The Weekly Wrap | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Weekly Wrap: Reynier Rules

Yes, it's Derby week in Epsom and Chantilly, and it's all about the Classic generation, but as we briefly cast our minds back over the past seven days, let's hear it for the oldies.

At ParisLongchamp on Sunday, the 6-year-olds Skalleti (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) and Marianafoot (Fr) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) pulled off a group-race double on a stellar weekend for owner Jean-Claude Seroul and trainer Jerome Reynier, while their younger stable-mate Elusive Foot (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) brought up a memorable treble in the Quinté. These followed Saturday's listed Derby du Medoc victory for the same owner/trainer combination with Paco (Ire) (Paco Boy {Ire}).

On board the G1 Prix Ganay winner Skalleti and Paco was Gerald Mosse, now back in his native France following a bit of a European tour in recent seasons. Mosse is 54, the same age as this season's 2000 Guineas-winning jockey Kevin Manning, and he rode his first Group 1 winner when the 35-year-old Reynier was a toddler.

The combination of youth and experience has proved a fruitful one as Mosse also rode Reynier's listed Grand Prix du Bordeaux winner Monty (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) on Saturday. The pair also combined for one of the trainer's early major wins when Royal Julius (Ire) (Royal Applause {GB}) landed Italy's G2 Premio President della Repubblica.

It's safe to say that Skalleti has now stolen the title of stable star from Royal Julius, becoming the first Group 1 winner for his trainer, his sire Kendargent, and for Seroul. The latter, now in his 80s and a prolific owner/breeder in France over many years, bred his other three weekend stakes winners but not Skalleti, who was bred by Guy Pariente, owner of both Kendargent and Skalleti's listed-winning dam Skallet (Fr). The 13-year-old mare is a daughter of the well-bred former Haras des Faunes resident Muhaymin, by A.P. Indy out of the 1000 Guineas winner Shadayid (Shadeed).

Skallet's offspring have been dominating ParisLongchamp this season. Not only has Skalleti won the G2 Prix d'Harcourt as well as the Ganay, the previous weekend his full-brother, the up-and-coming stayer Skazino (Fr), won the G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier following his easy success in the G3 Prix de Barbeville in early May. Then there's the 7-year-old Skalleto (Fr), not quite as talented as his illustrious siblings but listed-placed nonetheless and winner of a handicap at the track on May 16. The mare has so far produced four foals, all by Kendargent, the youngest of which is the unraced 2-year-old gelding Skalli (Fr), and she is now back in foal to the 18-year-old stallion.

Reynier has done his bit to boost the profile of the southern French training centre of Calas, near Marseille, and he is proving something of a dab hand at nurturing the careers of his horses through to maturity. Six is clearly not old for a horse–it just seems so in an increasingly precocity-obsessed industry.

Skalleti, and his fellow 6-year-olds Marianafoot and Monty, have won 23 races between them and counting. As a gelding, Skalleti can race on unhindered by concerns of a stud career while his mind and body allows. Reynier has already stated that his long-term aim for this season is a return to Ascot for the G1 QIPCO Champion S., in which he was second last year. Skalleti only needs another seven wins to equal a former wonder of the French ranks, Cirrus Des Aigles (Fr) (Even Top {GB}), who won the Champion S. 10 years ago and returned to Ascot in three successive years to finish runner-up twice.

We look forward to welcoming Skalleti back for years to come, and we can expect to hear plenty more about his trainer. From 12 runners last week, Reynier saddled seven winners and he now lies in third place in the French trainers' table behind those multiple champions Jean-Claude Rouget and Andre Fabre.

Anything Euchen Do

On the subject of equine golden oldies, there are few more admirable horses in training than William Johnstone's homebred Euchen Glen (GB) (Authorized {Ire}), who sprang something of a surprise when winning the G3 Coral Brigadier Gerard S., run in memory of the late Joe Mercer, as the 20/1 outsider of four.

Granted, the soft ground at Sandown played to his strengths, but there's plenty to love about the Jim Goldie-trained 8-year-old, who was recording his 11th win from 37 starts after having the best part of two years off the track with a tendon injury after winning the John Smith's Cup in July 2018. His impressive list of wins includes last year's G3 St Simon S in heavy ground and G3 Cumberland Lodge S. on soft. Even more impressive is that his victories have come from 1m2f at almost every distance up to 2m, the latter being his win in the Shergar Cup Stayers.

Sandown's Brigadier Gerard meeting is arguably the best evening fixture of the year in Britain, and this year the two group races on the card were plundered by Scottish and Irish raiders. Jim Goldie took the Brigadier Gerard trophy back to Renfrewshire and Henry de Bromhead proved that he's far more than just an excellent National Hunt trainer, by sending the 4-year-old Lismore (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) to land the G3 Coral Henry S.

