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Classic Compensation In The King George?

It seems strange to say that Saturday's G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth QIPCO S., a “Win And You're In” for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, has attracted the best available of the 3-year-olds of either sex without hosting a winner of either Epsom Classic. In Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Ascot's jewel has the two that really count. Both suffered ill fortune of varying degrees in the Derby and Oaks, with the filly in particular a victim of savage circumstance having blown almost the key part of the race coming out of the stalls. Few would argue that the Gosdens' 'TDN Rising Star', who now carries the Lloyd Webber silks, would not have beaten Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) had she been on a level playing field in an unsuitably slowly-run June 3 Classic and it could be that Saturday's well-documented missed flight acts as a blessing in disguise. Gifted a stone by the weight-for-age and sex allowances, she even has three pounds on Westover and the stable has a 100% record with 3-year-old fillies in this.

Frankie's Fortunes On The Up?

When it comes to the biggest topic in racing over the last few weeks, it is undoubtedly the sabbatical of the Gosdens and Frankie Dettori brought about in part by a run of ill fortune to which Emily Upjohn herself contributed. Back on the filly he described in the spring as one who took his breath away, Dettori is one win away from exceeding Lester Piggott, with whom he shares the current record with seven wins. “Epsom was a nightmare, but that's racing,” he said on his Sporting Index blog. “Just when you think you've got everything covered, something like that happens. We get a massive pull in the weights, which is a big help. Barring any accidents, I'm hoping for a big performance. Fingers crossed, we got all the bad luck out of the way at Epsom.”

Time For Westover To Shine

While Emily Upjohn's bad luck at Epsom was in plain sight, Westover's traffic issues halfway up the home straight a day later may or may not have cost him the Blue Riband. Perhaps only a few would argue that he was unlucky not to get past Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), but the way he was motoring when in the clear suggests it is not as clear-cut as most would state. His subsequent Curragh romp three weeks later showed what the Juddmonte homebred was capable of when allowed to fully flow and his wide draw in six may be an advantage with Colin Keane able to send him forward to get the lead from Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}). Juddmonte's general manager Barry Mahon is ready to relish the moment. “They're all elite animals and it's going to be a marvellous race,” he said. “You never really know taking on the older horses for the first time and then you've the filly thrown in getting the weight allowance. It's going to make for a great race, to be fair.”

Where Is His Limit?

At the start of the season, Westover had just a listed placing to his name with one win from three starts, so the homebred's upward momentum has been one of the stories of 2022. Last year, a Frankel colt who had come to the fore in the G3 Sandown Classic Trial had started the Derby at 16-1 and won this at only 9-4, showing how much progression is possible in the early summer weeks. Westover was 25-1 for this year's renewal despite winning that Derby prep and lines up on Saturday as the 6-4 favourite for the premier English 12-furlong prize, so the similarities are there for all to see. “At the start of the year none of us could have envisaged Westover getting quite this far, so this is a surprise to all of us, but he's kept on getting better physically and that's where all of the improvement has come from,” trainer Ralph Beckett said of the stable star, whose jockey Colin Keane rode a four-timer at Down Royal on Friday evening.

The Generation Game

Sandown's Eclipse three weeks ago proved how hard it is to crack the 3-year-olds under the seemingly unchallengeable weight-for-age disadvantage and the fact that Prince Faisal's Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) was a possibly unlucky runner-up there speaks volumes as to his level. He failed to get past Adayar (Ire) in this 12 months ago and has even more of a burden to overcome with the filly this time, so another honourable placing is perhaps the best he can hope for again. Victory under terms that are gruesome for the older horses would put even his stellar past performances in the shade and John Gosden is not ruling it out. “We freshened him up after Saudi and he ran a superb race in the Eclipse and finished strongly,” he said. “We are aware that a mile and a quarter is probably his perfect distance, as he proved in the Juddmonte International, but we've been very happy with his preparation and he comes here a relatively fresh horse.”

Big Day For Team Tasso

Gestut Auenquelle's reigning Arc hero Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) bids to follow where compatriot Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}) led 10 years ago and become the third German-trained winner since 2012. His swagger was back in Hamburg's G2 Grosser Hansa Preis July 2 and trainer Marcel Weiss thinks he has him worked out by now. “He has a very strong character but if you understand him and go with him, not against him, then he's a beautiful horse and has a lot of confidence in himself,” he explained. “There are big horses in the race and we have a lot of respect for the 3-year-olds and Mishriff, but if you want to win the Arc you have to beat these horses and he is good enough.”

