Seven Days | Horse Racing Free Tips

Seven Days: And They’re (Almost) Off

Cheltenham is behind us and, yes, we still have Aintree and Punchestown to come of the major jumps fixtures but, with the clocks on the turn, really the only thing to think about now is the return of the Flat.

The turf season makes its staggered return in Ireland on Sunday, and in Britain the following Saturday. France is already racing ahead and packed in four stakes races at Saint-Cloud last Saturday, with the Listed Prix Omnium II providing the first TDN Rising Star on the European turf for 2023 in Malcolm Parrish's American Flag (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

Some people love Paris in the springtime but William Haggas prefers Sydney in the autumn. The trainer has a tremendous strike-rate with his Australian runners and he has already claimed two big prizes this year. He won the G3 Sky High S. on March 11 with Protagonist (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who previously ran in the colours borne to glory by Constitution Hill (GB) last week at the Cheltenham Festival but has now been bought from Michael Buckley by Australian Bloodstock. A week later back at Rosehill the Haggas team was at it again, with Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) providing Ryan Moore with one half of his Group 1 double in last Saturday's G1 Ranvet S., a race Haggas also won in 2020 with Addeybb (Ire).

The latter went on to strike two years in a row at Sydney's Championships, each time winning the G1 Queen Elizabeth S., which is now the target for Dubai Honour on April 8.

Issuing an update to TDN on Monday, Haggas said of Dubai Honour, “We're really pleased with him. He lost two kilos, which means he was either very fit or he didn't exert himself. He was very fresh this morning and is obviously very happy. He's a better horse, in our opinion, than he was at any stage last year. His last three furlongs on Saturday were quicker than the last three furlongs of Anamoe [in the 1500m George Ryder S.] and the last three furlongs of the Golden Slipper, and I think that puts some merit into his performance.”

The 5-year-old gelding could well aim for a Queen Elizabeth double of a different kind, with Sha Tin's G1 QEII Cup on April 30 also under consideration.

“I've entered him this morning for Hong Kong and if all goes well he could take that in on the way home,” Haggas said.

Not all has gone swimmingly for the four Haggas horses who made the trip to Australia as recent Kempton winner and last year's Ebor third Earl Of Tyrone (Ire) (Australia {GB}) is now facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

“Earl Of Tyrone was the one we were quite excited about but he has sadly damaged a tendon,” reported the trainer. “It's really sad and so disappointing. He did well at Kempton and we would have had to decide between going for the Tancred or the Sydney Cup, but that's all over now.”

Earl Of Tyrone was another bought last year by Australian Bloodstock, who could yet enjoy more success with Protagonist, who has several options in the coming weeks.

“Protagonist probably put up a career best when he won last weekend and we felt he would come on for that,” said Haggas. “He may go to the Tancred on Saturday, or the Doncaster on April 1, or the Queen Elizabeth against Dubai Honour, but I don't think he'd beat Dubai Honour. I think his connections are leaning towards the Doncaster, which is a very valuable mile handicap in which he's got a weight of 50kg, which is nothing.

“I'm not convinced [dropping back in trip is] the right way forward but he has won over a mile and he does seem in good form, and he'll probably never get the opportunity again of running off such a light weight in such a valuable race.”

Haggas's regular jockey Tom Marquand missed out on riding Dubai Honour at the weekend as he continues his recovery from a shoulder injury sustained in a fall at Randwick on February 11. However, he arrived back in Australia on Sunday night and is ready to resume riding.

Haggas said, “Tom has a couple of rides in trials tomorrow [Tuesday] and at Kensington on Wednesday. He says he feels great and he knows his body better than anyone. He was here last Wednesday [in Newmarket] and he could fully extend his arm. He can't ride Protagonist in the Doncaster because he can't do that weight but he will ride Dubai Honour and also Purplepay in the Queen of the Turf.”

The trainer will join Marquand and his team in Australia once he has overseen his runners on Lincoln day at Doncaster a week on Saturday.

The successes of Dubai Honour in Australia and the Japanese-trained Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the G1 Saudi Cup last month have put the late Montjeu (Ire) in a strong position at the head of the broodmare sires' table in the early stages of this year.

Toronado Blows Hot Down Under

Toronado (Ire) has not returned to Haras de Bouquetot for the 2023 covering season, remaining instead at Swettenham Stud in Australia, where he is likely a favourite of the farm's owner Adam Sangster, who bred Saturday's G1 Galaxy H winner Mariamia (Aus). The 6-year-old mare is a daughter of Toronado, who has now sired back-to-back Galaxy winners, following the success last year of Shelby Sixtysix (Aus).

Toronado has also been represented in Australia by the G1 William Reid S. winner Masked Crusader (Aus) and, like his sire High Chaparral (Ire), has enjoyed more notable success in the southern hemisphere than in Europe.

