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Magical to the Hong Kong Cup

MG1SW Magical ((Ire) (Galileo {Ire}–Halfway to Heaven {Ire}), by Pivotal {GB}), runner-up behind Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) in the Nov. 7 GI Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland, has remained in training and is expected to make her next start in the G1 Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin Dec. 13.

Earlier this season, the 5-year-old mare won the G1 Irish Champion S., G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and the G1 Pretty Polly S.

“She ran very well in America, we were very happy with her at the Breeders’ Cup,” said trainer Aidan O’Brien. “At the moment the plan is to take her to Hong Kong. She’s still in full work at the moment and that’s what we are looking at the minute.”

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No News Is Good News At Arqana

Arqana concluded its trade this week with a single session of National Hunt breeding stock, which had been moved from the December Sale to allow for shorter sessions while Covid-related restrictions remain in place.

The 10-year-old mare No News (Fr) (Gentlewave {Ger}), sold as part of the dispersal of stock from Haras de la Croix Sonnet, was the leading light of the sale, selling for €125,000 to Haras des Sablonnets. From the celebrated dual-purpose family which includes the highly sought-after jumps stallion No Risk At All (Fr), the mare (lot 918) was sold in foal to Goliath Du Berlais (Fr), a son of Saints Des Saints (Fr) who joined his father on the roster of Haras d’Etreham’s National Hunt wing Haras de la Tuilerie this year.

This year’s foal out of No News, from the first crop of Cloth Of Stars (Ire), was one of the bestsellers among the weanlings at the sale. She fetched €60,000 as lot 923 and the only foal to sell for more than this was also from the first crop of the Haras du Logis stallion. Sold as lot 910, the Cloth Of Stars half-brother to recent GI-winning hurdler Theleme (Fr) (Sidestep {Aus}) fetched €75,000 and was knocked down to Saubouas Bloodstock. They were the only two lots by G1 Prix Ganay winner Cloth Of Stars in the sale; another six will be offered at Arqana’s December Sale.

Also popular among the mares was the classy Baie Des Iles (Fr) (Barastraight {Ire}), a seven-time winner in France and Ireland who was sold for €97,000 to Sebastian Desmontils of Chauvigny Global Equine form Haras du Hoguenet. The 9-year-old grey mare (lot 902) is in foal for the first time to leading French dual-purpose stallion Doctor Dino (Fr).

Princesse Kap (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}) also commanded a sales tag of €97,000 when sold to Tim Richardson’s Equine Advisory Agency from Haras de l’Etoile du Berger. Like Baie Des Iles, Princesse Kap won the G2 Prix des Drags during her racing days along with another two Grade 3 contests among her nine victories. She was sold in foal to Haras de Montaigu resident No Risk At All, the sire of 2020 Champion Hurdle winner Epatante (Fr).

The sale concluded five days of trade at Arqana since Saturday, all of which have been conducted outdoors while France remains in lockdown. Of the 144 horses offered, 104 sold (72%) for an aggregate of €2,310,000. The average price was €22,212.

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Global Cast Descends On Bahrain

The second running of the £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy on Friday has drawn a competitive international lineup, with little separating the leading fancies in the betting. Each of the 14 runners, including five Group 1 winners, has of course been meticulously primed for a run at this sizable pot, but that statement perhaps applies to Global Giant (GB) (Shamardal) more than any other. The international favourite has had this race as his primary target since being bought privately from Ed Dunlop’s yard last year by Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, one of the key organizers of the race. The 5-year-old entire has won two of his four starts since being transferred to John Gosden, including Newbury’s Listed Steventon S. over this trip on July 19. Though he was not disgraced when third in the G3 Rose of Lancaster S. on Aug. 8 under Frankie Dettori, assistant trainer Thady Gosden said the horse encountered unsuitably soft ground on that occasion.

“Ideally we’d have had a prep race before this but the ground went at the end of the season so we thought the best thing to do was to leave him and bring him here fresh,” Gosden said. “His work here has been good. The turf track here is world class and he’s enjoyed the faster ground. We are drawn five which we are happy about. They say the inside of the track is where you want to be. It would be wonderful to win the race for His Highness Shaikh Isa; this race was his brainchild so it would mean a lot to him.”

