The Bill Mott trainee certainly made her mark when she attained 'TDN Rising Star' honors as a debut winner at Keeneland last April, and then followed that up with an 8 1/4-length win against optional claimers at Churchill Downs in early June.

Out of champion older mare Close Hatches (First Defence), the homebred is a full-sister to MGSW/MGISP and current sire Tacitus. Close Hatches herself counts as a full-sister MGISP Lockdown, who is responsible for 2023 Eclipse Award winning older dirt female Idiomatic (Curlin). Under Scylla's third dam we find Irish multiple group 1 stakes hero Siskin (First Defence). TJCIS PPS

Scylla and @jjcjockey took the 6th race at @Keeneland for trainer Bill Mott and @JuddmonteFarms! @TVG l @FanDuelTV l @PDJFund pic.twitter.com/6Ezn3BYX4b

— JockeyCam (@JockeyCam) April 15, 2023

The post Sunday’s Insight: ‘TDN Rising Star’ Scylla Marks New Campaign At Gulfstream appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Both they and the young horses in their care are well prepared for the two inspection days ahead, despite having only arrived on the sales ground that morning. For months now, the Japanese trainers and agents have been doing the rounds of the farms on Hokkaido and will have their lists, long and short, ready for refinement. Visitors only now arriving in Japan need not fear, however, as this is almost certainly the best organised sale they are ever likely to attend. 

Reams of staff are on hand at each consignment, with the next horse waiting patiently alongside the viewer's allotted runway for the one in front of him to finish. Crib sheets are available, detailing weights and heights, and, perhaps most usefully, their reserve prices. One can only imagine the hullabaloo that would break out were this system to be suggested for use at European sales, but really it would save an awful lot of faffing and faking.

Katsumi Yoshida, whose Northern Farm bred the world's top-rated horse Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), is very much the man at the helm of Japan's biggest bloodstock auction. It is, after all, held in his vast park, which is both a tourist destination and competition ground for all manner of equines, from ponies to showjumpers. Extraordinarily, in the midst of it all, one of the most celebrated broodmares in Japan lives here in her dotage. Wind In Her Hair (Ire) (Alzao), a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II's dual Classic winner Highclere (GB), is now 32 and has outlived her most famous son, Deep Impact (Ire), while another, Black Tide (Jpn), and many of their descendants, continue to feature prominently in the pedigrees of the young stock to be offered for sale on Monday and Tuesday. 

The days of Deep Impact's stock dominating this auction are now long gone, with the dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) one of the members of his small final crop. There has been another sad farewell in the Japanese stallion ranks for Duramente (Jpn), a former winner of the first two legs of the Japanese Triple Crown who died two years ago at the age of nine, just as his offspring were starting to show real promise. 

This season, his daughter Liberty Island (Jpn) has carried the flag forward by securing the first two stages of the Triple Tiara, with just the Shuka Sho left to come on October 15. Her sire's final batch of yearlings on offer at the Select Sale numbers 14 and includes a half-sister to a filly who has already been adorned with the Triple Tiara and so much more. Offered as lot 94, the Duramente filly is the penultimate offspring of the Scottish-born Donna Blini (GB) (Bertolini), winner of the G1 Cheveley Park S. when trained by Brian Meehan and then bought by Katsumi Yohisda as a broodmare prospect for Northern Farm. And what a signing she turned out to be. Most celebrated of her offspring is her daughter Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), twice Horse of the Year in Japan and now a Group 1 producer herself, while her full-sister Donau Blue (Jpn) is a Grade 3 winner and stakes producer. What a family, and there are two chances to buy Donna Blini's offspring this week as her final foal, a Drefong filly, will enter the ring alongside her mother on Tuesday as lot 321.

This is another unusual feature of the Select Sale. Given the time of year, most of the 240 foals for sale are not yet weaned from their dams, and they appear as pairs on the morning of the sale during a viewing session of several hours before trade begins. They later return to their home farm, usually under new ownership, for weaning to take place eventually. 

Ready for action at the Northern Farm draft | Emma Berry

Before that, there are around 220 yearlings to go under the gavel on Monday. There are a few by European-based stallions, notably a full-brother to the Breeders' Cup and Prix Jean Romanet heroine Audarya (Fr), who does a very passing impression of his Coolmore sire Wootton Bassett (GB) and is catalogued in the Shadai draft as lot 102. Similarly eye-catching is his draft-mate, lot 158, a colt from the second crop of the American champion turf horse Bricks And Mortar, who appears to be stamping his stock pretty well. 

Those stallions with first-crop yearlings on offer include Classic winner Saturnalia (Jpn), whose average price at last year's foal session was almost 15 times his stud fee and who is represented by 13 yearlings and 17 foals this time around. The latter group includes a filly out of the Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}) as lot 345.

Two-year-old champion and Hong Kong Mile winner Admire Mars (Jpn) also has his first yearlings at Northern Horse Park, as does Juddmonte's Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Siskin, who is now at Shadai Stallion Station. The GI Arkansas Derby winner Nadal, who has developed into an imposing animal, is also in that category, along with the Scat Daddy horse and Japanese Grade 1 winner Mr Melody, who stands at Yushun Stallion Station. 

Hotly anticipated, especially by their sire's owner Teruya Yoshida, are the first foals of Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn). One or more of his 21 youngsters may well steal the limelight during the second session, in which four foals from the first crop of Classic winner Poetic Flare (Ire) also feature.

It is the first year since the pandemic struck that visitors have been able to travel easily to Japan, and this comes at a time when Japanese horses have been riding high across world racing. The Dubai World Cup winner Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) graduated from this sale as a foal back in 2017 for ¥25,000,000 (£137,000/€160,000). His fellow winner at Meydan, the G2 UAE Derby hero Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits), hailed from the yearling session of 2021, bought for ¥18,000,000 (£98,000/€115,000). 

Their success, along with the likes of Saudi Cup winner Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) and another Dubai World Cup night winner, the aforementioned Equinox, all point to this being yet another blockbuster auction for the JRHA.

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The pair didn't have to wait long to record their second when, just five weeks later, Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) landed the Irish Oaks.

Lyons has a typically-strong team of older horses to go to war with this season. Tough Talk and Hellsing appear to be the pick of the 3-year-old colts while Zarinsk, Amazing Show and Mauiewowie are just a handful of 3-year-old fillies that the trainer is looking forward to this term.

As well as an array of classy older types, Lyons has a galaxy of well-bred youngsters to unleash this term, but revealed that he will be adopting a kinder approach with his 2-year-olds this term.

