St Mark’s Basilica Tops European 2YO Rankings

For the eleventh time, Aidan O'Brien was responsible for the European Champion 2-year-old, with St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) having topped the official classifications for 2020 on a mark of 120.

The colt, a half-brother to 2000 Guineas winner and young Coolmore stallion Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), is the seventh consecutive winner of the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. to be named as the top-rated juvenile in Europe.

St Mark's Basilica's stable-mate Wembley (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who was runner-up in both the Dewhurst and the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S., was joint-second in the rankings along with Supremacy (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who is trained by Clive Cox and won the G1 Juddmonte Middle Park S. to be the top-rated British-based colt on 118.

“St Mark's Basilica is the latest in a long line of European 2-year-old champions, dating back to Fasliyev in 1999, to emerge from the Aidan O'Brien academy,” said IHRB Handicapper Mark Bird. “We rated his effort in landing the Darley Dewhurst Stakes as marginally the best form shown by a European 2-year-old in 2020 and just ahead of that shown by the 12 other Group 1-winning 2-year-olds in Europe this year.”

He added, “At this stage of his career, he rates higher than his half-brother Magna Grecia, who won the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, and he appears to hold every chance of emulating his sibling in winning that event in 2021, with normal progression as a 3-year-old.”

The BHA's Handicapper Graeme Smith noted, “Supremacy became the latest in a long line of Group 1-winning sprinters to emerge from Clive Cox's stable over the last decade and achieved a rating of 118 when defeating the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner Lucky Vega in a deep looking Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes. Very well bought for £65,000, he was the standout British-trained juvenile from Goodwood onwards and went into winter quarters as the highest-rated 2-year-old his prolific trainer has ever handled.”

The top-rated juvenile in France in 2020 was Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}), the impressive winner of the G1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere for Frederic Rossi and owners Haras de la Gousserie and Guy Pariente, for which he was awarded a mark of 116.

There was a three-way tie to be the best juvenile filly of 2020 between Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}), Shale (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), all of whom were rated 113.

Pretty Gorgeous and Shale, trained respectively by Joseph and Donnacha O'Brien, clashed in their last four starts, with the former winning both the G2 ARM Holding Debutante S. and G1 bet365 Fillies' Mile, while Shale triumphed in the G3 Frank Conroy Silver Flash S. and G1 Moyglare Stud S., with Pretty Gorgeous in second on both occasions.

Campanelle, trained in America by Wesley Ward for Stonestreet Stables, built on her success in the G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot to win the G1 Darley Prix Morny.

The highest-rated filly in Britain, on 112, was Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never), winner of the G1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park S. for Andrew Balding and Jeff Smith. Two French-trained fillies were given the equal mark of 110: the G1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac winner Tiger Tanaka (Ire) and Plainchant (Fr), winner of the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte. The fillies are respectively by the Rathasker Stud father-and-son team of Clodovil (Ire) and Gregorian (Ire).

Eleven of the top 25 juveniles in Europe are trained In Ireland, with five of those being from Aidan O'Brien's stable. Ten are trained in Britain, while three are in France and one in America.

In 2019, European champion 2-year-old Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) was awarded a rating of 128, the second-highest since Celtic Swing (GB) (Damister) was rated 130 in 1994. Noting the difficulty of the 2020 Flat season, with the coronavirus pandemic delaying its start by two months, Mark Bird added, “In summary, 2020 could not be said to have been a vintage year for 2-year-olds. While numerically, the 44 horses that made the Classifications are in line with recent averages, the truncated nature of the season and the slightly muddled nature of some of the form lines mean that the Champion juveniles of the year rank at the lower end of the historical scale.”

 

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Bloodlines Presented By Gary Contessa’s Integrity Bloodstock: Galileo’s Grandkids Now Make Their Mark

This is not another article exclaiming that racers by the legendary Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) won all the Group 1 stakes over the weekend. Indeed, from 10 G1s on Saturday and Sunday, they won “only” four of those: marvelous Magical (Irish Champion), Search for a Song (Irish St. Leger), Mogul (Grand Prix de Paris), and Shale (Moyglare Stud Stakes).

Instead, this is an article about how the Galileo daughters and a particular son of the old boy are doing.

