Trained by Julie Camacho, Shaquille won seven of his nine career starts–notably landing the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup as a three-year-old–before retiring to Dullingham Park where he is standing his first season in 2024 at a fee of £15,000.

“We are delighted at the start that Shaquille has made to his new career,” said Dullingham Park's Ollie Fowlston. “He has 150 mares booked into him for his first season and has been full for some time now.

“Among the mares in foal are a winning sister to top-class two-year-old Anjaal and a Stakes producing daughter of Acclamation. He has a very good first book of mares and we couldn't be more grateful for the support that we have received from European breeders.”

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Those were the words of owner-breeder Steve Parkin in a TDN interview penned in September last year, revealing all about his ambition to stand stallions at Dullingham Park Stud, plus the succession plan which he hopes will guarantee the long-term future of a racing and bloodstock empire he's spent the last two decades building.

Five months on and the wheels are now firmly in motion when it comes to Britain's newest stallion operation, so too the immersion of Parkin's eldest child, Fabienne, in everything the business entails.

Described by Parkin as “in love with the game”, Fabienne is already no stranger to taking on responsibility when her father's absence demands it, such as on this cold Newmarket morning when she's tasked with accommodating the latest two members of the TDN team to have descended upon Dullingham Park during the Tattersalls February Sale.

The state-of-the-art facilities and the new stallions they've recently become home to certainly leave a lasting impression on this first-time visitor, thanks in no small part to the infectious enthusiasm for all of it shown by Fabienne.

In this most unforgiving of industries, only time will truly tell whether Fabienne has inherited her father's famed business acumen and work ethic, but the hunger for more success in the familiar all-grey colours of Clipper Logistics has clearly rubbed off in spades if the evidence of this one morning in her company is anything to go by.

“I'd love to win a Classic, personally,” Fabienne begins when we start to discuss which races would be top of the bucket list for the Parkin family. “Fallen Angel is second favourite for the 1,000 Guineas which is beyond exciting. The Guineas for me is a huge thing and possibly the race I want to win the most. And York is our home track, so I'd love to win the Juddmonte International or the Nunthorpe.

“But I'm as excited for a Southwell maiden winner as I am for winning a race at Royal Ascot or the other big meetings. It's that passion that my family and my father bred into me. They raised me to love my racing and to love my breeding. I'm only young and I'm only starting, but I've got great mentors around me and everyone has been really supportive in helping me learn.”

Fabienne briefly looks starstruck when she recounts that renowned owner-breeder Kirsten Rausing is among those who have generously offered guidance or just a sympathetic ear, the pair having crossed paths when Rausing paid a visit to Dullingham Park during the Tattersalls December Sales.

At the helm of Lanwades Stud for more than four decades, Rausing knows more than a thing or two about standing stallions and was clearly as keen as the rest of us to cast her eye over the two additions to the Newmarket ranks for 2024, not to mention their impressive new digs.

“We purchased Dullingham last year and we've sort of revolutionised it,” Fabienne says of the rapid development. “We've knocked a few things down and we've built a few new stallion boxes and a covering shed. We've turned it into our station down here which is really nice, to have a base in Newmarket and a very exciting new venture as a stallion farm.

“We've had a few stallions in Ireland that we've either invested in or raced and then stood at Ballyhane Stud with Joe [Foley]. It's fantastic to now be able to offer the English breeders a service over here. We are English owner-breeders and to support the English market is really exciting for us.”

That excitement seems to be reciprocated by breeders who have flocked to see the two stallions on the Dullingham Park roster, headed by Shaquille (GB), who stands for a fee of £15,000 in his first year having taken the sprinting scene by storm in 2023.

Trained by Julie Camacho, Shaquille won seven of his nine career starts, notably becoming just the second horse after Muhaarar (GB) to win both the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup as a three-year-old on his way to being crowned Europe's top sprinter at the Cartier Awards.

Shaquille is also the highest-rated son of the four-time Group 1 winner Charm Spirit (Ire) who, like Muhaarar, is a grandson of the former Shadwell stalwart Green Desert, with the pair being by Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Oasis Dream (GB), respectively.

Ollie Fowlston, quickly settling into his own new role as managing director of Dullingham Park, says of Shaquille, “He's been unbelievably well received. We've got all the right breeders on board that we'd hoped for and they're loving what they see.

“He's just a very good-looking horse. He's beautifully balanced and a great walker. He's very correct in front with lovely big feet on him. He's got a lovely head as well, a good shoulder and a lovely wide hip on him. If we can get the first crop of foals looking and walking like him, that will be the first big hurdle jumped.”

Shaquille certainly cuts quite the figure as he calmly struts his stuff in the serene surroundings of Dullingham Park, taking everything in his stride and looking anything but the character who threatened to throw away his two Group 1 wins by rearing as the stalls opened, forfeiting several lengths to the rest of the field.

