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Dark Angel’s Mad Cool Denies Namura Clair In Takamatsunomiya Kinen

Mad Cool (Jpn) (Dark Angel {Ire}–Mad About You {Ire}, by Indian Ridge {Ire}) climbed the Group 1 heights with a head victory in the 1200-metre ¥329,400,000 G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo on Sunday. Namura Clair (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}) was runner-up for the second consecutive year, with the duo three lengths ahead of Hong Kong raider and G1 Centenary Sprint Cup scorer Victor The Winner (Aus) (Toronado {Ire}) in third.

It was a dogfight for pacesetting duties between Mad Cool and Victor The Winner from the bell, with the former conceding the advantage to sit in third on the backstretch as Win Carnelian (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}) moved to second. Saving all the ground on the fence while drafting off of Victor The Winner, the 8-1 sixth choice charged through a gap along the inside with 400 metres to travel as the leader drifted toward the centre of the course. The exceedingly deep ground didn't phase the 5-year-old entire, who inched by the determined Hong Kong raider and set sail for the line at the 150-metre point. Gobbling up ground directly behind Mad Cool, Namura Clair was unleashing a furious rally, but she did not hit the front until a stride past the wire. Victor The Winner plugged on to be third. Favoured Lugal (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) raced near the pace, but could not mount a strong challenge at the end and faded to 10th.

“I am so glad to have won this race after our narrow defeat last fall [in the Sprinters S.],” said winning jockey Ryusei Sakai. “He broke well and we were in an ideal position, right behind the pace, throughout the trip. I've been riding this horse from early in his career and the connections had been eyeing this race from the beginning, but he still has room for improvement so I look forward to his future as well.”

A winner of four of his six starts at three, the bay was third to Namura Clair in the G3 Silk Road S. last January, before taking his first stake, the Listed Shunrai S., at Nakayama in April of 2023. Second by only a nose to Mama Cocha (Jpn) (Kurofune) in the G1 Sprinters S. last October, he signed off his 4-year-old campaign with an eighth in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint on Dec. 10. Sunday marked his 4-year-old bow.

Pedigree Notes

Mad Cool is the 16th Group 1 winner for his Yeomanstown Stud-based sire, who has 102 stakes winners (59 group winners) on an international scale. Dark Angel covered 166 mares in 2023, and he has three stakes winners out of Indian Ridge mares. G2 July S. hero Alhebayeb (Ire) is his other group/graded winner bred on this cross.

The late Indian Ridge has made quite a mark as a broodmare sire, as his daughters have foaled 114 stakes winners to date. A total of 68 group winners are sprinkled among them, with 19 top-level winners following Mad Cool's Takamatsunomiya Kinen tally.

The seventh foal and fifth winner for his G3 Gladness S.-winning dam, Mad Cool was purchased for €225,000 out of the Goffs November Foal Sale in 2019 by Katsumi Yoshida. He is a half-brother to G3 Silver Flash S. third A Ma Chere (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), the winning 4-year-old gelding Partisan Hero (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) and the 3-year-old filly Campari Soda (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), who has yet to race. Besides her Gladness win, Mad About You was placed four times at the highest level in Ireland and France.

Her dam Irresistible Jewel (Ire) (Danehill) won both the G2 Ribblesdale S. and G3 Blandford S. and was also placed in the G1 Prix de l'Opera. At stud, she foaled fellow G2 Ribblesdale S. heroine and G1 Irish Oaks third Princess Highway to the cover of Street Cry (Ire), as well as G1 Irish St. Leger winner Royal Diamond (Ire) (King's Best). Mad Cool is also kin to G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Homeless Songs (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

 

