Derby Winner Desert Crown Ruled Out Of The King George

Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) has been ruled out of next week's King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot.

The impressive Derby winner had been due to clash again with Epsom third Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the 12-furlong Group One on Saturday week, but his trainer Sir Michael Stoute has announced he will not run.

Desert Crown, unbeaten in three starts so far, was reported to be suffering a “foot niggle” on Wednesday.

Stoute told the PA news agency, “The colt won't be going to Ascot for the King George.”

Bruce Raymond, racing manager to owner Saeed Suhail, said Desert Crown could not be risked, despite what he felt was a minor injury.

He said, “Desert Crown has had a foot injury and has had a scan, although I don't know the final results of the scan. Michael (Stoute) just said to me he won't be able to run in the King George.

“There is nothing untoward, but whatever it is, they have caught it before it is too late. They have nipped something in the bud. His preparation would come too close to the race to press on with it.

“If it were a lesser horse, we might take a chance, but you dare not take a chance with a horse like this. You can't go to a race like this 95 per cent fit.”

He added, “Only time will tell, but hopefully he'll be able to get him back-although Michael didn't say anything to me-I'm thinking about York (Juddmonte International) and then the Arc.”

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Derby Hero Desert Crown’s King George Bid Up In The Air After Setback

Impressive G1 Cazoo Derby hero Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) has suffered a “little niggle” according to trainer Sir Michael Stoute and could miss an intended start in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. on July 23. The Saeed Suhail-owned colt was due to work on Thursday morning, but that plan has been suspended.

“He won't be working tomorrow morning,” said Stoute. “We just have a little niggle that we are checking out on his foot.

“So, we will have more news on Friday or Saturday. It is too early to say whether he will run in the King George. We can't make a decision now.”

An impressive three-for-three in his young career, the bay won at Nottingham in November, before bolting up a 3 1/4-length victor in the G2 Dante S. at York on May 12. He polished off his Epsom foes by 2 1/2 lengths on June 4 and has not graced the racecourse since.

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Crystal Estrella Shines As Record-Breaking July Sale Concludes

NEWMARKET, UK–It's not often that a camera crew follows a filly on her way into the ring but the confidence behind Crystal Estrella (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) was well placed at Tattersalls with Sir Michael Stoute's charge selling to Team Valor for 275,000gns on the final day of a record-breaking July Sale.

An impressive winner of a 10-furlong novice at Goodwood in May, Crystal Estrella will remain in training with Stoute, resuming her career under the banner of Barry Irwin's operation, who recently stated their intention to concentrate on racing in Europe rather than America.

Just as he did on Thursday when facilitating the sale of Grenoble (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) for 130,000gns, Jason Singh of Tattersalls took instruction on the phone to secure the sales-topper on behalf of Team Valor.

The wildcard entry (798B) boasts a big pedigree and, while she is already rated 89, is open to improvement having raced only three times in her career.

She is a half-sister to Crystal Pegasus (GB) (Australia {GB}), a seven-time winner, including the Listed Mornington Cup in Australia, and black-type performer Crystal Hope (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). Her granddam Crystal Star (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}) is the dam of Crystal Ocean (GB) the Champion Older Horse in Europe back in 2019, and other high-class performers Hillstar (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), Crystal Capella (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and Crystal Zvezda (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Barry Irwin of Team Valor, talking on the telephone, said of the fifth-highest price of the entire three-day sale, “I like the way she finished her races out, especially in the last 150 metres or so. She looks like she is a solid middle-distance filly on the way up. I like her pedigree, she looks as though she is a big, good-looking filly who will improve this year and especially next year.”

He added, “She has a half-brother who won four in a row, including two listed races in Australia. He could possibly win a group race and that will help a little bit. The second dam was very good. I am going to send her back to Sir Michael, I am going to think about what I want to do. He knows her, and I will talk to him, I have not done so yet. It is hard to find fillies like her. I am happy to have her.”

The entire turnover for the 2022 July Sale rose by a whopping 36% to 16,743,285gns from 12,301,300gns. The median was also up by 25%, from 12,000gns to 15,000gns, and the average rose 41% to 32,199gns, but the clearance fell slightly (2%) to 92%.

The day three stats were also on the rise as turnover this year ended up at 4,168,500gns compared to 2,904,100gns in 2021. That equates to a 44% rise. The median for Day 3 was up 25% to 15,000gns and the average was up 62% to 29,989gns while the clearance rate fell by 2% to 96%.