Only a horse of immense talent would have been able to overcome such adversity on his way to beating the best sprinters Europe has to offer, the horse of a lifetime for Camacho and partner Steve Brown, as well as owner Martin Hughes, who co-bred the colt out of the unraced Galileo (Ire) mare Magic (Ire), herself a daughter of Cheveley Park Stud's multiple Group-winning sprinter Danehurst (GB) (Danehill).

Those closest to Shaquille always maintained that he was the consummate professional to do anything with at home and Fowlston confirms that the colt's temperament has been nothing but an asset since he arrived at Dullingham Park, before going on to consider the adjustment this new venture has been for him following 25 years at Tattersalls.

“It's been exceptional how he's settled in really, because we've had so much building work going on and diggers around the place,” Fowlston explains. “He's not batted an eyelid at all and it's like he's lived here for a few years. Funnily enough, the first night he spent on the farm was the first night he'd ever spent away from the Camachos because he was born there as well.

“It's very exciting and quite surreal [to have Shaquille at Dullingham Park]. You go up to the stallion yard and when you see Shaquille's head sticking over the door you do have to pinch yourself a little bit.

“I'm really enjoying it. It's very different from my previous job at Tattersalls. It's selling but selling in a different capacity. It's been a great help my grounding at Tattersalls and having got to know all the breeders has made life a bit easier.”

Having Soldier's Call (GB) join the roster at Dullingham Park should also make Fowlston's life a bit easier. With the speedy son of Showcasing (GB) breeders already have a pretty good idea of what they're going to get as he embarks on his fifth season at an increased fee of £8,500, the first four having come under the supervision of Joe Foley at Ballyhane Stud in Ireland.

Bought by Foley for 85,000gns as a yearling, Soldier's Call was a notable success story for the Clippers Logistics team as a two-year-old when he carried the grey silks to a trio of high-profile victories in the G2 Flying Childers S., G3 Prix d'Arenberg and Listed Windsor Castle S., before going on to fill the runner-up spot in the G1 Nunthorpe S. at three.

Ranked third among the leading first-crop sires in Europe last year with 26 individual winners, Soldier's Call looks set for another big year in 2024 following a promising start, with a trio of three-year-old maiden winners in Britain already on the board.

“Joe's done a great job starting him off,” Fowlston says of Soldiers Call. “He's got big numbers on the ground. I think he's got 105 two-year-olds to run for him this year and I think he's got bigger books to come. We couldn't be more excited and it's something for breeders to look forward to as well.

“There's a bit of a gap in the English market for a horse like him. Breeders can come here and they know that he'll start off a young mare. He'll get a good winner and you can go to the sales and get well paid if you have a nice one by him.

“He's going down very well at the moment and already he's had the three three-year-old winners this year. He'll no doubt have early two-year-old winners on the turf when the season starts and we'll be taking bookings I'm sure right up until mid-May.”

Dorothy Lawrence (GB) was one of the flagbearers for Soldier's Call's first crop of juveniles last year, producing her best effort when beaten just a short head in the G3 Dick Poole Fillies' S. at Salisbury. She should be competitive in more good races for the Clippers Logistics team in 2024 if training on as well as her sire did.

As for fellow homebred and Karl Burke trainee Fallen Angel (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), she will be tasked with trying to deliver on Fabienne's dream of winning a Classic when, all being well, she lines up in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday, May 5.

The form of her victory in last year's G1 Moyglare Stud S. would appear to put her in there with a leading chance, already having provided that memorable day at the Curragh which carried extra significance for the whole Parkin family.

“It really does,” Fabienne agrees when it's suggested to her that it means more to win any race with a homebred. “When you see your foals born at home and then they go on to be successful on the racetrack, it's beyond exciting.

“We had Fallen Angel last year who obviously won the Moyglare and there was a lovely story behind that with us breeding her and then losing the dam. That was very poignant and moving.

“I think we're lucky really. You have to have a bit of luck in this industry, as much as you can try and be clever about what you do. We're a very young operation in terms of our breeding and we've already been so successful. To have already bred Dramatised and Fallen Angel from the farm at home is really exciting.”

G2 Queen Mary S. and G2 Temple S. winner Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) is now a member of the broodmare band which reportedly numbers around 30 at the Parkin family home in Yorkshire, the 300-acre Branton Court Stud near Harrogate, plus another 50-60 in Ireland. The hope is that Fallen Angel will one day follow in the footsteps of her late dam, Agnes Stewart (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), by joining those ranks, even better if she does so as a Classic winner.

As for the four remaining empty stallion boxes at Dullingham Park, Fabienne confesses that she has already earmarked one for Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt Flight Plan (GB), who fittingly won last year's G2 Dullingham Park S. at Leopardstown and has the potential to make up into an even better four-year-old in 2024.

However, it's Foley who gets the last word–not unusual, I'm told–when it comes to the biggest and brightest prospects for the Clipper Logistics team this year, providing the inside track in his role as bloodstock advisor to the Parkin family.

“Who's he?” Foley asks when the name Night Raider (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) is put to him during our conversation at the February Sale, briefly threatening to throw this interviewer off the scent of the nine-length Southwell winner before the twinkle in his eye reveals there is a big opinion there waiting to be unleashed.