He said, “I won't have my first 2-year-old runners until April. I am letting them grow in front of my eyes and cuddling them along. You can see them growing week after week at this time of year and we haven't dipped any of our 2-year-olds yet.”

In the first edition of TDN Europe's stable tour series that will concentrate on 2-year-old talent, Lyons has put forward 14 juveniles to note ahead of the new season as well as outlining plans for some of his older horses below.

Hellsing: a smart prospect | Racingfotos.com

2-Year-Olds
Name: Quadruple (GB)
Breeding: Frankel (GB) filly out of Soffia (GB) (Kyllachy {GB})
Purchaser: Homebred
Owner: Juddmonte
Comment: She's a lovely and straightforward filly. We are not rushing any 2-year-olds this year and will let them come to themselves in their own time. She is only new to me but she seems very straightforward and anyone who has ridden her has been pretty excited by what they are feeling. You'd like to think she could be smart.

Halberd (GB)
Showcasing (GB) colt out of Battlement (GB) (Dansili {GB})
Juddmonte
He is a lovely grey horse. His dam is a half to Logician (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and he looks a smart, precocious type. He'd look an early sort and he'll tell me when he's ready. He's very straightforward and, at this early stage, he's one I like–but that could be the kiss of death!

Bellezza (Ire)
Siyouni (Fr) filly out of Terrific (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})
Moyglare Stud
A lot of quality and by the right type of sire. She has a lot of size and scope, as her brother Tough Talk (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) has, and he would be one of our big bullets to fire in the 3-year-old ranks this year. She has grown humongously–she was big when we got her but she is still growing and filling into herself. I'm letting her come in her own time but she is as sweet as a nut and is definitely one that's exciting us.

General Assembly (Ire)
Starspangledbanner (Aus) colt out of Black Rodded (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB})
Bought by Richard Ryan for 130,000gns at the Somerville Sale at Tattersalls from Ballyhimikin Stud
Teme Valley
He has been a very professional horse since the day he walked into the yard. He came in with a tall reputation for being the pick of the Somerville Sale and is just an awesome Railway-type horse who is just oozing quality. He will be as early as I need him to be and could be a Royal Ascot 2-year-old. That's the type of horse we view him as if he keeps doing what he is doing. Everything comes so easy to him. But, again, I haven't dipped any of my 2-year-olds so I don't know how good or bad they are, but I would be very positive about this colt. Richard Ryan bought him–he bought Rocking Tree as well–and he buys a nice type. He bought Hellsing (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who was a very good 2-year-old and one we're looking forward to for this year so, if he keeps sending us horses like that, we'll be very happy.

Rocking Tree (Ire)
Kodiac (GB) colt out of Rocktique (Rock Hard Ten)
Bought by Richard Ryan at Goffs Orby Sale from Glenvale Stud for €130,000
Teme Valley
Kodiac has been a phenomenal success and has even surprised me by how he has kept improving. This is a fine stamp of a Kodiac–strong, but not typical in that he has plenty of size and scope about him. He's very straightforward and has a good mind. He could be anything. Again, he was bought by Richard Ryan so, if he continues to buy that type of horse for us, he can fill the yard.

Beauty Thunder (Ire)
Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt out of Tawayna (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire})
Bought at Goffs Orby from Yeomanstown Stud for €100,000 by Gaelic Bloodstock
Beauty Stable
By one of my favourite sires, Night Of Thunder (Ire). You would think that he lacked size when we bought him but, the few colts that I have bought by the sire, they all looked on the small size at the sales. I said to myself, 'if he's like the ones I bought, he'll come,' and he's just to die for. Back in January, I was thinking that he was still on the small side but he is starting to sprout now and he's typical of the colts that I have had by Night Of Thunder. I should say that it is untypical of Thunder Kiss (Ire), who is by Night Of Thunder as well, but this lad is showing all the right qualities. I could see him being a nice 2-year-old for the middle part of the season. We have had a lot of luck for this owner but they buy for Hong Kong, so the horses spend their 2-year-old career with us before moving over there. That's what they like to do and the dream is to find them a Hong Kong Derby horse.

Unnamed
Zoustar (Aus) colt out of Ainippe (Ire) (Captain Rio {GB})
Bought by David Redvers at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale for £70,000 from Furnace Mill Stud
Richard Pegum
Richard has had horses with me before through David Redvers and the obvious connection with this colt is that we trained his dam, Ainippe. She was a very smart and fast filly. I've never had a Zoustar before this season and now I have a few of them in the yard. They are the most gorgeous physicals and this one is most gorgeous as well. He goes very well and would be a better-looking horse than his mother was. Zoustar is rocking the world down under in Australia and, again, I think they will need their time but this lad is more precious than the others. At this moment in time, you'd love what he is doing.

Unnamed
Blue Point (Ire) filly out of Cosmic Love (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire})
Bought by Grassick Bloodstock and Ronan Fitzpatrick at Goffs Orby Sale for €300,000 from Kilminfoyle House Stud
Mark Dobbin
We are going with Blue Point because he seems to be a first-season sire who is ticking all the right boxes. We're very positive about the ones that we have by him. She wouldn't be the biggest filly but hopefully she comes a bit in size. There's something about her that we like and she looks precocious. I would say she cost enough, but they were the sales everyone was operating in last year. Winning a maiden won't be good enough to justify her price tag and hopefully she is better than that. The talk on the street would be that Blue Point is doing it and the few that I have would suggest he's going to be alright.

Unnamed
Blue Point (Ire) colt out of Gwael (A.P. Indy)
Bought by Kerri Lyons for 70,000gns out of Genesis Green Stud at Book 2 at Tattersalls
Sean Jones, David Spratt and Lynne Lyons
Kerri bought him and he's nice. He'd be quite typical of the filly that we have by Blue Point–you could nearly say they are brother and sister. They are doing their thing and the word on the street is quite positive about the stallion but I won't be rushing them. I'd be happy with him at the moment anyway.

Unnamed
Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) colt out of Alfea (GB) (Kentucky Dynamite)
Bought by Wyanstown House for €34,000 at the 2021 Goffs November Foal Sale from Farran House Stud
Vincent Gaul
He reminds me of a horse I used to train called Gold-Fun (Ire) (Le Vie Dei Colori {GB}), who went on to be a very good horse in Hong Kong. He is a big, strong, powerful beast. I think Vincent Gaul bought him as a foal and there is something about this horse I just love. He can gallop and will be a middle-season plus horse. He'll be a real miler and there's something very taking about him, he does things very easily.

