Half to Pride of Dubai Debuts at Newcastle

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Friday’s Insights features a half-sister to Pride of Dubai (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}).

12.35 Newmarket, Novice, £8,000, 2yo, c/g, 7fT
ALANMAR (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) cost 800,000gns at the Tattersalls October Sale Book 1 and debuts for Shadwell and the William Haggas stable. The half-brother to the smart group winners Weary (Fr) (Astronomer Royal) and Nyaleti (Ire) (Arch) encounters Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum’s fellow newcomer Dubawi Sands (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a Roger Varian-trained half-brother to the G1 2000 Guineas hero Galileo Gold (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}).

 

6.45 Newcastle, Mdn, £5,300, 2yo, f, 8f 5y (AWT)
BINT AL ANOOD (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is a half-sister to the dual Group 1-winning first-season sire Pride of Dubai (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) who debuts for Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum and the John Gosden stable. In a maiden packed with intriguing prospects, Ali Saeed’s Teona (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) from the Roger Varian yard is a half-sister to Godolphin’s classy Al Hilalee (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) out of the G1 Pretty Polly S. heroine Ambivalent (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}).

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Arqana Mulling Alternative Options as French COVID Restrictions Tighten

Following the news that French President Emmanuel Macron is tightening COVID-19 restrictions, Arqana announced they are considering several options for their remaining 2020 sales. A decision on new sale dates and formats will be made early next week.

“We spoke with the local authorities this morning and received confirmation that the upcoming sales will have to follow a different organization from the one in place at the recent October Yearling Sale,” said Arqana CEO Eric Hoyeau. “Several alternative options remain on the table and we are working hard to review them and come up with a solution that would allow Arqana to serve its purpose which is to act as a marketplace for horses. We will be in a position to make a decision early next week following further discussion with local authorities.”

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Breeding Stock Numbers Fall Again In 2020

It’s not a new phenomenon for a Flat stallion to switch to a National Hunt stud and suddenly find himself in strong demand and that was certainly the case this year for Maxios (GB), who moved from Gestut Fahrhof to Castlehyde Stud, where he covered 298 mares.

Weatherbys, which has just published its annual Return Of Mares, records the son of Monsun (Ger) as the busiest stallion of 2020 in Britain and Ireland, while the most in-demand freshman sire was Crystal Ocean (GB), who covered 280 mares at The Beeches Stud.

The book also shows a decline in the combined foal crops of the two countries to be 5%, falling from 13,443 in 2019 to 12,778. Weatherbys does, however, issue the caveat that foal registrations have been carried out later by some breeders owing to “the unique challenges presented by Covid”, and that could lead to a higher number of foals being registered between the end of September and next February’s Return Of Mares Supplement.

The registered shortfall for now is more pronounced in Britain, where the number of foals dropped by 9% to 4,236, the steepest reduction since a 16% drop in 2010. The numbers rose steadily during the middle of the last decade, to a recent high of 4,674 in 2017. In Ireland, the foal crop was down by 2.8% year-on-year to 8,542, the third consecutive small reduction since 9,044 foals were registered in 2017.

Similarly, the number of mares at stud in Britain dropped and is now 8,161 compared to 9,015 just three years ago, with almost 86% of those mares having been covered in 2020. The reduction in broodmare numbers in Ireland has been more modest and currently stands at 14,201 compared to 14,434 in 2017, with 89% having been covered.

The number of recorded coverings in 2020 was also down—to 19,961 from 20,819 in 2017. Ireland lost 20 stallions from its ranks in 2020 and now has 232, while Britain’s tally was down by just three to 149.

The Return Of Mares can be bought from the Weatherbys offices at Tattersalls or Goffs during the sales and can also be ordered online via this link.

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G1SW Magic Wand Retired After Foot Abscess Rules Out Australian Start

Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}-Prudenzia {Ire}, by Dansili {GB}), a winner of the 2019 G1 Mackinnon S., has been retired from racing and will join Coolmore Stud’s broodmare band in Ireland next year, Coolmore Australia tweeted on Thursday morning. The 5-year-old was due to defend her title in the Mackinnon S., but was withdrawn with a foot abscess prior to the race.

“Following a foot abscess as she was preparing for a second tilt at the Mackinnon S., Magic Wand has been retired and will join our broodmare band in Ireland,” the stud tweeted. “She has been a wonderful mare for Coolmore and our partners and much loved by her strapper Yvonne.”

Bred by Ecurie des Monceaux and Skymarc Farm in Ireland, the daughter of French listed heroine Prudenzia brought €1.4 million to top the 2016 Arqana August Sale and join Aidan O’Brien’s string at Ballydoyle. A winner of the 2018 G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot and Listed Cheshire Oaks, the bay rolled a pair of twos in the G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille and G1 Prix de l’Opera Longines prior to running fourth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf to end her sophomore season.

Wheeled back in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. in January of 2019, she was second to subsequent U.S. Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar (Giant’s Causeway). Her busy 2019 also included stops in Dubai and the UK (twice), as well as two other trips Stateside for a third in the GI Man o’War S. in May and another second to Bricks and Mortar in August’s GI Arlington Million S. She also made two journeys to Ireland for seconds in the G1 Pretty Polly S. in the summer and later in September the G1 Irish Champion S.

Despite all the travel, Magic Wand appeared to thrive and was making her ninth start of the year when fourth in last October’s G1 Cox Plate. Unplaced in the 2019 G1 Melbourne Cup, she claimed the Mackinnon just four days later on Nov. 9 for a thoroughly deserved Group 1 victory. The Aidan O’Brien trainee then missed by just a nose in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup in December.

After another second in the Pegasus World Cup Turf on Jan. 25, Magic Wand was unplaced in the inaugural $20-million Saudi Cup on dirt in February. Given four months on the bench, she saluted in the G2 Lanwades Stud S. on July 5. In three more 2020 starts in the UK and Ireland, her best performance was a fourth in the G1 Coral-Eclipse S. in July. The world traveler’s record stands at 28-4-9-2 and $4,702,433 in earnings.

A half-sister to Irish highweight and G1 Irish Oaks victress Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) who made €600,000 at Arqana August in 2011 and later sold for €6 million at the 2013 Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale, Magic Wand is also a full-sister to the 4-year-old filly G3 Prix de Royaumont third Je Ne Regretterien (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), a €950,000 Arqana August yearling.

Her dam’s 2017 colt Enemy (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) brought €420,000 two years ago at Arqana, while her 2018 Dubawi (Ire) filly Philomene (Ire) made €1.625 million last year. Her latest, a full-brother to Magic Wand, was her best sale yet. The colt was picked up by Coolmores MV Magnier for €2 million to top this year’s sale, which was incidentally held in September due to COVID-19.

Prudenzia is a half-sister to Wednesday’s Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale topper English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}), who made 925,000gns and is en route to Australia, as well as GSW Pacifique (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). Under the blue-blooded fourth dam Souk (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}) are Irish highweight and G1 Epsom Oaks winner Alexandrova (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), G1 Melbourne Cup hero Rekindling (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}), G1 Cheveley Park S. scorer Magical Romance (Ire) (Barathea {Ire}), and the Classic-placed duo of Masterofthehorse (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) and Golden Sword (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}).

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