Two of the most exciting colts to look forward to as three-year-olds in 2023 are in the same stable, hail from the same family and the same sire-line.
The Ballydoyle duo of Auguste Rodin (Ire) and Victoria Road (Ire) concluded their juvenile seasons with victories, respectively, in the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, and they are a son and grandson of Deep Impact (Jpn), the latter being by the late Shadai resident's Classic-winning son Saxon Warrior (Jpn).
Auguste Rodin is in fact bred on the same Deep Impact-Galileo (Ire) cross as Saxon Warrior, which has also been seen to good effect in Oaks winner Snowfall (Jpn), while Deep Impact's Prix de Diane-winning daughter Fancy Blue (Ire) is out of a mare by Galileo's sire Sadler's Wells.
We shouldn't get too hung up on the nicks, however. These top-class racehorses are all out of good mares and by elite stallions. Yes, that's a recipe that doesn't always work, but if performance and pedigree count for anything then the decks are loaded more and more in the favour of the top-tier stallions as their reputations soar.
In Saxon Warrior and Auguste Rodin, however, it is hard to overlook that enticing blend of two of the great stallions of the modern era in the east and west. Though standing their whole stud careers in Ireland and Japan, you don't have to trace the male lines of Galileo and Deep Impact back too far to find yourself in North America. And as my colleague Chris McGrath likes to remind us, the line between the dirt and the turf is a fine one which should really be crossed more often.
But let's claim Galileo and Deep Impact as proper turf influences first and foremost. Inevitably, geography meant that we didn't see too many of Deep Impact's offspring here in Europe prior to his untimely death in 2019 at the age of just 17.
Both of those stallions have had very positive influences on the family of the top-class sprinting filly Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}). The mare, who died last year at the age of 25, was bought as a yearling by Trevor Stewart who quite rightly says, “I keep calling it my family.” He adds with a laugh, “You see, I'm very possessive now.”
Stewart has some justification in taking great pride in the family which is responsible for both Victoria Road, who is a grandson of Cassandra Go, and Auguste Rodin, a great grandson. He bred Victoria Road from Cassandra Go's daughter Tickled Pink (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who won two Group 3 races in Stewart's colours when trained by Sir Henry Cecil then Lady Cecil. Auguste Rodin hails from a daughter who 'got away'. His grand-dam Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), who was sold to Demi O'Byrne at the Goffs Million Sale of 2006 for €450,000 and is in the process of forming a formidable dynasty for Coolmore. Her repeated matings with Galileo produced not only the outstanding Magical (Ire) but also Auguste Rodin's dam Rhododendron (Ire), winner of the G1 Prix de l'Opera, G1 Fillies' Mile and G1 Lockinge S. as well as finishing runner-up to Winter (Ire) in the 1,000 Guineas and also to Enable (GB) in the Oaks. Auguste Rodin is Rhododendron's first foal, which bodes well for the eight-year-old's future broodmare career, though sadly her 2021 colt by Dubawi (Ire) is listed as having died since birth.
Deep Impact is of course now unavailable but Stewart says that he is going “all in” on Saxon Warrior next season with his members of the family. That runs to three broodmare daughters of Cassandra Go, including Halfway To Heaven's full-sister Allez Alaia (Ire). The breeder has also retained the mare's final foal, a yearling filly by Night Of Thunder (Ire) named Chaumet More (Ire).
He says, “Tickled Pink, Holly Golightly and Allez Alaia are all going to Saxon Warrior. And Tickled Pink is in foal to him again too, so she will be going for the third time.
“I did consider using [Deep Impact's son] Study Of Man for one of them and I thought, well, he's totally unproven while Saxon Warrior is semi-proven, so I thought I better just play it safe at the moment.”
Stewart also has a two-year-old colt by Saxon Warrior out of Cassandra Go in training with Paddy Twomey named Change Sings (Ire).
“We think he is well above average and definitely a group horse,” says the breeder. “What level, we don't know. He nearly ran in October and we just decided, no, we needed a little bit more time. He's a lovely big strapping horse, and very straightforward so far. Hopefully we'll have him out in April, and see where we go from there.”
Of that colt's year-younger half-sister Chaumet More, he adds, “She's in pre-training. The trainer has not been selected yet. She is a little on the small side which is probably no surprise as she is out of a 25-year-old mare. She may go to England, I'd say.”
With four daughters of Cassandra Go, three of which are at James Hanly's Ballyhimikin Stud, as well as two granddaughters, Stewart is playing his part in fully developing the family, and of course he has had some key back-up from Coolmore.
“First of all, obviously, it's a great family,” he says. “But two, it's the cheapest way to get into a good family, if you keep the daughters. My plan is to keep every daughter that comes along now. I've sold a few, and obviously [Halfway To Heaven] has worked well. Another one of the daughters that Coolmore had was [Tickled Pink's full-sister] Fantasy, and she was sold to Australia, so that's exciting. But now I'm just going to just keep most of the daughters coming along. Why not?”
Why not indeed? Saxon Warrior is of course backed up in the British and Irish stallion ranks by the aforementioned Niarchos-bred Lanwades Stud resident Study Of Man (Ire), who presents an interesting option for breeders looking to send Galileo mares to a son of Deep Impact. These two are about to be joined by the reverse shuttler Tosen Stardom (Jpn), another son of Deep Impact bred by Northern Farm and the winner of Flemington's G1 Toorak H. and G1 Emirates S. He will stand at Lemongrove Stud in Ireland in 2023.
The of course there are Auguste Rodin and Victoria Road. The Classic season may seem a long way off in this bleak midwinter, but the Aidan O'Brien-trained duo has already staked strong claims to be given a chance to extend this line at stud in Europe in the years to come.
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