The brilliantly tough High Chaparral shuttled to Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand and it is in that country where his influence remains the most keenly felt. His son Redwood (GB) is currently third in the New Zealand general sires' table, and he is joined on that list by fellow High Chaparral sires So You Think (NZ), Dundeel (NZ), Contributer (Ire), Wrote (Ire) and Tivaci (Aus). In Europe the only sons of the dual Derby and Breeders' Cup winner at stud are Free Eagle (Ire) and Tai Chi (Ger).

Deep Impact's Influence Extends

Another shuttle stallion who looks a decent addition to the New Zealand ranks is Satono Aladdin (Jpn}, a Northern Farm-bred son of Deep Impact (Jpn) and winner of the G1 Yasuda Kinen.

From his first crop conceived at Rich Hill Stud hails Saturday's G1 New Zealand Oaks winner Pennyweka (NZ), who was bred by her trainer Jim Wallace with his brother Les. Satono Aladdin is also responsible for the Group 1-winning juvenile Tokyo Tycoon (NZ), and on Saturday he had the third home in the G2 Alister Clark S. at Moonee Valley. The latter result represented something of a triumph for Japanese sires, who filled the trifecta courtesy of the winner Bank Maur (Aus), a son of Shadai/Arrowfield shuttler Maurice (Jpn) and runner-up Suizuro (Aus), by Real Impact (Jpn).

A top-class miler, who, like so many Japanese gallopers, raced until he was six, Satono Aladdin stands at Hokkaido's Breeders Stallion Station when on duty in Japan. He is bred on the same Deep Impact/Storm Cat cross as Kizuna (Jpn), who was Japan's leading first-season sire of 2019 and ended last year in fourth place on the general sires' list behind the big-hitters Deep Impact, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) and Heart's Cry (Jpn).

That same cross is also found in Kizuna's fellow Shadai resident Real Steel (Jpn), who was second in the freshman sires' table last year, the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Loves Only You (Jpn), and the Lanwades stallion and Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Ire), who has his first runners in Europe this year.

The post Seven Days: And They’re (Almost) Off appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Seven Days: Juveniles in the Spotlight

With the leaves on the turn and rugs back on the horses after the hottest summer in many a year, it may feel as though we are coming to the end of the season but by juvenile Group 1 contests in Europe we are really only halfway through.

So far, No Nay Never's sons Little Big Bear (Ire) and Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never), both trained by Aidan O'Brien, have claimed three between them – the Phoenix S., Prix Morny and Middle Park S., while the Joseph O'Brien-trained Al Riffa (Fr) became the first Group 1-winning juvenile colt for Wootton Bassett (GB). Only the two fillies' races have fallen outside the clutches of the O'Brien family, with Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) following her talented big sister Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) to Group 1 glory in the Moyglare Stud S. for Dermot Weld, and Ralph Beckett claiming one for Britain in Saturday's Juddmonte Cheveley Park S., in which Lezoo (GB) became a first top-level winner in the northern hemisphere for Zoustar (Aus).

Through the next month we have the seven Group 1 races for two-year-olds which will perhaps have more of a bearing on next year's Classics. On Saturday, Aidan O'Brien was quick to point to Blackbeard being more about the big sprints next year than the Guineas. However, his stable-mate Little Big Bear, who shares his damsire Bering (GB) with Stradivarius (Ire), has more notable stamina influences on his bottom line, not least his sensational Arc-winning great grand-dam All Along (Fr) (Targowice), which may well help his claims in mile contests and perhaps beyond.

Lezoo owns a properly fast pedigree, while Tahiyra can plainly be considered of enormous Classic potential. Al Riffa is by a sire who won the Marcel Boussac and was perhaps found wanting at the mile but has had no problem producing a champion middle-distance three-year-old in Almanzor (Fr). The fact that Al Riffa is out of a Galileo (Ire) mare clearly bolstered his stamina claims, which are enhanced deeper into his pedigree by his extremely classy third dam My Emma (GB) (Marju {Ire}), winner of the Yorkshire Oaks and Prix Vermeille and a half-sister to Gold Cup and St Leger winner Classic Cliche.

With regard to next season's Classics, if that isn't wishing our lives away too quickly, the action of the next month will start to drop some proper hints as to which horses we should be dreaming about over the winter. Isa Salman and Abdullah Al Khalifa's homebred G2 Rockfel S. winner Commissioning (GB) (Kingman {GB}) certainly looks like she will be one of them, and the Gosden trainee could yet return to the Rowley Mile a week on Saturday for the G1 Fillies' Mile or head to the Breeders' Cup in a bid to extend her unbeaten run this season before being wrapped up until spring.

Polly Pott (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) is an intriguing prospect, having progressed from a handicap mark of 68 to win her last four starts, culminating in the G2 May Hill S. at 40/1 for her retiring trainer. More intriguing still is that she will move to the stable of Ben Pauling at the end of the season when Dunlop hands in his licence. Pauling is better known as a National Hunt trainer but, perhaps spurred by the dual-purpose success of the likes of Alan King and Ian Williams, he has now set his sights on training some Flat horses. Having a team which includes Group 2 winner – who may yet be supplemented to give Dunlop one last hurrah in the G1 Fillies' Mile – is not a bad place to start, especially considering the success of late of Polly Pott's family, which includes the Group 1 winners Accidental Agent (GB) and Mohaather (GB).