Unnamed
Bated Breath (GB) filly out of Rosie Cotton (Ire) (King's Best)
Ballygallon Stud
A gorgeous filly but more likely to be a 3-year-old rather than a 2-year-old. She is doing what we are asking her but gives us the impression that she will be lovely for the back end and beyond.

State's Evidence (GB)
Expert Eye (GB) colt out of Palmette (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB})
Juddmonte
I'd say he's typical of Juddmonte's in that he is smart. I have a very smart bunch for Juddmonte this year–roughly 17 in total–and he would be right up there as being rated among the smartest. He does things very easily and there is a lot of quality about him. He'd be on the A-team at this moment in time.

Dandy Lichious (Ire)
Dandy Man (Ire) colt out of Ana Lichious (Ire) (Makfi {GB})
Patrick Hanlon
He will be our earliest runner. He has been standing on his hind legs telling me he is ready to run since Christmas Day! He's not as ready as he thinks he is but he'll be one of our earliest runners and is a good-looking son of Dandy Man. He's not over-big but he is big enough and, as soon as the ground dries up, he'll be out.

Serious Notions (GB)
Advertise (GB) filly out of Darling Grace (GB) (Nayef)
Bought by Kerri Lyons for €68,000 from Kildarragh Stud at Goffs Orby
Rick Gaynor
A nice filly that Kerri bought. We are liking what we are seeing and is shaping up as a nice filly at the minute anyway. We like to throw six balls up in the air with the fillies that we buy at the sales in the hope that two come down as nice fillies and she could be one of the nicer ones. She looks the part and I hope she is nice because Kerri picked her and she's for a nice owner.

Tough Talk: beating Little Big Bear on debut | Racingfotos.com

Older Horses
I have a lovely bunch of 3-year-olds and up for the season. Of the horses who won their maidens last year, the Amazing Show (GB)s (Showcasing {GB}) of this world, they have all gotten very strong so I have a very exciting batch to look forward to.

Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) has already stepped up to listed class and you'd hope that some of the horses who won their maidens last year can do something similar. After that, you are hoping that they will keep building, that's the dream.

Hellsing and Tough Talk would be the outstanding colts. The bubble has not burst on them yet. Tough Talk had a setback last year but he has been in training for quite a while and is one to really look forward to.

Hellsing was just denied in the Goffs Million last year but did everything right by us. He is the most gorgeous horse and he will want a

mile minimum–he could even be a 10-furlong horse. He could be anything. He outperformed what we thought he would do at two because we always viewed him as an older horse in the making.

There is a list of fillies that we are dreaming about and they have all done very well. We pulled up early with Mauiewowie (GB)  last year because she won her stakes race and, typical of Night Of Thunders, we said we'd let her grow. She could be a Commonwealth type of filly and the Lacken S. could suit her prior to Ascot. She'll probably be better with a bit of juice in the ground. Here's hoping she steps up to the next level.

Amazing Show won her maiden well and the form of that has worked out fantastic. I overfaced her in the Moyglare but, if you look at her now, she's a 500kg filly. That Moyglare entry shows you what I thought of her. While she is a long way shy of that, you'd like to think she can step up to be a Listed/Group 3 filly at a minimum.

Cairde Go Deo (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) is a dream filly. She needed to strengthen up from three to four if she's to get to the next level and I think that she has. I couldn't be happier by how well she has done physically. She could be shy of the top level but we'd be hopeful she can be competitive in Group 2s over a mile-and-a-half to start although she will get further.

The post ‘He’d Be On The A-Team’ – Ger Lyons Stable Tour appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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   For all the Manchester City fans out there, you can relax, as the analogy was simply fictional. However, there is nothing fictional about the mass exodus of talent facing British and Irish racing.

   Ger Lyons is better qualified than most to speak about the problem. Lyons, who has held a training licence for over 25 years, has built his impressive Glenburnie Stables in County Meath into one of the best training facilities in Ireland.

   He secured a breakthrough Classic success in 2020 when Siskin stormed to Irish 2,000 Guineas glory at the Curragh while Even So provided the stable with its second when landing the Irish Oaks in the same season. 

   From losing some of his best prospects to the international market, poor prize-money and what he describes as a lack of opportunities for good horses in Ireland, Lyons makes for a fascinating interviewee in this week's Q&A.

Brian Sheerin: You have trained 41 winners this season–only Aidan and Joseph O'Brien have managed a greater tally at this juncture–and you have already surpassed the €1 million mark in prize-money at Glenburnie. Everything is on course for another big season.

Ger Lyons: Everything is going steady away. We haven't run many 2-year-olds so far this season and I have had to be patient with them. The quality seems to be good as we are holding our own in stakes races which has always been the objective for us. 

BS: While things have been going well on the track, I know from speaking with you at length just over a month ago that you have major concerns for Irish racing. You also described yourself as “a pre-trainer” for international handlers due to the exodus of high-class horses to the foreign market. Would you care to expand on that?

GL: Sadly, our prize-money is very ordinary and what I would describe as the 'good horse' is being neglected, hence why they are all being sold to continue their careers abroad. From the top owners right down the ranks, no-one is able to turn down Australia, Hong Kong or America when they come calling. It's disappointing to have to sell our best prospects but the economics of it all makes sense. Not only that, but the owners can see the earning power for their horses in America and we have seen countless examples of horses being moved out there in pursuit of greater prize-money. Masen (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is the most recent horse to leave my yard for America. He has won over $300,000 in three runs in America but would have struggled to earn €100,000 in Ireland this season–and that's if he won three races over here, the chances of which would have been very slim as the opportunities just aren't there. 

BS: Mark Johnston echoed the same opinion in last week's Q&A. He revealed that the owners of Royal Patronage (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), a Group 2-winning 2-year-old who reached a rating of 113 in his 3-year-old campaign, decided to move the colt to America in a bid to win more prize-money. Johnston was keen to point out that he didn't blame the owners but admitted the drain on resources is becoming hard to contend with as a trainer. Do you feel the same?

GL: I certainly don't blame the owners as we all trade. However, if we keep selling our best horses then we are going to be left racing what's left over and our product will lessen every year. If people don't want to watch our best, how will they come and watch lesser quality races and races with small field sizes? This trend needs to be addressed quickly as we are already a long way down a very slippery slope.

BS: Here's the bit that doesn't make sense for me; Mutasarref (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) is a horse who you bought for 95,000gns from Dermot Weld at the Horses-in-Training Sale last October. He was obviously well-bought given he's won three races for you–at Leopardstown, the Curragh and last week at Naas–and has improved 25lbs in the process. However, he's picked up less than €30,000 for those wins at premier tracks and only qualified for that Naas race by virtue of the fact he hasn't won a race worth €15,000 or more. 

