Record-Breaking Epsom Oaks Winner Snowfall Will Chase Oaks Double Saturday At The Curragh

Snowfall will attempt to become the 15th filly to complete the Oaks double, following her record breaking 16 lengths success at Epsom, when she lines up in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks this Saturday at The Curragh.

The Aidan O'Brien trained daughter of Deep Impact is among 9 fillies remaining in the Group 1 Classic following Tuesday's entry stage. He also has High Heels, Divinely, La Joconde and Willow in the race.

Trainer Donnacha O'Brien will look to win his first Classic as a trainer with Nicest, while his brother Joseph will be represented by Mariesque. Trainer Ger Lyons, who won the race last year with Even So, will look to win the race for a second successive year with Party House, while Fozzy Stack will be represented by Ahandfulofsummers.

A strong British trained team are set to line up in the Paddy Power Sapphire Stakes. The Group 2 contest has attracted Keep Busy trained by John Quinn and Came From The Dark trained by Ed Walker. Measure of Magic, Logo Hunter, Romantic Proposal, Gustavus Weston and Make A Challenge are the leading home trained contenders.

There are 10 entries for the Jebel Ali Racecourse and Stables Anglesey Stakes including recent Curragh Maiden winner Beauty Inspire, together with Hadman, Celtic Times, Strapped, Daisy Peers, Admiral D and Cadamosto.

Speak in Colours heads the 25 entries in the Paddy Power Scurry, which features three British trained contenders with Gulliver, Zargun and Mo Celita.

There are 23 entries in the Kildare Village Ladies Derby, won last year by Princess Zoe, while there are 15 entries in the Dingle Whiskey Nursery Handicap, 22 in the Juddmonte “Expert Eye” EBF Maiden and 13 in the Aquaturf Handicap, including Shanroe, Ever Present and Iowa

Sunday's 8 race program features the valuable Kilboy Estate Stakes with 19 entries in the Group 2 contest. These include Royal Ascot winner Create Belief trained by Johnny Murtagh, multiple stakes winner Angel Power trained in Britain by Roger Varian and Group 1 winner Pretty Gorgeous trained by Joseph O'Brien.

Breeders' Cup winner Order of Australia is one of 15 entries in the Romanised Minstrel Stakes, with contenders for the Group 2 contest also including A Case of You, Monaasib, Ace Aussie, Maker of Kings and Snapraeterea.

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Love, Audarya May Face Off Again In July 29 Nassau Stakes

Love and Audarya could lock horns again in the 10-furlong G1 Qatar Nassau Stakes (29 entries) for fillies and mares on Thursday, July 29.

The duo both ran mighty races on their seasonal returns to finish first and second against the boys in the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, with Love coming out on top by three-parts of a length.

Audarya was having her first start since providing trainer James Fanshawe with a memorable first Breeders' Cup success in the G1 Filly & Mare Turf at Keeneland in November. The daughter of Wootton Basset also captured the G1 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville in August.

Fanshawe said: “Audarya has only been doing steady canters since Royal Ascot, but she seems very well.

“The Prince Of Wales's Stakes was her first run of the year, so you are never totally sure what to expect, and the same applied to Love obviously, but I was just really pleased with her performance and the way she has come out of the race.

“She has a couple of other entries beforehand, but the Qatar Nassau Stakes is a really nice race to aim for. Thanks to the support of Qatar, the prize money is fantastic, and it usually throws up a good clash between the three-year-olds and the older fillies and mares.”

Love's trainer Aidan O'Brien has a formidable eight-strong team in total, with Love joined by Classic winners Snowfall, Mother Earth, Joan Of Arc and Empress Josephine.

Snow Lantern (Richard Hannon) could tackle a mile and a quarter for the first time following her encouraging second in the G1 Coronation Stakes, as could G1 Lockinge Stakes runner-up Lady Bowthorpe (William Jarvis).

Ebaiyra (Alain de Royer-Dupre) is the sole French-trained entry following a decisive success in the G2 Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud in May.

The Qatar Nassau Stakes is part of the British Champions Series.

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The Weekly Wrap: Happy Days Are Here Again 

To an extent, when Coolmore wins two of the weekend's premier Classics in Europe and Godolphin wins another, it feels like we are harking back to the glory days around the turn of the century, when the battle of the superpowers was epitomised by those back-to-back duels between Galileo (Ire) and Fantastic Light in the 'King George' and Irish Champion Stakes. Honours even.

