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Seven Days: A Coronation in Chantilly

Just when you thought a fully-charged Royal Ascot couldn't be topped, along came Hollie Doyle.

The royal meeting was sadly missing The Queen for all five days this year but, France's republican tendencies aside, there are few in the racing world who would deny that Doyle is now the queen of Chantilly after reaching yet another milestone to become the first woman to ride a Group 1 Classic winner in Europe.

Her great triumph came aboard Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) for Imad Al Sagar, who was achieving an important landmark victory of his own with his first homebred Classic winner for his Blue Diamond Stud. It is now not even remarkable to see Doyle booked for top rides. She's so good at what she does, proving it day in and day out, from Group 1 showcase races to Class 6 handicaps, but there are not many of those top-class horses to go around.

For this observer, it was a punch-the-air moment when Doyle was announced as first jockey for Al Sagar three seasons ago. It felt important that a woman should be given a prominent retainership in the first place, and more symbolic that this offer was made by an Arab owner. It was an inspired and refreshing move on Al Sagar's part, and a thoroughly deserving position for Doyle. If she hadn't already, she has certainly repaid his faith in her now.

Doyle is five wins clear at the head of the jockeys' table for this calendar year. The nonsensical shortening of the jockeys' championship from the Guineas meeting to Champions Day means that a number of those 85 wins don't count, so she lies in fourth place in the 'championship', if we can call it that. Given the unwelcome publicity surrounding Oisin Murphy's behaviour and the conclusion to last year's jockeys' title, we could do with some better news in that regard, and one story that would guarantee more front-page, good-news headlines for racing would be the first female champion jockey. Doyle will get there one day, no doubt.

Al Sagar, as a breeder who has recently undertaken a significant restructuring of his two farms near Newmarket that comprise his Blue Diamond Stud operation, now finds himself in the happy position that his paddocks contain the dams of both female French Classic winners this season. As already noted in these pages, he bought Zotilla (Ire) (Zamindar), the dam of G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner Mangoustine (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}), later in the year that her future Classic heroine was foaled. Nashwa's dam Princess Loulou (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) was bought as a yearling.

Frankel's Classic Touch

Nashwa was of course only the second Group 1 winner of the week for her sire Frankel and trainers John and Thady Gosden, who also had last year's leading 2-year-old filly Inspiral (GB) primed to perfection for her return in the G1 Coronation S., which was arguably the race at Ascot with the greatest depth.

Her victory was vengeance for her dam Starscope (GB) (Selkirk), who had been second in both the Coronation and the 1,000 Guineas of 2012, and Inspiral, who was the fourth generation of her family to have been bred by Cheveley Park Stud, became their fourth Coronation S. winner after Exclusive (GB), Russian Rhythm and Nannina (GB). The Thompson family's operation also enjoyed some reflected glory at Ascot as the breeder of surprise Chesham S. winner Holloway Boy (GB) and Buckingham Palace S winner Inver Park (GB), whose victories would have been all the sweeter for the fact that they are by one of the stud's resident sires, Ulysses (Ire), and the late former star of the stallion yard, Pivotal (GB).

Frankel still has some way to go to peg back Dubawi (Ire) if he is to retain his champion sire title this year, but the season is not even halfway through yet. One of the notable absentees on the quick ground at Ascot was his daughter Homeless Songs (Ire), the sensational winner of the Irish 1,000 Guineas. An eventual clash with Inspiral would be a mouth-watering prospect but, even without the filly, Moyglare Stud's 60th anniversary year continued in fine style with victory in the Gold Cup for another homebred, Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the rising star of the staying ranks. Never was a mare better named than his dam Polished Gem (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), who has produced three Group 1 winners among her eight stakes winners.

Frankel also featured as the damsire of the G3 Jersey S. winner Noble Truth (Fr), who is a son of his stud mate Kingman (GB). It was a second major international winner for the family in less than a month as Noble Truth was bred by Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois from Speralita (Fr), an unraced sister of the six-time Group/Grade 1 winner Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}), who took the Prix de Diane 13 years ago. As a broodmare Stacelita has plied her trade in Japan for Teruya Yoshida with great success, providing Frankel with his first Classic winner anywhere in the world when their daughter Soul Stirring (Jpn) won the GI Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks).