 

 

Royal Ascot Winner Latin Lover Makes 210,000gns

He provided his young trainer Harry Eustace with the thrill of a lifetime when rocketing to Royal Ascot success last month and Latin Lover (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) made more headlines, but this time off the track, after selling for 210,000gns.

Winner of the Palace Of Holyroodhouse S. at the Royal meeting, where he showed a deadly turn of foot inside the last furlong to weave his way through traffic and win by half a length, Latin Lover (lot 710) was sold online via Ahead All.

Predictably, the interest in Latin Lover was huge. With a rating of 89, the progressive 3-year-old appealed to just about every jurisdiction and after a lengthy battle in the ring, the winning bid was struck off-site.

The buyer's representative said, “Latin Lover looks strong and a good example of one by Starspanglebanner. He won well at Royal Ascot last month in a big field of 27 runners.

“He has improved after being gelded last year and is concentrating more on the job as a 3-year-old. His performances are getting better. He is a good size and I expect him to make up into a good sprinter.”

Latin Lover was consigned by Glenvale Stud at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale in 2020 and was bought by De Burgh Equine for ÂŁ21,000. He is out of Blue Dahlia (Ire), who is by Shamardal, and is the dam of four individual winners.

 

Qatar at the Double

Qatar Bloodstock and Andrew Balding enjoyed some good days on the track with G1 Racing Post Trophy and G2 Juddmonte Royal Lodge S. winner Elm Park (GB), who was bred by the trainer's mother Emma at Kingsclere Stud. The son of another former Kingsclere star Phoenix Reach (Ire), Elm Park retired to Haras du Saz in the south-west of France and the most notable English runner from his few first-crop 3-year-olds to have made it across the Channel is Upton Park (Fr), who was bought as a yearling by David Redvers for €8,500 at Arqana. Following his two wins at two and three from just four starts, Upton Park (lot 827) returned to the ring at Tattersalls to fetch a top bid of 150,000gns from Ibrahim Saeed Al-Malki.

“He won very well at Newbury and he's progressing which is what I am looking for,” said the trainer. “He will end up in Qatar and will probably be aimed at the Qatar Derby. I like big, scopey horses.”

The preceding lot, Spartan Army (Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}), will also leave the Qatar Racing fold, having been sold from Joseph O'Brien's stable for 170,000gns to race on for Alan King.

“He will have a dual-purpose campaign,” said agent Jerry McGrath, who signed for him on behalf of an undisclosed client. “He will be going jumping but hopefully he's not finished on the Flat. He's by an exciting young sire who looks like he's doing well with his jumpers.”

 

Salvator Mundi to Qatar

Leading Qatari trainer Gassim Al Ghazali has been a regular at the horses-in-training sales over the years and, after a pandemic-enforced hiatus, this year he has returned in person to continue the restocking of his Doha stable. Along with agent Will Douglass he bought seven lots this week, waiting until near the end of the sale to secure the one at the top of his list, the 3-year-old Galileo (Ire) colt Salvator Mundi (Ire), from John and Thady Gosden's stable.

Offered as lot 806 for owner/breeder Bjorn Nielsen, the half-brother to listed winner Chartreuse (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) has won his last two starts over 1m4f and 1m6f to climb to a rating of 91, and was eventually sold for 205,000gns.

“He's a progressive horse and we like buying from Mr. Gosden because they are well-bred and well-produced. They are looked after and respected, and there are miles left in the tank,” Douglass said. “This horse has a proper pedigree. He'll go straight to Qatar and he was a bit of a stand-out in here.”

 

Horse Watchers Reinvest Raasel Prize-Money

Not long after recording their best day on a racecourse when 10,000gns purchase Raasel (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) scorched along the Sandown turf in landing the G3 Coral Charge, The Horse Watchers, who have made a habit of unearthing jewels at the horses-in-training sale, paid 70,000gns to add Aphelios (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) to their team.

The most The Horse Watchers had ever spent on a horse prior to Friday was 50,000gns but Chris Dixon, who along with his brother Martin is a key cog in the wheel of the syndicate, revealed that the group of owners were happy to reinvest some of the prize-money for winning the Coral Charge.