The son is English Derby winner Australia (out of Oaks winner Ouija Board), who sired his first Group 1 winner in Galileo Chrome, the winner of the Group 1 St. Leger at Doncaster. The oddly-named Galileo Chrome – who's a plain bay – galloped comfortably to the outside of the well-regarded Pyledriver for most of the mile and three-quarters and 115 yards, then maneuvered through traffic, and finished fastest to win the longest classic.

A winner in his three prior starts, including the Yeats Stakes at Navan on his last outing, Galileo Chrome is a progressive colt who appears to have a lot of scope and can only improve for greater maturity and strength.

In addition to the winner of the St. Leger, Australia sired Cayenne Pepper, who won the G2 Blandford Stakes at the Curragh from Galileo's daughter Amma Grace. Also this weekend, Australia had the third-place racer behind Shale in the Group 1 race mentioned above.

Shale and other daughters of Galileo are broodmare prospects of a high order, and they tend to go to some of the better sires around the world. Over the past weekend, one daughter of Galileo was the dam of the winner of the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden, Barney Roy, and another daughter produced Ghaiyyath, who was second to Magical in the Irish Champion.

Barney Roy's dam, Alina, was unplaced in a pair of starts, whereas the dam of Ghaiyyath is Nightime, winner of the 2006 Irish 1,000 Guineas. The simple statistics of racing success, with about 3 percent stakes winners to foals, mean that far more of any stallion's racers will fail than will succeed at a high level. Therefore, some nice prospects and subsequent producers will show little on the racetrack.

Another of the great sire's non-winning daughters produced Pista, this year's winner of the Park Hill Stakes, which is the filly equivalent to the St. Leger.

In her third victory from four starts, Pista has risen rapidly since winning a maiden at Galway in early August to become a listed stakes winner and now a group winner.

Bred in Kentucky by Lynch Bages Ltd. and a $675,000 yearling at the 2018 Keeneland September sale, Pista is out of Mohini, a daughter of the Storm Cat mare Denebola, who was the highweight 2-year-old filly in France in 2003 after victory in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac.

That proved the high point of Denebola's racing, but she has three stakes-producing daughters, including Beta Leo (A.P. Indy), who is the dam of Senga (Blame), winner of the G1 Prix de Diane.

And the sire of Pista?

American Pharoah.

Four Star Sales's Tony Lacy acted as agent for the Heider family in the purchase and recalled the process that led to the acquisition of Pista. He said, “We'd been looking at the first-crop yearlings by American Pharoah and had been very impressed. They were largely big, athletic prospects with scope and great minds. With their bone and toughness, I thought they might be very effective on turf.

“And this prolific family, that had been developed in the Niarchos family stud for generations, had a lot of turf excellence that I'd seen first-hand during my time working in France. This is the family of the highweight filly Coup de Folie, her full brother Machiavellian” (both by Mr. Prospector), who was a highweight on the European handicaps and then a leading sire, “and it goes right on back to a half-sister to Northern Dancer.”

Yeah, nice family.

As an individual, Lacy noted, “This filly was a big yearling who turned into a growthy 2-year-old, and we decided not to race her at 2 because she wasn't ready. Even early at three, she didn't show much promise until the late spring and early summer, and then she began to come on so strongly that Joseph O'Brien (who trains the filly) became optimistic about her debut. Pista, however, walked out of the gate and raced greenly.

“Joseph said the penny dropped after the first race, and in her second start, Pista jumped off nicely, laid up with the pace, and powered away to win her maiden” by 6 1/2 lengths at Galway. “Then we stepped her up to a listed race against colts,” Lacy continued, “in the Vinnie Roe Stakes at Leopardstown.”

The elegant filly won again, this time while competing at a mile and three-quarters and winning from Sunchart (Teofilo) and Dawn Patrol (Galileo), who ran eighth and sixth respectively in the St. Leger. So that is positive form suggesting that Pista could have beaten at least half the field in the classic.

Another reason that the connections, including the trainer, were quite pleased with the effort at Leopardstown is that Pista “is so laid back on the gallops that she doesn't show what she's capable of till she's put in a race,” Lacy said. “So we said, 'let's try the Park Hill,' and that result was a resounding 'yes.' The plan now is to go for the Group 1 Prix de Royallieu on the Arc weekend.”