There has been further notable success for the Japanese wing of the family this season with Stars On Earth (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), who is a grand-daughter of Stacelita and won the GI Oka Sho (1,000 Guineas) on April 22 followed by the Yushun Himba on May 22. Her dam Southern Stars (Smart Strike) has a colt foal catalogued for the foal section of the JHRA Select Sale, which takes place on July 11 and 12.

Dubawi Wears the Crown

With five winners, including a one-two in the G1 Platinum Jubilee S. with Naval Crown (GB) and Creative Force (Ire), Dubawi owns all the bragging rights among the sires represented at Royal Ascot. In fact, he is presently lording it over all-comers in Europe by just about every metric with 24 stakes winners led by four individual Group 1 winners this year.

One of the latter, Coroebus (Ire), followed up his 2,000 Guineas victory with a G1 St James's Palace S. success, to cement a memorable opening day for the Maktoum family following the procession of the unbeaten Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Queen Anne S.

Dubawi's son New Bay (GB) also deserves plenty of plaudits with two group winners at the meeting. His daughter Saffron Beach (Ire) returned to the winner's enclosure in imperious fashion in the G2 Duke of Cambridge S., while her stable-mate Claymore (Ire) landed his first group-race strike in the G3 Hampton Court S. We'll be hearing more about their trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam's love of New Bay in Wednesday's TDN.

And let's not forget Dubawi's French-based son Zarak (Fr), who continues to make giant strides in the second-season sires' table. It has to be said that he looks the stand-out of this intake at this stage, with La Parisienne (Fr) going close to giving him a first-crop Classic winner in the Prix de Diane when running Nashwa to a neck.

Admittedly Churchill was first off the mark in that regard with the very impressive Prix du Jockey Club winner Vadeni (Fr), and it was exciting to hear that this Aga Khan-bred colt is under consideration to be supplemented for the G1 Coral-Eclipse next month. But Zarak leads the way with five black-type winners, which equates to 11 per cent of his runners, and he also had Times Square (Fr) placed in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches.

On With The Show

The sole appearance of Showcasing (GB) at Royal Ascot ended in ignominious defeat when he trailed in last of the 24 runners for the G1 Golden Jubilee S. But he has fared much better as a sire, notably with two G1 Commonwealth Cup winners in Quiet Reflection (GB) and Advertise (GB), while Soldier's Call (GB) won the Windsor Castle S. of 2018, and Tasleet (GB) and Cappella Sansevero (GB) finished runner-up in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. and G2 Coventry S. respectively.

Showcasing was represented again this year by the smart G2 Queen Mary S. winner Dramatised (Ire), who provided a first major homebred success for Steve Parkin's Branton Court Stud. By that stage, the aforementioned Shadwell stallion Tasleet, whose first crop are now juveniles, was given a major boost by the G2 Coventry S. win of his son Bradsell (GB), who was sold as a breezer by Mark Grant to Tom Biggs and Archie Watson for £47,000, and presumably for many multiples of that after scorching to his nine-length maiden win on York's Knavesmire exactly a month after his appearance at Goffs UK.

Bradsell, bred by Deborah O'Brien, was one of two runners at Royal Ascot for the Bahrain-based Victorious Racing, the other being the Windsor Castle S. runner-up Rocket Rodney (GB) (Dandy Man {Ire}). He too had been purchased after an impressive novice win, this time at Goodwood for George Scott.

Whitsbury Manor Stud, which has stood Showcasing for his entire 12-season stud career to date, will have taken plenty of encouragement from the results of the royal meeting. Not only did they breed Tasleet before selling him to Sheikh Hamdan, but another of their own young sires featured prominently among the juvenile races.

Havana Grey (GB) is currently romping away with 18 winners from his first crop and is seven clear of his nearest pursuer in that category, Sioux Nation. Though he is yet to join Tasleet and James Garfield (Ire) with a stakes winner, Havana Grey does have four black-type horses to his name, with Maylandsea (GB) having finished second in Queen Mary and Eddie's Boy (GB) third in the Windsor Castle.

