Tag: Top News Europe

Olympic Glory’s Shiffrin Dominates Prix de Conde Rivals

Haras d'Etreham's homebred Shiffrin (Ire) (Olympic Glory {Ire}–Scruples, by Pioneerof the Nile) followed up a pair of wins at Clairefontaine with a third on stakes bow in last month's Listed Criterium du Fonds Europeen de l'Elevage and stepped forward to notch a career best in Saturday's G3 Prix de Conde at Chantilly. In command after the initial strides, the 3-1 chance was last to come off the bridle in the straight and kept on strongly under a drive inside the final 300 metres to comfortably hold De Sica (Fr) (Demarchelier {GB}) by 1 1/2 lengths. Gold Index (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) finished a neck adrift in third.

“To win my first Group race here at Chantilly, I am almost speechless,” said trainer Nicolas Le Roch after registering a landmark success. “Thanks goes to my team at home and thanks also to Nicolas de Chambure. He is a super boss and I would not be here without him. We always loved this filly, even though she ran moderately first time out, but we kept the faith and all has gone well since. She did all we expected from her and all we had planned. She stays well, she had a great ride and she will come back for the [Oct. 22 G1] Criterium de Saint-Cloud.”

Pedigree Notes

Shiffrin, who becomes the ninth pattern-race winner for her sire, is the second of three foals and lone scorer out of Scruples (Pioneerof The Nile), herself an unraced half to G3 Gallinule S. victor Crossfirehurricane (Kitten's Joy) and Listed Patton S. victrix My Generation (Speightstown). The January-foaled bay's stakes-winning second dam Louvakhova (Maria's Mon), whose descendants include multiple stakes winner Jack And Noah (Fr) (Bated Breath {GB}), is a half-sister to GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Flotilla (Fr) (Mizzen Mast). Louvakhova is a daughter of G3 Prix Miesque winner Louvain (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}), herself a half-sister to G1 Haydock Sprint Cup hero G Force (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}). Scruples has a yearling filly by Belardo (Ire) to come.

Saturday, Chantilly, France
PRIX DE CONDE-G3, €80,000, Chantilly, 9-16, 2yo, 9fT, 1:54.80, g/s.
1–SHIFFRIN (IRE), 122, f, 2, by Olympic Glory (Ire)
1st Dam: Scruples, by Pioneerof The Nile
2nd Dam: Louvakhova, by Maria's Mon
3rd Dam: Louvain (Ire), by Sinndar (Ire)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. O/B-Haras d'Etreham (IRE); T-Nicolas Le Roch; J-Simon Planque. €40,000. Lifetime Record: 6-3-1-1, €90,500. Werk Nick Rating: First SW from this cross. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–De Sica (Fr), 126, c, 2, Demarchelier (GB)–Stella Di Camelot (Ire), by Camelot (GB). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O/B-White Birch Farm (FR); T-Jean-Claude Rouget. €16,000.
3–Gold Index (Ire), 126, c, 2, Night Of Thunder (Ire)–Golden Legend (Fr), by Doctor Dino (Fr). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Mme Antonia Devin; B-Mme Antonia Devin & Mlle Victoria Devin (IRE); T-Henri-Francois Devin. €12,000.
Margins: 1HF, NK, NO. Odds: 3.00, 1.90, 4.60.
Also Ran: Shalella (Fr), Darling Darling (Fr), Bad Desire (Fr). Video, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Ross Birkett Joins Tattersalls Online

Ross Birkett has been appointed as the new Tattersalls Online sales and marketing coordinator.

The Newmarket native is the son of trainer Julia Feilden and holds a degree in journalism from the University of Brighton. Formerly a producer/presenter for the Dubai Racing Channel for three years, Birkett also spent stints with trainer Gai Waterhouse as part of winning the Alex Scott Memorial Scholarship and has also been a jockeys' agent and a rostrum spotter for Tattersalls on sales days.

Tattersalls Online sales executive Katherine Sheridan

said, “We are delighted to welcome Ross to Tattersalls and believe he will be a tremendous asset to the team. Ross brings a wealth of experience to this role, and we believe he will be a great addition as we continue to develop and grow the Tattersalls Online platform.”

Added Birkett, who acts as an assistant trainer to his mother and is a three-time champion amateur jockey, “It's a great honour to join the Tattersalls team on a full-time basis having worked for the organisation on sales days for many years.”

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Doncaster: St Leger Holding Out For A Hero

   It would be brave to call the winner of Saturday's G1 Betfred St Leger and at this stage difficult to even decide what will start favourite for a wide-open renewal of the Doncaster Classic. There is very little separating the obvious trio of Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), Arrest (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}), while even Desert Hero (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) could yet threaten for pole position in the market given his Royal status. Each one has yet to prove themselves at this level, with Continuous and Arrest well-beaten when contesting the European Classics this summer before staging their comebacks in their preps. Doncaster's unforgiving final Classic of the season will stretch the elastic and only one will truly stay the course.

Ballydoyle know what it takes to win this and the number one is Continuous, who comes from the race's premier trial, York's G2 Great Voltigeur S. While the race was set up perfectly for his hold-up style, there was much to like about the fluency with which he dealt with Gregory and co. and Ryan Moore was never going to ride anything else.