That will be a further step up in a race that typically draws a set of experienced Group 1 fillies, three and up, but with the mental and physical toughness of the American Pharoah and Galileo stock, don't discount her chances.

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Glass Slippers, Shale Gain Breeders’ Cup Berths With Victories At The Curragh

Bearstone Stud Limited's 4-year-old filly Glass Slippers (GB) stormed to success to bring home a British 1-2 in the five-furlong Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes (G1) at the Curragh in Ireland with Keep Busy (IRE) back in second, for trainer John Quinn.

That victory earned Glass Slippers an automatic berth into the $1-million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1).

In the second “Win and You're In” race on the day, Shale (IRE) reversed the form with Pretty Gorgeous (FR) to win the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) and gain an automatic entry for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) through the international Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge is a series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into corresponding races of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, on Nov. 6-7.

Glass Slippers, a bay daughter of Dream Ahead out of the Mind Games (GB) mare Night Gypsy (GB), had found Battaash (IRE) too hot to handle in her two starts so far this season in the King's Stand Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot and the King George Qatar Stakes (G2), but returned to the form that saw her win the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines (G1) in her final start of 2019. Glass Slippers sat just off the early pace before picking up the lead inside the final furlong, and prevailed by a half-length over 18-1 Keep Busy.

Glass Slippers' trainer Kevin Ryan said: “She's so tough and genuine, but she has a lot of class.

“She loves it when they go really quick, but the ground was tacky today so she's done well to cope with that. I'm absolutely delighted. It was Terry Holdcroft's (owner of Bearstone Stud) decision to miss the Nunthorpe and give her a bit more time and he's obviously been vindicated. She's an amazing filly, so simple to train and makes my job very easy. She'll go back for the Abbaye now.”

Glass Slippers (9-2) completed the five furlongs in 1:00.58 over a course listed as good.

Shale earns Group 1 honors in Moyglare Stud Stakes
Later in the day, Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor's Shale (IRE) (9-2) controlled the seven furlongs very strongly to beat her rival Pretty Gorgeous (FR) and win the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) by three-quarters of a length. This was the third clash between the two fillies this season. Shale had come out on top in the Frank Conroy Silver Flash Stakes (G3), before Pretty Gorgeous exacted her revenge in the A.R.M. Holding Debutante Stakes (G2). Today, though, it was Donnacha O'Brien's 2-year-old who triumphed under Ryan Moore to gain an automatic entry for the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).

Shale, a bay daughter of Galileo (IRE) out of the Holy Roman Emperor (IRE) mare Homecoming Queen (IRE), completed the seven furlongs in 1:27.19 over a good course.

It was a successful day for the O'Brien family with father Aidan winning two Group 1 events in France and his two sons Joseph and Donnacha both winning Group 1 races at the Curragh. Donnacha has now won three Group 1s in his first year as a trainer and praised his filly after the race: “It was a very good performance. She has kept progressing throughout the season. She found a lot for pressure and toughed it out. I spoke to Ryan (Moore) after the race and we'll probably look at the Fillies' Mile (G1) (at Newmarket) or the (Prix Marcel) Boussac (G1) (at ParisLongchamp) next.”

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The Weekly Wrap: Virtual Reality

In ordinary times, this week would mark the revving up of the European bloodstock charabanc: standing room only, destination Deauville. As the threat of a second quarantine hangs over visitors or returnees from France to the UK like the Sword of Damocles, it’s probably just as well that the traditional start to the yearling season has been delayed.

This coming weekend, there will be no short shuffle between racecourse and sales ground for the Prix Jacques Le Marois and other delights ahead of a frenetic evening of activity in the ring at Arqana. Instead, those of us in the UK will look on with envy as the permitted 5,000 racegoers in the Normandy seaside town enjoy a feast of action. Meanwhile the British government on one hand urges people back into offices and restaurants but bans an essentially outdoor Goodwood spectator test day at the eleventh hour.

Confused? Yep, that’s pretty much the mindset of the British population right now. For our friends in Ireland, we can add frustration to that description. No bloodstock sale has been held on the island since February, and the 14-day mandatory quarantine for incomers from all countries bar those on the ‘Green List’ means that the store sales of the coming fortnight at Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland will be held without the usual melée of Irish, British and French participants. It is fair to expect that there will be further tinkering with the yearling sales programme ahead of its start at Doncaster on Sept. 1.