Sunday, Chukyo, Japan
TAKAMATSUNOMIYA KINEN-G1, ¥329,400,000, Chukyo, 3-24, 4yo/up, 1200mT, 1:08.90, sf.
1–MAD COOL (IRE), 128, h, 5, Dark Angel (Ire)
                1st Dam: Mad About You (Ire) (GSW & MG1SP-Ire,
                                G1SP-Fr, $495,023), by Indian Ridge (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Irresistible Jewel (Ire), by Danehill
                3rd Dam: In Anticipation (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
1ST GROUP WIN. 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (€225,000 Wlg '19
GOFNOV). O-Sunday Racing; B-Moyglare Stud Farm Ltd (Ire);
T-Manabu Ikezoe; J-Ryusei Sakai; ¥173,780,000. Lifetime
Record: 12-6-1-3, ¥333,466,000. *1/2 to A Ma Chere (Ire)
(Kodiac {GB}), GSP-Ire. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Namura Clair (Jpn), 123, m, 5, Mikki Isle (Jpn)–Sun Queen, by
Storm Cat. O-Mutsuhiro Namura; B-Tanikawa Farm (Jpn);
¥69,080,000.
3–Victor The Winner (Aus), 128, h, 8, Toronado (Ire)–Noetic
(Aus), by Cape Cross (Ire). (A$180,000 Ylg '20 INGMAR). O-Yun
Lau Chu; B-Mr. A Sangster (Aus); ¥43,540,000.
Margins: HD, 3, 1HF. Odds: 8.60, 4.40, 8.60.
Also ran: Win Caernelian (Jpn), Lotus Land, Toshin Macau (Jpn), Big Caesar (Jpn), Mama Cocha (Jpn), Meikei Yell (Jpn), Lugal (Jpn), Divina (Jpn), Win Marvel (Jpn), Schwarz Kaiser (Ire), So Dazzling (Jpn), Mozu Meimei (Jpn), Matenro Orion (Jpn), Champagne Color (Jpn), T M Spada (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.

 

 

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Calyx’s Purple Lily A New TDN Rising Star

Sunday's TRM Equine Nutrition Race at Naas looked an intriguing contest, with four winners lined up including one who was Group 1-placed at two. At the end, there was one who was in total command and that was the filly Purple Lily (Ire) (Calyx {GB}–Boca Raton {Ire}, by Approve {Ire}) who flashed distinct Classic potential to earn TDN Rising Star status. Racing for Alan O'Flynn's Zinlo Syndicate, the Paddy Twomey-trained Tatts Ireland Goresbridge Breeze Up sensation had made an instant impression when off the mark in an often-informative Galway maiden in August. On only her second start, the 10-11 favourite was able to master Ballydoyle's G1 Criterium International third Portland (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the Johnny Murtagh-trained course-and-distance maiden winner Chicago Critic (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) and make light of the testing conditions.
“She's a nice filly and she had wintered well. She has size and scope and is a strong filly. We just gave her the one run after the breeze-ups last year and she was good,” Twomey said. “I like her, the horses have done loads of cantering but they haven't done much fast work. I thought she was a nice filly and when you are taking on a 108-rated colt you are asking them a question and she did it well.”
Content to let the two class colts of the race go on from the outset, Billy Lee asked the question of Purple Lily heading to two out and she responded gamely to subdue them soon after. At the line, she had put three lengths between her and the solid yardstick Portland, with another 4 1/4 lengths back to Chicago Critic in third. “We might look at a Guineas trial here and go for an Irish Guineas,” her trainer added. “I think Newmarket would come at her a bit quick and I think we'll take our time–Billy [Lee] says something like the [G1] Pretty Polly might suit her. Hopefully we have a good year with her.”
Calyx's third TDN Rising Star, including last year's G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. winner Persian Dreamer, Purple Lily is the third foal out of Boca Raton, a half-sister to the G1 Irish Oaks third and G3 Lancashire Oaks runner-up Lady's Secret (Ire) (Alzao). She also has a 2-year-old full-brother to the winner named Cataluyna (Ire) and a yearling filly by Cotai Glory (GB).
2nd-Naas, €17,500, Cond, 3-24, 3yo, 8fT, 1:52.84, hy.
PURPLE LILY (IRE), f, 3, by Calyx (GB)
     1st Dam: Boca Raton (Ire), by Approve (Ire) 
     2nd Dam: Kaaba (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
     3rd Dam: Konigsalpen (Ger), by Priamos (Ger)
Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $24,352. O-Zinlo Syndicate; B-Mr B O'Neill (IRE); T-Paddy Twomey. *€17,500 Wlg '21 GOFNO1; €24,000 Ylg '22 TATIRY; €155,000 2yo '23 TATGOR. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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No Nay Never Gelding Becomes Hong Kong Derby Royalty