“I remember buying him as a foal, I thought he was the best foal I'd ever bought,” he soon delivers. “He was always a beautiful horse and he's always impressed the people who were around him. He's a big horse at 16.1hh and he's out of a Shamardal mare, out of a Dubai Millennium mare. There's a lot of Dubai Millennium in him.

“He doesn't look like his half-brother [G3 Palace House S. winner Far Above] at all. He'd lead you to think that there's a lot of speed in the pedigree, but it's a very classy family. He looks like a miler, he gallops like a miler and he wasn't stopping when he won at Southwell.

“Danny [Tudhope, jockey] adores him, he thinks he's a really high-class horse. He's just won a December maiden, so he has an awful lot to prove, but on our team he's the horse with the most potential.

“We're very excited to see what he does, but we've been disappointed in the past–we're hoping for the best and expecting the worst,” he adds, betraying the same boundless optimism as Fabienne but the experience to know better.

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Proudest moment of 2023?
Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) winning the Commonwealth Cup to give us our first Group 1 and our first Royal Ascot winner.

What is your biggest ambition for the new year?
To try and keep the yard on an upward curve.

Give us one horse to follow and why?
Our horse to follow is L'Ennemi (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). We bought him at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale in October. He has a lovely profile and we were happy to secure him for 120,000gns. He has pleased us during his downtime this winter and hopefully he will give us and Martin Hughes [owner] some fun this season.

And a young person in the industry to keep an eye on…
Jonathan Harding at the Racing Post. We enjoy his work.

Who do you think will be champion first-season sire this year?
Pinatubo (Ire).

And the best value stallion in Europe?
Shaquille.

What's the one horse you wish you'd bought in 2023?
Florida (Ire) (No Nay Never). He just made a little too much for us.

Biggest regret?
Not buying Quinault (Ger) (Oasis Dream {GB}) at the sales.

Biggest influence on your career?
Definitely my Dad [former trainer Maurice Camacho].

If you could sit down for dinner with three people (dead or alive) who would they be and why?
William Haggas and William Jarvis as they are great company. The third would be Bryan Adams for the entertainment. We saw him live at Steve Parkin's party last year and thoroughly enjoyed him.

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Cheveley Park Stud's managing director Chris Richardson said of Inspiral on Thursday, “We've obviously been monitoring the weather and the rain that's fallen. I know John Gosden walked the track yesterday, there's been a subsequent 12 millimetres and it looks like there's more to come. As we know, when she ran on soft ground in the Sussex at Goodwood in the summer, Frankie looked after her as it wasn't the sort of performance she was enjoying. The decision now is whether the Breeders' Cup [Filly & Mare Turf] is an option. John is going to speak to Mrs Thompson about it and then we'll know more, but it's very much up to her to decide whether she wants the filly to go to America. They're liaising between them and there's decisions to be made on whether she runs again this year and whether she's kept in training next year. She's a wonderful filly, Mrs Thompson is the owner of the horse and will make the decision.”

In other news, the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup hero Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) will not run in the G1 Qipco British Champions Sprint. Steve Brown said of the 3-year-old, who was disappointing in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup, “He wasn't just tracking through as normal behind with his movement. It looks minimal, but given the ground conditions, which are obviously going to be pretty testing, we're just not prepared to take any chances with him. It's as simple as that really.”

Marc Chan's defending Champions Sprint title-holder Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) will face 14 in the six-furlong bonanza, there are 14 declared for a wide-open G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares S., and Ballydoyle's star stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) faces seven in the G2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup. The storm has resulted in 13mm of rain falling, with further rain forecast on Friday.

Ascot's clerk of the course Chris Stickels is ready to switch the Long Distance Cup, Filly & Mares and Champion S. to the drier inner hurdles track for the first time since 2019. “If we have heavy ground on any part of the round course, we can move the round course races to the inner track and we have to decide that before 8 a.m. on Saturday,” he explained. “Looking at the forecast for Friday, I would say that is quite likely. I think the rain we will get overnight will turn us back to soft on the round course and maybe even if we get the top end, some heavy places on the round course. It's a shame we are a week later in the calendar this year and even today, John Gosden said if we were racing today the ground would have been perfect.”

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Like all good Derby winners, Auguste Rodin has a nemesis in King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Ryan Moore has his sights on that rival above all others.”King Of Steel probably deserves to head the betting given the way he beat our Voltigeur winner Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) at Royal Ascot and backed that up with a good third in the King George, but don't forget Auguste Rodin beat him fair and square in the Derby and he showed a lot of speed to win that day,” he said. “My colt obviously has a big question to answer after his lifeless run in the King George, but if he returns to his Epsom form then he has a big chance.”

Aidan O'Brien added, “We're really happy with him, the circumstances are all different for this. It's a mile and a quarter, quicker ground, he's drawn in rather than out and we've been happy with him since Ascot. There are a lot of things different this time. Ryan felt him come off the bridle early last time and didn't take a chance, he took the decision to protect him rather than damage him, which definitely wasn't the wrong thing.”