Aphelios (lot 654), signed for by Jason Kelly Bloodstock and The Horse Watchers, is a half-brother to black-type performer Land Of Legends (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), and won for Harry and Roger Charlton.

Dixon joked, “We are rolling up the prize-money we won with Raasel last week–we do like to gamble so it's in our nature.”

Prior to Raasel's Sandown victory, Dixon took part in the TDN's weekly Q&A series, where he outlined what the syndicate's approach was to recruiting horses at the sales.

Along with Aphelios, Kelly and The Horse Watchers also bought Nasim (GB) (Galileo Gold {GB}) (lot 437) for 32,000gns from Andrew Balding and paid the same amount for Marco Botti's Mobashr (lot 554), both on Thursday.

 

St Lawrence Strikes Again

It was a busy few days in Newmarket for Oliver St Lawrence and the leading bloodstock agent picked up another top-notch prospect for Bahrain in four-time winner Roxzoff (Ire) (Zoffany  {Ire}) for 150,000gns.

St Lawrence paid 100,000gns for Nietzsche's Star (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and 120,000gns for Rollajam (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) at the sale on Thursday and once again flexed the muscle he has behind him when securing the highly touted Charlie Hills-trained 3-year-old.

Roxzoff (lot 636) will team up with Sheikh Nasser, whose representative Yousif Taher, said, “He is a good horse who we think will suit racing in Bahrain and I came especially for this horse. He is well handicapped and improving and will race for Sheikh Nasser's Victorious Racing.”

 

De Vega Snapped Up For Saudi Arabia

Puerto De Vega (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) (lot 645) won the fourth race of his career at Epsom off a rating of 78 just over a week ago, which was a timely boost to his date with the sales, with the Ballylinch Stud-bred and owned gelding selling for 80,000gns.

Another rock-solid horse to be on his way to Saudi Arabia, Puerto De Vega was described as an ideal type for Carnival races by Andre Pereira, the acting agent who snapped up the gelding from The Castlebridge Consignment.

Pereira said, “He is a lovely horse, a beautiful type, very correct and a great physical. He has proven form, and by Lope De Vega and out of an Exceed And Excel mare.

“He goes to Saudi Arabia for the Carnival season. Hopefully, if he adapts well out there, he will make up into a horse for the World Cup meeting. I am very happy to get him.”

 

Record Trade

“Records across the board are always welcome and the 2022 Tattersalls July Sale has achieved unprecedented figures for all the key indicators,” said Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony as the sale concluded on Friday evening. “The sale turnover has exceeded 16 million gns for the first time, an average price in excess of 30,000gns is also a first for this fixture and the median of 15,000gns is another sale record and a clear indication of a sale which has shown extraordinary strength and depth from start to finish.

“The top price of 540,000 guineas paid for the outstanding Shadwell mare Rihaam is also a July Sale record, but perhaps the most important statistic is the clearance rate which for the fourth consecutive year was more than 90%, and on day two of the sale was a truly extraordinary 99%. Demand at all levels of the market has been typically international with buyers from every continent in the world all contributing to the record-breaking trade and particularly notable has been the strong Australian contingent headed by Zhang Yuesheng's Yulong Investments. Domestic buyers, both Flat and National Hunt, have also been competing strongly all week and the sustained demand for well-bred fillies and mares is another positive not only for the Tattersalls July Sale but also for the wider industry.”

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Bay Bridge At The Centre Of Wednesday’s Royal Ascot Action

   At the beginning of 2022, it would have taken an almighty leap of the imagination to envisage Sir Michael Stoute having one of the best years of his career but within the space of just over a month from mid-May it has become a reality. Quite what Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) can go on to achieve is anybody's guess and the non-believers are rightly in a minority where the Derby hero is concerned, but in Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) Newmarket's longstanding doyen has another to take to the world stage. Judged on his emphatic return success in the May 26 G3 Brigadier Gerard S., Sandown's key 10-furlong launchpad that the head of Freemason Lodge has harvested down the years, the 4-year-old who represents James Wigan and Ballylinch Stud is heading to the toppermost of the poppermost. Kept at a light simmer last term, the son of Ballylinch's rising star sire came violently to the boil last time. For Bay Bridge, read Mtoto (GB) or Pilsudski (Ire) or, more recently, Poet's Word (Ire) (Poet's Voice {GB}). He was that good. The G1 Prince Of Wales's S., a 'Win And You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, is his first reckoning on Wednesday.