As it has been shown already through these strange times, it is of course perfectly feasible to conduct bloodstock auctions online and, for those forced to remain remote, to engage local agents to do their bidding. But, just as dreaded Zoom meetings are a poor substitute for talking to people face to face, so is it pretty unsatisfactory for the sales to be so limited in the number of attendees. Gone are those ringside conversations that end with one or more people agreeing to a leg in a previously unconsidered purchase, or that chance sighting of a horse not on the list who just happens to catch an owner’s eye as he turns to go back in his stable.

It will work, up to a point, because it has to, and we have all had to adapt to change in life and routines. But, as we are seeing with crowdless racing, our sport as entertainment is so much more than just what happens on the track. It’s also the raised glasses between races, the hubbub of banter at the pre-parade ring and, for this particular train nerd, that feeling of anticipation as the doors hiss closed at Ely station en route to York for a spotless summer’s day on the Knavesmire. One can only hope that the yearning for those days is felt throughout racing’s fan base and that we can return in our droves next year, all the more grateful for having missed out on so much in 2020.

In Doyle We Trust
This column makes no apologies for repeated mentions of Hollie Doyle this season because: a) we’d love nothing more than seeing a woman crowned champion jockey, and b) she’s great.

In the three years from when Doyle first started race-riding in 2013 she rode just six winners. Now she notches almost double that number in a fortnight and, in the last month, she has been rewarded with her first two group winners. The second of those came on Saturday on the Roger Charlton-trained Extra Elusive (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in the G3 Rose of Lancaster S. It was the perfect start for her association with owner-breeder Imad Al Sagar, for whom she was named retained jockey on July 26.

The following day Doyle added the listed Prix Moonlight Cloud to her burgeoning tally of stakes wins when she guided Maystar (Ire) (Mayson {GB}) to his first black-type win.

Maystar’s win prompted double celebrations for trainer Archie Watson and the Hambleton Racing syndicate, who also combined to win the G3 Rathasker Stud Phoenix Sprint S. at the Curragh with Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}).

Watson tends to work in tandem with Blandford Bloodstock’s Tom Biggs at the sales and the pair picked up Maystar at last year’s Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-up Sale for €35,000. The five-time winner is entered for the Tattersalls August Sale. Meanwhile, 6-year-old Glen Shiel, who is closely related to Godolphin’s dual Group 1 winner Farhh (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), also joined Watson’s stable last year from the Goffs UK Spring Sale. A treble winner at up to nine furlongs for Andre Fabre before being sold to Biggs and Watson for £45,000, Glen Shiel has looked more and more effective since sliding down the distance scale and his three wins this year have all come at six furlongs.

The past week was also tinged with sadness for another Godolphin graduate as James McAuley’s bargain buy Sceptical (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) suffered a fatal injury on the gallops. The 4-year-old had been a revelation since joining Denis Hogan’s stable as an unraced 3-year-old after his purchase for £2,800. He won four of his seven starts and finished in the first three in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. and G1 Darley July Cup.

A Regal Dynasty
Lagrion (Diesis {GB}) may have been only a moderate campaigner herself but she was an over-achiever at stud, her 12 foals including the Group 1 winners Dylan Thomas (Ire) (Danehill), Queen’s Logic (Ire) (Grand Lodge) and Homecoming Queen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). Through one of her daughters, Lagrion’s dynasty extends to this year’s Derby winner Serpentine (Ire), a son of Galieo (Ire) and the Oaks runner-up Remember When (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), whose exclusive matings with the champion sire have resulted in five black-type winners.

Queen’s Logic was crowned the champion 2-year-old filly of 2001 and her exploits for Jaber Abdullah and Mick Channon led to the move of Lagrion from the ownership of her breeder Kip McCreery to the Coolmore team. Queen’s Logic has exerted quite an influence on York’s G2 Lowther S., a race won by herself, her daughter Lady Of The Desert (Rahy) and grand-daughter Queen Kindly (GB) (Frankel {GB}), all of whom raced for Abduallah.