“People talk about the tactics that day, but just focus on the fact that he won the best trial for this Classic by nearly four lengths, with Gregory back in third, and he was very strong at the line,” he stated. “Of course, you never know they stay until you try and maybe quicker ground may have been ideal with stamina in mind, but he won on soft ground in France at two and he has very strong credentials.”

Gregory was carrying a three-pound penalty returning from a break in the Voltigeur, having won Royal Ascot's G2 Queen's Vase, and probably set off too fast on the Knavesmire but that performance has obviously failed to keep Frankie interested. This is a big day for the soon-to-be-retired figurehead of the sport, so it is significant that he opts instead for Juddmonte's Arrest.

Siding with Arrest is a gamble, given he was beating probably a substandard field in the G3 Geoffrey Freer S. at Newbury last month, but if it gets softer there is the memory of his heavy defeat of Adelaide River (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the G3 Chester Vase on testing ground in May. Juddmonte's European racing manager Barry Mahon is aware of the gravitas surrounding Frankie's decision. “It would be special and it's a hot race, it's certainly hard to dismiss much in the race. They are all of a similar level and it's definitely quality over quantity,” he said.

“In fairness to the horse, his record is pretty solid and we made two bad calls with the horse running him on good-to-firm ground at Epsom and [Royal] Ascot. We know he likes an ease in the ground and if you forget those two runs, then his record is pretty outstanding. Over a mile and five and a half at Newbury he looked comfortable enough, so we just have to be hopeful he gets the extra furlong.”

Arrest's trainer John Gosden also has Gregory and Qatar Racing's Melrose H. winner Middle Earth (GB) (Roaring Lion) and he started with Wathnan Racing's representative. “He's got a great mind and he is a pretty laid-back character,” he said. “I trained both the mother and father and he's inherited all the good traits of their mental attitude towards racing. We gave him all the time he required and he's done nothing but shine this year. I think he'll enjoy the distance, although we are perfectly aware it looks like being a vintage St Leger.”

Of Middle Earth, he added, “He's proven he stays the trip and the long straight here tests the tactical speed and the stamina, so he looks like he should be able to answer those two calls. If you'd won a handicap in the style he did at York, that was a tougher race than some of the trials. If you've got the right horse at the right time and he handles the ground, then he has every right to be there.”

The King & The Queen's G3 Gordon S.-winning TDN Rising Star Desert Hero would be the first winner in the Royal colours in this since Dunfermline in 1977, so it would be some landmark. Trainer William Haggas told QIPCO British Champions Series, “I think it would mean the world to everyone in our industry. We have been fortunate for so long to have such stoic Royal patronage, and anything that can enhance that will be good. He won on soft ground at Goodwood and on faster ground at Ascot, so I don't think the ground is a worry. Soft ground will put more emphasis on stamina, but if he relaxes he should stay.”

 

Rosallion Kicks Off Action In The Champagne

Doncaster's action starts with the G2 Betfred Champagne S., where Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's impressive Listed Pat Eddery S. winner Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) has command on all known form. His four-length defeat of Al Musmak (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) looks even better now that the runner-up has won the Listed Ascendant S. and we could be dealing with one of Britain's leading 2000 Guineas hopes. Teme Valley and Ballylinch Stud's G2 Vintage S. runner-up Iberian (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) is the main threat, having finished ahead of Ballydoyle's Mountain Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) in that Goodwood contest, but anything other than a convincing win for the Richard Hannon trainee will be an anti-climax.

Hannon said of Rosallion, “We were delighted with his run at Ascot and he's come forward a good bit since then. Al Musmak won very well at Haydock and he looks a nice horse, so that was very pleasing. We've won it with Threat, Chindit and Estidhkaar. It's a nice race and it comes at a good time for the big races in the autumn and hopefully this is a nice race on the way to the Dewhurst.”

Charlie Hills said of Iberian, “He ran a good race at Goodwood, but second time out round that track from a bad draw, a combination of track, inexperience and ground caught him out that day. He was a bit on and off the bridle. I was really pleased with how he finished up the straight and I've always liked him. His work has been really good leading up to this race and I would say this racecourse is going to suit him better. He is a very straightforward horse to train at home and his temperament and everything about him is really good.”

 

 

Cachet Confirmed For Sceptre Return

Sunday's card at Doncaster has been boosted by the first sighting of last year's G1 1000 Guineas heroine Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) in the seven-furlong G3 Japan Racing Association Sceptre Fillies' S. Highclere Thoroughbred Racing's star has been off since finishing fifth in the G1 Coronation S. last June and trainer George Boughey is happy to get her back on the track. “She's in as good a form as I could have her considering the lay-off she's had,” he said. “She's been away to Chelmsford and we worked her at Kempton on Thursday morning. She's worked in between on fast ground at home in Newmarket.”

Also on Sunday, Frankie Dettori continue his farewell tour as he takes to Bro Park to partner the defending G3 Stockholm Cup International winner Hard One To Please (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) in his defence of the feature contest.

