Tag: team valor international

Facteur Cheval Upends Dubai Turf, Lord North Off the Board

After knocking on the door so many times–finishing second or third in four Group 1 events in his four most recent starts–Team Valor and Gary Barber's Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}–Jawlaat {Ire}, by Shamardal) got one of his own in an ultra-competitive renewal of the $5-million G1 Dubai Turf at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday. Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), winner of the Dubai Turf the last three years and seeking an historic four-peat, broke a bit awkwardly, but despite recovering quickly, finished off the board. The U.S. hope Catnip (Kitten's Joy) went wrong in late stretch, with rider Christophe Lemaire thrown hard to the ground and removed from his final mounts on the card after being taken to hospital. While he reportedly suffered a broken collar bone and rib, Catnip's injuries necessitated euthanization shortly after the race.

Under Maxime Guyon, who won this race in 2015 with Solow (Singspiel {Ire}), Facteur Cheval bided his time far back, midfield but in the clear, as Feb. 25 G2 Nakayama Kinen winner Matenro Sky (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) went to the early lead with three-time Group 1 heroine Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) a close second. The field was cluttered up early with Japanese hope and multiple Group 1 scorer Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) unlucky and in receipt of a rough trip.

Facteur Cheval tipped out into the lane, hooking up with diminutive Japanese Group 1 heroine Namur (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), who commenced an even-wider run from even further back than the eventual winner. The two finished so close a photo was required to determine the gold medallist, who got there by a short head. Danon Beluga (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), runner-up in this event last year, finished third. The final time for the 1800 metres was 1:45.91.

“It's just amazing, I have no words,” said trainer Jerome Reynier, a graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start program. “I see a horse here that has been prepared the best way possible by [work rider] Gregory [Davignon] and it's just amazing, I can't believe it.

“I said to Maxime I've never seen this horse go backwards at the finish, he is always going forward and giving his best. I had no doubts about the distance and Maxime has given him a perfect ride; he had Lord North to follow and he switched off during the race.

“He switched him to the outside and then waited long enough to save something for the end and that's just amazing. I am so happy for all my team.”

Reynier also said Facteur Cheval would likely stay in Dubai, where he has reportedly thrived, and would possibly train up to the Apr. 28 G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Hong.

The Dubai Turf winner won the first four starts of his career in France in 2022 before finishing that year with his first group score in the G3 Prix Perth at Saint-Cloud. Although he failed to visit the winner's circle in 2023, he was never worse than third and placed in four consecutive Group 1 events. He was last seen finishing second in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. at Ascot Oct. 21. The Dubai Turf victory marked the kickoff of his 2024 campaign.

With a fourth Dubai Turf not in the cards, Lord North appeared to exit his eighth-place finish well.

“He had a great spot, great cover,” said regular Dubai partner Frankie Dettori. “He travelled great into the straight, but he just didn't have the gears that he had in the past. We are all getting older, right?”

 

Pedigree Notes

Facteur Cheval is the first Group 1 winner for France's Ribchester, a resident of Darley's Haras du Logis, and one of nine black-type winners for the son of Iffraaj (GB) worldwide, which include two group winners in Australia. A four-time Group 1 winner himself between England and France, Ribchester also was third in the 2017 Dubai Turf. Facteur Cheval, one of 102 stakes winners out of a daughter of the late Shamardal, is a member of his sire's first crop.

The unraced Jawlaat, a Shadwell-consigned 18,000gns purchase in 2016 at Tattersalls February by McCracken Farms–breeder of Facteur Cheval–has a yearling colt by Sottsass (Fr). She is a half-sister to multiple group winner Tantheem (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) and hails from the same family as Shadwell's multiple Group 1 winner Tamayuz (GB) (Nayef).

Jawlaat was a third-generation Shadwell-bred whose fifth dam, Allegretta (GB) (Lombard {Ger}), produced both 2000 G1 2000 winner King's Best (Kingmambo) and the immortal Urban Sea (Miswaki). The latter–herself winner of the 1993 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe–is responsible for a breed-shaping dynasty, not least through her sons Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire).