GL: He's a good example of a good horse not being rewarded with the prize-money he deserves to be winning. He is now rated 105 after that Naas win but look at what he has earned–it's pathetic. Good horses should be rewarded yet we seem to reward mediocrity. In what world should a stakes-placed horse earn the same as a low-grade handicapper operating in the 45-65 bracket? It does here and that's wrong. The strategy [from Horse Racing Ireland] seems to be all about minimum prize-money levels whereas I would have the lower-rated horses earning a maximum figure and it wouldn't exceed €5,000. No handicapper should be earning more than a stakes horse. It's not long ago that a certain rating, say in the 70s, wouldn't get you into a premier handicap. Now it will, which shows how far the standard is dropping. Not only that but, if you are going to reward mediocrity, that promotes cheating but that is another can of worms that I won't open!

BS: There was a story in The Times on Wednesday about how some leading figures in British racing are pushing for a restructuring of the sport that would result in a greater slice of prize-money being channeled to the elite level. It may not be a popular viewpoint but I gather it's one you would agree with?

GL: I was looking at the figures published at the end of last year and it showed that the average prize-money on offer for the premier handicaps was more than that for listed and Group 3 races which is not only astonishing but, in my opinion, wrong. I am also a big believer that our maidens need to be worth more money. You can only win your maiden once and you should be rewarded for doing so, especially because, in order to win a maiden in Ireland, you need to be rated in the mid-80s or above on average. So, when you win your maiden, that is obviously going to limit your chances when you step into premier handicaps. Therefore, the maidens should carry more prize-money. 

BS: You mentioned last month that the notion of prize-money in Ireland being strong was a myth. It's hard to argue against that viewpoint when you look at Slan Abhaile (Ire) (Territories {Ire}), who finished fourth in the G3 Anglesey S. and picked up just €2,750 for her troubles. Had she finished third and picked up black-type, she would have won just €5,500, which is still less than what you'd get for winning a 0-65 handicap.

GL: That's exactly my point and to add insult to injury, if she had finished third and picked up that valuable black-type, that would have ruled her out of a lot of listed races going forward as the conditions of most of those races state that horses who placed in group races can't run. The Ingabelle S. on Irish Champions Weekend is certainly one of those races so, while we were only beaten a head for black type in the Anglesey, I felt it was actually a good outcome as we still have the option of those listed races. But again, here is another example of the programme hindering the good horses whereas you can run your low-grade operator every day of the week if you want to.

BS: HRI released its six-month statistics last week. The figure that jumped out at me is that prize-money still hasn't risen to pre-pandemic levels despite the fact that HRI boss Suzanne Eade put prize-money at the top of her priority list when the budget was released in December. Not only that, but the Irish Derby, which is meant to be the flagship race of the season, carried a purse of €1m when it was worth  €1.5m before the pandemic in 2019. In actual fact, when High Chaparral (Ire) won the Irish Derby 20 years ago, the race was worth €300,000 more than what it was run for this year.

GL: That speaks for itself and I find they [HRI] try to dress up these reports to convince us that all is rosy in the garden but we are the ones on the playing field and we know the reality of the situation. Look, I was lucky to win two Classics in 2020 [the Irish 2,000 Guineas with Siskin and the Irish Oaks with Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB})] and both races were worth just €145,000 each to the winner–I've won handicaps worth more. The Ebor for example, which we won with Mustajeer (GB) (Medicean {GB}), was worth €1m. By the way, both of my Classic winners were sold to go abroad! 

BS: You have made it clear that you have no interest in training horses below a certain standard. Given the lion's share of the horse population is rated 70 or less, I am interested to know how you go about weeding out the ones who don't make the grade. I know you are a big fan of claimers.

GL: Plenty of people will say, 'it's all right for Ger to say that,' but, like everybody, I do train plenty of low-grade horses–I just choose to move them on and concentrate on the quality. The claimers have been very successful for us and we need a minimum of one a week. Jim Gough claims a lot of my horses and has great fun with them. He actually came over and shook my hand at Naas last week and complimented me on not only supporting those races but for being realistic with price tags that I put on them as well. That allows him to claim them and enjoy them. Just because I don't want to train horses at that level doesn't mean I don't have them. I just choose to move them on. The authorities need to get their heads around the fact that there are hugely positive aspects to claimers and they need to be made more customer-friendly. I think that the claimers are a big addition to the programme and, if I had my way, I would replace a lot of the low-grade handicaps with claimers.

BS: There will also be people who read this and think, 'But Ger, if it wasn't for trading horses, Glenburnie would not have become the behemoth that it is now.' 

GL: At the start, horses were much cheaper to buy and the upside to trading them on was much greater. Nowadays, it's virtually impossible to buy the level of horse we were buying at one point for less than €50,000. There are always exceptions but in general the price of horses has escalated beyond all recognition which flies in the face of my prize-money argument.

BS: When you were starting out, and trading horses was necessary to survive, did you ever envisage a situation whereby, once you arrived at the top table, you would still be faced with the prospects of losing your best horses.

GL: In short, no. I always imagined it would be different when we got the good horses but times have changed and, as I said already, even the top owners are sellers now. Sure didn't Aidan [O'Brien] sell a Derby winner [Serpentine (Ire)] to Australia recently? It's very frustrating and I always use the football analogy in that we–and I mean Britain and Ireland here–are the team that keeps selling our best strikers. Sooner rather than later, we are going to get relegated.

BS: In the immediate future, you have some smart prospects to look forward to. Apricot Twist (Ire) (Expert Eye {GB}) looked a potential top-notcher on debut at Naas last week. Could we see her in the Ballyhane S. next Monday?

GL: She's lovely but the race could just come too soon as she only ran last week. I've done very little with her since but when there is a race with such good prize-money, it's imperative that we support it. Barry [Mahon, racing manager at Juddmonte] and I will discuss it and do the right thing by the filly first and foremost.

BS: You won the race last year with Sacred Bridge (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) and, judging by the entries, have been keen to record back-to-back wins. What struck me about your entries is that some of them haven't even run yet so I am presuming you have kept a bit of powder dry for the second half of the season.

GS: We have. As I said, it's important to support such initiatives and hopefully I will have a few runners in the race. I've plenty of bullets to fire in the second part of the season as we have been very disciplined with the babies so far.