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Mickey Cleere: ‘I Was Never As Nervous – Big Evs Is The Fastest I’ve Ridden’

Top breeze-up handler Mickey Cleere has shared how he breathed a huge sigh of relief after Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), a horse he describes as the fastest he has ridden, bounced right back to form to run away with the G2 Flying Childers S. at Doncaster. 

That win provided Cleere with an added pep to his step ahead of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, where he picked up the similarly smart juvenile Ballymount Boy (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) for just €8,000, before turning him into a €110,000 breezer some eight months later.

But the Mick Appleby-trained Big Evs is something out of the ordinary in the eyes of Cleere. And that is saying something given the talented operator prepared 2019 G2 Norfolk S. winner A'Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) for the breeze-ups on behalf of Star Bloodstock. 

“I've never been as nervous,” an ecstatic Cleere admitted after the race on Friday. “It was such a bad run in the Nunthorpe, I was only hoping that he could bounce back to what I thought he could do, and it's just great that he showed people what he's made of.”

He added, “Big Evs is the fastest horse I have ever been associated with and I breezed A'Ali for Star Bloodstock. It's fantastic to have been involved with a horse as good as him. It's the best feeling in the world. I can't even describe how good it is to have been involved with a two-year-old as good as Big Evs. 

“Everyone is after a Royal Ascot two-year-old these days and it's a dream to have found one. It makes you trust your own judgment. Hopefully it will be good for business as well. We'll find out next year I suppose.”

Cleere's judgment was bang on the money about Ballymount Boy as well. Despite being light on pedigree, the colt was judged to have been such a looker by Cleere that he rolled the dice on him at Tattersalls Ireland almost a year to the day, and it is a decision that has paid off in spades. 

“We're all basically like sheep in the breeze-up game and are following the fashion. At the same time, you are kind of forced to, aren't you? The day you buy is the day you sell,” – Mickey Cleere

From a humble price tag of just €8,000 from Ridge Manor Stud, Ballymount Boy then fetched €110,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale in the spring to Danny Hussy on behalf of trainer Adrian Keatley. 

The colt was snapped up on the private market by the emerging force of Wathnan Racing in between runner-up efforts in the G2 Richmond S. and the G3 Acomb S. and will bid to further illustrate Cleere's talents at spotting top-class runners when lining out for the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp.

“I didn't even have Ballymount Boy on the list of horses I wanted to see at the sale last year,” Cleere recalled. “I'd binned him, to be honest, purely because he was by Camacho. They can be hard horses to re-sell in my game. 

“It's completely the wrong way of doing things and I know that. We're all basically like sheep in the breeze-up game and are following the fashion. At the same time, you are kind of forced to, aren't you? The day you buy is the day you sell and you have to be guided by fashion somewhat.”

Cleere added, “One thing I will say about Ballymount Boy is that I went down to look at another horse who was stabled beside him but, when I saw this Camacho colt out showing for a different person, he just caught my eye. I followed him over to his stable door and he was a cracking yearling. 

“I thought he was as good as I saw on the day–a man among boys, really. His pedigree was okay without being savage but I was prepared to go to around €25,000 for him because I liked him so much.”

In many ways, horses like Ballymount Boy capture the philosophy of what Cleere's business model is all about; finding race horses, first and foremost. He has tried following fashion in the past, but to his detriment, and says he is happy to continue to ply his trade as he feels best.”

He explained, “I started out on my own under MC Thoroughbreds in 2019 and I'm trying to go the opposite way to most people by just buying a nice horse, rather than the horses by the nice stallions. 

“I've bought the Kingmans and the ones by fashionable sires and you're just never getting a good enough horse for the money that I want to spend so that's why I am going the other direction now. I'd prefer to forgive the pedigrees a small bit and buy the nicer physicals.”

In Big Evs, Cleere managed to secure a horse by one of the hottest young sires in the business in Blue Point, but the Killenaule man reveals that the speedster required some outside-the-box-thinking at 50,00gns from Houghton Bloodstock at the Tattersalls Book 2 Sale.

Cleere said, “I'd say if Big Evs was a couple of inches bigger I wouldn't have gotten near him. When I bought him, he was handy enough but he was very strong with a good enough walk. For a small horse, he walked like a big horse. He'd have made somewhere between seventy and a hundred grand if he was a bit bigger.”

He added, “I was never so sure about a horse than Big Evs, though, and we got him sold privately without going to any sale. For me, he was quicker than A'Ali, and I was confident of that. I'm just glad he's proving us right.”

With Big Evs and Ballymount Boy among last year's graduates, Cleere could have been forgiven for hitting this year's yearling sales hard. However, he revealed that he has not started shopping yet, and that he plans on adding the first of next year's two-year-olds to the team at Tattersalls Ireland next week. 

He said, “I haven't started shopping yet. I always let them power away early on before jumping in a bit later. I just find it is harder to buy at the earlier sales. There's plenty of early and speedy horses at Fairyhouse and even Book 2 at Tattersalls, so there's no real panic. 

“We hope to get 20 yearlings over the next few weeks and I'm looking forward to Tattersalls Ireland. The place has been very lucky for me. I've bought plenty of winners there and hopefully that continues next week.”

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