, Arabian Lion is out of a Distorted Humor mare, Aspen Grove is out of a More Than Ready mare, Learning To Fly is out of a Fastnet Rock mare, City Of Troy is obviously out of a Galileo mare, and Verifying is out of a Repent mare. I think the fact they they are winning on all surfaces will only add to his legacy, and that was something that was very apparent with Scat Daddy, who was probably the best stallion we've ever stood here at Coolmore America.

“The line that is most synonymous with our farm here is the Storm Bird line and now we are very privileged to be standing the sixth and seventh generation of that line. It was noted for horses with precocious, two-year-old speed, but who trained on and got the Classic distances, as Justify obviously did in winning the Triple Crown.”

He added, “He's going to be leading freshman sire in Australia, he was one of the leading freshman sires up here last year in a strong group, and he's well on his way to perhaps being the leading second-crop sire up here. Hopefully the European runners will keep coming, but having Arabian Lion win a race as prestigious as the Woody Stephens on Belmont day is also very encouraging, then our own Verifying was second in the Blue Grass and won the Indiana Derby, and that keeps the dirt aspect of his career open.”

Take Note of Seabhac

Another son of Scat Daddy who entered the stallion ranks at the same time but with far less fanfare than Justify is Seabhac, and he should not be overlooked. He won the GIII Pilgrim S. on turf as a juvenile and joined Larissa Kneip's Haras de Saint Arnoult in 2019, with 58 foals resulting from that first crop.

Kneip sadly died last year but, ever the enthusiast in her varied roles in the business, it is easy to imagine that she would have taken great pride in Seabhac's success so far this year. Leading the way among his offspring is the G2 German 2,000 Guineas winner Angers (Fr), and his success was followed by that of Rue Boissonade (Fr) in Friday's G2 Prix de Malleret. The Mikel Delzangles-trained filly was bred by Kneip in partnership with United Breeders and was one of five group winners out of Galileo mares in Europe in the last week including the aforementioned Persian Dreamer and City Of Troy, and the G1 July Cup winner Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Fr}).

Seabhac, whose name is pronounced 'Shoke' and means hawk in Gaelic, has subsequently been moved to Haras du Taillis, where he stands alongside Fantastic Moon (GB), though this Group 3-winning son of Dalakhani (Ire) should not be confused with this year's German Derby winner of the same name but different suffix.

Diamond Days

There was plenty to enjoy both at Newmarket's July meeting and in France over the last week, and no horse was given a greater reception, even in the ceaseless rain, than Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}). It is always a joy to see Classic winners remain in training past the age of three, but Nashwa's owner/breeder Imad Al Sagar could have been forgiven if he had started to wonder if he had done the right thing after his burly filly suffered two defeats in her first two starts of the year.

Nashwa, however, simply saved her best for top-class company on her home track where she returned to a mile for the first time since April of last year, and she blitzed her rivals to win the G1 Tattersalls Falmouth S. For the Gosden team by five lengths.

Extra glory was to come for Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud when Nashwa's half-brother Louganini (GB) (Zoffany {Ire}), a treble winner in England, added to his tally with a victory at Ta'if in Saudi Arabia. Then on Sunday, the Blue Diamond-bred Araminta (GB) (Gleaneagles {Ire}) won the G3 Prix Chloe at Chantilly for Henry Candy, who mooted the possibility of the three-year-old filly heading next to Glorious Goodwood and the G1 Nassau S., in which Nashwa will attempt to defend her title.

Bought as a yearling from Tattersalls for 82,000gns, Araminta hails from a family which has been successful for various members of the Rothschild family over the decades, most recently for Lady (Serena) Rothschild, who died in 2019, prompting a dispersal of her Waddesdon Stud stock. It was from there that Araminta's dam, the Group 3 and treble Listed-winning sprinter Mince (GB) (Medicean {GB}), was purchased by Blue Diamond Stud. Sadly she produced just the one foal for the breeder as she died the following year at the age of 12.

Araminta's co-owner Alex Frost, CEO of the Tote, posed the question as to whether there has been a more veteran trainer-and-jockey combination to land a group race than Henry Candy and Gerald Mosse at 78 and 56 respectively. We think that prize may go to Jim Bolger and Kevin Manning with Poetic Flare but, nevertheless, it was noteworthy teamwork by the highly respected duo. Candy also saddled the July Cup runner-up Run To Freedom (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) during a memorable weekend for his stable. We'll hear more about that horse's conqueror, Shaquille, in tomorrow's TDN.