BS: It's one thing getting these well-bred fillies to train but another thing altogether managing them to fulfil their potential and achieve the valuable black type that they need before they go to the breeding sheds. You must get huge pleasure out of that aspect of the game?

GL: It's one of the great pleasures of this job and one that I very much enjoy. I always remind myself that these babies could be the dams of my next Classic winners, hopefully. One thing that I have learned that I didn't appreciate at the start is that an ounce of breeding is worth a ton of feeding.

BS: And speaking of high-class broodmare prospects, they don't come much better than Cairde Go Deo (Fr) (Camelot {GB}). I thought she ran a cracker in the Irish Oaks and would be excited to see her step up in trip in time. What are the plans for her?

GL: She's a sweetheart and is slowly developing into what we hoped she would be. I trained her mother and liked her and it was that reason that made me purchase Cairde Go Deo on behalf of Mark Dobbin. Also, the fact that she was by Camelot, the same sire as Even So, made it an easy decision. Hopefully she will stay in training at four, and yes, she should mature into a very good stayer.

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The yearling section of the sale, which this year features 234 entries taking into account withdrawals at the time of writing, follows a fairly traditional format (though the sale's website does include a document noting the yearlings' heights, girth and cannon bone measurements, vices, and any surgical intervention), but it is the following day's session of foals that gives the JRHA Select Sale its unique feel. The foals arrive with their dams at Northern Horse Park early on the morning of the sale, though potential buyers have already visited the individual consigning farms for yearling and foal shows prior to auction. On sale morning, there is a two-hour window for further viewing, with several hundred foals and their usually fairly illustrious mothers standing in lot order among the trees in the park for the fanciest mass line-up of Thoroughbred stock in the world. They then proceed to the ring in tandem, and the foals, once sold, return to their original farm until they are weaned.

During the first year of the pandemic, figures dipped slightly from the then-record-breaking year of 2019, but by 2021, more records were set, with the highest turnover ever seen across the two-day sale of ¥22.5 billion (€163m/£138m) for 226 yearlings and 213 foals sold. Covid restrictions are now more relaxed in Japan and the JRHA's international representative Naohiro Goda says they they expect to have more trainers, owners, agents and media returning to the sale this year, with some American and Australian agents having already arrived in Hokkaido.

For the first time, and in a move which has proved highly effective in other jurisdictions, the JRHA will be accepting online bidding from international buyers.

Japanese bloodstock continues to advertise its merit on racecourses around the world, and inspection of the Select Sale catalogue demonstrates just how highly prized top-class international form is for Japanese breeders when it comes to assembling broodmare bands. Whatever your nationality, there will be mares throughout the pages who are instantly memorable, usually because of their Group/Grade 1 racing form.

For the first time since he arrived on the scene as a stallion of note, there will be no Deep Impact (Jpn) yearlings on offer in Hokkaido, the great sire having died in 2019, leaving a small final crop born in 2020. Poignantly, his 31-year-old dam Wind In Her Hair (Ire) (Alzao) still resides within sight of the sale at the Northern Horse Park with her pony companions.

Deep Impact does still have the edge in Japan's leading sires' table so far this season, but his lead over the former leading first-crop sire Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) is slim. The latter, also a Shadai stallion, is represented by 11 yearlings and nine foals in the JRHA Select catalogue, including a yearling filly (lot 14) out of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Lily's Candle (Fr) (Style Vendome {Fr}), who was bred in Normandy by Monique Lepeudry at Elevage de Tourgeville. Her close family also includes the former Japanese Horse of the Year and G1 Cox Plate winner Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}).

Homecoming Queen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}), 1000 Guineas winners in England and Ireland respectively, are each represented by yearlings in the sale. The former, a half-sister to Arc winner Dylan Thomas (Ire) and champion 2-year-old filly Queen's Logic (Ire) (Grand Lodge), has a colt by Maurice (Jpn) catalogued as lot 55, while Jet Setting's Frankel (GB) colt is slated as lot 23.

Another close relation to a European Classic winner can be found as lot 16, who is the half-brother to Irish Oaks winner Covert Love (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) and by the current first-crop sire Satono Diamond (Jpn).

G1 VRC Oaks winner Mosheen (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), whose other top-class victories included the G1 Australian Guineas and G1 Royal Randwick Guineas, is another to have visited Maurice in 2020, and her yearling colt is consigned by Northern Farm as lot 76. The 14-year-old mare is already the dam of treble Group 3 winner Primo Scene (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and she is doubly represented in the sale as her Epiphaneia (Jpn) colt foal is due to sell on Tuesday as lot 367.

Yoshida is a name which will be oft-heard through the sale: the brothers Teruya and Katsumi are the most dominant breeders and consignors represented, each with sizeable drafts in both sectors, while another brother, Haruya, will also play a part via his Oiwake Farm. But Yoshida (Jpn) also appears on the sires' list through one of his first crop of American-conceived yearlings. The son of Hearts's Cry (Jpn) stands at Winstar Farm and is the sire of lot 77, a granddaughter of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and GI Matron S. winner Folklore (Tiznow).

The dual Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow (Ire) is another with first yearlings and he has two catalogued, lots 192 and 203.

The foal section includes lot 314, an Epiphaneia half-brother to Japanese Derby winner Roger Barows (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), whose dam Little Book (GB) (Librettist) is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Donna Blini (GB) (Bertolini), later better known as the dam of dual Japanese Horse of the Year Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Three of the first crop of foals of Juddmonte's G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Siskin will also make an appearance.

Looking ahead to the start of the sale on Monday, Naohiro Goda said, “The quality of the catalogue this year is the best I have seen. This is first JRHA catalogue which does not include Deep Impact, and we understand that it is impossible that one single stallion plays his role. Instead, however, the variation and depth of stallions we have in this year's catalogue is amazing, as there are so many young proven stallions, such as Lord Kanaloa, Epiphaneia, Duramente (Jpn), Maurice, Kizuna (Jpn), Drefong, and so on. In addition, hugely exciting unproven stallions will be represented by their young crops, such as Rey De Oro (Jpn), whose first foals made such a big splash last year, Bricks And Mortar, Suave Richard (Jpn), New Year's Day, Siskin, Nadal, Admire Mars (Jpn), Le Vent Se Leve (Jpn), and Saturnalia (Jpn).”

Goda added, “It will not be easy to break last year's new record but we hope the market at the 2022 Select Sale is as active as it was last year.”

The JRHA Select Sale starts on Monday with the yearling session, followed on Tuesday by the foals.