Also At Ascot

While the attention was on Royal Ascot's opening day June 14, Thirsk played host to a 'TDN Rising Star' in Glenlaurel (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's homebred bids to justify that tag in the six-furlong G3 Princess Margaret Keeneland S. on the King George card. While she is in a lot deeper here, the manner of the display of the Kevin Ryan-trained relative of Dubawi (Ire) when powering to a 3 3/4-length success at the Yorkshire track suggests she will hold her own. In a strong edition, Ralph Beckett saddles Marc Chan and Andrew Rosen's June 25 Listed Empress Fillies' S. winner and July 8 G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S. runner-up Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) and Juddmonte's Palm Lily (Ire) (Expert Eye {GB}), who scored with plenty of pattern-race promise on her debut at Kempton June 1. Juddmonte's racing manager Barry Mahon said of the latter, “She's a filly that Ralph has always liked, she won very nicely the first day and she's just been growing since, so he's been patient and given her time.” Charlie Appleby has won two of the last three renewals of the card's other black-type contest for juveniles, the Listed Flexjet Pat Eddery S., and looks set to add to that tally with the Yarmouth and Leicester novice winner Naval Power (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), while in the G3 Longines Valiant S. for the fillies and mares Prince Faisal enjoys a King George warm-up with his Roger Varian-trained 10-length Windsor novice winner Kind Gesture (GB) (Decorated Knight {GB}).

Honour At Stake At York

Away from Ascot, the G2 Sky Bet York S. sees a fascinating clash between Mary Slack's June 16 G3 Hampton Court S. winner Claymore (Fr) (New Bay {GB}) and Mohamed Obaida's G1 Champion S. runner-up Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}). The latter has not been seen since finishing down the field in the Mar. 26 G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, with William Haggas waiting for the weather to break, but it is time to relaunch the 4-year-old who came to prominence last term when winning the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano and G2 Prix Dollar on an easy surface. “He's very well and ready to race, he was a bit battered and bruised after Meydan but he's back in great shape,” his trainer said. He's better on soft and he needs it to rain, but we've been waiting for rain for some time and it hasn't come. We've got to get on with it as he needs to run, he's bored of galloping.”

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Schmidt Really Going Places Thanks To Claymore

ASCOT, UK–One person at Ascot on Friday had a broader smile than most as Günther Schmidt, the German breeder of Claymore (Fr) (New Bay {GB}), was not only able to collect his Royal Ascot winning breeder's trophy but is also travelling on to the Knavesmire to see the colt in action in the G2 Sky Bet York S. on Saturday.

“The timing is perfect,” said Schmidt, who was at Ascot with his wife Elke. “We've come straight here this morning from the Harwich ferry and then we are driving up to Yorkshire in our camper van this evening to see him run tomorrow, and it will be the first time we have seen one of his races in person.”

The owner of the transport company Taxi4Horses added modestly, “We are very small breeders compared to the other people here. This is our first black-type horse and so it is unbelievable.”

The couple board most of their mares in France at Haras des Rabodanges, though Claymore's dam Brit Wit (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}) is currently in Germany at Gestut Zuiderhof after she was covered earlier this year by Gestut Etzean's freshman sire Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}).

“Unfortunately we sold the mare but we have now got back involved with her in partnership,” said Schmidt, who credits Elke with selecting the 11-year-old mare, a daughter of the Ascot listed winner Brisk Breeze (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}). Having admired her pedigree they bought Brit Wit in foal for the first time to Lord Of England (Ger).

“We own her 2-year-old filly by Cloth Of Stars, who is in training with Andreas Wohler. I saw her yesterday; Andreas is a top-class trainer and he didn't say much but he said I should be confident. She looks like a racehorse but we will see. The mare also has a yearling by Amaron (GB) and a filly foal by Areion (Ger). She's very easy: she only needs to visit a stallion one time and she gets straight in foal.”

As every breeder knows, not all horses are easy. Schmidt, whose father became involved in racing and breeding in the 1950s, previously owned Gestut Friedrichsrhuh with Elke, and welcomed the first stallion to stand in Germany under the Darley banner when taking charge of the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden winner Morshdi (GB) (Slip Anchor {GB}). Sadly, his stud career didn't last for long.

“We started our own stud in 1992 and in 2002 we got Morshdi from Darley. We were really proud to stand him but he turned out to be infertile. So it was a big step up and then an even bigger fall,” Schmidt recalled.

Not long afterwards, when being disappointed in the service from a transporter taking one of his mares to Newmarket from Germany, Schmidt decided that this was an area of the breeding business that he could look after on his own.

“I bought a two-box and it started with word of mouth,” he said. “I expected to do 30,000 miles in the first year but I did almost 100,000 miles. Then we decided from 2006 to focus on the transport and to sell the farm and board our mares mostly in France.”

Taxi4Horses took off, and from one small two-box the company now has five large wagons on the road across Europe.

Schmidt admits, “I hadn't expected it to be so successful as it is now but horses are my passion. It is not my passion to be stuck in traffic but I get to meet people in all the different places in France and England and Ireland, and it is wonderful. I am more than happy with the Taxi4Horses business.”

The breeder is regularly updated by Claymore's trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam but so far he has only viewed the horse in action from afar.

“We had a party at home for Royal Ascot with 30 of our neighbours,” he recalled of Claymore's victory in the G3 Hampton Court S. “I think they thought they were going to have to take me to hospital because I went crazy when he won. But they are not horse people so I had to explain that winning at Royal Ascot was like winning the Football World Cup.”