Lezoo Delivers on Many Fronts

There were lots of smiling faces as Lezoo returned to the winner's enclosure at Newmarket on Saturday. Jamie McCalmont, who with Kelsey Lupo had bought the filly under the Atlas Bloodstock banner for €110,000 at the Arqana Breeze-up Sale, had also signed up Blackbeard as a foal for Coolmore the previous year for 270,000gns at Tattersalls. The agent clearly had at least two reasons to be cheerful, especially on behalf of his clients and Lezoo's owners Marc Chan and Andrew Rosen. For Chan it was the second Group 1-winning two-year-old in consecutive seasons following the Criterium International success of Angel Bleu (Fr), who is also trained by Ralph Beckett.

Roger O'Callaghan was presumably settling in his draft of Orby yearling at Goffs on Saturday but he could have been permitted a little skip of joy through the sales grounds when first Crypto Force (GB) (Time Test {GB}) won the G2 Beresford S. then Lezoo claimed her success. Both were graduates of the Tally-Ho Stud team of breezers this season, with Crypto Force, who was bred by Andrew Tinkler, having gone though four sales in his two and a half years.

Team Tweenhills was of course delighted with Lezoo's breakthrough win for her sire Zoustar, who had been greeted with a degree of scepticism by the European market despite his success in Australia.

“He's doing exactly what he did in Australia,” exclaimed David Redvers at Newmarket. “I couldn't dream that he would do it to the same extent, but he had a champion two-year-old filly in his first crop there [Sunlight] and he could well do the same here. They are not early, precocious two-year-olds. You get the odd one but as a rule they are autumn two-year-olds, and what we saw in Australia was dramatic improvement from two to three, so that is obviously what we are all looking forward to.”

And most importantly of all, it was great to see the people responsible for the existence of Lezoo, Andrew and Jane Black of Chasemore Farm, on the winner's rostrum to receive their prize as the filly's breeder.

“It's amazing, and if Noble Style hadn't had colic we could have also had the favourite in the very next Group 1 race,” said Andrew Black, speaking to TDN between the Cheveley Park S. and the Middle Park S.

Noble Style (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who is unbeaten this year in three races including the G2 Gimcrack S., was sold by Chasemore Farm ten days before Lezoo, the pair having featured in Books 1 and 3 of the draft respectively at the Tattersalls October Sale.

While Lezoo is out of the Red Clubs (Ire) mare Roger Sez (Ire), Noble Style also has Red Clubs in his pedigree as the sire of his grand-dam Ceiling Kitty (GB), who died in 2016 after foaling her Chesham Stakes-winning son Arthur Kitt (GB) (Camelot {GB}). Noble Style's dam is the Listed winner Eartha Kitt (GB), a daughter of Pivotal (GB).

“The tragedy is that we sold Roger Sez,” Black continued. “Theoretically we kept two [Red Clubs] fillies but then one of the two died and I wish I hadn't sold her because I've left myself light, so there is a little bit of regret that I wouldn't normally have.”

He continued, “I believe in Red Clubs and I believe in his pedigree, but I always felt that the mares that I have by him are a little bit neat. So they are interesting genetically, but I want to layer on top of that to get my broodmares. So the Shamardal daughter of Illaunglas, or the Pivotal daughter of Ceiling Kitty, those to me were just a bit more interesting because you've taken Red Clubs, who tended to get them a bit neat, and then you've put a bit more size into them. So to my thinking anyway you're getting something along the lines of a perfect receptacle – nicely genetically balanced with but of that kind of Red Clubs intensity.”

Roger Sez has in fact been through the December Sale twice in the last two years, sold by Chasemore to Rabbah Bloodstock, who then sold her on to Melchior Bloodstock last winter for 28,000gns.

Hail the Handicap Kings

Though it's the time of the year for black-type races left, right and centre, there's always plenty of interest to be derived from the heritage handicaps, and the Cambridgeshire didn't disappoint in that regard. The four-year-old winner Majestic (Ire) provided the biggest result for his late sire Conduit (Ire) to date, as well as for his owner-breeders Nick and Liz Hitchins.

Unraced until March of this year, having recovered from a fractured pelvis and then being subjected to a wind operation after his debut in a Kempton bumper, Majestic pulled himself together to win on his handicap debut in mid-August off a mark of 79. Having squeaked into the Cambridgeshire on the joint-lowest mark of 86, his bumble-bee silks could be seen weaving their way through the field to land a second major handicap victory for Mick Channon this season after the Lincoln win of Johan (GB) (Zoffany {Ire}) on his first start for the stable in March.