Saturday, Meydan, Dubai
DUBAI TURF SPONSORED BY DP WORLD-G1, AED5,000,000, Meydan, 3-30, 3yo/up, 9fT, 1:45.91, gd.
1–FACTEUR CHEVAL (IRE), 126, g, 5, by Ribchester (Ire)
                1st Dam: Jawlaat (Ire), by Shamardal
                2nd Dam: Riqa (GB), by Dubawi (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Thamarat (GB), by Anabaa
1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (145,000gns Wlg '19 TATFOA;
€120,000 Ylg '20 ARDEAY). O-Team Valor International & Gary
Barber; B-McCracken Farms (IRE); T-Jerome Reynier; J-Maxime
Guyon. $2,900,000. Lifetime Record: GSW & MG1SP-Fr, G1SP-
Eng, 14-6-4-3, $3,748,163. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Namur (Jpn), 121, m, 5, Harbinger (GB)–Sambre Et Meuse
(Jpn), by Daiwa Major (Jpn). O-Carrot Farm Co Ltd; B-Northern
Farm (JPN); T-Tomokazo Takano. $1,000,000.
3–Danon Beluga (Jpn), 126, h, 5, Heart's Cry (Jpn)–Coasted, by
Tizway. 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (¥160,000,000 Wlg '19
JRHAJUL). O-Danox Co Ltd; B-Northern Farm (JPN); T-Noriyuki
Hori. $500,000.
Margins: SHD, 3/4, HF.
Also Ran: Measured Time (GB), Do Deuce (Jpn), Straight Arron, Calif (Ger), Lord North (Ire), Nashwa (GB), San Donato (Ire), Real World (Ire), Cairo (Ire), Voyage Bubble (Aus), Luxembourg (Ire), Matenro Sky (Jpn). Also Ran (DNF): Catnip.
Click for the ERA chart & video.

 

O-Team Valor International LLC and Gary Barber; B-McCracken Farms (Ire); T-Jerome Reynier.

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Touch’n Ride Survives Inquiry Scare to Win Breeders’ Stakes Thriller

Lightly raced but full of heart, Touch'n Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) would not let the filly go in the final yards and bravely got by Elysian Fields (Hard Spun) to prevail by the slimmest of margins, determined by a photo.

Last seen finishing fifth in the Kings Plate S. won by familiar face Paramount Prince (Society's Chairman)–where the runner-up here again played bridesmaid–and gone since then, Touch'n Ride was content to track from fifth in a packed field of 14 as the speed went on its way. Cruising along in the second flight among cover down the backstretch, Kazushi Kimura was forced to wait for room behind a three-strong wall of leaders at the half-mile, but found his seam entering the top of the stretch. Locking horns with Elysian Fields as she bravely fought off his challenge, and the pair drifting far into the course midway home, it took the length of the stretch and a photo to separate them, but succeed he did, beating her by a nose. Paramount Prince faded to next to last while Prince of Wales S. runner-up Kaukokaipuu (Mr Speaker) finished seventh. A rider's claim of foul from Sahin Civac, aboard Elysian Fields, afterwards was disallowed by the stewards.

“It feels amazing,” said Kimura, who notched his first win in the series. “I've always tried to win the Triple Crown and I've finally made it. Last week, I got on him in the morning and he was a very nice horse on the turf. I was quite comfortable staying behind Paramount Prince, the King's Plate winner [during the race].”

Added conditioner Layne Giliforte: “It's nerve-racking when you watch a horse get herded out like that…I had a great feeling going into the race and for him to come through the way he did and Kazushi to give him the ride that he did, it's fantastic.”

With his victory here, Touch'n Ride continuous something of a familial tradition, joining elder brother Neepawa (Scat Daddy) as a winner of the Breeders' S. He's also a half-brother to SP Niigon's Spin (Hard Spun) as well as a 2023 half-sister by American Triple Crown hero, Justify. Niigon's Touch went to Twirling Candy for 2024.