As for Araminta, she is owned by a partnership consisting of Frost, his fellow owner-breeder Andrew Stone of St Albans Bloodstock, and old friend Alex Acloque, who is a grandson of the noted Classic-winning breeder Lord Howard de Walden.

“It's just wonderful for Henry and for everybody, especially considering she only made her first start in April,” Frost told TDN. “This is the third Group 3 winner we've had and by some considerable way she was the most expensive.”

Araminta, who has been beaten only once in four starts when third in the Listed Conqueror Fillies' S. at Goodwood, subsequently returned to the Sussex track to win the Listed Height Of Fashion S. before heading to France.

“The way she races you would be mad keen to go to a mile and a half with her but it doesn't make any sense on paper, though Gleneagles does seem to be imparting plenty of stamina to his offspring,” said Frost, who owns Ladyswood Stud in Gloucestershire.

He added of the partnership, “Alex is an absolute racing nut and he has always been involved in horses with me, and Andrew got involved in this filly. The idea was to buy a broodmare together but we kept getting priced out of the broodmare market so we thought we'd have to try to make one, which can often be an expensive mistake. But so far, so good.

“We all live very close to each other. Andrew is a good mate and a Tote investor, and he's always been very supportive. Alex I've known since I was six or seven; we grew up together.”

Frost and his father have been long-term supporters of Henry Candy's stable at Kingstone Warren. He said of the trainer, “Henry understands every inch of a horse. That's what it's all about really, the total appreciation of an animal. He's a trainer who goes to see his horses every night, day, morning, feels every leg. There's nothing he wouldn't know about each horse.

“We were very tempted to push to run her at two but he said, 'She'll tell us when'. What I love about her is that she does nothing at home and it's only when she gets to the racecourse that she gets really stuck in. I always think that's a sign of a good horse.”

Juddmonte Sires to the Fore

Juddmonte Farms celebrated a Grade 1 winner at Saratoga in the Diana S. with the former Roger Charlton-trained Whitebeam (GB) (Caravaggio), and the operation's stallions Frankel (GB) and Kingman (GB) were also each represented by Group 1 winners in the past week.

The aforementioned Nashwa claimed her third and became the eighth Group 1 winner for Frankel this year, while Kingman's Feed The Flame (GB) delivered on his early promise this season with victory in the Grand Prix de Paris on just his fourth start. He continued a fine year for his co-breeder and vendor Ecurie des Monceaux, which is also co-owner of Ramatuelle, and raised and sold the treble Group 1 winner Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) for the Wildenstein family's Dayton Investments. Incidentally, both Feed The Flame and Paddington are out of mares by Montjeu (Ire). To add a cherry on top of this good run, Monceaux also bred Shaquille's sire, Charm Spirit (also from a Montjeu mare).

There was also a welcome return for another Kingman three-year-old, Nostrum (GB), a one-time 2,000 Guineas fancy who made a successful belated seasonal return in the Listed Sir Henry Cecil S. and will surely be back in group company before long.

But it was two longstanding Juddmonte names, Oasis Dream (GB) and the late Dansili (GB), who combined in the pedigree of arguably the most notable performer of the week. The Gestut Fahrhof-bred Quinault (Ger) has been a revelation this year since joining the stable of Stuart Williams from Godolphin, and the three-year-old has now won six handicaps on the bounce, starting on a rating of 59, and claiming his most recent success on the July Course off a mark of 90. An expensive purchase at the Craven Breeze-up Sale for 310,000gns, Quinault returned to the same ring a little over six months later to fetch 25,000gns to TJE Racing. He has proved worthy of every penny of that outlay at the Horses-in-Training Sale, with his earnings now closing in on £150,000 and a shot at stakes company clearly not beyond the realms of possibility.

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Seven Days: A New Force Emerges at Ascot

Pack away your hats and spend a joyful week in jeans and trainers. Royal Ascot was fabulous, as it always is. Though we may have tipped into the meeting being padded with too many handicaps, the results throughout the five days provided plenty of great storylines, even beyond the headline-hogger that is Frankie Dettori.

Unquestionably, though, the best race anywhere in the world in the last week came at Hanshin on Sunday. In the Takarazuka Kinen, Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) ran the kind of race that few horses can get away with, making his move when nine wide on the turn, but then few horses have his boundless talent. In these parts we will have to console ourselves by watching him on screen rather than in person, but even if Japanese runners couldn't be persuaded to Ascot this year, there was still plenty of international participation to savour.