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At the start of June, with France and Germany having already crept cautiously back into play after the COVID full-stop, Britain joined in with the beginning of a flourish of catch-up fare. In under a week of racing, we had a new star to gaze at, and time experts were in awe of Bjorn Nielsen’s English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}). While he looked super-slick in the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial, he was to be given the justifiably dreaded number one draw at Epsom and gave up any chance in the first handful of yards in the blue riband itself. His tardiness was punished by a performance of front-running power rarely seen in the Derby from Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose rise from obscurity to the sacred heights was astonishing even given that he emanated from Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle stable. Neither English King nor Serpentine were able to finish in the first three again, while the other main players at Epsom also disappeared almost without trace, giving the Coronavirus renewal a shabby look in general.

Arguably the best horse to come out of the Classic was Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), whose finest hours came in the international tests of the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Hong Kong Vase. Beaten convincingly by Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) in York’s G2 Great Voltigeur S., the classiest member of the millionaire offspring of Shastye (Ire) (Danehill) shot up the rankings on Sunday and it will be fascinating to witness the clashes between the prides of Ballydoyle and Willie Muir’s Lambourn base in 2021. If the Derby was a disappointing affair, the G1 2000 Guineas, held four weeks earlier, at least stood up where the juvenile form was concerned as Qatar Racing’s Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) held off the ill-fated Wichita (Ire) (No Nay Never) and 2019 champion Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) at Newmarket. Pinatubo came up short again next time in Royal Ascot’s G1 St James’s Palace S. behind Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) before landing the G1 Prix Jean Prat and finishing runner-up in the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp to another high-class son of Kingman in Persian King (Ire). None of the first three home in the Guineas will  be with us next term for varying reasons and that situation was confounded with the recent announcement that the G1 St Leger hero Galileo Chrome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) has also been retired.

Aidan O’Brien will have much to look forward to over the winter, however, as Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will be back after a brief but electrifying campaign which saw her become the latest and possibly the easiest 1000 Guineas-Epsom Oaks double act. Denied a run in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as the ground began to deteriorate rapidly across Europe from the end of September, she was spared the ordeal faced by the likes of Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) at ParisLongchamp. It was Gestut Schlenderhan’s G1 Deutsches Derby hero In Swoop (Ire) (Adlerflug {Ger}) who ended up in the mix of the year’s best European Classic winners as he earned second in the Arc.

In France, the John Gosden-trained Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) upstaged the G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner Victor Ludorum (GB) (Shamardal) in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club on the day that Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) denied the G1 Coronation S. winner Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) and the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Peaceful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in a strong edition of the G1 Prix de Diane. The Niarchos Family’s Alpine Star, who had the misfortune to run up against Palace Pier in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois, and Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G1 Prix de l’Opera, where the G1 Prix Jean Romanet and GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) was back in third, could prove to be the most intriguing of all the French Classic players to emerge next season.

Of Ireland’s Classic winners, there is a sense that they operated below the usual level in 2020. Khalid Abdullah’s G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Siskin (First Defence), the aforementioned Peaceful, the Oaks heroine Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Derby scorer Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) all failed to win again. That underlines a general weakness in Classic form throughout the year, with all the customary patterns and staging posts disturbed or wiped out by the Spring lockdown. The last-named was unable to subdue his compatriot Galileo Chrome in the Leger, but he is being trained with the staying “Cup” races in mind in 2021 and looks tailor-made for the division Aidan O’Brien has reaped such rich dividends in.

The Older Horses

This was supposed to be the year of Enable, as Juddmonte’s monarch returned to her stomping ground, but it actually turned out to be the year of Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). In the mould of former Godolphin greats such as Dubai Millennium (GB), Daylami (Ire) and Fantastic Light, he established himself centrally in the firmament with an astounding front-running performance in the G1 Coronation Cup, which was switched to Newmarket just days after the British Flat season had launched. While his subsequent successes in the G1 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown and G1 Juddmonte International at York may have achieved loftier ratings, the world champion of 2020 was never more visually impressive than on his European comeback. It will be a long time before the Coronation Cup is either graced by such a presence or is staged at the Suffolk venue which contrasts so greatly with Epsom and so the uniqueness of this event will live long. Enable ended up rated six pounds below him, which seemed perfectly fair given that her campaign was highlighted by a win in a three-runner G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S.

That the old jewel in British racing’s crown could deteriorate to such an extent gives major cause for concern, even allowing for the strangeness of the year and a mix of circumstance. Ascot’s QIPCO Champions Day was also blighted, this time by the weather as the worst of October’s promise of dour conditions came to light. While respected commentators questioned the views of connections of well-beaten fancied horses that the ground was desperate, the eclipse of Stradivarius, Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Palace Pier cast a shadow over the current edition. Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) was one of a quartet of geldings to plunder the group prizes open to them and that surely was not ideal at a meeting designed to showcase the breed. Stradivarius, whose tame exit from the action in the G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup gave cause for concern, will be back at the track in June hoping for better ground as he bids for a fourth Gold Cup.

Champions Day saw the continued rise of Hollie Doyle, who was nominated for the coveted BBC Sports Personality of the Year award and already the recipient of the Sports Journalists’ Association Sportswoman of the Year among others. At this stage, she is almost guaranteed to become the first female champion jockey in her native country with her momentum set to continue at a relentless pace. A Classic win in 2021 too, perhaps? Cieren Fallon, Jr., who took the G1 July Cup on Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}), is another young rider on the rise with his style so reminiscent of his oh-so-talented father.

Other headline acts in 2020 were Shadwell’s high-class miler Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who won a G1 Sussex S. which stands up to any recent renewal, the same operation’s imperturbable sprinter Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Peter Brant’s Arc hero Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). Battaash will be back again next term, bidding to add to his remarkable tally of four Group 1s and four editions of the G2 King George S. in which he is nigh-on unbeatable. Saeed Suhail’s G1 Haydock Sprint Cup hero Dream of Dreams (Ire) (Dream Ahead) will also be back

After the retirement of Magical was announced on Dec. 22, Ireland now has another star mare in His Highness The Aga Khan’s Tarnawa. Her trio of victories in the G1 Prix Vermeille, G1 Prix de l’Opera and GI Breeders’ Cup Turf mark her as special, and her lethal turn of foot will be a major asset as she looks to add to her haul next year. The Arc, which was arguably within her sights this year, will surely be in 2021, and if Dermot Weld can keep her at this level she could be the one to provide him with that missing monument. Time will tell whether the much-discussed three-pound mares’ allowance stands, but while it does the likes of Tarnawa and Love will always have a distinct edge in top competition.