 

Sunday, Woodbine Racetrack
BREEDERS' S., C$403,000, Woodbine, 10-1, (C), 3yo, 1 1/2mT, 2:27.56, fm.
1–TOUCH'N RIDE, 126, g, 3, by Candy Ride (Arg)
          1st Dam: Niigon's Touch (SW, $204,615), by Niigon
          2nd Dam: Laser Touch, by Touch Gold
          3rd Dam: Laser Hawk, by Silver Hawk
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O/B-Chiefswood Stables Limited (ON); T-Layne S. Giliforte; J-Kazushi Kimura. C$240,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-0-1, $238,513. *1/2 to Neepawa (Scat Daddy), SW, $307,222.
2–Elysian Field, 123, f, 3, Hard Spun–Elysian, by Smart Strike. ($50,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT; $70,000 2yo '22 OBSOPN). O-Team Valor International and Gary Barber; B-Anderson Farms Ont. Inc. (ON); T-Mark E. Casse. C$80,000.
3–Twowaycrossing, 126, g, 3, English Channel–Double Guns Girl, by Langfuhr. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B/T-Roger L. Attfield (ON). C$40,000.
Margins: NO, 4, 3/4. Odds: 4.10, 3.55, 51.65.
Also Ran: Philip My Dear, Tito's Calling, Wickenheiser, Kaukokaipuu, British Artillery, Tiburon, Sammy Stone, Simcoe, Hemlo Gold, Paramount Prince, Midnight in Malibu. Scratched: Enjoythesilent, Greystone, Legal Catch, Over and Ollie.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Elysian Field Gives Casse Fourth Woodbine Oaks

Bet down from a 12-1 morning line to be off at less than half that quote, Team Valor International and Gary Barber's Elysian Field (Hard Spun) stamped her authority on Sunday's Woodbine Oaks–despite some wayward ways in the final eighth of a mile–to give trainer Mark Casse a fourth victory in the first leg of the Canadian Filly Triple Crown and first since Barber's Lexie Lou (Sligo Bay {Ire}) scored in 2014. In partnership with Michael Langlois, Barber also won Sunday's Plate Trial S. with Paramount Prince (Society's Chairman).

With the white-hot Sahin Civaci at the controls, Elysian Field broke without incident from her low draw and raced three back on the fence about midfield and six lengths off the lead as 125-1 Friends for Life (Silent Name {Jpn}) and Fashionably Fab (Silent Name {Jpn}) matched motors up front. Favored Ticker Tape Home (Medaglia d'Oro), impressive winner of the Fury S. June 10 and trying a synthetic route for the first time, found the perfect stalking spot from third. Content to bide his time inside and wait for the runs to come, Civaci slipped Elysian Field some rein as they raced around the turn and the duo loomed a threat as they advanced, but Ticker Tape Home had gone for home three wide at the five-sixteenths and dared them to catch her. But reel her in they did, as Elysian Field rolled up to wrest command about a furlong out, threw her ears in the air and got to playing a bit as if the job was done, but was across the line safely clear. The final time was fractionally faster than that clocked by the colts in the Plate Trial one race earlier.

Dismissed at odds of 47-1 for her debut over the Saratoga turf last August for trainer Bruce Brown, Elysian Field flew home to be second and would have trained on following her private purchase, but for a health scare. Fifth, but placed eighth via DQ on the turf at Gulfstream Jan. 8, she filled the same spot going two turns on the synth in Hallandale Feb. 5. The chestnut graduated by 3 1/4 lengths in her first local try over 6 1/2 furlongs Apr. 30 and was four lengths adrift of Ticker Tape Home in second when last seen in the seven-furlong Fury.

“We bought her a month or two after her first start at Saratoga and we had her here for about two days and she went into the clinic for about a week, almost a little touch and go, colic,” said Casse. “I think it took its toll and we brought her home and she's got bigger and stronger. She's beautiful.”

Next up could be a date with the boys in the Aug. 20 King's Plate, a race won by Lexie Lou en route to Horse of the Year honors eight years ago.

“I want to talk to Barry Irwin from Team Valor, but she's a big, strong filly and I'm extremely happy how we get a month between the Oaks and the King's Plate, so that's important,” said Casse. “Three weeks is tough, so now we get four weeks, and I don't see why she wouldn't.”