The statuesque filly, who races for her breeders Sonia and Anthony Rogers, would certainly not look out of place in a field of smart jumping mares, but she may well now be aimed at following the example of fellow Irish-trained Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) later in the season with a raid on the G1 Prix du Cadran on Arc weekend. In a year in which her trainer has captured the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and Grand National, we should perhaps expect nothing less than to see him adding a Group 1 victory on the Flat to his outstanding record.

Golden Moment

The one other stakes race at Sandown's Thursday meeting provided a special first for the team behind the 2000 Guineas winner Galileo Gold (Ire). It was actually a second first, as Ebro River (Ire), winner of the listed National S., had already become his sire's first winner on May 15 for Galileo Gold's former trainer Hugo Palmer and owner Al Shaqab Racing. Extra lustre was provided by the fact that he was bred by Tally-Ho Stud, where Galileo Gold stands.

His stud-mate Cotai Glory (GB) is ahead of Galileo Gold in the table with eight individual winners, and Ardad (Ire) is further clear still on nine. But Galileo Gold is the first of the freshman sires to notch a stakes winner and Ebro River looks likely to head next to the G2 Coventry S.

The chestnut colt is out of the Balmont mare Soft Power (Ire), a half-sister to the dam of top sprinter Slade Power (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}), and the 10-year-old mare is now back in foal to Galileo Gold at Tally-Ho Stud.

Barbe Goes Back For Black

In a week in which the first anniversary of the death of George Floyd was widely marked around the world, Black Lives Matter (Fr) (Panis) was an appropriately named winner of the opening 2-year-old maiden on Sunday's ParisLongchamp card.

The colt, who was bred by Frederic and Christine Ehlinger, went through the Arqana Autumn Sale in the draft of Haras des Faunes, where his sire stands. His buyer, at €7,500 was bloodstock agent Patrick Barbe, who had previously owned and bred his dam Magic Potion (Fr). Barbe also had a close connection to the mare's sire Divine Light (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), whom he had been responsible for importing to France from Japan, and who made his mark as the sire of 1000 Guineas winner Natagora (Fr).

“We had the grandam and the dam,” Barbe recalled. “I originally bought into this family because the third dam was Magic Night (Fr), a champion filly in the 80s. She was second in the Arc and the Japan Cup and won the Vermeille.”

He continued, “This colt was named Blackmagic to begin with but we didn't like the name so we thought Black Lives Matter was a better one and we changed it in December. Gradually he'll be aimed at a listed race and then hopefully a Group 3. We'll see. So far, so good.”

Barbe added, “I am also a great fan of Panis, who has covered very few mares recently. I love Panis because I used to love his sire Miswaki, who is the broodmare sire of Galileo (Ire).”

Magic Potion, whom Barbe bred in partnership with Jean-Paul Marchand, was second in the listed Prix la Flèche at two, produced three foals for the partners before she was sold to the Ehlingers in December 2015. Her second foal, Magic Song (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}), was a five-time winner in France, while the third, Shadow Noel (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), was exported to Japan, where she won four times.

Barbe has long had strong links with Japan and the connection continues through Black Lives Matter's trainer the Chantilly-based Satoshi Kobayashi. The former assistant to Mikel Delzanges and John Hammond had celebrated his first Classic victory the previous weekend in the G2 Derby Italiano with Tokyo Gold (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) for owner/breeder Teruya Yoshida.

Gold Medal Standard

The stallion in demand at Arqana's Breeze-up in Doncaster last Friday was Darley America's Medaglia d'Oro, whose three colts in the sale were among the eight leading lots on the day and returned an average price of £438,333.

They included the £675,000 sale-topper and most expensive breezer in Europe this season, who was sold to Godolphin and will join the stable of Andre Fabre. The French maestro has previously enjoyed success with Medaglia d'Oro's striking Breeders' Cup Turf-winning son Talismanic (GB), who is now at stud for Darley in Japan.

American sires have generally fared well at the European breeze-up sales, and Medaglia d'Oro has previously been responsible for the Brown Island Stables graduate Mshawish, who was picked up by Johnny Collins and Chad Schumer for $10,000at the Keeneland September Sale and sold at Arqana's 2012 breeze-up for €170,000. He went on to listed success in France before becoming a dual Grade 1 winner for Al Shaqab in Florida. Now at Taylor Made Farm, Mshawish was represented by his first stakes winner on Saturday when Sainthood landed the GII Pennine Ridge S. at Belmont Park.

The post The Weekly Wrap: Reynier Rules appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Weekly Wrap: Classics, Classics Everywhere

It seems harsh, when the British and Irish Classics have so far have been split two apiece between Jim Bolger and Aidan O'Brien, to suggest that this season is all about Bolger. But, let's face it, it is.

Plenty has been written about Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) and Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) and the fact that both sides of their families are very much ingrained in the Bolger breeding and training academy. What is equally admirable, especially in the case of Mac Swiney, is the fact that they are being rigorously campaigned. The trainer has already confirmed that the Irish 2000 Guineas winner is now on course for Epsom in an attempt to emulate both his sire and grandsire in the race that many people still consider to be the greatest of them all. Surprisingly, the master breeder Jim Bolger is not one of them.

