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Belardo’s Isabella Giles Bounds To Rockfel Triumph

Paul and Clare Rooney’s Isabella Giles (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) registered a pair of six-furlong wins–at Leicester in June and at Newbury in July–but lost her unbeaten tag when fourth in Ascot’s July 26 G3 Princess Margaret S. before bouncing back to claim a first black-type score for her freshman sire (by Lope de Vega {Ire}) in Goodwood’s Aug. 29 G3 Prestige S. when upped to seven furlongs last time. Aided by a strong tailwind over the same distance in Friday’s G2 Shadwell Rockfel S. at Newmarket, the 11-5 chance continued on an upward trajectory with a decisive two-length defeat of Nazuna (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). Racing second after breaking on the lead, she regained control before halfway and kept on relentlessly under a drive once shaken up at the quarter-mile marker to double her stakes tally in game fashion. Nazuna threatened throughout the final quarter mile, but was unable to strike a late blow. She finished 3 1/4 lengths ahead of Alba Rose (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), while even-money favourite Monday (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) came under pressure far too early for comfort and was 5 1/2 lengths further back in a well-beaten fourth.

“She put up a very classy performance, she’s got a wonderful temperament, she settles into a lovely rhythm and can find her own way in a race,” said winning trainer Clive Cox. “She doesn’t have to lead, but is so relaxed that finding a rhythm and setting your own fractions worked perfectly. Adam [Kirby] got his fractions right and she made a good job of it. I think she is definitely a filly to get a mile next year, which is really exciting, and I’m delighted for Clare and Paul Rooney to have such an exciting possibility as a Classic contender. I’m over the moon.” Looking ahead to possible targets, Cox added, “She is very well balanced, she has won at the track and is a filly that has a little bit of scope. She’s got a wonderful mind and clearly a big level of ability. She is in the [G1] Fillies’ Mile [back at this venue], but she has done pretty good this year. She wouldn’t have blown a candle out there, but we will see how she comes back. It was a ‘Win and You’re In’ race for the Breeders’ Cup, but I’m not sure. Next year beckons over a mile, and I think we will be looking that way.”

Roger Varian, trainer of runner-up Nazuna, expressed delight with his charge and also revealed short-term options. He said, “She is a lovely filly and we were not here just to make up the numbers. I really like her and I’m delighted she has run up to our expectations. Andrea [Atzeni] thinks she will stay a mile and there are lots of nice options. There’s the [G3] Oh So Sharp back here in a couple of weeks or there is the [GI] Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, which is a race we were second in with Daahyeh last year after winning this.”

Isabella Giles, one of three scorers out of G3 Firth of Clyde S. victress Majestic Dubawi (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), is a half-sister to MSW G3 Goldene Peitsche and G3 Silberne Peitsche placegetter Majestic Colt (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}), a yearling colt by Nathaniel (Ire) and a weanling filly by Fascinating Rock (Ire). Descendants of her third dam South Shore (GB) (Caerleon), herself a winning half-sister to MG1SW sire Soviet Line (Ire) (Soviet Star), include MG1SP G3 Round Tower S. winner Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and G2 Vintage S. and G2 Oettingen-Rennen victor Dark Vision (Ire) (Dream Ahead).

Friday, Newmarket, Britain
SHADWELL ROCKFEL S.-G2, £80,000, Newmarket, 9-25, 2yo, f, 7fT, 1:22.55, gd.
1–ISABELLA GILES (IRE), 126, f, 2, by Belardo (Ire)
1st Dam: Majestic Dubawi (GB) (GSW-Eng), by Dubawi (Ire)
2nd Dam: Tidal Chorus (GB), by Singspiel (Ire)
3rd Dam: South Shore, by Caerleon
(€45,000 Ylg ’19 GOFSPT). O-Paul & Clare Rooney; B-Ballylinch Stud (IRE); T-Clive Cox; J-Adam Kirby. £45,368. Lifetime Record: 5-4-0-0, $96,759. *1/2 to Majestic Colt (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}), MSW & MGSP-Ger. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Nazuna (Ire), 126, f, 2, Kodiac (GB)–Night Fever (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). (60,000gns Ylg ’19 TATOCT). O-Mrs H Varian; B-Barouche Stud Ireland Ltd (IRE); T-Roger Varian. £17,200.
3–Alba Rose (GB), 126, f, 2, Muhaarar (GB)–Reckoning (Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire). (100,000gns Ylg ’19 TATOCT). O-Dr J Walker; B-Mascalls Stud (GB); T-Mark Johnston. £8,608.
Margins: 2, 3 1/4, 5HF. Odds: 2.20, 10.00, 10.00.
Also Ran: Monday, Santosha (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Ultra’s Half-Brother Debuts At Newmarket

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. Today’s Insights features a pair of siblings to young Group 1-winning sires.

1.15 Newmarket, Mdn, £8,000, 2yo, c/g, 8fT
QUINTILLUS (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) debuts for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby and is a half-brother to the operation’s G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere-winning sire Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}). Among his rivals is the similarly-unraced Sir Michael Stoute project Wahraan (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), Al Shaqab Racing’s homebred whose dam is a 1.5million gns full-sister to the G1 Epsom Oaks heroine Was (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

4.50 Newcastle, Novice, £5,300, 2yo f, 7f 14y (AWT)
BRUNNERA (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is the second foal out of the G1 Prix Jean Romanet winner Romantica (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who is herself a daughter of the brilliant Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill). Hugo Palmer has charge of Juddmonte’s regally-bred bay, who is one of a dozen runners on the Tapeta.