Amo Racing's game-changing King Of Steel, who at this stage could be argued has the edge in their private dispute having run a bigger average over their two encounters, is one of the best big horses of recent times and Ascot's mile and a half on soft ground would not have been his bag either. At least he kept fighting in the wake of the older, more seasoned boys up ahead and this, a qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, is a golden opportunity to settle the argument once and for all.

Kevin Stott, who has been catapulted to the limelight by his partnership with this colossus, believes he is on the one with the bragging rights at present. “I wouldn't swap him for anything in the race and honestly believe he's the one they all have to beat,” he said on his William Hill blog. ” Going that slightly quicker tempo should allow him to get into a rhythm quicker and I can't wait to get back on board him again. He's been given plenty of time to get over his run in the King George and while it was a hard race, we think he'll have learnt a lot from it and I expect him to step forward mentally as much as anything here. He could easily go back to up in trip, but we feel this might be where he is at his optimum so the fact we haven't actually run him over it is something we are all really looking forward to.”

At this stage, the older horses hold sway after the big summer clashes and with the likes of TDN Rising Stars Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in here there is no guarantee that the Classic generation will win out. Nashwa is probably a dubious stayer at this distance and has the QEII written all over her, so Onesto looks the more intriguing given that he was less suited to the easier ground 12 months ago than Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). He has arguably shown more in one run in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois than that rival has in his major tests this term and this is undoubtedly the French colt's big moment.

Luxembourg has been so disappointing since his dynamic success in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup that it looks as if he is on the downward curve, while Shadwell's Alflaila (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) needs more than a fair share of Owen Burrows spell-casting if he is to jump from the G2 York S. to these kind of heights.

Is The Matron The Graveyard Of The Favourites?

Leopardstown's G1 Coolmore America “Justify” Matron S. is prone to surprise results, with five of the last six winners priced at 10-1 or bigger and two of them trading at 20-1 and 25-1. Perhaps it is the slight change of the season throwing the midsummer femmes fatales off track and bringing the autumn goddesses into their element, but this is a race where the formbook rarely holds water. With that in mind, The Aga Khan's G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and G1 Coronation S. heroine Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) is in the same boat that her opposing stablemate Homeless Songs (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was 12 months ago as she returns from her sojourn in this “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

Homeless Songs looked a “good thing” back then and faltered, much as Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) had done in the preceding renewals. This ground is as quick as connections of Homeless Songs would like, while Tahiyra needs to do more than she has in her last two races to justify short odds. Perhaps Juddmonte's unflinching Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) is the answer, given her relentless run of success in her native country, or the newly-blinkered Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never).

Tahiyra's jockey Chris Hayes thinks she has what it takes to hold on to her mantle of leading 3-year-old filly miler. “She just finds everything so easy–she finds going fast easy, she finds going slow easy and there are no issues or anything with her,” he said. “I've sat on her plenty and she has strengthened up quite well–she's a stronger filly than she was earlier in the year.”

Moyglare Stud's Fiona Craig warned that Homeless Songs may yet be taken out of the Matron. “Homeless Songs is in good shape, she might be a week or two short and if Leopardstown don't water and it stays as hot and sunny as this and the ground is fast she probably won't run, but she's declared and we'll just see,” she said.

Can Shaquille Get Away With A Slow Start Again?

Saturday's third Group 1 is at Haydock and with the heat unrelenting the Betfair Sprint Cup is to staged on unusually fast ground which will not daunt connections of the seemingly-flawless G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup hero Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}). That said, his tendency to gift rivals a headstart might catch up with him eventually as it did the habitually stalls-wary Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). In terms of sheer ability, the Camacho colt has a healthy advantage over a collection of sprinters that have found many ways to undermine their reputations.

Shaquille has undergone stalls schooling with specialists Craig and Jake Witherford and Camacho's husband and assistant Steve Brown is hoping they have got to the bottom of that particular quirk.

“You'd rather we had a conventional situation, but we haven't in his last two races. We've acknowledged that we had a problem, we've tried to do something about it, we're pleased with what happened at home and we hope to see that on the track on the day,” he said. “He looks really fit and well and everything has gone to plan. We planned four good bits of work, which he's done, and we haven't missed a day with him–I don't think we can have any gripes about his preparation at all.”

If there is one unknown in the line-up it is Peter Harris's Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) and while his last two wins in Deauville's Listed Prix Moonlight Cloud and G3 Prix de Meautry leave him with a bridge still to cross, he is at least a young colt on the up with confidence high. One of the older brigade who has been at times frustrating is Cheveley Park Stud's talented Sacred (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), but she is at least still unexposed at this trip with her four outings over six resulting in a narrow second to Khaadem (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in Royal Ascot's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S. in June. She will love the flat track, fast surface and fast pace and this could be her day at last.

Sacred's jockey Tom Marquand said, “Going back to a flat six furlongs on fast ground should be right up her alley and hopefully we will see her back to where she was before. She has shown on so many occasions that she belongs at this level. Hopefully she can get the job done on Saturday.”