Following Poetic Flare's triumph at Newmarket, Bolger declared that he believed the 2000 Guineas to be the most important race. That said, he surely will not mind if Mac Swiney delivers a second Derby victory for him, 13 years after New Approach became the first of six Derby winners for Galileo.

It is worth rewatching Galileo's own Derby triumph 20 years ago to be reminded how the relatively small horse with the massive stride skated round Tattenham Corner and scooted clear in the straight.

In an interview with TDN earlier this year, Aidan O'Brien reflected on the racing days of Europe's multiple champion sire, who gave him his first Derby victory, recalling how those connected with Galileo at Coolmore had a high opinion of him even as a yearling.

“He didn't walk, he prowled, ” O'Brien said. “His walking stride was so long and there was so much power from his front and back, so I suppose the lads had him as a king before he came here.”

He has more than justified that belief, both on the racecourse and at stud, and Galileo has in no small way played a significant part in the training careers of both Bolger and his protege O'Brien.

The latter has eight of the remaining Derby entries, Bolger has just one, Mac Swiney, the horse who could become the first Derby winner to be inbred to Galileo, through Bolger's two champion juveniles New Approach and Teofilo (Ire). Furthermore, as breeder, Bolger has another roll of the dice via the Mark Johnston-trained Gear Up (Ire), a son of Teofilo.

For all his success, which includes wins in the G2 Beresford S., G1 Vertem Futurity and now the Irish 2000 Guineas, the mud-loving Mac Swiney has never started favourite and remains perhaps under-rated. Following the coldest, wettest English May in living memory, it would be folly to overlook the neat, tenacious colt at Epsom on the first Saturday of June. Destiny calls.

Gold For Japan In Rome

Chantilly-based Satoshi Kobayashi has had seven winners in France so far this year but it was in Italy on Sunday that he recorded the biggest success of his career to date. The trainer sent the Teruya Yoshida homebred Tokyo Gold (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) to Capannelle for an easy four-length victory in 138th running of the Derby Italiano, which was downgraded to Group 2 status in 2009.

Tokyo Gold is the first Classic winner for his sire Kendargent, and his third group winner this year after the likeable Skalleti (Fr) and his full-brother Skazino (Fr). The latter claimed his second group victory of the season when winning the G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier at ParisLongchamp on Monday.

Now 18, Kendargent is having a fruitful season in France and is numerically the most successful sire with 38 winners as well as the Nicolas Caullery-trained Kennella (Fr), who was third in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. The Haras de Colleville stallion's reputation is also being enhanced by his son and stablemate Goken (Fr), who was leading first-season sire and leading sire of 2-year-olds in France last year, with 15 winners from just 33 runners, including the group winners Go Athletico (Fr) and Livachope (Fr).

Yoshida, owner of Japan's famous Shadai Farm, has a notably international outlook when it comes to selecting broodmares, and his support extends to to a number of leading French sires, including Le Havre (Ire) who is the sire of the latest foal for Arc winner Dandedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}). The 13-year-old mare foaled a filly by the Sumbe stallion last Wednesday in Japan.

Yoshida also bought Le Havre's Classic-winning daughters La Cressonniere (Fr) and Avenir Certain (Fr). The latter has been represented by two winners this season in her two daughters by Deep Impact (Jpn), the G2 Hanshin Himba S winner Dea Ailes (Jpn), and 3-year-old Honneur (Jpn), who are sadly her only offspring as she died after being covered by Deep Impact in 2018.

La Cressonniere visited Shalaa (Ire) and Golden Horn (GB) in Europe and is now in Japan, where she had a colt last year by Epiphaneia (Jpn) before being covered by his fellow Shadai stallion Lord Kanaloa (Jpn).

Carvalho Has Classic Double In Sight

It has been a successful couple of days for the French-born, German-based trainer Jean-Pierre Carvalho, who won Monday's G2 Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen (German 2000 Guineas) with Mythico (Ger), another promising 3-year-old for the recently deceased Adlerflug (Ger).

On Sunday, Carvalho, a former private trainer at Gestut Schlenderhan, saddled Sea Of Sands (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) to win the G3 Derby Trial at Hoppegarten for owner/breeder Gestut Hony-Hof, an operation we will be covering in greater detail in Wednesday's TDN.

Sea Of Sands represents a family which has had an enormous impact on the German Classics over the last two decades. His grandam Salve Regina (Ger) (Monsun Ger) won the G1 Preis der Diana for Hony-Hof's owner Manfred Hellwig and was second in the G1 Deutsches Derby in 2002, two years after her full-brother Samum (Ger) had won the Derby at Hamburg. In 2005, another full-brother Schiaparelli (Ger) followed suit, and three years later Samum's son Kamsin (Ger) won the Derby en route to becoming German champion 3-year-old. The run continued with the 2014 winner, Sea The Moon (Ger), a son of Sea The Stars and the unraced Sanwa (Ger), another full-sibling to Salve Regina. Now a successful sire in his own right at Lanwades Stud, Sea The Moon is thus very similarly bred to Sea Of Sands, who is now co-favourite for this year's Deutsches Derby on July 4.