Chan Kam Hung's Massive Sovereign (Ire) (No Nay Never–Sweet Charity {Fr}, by Myboycharlie {Ire}) continued his Hong Kong progression in stirring fashion with a come-from-behind victory under Zac Purton in the HK$26,000,000 BMW Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin on Sunday. The time of 1:59.85 was a new record for the race since the distance was changed to 2000 metres in 2000, with Massive Sovereign bettering the mark of Hong Kong phenom Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro)'s 2:00.15 set in 2020.

The winner's neck defeat of the Group 1-placed Galaxy Patch (Aus) (Wandjina {Aus}) also marked a one-three finish for horses bred and formerly trained in Ireland, as G3 Gallinule S. second Ka Ying Generation (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), ran third by three-quarters of a length.

Once the gates flew, 39-1 longshot Ka Ying Generation, with Andrea Atzeni at the controls, hustled up to anchor the vanguard, with Purton's mount second to last through the first 400 metres in :25.53. The pace quickened from there, with the first 800 metres covered in :49.45, but the 17-5 shot was keen to do more, just to the outside of favoured Helios Express (Aus) (Toronado {Ire}), who had scooped the first two legs of the 4-Year-Old Classic series. That duo soon reached the main body of the field, while Ka Ying Generation continued on by his lonesome at halfway.

Atzeni gave his mount a nudge and soon opened up four lengths on his rivals on the final bend. By the 300-metre mark, he was six lengths clear, and it was not immediately apparent that any of his foes had the requisite turn of foot to run him down. Purton, who won his first HK Derby with Luger (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}) in 2015, was undeterred and steered Massive Sovereign through traffic and he soon had the game-but-tiring frontrunner dead to rights. Unleashing a brilliant closing kick, the eventual winner hit the front four strides from the line, and fended off the rush of Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup second Galaxy Patch to his outside. Ka Ying Generation clung grimly on to complete the trifecta.

The winner covered his final 600 metres in a sharp :33.84, while the first three home all broke the two-minute mark for the 2000 metre distance. Helios Express's bid flattened in the final stages and he finished eighth.

“It's very exciting,” said former Hong Kong champion trainer Dennis Yip, who was winning his first HK Derby. “I think the Derby for me is more important than the championship [in 2012/13]…but this one for my life is the big one.

“He's a very special horse with a very good mind. The last 200m I was very nervous but I rely on Zac. He is the champion jockey in Hong Kong and everything was good with the horse.

“This horse, the first day he arrived in Hong Kong, he [Purton] sent me the video [of Massive Sovereign winning at Leopardstown] and told me he thought he was a nice horse and asked me if he could ride him.”

“I didn't really have a horse for the Derby until this bloke won so, like when I won on Luger, it was a late pick-up ride into the race,” said Purton.

“I feel extremely honoured and privileged to have found such a horse to win it. To win the race itself, it's the most prestigious race in Hong Kong and I've had a frustrating run in this race and a frustrating season, so it's nice to get another big one–and probably the biggest one among the local races overall.”

A winner of a Dundalk all-weather affair at third asking last April, Broadhurst, as he was known prior to his arrival in Hong Kong, ran second in a Naas handicap later that spring for the Coolmore partners and trainer Aidan O'Brien. Originally a €620,000 Goffs Orby yearling, he was gelded after winning a Leopardstown handicap in September, and changed hands privately before making a striking debut at Sha Tin over this course and distance under Purton on Mar. 3 (video).

The G1 FWD Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin over this distance on Apr. 28 is next in the cards for Massive Sovereign.

“I've already entered him for [the FWD QEII Cup] at the end of April,” Yip added. “I will see how the horse pulls up. If he's good and he improves, I will go this way. I'm very happy, it's amazing for my life. What a memory.”