The Supporting Cast

This is one of the European season's finest weekends and Saturday's action is boosted by the appearance of Ballydoyle's TDN Rising Star Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S., a “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf; and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) in the G2 Dullingham Park S. on the Leopardstown card. There is also Kempton's G3 September S., which sees the high-class Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) tackle a mile and a half for the first time, and G3 Sirenia S. where TDN Rising Star Eben Shaddad (Calyx {GB}) puts his reputation on the line for Prince Faisal bin Khaled and Najd Stud and the Gosdens.

Sunday's Fixtures Set

Sunday's Curragh card and the ParisLongchamp Arc Trials fixture were firmed up on Friday, with Aidan O'Brien suggesting that the stable's big 2-year-olds City Of Troy (Justify) and Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) could line up in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. Declared alongside each other in opposition to the G1 Phoenix S. hero Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), the pair of TDN Rising Stars would make for a stellar clash.

“It's possible they could both run,” O'Brien said. “Obviously City Of Troy would prefer the ground to be quick, whereas Henry Longfellow handles an ease but they are both in good form.” The stable's multiple Group 1-winning stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is one of five in the G1 Irish St Leger, while their unbeaten TDN Rising Star Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) heads the nine fillies engaged in the G1 Moyglare Stud S.

Last year's G1 Flying Five heroine Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) has nine to beat in her repeat bid, while in Paris the eight fillies confirmed for the G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille include the starlets Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) and Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Jean-Louis Bouchard's G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero Feed The Flame (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is back in the G2 Qatar Prix Niel.

The post Can The Real Auguste Rodin Stand Up In Irish Champion Stakes? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Part of the National Racehorse Week initiative, the Malton Open Day–organised by racing charity Racing Welfare–sees 11 trainers, including Camacho, open their yards to the public. In addition, a new partnership with York Racecourse for 2023 lets visitors continue their family day out at the racecourse's YorkMix Family Sunday Raceday. There will be regular appearances by popular children's character, Bluey, throughout the day, as well as free bouncy castles and free face painting for children. Proceeds of ticket sales will go towards Racing Welfare's wide-ranging support services for everyone working in the industry. Combined tickets for both the ARC Malton Open Day and the YorkMix Family Sunday Raceday are available to purchase at the early bird price of £15 with all under 18s free. Entry to the Malton Open Day only costs £7.50. Prices will increase to £17.50 and £10, respectively, beginning on Sept. 1. For more information, and to purchase tickets, please visit the Malton Open Day website.

Racing Welfare's Head of Community Engagement, Adam Ferguson, said, “We are thrilled to offer the public such a wonderful opportunity to get up close with some of North Yorkshire's finest equine stars, and thanks go to the trainers for their support in opening their yards to the public. The partnership with York Racecourse this year really does make the Malton Open Day the ultimate family day out, and we look forward to seeing lots of racing fans of all ages enjoying the numerous activities whilst helping raise much-needed funds for our charity.”

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Trained by Julie Camacho, the 3-year-old is eight-for-seven and claimed both the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and the G1 July Cup S. in July.

“Shaquille is in really good form,” said Camacho's husband and assistant Steve Brown. “We purposely gave him a quiet couple of weeks after Newmarket which was always the plan. “He looks well and it has freshened him up. He has regrouped nicely and is back cantering.

“We are very pleased with him. He is a very straightforward horse at home and he will do his first bit of fast work on Saturday. We are all systems go to Haydock and we're looking forward to it.”

Of the colt's autumn plans, Brown added, “I would think the obvious route would be to go to Champions Day [in October]. We've obviously had a little bit of interest in the possibility of going abroad [to the Breeders' Cup] this year, but I think we will be staying at home and probably go to Ascot.

“We'll go a step at a time, but it will have been a long year by then and he's still a 3-year-old and we have to be mindful of that.”

Co-owned by joint-breeder Martin Hughes, Shaquille has generated plenty of attention regarding a future stallion career.

“There has been lots of interest in him,” Brown said. “We have directed that down to Martin. He's waded through it and I think he's keen to do something more towards the end of the year, really.

“He said pretty early on it was something we'd discuss at the end of the year and we should just get on and enjoy the racing for now in the short term. There are lots of scenarios, but he's been wonderful whatever happens.”

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Threatening at the business end was Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who had enjoyed a far more favourable trip and as a G1 Prix de la Foret winner had the stamina to make Shaquille pay for his early exertions, but the 5-2 joint-favourite simply dispelled that challenge for his closing act. At the line, he had 1 1/2 lengths to spare over the 28-1 outsider Run To Freedom (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), another Henry Candy special who grabbed the silver medal from Kinross late on by a short head.

“He's some horse to do that and it was just an incredible performance taking on the older horses,” Ryan said. “I tried to settle him in behind, but he wasn't having it. I was out of control really and I had to make a move in the middle part of the race–I had no option. Nine times out ten that would be a disaster, but he has just got a lot of ability and that is the long and the short of it. I just let him blow out and grab his wind and he just went away. Two out, he kicked and he stayed going. I saw someone out of the corner of my eye and he kicked again for me at the half-furlong pole and picked up all the way to the line. He's something else.”