There was further success for Showcasing at Chantilly on Sunday where Nurlan Bizakov's Sumbe homebred Belbek (Fr) landed the G3 Prix du Bois.

An Ascot for Everyone

As much as Royal Ascot represents some of the elite of European racing, the addition of handicaps in the first year of Covid has increased the potential for participation for owners and trainers, and the results reflected a broad spectrum of yards of all sizes.

George Boughey has been the up-and-coming name for the last couple of seasons and, with a Classic winner under his belt, he can now be considered to have truly arrived. His string is far from small on Newmarket Heath these days and he once again illustrated how adept he is in getting a great tune out of horses bought in training, usually in tandem with his great friend and ally Sam Haggas of Hurworth Bloodstock. Together they bought the Golden Gates H. winner Missed The Cut (Quality Road) for 40,000gns in February and, now with three wins from four runs under his belt, the 3-year-old looks a promising individual who had been an expensive foal purchase for Shadwell in America.

Similar comments apply to Inver Park (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who was already a decent dual winner for Mick Quinn when sold last October at Goffs UK for £35,000. He too has found a winning groove this spring, with his Buckingham Palace S. win being his third on the bounce.

While Hollie Doyle is usually riding against her husband Tom Marquand, Hayley Turner is in the more agreeable position of riding for her partner Harry Eustace, the second-season trainer who bagged a Royal Ascot winner with his first ever runner at the meeting. Hopefully the much celebrated success of Latin Lover (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) in the Palace of Holyroodhouse H. will put Eustace's name on the radar of more owners as he is currently enjoying a fantastic season on a strike-rate of 24 per cent winners to runners.

It's true then. The louder you shout the faster they run. Latin Lover wins the last at Ascot on Day 4. #scenes pic.twitter.com/6bCiDsj3wj

— Harry Eustace (@H_Eustace) June 18, 2022

Huge credit must also go to Dave Evans for brining Rohaan (GB) (Mayson {GB}) back to Ascot in great shape to claim his second successive Wokingham S.

It was pleasing to hear the 4-year-old's co-owner Chris Kiely get his priorities right when saying after the race, “I've had two kids and got married, but this is the best moment of my life.” Let's just hope his wife and children weren't listening in.

Jane Chapple-Hyam put all her fellow trainers in the shade, however, when bringing three horses to the royal meeting and waltzing home with two group wins and a runner-up in the Royal Hunt Cup. As already mentioned, we will be reflecting more on the success of her Abington Place stable tomorrow.

A Royal Nod For Tattersalls

There's always plenty to take in during Ascot week so you may have missed the announcement of a small adjustment to the Tattersalls December Mare Sale. The four-day auction which follows hard on the heels of a day of yearlings and four days of foal sales at Park Paddocks will now feature a specifically labelled 'Sceptre Session' which takes its name from the star filly of the early 1900s and a former Tattersalls sale record-breaker.

To a degree, the Tuesday evening of the mare sale, when this select session of high-class broodmares and breeding prospects is set to take place, is already one of the high points in the sales calendar when it comes to drama. Quite frankly, if you're a bloodstock aficionado and you weren't playing your part in the mass game of Sardines in the Tatts ring when the likes of Dancing Rain (Ire) and Marsha (Ire) sold for millions, then where were you?

Having up to 75 of the highest-profile offerings clearly labelled in one select session within a session makes a lot of sense, though it will make for an even more fraught couple of hours than usual for the weary bloodstock journalists on the hunt for quotes. A timely reminder to start getting into training for the sales season.

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Hammer Blow as Hukum Ruled Out For Season With Leg Fracture

Owen Burrows has been dealt a hammer blow with the news that brilliant G1 Coronation Cup winner Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will miss the rest of the season after fracturing his hind leg.

Hukum made the breakthrough at the highest level when storming to Coronation Cup glory at Epsom on Friday and now his racing career hangs in the balance.

For Burrows, Friday's win also represented a memorable first at Group 1 level, with the trainer describing the success as “massive” at the time.