Owners from 11 different countries celebrated success at the meeting, including Japan's Tohsihiro Matsumoto, whose Duke of Edinburgh H. winner Okita Soushi (Ire), trained in the increasingly international stable of Joseph O'Brien, was one of two Ascot winners for his trainer, as he was for his sire, the late Galileo (Ire). Though there was no joy for the Australian horses who had travelled, Australia was represented by Terry Henderson's OTI Racing, owner of Docklands (GB) (Maassaat {Ire}), who gave Harry Eustace his second Royal Ascot winner in just two years as a trainer.

Docklands was ridden by Hayley Turner, who in 2019 became only the second woman to ride a winner at the royal meeting after Gay Kelleway. Times are a-changing so fast that only four years later it barely counts as news to say that Hollie Doyle rode three winners at the same meeting, all trained by her main boss Archie Watson, and was third in the jockey rankings behind Ryan Moore and Dettori. Doyle may have outshone her husband Tom Marquand, but he had a memorable day of his own on Thursday when riding a double, the highlight of which was providing the King and Queen with their first Royal Ascot winner in the William Haggas-trained Desert Hero (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

Driven to Success

The feisty little homegrown hero Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) was one of the feelgood stories of the week in the G2 Hardwicke S. on his first start in 11 months, along with that of Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Fr}), who came from a long last to first when blasting past favourite Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) to take the G1 Commonwealth Cup for Julie Camacho and Steve Brown.

Pyledriver should return to Ascot next month in an attempt to defend his King George title, and there he could meet his fellow Coronation Cup winners Hukum (GB) and Emily Upjohn (GB), not to mention up to three Derby winners.

No fewer than four of the Royal Ascot winners had American owners. Wesley Ward would probably admit to having had a meeting to forget but he remains the most successful overseas trainer with 12 winners to his credit. Flying the flag for the USA was his colleague George Weaver with the demure Crimson Advocate (Nyquist). The filly was one of two juveniles he brought to the meeting but not the one who was sold for £800,000 on the eve of Royal Ascot at the Goffs London Sale. That was No Nay Mets (Ire) (No Nay Never), who finished ninth in the G2 Norfolk S.

The sale-topper, incidentally, Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {Ire}), who was bought for £1.1 million by the Sands family's Bronsan Racing, wasn't beaten far when fourth in the G2 Coventry S. less than 24 hours after he changed hands.

Trading is an ever more ubiquitous element of the racing game these days, with an actual sale, an online sale, or a pop-up sale happening almost every week of the year, along with frequent private transactions.

The Coventry winner River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is almost a rarity in that he had been through just one sale as a yearling when sold by his breeder Pier House Stud for 480,000gns. Queen Mary heroine Crimson Advocate was a $100,000 Ocala October yearling, but a number of her owners bought into her last month after she had shown encouraging form on debut at Keeneland.

The Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) was sold as both a weanling and a yearling and then withdrawn from the Craven breeze-up by Robson Aguiar, who also does much of the pre-training for the colt's co-owner Amo Racing. Meanwhile, Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio), winner of the Albany S., raced initially in the colours of her breeder Annemarie O'Brien before being sold privately to her American syndicate of owners after winning on debut.

The Arrival of Wathnan Racing

By far the biggest splash on the recent transaction front, however, was made by Wathnan Racing, whose presence on the main stage at Royal Ascot was almost as noteworthy as Elton John's farewell (of sorts) at Glastonbury.

The name Wathnan Racing, which was revealed last week as being owned by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, first appeared in sales results at last year's Horses-in-Training Sale at Tattersalls. The operation's Australian advisor Olly Tait spent 1.75 million gns on nine horses, including Bolthole (Ire) (Free Eagle {Ire}). Now four, he was subsequently twice placed for Alban de Mieulle in Doha before winning two Listed races in France in the last month, including on Saturday at Compiegne.

The most expensive of that set of horses was Inverness (Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}), at 380,000gns, and he got off on the right foot for his new owner when winning the Khor Al Adaid Cup, a local Group 3 in Qatar, from Hamaki (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), who was bought at the same time for 260,000gns. They too are with the French-born, Qatar-based trainer de Mieulle, who has now raced seven of the nine bought at Tattersalls.

The mutterings are that Wathnan Racing has intentions of major expansion. If that is indeed the case, then that aim will likely have been reinforced by two sparkling results at the royal meeting, ably assisted by John and Thady Gosden and Frankie Dettori.