And it was honours even at Epsom, with the dazzling victory of Ballydoyle's Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Cazoo Oaks, followed by the satisfying success of Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) for Godolphin in the Cazoo Derby. 

Through those two decades, the dominance of Aidan O'Brien has only grown, and the Ballydoyle trainer now teeters on the brink of becoming the most successful trainer in British Classic history, with his 40 victories equalling the record of John Scott, who won seven runnings of the Oaks between 1836 and 1855 as part of his own Classic haul. 

It is fair to say that the fortunes of Godolphin have waxed and waned since the days of Daylami (Ire), Kayf Tara (GB) and Fantastic Light, but since the appointment of Charlie Appleby as trainer in the aftermath of the sorriest episode in the operation's history, Godolphin's flag has again been flying high.

Following the Derby, in typically modest fashion Appleby immediately pointed to O'Brien's overwhelming record when he was congratulated on providing a second homebred winner of the blue riband for Sheikh Mohammed in the last four years.

The pedigrees of both Masar (Ire) (New Approach {GB}) and Adayar stretch back generations within the Darley/Godolphin operation–to the 1998 purchase of Melikah (Ire), the daughter of Lammtarra and Urban Sea, in the case of Masar, and right back to the very early days of Sheikh Mohammed's foundation of a major breeding empire in Europe to the import of German Oaks winner Anna Paola (Ger) to Britain in 1982. Her 1983 mating with Mill Reef–winner of the Derby 50 years ago——produced Anna Matrushka (GB), who features as Adayar's fourth dam and who has played her part in the establishment of a decent dynasty within the Godolphin ranks. Anna Matrushka's penultimate foal Accessories (GB) (Sinsgpiel {Ire}) was exported to Australia and has helped to spread the family throughout the global operation, with three of her sons–Helmet (Aus), Epaulette (Aus) and Bullbars (Aus)–ending up as Darley stallions. Helmet has subsequently returned to the country of his great grandam Anna Paola and now stands at Gestut Fahrhof.

Beyond his two Derby winners, Appleby was also responsible for the top-rated horse in the world last year in Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), as well as the previous season's European champion 2-year-old, Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal).

You don't really need to cap winning the Derby but just for good measure, some four hours later on the other side of the Atlantic, Appleby was represented by the first two home in the GI Just A Game S., Althiqa (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Summer Romance (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). The fillies were a precursor for an even bigger result in New York for Godolphin when the homebred Essential Quality (Tapit) prevailed in a thrilling stretch battle with Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) in the GI Belmont S. 

The champion 2-year-old in America last season following his GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile victory, the Brad Cox-trained Essential Quality has been beaten just once, when fourth in the Kentucky Derby, and he may yet be promoted to third following confirmation of the positive drug test from the B-sample of winner Medina Spirit (Protonico).

For Godolphin, the good days are no longer few and far between. The significant breeding operation behind the racing stables clearly plays its part, but much of the renaissance can be attributed to Appleby, who is not just an accomplished trainer but is also a reliable and helpful spokesman. His popularity as an everyman made good is similar to that of the Derby-winning jockey Adam Kirby, whose Epsom triumph was widely enjoyed, and together they made a beguiling duo in the winner's circle. Both men have got to where they are through their own had work and skill, and they can only be admired for the humility with which they accept their success.

Still Making An Impact

With Frankel's first Derby winner, and Kingman (GB) represented by a third Grade 1 success for Domestic Spending (GB) at Belmont, as well as the G3 Princess Elizabeth S. win of Parent's Prayer (Ire), it was a good weekend for the Juddmonte stallions. The pensioned Zamindar even made his presence felt as damsire of the Derby runner-up Mojo Star (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a son of the Juddmonte-bred Galley (GB), who is a half-sister to the dam of Arc winner Rail Link (GB) (Dansili {GB}).

St Mark's Basilica (Ire) notched a second Classic in the Prix du Jockey Club to the obvious delight of 'super-sub' Ioritz Mendizabal, who was himself winning the race for the second year in a row after standing in for David Egan on Mishriff (Ire) last year. It was also a second winner of the French Derby for Siyouni after Sottsass (Fr) became his first Group 1-winning colt in 2019 and then returned to win the Arc last year. He and St Mark's Basilica are both out of mares by Galileo (Ire) who have previously produced high-calibre individuals in Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) and Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) respectively.