5.15 Dundalk, Mdn, €14,000, 2yo, f, 7f (AWT)
MEHNAH (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is a homebred half-sister to Shadwell’s G1 Irish 2000 Guineas-winning first-season sire Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) who also races for the Kevin Prendergast stable. The May-foaled bay faces some experienced rivals who set a decent standard in what could prove an informative maiden.

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Murphy’s Law At Newmarket On Friday

Newmarket’s Friday fixture is replete with black-type events and it is Oisin Murphy who holds the key to the featured G2 Shadwell Joel S. Having partnered the impressive 2019 winner Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), he hands that ride to Frankie Dettori this time as he helps prepare Qatar Racing’s G1 2000 Guineas winner Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) for the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. Kameko has by dint of fate and circumstance failed to make the places in three starts after his finest hour when taking that mile Classic on June 6 and he is back over the same course and distance here in a no-excuse exercise. “Benbatl is one of the highest-rated horses in the world and Kameko is a Classic winner who ran the fastest-ever Guineas, so it’s a mouthwatering prospect,” Murphy said. “It will be hard for Kameko with the penalty–we have to give Benbatl a pound–but there were limited options and he’s in super form and ready to run. I obviously love Benbatl. I only raced against him once and that was in the Juddmonte International when I won on Roaring Lion. I’ve ridden Benbatl in work recently as well and he’s also in super form.”

With two of Kameko’s subsequent defeats coming over further than 10 furlongs and his only other outing at this trip resulting in a luckless fourth in the G1 Sussex S. at Goodwood on July 29, his rider is happy that he is at the right distance. “He travelled very well in the Sussex and got into second place in the Juddmonte, having sat last, and then his run petered out at the line,” he explained. “Hopefully the ground continues to dry today–both he and Benbatl want top of the ground.”

Last year, Benbatl was winning this off a 10-month gap before finishing a tailed-off last in the QEII at Ascot but he proved in the spring that he retains all his ability and was last seen finishing third in the inaugural Saudi Cup on dirt at Riyadh on Feb. 29. Saeed bin Suroor said he wants the rain to stay away. “He did his last piece of work on the Watered Gallop here in Newmarket and he is doing really well,” he commented. “It is his first run in Europe since he went to Dubai and Saudi Arabia. We are looking for a good result from him. It’s a tough race, but he won it last year and it’s the right race for him. We don’t want the ground to be too soft–good ground would be good for him.”

This is no two-horse race, with Cheveley Park Stud’s talented but mercurial Regal Reality (GB) (Intello {Ger}), Saeed Manana’s Sept. 5 G3 Superior Mile winner Top Rank (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Khalid Abdullah’s July 31 G3 Thoroughbred S. scorer Tilsit (First Defence) also in contention.

Also on the card is the G2 Shadwell Rockfel S., where Ballydoyle’s Sept. 12 Listed Ingabelle S. winner Monday (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Paul and Clare Rooney’s seven-length Aug. 29 G3 Prestige S. scorer Isabella Giles (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) appear to be the main protagonists.

The G3 Princess Royal Muhaarar S. sees Kirsten Rausing’s Aug. 20 G1 Yorkshire Oaks runner-up Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) set the standard, but she faces some up-and-comers including Qatar Racing’s impressive Aug. 1 Listed Chalice S. winner Katara (Fr) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

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‘Footsteps’ Colt Leads Sportsman’s Opener

The Goffs Sportsman’s Yearling Sale got underway in its temporary new guise in Doncaster on Thursday, with a colt by Footstepsinthesand (GB) (lot 647) from Rockfield Farm topping trade with a bid of £50,000 from Kevin Ryan. He is the second foal out of the winning Danehill Dancer (Ire) mare Harpist (Ire) and his year-older full-brother Star Of Orion (Ire) won on debut at Newmarket in June for Ralph Beckett.

As was the case with the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale earlier this week and as will be the case with Goffs Orby next week, the Sportsman’s sale, typically staged in Kildare, was moved to Britain to maximize buyer attendance. A significant number of Irish-based vendors opted to withdraw their yearlings and instead offer them in the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale in November, and as such just 70% of the yearlings catalogued on Thursday (144) visited the ring, with 99 sold at the close of trade for a clearance rate of 69%. The aggregate was £1,369,000, the average £13,828 and the median £10,000.

There were a handful of notable buybacks during the session, headed by a Lope De Vega (Ire) filly (lot 596) who was led out unsold at £64,000. A Dark Angel (Ire) filly (lot 543) was bought back at £48,000, and the Divine Prophet (Aus) half-sister to Grade I winner River Boyne (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) (lot 560) was taken home at £50,000.

Leading first-crop sire Mehmas (Ire) was predictably popular, and he had a colt and a filly sell for £47,000 and £44,000, respectively. The colt (lot 570) was from Kilmoney Cottage Stud and is a half-sister to the French listed winner Just Sherry (Ire) (Intense Focus), their dam being a half-sister to the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 St James’s Palace S. winner Cockney Rebel (Ire) (Val Royal {Fr}). He was bought by BBA Ireland.

The Mehmas filly (lot 609) was from Grange Hill Stud and was scooped up by trainer Eddie Lynam. She is the third foal out of her dam Faddwa (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}), who is a half-sister to the listed-winning Heart Of Fire (Ire) (Mujadil). Her year-older full-brother Fools Rush In (Ire) is one of 32 winners for Mehmas thus far.

The Goffs Sportsman’s Sale continues with its second and final session from 10 a.m. on Friday.

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