After the win of Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) in the G2 Queen's Vase on Wednesday, the identity of the main man behind Wathnan Racing was still being guarded. By Thursday, however, when Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) leapt from being a talented handicap winner to a Gold Cup hero on just his fourth start, it was clear that the horses' ownership could not remain under the radar.

With the help of agent Richard Brown and Tait, the Emir of Qatar has secured arguably the two best staying prospects in Britain who achieved the quite remarkable feat of each winning a major group race at Royal Ascot on their first start in the Wathnan Racing colours.

Gregory and Courage Mon Ami were bought respectively from their breeders Philippa Cooper and Anthony Oppenheimer. Courage Mon Ami was gelded over the winter, and Oppenheimer confided at Ascot that at one stage he had considered retiring him unraced because he was so big. Thankfully, his patience prevailed, and the staying division has a potential new superstar in its midst.

It is of course encouraging to witness the emergence of a major new overseas owner wanting to race horses of this profile. In Courage Mon Ami's case, no stallion career beckons for him, and even the hugely progressive Gregory, who is being aimed at the St Leger, is, sadly, of lesser appeal to commercial stallion farms and was thus perhaps a little easier to buy than a horse of a similar level racing over shorter distances.

What could become a concern for European nations in the longer term, particularly Britain with its relative paucity of prize-money, is how much the expanding racing programmes in the Middle East will have an effect on field sizes and the general quality of racing.

It is nothing new to see strong participation from a range of Qatari owners at the European sales. The Emir's brother Sheikh Joaan Al Thani established the largely French-based Al Shaqab Racing just over a decade ago, and has been represented by the likes of Treve (Fr), Galileo Gold (GB), Shalaa (Ire) and Toronado (Ire). Their cousin Sheikh Fahad was the trailblazer for the family in Britain, and has an increasing interest in America, through his Qatar Racing operation. The 2011 Melbourne Cup victory of Dunaden (Fr), when the sheikh was still racing under the Pearl Bloodstock banner, can be credited as a major driver for his own expansion, which has included significant sponsorship through QIPCO of the British Champions Series and British Horseracing Hall of Fame. In France, the Arc meeting and the Prix du Jockey Club are both sponsored by Sheikh Joaan under the name of Qatar.

In recent years, Saudi Arabian owners have become more prolific buyers at the horses-in-training sales and it is easy to see that this will only increase given the expansion of the racing programme and boost to prize-money on offer in Riyadh and Ta'if, coupled with a small domestic breeding programme.

Dubai was of course the forerunner in the Gulf region when it came to establishing a major international race day that morphed into a carnival. The inaugural Dubai World Cup was run in 1996 with a line-up of horses from America, Australia, Britain, and Japan, as well as three trained by Saeed Bin Suroor. It took Dubai's neighbours several decades to attempt to catch up, with the Saudi Cup launched in 2020 and with $20 million in prize-money for that race alone, overshadowing the $12 million on offer in the Dubai World Cup.

With its Emir's Trophy meeting primarily, Qatar also launched a bid to attract international runners to Al Rayyan racecourse in Doha, though this hasn't really caught on in the same way. Meanwhile, Bahrain launched its own Turf Series in 2021 with a specific aim of luring overseas runners, and has ambitions to add to the limited number of pattern races currently run on the island, headed by the G3 Bahrain International Trophy. Members of Bahrain's ruling family have also become more prominent as owners in Britain in recent seasons, with St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB) and G2 Mill Reef S. winner Sakheer (Ire) representing Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa's KHK Racing, while last week's G1 King's Stand S. winner Bradsell (GB) runs for his brother Shaikh Nasser's Victorious Racing. Both operations have been active at the top end of the breeze-up and yearling sales, while Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, chairman of Bahrain's Rashid Equestrian and Horse Racing Club, is the co-owner/breeder with Shaikh Abdullah bin Isa Al Khalifa of last season's G1 Fillies' Mile winner Commissioning (GB).

With various members of Dubai's Al Maktoum family and Saudi's Prince Khalid Abdullah having had long established ties to Europe and beyond as the heads of significant owner-breeder operations, Arab participation in world racing is nothing new. What is new, however, is the establishment of a significant Gulf season with a more joined-up feel, starting in Bahrain in November and with lucrative meetings in Dubai, Saudi and Qatar through to the end of March. This will not only draw more foreign-trained runners with the promise of big purses, but will almost certainly mean that more horses than ever are bought at horses-in-training sales from outside that region and exported permanently, a situation that can only exacerbate the issue of dwindling field sizes in Britain.

