With Godolphin supplementing the impressive Listed Newmarket S. winner Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), Saturday's G1 Cazoo Derby which it was announced on Monday will be run in honour of Lester Piggott is beginning to form a more complete picture. William Buick confirmed on Monday that he will be on the newly-added colt over the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial runner-up Walk of Stars (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Apr. 19 Listed Blue Riband Trial scorer Nahanni (GB) (Frankel {GB}).
“I ride Nations Pride, all being well, so I'm looking forward to that,” he said. “It's always difficult, as they are three nice horses and I'm fortunate to have the choice, which is a privilege in itself.”
Aidan O'Brien provided the only ripple as he withdrew the Lingfield Derby Trial winner United Nations (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), leaving 18 in the field including the other supplementary, the Stan Moore-trained maiden El Habeeb (Ire) (Al Rifai {Ire}) who faces a genuine baptism of fire.
Which Way For The Star?
Ballydoyle still have a strong trio engaged, headed by the May 8 G3 Derby Trial S. winner Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), although the May 5 Listed Dee S. scorer and TDN Rising StarStar of India (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) also holds an entry in Sunday's G1 Prix du Jockey Club. A total of 23 remained in the Chantilly Classic after the week's first forfeit stage, with Prince Faisal's 2000 Guineas fourth Eydon (Ire) (Olden Times {GB}) another who has yet to be committed to either Epsom of the French equivalent. Saeed Suhail's May 12 G2 Dante S. winner and TDN Rising Star Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) looks certain at this stage to start favourite, with his opposition further trimmed on Monday as Ivy League (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Buckaroo (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), Lysander (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) and Sir Bob Parker (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) were also taken out.
Green Light
One of the race's outsiders, Ahmad Al Shaikh's Newmarket S. runner-up Hoo Ya Mal (GB) (Territories {Ire}), has been given the go-ahead by his owner who was runner-up with Khalifa Sat (Ire) (Free Eagle {Ire}) two years ago. “After deliberations with Andrew Balding, Green Team Racing has decided on giving Hoo Ya Mal the opportunity to run at the Derby next Saturday,” he said on Monday. “The distance might be a challenge, but it's a chance worth taking. We look forward to a successful participation against the world's top horses. Although relatively new, this will be Green Team Racing's third consecutive run at the world's biggest race.”
A series of equine growth research seminars, presented by Saracen Horse Feeds in conjunction with the Kentucky Equine Research, begins Tuesday, June 21, continuing through June 23. The two live seminars will be staged at the Millenium Suite at Newmarket June 21 followed by the Owner's Club at Newbury June 23. For those unable to attend in person, an online webinar will be held Wednesday, June 22. Open to breeders, vets, farriers and all thoroughbred industry professionals, the sessions have been accredited the CPD Certification Service.
KER is responsible for a worldwide investigation into the relationship between the size and growth rates of foals and their racing career performance. Data collected by KER's partners in the U.S., Europe and Australia have been analysed to assess whether size is significantly associated with radiographic findings, and how growth measurements, alongside any regional, environmental and seasonal effects, are related to skeletal soundness, and sales and racing performance.
During the sessions, the findings will be discussed with a panel of veterinary specialists. The goals of these studies are to identify at-risk foals earlier, modify feed and management practices to reduce problems in racehorses.
President and Founder of Kentucky Equine Research, Dr. Joe Pagan has led research on the effects of nutrition and growth for more than 30 years.
“Kentucky Equine Research works with dozens of feed manufacturers worldwide to ensure that the latest findings in equine nutrition science are utilised in real-world feeding programmes.. Saracen is an excellent example of our partnership programme at its best–we collaborate on studies, bring expertise in formulation, and provide custom software and technical service for their outstanding team of nutrition advisors.”
In winning her maiden by almost ten lengths on debut at Keeneland, Queen Mary favourite Love Reigns (Ire) (US Navy Flag) tore to shreds what many people thought possible for an unraced 2-year-old filly in the month of April.
There would have been more competition had Real Madrid taken to the field against a bunch of schoolboys such was the authority of the display. Love Reigns burst into the lead from stall one, powered home to win unchallenged, and the clock backed up what filled the eye.
Not even Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), who won the G2 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint over the same course and distance in 2020, could run a quicker time than Love Reigns did in that scintillating debut.
“Any time Ben McElroy vets your horse, you know you have something special, so I was delighted that Ben bought her. When you breed horses, all you can hope for is that they go to the best trainers, and we couldn't have dreamed of better connections buying Love Reigns,” – Eoghan Grogan
Now her breeders, the father and son team of Pat and Eoghan Grogan at Killourney Mor Farm in County Offaly, are rightly dreaming about what the filly might go on to achieve at Royal Ascot.
“It's not often you see 2-year-olds win maidens by about ten lengths, especially over five and a half furlongs, and we were gob-smacked watching it,” said Eoghan, who works full-time on the farm alongside his Dad.
“I watched it with my father and, as soon as she crossed the line, I turned to him and said, 'this is a monster.' She looked incredible at Keeneland and it's the stuff of dreams to have bred one like her.”
He added, “We always loved her and she was the pick of that crop in 2020. She was a tank, a real ball of muscle.
“For her to go on and do that, it was just unreal. There has been a fantastic buzz around town and we're really looking forward to Royal Ascot now.”
Pat Smullen put Offaly on the map. The Faithful County, as it is known, is also famous for being home to Open Championship-winning golfer Shane Lowry as well as the internationally recognisable Irish whiskey Tullamore Dew.
Love Reigns may soon join that list of famous Offaly produce which is all the more remarkable given the Grogans never set out to become breeders.