Speaking of global giants, the Japanese expatriat turned Newmarket resident Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) makes the final start of a career that has seen her win the G1 Shuka Sho and G1 Nassau S. The 6-year-old has not visited the winner’s enclosure since the Nassau last August and was most recently eighth in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but assistant trainer Yoshi Hasida said he thinks conditions at Sakhir will suit her. She gets a five-pound weight break from her male rivals.

“Her condition going into the Arc was perfect, but the heavy ground went against her,” Hashida said. “The French horses coped with it better. Her two Group 1 wins came on right-handed tracks at Kyoto and Goodwood. The long straight at Sakhir will suit her. The track looks very fair and we like the firm ground that we will get. We are very excited to take part in the race.”

Aidan O’Brien’s 2019 G1 Irish Derby winner Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) reappears off a fifth-place finish in the G2 Long Distance Cup on British Champions Day on Oct. 17 over heavy ground. He reverts to 2000 metres for the first time since last spring and looks for his first win since the Irish Derby.

“I don’t think he ran too bad at Ascot, he just got tired late on,” said O’Brien. “He seems in good form since and he should like the ground. This is 10 furlongs so we’ll find out a lot; he’s in good order. He’s going there quite a fresh horse and he’s lightly raced. It looks a very good track and everyone is very positive about it.”

The Oct. 10 G3 Darley S. one-two Lady Wannabe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Dream Castle (GB) (Frankel {GB}) re-oppose here. The former put in a career-best effort last out to overhaul the Dubai Group 1 winner Dream Castle, who was returning off a two-month break having won a mile conditions race at Thirsk on Aug. 9 but gets a less favourable draw in 13.

Others of interest include last year’s G1 Queen Anne S. winner Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper), who has put in some respectable efforts this term despite being plagued by soft ground on a number of occasions; and the locally trained Port Lions (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who rides a seven-race win streak and upset Deirdre in the Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Cup in Saudi Arabia in February but hasn’t run since.

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Overbury Stud Trims Fees For 2021

Overbury Stud has announced reduced stud fees for three of its five stallions for 2021.

Ardad (Ire), who will have his first runners next season, will stand at £4,000 having stood his first three seasons at £6,500. Cityscape (GB) will also stand at £4,000, while Irish Derby winner Jack Hobbs, another with first 2-year-olds in 2021, has also had his fee reduced by £1,000 and will stand at £3,000.

The fee for Schiaparelli (Ger) will return to £2,000 after he stood last year at £1,500, while Frontiersman (GB), whose first foals were born this year, will remain at £1,000. A regally-bred son of Dubawi (Ire) and Ouija Board (GB), Frontiersman covered more than 60 mares in his first season and just over 100 this year.

Commenting on the fee adjustments, Overbury Stud’s Simon Sweeting said, “Our stallions have actually enjoyed many successes in 2021, and we certainly wouldn’t be reducing their fees if it weren’t for the pandemic. But just about every business is having to be cautious about the future, and we hope breeders will find our fees as good value as ever.”

He continued, “Take Cityscape, for instance: his best horse so far is rated 124 by Timeform—there are plenty of stallions at far higher fees who can’t boast that. And we can hardly wait to see the first Ardads get to the racecourse next spring. His yearlings went down very well with proper judges, and it’s exciting to see so many trainers who are famed for their Royal Ascot 2-year-olds stocking up on them.”

Sweeting, who retired Overbury Stud’s 11-time leading British National Hunt sire Kayf Tara (GB) earlier this year, added, “Jack Hobbs is, we hope, his ready-made replacement. He’s been patronised by top breeders and his stock certainly look the part. As for Schiaparelli, well, his offspring are doing so well, they share the same head-down attitude to racing that he had, and it’s particularly fortunate they seem to excel at Cheltenham. His Stayers’ Hurdle runner-up, Ronald Pump, and Indefatigable, who won the Martin Pipe off top-weight, are two of his flag-bearers, and are horses any jumps breeder would be thrilled to have produced.”

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