The same star-strewn background was evident in Snowfall, who beat her 'aunt', the third-placed Divinely (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Oaks. Snowfall's grandam, the dual Group 1-winning miler Red Evie (Ire) (Intikhab), has only ever been mated with Galileo, and she produced her tenth foal by the champion and her eighth filly on April 28. Red Evie's best offspring is unquestionably the Breeders' Cup Turf and Arc winner Found (Ire), who has already produced the G2 Vintage S. winner Battleground (War Front) as her first foal. Now Found's year-younger sister Best In The World (Ire) has a record-breaking Oaks winner to her name with her own first foal. 

There will be plenty of anticipation ahead of the debut of Snowfall's full-brother, Newfoundland (Ire), from the penultimate crop of Japan's multiple champion sire Deep Impact (Sunday Silence). The late Shadai kingpin also had the first two home in the GI Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo on Sunday, bringing his tally of top-level winners to 51 when outsider Danon Kingly (Jpn) narrowly denied favourite Gran Alegria (Jpn) from recording her second win in the race. 

Deep Impact has only had 59 runners in Europe, and clearly those that have been bred by European-based outfits will be out of good mares, while those sent over to race here from Japan will have already proved themselves to be classy performers. Even so, his record of 19 stakes winners, including six Group 1 winners, five of which are Classic winners, is pretty damn good.

The six that have won at the top level are split evenly, three being out of mares from the Sadler's Wells line, and three from the Storm Cat line, with the young stallions Saxon Warrior (Jpn) representing the former and Study Of Man (Ire) the latter. It is fervently hoped that in time these two winners of the 2000 Guineas and Prix du Jockey Club in 2018 can continue the success of their sire in Europe.

Watch List

A sireline that has thrived in a stealthily successful way over the years is that of Acclamation (GB), who is now 22 and in his 18th season covering at Rathbarry Stud.

The old boy himself provided one of the most popular results of Derby day when his 8-year-old son Oh This Is Us (Ire) won his 16th race and first at group level when just outpointing 7-year-old Century Dream (Ire) in the G3 Diomed S.

This followed two fantastic results for Acclamation's late son Harbour Watch (Ire) on Friday when first Pyledriver posted a popular win in the G1 Coronation Cup for William Muir and Chris Grassick, backed up later that day in America by the GII Belmont Gold Cup triumph of the Joseph O'Brien-trained Baron Samedi (GB). Both are members of the penultimate of Harbour Watch's five crops conceived at Tweenhills before his retirement from covering in 2018 and death the following year. 

On Nov. 29, 2017, the foals that would become known as Baron Samedi and Pyledriver were sent through the ring at Tattersalls 50 lots apart, both offered by the late Kevin Mercer's Usk Valley Stud. The first was bought by LECH Racing for 3,500gns, while Pyledriver was a 10,000gns buy-back by breeders Roger Devlin and Guy and Hugh Leach.

Mercer, who died not long after the foals were born at his Welsh farm, was the breeder of Baron Samedi and the advisor to Pyledriver's breeders when they retired their first mare to stud. He is much missed, but the two sons of Harbour Watch, in whom Mercer had a strong belief, paid him a great posthumous compliment on Saturday.

Acclamation's son Mehmas (Ire) is rarely far from the breeding headlines these days, and he was another to feature at Epsom via the listed Surrey S. Victor Mehmento (Ire), while another, Dark Angel, notched his eighth Group/Grade 1 winner with Althiqa in America. 

Dark Angel also appeared as the broodmare sire of the admirable Oaks runner-up Mystery Angel (Ire), who is by Rathbarry's rising star Kodi Bear (Ire), and we'll be hearing more about her and her trainer George Boughey in Wednesday's TDN. Furthermore, Dark Angel's son Lethal Force (Ire) is the sire of Mokaatil (GB), winner of the most terrifying race to be run on a British track, the downhill Epsom Dash.

The Tin Man, All Heart

It was not such good news over the weekend for Acclamation's grandson The Tin Man (GB) (Equiano {Fr}), who was retired after fracturing a leg at exercise eight days before his planned resumption in the listed Cathedral S. at Salisbury.