Pedigree Notes

Coolmore Stud's No Nay Never now has 58 stakes winners (34 group) worldwide to his name, while Massive Sovereign is his first stakes winner in Hong Kong. Need I Say More (Aus), racing as Spirited Express in Hong Kong, ran third in the G3 HKJC Premier Plate. A winner of the 2013 G1 Prix Morny, the son of Scat Daddy bred 190 mares in 2023.

From the same family as French stakes winner Aktoria (Fr) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}), herself the dam of multiple group winner Greenland (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), Sweet Charity won the Listed Prix de Liancourt and was third in the GII Santa Ana S. in America. At stud, she has visited No Nay Never exclusively, with Massive Sovereign her first foal and first stakes winner. His 3-year-old full-sister Love Comedy (Ire), a €75,000 Goffs Orby yearling, is a winner in Japan. Juvenile filly Boxie (Ire) has yet to race, while Sweet Charity has another yearling full-sister to the HK Derby winner still to come.

 

Sunday, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
BMW HONG KONG DERBY-Listed, HK$26,000,000, Sha Tin, 3-24, NH/SH 4yo, 2000mT, 1:59.85, gd/fm.
1–MASSIVE SOVEREIGN (IRE), 126, g, 4, by No Nay Never
                1st Dam: Sweet Charity (Fr) (SW-Fr & GSP-US, $170,312),
                                by Myboycharlie (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Sapfo (Fr), by Peintre Celebre
                3rd Dam: Granadilla (GB), by Zafonic
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. (€620,000 Ylg '21 GOFSEP). O-Chan
Kam Hung. B-Lynch Bages, Ltd. & Summerhill Bloodstock.
T-Dennis Yip. J-Zac Purton. HK$14,560,000. Lifetime Record:
7-4-2-0, HK$16,570,382. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Galaxy Patch (Aus), 126, g, 4, Wandjina (Aus)–Voltara (Aus),
by More Than Ready. (A$50,000 Ylg '21 MMLMAR). O-Yeung
King Man. B-Summerset Park Stud (SA). T-Pierre Ng.
HK$5,460,000.
3–Ka Ying Generation (Ire), 126, g, 4, Churchill (Ire)–War
Goddess (Ire), by Champs Elysees (GB). O-Happy Ka Ying
Syndicate. B-Whisperview Trading, Ltd. (Ire). T-Pierre Ng.
HK$2,990,000.
Margins: NK, 3/4, 3. Odds: 3.40, 6.20, 39.00.
Also Ran: Chill Chibi (NZ), Unbelievable, Chancheng Glory, Speed Dragon (NZ), Helios Express (Aus), Helene Feeling (Ire), Star Mac (Aus), Elliptical (Aus), Ensued, Simple Hedge (Aus), Beauty Crescent (Ire). Click for the HKJC chart, PPs and sectional timing.

 

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Heartbreak For Quinn Yard As Highfield Princess Dies After Accident In Stable

Trainers John and Sean Quinn have been dealt a cruel blow with the news that stable star Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) has died after suffering “an inoperable fracture”.

Highfield Princess took the Quinn stable on an extraordinary journey, winning 14 of her 39 career starts and earning close to £2 million in prize-money for her owner-breeder John Fairley. 

She tasted Group 1 success four times and mixed it with some of the fastest horses in the world. However, the Prix de l'Abbaye, Nunthorpe, Flying Five and Prix Maurice de Gheest scorer could not be saved after suffering an accident in her stable. 

A statement released by the Quinn team on Sunday morning read, “She suffered an inoperable fracture following an accident in her stable and, although over the past week she fought with the same extraordinary spirit she showed on the racecourse, last night lost her battle for life. We would like to thank Jonathan Anderson and the team at Rainbow Equine Hospital, who did everything possible to help the Princess and keep her comfortable.”

John Quinn added, “Highfield Princess took us all on the most remarkable journey. She possessed Group 1 ability but also a Group 1 attitude. Whether it was a routine canter or a big sprint race around the world she put one hundred per cent effort into what she did. I am grateful for all that she did for herself and for our team. We will miss her more than words can say.”

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