Keep your eye on stall 9….

ANOTHER slow start doesn't stop Shaquille from winning his second Group One in the Pertemps Network July Cup @NewmarketRace | @JCamachoRacing | @Rossaryan15 pic.twitter.com/hZ6a2zNab5

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 15, 2023

Shaquille, whose light was hidden under a bushel until his barnstorming all-the-way success in Newbury's Listed Carnarvon S. in May, has fast become the sprinting category's standard-setter and his impressive sectionals at Royal Ascot suggested he could be ultra-slick on this fast track. His scintillating 10.70 and 10.64 second and third-furlong splits took him past Art Power, who has made his trade by dominating the early parts of most of his races, as the other joint-favourite Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) backed out quickly. Unrelenting thereafter with splits of 11.03 and 11.33, the damage was done and it was just a case of holding him together on the climb to the line.

“I just wish he'd do things right,” Camacho said after becoming the first female trainer to exceed £1million in prizemoney in a season. “I keep saying I wish he'd do everything right. He drives us mad. It is just nice that people in the north can have a bit of success, because there are some really good trainers in the north and if we can get the ammunition, we can do well with them. We will probably go to Haydock, although we will put him in at Deauville [for the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest]. Steve will discuss it with Martin [Hughes]. I'm only a very small part. Steve plays a bigger part than I do.”

Brown said, “Oisin was quiet with him at Ascot, but Rossa chose to get close to the pace early and I thought we were doing too much from a fair way out, but to pick up from that you have to say he is a special athlete. He seems to be fluffing his lines a bit at the start. We hoped Ascot was an exception, but he's getting something in his mind–it's possibly the rug.”

“It has been a slow process,” Brown added. “You go back to last December and we were at a cold Wolverhampton on a Saturday night, I believe, so we didn't see the talent at this level immediately. All-Weather Championships day was a disaster and we were forced down a different route. At home, he is a lovely character, very laid-back and doesn't put a foot wrong but doesn't immediately show his talent. We would have three or four horses who would comfortably work better than him. At some point I wouldn't mind giving him a couple of quiet weeks to let him strengthen. He is still a baby, for all he is a talented one. We will have a chat over a cup of tea.”

Henry Candy said of Run To Freedom, “He's a very able horse and we knew he could do that, he showed it at Salisbury and when second behind Kinross in the Champions Sprint last year. You can never quite rely on him, which is why he starts at these ridiculous prices but the ability is there. I wouldn't be surprised if he was able to win one before the end of the year. We'll go to Haydock and we'll go to Ascot in October.”

Ralph Beckett has seven furlongs on the agenda for Kinross again for the immediate future. “I'm really pleased, it's a shade on the easy side for him going six here,” he said. “He'll go to Goodwood [for the G2 Lennox S.] and then probably York [for the G2 City Of York S.] and Longchamp [for the G1 Prix de la Foret] and then back to six for Ascot [for the G1 British Champions Sprint S.].”

Pedigree Notes
Shaquille is the third foal out of the unraced dam Magic (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of Cheveley Park Stud's top-class sprinter Danehurst (GB) (Danehill) whose eight black-type wins included the G2 Flying Five, G3 Premio Umbria, G3 Prix de Seine-et-Oise and G3 Cornwallis S. Also second in the G1 Golden Jubilee S. and third in this race in 2002, one of her other Galileos was the listed scorer Birch Grove (Ire).

Danehurst is kin to the G3 Prix Penelope winner Humouresque (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and to the dam of this year's G3 Commonwealth Cup Trial S. runner-up The X O (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), while the family also includes the G1 Cheveley Park S., G2 Lowther S. and G3 Sirenia S.-winning European champion 2-year-old filly Hooray (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and the G2 Cherry Hinton S. winner and G1 1000 Guineas third Dazzle (GB) (Gone West). Magic's yearling colt is by Cable Bay (Ire), while she also has a colt foal by Iffraaj (GB).

Saturday, Newmarket, Britain
PERTEMPS NETWORK JULY CUP-G1, £628,500, Newmarket, 7-15, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:11.68, g/s.
1–SHAQUILLE (GB), 128, c, 3, by Charm Spirit (Ire)
     1st Dam: Magic (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
     2nd Dam: Danehurst (GB), by Danehill
     3rd Dam: Miswaki Belle, by Miswaki
O-Hughes, Rawlings, O'Shaughnessy; B-Martin Hughes & Michael Kerr-Dineen (GB); T-Julie Camacho; J-Rossa Ryan. £356,422. Lifetime Record: 8-7-0-0, $1,006,040. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Run To Freedom (GB), 134, h, 5, Muhaarar (GB)–Twilight Mistress (GB), by Bin Ajwaad (Ire). O-Godfrey Wilson; B-Mrs C R D Wilson (GB); T-Henry Candy. £135,128.
3–Kinross (GB), 134, g, 6, Kingman (GB)–Ceilidh House (GB), by Selkirk. TDN Rising Star. O-Marc Chan; B-Lawn Stud (GB); T-Ralph Beckett. £67,627.
Margins: 1HF, SHD, 1 1/4. Odds: 2.50, 28.00, 4.00.
Also Ran: Art Power (Ire), Khaadem (Ire), Azure Blue (Ire), Vadream (GB), Little Big Bear (Ire). Scratched: Emaraaty Ana (GB).