To say change is coming is to overlook the fact that the racing and bloodstock scene is permanently evolving. What hasn't changed is the allure of Royal Ascot, the crown jewels of British racing, with its irrepressible pulling power. Similarly precious jewels, however, are the horses at the core of this event, or more pertinently, their bloodlines. Lessons should be learned from other European neighbours with dwindling broodmare bands and fewer top-class races, that there is long-term pain to be had from the short-term gain of selling off too many prized assets.

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Seven Days: Many Indicators of Success

In the European edition we really shouldn't be overstepping our boundary to encroach on the territory of our American colleagues who did such a fine job in conveying the stories from Belmont Park last week.

Racing faces different problems in different jurisdictions and, from an outsider's perspective, it is hard to get fully behind racing in America when a number of its major participants remain overly reliant on medication. But if you read Cynthia Holt's wonderful account of being at Belmont 50 years ago to bear witness to arguably the greatest-ever performance by a Thoroughbred as Secretariat went for the Triple Crown, it is impossible not to wish for that situation to improve and for racing to be able to hold its head high. The only way it can survive and thrive around the world is if everyone involved pledges to do the the very best for the horses who make it possible to work in such an engaging and vibrant sport.

That is why the result of the 155th Belmont S. was so uplifting. For a start, it heralded yet another important marker in the advancement of women within the sport, with Jena Antonucci becoming the first female trainer of the winner of an American Triple Crown race. But more importantly, Arcangelo's victory was a major triumph for a smaller trainer who is apparently prepared to prioritise the welfare of her horses above all else. Coming with a horse who cost his owner Jon Ebbert $35,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, it is also a result which sends a message to other small operators: it can be done.

It should not be underestimated how much stories of this ilk are needed, and how much rarer they are becoming. It is hard now to imagine a trainer like Joe Janiak, a former taxi driver, turning up at Royal Ascot with his cast-off sprinter Takeover Target (Aus) and waltzing off with one of the week's biggest prizes. In three years and six starts at the royal meeting, the gelding with chipped knees was never out of the first four in the major sprints. And yes, his success had no bearing on the betterment of the breed, but what a battler, what a story.

Somehow, it is harder to get behind the horses owned by major investment syndicates, and that is not to denigrate the people funding those runners. Financial investment is vital for racing to continue, and for the breeders to be able to go on producing the goods, but emotional investment is just as important, and that is what you hear and feel when you read Jena Antonucci's story. The spotlight should always be on the horses, but racing is so much more compelling when you can root for their people, too.

I will confess that, until this past week, I knew barely anything about Antonucci. Some engaging interviews following her Belmont S. victory led me to her website and I was taken by one of the sub-headings on her homepage which stated 'Statistics aren't the only indicator of success'. It was an apposite line to read following the release of a video by a major syndicate trying to sell shares in a new recruit, in which the manager pours scorn on the record and percentages of the horse's former trainer. It was an act of quite staggering ignorance, bad manners and, ultimately, self-harm.

The colt in question is New Energy (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), who until last week was the top-rated horse in Sheila Lavery's stable. He is a horse who, since this time last year following his second-place finish in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, has been running with an official mark of 112 or 113. In other words, consistent and classy. Those two facts are surely the reason he was such a desirable purchase, and he was likely bought for many multiples of the £65,000 it took for his trainer and Ted Durcan to secure him at the breeze-up sales two years ago.

He's not a one-off for Lavery, either, for she regularly gets a good tune out of horses who could be overlooked in bigger yards. Four years ago, she trained the €15,000 weanling purchase Lady Kaya (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) to run second in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket. I can still hear the devastation in her voice when she spoke of that filly's fatal injury on the gallops in the countdown to her next appearance at Royal Ascot. She will have been almost similarly upset to have lost New Energy to an Australian stable which has hundreds and hundreds of horses on its books. Lavery will have understood, though, that the horse had a greater chance of being a high earner in a jurisdiction endowed with plentiful prize-money, and in a sector where he may encounter weaker opposition than he has done in Europe.

Lavery and Antonucci have had 59 and 52 starters this year respectively, and it is well within the bounds of possibility that we will see Lavery follow Antonucci in becoming a Group/Grade 1-winning trainer. That of course becomes harder to achieve for every smaller operation as the good horses get whisked away by those with large cheque books. But in the cases of both women, and many other trainers of a similar size, a strong argument can be made for them not to be overlooked in the stampede towards the superstables.