At the Curragh on Sunday the smartly-bred Waterville (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) landed the spoils in the value-boosted €600,000 'Friends of the Curragh' Irish Cesarewitch. Sent off favourite, the half-brother to Irish Oaks winner Sea Of Class (Ire) and the Italian Group 1 winners Final Score (Ire) and Charity Line (Ire), was hardly a surprise victor but it was the manner of his last-gasp neck win over Echoes In Rain (Fr) (Authorized {Ire}) that had onlookers heaping praise on jockey Wayne Lordan. With just six starts to his name, the three-year-old Waterville looks to have a bright future in Cup races next season.

Rebel With a Cause

William Buick can do no wrong this year and, after winning the Cheveley Park S. for Ralph Beckett, he headed over to Cologne for Charlie Appleby to snare his second Group 1 win of the weekend in the Preis von Europa aboard Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Following a lacklustre start to the year in Meydan, Godolphin's statuesque four-year-old has really come into his own since returning to Britain, where he won twice as a juvenile. Rebel's Romance is now unbeaten in his four starts since June 25, starting in the Listed Fred Archer Stakes at Newmarket and progressing through the G3 Glorious Stakes and then the Grosser Preis von Berlin, the first of his two consecutive Group 1 wins.

Both stakes races at Cologne on Sunday fell to British trainers, with the Mark and Charlie Johnston-trained juvenile Sirona (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) taking the Listed Winterkonigin-Trial.

The filly is owned by Jayne McGivern, who recently bought Golden Horn (GB) to stand as a dual-purpose sire at Overbury Stud and who also owns some smart National Hunt mares, including the dam of Constitution Hill (GB) (Blue Bresil {Fr}).

McGivern has joked the she is “going over to the dark side” by rekindling her Flat ownership, and Sirona, who is now two from three in the early stages of her career, looked a smart prospect for next year in her four-length triumph.

The post Seven Days: Juveniles in the Spotlight appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Seven Days: Bahrain’s Burgeoning Success

It has been another banner week for the breeze-up sector, not to mention the burgeoning Bahraini participation in European racing.

Following Classic victories for Cachet (Ire), Native Trail (GB) and Eldar Eldarov (GB), more graduates of the two-year-old sales scene lifted one of last weekend's major races in Britain, the G2 Mill Reef Stakes, and also the G3 Stockholm Cup.

Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) was imperious in the Mill Reef, and was the standout in a magnificent seven winners on Saturday for Roger Varian, which also included landing a Group 3 with Mitbaahy (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}) and the Listed Doonside Cup with Royal Champion (Ire) (Shamardal).

Varian had also featured prominently the previous weekend, claiming his second St Leger with Eldar Eldarov, who, like Sakheer, is owned by Bahrain's Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who races under the banner of KHK Racing, a name which only appeared on the British racing scene in 2020. This season KHK Racing has had 12 individual runners from six different stables.

Through trainer Fawzi Nass and bloodstock agent Oliver St Lawrence this is an outfit that has been making quite a splash at the sales in recent years, its purchases including the 2020 Arqana Select Sale topper Pure Dignity (GB), the Dubawi (Ire) half-sister to Sottsass (Fr), who is raced in partnership by Shaikh Khalid and his brother Shaikh Nasser Al Khalifa. She has raced just once, winning well on debut at Newmarket, and is entered on Wednesday at Kempton.

St Lawrence said, “This is only the second crop of three-year-olds for KHK Racing in Britain, so to have a Classic winner and then a very promising two-year-old is very exciting.

“It's also very important for racing, and all the shaikhs that are involved in Bahrain are really enjoying it.”

Bred by Drumlin Bloodstock, Sakheer, who was bought as a foal by Camas Park Stud, was sold at Arqana 18 months later by one of the original breeze-up men, Willie Browne of Mocklershill. St Lawrence signed for him at €550,000 a year after picking up Eldar Eldarov at the same sale for £480,000 from Norman Williamson.

On the forthcoming return of a lovely broodmare prospect, St Lawrence said, “The intention is for Pure Dignity to run on Wednesday and if all goes well, Roger will try to find a black-type race for her later in the season. Then we will put her away, and she will race on next year, all being well.

“I think both Shaikh Nasser and Shaikh Khalid are very keen to try to build up a quality broodmare band which will obviously take a bit of time.”

Shaikh Khalifa, who also races horses individually as Victorious Racing, has enjoyed success this year at Britain's flagship meeting, Royal Ascot, where Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}), yet another breezer, won the G2 Coventry Stakes for Archie Watson. He also owns the Listed winner and Group 3 runner-up Rocket Rodney (GB) (Dandy Man {Ire}).

St Lawrence added, “It has been a dream season and I am lucky enough to be buying these expensive horses, With that comes a lot of weight of trying to produce some good ones, but I think so far we are fulfilling that remit, though this season will be a tough one to follow.”