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Conjuring an incredible effort down the outer, the 9-1 shot threw in sectionals of 11.43, 11.24 and 11.63 to give the front-running Swingalong (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) and Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) something to think about. As that duo started to pay for their efforts in the closing 50 yards, the Listed Carnarvon S. scorer overhauled them and continued his surge to the line to beat Little Big Bear by 1 1/4 lengths. Last year's G2 Lowther S. winner Swingalong stuck on for third, 3/4 of a length away.

Camacho admitted that she had given up hope instantly after the winner's disastrous start. “I thought, 'well that's it' but then I thought, 'he's going to be placed' and then 'oh my God, he's going to win', so I am a bit speechless,” she said. “He was good, wasn't he? We never thought we would train a group one winner, not at Royal Ascot anyway, and for Martin who bred him. We've got his mother at home, his siblings, and dad looks after the stud, so I'm sure he was screaming at home. It's massive.”

EXTRAORDINARY! Shaquille rears as the stalls open and comes from NOWHERE to win the Commonwealth Cup for @oismurphy and @JCamachoRacing! pic.twitter.com/Ypu6bjeBf0

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 23, 2023

Suffering just the one reversal when last of 11 tried over seven furlongs behind Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in York's G3 Acomb S. in August, Shaquille's biggest problem all along has been his stalls behaviour which led to his withdrawal from Newcastle's All-Weather 3 Year Old Championships Conditions S. on Good Friday. Again tricky at the start of a Newmarket handicap at the Guineas meeting, he was still able to dominate and earn a second tilt at black-type company in Newbury's Carnarvon where he was better from the stalls and dominated from the front.

Had he broken on terms here, it is probable that he would have been an impressive wide-margin winner and Oisin Murphy had a far less stressful ordeal. “As the stalls opened, he went up into the air and took his time coming back down to the ground,” he explained. “It's very hard to do that in a 1200 metre race and win. I thought the race was almost over and you just have to hope they've gone too fast and will slow down at the end and I got to the back of Ryan quite easily without having to go for him.”

“I had to sustain an effort from quite a long way out. It really was a tremendous task that he managed to overcome,” Murphy added. “He's a tough, top-class animal. It's an astounding performance. I've had a fantastic comeback and brilliant support from so many people. To get on the scoresheet today in a group one is a brilliant feeling, but I feel for James Doyle. If Noble Style had not run, Shaquille was going to be his ride so thank you to the connections for letting me ride him.”

Aidan O'Brien said of Little Big Bear, “He ran very well. I think he is a sprinter and we will be looking forward to the July Cup.” Swingalong's trainer Karl Burke commented, “It was a fantastic run and Clifford [Lee] gave her a great ride. I knew the run in the French 1000 Guineas was wrong–she did not stay the mile, but equally she would not have won over six furlongs that day. She will stay another half furlong, so we are thinking of the [G1] Prix Maurice de Gheest.”

Pedigree Notes
The unraced dam Magic (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has genuine sprinting gold in her blood, being a daughter of Cheveley Park Stud's supercharged G2 Flying Five scorer and G1 Golden Jubilee S. and G1 July Cup-placed Danehurst (GB) (Danehill). This is the family of the G1 Cheveley Park S., G2 Lowther S. and G3 Sirenia S.-winning European champion 2-year-old filly Hooray (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and the G2 Cherry Hinton S. winner and G1 1000 Guineas third Dazzle (GB) (Gone West) who was making her debut when winning the Windsor Castle here in 1996. Also related to the meeting's G2 Hardwicke S.-placed Mighty (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), her yearling colt is by Cable Bay (Ire).

Friday, Royal Ascot, Britain
COMMONWEALTH CUP-G1, £600,000, Ascot, 6-23, 3yo, 6fT, 1:13.15, g/f.
1–SHAQUILLE (GB), 128, c, 3, by Charm Spirit (Ire)
1st Dam: Magic (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Danehurst (GB), by Danehill
3rd Dam: Miswaki Belle, by Miswaki
1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Hughes, Rawlings & O'Shaughnessy; B-Martin Hughes & Michael Kerr-Dineen (GB); T-Julie Camacho; J-Oisin Murphy. £340,260. Lifetime Record: 7-6-0-0, $539,370. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Little Big Bear (Ire), 128, c, 3, No Nay Never–Adventure Seeker (Fr), by Bering (GB). (€320,000 Ylg '21 ARAUG). O-D Smith, Mrs J Magnier, M Tabor & Westerberg; B-Camas Park Stud & Summerhill (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £129,000.
3–Swingalong (Ire), 125, f, 3, Showcasing (GB)–Pilates (Ire), by Shamardal. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (120,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum; B-Mount Armstrong Stud. (IRE); T-Karl Burke. £64,560.
Margins: 1 1/4, 3/4, HD. Odds: 9.00, 0.91, 66.00.
Also Ran: Ocean Quest (Ire), Rumstar (GB), Queen Me (Ire), Shouldvebeenaring (GB), Mischief Magic (Ire), Noble Style (GB), Lezoo (GB), The X O (Ire), Marbaan (GB), Sakheer (Ire). Scratched: Cold Case (GB).