The 9-year-old won nine of his 31 races for James Fanshawe and Fred Archer Racing, his three Group 1 victories coming at Royal Ascot, British Champions Day and in the Haydock Sprint Cup.

Fortunately, The Tin Man was swiftly and successfully operated on at Newmarket Equine Hospital, where he is currently recovering, and he will now spend his retirement with James and Jacko Fanshawe at Pegasus Stables.

“He's recovering well. James went see him today and I am hoping to see him tomorrow,” said Jacko Fanshawe on Monday. “He'll be in the hospital for about a week and then he will stay with us for good.”

The Fanshawe stable has enjoyed plenty of success with The Tin Man's family over the years. His half-brother Deacon Blues (GB) (Compton Place {GB}) previously won the QIPCO British Champions Sprint when it was still a Group 2 race, and he also notched a hat-trick of Group 3 wins among his seven victories. Another half-sibling, Indian Tygress (GB) (Sepoy {Aus}), won three races in 2018, while currently in the yard is the 3-year-old full-sister to The Tin Man, Persaria (GB), who has been placed twice this season and looks poised to win before too long.

The trainer's wife, who runs the Fred Archer Racing syndicate, added, “The Tin Man was due to run on Sunday. We weren't going to run him in such big races any more but he had been in such good form. He's been such a star and it's a huge relief that the surgery went well. We're looking forward to him coming home.”

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Snowfall, Rainfall And An Oaks Day To Savour

EPSOM, UK—It was an Oaks that delivered everything. An emphatic winner, bred in the purple, racing in the purple, representing a trio of the sport's most powerful owners for whom Epsom's famous winner's circle is almost a home from home. 

It was also a record-breaking winning margin by a filly who reminded us just what a loss Deep Impact (Jpn) was, not just to Japan but to breeders worldwide, when he died at the age of 17 in 2019. Next month, a handful of his final small crop of yearlings will be offered at the JRHA Select Sale in Hokkaido. The Coolmore team was among the select number of European breeders who had mares worthy of a trip to Japan, and their globetrotting endeavours have already been rewarded with the 2000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn). Now, in Snowfall (Jpn), they have a second British Classic winner bred on that same potent cross that blends the two extraordinarily dominant sires of Japan and Europe, Deep Impact and Galileo. 

It should not be forgotten either that last year's Prix de Diane winner Fancy Blue (Ire), is also by Deep Impact and bred in a similar fashion, being out of a sister to another Epsom hero in High Chaparral (Ire) (Sadler's Wells). And from a limited number of runners in Europe, Deep Impact also sired the 2018 Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Ire).

For an Oaks to remember, throw in racing's Mr Showbusiness, Frankie Dettori–in theory playing the unfamiliar role of understudy to Ryan Moore aboard the race favourite Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB})–and you have all the glitz required to light up a racecourse even with a limited number of racegoers. The Queen's Stand, usually packed to this rafters for this weekend, was sparsely populated, even with most of those on track having to take refuge indoors from the ceaseless rain which turned the track into a quagmire and brought the Classic field stand-side as they reeled off Tattenham Corner.

Snowfall clearly didn't mind the rainfall as demonstrated by the menacing way she loomed alongside and swiftly overpowered the long-time leader Mystery Angel (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}). But take away the 16-length winner and the terrier-like runner-up, from the determinedly ambitious stable of George Boughey, had plenty of fancy fillies beaten, including the third-placed Divinely (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a full-sister to Snowfall's dam Best In The World (Ire) and to the brilliant Arc winner Found (Ire). While Snowfall and Divinely would have had the Oaks on their agenda even before they were weaned, it is far to say that it was probably not a race that Noelle Walsh, the breeder of Mystery Angel, had envisaged for her filly. But Boughey has already made people sit up and take notice as he has saddled winner after winner since taking out his licence only last season, and perhaps more should have taken notice of the fact that a syndicate of a very different nature to the Coolmore triumvirate had stumped up £22,500 to supplement Mystery Angel to the Oaks line-up on Monday.

As Snowfall sailed across the line in glorious isolation, Boughey, his great pal and key form ally Sam Haggas, and girlfriend Laura Toller, roared and swung each other around as their filly fought her way home. Their celebrations were every bit as wild  as they would have been for a winner, and in a way she was. For this was a massive result for the stable and for Nick Bradley's racing syndicate on a day which started with yet another impressive juvenile winner for both owner and trainer when Oscula (Ire) (Galileo Gold {Ire}) landed the Woodcote S. on her third start. 