In the last week, however, it was the turn of the tiny 1000 Guineas winner Homecoming Queen to increase the family’s standing when her daughter Shale (Ire) won the G3 Frank Conroy Silver Flash S. with apparent ease on just her third start. Like her three-parts-sister Remember When, Homecoming Queen has also been wedded to Galileo since retiring to stud and all four of her foals of racing age are winners, including the group 2-placed Berkeley Square (Ire). It would be no surprise to see Shale enhancing the family’s Classic record next year.

Family Matters
There’s nothing like starting the year with a promising run from a 3-year-old. Back on Jan. 23, 2012, Bernard Benaych and Jocelyn Targett almost certainly left Cagnes-Sur Mer delighted—the latter perhaps slightly over-refreshed by a pale rosé—after their representatives Keira (Fr) (Turtle Bowl {Ire}) and Bunny Lebowski (Fr) (Echo Of Light {GB}) ran first and second in the 3-year-old maiden.

Fast-forward eight years and the refreshment is still flowing freely for Targett, who indulged in some Paul Gascoigne-style celebrations following the victory of Bunny Lebowski’s daughter Velma Valento (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) in the listed Prix du Pays d’Auge at Clairefontaine.

The following day, there was cause for further celebration for Benaych who co-owns Keira’s son Port Guillaume (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) with Claudio Marzocco and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. The 3-year-old colt, who started his career winning the same newcomers’ race, the Prix du Suquet, as his mother on Jan. 23 of this year, has since progressed into a worthy Arc contender. His sole defeat came when fifth in the Prix du Jockey Club and his latest victory was Saturday’s strike in the G2 Prix Hocquart Longines.

The continuity of these two families will be similarly pleasing to the trainers of Velma Valento and Port Guillaume, Christophe Ferland and Rouget, who in each case also trained the sire and dam of the winner.

Cup Runs Dry For Europeans
Opinions are divided as to whether the increasing international allure of the Melbourne Cup is a good thing for Australia’s iconic staying contest. Those who believe that the high number of overseas participants in a field limited to 24 runners has irreparably changed the profile of the race for “battlers” may find some consolation in this woeful year that there will be reduced competition from European stables.

With heightened coronavirus restrictions now in place in Melbourne, it was confirmed last week that Godolphin’s Newmarket stables of Saeed Bin Suroor and Charlie Appleby will not be sending runners to the Spring Carnival. Lloyd Williams, who has won the Melbourne Cup six times, most recently with the Joseph O’Brien-trained Rekindling (GB), has also stated that “health is paramount” when it comes to considering which, if any, of his horses currently in training with O’Brien will travel this year.

While the OTI Racing-owned San Huberto (Ire) (Speightstown), winner of the G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier in June, looks set to make the journey from Fabrice Chappet’s stable, plans are still uncertain for his fellow resident Skyward (Fr) (Camelot {GB}). The 4-year-old won Sunday’s G3 Prix de Reux and has now triumphed in four of his six starts, including last season’s listed Prix Turenne. He is owned in the majority by Arrowfield Stud’s John Messara.

“He’s only lightly raced and has a lot of upside,” Messara’s son Paul told our sister publication TDN AusNZ. “We bought him for the Melbourne Cup, so we’d like to go down that direction if at all possible. We will have a discussion this week. We need to work out what we can do with him and what options we have in the current environment.”

When Rekindling won the Cup in 2017, he led home an Irish-trained trifecta filled by Aidan O’Brien’s Johannes Vermeer (Ire) and the Willie Mullins-trained Max Dynamite (Fr). The following year it was won by another 3-year-old, Cross Counter (Ire), trained by Charlie Appleby. The Hughie Morrison-trained Marmelo (GB) was second and Prince Of Arran (Ire), representing Charlie Fellowes, was third, delivering a clean sweep for Britain.

In 2019, Flemington-based trainer Danny O’Brien scored a massively popular home win with Vow And Declare (Aus) (Declaration Of War), who narrowly held off runners trained by Aidan and Joseph O’Brien as well as Prince Of Arran again. While Danny O’Brien will set Vow And Declare for a return mission on the first Tuesday of November, he also has the exciting northern hemisphere 3-year-old Russian Camelot (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) as a potential Cup runner. The stable-mates are due to have a jump-out at Flemington on Tuesday and could take each other on over a mile in the G1 Makybe Diva S. on Sept. 12.

 

 

 

 

 

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