Al Asifah a Potential Star for Shadwell

There is no such thing as a quiet week in racing, but with Royal Ascot now only a week away, and Epsom a week behind us, the fare of the last seven days has been more muted. However, there have been plenty of impressive performances to note, and none perhaps more so than the win of Shadwell's Al Asifah (GB) in the Listed Weatherbys/British EBF Agnes Keyser Fillies' S. The daughter of Frankel (GB) and Aneen (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), herself a half-sister to Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), may have missed most of the Classics but it would be no surprise to see her engaged in Group 1 races before too long, despite her inexperience.

Similarly, it was hard not to be impressed by the performance of Beautiful Diamond (GB) (Twilight Son {GB}) in her winning debut for Karl Burke and Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum at Nottingham. A pinhooking triumph for Tradewinds Stud, she went from being a 30,000gns yearling to a £360,000 breezer when becoming the most expensive filly sold at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale in April.

Richard Fahey spoke eloquently in these pages last week of his approach to two-year-olds, and he has plenty of his stable's youngsters firing ahead of an important week. That was particularly notable by his twin strike at Beverley on Saturday with Midnight Affair (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the Hilary Needler and Bombay Bazaar (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) in the Two-Year-Old Trophy.

From Rome to Hokkaido

Three nations combined in the winner of the Tattersalls-sponsored G2 Oaks d'Italia. Trainer Stefano Botti won the race for the fifth time since 2012 with Shavasana (Ire), who is now unbeaten in five starts, including the G3 Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1,000 Guineas). This time, however, she was ridden by Britain's Hollie Doyle, whose first Classic success came aboard Nashwa (GB) in last year's Prix de Diane, and won in the colours of leading Japanese owner/breeder Katsumi Yoshida, who bought the filly after her first Classic win.

Remarkably, Botti's first three wins in the Italian Oaks came in consecutive years with the half-sisters Cherry Collect (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), Charity Line (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}) and Final Score (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}). Another of their half-sisters, Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), later won the Irish Oaks, making their dam, Holy Moon (GB) (Hernando {Fr}), a most prized member of the broodmare band owned by the Botti family's Razza del Velino, who also bred Shavasana.

The Holy Moon family and the Oaks d'Italia are also clearly prized in Japan as all three of those aforementioned winning half-sisters are now in the ownership of either Katsumi or Teruya Yoshida.

Straight Ahead to Hamburg

The G2 Union-Rennen at Cologne provided the latest shake-up to the market of the G1 Deutsches Derby on July 2, which is now headed by Straight (Ger) (Zarak {Fr}). The Gestut Karlshof homebred has every right to be considered a serious Classic prospect, not just on his win in the 188th Union-Rennen but also for the names found on his page.

Straight's fourth dam Sacarina (GB) (Old Vic {GB}) has been a key player in the success of the Faust family's Karlshof operation. His third dam Sahel (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) is a full-sister to the Deutsches Derby winners Samum (Ger) and Schiaparelli (Ger) as well as to the Preis der Diana winner Salve Regine (Ger). Another sister, Sanwa (Ger), is the dam of the 2014 Deutsches Derby winner Sea The Moon (Ger), who is in turn the sire of the another of the leading fancies for this year's race, Fantastic Moon (Ger), who was champion two-year-old last year in Germany.

Another Zarak colt from the immediate family of Straight also features in the Derby betting: Sirjan (Ger), a Group 3 winner in Italy last year, was also bred at Karlshof and is a half-brother to Straight's dam Seductive (Ger) (Henrythenavigator).

It is a family which has already tasted Classic success in Europe this season as yet another of Sacarina's daughters by Monsun, Sortita (Ger), features as the grand-dam of the G2 Derby Italiano winner Goldenas (Ire) (Golden Horn {GB}).

And Now For Something Completely Different

If you wander into the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket, you might expect to find exhibitions pertaining to the horse in some form or other.

This summer, however, the museum has spread its wings to become involved in a show named The Urban Frame: Mutiny In Colour, which opened last week and is being staged across three venues in Suffolk. The exhibition includes more than 50 works from some renowned contemporary artists, including Banksy, Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.

The street artist and international man (or woman) of mystery, Banksy, is also represented at the National Horseracing Museum in The 7: Banksy Under Siege, which features replicas of life-size 'walls' created during the artist's visit to Ukraine last year.

It is a world-first for this exhibition, which runs until October 1. Who says Newmarket is boring?