Dark Horses

The ‘lurkers’ who just failed to make it in 2020 but could be big presences next year include Shadwell’s G3 Geoffrey Freer S. winner Hukum (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), Kirsten Rausing’s G1 Yorkshire Oaks runner-up Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}), David Ward’s promising sprinter Starman (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) and Godolphin’s 2000 Guineas fourth Military March (GB) (New Approach {Ire}). Also, a Sir Michael Stoute special perhaps? Saeed Suhail’s impressive novice winner My Frankel (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who heads into a 4-year-old campaign lightly-raced and unexposed. Sounds like a few we’ve known in the past.

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A trio of stallions stand at ¥10,000,000 and are already fully booked for 2021-dual Japanese Classic scorer Duramente (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}); Epiphaneia (Jpn) (Symboli Kris S), the sire of this year’s Japanese Fillies’ Triple Crown victress Daring Tact (Jpn); and young sire Kizuna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Maurice (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}), the “Beast from the East”, will stand for ¥8,000,000. The 2019 Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar (Giant’s Causeway), who retired to Shadai for 2020, will command ¥6,000,000, as will fellow second-year sire and MG1SW Rey de Oro (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}). A price of ¥4,000,000 has been set for Harbinger (GB) (Dansili {GB}), the sire of globetrotting MG1SW Deirdre (Jpn), as well as for Rulership (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), sire of 15 black-type winners. Dual G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero Orfevre (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn})’s fee is ¥2,500,000, while New Year’s Day (Street Cry {Ire}), whose best progeny is notorious MGISW Maximum Security, is at ¥2,500,000. Two sons of the breeding-shaping Sunday Silence remain on the roster and the venerable pair of Daiwa Major (Jpn) and Heart’s Cry (Jpn) are both listed as private.

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Trained by Ger Lyons, Siskin won his first five starts, breaking his maiden at Naas in May of his 2-year-old year and quickly adding a listed race later that month, before first tasting group success in the G2 Railway S. that June. He saluted in the G1 Phoenix S. two months later and was put away for the winter. The son of the winning Bird Flown returned at three to salute in the June 12 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas and was also third in the G1 Sussex S. in July. Fourth in the G1 Prix du Moulin later that summer, he was unplaced in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile and his record stands at 8-5-0-1 and $566,021 in earnings.

Siskin’s dam is a half-sister to SW & GSP Barsanti (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}) and SW & MGISP Lockdown (First Defence), as well as the dam of U.S. Champion Older Mare Close Hatches (First Defence), herself the dam of MGSW and GI Belmont S. runner-up Tacitus (Tapit). His third dam won the G3 Ballyogan S. and foaled European Champion 2-Year-Old Xaar (GB) (Zafonic) among others notable runners.

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The duel that restored European self-esteem that year was contested by Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), who had just won the Arc, and Found (Ire) (Galileo {GB}), who would win it the following year. So nobody should be under any illusions about the standards required, especially with the ongoing expansion of the American turf program.
That said, the Euros plainly know their metier and must be weighed by anyone handicapping the grass races. Here, then, are three that can run better than their likely odds. That is saying quite something, in the case of the first, but I think she should be closer to even money.

MAGICAL (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) GI Longines BC Turf) 5-2
No mystery about Magical on tour: she showed her aptitude for the demands of this race when giving Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) herself a scare at Churchill in 2018. But while the big discrepancy in transatlantic odds concerns Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), who is challenging for favoritism in their homeland, my feeling is that even a respectful morning line understates Magical’s prospects. She sets a formidable standard and I’d be pretty amazed if she were beaten.

While unable to win for a third year running on Qipco British Champions’ Day, she only got going late behind two that exult in muddy conditions. She had previously exchanged verdicts with the top-class Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), again over 10 furlongs, and in terms of racing rhythm looks increasingly hungry for a return to this distance for only the third time in 15 starts since her run at Churchill. It can only help, moreover, that the scheduling of the Ascot fixture was this year slightly less parochial than usual, permitting her a third week to recover. Not that she particularly needs it: her battle with Enable in Louisville was her third start in three countries in 27 days.

In contrast Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) arrives after a very light season, having only resumed in August. In that time she has plainly reached a new peak, without yet registering the kind of numbers routinely posted by Magical. While the latter’s sophomore stablemate Mogul (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has now cracked that long-expected Group 1 success (3,400,000gns yearling; stable jockey’s choice at Epsom), the fact is that the only runner to have touched Magical’s regular level even once is Lord North (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose solution to a poor run the other day is to try a new trip.
A demanding pace might conjure a surprising finish from German filly Donjah (Ger) (Teofilo {Ire}) at monster odds. Overall, however, Magical looks a very secure knot to keep those Pick Six lines under control.

CADILLAC (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) GI BC Juvenile Turf (presented by Coolmore America) 6-1
As his name suggests, this guy should get all the traction he needs on an American circuit. Because while even the bare form of two reverses in soft going would give him every chance here, Cadillac has been most impressive on both starts on sounder terrain.

On debut he burst no fewer than nine lengths clear of Ebeko (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}), who has since done sufficiently well for new owners in California to follow him here for a rematch. Having won so easily, Cadillac was still green when turned over at odds-on next time, but the half-length winner went on to show his comfort in the softer ground that day when recently winning a Group 1 in similar conditions.

Restored to better conditions, Cadillac quickened clear of another subsequent Group 1 winner in Van Gogh (American Pharoah), and was well fancied when lining up for the premier juvenile prize in Europe, the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. Unfortunately the going was against him and, though he travelled smoothly through the race, he did not really pick up under pressure and was beaten a little over four lengths into fifth.

His nimble action and build together suggest that he will be well suited by the demands of this race, and he represents a trainer who has made an extraordinary impact since adapting her skills from jump racing to equal effect on the Flat.

Ballydoyle, predictably, has an aristocratic contender in Battleground (War Front), the first foal of Found, but as it stands his form has not worked out anything like as well as that of Cadillac.

LOPE Y FERNANDEZ (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) (GI Fanduel BC Mile presented by PDJF) 30-1
Okay, this is a bit of a wildcard. We were mad on the chance here of that remarkable mare, One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), before her unfortunate scratching. And offering this creature in her stead depends on a bit of a crackpot theory. But the Mile is ever a crapshoot, and it might just be that Lope Y Fernandez can respond to a puzzle very different to those he has been trying to piece together all season.

He flashed big ability when coasting through the field to lead in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas on his reappearance, but didn’t see the race out. Worn down into third behind Siskin (First Defence), he has duly spent all his time since at shorter distances. He has run very well once or twice, notably when beaten under a length into third in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, but there is a suspicion that straight tracks might not suit his style ideally. He might just be one of those that needs things to fall right: a waiting ride, through congestion, in the chaos of a turning mile.