Those charged with running racing in Bahrain have signalled their intent to increase the domestic racing programme, with the G3 Bahrain International Trophy steadily gaining more traction, and the second Bahrain Turf Series set to kick off just after that in early December. On the back of recent results it is not hard to imagine that we will see increased Bahraini participation in British racing, too.

Easy to Please

In Scandinavia, the Lodge Park Stud-bred Hard One To Please (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) has been making merry this season. The winner of the Swedish and Norwegian Derbys in July and August, he stepped into Pattern company to land Sunday's G3 Stockholm Cup in the hands of Pat Cosgrave for trainer Annike Bye Hansen.

An £8,000 Goffs Sportsman's yearling-turned-80,000gns breezer, Hard One To Please was bought by Walter Buick at the Tattersalls Guineas Sale. It could be a big week for the family as his half-sister Dandy Alys (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who was recently runner-up in the G3 Sweet Solera Stakes, is entered for Friday's G2 Rockfel Stakes. Their dam, the nine-year-old New Approach (Ire) mare Alyssum (Ire), has a Camacho (GB) yearling filly in Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Sale.

Move Over Hollie and Tom

Hollie Doyle and Tom Marquand are rightly feted, both individually and as racing's unofficial golden couple, but two other young jockeys, Saffie Osborne and David Egan, who also happen to be a couple, stole the limelight in the last week.

On Thursday, the second Racing League drew to a close in Britain, with a sensational 6,539/1 treble from Saffie Osborne, who duly lifted the £20,000 prize as the leading rider of the series. The 20-year-old jockey's most enjoyable moment of that evening would surely have been her victory on 40/1 shot Raising Sand (GB) for her father Jamie. The 10-year-old son of Oasis Dream (GB) has been a stalwart of the Osborne stable and his eighth win came two years after his last victory.

Osborne's recent run of success has propelled her into the top 50 riders in the country, the only other female on that list along with Doyle, who is second behind William Buick.

For David Egan, 22, it has been an up-and-down year. He lost his retainer with Prince AA Faisal in July, having previously ridden the owner-breeder's Mishriff (Ire) to victory in the $20 million Saudi Cup, G1 Dubai Sheena Classic, and G1 Juddmonte International. Taking the news of that reversal with admirable equanimity, Egan kept his head down, kept riding, and for his boss Roger Varian has been at the heart of a real purple patch for the stable, winning his first Classic on Eldar Eldarov and notching four wins at Newbury on Saturday, including in all three group races, two of which were for Varian and one for Hughie Morrison on Stay Alert (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).

Angel Shouldn't Be Kept in the Dark

It is hardly a news flash to say that Dark Angel (Ire) is an excellent stallion but Yeomanstown Stud's 17-year-old somehow seems to be a little overlooked. He shouldn't be, for he is currently riding high in the European sires' table in fourth position behind Dubawi (Ire), Frankel (GB), and Sea The Stars (Ire). That leading trio can perhaps be percieved more as 'Classic' sires, but Dark Angel has also been among the Classic winners this season via his daughter Mangoustine (Fr), winner of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, in which she narrowly beat the 1,000 Guineas winner Cachet.

The son of Acclamation (GB) was among the major winners on three continents on Saturday. In Canada, Dark Angel's two-year-old son, the Godolphin homebred Mysterious Night (Ire), strolled to victory in the G1 Summer Stakes to become his sire's twelfth Group/Grade 1 winner. This followed Mysterious Night's triumph in last month's G3 Prix Francois Boutin and was one of three graded stakes winners for Charlie Appleby in North America on Saturday, along with Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}).

Another of his juveniles, Barefoot Angel, bred by Guy O'Callaghan, landed the G3 Firth of Clyde Fillies' Stakes at Ayr, while earlier that day in Australia, the six-year-old Top Ranked (Ire), a former Group 3 winner for James Tate in Britain, had claimed his first southern hemisphere stakes win in the G3 Bill Ritchie Handicap for Annabel Neasham and Australian Bloodstock.

Bravo, Mon Ami

Cracksman (GB) is making a pleasing start to his stud career with ten winners already on the board from his 26 runners to date, including the Listed winner Dance In The Grass (GB). It will also be worth following the progress of another son of Frankel (GB) bearing Anthony Oppenheimer's colours who made the most eye-catching start to his racing career last week.

Courage Mon Ami (GB), out of a full-sister to Group 2 winner Bronze Cannon (GB) (Lemon Drop Kid), was well adrift of the main pack in the early stages when making his debut at Kempton on Friday, but that slow start gradually turned into a steaming finish as the three-year-old passed all his rivals with a ground-eating stride that saw him win eased down by five lengths. Certainly one for the notebook.

Tijuana's Record Enhanced by Tunnes

It would seem that the fairytale of the small breeder Paul Vandeberg still has a few chapters to be written. Vandeberg's lone broodmare Tijuana (Ger) (Toylsome {GB}) is already the dam of Arc winner Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}), and her three-year-old son Tunnes (Ger) (Guiliani {Ger}) has now added the G3 Deutsches St Leger to his victory last season in the G3 Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen.