Second-Crop Sires To Watch

For the current second-crop sires, what happens this year on the racecourse is arguably so much more important than the results from their first 2-year-old runners.

Mehmas (Ire), who made a frankly staggering start to his stud career last year with a record 56 winners, looks to be making that important transition with his 3-year-olds and is also compiling an international profile. The Tally-Ho Stud resident has so far had only four runners in America but three of them have won, including the treble Grade III victrix and appropriately named Going Global (Ire), who has now won all four of her American starts.

The G3 One Thousand Guineas Trial winner Keeper Of Time (Ire) has recently been sold to race in America and will surely add to her good record across the Atlantic, as has been the case for Tetragonal (Ire), a first-time-out winner for Hugo Palmer last year who won for Richard Baltas on Saturday at Santa Anita on the same card as Going Global.

One second-crop European sire we've heard much less about is Protectionist (Ger), but that may soon change. For a start, he is the only one in the table who boasts a strike rate of 11% group winners to runners. The final son of Monsun (Ger) at stud in Germany, Protectionist has large shoes to fill but, from only 18 starters this year, he has been represented by two group winners. The first, Lambo (Ger), won the G3 Bavarian Classic on May 1, beating subsequent G2 Derby Trial winner Sea Of Sands, before finishing third in Monday's G2 Prix Hocquart at ParisLongchamp.

Protectionist also looks to have a genuine contender for the G1 Preis der Diana on Aug. 1 in Amazing Grace (Ger), winner of Sunday's G2 Diana Trial for owner/breeder Dr Christoph Berglar, who also bred her sire. His son Liban, a winner at Cologne in April, also holds a Derby entry.

The winner of the G1 Melbourne Cup and G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin, Protectionist, in common with most German sires, has covered relatively small books and had 44 foals in his first crop, followed by 36 in 2019. However, he has the advantage of standing at Gestut Rottgen, which has supported him with members of its own powerful broodmare band, including Wellenspiel (Ger) (Sternkoenig {Ger}), the dam of consecutive Deutsches Derby winners Windstoss (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}) and Weltstar (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}). Furthermore, Protectionist's owners Australian Bloodstock have not only supported him with mares but have also bought his yearlings in Germany, and Lambo now races in their colours.

Two of Protectionist's offspring, a filly from his first and second crops respectively, have already been exported to Australia and it is fair to expect that more will follow.

In the meantime, Protectionist is very much a stallion to follow with interest in Europe.

Hello Royal Ascot

It seems as if almost every British race meeting has at least one Amo Racing runner these days, and Kia Joorabchian's operation looks set to be well represented at Royal Ascot.

The latest to have advertised strong claims for a trip to the Berkshire course in mid-June was Monday's impressive Wolverhampton winner Hello You (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who trounced her rivals by six and a half lengths in one of the most impressive juvenile performances of the season to date. Trained by Ralph Beckett, she was a €350,000 purchase by Robson Aguiar at last year's Arqana Select Sale from her breeder Serge Boucheron.

Hello You's win on debut brought up 18 for the season for Amo Racing, which equalled their tally of winners for the whole of 2020. This followed victories on Saturday for Raadobarg (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), who completed a treble at Haydock, and Beautiful Sunshine (GB) (Ardad {Ire}), who struck for the second time at Sandown on Thursday and is likely to return there this week for the listed National S.

The post The Weekly Wrap: Classics, Classics Everywhere appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Weekly Wrap: Coming Of Age

In February, the inevitable announcement came that Pivotal (GB) was to be pensioned at Cheveley Park Stud at the age of 28. David and Patricia Thompson's homebred son of Polar Falcon has been one of the great British breeding stories of the last few decades and the sturdy chestnut has been a great friend to small and major breeders alike through his magnificent stud innings.

As he continues his retirement, so does his legacy gain momentum. A few months before Pivotal was retired, his son Siyouni (Fr) had been crowned champion sire in his native France for the first time. The Aga Khan Studs stallion had only missed out on earning that title in the two previous seasons to Galileo (Ire) and Nathaniel (Ire), respectively the sires of the high-earning Arc winners Waldgeist (GB) and Enable (GB) in those two years. Then Siyouni got his own Arc winner, Sottsass (Fr), augmenting a profile which already had a properly classy look to it.

In each of the last four seasons, Siyouni has been responsible for a French Classic winner. His first-crop daughter Ervedya (Fr) had actually got the ball rolling in 2015, winning the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches for her and her sire's breeder the Aga Khan. A little gap ensued, but Le Brivido (Fr) was soon knocking on the door, and was only a short-head away from claiming the Poule d'Essai des Poulains two years later when being so narrowly beaten by Brametot (Ire).