As the Oaks presentation took place in the winner's circle, the celebratory gaggle was joined by Georg von Opel, a huge investor in some of the Coolmore syndicated horses in recent years and part-owner of the fifth-placed Santa Barbara. Just beyond them out on the track where the placed horses unsaddle, Mystery Angel was surrounded by her large, happy band of owners for a photo that will undoubtedly grace plenty of walls. Their investment would have been far smaller but their joy no less confined. 

Just over an hour earlier there had been a similarly pleasing story to the Coronation Cup when Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}), who had finished 11th in last year's Derby and third in the St Leger, enjoyed an official coming of age. 

By the admission post-race of his co-owner/breeder Roger Devlin, Pyledriver is not as regally bred as some of those he was taking on, but he has a tenacity akin to Mystery Angel's and only temporarily surrendered the advantage he had gained when bowling into the lead halfway round, before grabbing it back from the imposing favourite Al Aasy (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

For his jockey Martin Dwyer, who is not among the most fashionable names in the weighing-room, it brought up a hat-trick of Epsom Group 1s that few of his colleagues can match. It has been a long time in the earning, from the day he gave the then-young Andrew Balding his first Classic success with Casual Look (Red Ransom) in the Oaks of 2003, followed by the Derby victory for Sir Percy (GB) ((Mark Of Esteem {Ire}) for Marcus Tregoning and owners Anthony and Victoria Pakenham. The Coronation Cup may not be a Classic but success will have been all the sweeter for the fact that it was the first at Group 1 level for Dwyer's father-in-law William Muir, who this year added Chris Grassick to his training licence.

Devlin shared in Dwyer's joy, and as he watched the replay of the win for the colt he bred in partnership with Guy and Hugh Leach, he said, “Primarily we're delighted for William because he's been training for 30 years and this is his first Group 1 winner. We've been in it for a couple of years and we're very grateful to William for all the effort he puts in.”

He continued, “We thought [Pyledriver] would improve as a 4-year-old. He's fairly modestly bred, like the owners, and we didn't think he had huge stallion potential so it was important for us to get the Group 1 on his CV. That's job done. I'm not quite sure where we go from here. He's entered in the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot, but that might come a bit soon, and he has entries in the King George and the Arc, and he proved today he acts on pretty soft ground.”

The owners have much to look forward to as Pyledriver's 10-year-old dam La Pyle (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) has a 3-year-old filly by New Approach (GB) named Country Pyle (GB) who is set to make her debut in the coming weeks, as well as a juvenile Oasis Dream (GB) colt called Stockpyle (GB). 

Devlin added, “We also have a yearling filly by Frankel (GB) and La Pyle is in foal to Kingman (GB). We took the decision to invest and we hope it pays off.”

He also remembered his late friend and advisor Kevin Mercer, the former owner of Usk Valley Stud, where Pyledriver was bred. 

“If it hadn't been for Kevin we wouldn't be here today. He had the vision and the knowledge to think that the mare had it in her,” he said. 

Martin Dwyer admitted after the race that he feared he could be replaced on Pyledriver by a bigger-name jockey. He said: “I love this place, I always have. I've had some great times riding here and I've been lucky. Half my worry was losing the ride on him. It's not easy when you are not fashionable and you are not riding. You will have owners own a good horse like him and then it doesn't pan out and he doesn't win.”

He continued, “The Derby was a write-off and then there are always people saying, 'why don't you use X, Y, Z as they are riding tons of winners and why are you using him as he is not high flying at the moment?' But that is sport and that is what happens so you have to really fight your corner.”

In Pyledriver he has found a fellow battler, and the pair ensured that the day wasn't only about a 21st Classic victory for one of the world's most recognisable jockeys and a 40th British Classic for the unstoppable Aidan O'Brien, who has now won this season's 1000 Guineas and Oaks with the fillies who earned their trainer a £4,000 fine for bearing the wrong saddle cloths in last season's G1 Fillies' Mile. 

For syndicates from one end of the scale to the other, there was plenty to cheer about on Oaks day. There's currently an advertisement on the British racing channels aimed at improving diversity and inclusivity which has the simple catchline of 'Racing is everyone's sport'. On Friday at Epsom it certainly felt so.

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