The latter had seen him made winter favourite for the Deutsches Derby, but a setback ruled him out of a spring campaign. Trainer Peter Schiergen indicated on Sunday that the colt will now be aimed at the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern in early November, the race in which his elder brother was second two years ago after winning the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin. Before that, Tunnes could head to Longchamp for the G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris, a fortnight after Torquator Tasso will attempt to defend his Arc crown.

Meanwhile, Vandeberg is sitting pretty with a yearling full-brother to Torquator Tasso and a weanling full-brother to Tunnes at home.

The Americans are Coming

Lope De Vega's excellent run, which has seen him recently notch his 100th stakes winner, was extended on Sunday across the pond with the victory of Faith In Humanity (Fr) in the G3 Pebbles Stakes at Belmont at the Big A (so named for the races held at Aqueduct while Belmont Park undergoes development work).

Faith In Humanity, bred in partnership by Ecurie des Monceaux and Lordship Stud, is yet another European-bought stakes winner for Klaravich Stables to add to the list which includes the Grade 1 winners McKulick (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Digital Age (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Word has it that American buyers will be out in force for the Orby and October Sales, and who can blame them? With a seeming reluctance from American breeders to use turf sires based in the US, and the exchange rate for the dollar against euros and sterling currently extremely favourable, the best place to shop for horses for an expanding turf programme is in Europe.

Farewell to Her Majesty

As this column was being written, the solemnities of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II had brought much of Britain to a near standstill.

On Sunday in Newmarket during the Henry Cecil Open Weekend, the public gallops which preceded a morning of stable tours were led by two of the Queen's horses, Educator (GB) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Saga (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), ridden respectively by Michael Hills and Rab Havlin wearing the royal silks in tribute.

A number of the Queen's racehorse trainers were observed among the congregation at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle for the service of committal. For many involved in racing, the last we saw of the Queen in public was at Ascot last October for Champions Day when she presented the trophy for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and was herself awarded with a commemorative medal to mark her induction in the British Horseracing Hall of Fame. Her Majesty's fellow inductee Lester Piggott was also at Ascot to be honoured that day. Now, in a mournful time for the sport, both are gone, but neither will ever be forgotten.

The post Seven Days: Bahrain’s Burgeoning Success appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Seven Days: Overwhelming

Where to begin? The past week has been so wrought with emotion that by the time Sunday arrived with its 15 group races in England, Ireland and France only the dourest of stayers made it through to Doncaster's Mallard Handicap.

This is a racing publication, of course, but before we reflect on the action on the racecourse, it would be remiss not to mention the heartbreaking human loss which was so intrinsically entwined with the sport.

Grief engulfed two nations. Wednesday brought the indelibly sad image of Henry de Bromhead as one of the pallbearers carrying his son Jack's wicker casket from the Butlerstown's Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary surrounded by mourners of all ages. In solidarity with their friend who lost his life at the age of 13 in a pony racing accident, many of the youngsters appeared at the service in their riding gear.

Jack's grandfather Andrew Moffat and parents Henry and Heather gave us all a lesson in how to grieve with the utmost dignity while paying a magnificent tribute to the boy whose loss has touched people who never even met him, such was the eloquence of their respective eulogies. And during Irish Champions Weekend, Jack de Bromhead was remembered in the red armbands borne by the jockeys in his memory.

In Britain the armbands were a more sombre black. The death of the Queen is in many ways easier to bear than the loss of a teenager with so much sparkle and promise. A 96-year-old woman dying peacefully in the comfort of the Scottish home she adored is what could be described as a 'good death', but Her Majesty's passing is of course far more symbolic than that. Its repercussions will be felt way beyond her funeral next Monday when Britain's period of national mourning ends.

The absence of the sport's most celebrated insider will be felt keenly in racing circles. There are enough members of the royal family with a strong love of horses for us to be able to hope that the Royal Studs will endure, but none of the Queen's descendants appear to share quite the level of absorption and devotion she had for breeding and racing. Change will surely come.

Another two redoubtable members of the racing and breeding community also left us in the last week. On Tuesday evening came the shock news of James Delahooke's sudden death on the Yorkshire moors, while on Saturday the passing was reported of Evie Stockwell, whose contribution to the breeding industry has been enormously significant on both the equine and human front. At the age of 97 she had survived her twin sister Lady Mimi Manton by one month. As Eddie O'Leary observed in Nancy Sexton's tribute to Mrs Stockwell, “The world has lost two Queens this week.”

May it come as some comfort to the de Bromhead, Delahooke, Magnier, and O'Callaghan families that the thoughts of their friends and colleagues in the racing world are with them during this sad time.