 

Is This The Breakthrough?

   Surprisingly, Japan is without a Royal Ascot winner and have fared no better than sixth from the eight that have tried to date, but that could have been so different six years ago when A Shin Hikari (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) went to post as the 8-13 favourite for this race only to falter and finish last. In a year where it feels like the tide has finally turned for the nation's fortunes on the international stage, it is another son of the late, great sire that comes forth this time in Shahryar (Jpn), Hideaki Fujiwara's G1 Tokyo Yushun and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner. Yasuhiro Matsumoto, manager of Northern Farm, is full of hope. “As a horseman, I want to win races in the UK with Japanese horses,” he stated. “It is a dream and a real honour for us to have runners at Royal Ascot. Many people think the Arc is the pinnacle, but I think many of the best sire-making races are in the UK.”

 

The International Playground

It is a measure of how far this contest has come since it was shifted to Group 1 status in the millennium year that it contains winners of top-level prizes in Dubai, Japan, the States and Australia as well as France and Britain despite there being just five runners. The only one to prevail in this company on British soil is Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), whose success in the COVID Prince of Wales's two years ago was followed by an outright win and dead-heat for first in the last two renewals of the G1 Dubai Turf. He could be suited by a potentially tactical affair, which may not apply to State of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) who has a Cox Plate to boast of and at this stage is on a par with the 2011 winner of this race, So You Think (NZ). They met last time when State of Rest was a place ahead of Lord North in third in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh on May 22, but John Gosden believes there is the prospect of a reversal. “I think that he raced a bit too close to the strong pace at the Curragh and the one mile and two and a half furlongs there just stretched him a bit,” he explained. “He's a grand horse, but he needs to be ridden a little differently to Ireland.”

 

Back To Earth

In the G2 Duke of Cambridge S., last year's 1000 Guineas and G1 Prix Rothschild heroine Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) bids to provide Aidan O'Brien with a first edition and get on track again after misfiring when seventh in Newbury's G1 Lockinge S. May 14. On what could be a big day for New Bay, his daughter Saffron Beach (Ire) re-opposes the Ballydoyle stalwart having galloped her into submission in Newmarket's G1 Sun Chariot S. in October. There is also the unknown quantity that is Cheveley Park Stud's Bashkirova (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who is here just 10 days after her G3 Princess Elizabeth S. win, and 'TDN Rising Star' Sibila Spain (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) who came of age last time when winning the G2 Prix du Muguet at Saint-Cloud May 8.

 

A Day Of Contrasts

   While the future stayers get their chance in the 14-furlong G2 Queen's Vase, the G2 Queen Mary S. and Listed Windsor Castle S. provide for the fast juveniles. Roger Varian has a live contender for the Vase in KHK Racing's unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), while Wesley Ward may have suffered a demoralising reversal on day one but in Stonestreet's sensational Keeneland winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Love Reigns (U S Navy Flag) he has the archetypal Queen Mary filly. Looking for a landmark fifth renewal, he is in reach of Fred Darling's record of seven winners of the five-furlong contest and if he keeps bringing radically fast types like this daughter of Coolmore's first-season sire he could even get there in this decade. “Every horse that kind of engaged her, she just exploded away from them,” Ward warned.

 

More Rising Stars

Another 'TDN Rising Star' in the Queen Mary is Clipper Logistics' impressive Newmarket maiden winner Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), who according to Karl Burke is in a league of her own as far as pace is concerned. “Her figures for her first run at Newmarket were pretty good and I'm adamant and convinced she's come on from that,” he said. “She's as quick as I've trained anyway, so we'll see.” Adding intrigue to the contest, there are a total of five others from the first crop of Havana Grey (GB), James Garfield (Ire) and Tasleet (GB) who had such a breakthrough moment on Tuesday. They include the Listed National S. winner Maria Branwell (Ire) by Rathbarry Stud's James Garfield and Havana Grey's Salisbury and Windsor winner Katey Kontent (GB), who looked special last time. In the Windsor Castle, Ballydoyle's 'TDN Rising Star' Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) looks to hold the aces following his impressive Naas maiden success while the Roger Varian-trained Leicester novice scorer Bolt Action (Ire) (Kessaar {Ire}) is one of the more intriguing home-trained contenders.

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