Much his best efforts have come on a faster surface, but he showed enough life in two sprints on heavy ground to suggest that he remains in form this fall. He’s got a great base of experience now, which you need here, and will benefit from plenty more of that in the saddle. It’s a roll of the dice, for sure, but by the same token he would be an absolute blowout at the windows.
Siskin has not really built on that impressive display at the Curragh, and the other Classic winner in the field certainly looked unlucky not to finish in front of him when they crossed swords at Goodwood in the summer. Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) also put in the better rehearsal of the pair, last time out, but his performance round Goodwood—one of Britain’s sharpest tracks—sends mixed messages. He sure can travel, through a race, but couldn’t get his jockey out of trouble and you’d be worried if they were to get trapped on the inside.

With Lope Y Fernandez, perversely enough, that might be just the scenario we’re looking for. And the odds, in contrast, will make ample allowance for things not quite working out.

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Juddmonte and the Breeders’ Cup, in fact, have nearly come of age together. At the time that the inaugural Breeders’ Cup was staged at Hollywood Park in 1984, Prince Khalid had owned racehorses less than five years. The Saudi Royal had his first runner at the second Breeders’ Cup at Aqueduct in 1985, when Queen Anne, Sussex S. and Prix du Moulin winner Rousillon contested the Mile, but it wasn’t to be that day for the favourite, who settled for ninth after a luckless trip. Rousillon went on to gain further aclaim as the sire of Vintage Crop, the first Northern Hemisphere-trained horse to win the G1 Melbourne Cup in 1993.

Though that maiden voyage didn’t pan out as hoped, Prince Khalid was not deterred and tripled down on the 1986 ‘Cup at Santa Anita, lending the event some serious star power in the form of Dancing Brave. Still regarded as one of the best Prince Khalid has ever raced on either side of the Atlantic, Dancing Brave came into the Breeders’ Cup Turf off wins in the 2000 Guineas, Eclipse S., King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Struck in the eye by a clod of turf in-running, Dancing Brave checked in fourth.

It is remarkable, in hindsight, that it took Juddmonte 16 years and 24 starters to break its Breeders’ Cup duck, but it did so at last at Belmont Park in 2001 when the G1 Coronation S. winner Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill) ran away with the Filly & Mare Turf by 5 1/2 lengths for Andre Fabre and Olivier Peslier. Juddmonte repeated the dose in the same race four years later with Banks Hill’s full-sister Intercontinental (GB), remarkably back at Belmont Park. Intercontinental’s foundations had been laid by Fabre, but by that stage she had been transferred to Prince Khalid’s beloved Bobby Frankel.

Juddmonte’s Ventura (Chester House) provided Frankel with one of his last major wins in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint of 2008; the legendary trainer died of cancer just over a year later aged 68. And while Frankel’s famous equine personification-so meticulously chosen by Prince Khalid-was never himself given the chance to contest the meeting at which his namesake won six races, Juddmonte did grace the 2018 edition of the Breeders’ Cup with another of its true legends: the 11-time Group 1 winner Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who at Churchill Downs became the first horse to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf (or any Breeders’ Cup race, for that matter) in the same year. Add to that a GI Breeders’ Cup Mile win by Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) on the same card, and it was the kind of day that had been years in the making for Juddmonte at the meeting that it had perennially thrown so much support behind; in the interim between Ventura and Enable, Prince Khalid sent out six-time Group 1 winner Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) to take the 2009 Filly & Mare Turf-she was, incidentally, trained by Frankel’s late conditioner Sir Henry Cecil–and its great American champion Arrogate to win the 2016 GI Classic.

After sitting out the 2019 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita, Team Juddmonte returns in 2020 with the formidable duo of Siskin (First Defence) for the Mile and Tacitus (Tapit) for the Classic. Though the pair, both homebreds, are trained an ocean apart, they have much more in common than simply their pink and turquoise silks; they are both descendants of Silver Star (GB) (Zafonic), a Juddmonte homebred out of Monroe (Sir Ivor), a foundation mare for Khalid Abdullah who was part of the very first batch of fillies he accrued in the late 1970s and a daughter of the excellent producer Best In Show. Silver Star is the second dam of Siskin and the third dam of Tacitus. While Silver Star’s branch of the Monroe line includes her G1 Dewhurst S.-winning sire son Xaar (GB) and Tacitus’s five-time Grade I-winning dam Close Hatches (by Siskin’s sire First Defence), Monroe has had a far-reaching impact in other directions, too, with other descendants including sire brothers Cityscape (GB) (Selkirk) and Bated Breath (GB) (Dansili {GB}), and last year’s G1 St Leger winner Logician (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

Rising Tornado and Bird Flown (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) were born six years apart and on different continents, but both ended up in the yard of Andre Fabre. Each managed one win in her relatively brief career, but their pedigrees meant that they were given a chance in the elite Juddmonte broodmare population. More specifically, they were both expatriated back to Juddmonte’s American satellite to patronize resident sire First Defence, a Grade I-winning sprinter by Unbridled’s Song out of Honest Lady (Seattle Slew), a Grade I-winning daughter of another iconic Juddmonte producer, Toussaud (El Gran Senor). Completely unsurprisingly, it turned out that the team at Juddmonte knew just what they were doing: Rising Toronado’s first foal was Close Hatches and she produced two other winners by First Defence including the listed winner and GI Kentucky Oaks third Lockdown before First Defence was sold to stand in Saudi Arabia.

Bird Flown, meanwhile, visited First Defence in his final two seasons in Kentucky, the second mating producing Siskin. He has proven an embodiment of the potency of the Juddmonte blood on both sides of the Atlantic being by a sire from the third generation of a family flawlessly cultivated in Kentucky and out of a mare that brings together two of the farm’s European foundation mares in Monroe and Bahamian. The mould was somewhat broken with Siskin when he was entrusted to Ger Lyons, and that rising Irish trainer has held up his end of the bargain with aplomb, sending the colt through an unbeaten, Group 1-winning juvenile campaign and onto Classic success at three. A win at Keeneland on Saturday would place him in rarefied air, indeed.

The stories continue to be written, too, for Bird Flown and Rising Tornado. The former provided Juddmonte’s six-time Group 1 winner Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}) with his first winner in September in Talacre-she, too, is in the care of Ger Lyons. Rising Tornado has a yearling colt from the first of just three crops by Arrogate, and after failing to produce a live foal this season was covered by Quality Road.

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