He added, “Jane is fantastic, she keeps us in contact all the time on what's app and she really makes us feel like we are part of the team.

“And how about this: Claymore was bred by Germans, born in France, pinhooked by Irish people, trained by an Australian lady in England, owned by a lady from South Africa, and ridden by an English guy. It couldn't be more of an international story.”

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Fresh Team At Keeneland Building On Strong Foundations

ASCOT, UK–Racing at Ascot this Saturday may focus on the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., but a top-class card gets underway in style with the running of the G3 Princess Margaret Keeneland S., a race now in its fifth year of sponsorship by the American sales company.

Shannon Arvin, who was appointed Keeneland's eighth president and chief executive officer last year, is the first woman to hold that position, and she arrived in the UK earlier in the week to meet some of the company's clients in this part of the world and enjoy a couple of days at the races.

As Ascot on Friday following a lunch celebrating all the winning breeders from the Royal Ascot meeting, Arvin outlined some of the key changes of personnel at Keeneland which took place during 2021. Along with her own appointment, Irishmen Tony Lacy and Cormac Breathnach were appointed vice president of sales and director of sales operations respectively, while Gatewood Bell, a familiar face to many on the European sales circuit in his days as an agent and representative of Goffs, became vice president of racing.

“We're a new team,” Arvin says. “With Gatewood on board as head of racing, then Tony as head of sales and Cormac as director of sales operations, I think we all just share a common view that Keeneland is a special place. It's special to all of us for different reasons and I know we all see ourselves as stewards.

“And it's neat to come together and approach it from that vantage point because I know that all we are trying to do is to make Keeneland as good as it can be and do as much as we can for the industry, and as much as we can to perpetuate the best in racing. We were founded on that principle, and we all believe so fervently in it that even when we have different ideas of how to get there, we are open to those new ideas and finding new ways, so that we attract more people to the sport.”

Reflecting on a tumultuous few years of international travel disrupted by the pandemic, she adds, “I think as difficult as Covid has been it has also given us some opportunities to try new things that may have been more difficult to have done at other times. People have got more used to change and we have all had to become more flexible.”

The breeze-up pinhookers are a determined bunch, and a group that as a whole has benefited enormously from the buying and selling of American-bred yearlings sourced at Keeneland. Many of them found ways of travelling to Lexington, aided by Keeneland's tireless European representative Ed Prosser, but the planning was by no means simple. This year, happily, should be more straightforward.

“One of my most favourite aspects of this business, from the time when I was a lawyer and even more so now, is the fact that it's such an international business but it's a small world, so our European buyers are such an important part of our buying bench,” says Arvin.

“We sell horses to people from over 52 countries, but our European buyers are so important and when there was a question about whether we could get them over for last year's sales cycle we were all very anxious. Ed Prosser's hair turned whiter and we were in contact daily to work out ways to get them here.

“Last year, in September in particular, the market was so unusual, and usually when you get to the last day of the sale the back ring gets fairly empty but last year the back ring was full, and still with lots of European pinhookers.”

Potential buyers planning their trips for September can rest safe in the knowledge that this year's sale will follow the pattern of 12 months ago.

Arvin continues, “Our consignors and buyers all agree that consistency from year to year in the format would be really helpful, and we haven't been able to do that in past years for a variety of reasons. But we will have the same format this year that we did last September: two-day Book 1, two-day Book 2, one-day break, and on. We will have a Book 6 this year. Our numbers are such that we will need a Book 6 this year instead of consolidating three days for Book 5.”

But before the serious business begins there is some meeting and greeting to be done via two key European race sponsorships for Keeneland, at Ascot on Saturday and at the Curragh in Ireland on Aug. 6.

“We appreciate so much that the European breeders and buyers support our sales, and it goes both ways,” Arvin explains. “That international aspect is so important to a healthy industry. Our sponsorship of racing in Europe goes back to the Nunthorpe S. at York in the 1990s. The Princess Margaret S. we have sponsored since 2018 and of course we sponsor the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. at the Curragh in a few weeks. That's close to home for Tony so he will be there for that, and it's just fun to see our European customers on their turf as well as at Keeneland.”

Just ahead of the breeding stock sale in November, the sales company's sister racecourse will welcome back the Breeders' Cup for the third time.

Arvin, who spent a day in Newmarket before heading to Ascot, adds, “The temporary structures are already going up and we're getting ready. Even for the few days I've been here in England I've seen lots of trainers who have talked about coming back to Keeneland for the Breeders' Cup, so we're getting very excited about that.”

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750,000gns Book 1 Yearling Set For Newmarket Debut

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Saturday's Observations features a Godolphin newcomer from Tattersalls October Book 1.

13.27 Newmarket, Nov, £8,000, 2yo, 7fT
Charlie Appleby incumbent HIGHBANK (IRE) (Kingman {Ire}), one of two Godolphin contenders for the trainer, was knocked down for 750,000gns at last year's Tattersalls October Book 1 sale and faces seven rivals in this first go. The April-foaled bay is a half-brother to Listed Prix Pelleas winner Bay Of Poets (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

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