Then came Laurens (Fr) to claim the Prix de Diane as one of her six Group 1 victories in France, Britain and Ireland, starting a Classic run which was continued by Sottsass in the Prix du Jockey Club of 2019, Dream And Do (Fr) in last year's Poule d'Essai des Pouliches before the 2020 European champion 2-year-old St Mark's Basilica (Fr) made good on his juvenile promise to land the Poulains for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore team.

Of course Siyouni can't take all the credit here, as St Mark's Basilica's Group 3-winning dam Cabaret (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has already shown herself to be a producer par excellence for Australian breeder Bob Scarborough via her son Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), winner of the 2000 Guineas in 2019. This repeats the cross seen to good effect in Sottsass, who is out of arguably the most celebrated active broodmare in France, Starlet's Sister (Ire).

Doubling up on Danzig has done no harm in the case of Laurens and Dream And Do, while Siyouni's other top-level winner, the GI EP Taylor S. victrix Etoile (Fr), is out of a mare by Authorized (Ire) and is, like Laurens, inbred 4×4 to Danzig. A similar cross to this is found in the Siyouni 2-year-old Kaltham (Fr), a daughter of dual Arc winner Treve (Fr), who is by another Derby-winning son of Montjeu (Ire) in Motivator (GB).

Like Pivotal before him, Siyouni started out at stud standing for a relatively small fee of €7,000, which has gradually climbed to €140,000, making him the most expensive stallion in France, just as his own sire was in Britain when Pivotal's covering price climbed to £85,000 in 2007 and 2008. In both cases, lofty reputations look to be well earned.

Spanish Super Sub

For Basque-born jockey Ioritz Mendizabal, the Covid-19 pandemic has been both a blessing and a curse. Last July, when travel restrictions meant that neither David Egan nor Frankie Dettori could make the trip to Chantilly, he won his first Classic aboard Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club for Britain's champion trainer John Gosden.

Mendizabal's good season continued when he rode Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) to victory in the G1 Prix Jean Romanet for James Fanshawe, but he was then prevented from travelling to Keeneland to ride her in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf after testing positive for Covid. The now-suspended Pierre-Charles Boudot picked up the winning ride on Audarya in America, but fortune swung back in Mendizabal's favour when Ireland's champion Aidan O'Brien came calling on Friday for him to take the ride on St Mark's Basilica.

“Winning the Guineas is fantastic,” the jockey told Jour de Galop. “But you cannot know the emotion of even having your name in the same line in the race card as Aidan O'Brien. He is the best trainer in the world. I knew I was going to ride St Mark's Basilica on Friday at 2pm and it was extremely satisfying that Aidan O'Brien called on me.”

Wow Takes A Bow

In his short racing career, The Wow Signal (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), an early star of the now-defunct Ascot Breeze-up Sale, went from winning an Ayr maiden to success in the G2 Coventry S. and G1 Darley Prix Morny, to finishing last in the G1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and then out.

His stud career was similarly short-lived. From covering 40 mares at Haras de Bouquetot in 2017 and 12 the following season, The Wow Signal's poor fertility meant that he had only 15 registered foals in France before he died from laminitis in the spring of 2018.

From a family which includes Shadwell's Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner Ta Rib (Mr Prospector), The Wow Signal now has his own posthumous winner of that same race despite his seriously limited opportunities. Coeursamba (Fr) was bred by three members of the Mestrallet family, including Julie Mestrallet, who consigns at the French sales under the name of her Haras de l'Aumonerie. She owns only two broodmares, with the Quesnay-bred Marechale (Fr) (Anabaa), the dam of Coeursamba, being the first bought by Mestrallet from a claiming race in the French provinces.

When The Wow Signal won the Coventry he was following something of a Royal Ascot tradition for his sireline. His sire Starspangledbanner won the G1 Golden Jubilee S. on his second start for Aidan O'Brien after moving from the Australian stable of Leon Corstens, and in turn his father Choisir (Aus) had been the poster boy that opened the floodgates for Australian sprinters heading to the Royal meeting, having won both the King's Stand and the Golden Jubilee back in 2003.

Starspangledbanner was also famously subfertile in his early years at stud but a combination of patience and good management has seen him continue his stallion career while remaining popular with commercial breeders.

He too was represented among the stakes winners over the weekend when the Fozzy Stack-trained juvenile Hermana Estrella (Ire) landed the G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies' Sprint S. on debut, with the horses in behind her including favourite Contarelli Chapel (Ire) (Caravaggio), who had earned a TDN Rising Star for her own impressive debut success three weeks earlier.

Bred by Mark and Aisling Gittins at Castlefarm Stud from The Last Sister (Ire), a daughter of the Gittins family's G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Lord Shanakill, Hermana Estrella had been sold as a foal for just 2,500gns. She transpired to be a profitable pinhook for Timmy Hillman of Castledillon Stud, who resold her as a yearling for £42,000 to her trainer and Hubie de Burgh at last year's relocated Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.

The family has worked well with that sireline in the past as The Last Sister's half-sister Lady Springbank (Ire) is a dual Group 3-winning daughter of Choisir. Hermana Estrella may now be given her own chance at Royal Ascot in the G3 Albany S.