The Versatile Dubawi Line

So to the horses. A one-two in the St Leger with Eldar Eldarov (GB) and New London (Ire) gave Dubawi (Ire) his 53rd Group 1 win worldwide, and if you are looking for a pattern for his offspring, the answer is that there isn't one, other than a shared willingness to win.

From top Hong Kong sprinter Lucky Nine (Ire), who was one of his earliest stars, through champion 2-year-olds, Classic milers, smart middle-distance horses, and a Horse of the Year in Ghaiyyath (Ire), Dubawi pretty much has all the bases covered, including a slew of sons at stud. As well as in Britain's final Classic of the season, the line was also represented at Ireland's Champions Weekend when John Fairley's admirable Highfield Princess (Fr), by Dubawi's Guineas-winning son Night Of Thunder (Ire), sped her way to a third consecutive Group 1 win in three different countries, this time dropping back to the minimum trip to claim the Flying Five.

Dubawi's latest Classic winner in the delayed St Leger came on the back of his daughter Mimikyu's win in the G2 Park Hill S. on the same afternoon that the White Birch Farm homebred juvenile Kubrick (Ire) won the G3 Prix des Chenes at Longchamp. On European earnings, Dubawi has edged ahead of Frankel (GB) in the leading sires' table and in fact he is way out in front when it comes to black-type winners for the year, his tally of 38 (12% of his runners) putting him ahead of Frankel by 14. The two mighty stallions, who live only about a mile from each other as the crow flies, are level pegging on seven Group 1 winners apiece this year in Europe.

The Lanwades Success Story Continues

In her role as Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk, Kirsten Rausing was acting as master of ceremonies on Sunday while Newmarket's mayor Philippa Winter read the proclamation of the accession of King Charles III as Britain's new monarch. This meant that Rausing was not on Town Moor to witness a notable first for her as the breeder of a British Classic winner in Eldar Eldarov.

She was however present for her first British Group 1 winner in her own colours when Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) won the Yorkshire Oaks to bring her Group 1 haul to five. Eldar Eldarov and Alpinista are out of the half-sisters Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) and All At Sea (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) from the Lanwades Alruccaba (GB) family which just keeps giving.

From a different family entirely springs the expat Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), another redoubtable Lanwades-bred who is thriving in Australia and now has 13 victories to his name, including the G2 Tramway S. on September 3. He is bound for the G1 Cox Plate on October 22 via the G1 Underwood later this month.

Firsts and Seconds For Many

Eldar Eldarov's St Leger win was also of significance for more of his connections. Notably, he became the second breeze-up graduate from Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm to win a Classic this season following the Irish 2,000 Guineas success of Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), last year's champion 2-year-old. Williamson was also the breeze-up pinhooker behind the 2019 Preakness S. winner War Of Will, who now stands alongside his sire War Front at Claiborne Farm.

For Roger Varian, it was a second victory in Britain's oldest Classic following Kingston Hill (GB) in 2014, and his faith in his young stable jockey David Egan was repaid handsomely as the 23-year-old notched his first Classic victory in the same season he lost his retainer with Prince AA Faisal, for whom he won the 2021 Saudi Cup as well as two Group 1s aboard Mishriff (Ire).

Eldar Eldarov had been bought at the relocated Arqana Breeze-up Sale for £480,000 by Oliver St Lawrence for Bahrain's KHK Racing, thus also giving that relatively new owner in British racing a significant first Classic success.

Kyprios Continues to Climb

The opening up of the Irish St Leger to older horses almost 40 years ago means that there have been a number of repeat winners, most notably the Dermot Weld-trained Vinnie Roe (Ire), who owned the race between 2001 and 2005. With Vincent O'Brien, Weld jointly holds the record for the most number of winners of the Irish St Leger, with the last two of his nine being provided by the admirable Moyglare Stud-bred filly Search For A Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Now six, she has run in the race in all four of her seasons in training, and added a third place to her fine record this year when finishing almost eight lengths behind her full-brother Kyprios (Ire), who is now the pre-eminent stayer in training following his unbeaten season which includes lifting the Gold Cup and Goodwood Cup.

The Weld stable enjoyed a successful Irish Champions Weekend, however, when unleashing the Aga Khan's Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), a half-sister to the brilliant Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), to win the G1 Moyglare Stud S. on just her second racecourse appearance. A day earlier her 3-year-old stablemate Duke De Sessa (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) won the G3 Paddy Power S., leading home a one-two for Maurice Regan's Newtown Anner Stud, which also owned and bred runner-up Thunder Kiss (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}).

Kyprios, who runs in the Moyglare colours but is co-owned by the Coolmore partners, sealed a fruitful weekend for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore as Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) confirmed his juvenile promise by winning the G1 Irish Champion S. on only his second start since resuming from an injury earlier in the season.