The post Charm Spirit’s Shaquille Wins The Commonwealth Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Little Big Bear, who became the latest in a line of his stable's big guns to miss a beat in the 2000 Guineas, may actually get a mile in time but while he is so comfortable at these sprint trips and Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) is around it is a case of back to basics. As he sauntered back to winning ways in the G2 Sandy Lane S., it was as if that dull day at Newmarket where his brilliance was diminished never happened. Intriguingly, it was an experience shared with his key opponent and fellow TDN Rising Star Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), who also struggled to cope with his speed edge bludgeoned by conditions on the Rowley Mile.

Sakheer's trainer Roger Varian was giving off all the right vibes on Thursday. “He looks like he could still be a high-class colt, we certainly believe he can be, and we're looking forward to Friday,” he said. “He had an easy time after the Guineas and we were always going to come to Ascot, but he's built up over the last few weeks into this race nicely, his work has been on point, he's been really well and we're hopeful.”

Newmarket woes also apply to the case of Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}), who was among the backwash in the 1000 Guineas and now gravitates back to her comfort zone. She has to improve even off her G1 Cheveley Park S. win, which puts her on a virtual par with the now-retired Middle Park hero Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never) who was always a few pounds adrift of Ballydoyle's champion last term. She and Sakheer are joined by the G2 Gimcrack S.-winning TDN Rising Star Noble Style (GB) (Kingman {GB}), so disappointing behind the revelation Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) in Newbury's Listed Carnarvon S. last time, in having a lot to find with an elite Little Big Bear but this is Royal Ascot where certainties have a way of unravelling.

The Gosdens showed on Wednesday and Thursday that they are never to be left out of the group 1 equation and despite her obvious experience deficit, Normandie Stud's TDN Rising Star Queen For You (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) goes into the Coronation which her dam Fallen For You (GB) (Dansili {GB}) won in 2012 as very much a live contender. It's not just about pedigree with her, however, as her performance when narrowly denied by Sounds Of Heaven (GB) (Kingman {GB}) with the run of the race favouring that Jessie Harrington raider in York's Listed Michael Seely Memorial S. confirmed her as a major talent.

“She is the least experienced in the field, but improved when upped in class at York and has taken that in her stride,” Thady said. “This is another major step up, but we feel she has every right to take her chance.” Kate Harrington added of Sounds Of Heaven, “She is lovely filly and a very underestimated filly who only does as much as she has to. She has a great mind and I think Ascot will really suit her. We're hopeful of a big, big run.”

In the opening G3 Albany S., the Crisfords' impressive Doncaster maiden winner Carla's Way (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) will have an abundance of followers now that the time performance of that defeat of the subsequent 11-length-winning TDN Rising Star Star Of Mystery (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) is known. Lezoo's half-sister Navassa Island (Ire) (Territories {Ire}), now the property of Ecurie Ama Zingteam, also wowed with her sectionals despite going down to the re-opposing Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) on a spectacular debut in Naas's G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Sprint S.

TDN Rising Stars Matrika (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Persian Dreamer (Calyx {GB}) are just two more in the mix in the Albany, which for the past three years has featured the following season's 1000 Guineas heroine in the beaten trio Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) and Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}). Interestingly, the Newmarket maiden taken by Mawj and Cachet prior to meeting their match here was won last month by Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's Jabaara (Ire), another daughter of Exceed And Excel with big hopes attached. “She will like the fast ground if it stays that way and six furlongs looks her trip for the moment,” Varian said. “She's an exciting filly, I think.”

Amo Racing broke their duck at the Royal meeting on Thursday and the racing and operations manager Tom Pennington is excited about their representative here. “I haven't lost any faith in Persian Dreamer, she was very impressive on debut,” he said. “The sharp five furlongs on quick ground at York in the Marygate has probably played against her and she didn't let herself down. She's a big, strong filly and just didn't enjoy the ground.”

In the day's other pattern race, the presence of Amo Racing's Derby runner-up King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) has ensured a small line-up, with a trio of Derby disappointments engaged headed by Juddmonte's Arrest (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Jeff Smith's Artistic Star (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Roger Varian is keen to come back quickly from the Blue Riband, the form of which received a major boost with the win of Waipiro (Ire) (Australia {GB}) here on Thursday. “He has looked great from the day he got back from Epsom and is in good form,” he said. “He looked very good in defeat and that bodes well for this week, the rest of the season and beyond hopefully. These races are not easy to win, but he looks like a horse who will take us to the big spots and we look forward to Friday.”

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