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Seven Days: We Three Kings?

So begins the campaign for Auguste Rodin (Ire) to meet Desert Crown (GB) and Adayar (Ire) in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. This column has precisely zero influence over anything at all, but as a racing fan increasingly concerned at the sidestepping of the greatest prize of high summer then it would be remiss of me not to bang the drum and rattle the tambourine a little.

How often have the last three winners of the Derby all still been in training? (We can make that four, actually, but Serpentine has long since ventured down under and is now a gelding.) To have three remaining in Europe offers an opportunity unprecedented in the modern era for this trio to engage in a battle of the generations. That could happen in the Coral-Eclipse, of course, which may also include Sunday's hugely impressive Prix du Jockey Club winner Ace Impact (Ire), and for which last year's winner Vadeni (Fr), Emily Upjohn (GB), Luxembourg (Ire) and Nashwa (GB) are all among the entries. But, with no intended offence to Sandown, it really should be all about Ascot, and I mean in July rather than June.

For a start, the King George, as Britain's second-most valuable race after the Derby, is worth £500,000 more than the Eclipse at £1,250,000. At this level, it is not only about prize-money of course. For the colts, the level of support in a future stallion career is at stake. Despite the Derby remaining a coveted prize, it is mystifying that so often the rest of the winner's career revolves around trying to pretend that he hasn't won it and would really be better suited by ten furlongs. Of course, the perfect stallion prospect is one who has excelled at a mile, ten furlongs, and a mile and a half. Step forward, Sea The Stars (Ire), who remains the beau ideal.

The more we see of the progeny of Frankel, the more convincing it becomes that he too could have been a top-level 12-furlong performer. It is a moot point, however, and the exuberance of his early years could well have been his undoing had he been asked to go for the Derby. But what he gave us a racehorse is, almost unbelievably, being matched by his stallion career as Frankel adds stakes winner after stakes winner to his record.

Lady Bamford's Soul Sister (GB) became his second Oaks winner after Anapurna (GB), both of whom were ridden to victory for the Gosden stable by the inimitable Frankie Dettori. John Gosden first won the King George with Frankel's great rival, Nathaniel (Ire), and later with two more of his Oaks winners, Taghrooda (GB) and Nathaniel's daughter Enable (GB). The latter of course won it three times in four years and her dominance may well have been part of the reason that there were only three runners when she claimed her third victory in 2020. That year's Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) had been supposed to run but was a late scratching.

This century, only Galileo (Ire) and Adayar have won the King George in the year they also won the Derby, while Alamshar (Ire) triumphed after winning the Irish Derby, and the aforementioned Taghrooda and Enable both won in their Classic seasons. You don't need to scroll back too far to see the names of the brilliant three-year-old King George winners Nijinsky, Mill Reef, The Minstrel, Troy, Shergar (Ire), Reference Point (GB), Nashwan, Generous (Ire) and Lammtarra to know that it was once almost de rigueur for the Derby winner to make a mid-season appearance at Ascot in late July.

Look Back to Look Forward

There have been many changes within the sport of horseracing over the last century; some good, some bad. One comforting aspect for anyone interested in the breeding side is the sense of continuity conveyed by a horse's pedigree, even if a family has gone quiet for several generations.

Had we access to a time machine, we could go back 99 years to the 1,000 Guineas and watch Mumtaz Mahal (GB) and Straitlace (GB) being beaten into second and third by Plack (GB). The winner later featured as the third dam of the 1966 King George winner Aunt Edith (GB). Mumtaz Mahal, known as 'The Flying Filly', returned to sprinting after the Guineas and her contribution to the breed, through her position in the Aga Khan's broodmare band and beyond, has been immense. Last year, she featured as the tenth dam of the Arc winner Alpinista (GB).

Straitlace, meanwhile, went from Newmarket to win the Oaks, and her Epsom triumph was most recently copied by her twelfth-generation descendant Auguste Rodin (Ire). The female line of the Derby winner's family has been to America and back since those days, with Sheikh Mohammed having been the owner for a time of his fourth dam Rahaam (Secreto). Bred by Calumet Farm and Stephen Peskoff, Rahaam went on to produce the lightning-fast Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), who then lends the heft of her Group 1-winning daughter and grand-daughter, Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), as Auguste Rodin's first and second dams.

No Stopping on the Branch Line

It has for a while now been apparent that Frankel is becoming to his sire what Galileo was in turn to Sadler's Wells, who was himself responsible for establishing a hugely significant branch of the Northern Dancer sire-line.