Pedigree Notes:

Elysian Field is the 99th worldwide black-type winner for the highly reliable Hard Spun and her broodmare sire Smart Strike–whose daughters are now responsible for a remarkable 165 black-type winners around the world–needs little introduction, especially north of the border. Anderson Farms is also the breeder of Hard Spun's Grade I winner Hard Not to Love.

David Anderson's operation acquired Elysian Field's three-time winning dam for $100,000 in foal to Kantharos at the 2018 Keeneland January Sale and she produced three foals before being sold for $35,000 in foal to Collected at Keeneland November in 2021. The mare dropped a filly in 2022 and a filly by Union Rags this season, both in Kentucky.

Elysian Field's female family includes this year's GI Preakness S. hero National Treasure (Quality Road), SW Ultimate (Speightstown) and recent 'TDN Rising Star' Pirate (Omaha Beach).

 

 

Sunday, Woodbine
WOODBINE OAKS PRESENTED BY BUDWEISER, C$503,000, Woodbine, 7-23, (C), 3yo, f, 1 1/8m (AWT), 1:49.83, ft.
1–ELYSIAN FIELD, 121, f, 3, by Hard Spun
                1st Dam: Elysian, by Smart Strike
                2nd Dam: Initiation, by Deputy Minister
                3rd Dam: Proposal, by Mt. Livermore
($50,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT; $70,000 2yo '22 OBSOPN).
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Team Valor International and Gary
Barber; B-Anderson Farms Ont. Inc. (ON); T-Mark E. Casse;
J-Sahin Civaci. C$300,000. Lifetime Record: 6-2-2-0, $306,692.
2–Wickenheiser, 121, f, 3, Lemon Drop Kid–Game (Fr), by
Montjeu (Ire). ($245,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE.
O-Clay Scherer, Al & Bill Ulwelling and Kevin Attard; B-Sean
Fitzhenry (ON); T-Kevin Attard. C$100,000.
3–Fortyfiveseventy, 121, f, 3, Perfect Timber–Avall Tale, by
Tale of Ekati. ($4,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT). O/T-Barbara J. Minshall;
B-Charles Fipke (ON). C$50,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 3/4, 1HF. Odds: 5.80, 6.35, 50.80.
Also Ran: Me and My Shadow, Ticker Tape Home, Big Brass Bed, Flysofreeashleeb, Courtly Ro, Fashionably Fab, Tito's Calling, Collect Dattt, Delphia, Great Kate, Friends for Life.

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Making Waves: Good Things Come In Threes

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Behind Enemy Lines (GB) (Sioux Nation) in the Cutler Bay S. at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.

Sioux Nation Colt Makes The Cut At Gulfstream

Rockingham Ranch, Talla Racing, LLC and David Bernsen's Behind Enemy Lines (GB) (Sioux Nation) ran like a 1-9 favourite should to give his Coolmore sire his fifth stakes winner and first Stateside in the Cutler Bay S. at Gulfstream on Saturday (video).

Trained by Jack Sisterson, the son of the once-raced Autumn Snow (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) was bred by The Brigadier Partnership. An 88,000gns weanling when picked up by Alex Elliott from Barton Stud at the Tattersalls November Foal Sale, the bay made 90,000gns from J B Bloodstock when re-offered by The Castlebridge Consignment as a Tattersalls October Book 2 yearling. Sent through the ring yet again, this time he did not meet his reserve as a €173,228 Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale buyback (breeze video). As noted by colleague Alan Carasso, Behind Enemy Lines is the second stakes winner to emerge from the inaugural Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale.

Unplaced for Justin Casse and Joseph O'Brien at the Curragh in August, he put it all together over the Dundalk synthetic to win by 4 3/4 lengths in January. Purchased privately by these connections, the Cutler Bay was his American bow.

The second foal, first runner and first winner out of his dam, Behind Enemy Lines is followed by the colt Looking Bere (Fr) (Le Brivido {Fr}), who is catalogued as lot 247 in the upcoming Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale by Dolmen Bloodstock, and a yearling half-brother by Whitecliffsofdover. Second dam Epic Similie (GB) (Lomitas {GB}) was placed in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, while her Manduro (Ger) half-brother Ultra (Ire) won that race in 2015 before standing under the Darley banner in France. Eclipse champion Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) is also under the third dam.