Snowfall On The Knavesmire

We usually expect to see something special at York in the spring and indeed both formal Classic trials threw up decent winners. Galileo was the broodmare sire of yet another European Classic winner at ParisLongchamp on Sunday and he could yet chalk up further success in this realm in the coming weeks with Snowfall (Jpn), who was highly impressive in winning the G3 Tattersalls Musidora S. Like Saxon Warrior (Jpn) before her, she is bred on the Deep Impact (Jpn)-Galileo cross. Her mother fell somewhat short of her lofty name of Best In The World (Ire), and in fact she herself finished last in the Musidora in 2016. She did, however, later collect the G3 Give Thanks S. As a full-sister to Arc winner Found (Ire) and a daughter of Group 1 winner Red Evie (Ire) (Intikhab), Best In The World of course had plenty to recommend her, and her first foal is now second-favourite behind stablemate Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) for the Cazoo Oaks.

The Dante meeting also proved to be a highly successful one for trainer Ed Walker, who has a crack sprinter on his hands in Starman (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}). The 4-year-old is still lightly raced and has been beaten just once in his five starts for owner/breeder David Ward, who bought his dam Northern Star (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale for €50,000 through Ed Sackville. She won just once but has already produced two stakes performers with her first two foals. Sadly, the mare died after producing a Kingman (GB) filly, named Lodestar (GB), in 2018.

Northern Star's first foal, Sunday Star (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), is a dual winner with multiple stakes placings, including finishing third in the G3 Summer Fillies' S. at York last season. Starman is smarter still and now has two Group 1 sprint entries at Royal Ascot.

Sackville also did Ward a favour when selecting Primo Bacio (Ire) at Tattersalls October Book 1 two years ago from her breeder Kildaragh Stud. A winner last December on her fourth start for Walker, the daughter of Awtaad (Ire) has taken major strides forward in her 3-year-old season and, following a first-up fourth in the G3 Fred Darling S., she now has bold black type thanks to her three-length win in the Oaks Farm Stables Fillies' S., which is run in memory of the late racing journalist Michael Seely.

Primo Bacio's victory not only completed a double for Walker and Ward, but also initiated a stakes double last week for her Derrinstown Stud-based sire Awtaad. Both she and the Sir Edmund Loder homebred Bellosa (Ire), who won the listed Betway King Charles S. at Newmarket on Saturday, are members of the Irish 2000 Guineas winner's first crop, as is last season's Leopardstown winner Ebeko (Ire). The latter was subsequently exported to California, where she won the listed Zuma Beach S. for trainer Peter Miller.

Rising Stars Of The Stud Ranks

There has been plenty of activity in the European first-season sires' table over the last week. Overbury Stud's Ardad (Ire) doubled his tally of winners to eight, with Beautiful Sunshine (GB) and Superior Force (GB) among those to have added to the impressive run for the partnership of trainer George Boughey with Amo Racing and breeze-up consignor/pre-trainer Robson Aguiar.

The National Stud duo of Aclaim (Ire) and Time Test (GB) both got off the mark on Saturday, with Aclaim's first winner, Cachet (Ire), another breeze-up graduate trained by Boughey, being awarded a TDN Rising Star for her Rowley Mile debut.

Galileo Gold's first winner, Ebro River (Ire), struck at Doncaster on Saturday and, appropriately, the colt is trained by Galileo Gold's former trainer Hugo Palmer in the colours of his former owner Al Shaqab Racing, and was bred by Tally-Ho Stud, where the 2000 Guineas winner now stands.

Ribchester (Ire) was another freshman to be represented by a TDN Rising Star in the last week in the form of Gisburn (Ire), the facile winner of a Newbury maiden on Friday for Richard Hannon and owners Michael Kerr-Dineen and Martin Hughes. He is likely to head next to the Coventry S.

Meanwhile at the head of the table presently on progeny earnings is Ribchester's fellow Darley sire Profitable (Ire). His four winners include the Gavin Cromwell-trained Quick Suzy (Ire), who was runner-up to the aforementioned Hermana Estrella in the Group 3 at Naas on Sunday. Events at Royal Ascot will surely bring further clues as to the prowess of the latest crop of young stallions.

The post The Weekly Wrap: Coming Of Age appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Weekly Wrap: Trials And Tribulation

Is the Derby picture clearer or murkier after the last week? We probably can't say for sure until after Thursday's Dante S., which may or may not feature Ballydoyle's erstwhile favoured one High Definition (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

At the moment, of those currently at 20/1 or shorter in the betting, there's certainly the potential for there to be a good story attached to the winner and, let's face it, the great old race in its first year of Cazoo sponsorship, certainly could do with that.

Who wouldn't love to see the Derby trophy return to Kingsclere 50 years after the great Mill Reef swept from Epsom glory to the Eclipse, the King George & Queen Elizabeth and on to the Arc? Youth Spirit (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) hasn't shown himself to be of Mill Reef's calibre yet but he cornered nicely at Chester to land the Vase, seeing out the extended 1m4f well despite his relatively sprint-orientated bottom line. He doesn't look terribly big, but then neither was Mill Reef.