However, just three days after Hukum's greatest day on a racecourse, Angus Gold, racing manager for owners Shadwell Estate, revealed the 5-year-old may never grace the track again.

He said, “He's got a fracture in his hind leg so we've had to put some screws in it. Obviously he'll be out for the rest of this year. It's a shame as he'd just won his first Group 1 with a career-best.

“We haven't got as far as deciding if he will return to training as it's early days. From one point of view he just seemed to be hitting his best form so with that in mind you'd say yes, but at the same time he'll be a back-end 5-year-old this year.”

Gold added, “We haven't had a chance to discuss that and won't make a rushed decision as he'll be in his box for a bit. We'll make a decision on that later in the year.”

“It's a real shame, sadly, especially for Owen as Friday was a huge result for him, but you've got to take the rough with the smooth.”

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Prendergast keen to keep going after Shadwell boost

Less than a fortnight after it was announced that legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast would remain on the Shadwell roster, the 89-year-old operator confirmed that he was not the retiring kind and spoke for the first time since Hamdan Al Maktoum's passing about his long and successful relationship with the hugely influential owner.

The Shadwell operation has been winding down gradually since Hamdan Al Maktoum passed away just over a year ago and, while major operators like Dermot Weld and Sir Michael Stoute will no longer train any of the horses on what has now become a much-reduced string, Prendergast has spoken of what it means to him to have been left on the training roster. Mark and Charlie Johnston, Ed Dunlop, Brian Meehan and Freddy Head were also axed during the restructuring process.

While Prendergast did not receive any Shadwell 2-year-olds this year, he will train up to five older horses for the team, along with roughly ten others for different owners, which according to the multiple Classic-winning trainer, is just enough to keep things ticking over.
“We only have 15 horses for the season, that's all, but we've enough,” Prendergast said. “We have had a good innings and we'll keep going until the man upstairs calls it all to a halt.”

Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) sent the Curragh into a tizzy when carrying the famous blue and white silks of Shadwell to victory in that memorable Irish 2,000 Guineas of 2016 and that, along with the gallant effort of Madhmoon (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) to finish second in the 2019 Derby, were put forward as the highlights by Prendergast in a relationship that spanned over three decades.

“We were together for over 30 years,” Prendergast said. “We had some great days. We won an Irish Guineas together with Awtaad and were probably a bit unlucky not to win the Derby with Madhmoon. They were the highlights but we had a long and successful relationship together-a lot of great days.

“It was disappointing that Madhmoon got a little setback after finishing second in the Derby. I had a lot of Group and Listed winners for him but, to be second in a Derby and to win an Irish Guineas, they were the highlights.

“He didn't go racing in Ireland, which was a pity, but he used to visit the yard two or three times a year. I don't think he came racing in Ireland for the past 20 years before he died.”

Prendergast added, “He was a proper gentleman. He was extremely modest, very easy to work for and he took the good news and the bad news just the same. If something went wrong, he just moved on from it and was very forgiving and appreciative of all the work everyone did.
“As he said himself, the good days were better than the bad days, but the bad days were made easier when you had him in your corner.”

Prendergast has yet to send out a winner from just 12 runners this season but has a number of entries over the coming days, including the 103-rated and Shadwell-owned Monaasib (GB) (Bobby's Kitten). Regardless of how this season goes, the trainer, who will be forever remembered for managing the career of the 1977 Guineas winner Nebbiolo (GB) (Yellow Gold {GB}) and many others, believes the last of his Shadwell string will leave his Friarstown base by the end of the campaign.

“I was the first trainer in Ireland to train for Hamdan Al Maktoum,” he reflected. “Dermot Weld got some horses more recently and, when they didn't have enough horses to go around, I was left with the horses that I had, which was very good.

“Most of them were sold off, but we were left with four or five and, by the end of this season I would imagine that they will be weeded out as well. We didn't get any two-year-olds.”

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Haggas Priming Elite Crew Led By Baaeed

“When you train you spend your whole life wanting a horse of this calibre, and then you get one and all you want to do is make sure that you get the very best out of him.”

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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