Although his eldest foals are just 3-year-olds, Sioux Nation has sired 58 winners from 106 runners worldwide (55%). Stateside, he has three runners and Behind Enemy Lines is his first winner (33%) among that trio.

How Sweet The Sound

Amazing Grace (Ger) (Protectionist {Ger}) is no stranger to black-type victories, and, bearing the Moyglare Stud silks, secured a half-length victory in the GIII Orchid S. in Florida on Saturday (video) for trainer Christophe Clement.

Profiled in Emma Berry's Seven Days column earlier this week, the German-bred is starting to pay back her €850,000 Arqana December purchase price. Bred by Dr. Christoph Berglar, she won the G2 Diana Trial in 2021 and the G2 T. von Zastrow Stutenpreis last term. Also Group 1-placed in the G1 Preis von Europa, Amazing Grace is the second foal out of German stakes winner Amabelle (Ger) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Her dam foaled her winning full-sister, Ad Astra (Ger), the year after producing the Orchid winner, while her 3-year-old full-brother, Astaire (Ire), has yet to race. Amabelle's juvenile has already been named Alvorada (Ger) (Gleneagles {Ire}), and she has a yearling filly by the 2014 G1 Melbourne Cup hero.

From limited crops, Protectionist has sired 33 winners from 64 runners worldwide (51%). His other stakes winner besides Amazing Grace is G3 Bavarian Classic hero Lambo (Ger). In America, he's been represented by two runners total, and Saturday's winner is his only scorer.

An Island Of Breathing Space

The third and final stakes-winning European to prevail at Gulfstream on Saturday was Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Steven Rocco, and Tango Uniform Racing's Breath Away (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), who scooped the Sanibel Island S. by 2 1/2 lengths (video).

Part of the Highgate Stud breeding programme, she caught the eye of Canirola Bloodstock as a 92,000gns foal at Tattersalls November, and blossomed into a 230,000gns yearling at that venue's October Yearling Sale Book 1 when offered by Taroka Stud. Stephen Hillen was the buyer that day. A winner of her Gulfstream debut back in January, she missed by only a nose in an allowance optional claimer a month later for trainer Christophe Clement.

A full-sister to GIII Wilshire S. heroine Simply Breathless (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), Breath Away is a daughter of Darling Grace (GB) (Nayef), who scored her lone victory as a 3-year-old. Her latest foals are fillies by Advertise (GB) and Bated Breath, foaled in 2021 and 2022, respectively. G1 Falmouth S. heroine Giofra (GB) (Dansili {GB}) is under the third dam.

From just 29 runners in the U.S., Juddmonte's Bated Breath has 17 checks in the winners' column (58%). He's firing in stakes winners at a rate of 38% (11 from 29 runners), with his leading light the 2016 filly Viadera (GB), heroine of the GI Matriarch S. at Del Mar. She is supported by GII Edgewood S. heroine Gift List (GB), the aforementioned Grade III winner Simply Breathless, and Tezzaray (GB), successful in the GIII Jimmy Durante S. and fourth in the GI Del Mar Oaks.

Emperor Of The Mill

Team Valor International's Tuddenham Mill (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) eked out a head victory in a maiden special weight at Tampa Bay Downs on Sunday. Third in a pair of starts for Hankers and Maccas and trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy, Tuddenham Mill switched to the ownership of Team Valor for start three and was eventually transferred Stateside. The 3-year-old was bred by the Imperial Crown Syndicate.

A £29,000 Tattersalls Ireland September yearling, Tuddenham Mill was picked up by Troy Steve Bloodstock from The Castlebridge Consignment. His dam, who won as a juvenile and is a full-sister to GI Suburban H. hero and sire Frost Giant (Giant's Causeway), has a 2-year-old filly by Magna Grecia (Ire) still to come.

Coolmore Stud stallion Holy Roman Emperor sports 25 winners from 49 runners in America (51%). Besides his 11 stakes horses in that jurisdiction, six of his progeny have won stakes (12%), led by top-drawer winners Glorious Empire (Ire), Rockemperor (Ire), and Rich Tapestry (Ire).

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