The same can be said for Third Realm (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who sealed a good week for Roger Varian and his owner/breeder Sheikh Mohammed Obaid when freewheeling down the hill at Lingfield to overthrow the Godolphin favourite Adayar (GB) (Frankel {GB}). It was also a good day for Third Realm's dam Reem Three (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}), who is compiling quite the record at stud, with the Lingfield Derby Trial winner becoming her fifth black-type performer. Another of them, Cape Byron (GB) (Shamardal), landed a competitive sprint at Haydock on Saturday at the age of seven, having also won last year's G3 Bengough S. for the Varian team.

While Third Realm looks to be on course for Epsom, the trainer's El Drama (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), bought as a yearling for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid for 425,000gns, is more likely to head to the Prix du Jockey Club following his win in the listed Dee S. at Chester.

Varian also saddled the runner-up in the Lingfield Oaks Trial, Save A Forest (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), for the Gredley family, but his big market mover for the Cazoo Oaks last week was the twice-raced Teona (Ire), who was last seen winning a Newcastle maiden in November. Despite the margin of that victory being nine lengths, the Ali Saeed-owned filly must be tearing up the gallops to have been cut to around 5/1 for Epsom even before she steps out for her formal trial in Wednesday's Tattersalls Musidora S. Not only does she have the Derby winners Sea The Stars (Ire) and Authorized (Ire) as her sire and broodmare sire respectively, Teona comes from a family which has already brought her trainer Group 1 success. Her dam Ambivalent (Ire) won the G1 Pretty Polly S. as well as being third to Cirrus Des Aigles (Fr) in the Coronation Cup at Epsom.

Following some lacklustre performances by Ballydoyle representatives in various trials, normal order was restored somewhat at Leopardstown on Sunday, where Aidan O'Brien claimed a record 14th victory in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial. Following the route utilised for his first two Derby winners, the trainer opted for the Ballysax S./Derrinstown trial double for Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) and, emulating his sire Galileo (Ire) in victory, the dark brown colt shot into clear Derby favouritism as quickly as he accelerated away from his rivals off the home turn at Leopardstown.

He has every right to be at the head of the market following that imperious display but it's worth remembering that O'Brien's three Derby winners in the last four years have been sent of at odds of 40/1, 13/2 and 25/1, and on each occasion he has had at least six runners in the race. There is, then, arguably a case to be made for Urban Sea's female-line descendant Sir Lamorak (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who could be seen at York on Thursday.

There's almost no getting away from Urban Sea when it comes to the Classics, and fans of inbreeding to superior mares will appreciate the appearance of Galileo and his fellow Derby winner and half-brother Sea The Stars in the pedigree of the facile winner of the Newmarket S., Mohaafeth (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), making him inbred 3×3 to the bluest of blue hens. He would also be a poignant, posthumous winner for Sheikh Hamdan.

Thrilling Continuity

One mare quickly propelling herself into that rarefied territory with the help of Urban Sea's son Galileo is You'resothrilling (Storm Cat). The sister to Giant's Causeway was not Urban Sea's equal on the racecourse but she was no slouch, winning the G2 Cherry Hinton S. and G3 Swordlestown Stud Sprint S. as a juvenile. On Sunday, she extended the record of her black-type-winning offspring to seven from seven when Joan Of Arc (Ire) became the latest in the G3 Irish 1,000 Guineas Trial and is now likely to attempt to emulate her sister Marvellous (Ire) by winning the Irish 1000 Guineas.

The 16-year-old You'resothrilling has been mated exclusively with Galileo, but if it ain't broke there's no point trying to fix it. Gleneagles (Ire) followed the mare's first foal, Happily, to become a Classic winner, winning the English and Irish versions of the 2000 Guineas as well as the G1 St James's Palace S. He too has enjoyed a good run of late via his offspring and currently boasts a 33% strike-rate of winners to runners.

Late developer Insinuendo (Ire) landed the G3 Blue Wind S. for Willie McCreery on only her third start on Saturday, while 3-year-old Eaglefield (Ire) made two quick back-to-back appearances at Gowran Park on Wednesday followed by Leopardstown on Sunday, where he held on for the win for the in-form Jim Bolger stable. So far in May, Gleneagles has also been represented by the listed winner Too Soon To Panic (Ire) as well as the smart G2 Prix Greffulhe winner Baby Rider (Fr).

Classic Sires

In the year that Dawn Approach (Ire) moved back to stand at the stud where he was born, he is another former 2000 Guineas winner enjoying something of a purple patch. Of course his own Guineas winner Poetic Flare (Ire) has been the highlight and was one of seven winners from just 12 runners in Britain for the stallion in the last fortnight. During that same period in Ireland, he has added the listed winner Lunar Space (Ire) to his record, along with 3-year-old maiden winner Texas Moon (Ire) and juvenile scorer Strapped (Ire).