Auguste Rodin (Ire), bred on theDeep Impact (Jpn)/Galileo (Ire) cross that has already yielded Classic winners Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and Snowfall (Jpn) for O'Brien, continued the tremendous run of the Ballydoyle juveniles this year with his success in the G2 Champion Juvenile S. in his first run in Pattern class. He could now be headed to England next month for either the Dewhurst or Vertem Futurity. It requires no leap of imagination to see Auguste Rodin make up into a serious Classic contender for next season as the colt is the first foal of the treble Group 1 winner Rhododendron (Ire), a sister to Magical (Ire) and daughter of the equally brilliant Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}).

Hint of Things to Come

Al Riffa (Fr) took quite a step up from maiden company to winning the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. on Sunday for Joseph O'Brien, and the result will certainly have been welcomed by the Coolmore camp. Though the colt from the penultimate French crop of Wootton Bassett (GB) is not owned by the Coolmore team but by Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah, he, like Auguste Rodin, is out of a Galileo mare and represents a cross that we are likely to see more frequently in runners following the stallion's move to Coolmore Stud two seasons ago.

The Galileo mares in Wootton Bassett's first Irish crop include Snowfall's dam Best In The World (Ire), Arc winner Found (Ire), and G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Clemmie (Ire), who is also a sister to Churchill (Ire), while those currently in foal to him include Group 1 winners Minding (Ire), Hydrangea (Ire), Marvellous (Ire) and Happily (Ire).

Al Riffa, who was bred by a partnership led by Haras d'Etreham, is Wootton Bassett's sixth Group 1 winner, that group being split evenly between colts and fillies. His pedigree certainly gives plenty of hope for him to thrive with age and a bit of a step up in distance. His unraced dam Love On My Mind is a sister to the dual Sagaro S. winner and Gold Cup runner-up Mizzou (Ire), while their dam Moments Of Joy (GB) was a Listed winner over 1m6f and is herself a daughter of the G1 Prix Vermeille and G1 Yorkshire Oaks winner My Emma (GB) (Marju {Ire}).

Al Riffa was sold as a foal at Arqana to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for €31,000 the same day that his dam went through the ring for just €11,000, bought by Arqana representative Zied Romdhane. The 10-year-old mare now has a yearling filly by Land Force (Ire) and was subsequently covered by St Leger winner Galileo Chrome (Ire).

Kingsclere in the Spotlight

Andrew Balding's association with Juddmonte has started in some style thanks to the smart juvenile Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who added the G2 Champagne S. to his victory in York's G3 Acomb S.

A successful Doncaster St Leger meeting for the Kingsclere team also included group wins for two stalwart owners of Park House Stables. First, Bounce The Blues (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}) won the G3 JRA Sceptre Fillies' S for the irrepressible Barbara Keller, one of the most enthusiastic owners in the business who also raced the Grade 1 winner Blond Me (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}). Similar comments apply to Mick and Janice Mariscotti, who certainly know how to celebrate a big winner and struck on Sunday with the G2 Doncaster Cup winner Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}). With victories in the Ascot S. at Royal Ascot and in the Listed Esher Cup, the progressive stayer, who missed almost the whole of his 4-year-old season has certainly given the Mariscottis plenty of cause for cheer this year. Patience rewarded.

The spotlight will soon be thrown on the Balding stable which features in a new series to be released later this month on Amazon Prime. 'Horsepower' runs in four parts from September 23 and, according to the press release announcing its launch, it “captures a momentous period in the lives and careers of its two main protagonists, racehorse trainer Andrew Balding and jockey Oisin Murphy”.

The documentary series was being filmed when Murphy was banned for 14 months for Covid regulation and alcohol breaches. The trailer for Horsepower can be viewed below.

Stallions on a Roll

Shadwell's Muhaarar (GB) was represented by Group/Grade 2 winners on each side of the Atlantic last week. On Thursday, Polly Pott (GB) made sure Harry Dunlop's training career will go out with a bang by landing her fourth consecutive win on her first outing in stakes company when winning the G2 May Hill S. at Doncaster.

Over at Kentucky Downs, Bran (Fr) won the GII Fanduel Turf Sprint S. Not only was the John Sadler trainee bred in France by Lordship Stud but she was ridden to victory by French Classic-winning jockey Vincent Cheminaud, who is now based in America.

Ballylinch Stud's Lope De Vega was another stallion to exhibit his versatility on Sunday when represented at Longchamp by G1 Prix Vermeille winner Sweet Lady (Fr) over 1m4f and also by the 5f winner Berneuil (Ire), who landed the G3 Prix du Petit Couvert. Both horses are out of mares by Dansili (GB), which is a cross that has also worked well to produce Grade I winner Capla Temptress (Ire), Group 2 winner Cadillac (Ire), and the dual Group 1 runner-up and Group 3 winner Lope Y Fernandez (Ire).

Lope De Vega has been on a roll of late, with his daughter Dreamloper (Ire) winning the previous weekend's G1 Prix du Moulin to add to her G1 Prix d'Ispahan success, and the aforementioned Duke De Sessa winning a Group 3 on Saturday at Leopardstown.

The post Seven Days: Overwhelming appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post