It wasn't just Soul Sister's Oaks triumph that made for a good weekend for the Banstead Manor Stud resident. Kelina (Ire) took the G2 Prix de Sandringham for her owner-breeders Wertheimer & Frere, further enhancing a family that already boasts the Group 1 winners With You (GB), Call The Wind (GB) and We Are (Ire) as half-siblings to her dam Incahoots (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}).

It is too early to talk of Frankel as a sire of sires but it is encouraging to see his son Cracksman (GB) represented by such an impressive individual as the Prix du Jockey Club winner Ace Impact (Ire). Fizzy in the parade ring with a handler each side, he put that nervous energy to good use on the track when coming from a long way back to make the highly-regarded Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) appear almost to be standing still when he passed him in the straight to win by clear daylight.

Bred by German breeder Waltraut Spanner, who raced his dam Absolutly Me (Fr), Ace Impact is inbred to one of Germany's most influential mares of all time in Allegretta (GB), who is the grand-dam of Anabaa Blue (GB) (Anabaa), a Prix du Jockey Club winner himself and the broodmare sire of Ace Impact.

Farther back this family has roots in Lord Derby's Stanley House Stud, breeder of his fourth dam Rosia Bay (GB), who is a half-sister to Selection (GB), dam of the brilliant Ouija Board (GB). Rosia Bay's daughter Roseate Tern (GB), by the Derby winner Blakeney (GB), won the Yorkshire Oaks as well as being placed in the Oaks and the St Leger.

And while we reflect on the passing of the baton down this particular sire-line, it is worth noting the similar situation in Japan, where Sunday Silence was succeeded by Deep Impact (Jpn), among whose many sons at stud there appears to be a particular rising star in Kizuna (Jpn). A Derby winner like his sire, Kizuna was the leading first-crop sire of 2019 and for the last three years has not been out of the first five in the general sires' table. He was third last year and currently occupies that same position following the second consecutive GI Yasuda Kinen win at the weekend for his daughter Songline (Jpn). The five-year-old mare is now a three-time Grade 1 winner in Japan and appears to have the Breeders' Cup on her agenda for later in the year.

The New Normal?

The hitherto unseen levels of security at Epsom were described by the Jockey Club's chief executive Nevin Truesdale as “sadly necessary” when he spoke on Racing TV's Luck on Sunday show in the aftermath of the Derby.

He's not wrong. Even with an interest only as a spectator and scribbler on Saturday, my unease had grown through the week to the point of not really enjoying what is usually my favourite day of the year. That sense of dread must have been multiplied many times over for those actually connected to a runner or charged with ensuring that the meeting proceeded safely and smoothly.

Encouragingly, Surrey Police took the threat seriously enough to be proactive. Intelligence pertaining to the protestors led to the arrests of 19 people on the morning of the Derby, while another 12 arrests were made within the racecourse grounds.

While this and the Jockey Club's forward-thinking approach in applying for a High Court injunction are all to be applauded, it is hard to see that this level of planning and expense around major meetings is sustainable, especially at a time when British racing's finances are already squeezed.

“This probably is our new normal,” Truesdale admitted, and added in reference to the widespread disruption already seen outside racing caused by various protest groups, “I actually think we've done other sports and other activities a favour.”

The Derby itself wasn't done a favour, either by the early start time, or the train strikes on the day, both of which surely contributed to the number of attendees being just over half the previous year's figure at around 20,000.

As it transpired the number of protestors on the day was actually less than a tenth of the 1,000 promised by the group's spokesperson earlier in the week. But it only takes one, as it did, to get onto the course to cause a potentially catastrophic situation.

Positioned near the winning post to watch the Derby, I was heartened by the cheer of relief as the race went off as scheduled, but was almost instantly distracted by one of the many security guards positioned along the stands' rail as he flinched and started to run up the track. The booing started, a crew of six guards and police rugby-tackled the invader on the track and got him out of harm's way before the horses had even approached the top of the hill. For the second year in a row we watched protestors being dragged off the track at Epsom.

There is no doubt that the support behind this group is not significant, and they have shown themselves not only to be woefully ill-informed about racing and the needs of horses, but also not above lying in an attempt to remain in the headlines.

“I actually think we should stop talking about them now,” said Truesdale, and in this he is also right but, clearly, we cannot stop worrying about them, and that concern comes at a cost, both financial and reputational.

The new normal? Let's hope not.

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