The 2014 Derby winner Australia (GB) has been enjoying a similarly good run. Mare Australis (Ire), Broome (Ire) and Sir Ron Priestley (GB) combined for a group-race treble on the first weekend of May, while Freedom Of Speech (Ire) was another winning 2-year-old from the Bolger stable last week.

Sir Ron Priestley is set to make a swift return at York on Friday and is currently favourite for the G2 Yorkshire Cup. A burly horse who is nevertheless light on his feet, he runs in the trailblazing fashion so typical of those from the Mark Johnston stable and it would be no surprise to see him post some bold opposition to Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), not to mention his own half-brother Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), in the top staying races this season.

Follow The Bear

Kodi Bear (Ire) was a smart miler in his day for Clive Cox and owner Olive Shaw and, now at Rathbarry Stud, he is starting to look a good value option for breeders at his current fee of €6,000. During a particularly fruitful spell he has been responsible for the listed-winning fillies Measure Of Magic (Ire) and Mystery Angel (Ire), while Sienna Bonnie (Ire) and Go Bears Go (Ire) have both been impressive winners from his second crop of juveniles in the past week.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the son of Kodiac (GB) has had some success when crossed with mares by his Rathbarry stud mate Acclamation (GB), and two of his three stakes winners to date are out of mares by Acclamation's sire Royal Applause (GB) and son Dark Angel (Ire).

That Dark Angel cross features in Mystery Angel, who heads to Wednesday's G3 Musidora S., and in A Pint Of Bear (Ire), who won for the third time on Monday.

It was also a notable weekend on the international stage for Germany's leading sire Soldier Hollow (GB). A rare foray to Britain for a German runner ended in victory for the Andreas Wohler-trained Axana (Ger) in the G3 Chartwell Fillies' S. at Lingfield. That same day, another daughter of Soldier Hollow, the 3-year-old Reine d'Amour, took the listed Henkel-Stutepreis at Dusseldorf, while on Sunday the veteran son of In The Wings (GB) featured as the broodmare sire of G1 NHK Mile winner Schnell Meister (Ger) (Kingman {GB}) in Japan. The 3-year-old colt is out of Gestut Wittenkindshof's G1 Preis der Diana winner Serienholde (Ger) and was bred by Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm. He joins recent stakes winners Waldkonig (GB) and Wirko (Ger) in being a son of Kingman from a German family replete with class and stamina.

Lanwades Goes Global

Lanwades Stud suffered the loss of Leroidesanimaux (Brz) and Archipenko in 2016 and 2017, but the lingering influence of both stallions has been felt recently, particularly in Australia.

On May 1, Wyclif (GB) (Archipenko) won the listed Port Adelaide Cup and that was followed by a stakes double for Leroidesanimaux down under when Le Don De Vie (GB) won the listed Warrnambool Cup on Thursday and Zaaki claimed the G2 Hollinsdale S. at the Gold Coast on Saturday. All three were bred at Lanwades by Kirsten Rausing.

The breeder has, however, enjoyed black-type success closer to home and in her own colours on consecutive weekends. The G1 Yorkshire Oaks runner-up Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) got her season off on a positive footing by winning the listed Daisy Warwick Fillies' S. at Goodwood, but she was trumped in some style on Saturday when Albaflora (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) stormed to a seven-length victory in the listed Buckhounds S. The greys are descendants respectively of the Group 1-winning Alzao full-sisters Albanova (GB) and Alborada (GB).

Albaflora was not the only winner for the family and Rausing on Saturday as her 3-year-old Ralph Beckett stable-mate Aleas (GB) (Archipenko) posted his third consecutive win at Haydock in just four starts, and by a similarly impressive margin.

We Must Do Better

The TDN team in New Jersey will keep us abreast of the saga of the latest failed drug test for a Bob Baffert runner. That it was Medina Spirit (Protonico) in America's biggest race of all, and a result which had provided a first major success for a significant new owner to the sport, not to mention the thrill of a lifetime for the horse's small breeder, only makes this story even sorrier.

Racing is in trouble all around the world, and every trainer, owner and breeder is beholden to maintain the highest standards of welfare at whatever level of the sport at which they participate, even if that means resting a horse rather than reaching for the corticosteroids to perform permitted veterinary procedures. In fact, especially so.

Without the horses, racing is nothing. If we continue to allow situations which appear to show horses being abused in the name of our entertainment, then we will have nothing, and that is all that we deserve.

Clutching at straws in the maelstrom of this latest bad-news incident for racing, the one positive aspect is the loyalty shown by Medina Spirit's owner Amr Zedan to the trainer in the aftermath of Sunday's revelations. He ended his verbal show of support for Baffert with the phlegmatic line, “This, too, shall pass.”

It not only shows a temperament which looks ideally suited to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune which racing can often throw at its participants, but a sense of loyalty which is all too often missing in the sport. Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be misplaced.

The post The Weekly Wrap: Trials And Tribulation appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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