Pat, a builder by trade, was once owed money by a man who settled the debt with a horse. While that horse was never much use, it sparked a love affair with the sport that burns bright to this day, and the family are keen to capitalise on their recent run of success.
“It's mad really, because if he [Pat] never got that first horse, I don't know if he'd have come down this route at all. I had no interest in horses at the time either,” explains Eoghan.
“That horse he got as part of the deal didn't work out but he was bitten by the bug and then he bought Don't Care (Ire) (Nordico) a year afterwards. She was a very good producer and got things going for us which caught my interest. I saw that you can make a good living out of this game if you have the right stock and that's what it's all about really.”
He added, “We've eight mares of our own and there's six boarders for other clients. Myself and my father are at it full-time and it's starting to take off in the past three or four years but it has been 20 years in the making. Some of the families are starting to develop as we wanted so it's great.”
Love Reigns is out of Humble And Proud (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), whose career at Ballydoyle was cut short through injury, but she has become a proven producer on the farm. Not that things have been all plain sailing with her second career as a broodmare. They haven't.
Before her most prolific son, Glorious Empire (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), became a Group 1 winner in America, Humble And Proud didn't go in foal for three years but, after having one of her ovaries removed, has gone in foal in each of the last four seasons and is bidding for a fifth in the coming weeks.
Grogan explained, “She's gone from being written off to one of our best broodmares and it wasn't as if her progeny were a massive success in the sales ring at the start either. They weren't. I think the best price we got for one before Love Reigns was £40,000.”
In Love Reigns, the Grogans certainly brought something special to the Orby Sale last year and were rewarded when Ben McElroy went to €160,000 to secure the filly on behalf of Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Stables.
Grogan remembers, “There was loads of interest in her. She was vetted five or six different times and all of the good guys were on her. Any time Ben McElroy vets your horse, you know you have something special, so I was delighted that Ben bought her. When you breed horses, all you can hope for is that they go to the best trainers, and we couldn't have dreamed of better connections buying Love Reigns.”
He added, “She was a stunning individual with a temperament to match her looks. She actually had a colic on the Saturday of the Orby Sale and I was wondering if it was going to work out or not with her but she settled down pretty quick. She tightened up a good bit and didn't show herself as well as she can on the Saturday but, she bounced back great on the Sunday, and from then on she was great. She has always had a great temperament and nothing really fazed her.”
It is that bombproof temperament which should stand to Love Reigns when she makes the trip over to Royal Ascot for the Queen Mary.
One of her last pieces of work was reported to have gone well at Keeneland, according to McElroy, who is predicting a big performance from the filly in the Queen Mary, provided she gets her ground.
He said, “She worked on Sunday and it's all systems go for Royal Ascot now. The ground was actually soft at Keeneland and I definitely think she will want it firm at Royal Ascot. Hopefully we get lucky with the weather and, if we do, I'd be very happy about her chances in the Queen Mary.”
McElroy knows a thing or two about what a Royal Ascot winner looks like. Dual Royal Ascot scorer Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who returns in Ward's raiding party for the this year, was also sourced in Ireland by McElroy on behalf of Stonestreet for 190,000gns and the renowned agent recalls how Love Reigns was just what he looks for in sourcing a royal runner.
He explained, “Barbara Banke loves Royal Ascot so, when we go to the sales, we're looking for something that's going to be a precocious 2-year-old that will suit Wesley Ward and be out in April or early May. That sets you up, if you are good enough, to take a tilt at one of the 2-year-old races at Royal Ascot. Obviously in her case, she always showed herself to have a lot of potential and Irad Ortiz rode her in two or three pieces of work before she ever ran and relayed to Wesley that she was his best 2-year-old, never mind Stonestreet's.”
McElroy added, “We were excited for her debut at Keeneland but she was drawn one in a 12-horse field, which is always a worry, but she proved Irad right on that performance. One of the reporters from the DRF told Wesley that it was the fastest 2-year-old performance in Keeneland, which encompasses Breeders' Cup races, meaning she ran faster than Golden Pal did as a 2-year-old. Visually, it looked very impressive, and the clock backed it up.”
Humble And Proud, the rather aptly-named broodmare, gave birth to a Mehmas (Ire) colt last week, and the Grogan family are now contemplating a return to US Navy Flag (War Front) on the strength of what Love Reigns did on debut.
She may only have graced the track once, but it's not often that a filly has left such an impression. Like McElroy, the Grogans will be hoping that Love Reigns can prove their eyes-and the clock-right in the Queen Mary.
Hollie Doyle has described Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) as being “everything you want in a racehorse” ahead of her bid to become the first female rider to win a Classic when she partners John and Thady Goden's rapidly-improving filly in the Cazoo Oaks at Epsom on Friday.
Doyle is well used to breaking boundaries at this stage, with her tally of 152 winners in 2021 surpassing her own record of winners in a calendar year for a female jockey.
She has also ridden two five-timers, became the first woman to be successful on Qipco Champions Day at Ascot and finished third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
Doyle now appears to have her best chance yet of becoming the first woman to ride a British Classic winner aboard Nashwa, who is second in the betting behind stablemate Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).
Taking inspiration from Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National-winning jockey Rachael Blackmore, Doyle admits it would be a huge moment for women in sport if she can strike Classic gold.
“It would be an absolute dream come true. You're always looking to progress throughout your career and it would be another box ticked,” she said.
“Like Rachael Blackmore winning the Grand National, winning a British Classic is something I dream of doing over the next 10 years or so, so if it could happen on Friday it would be great.
“Look at the reaction there was when Rachael won the Grand National. It's one of the toughest horse races in the world to win and she did that, so if I could win a British Classic it would be a dream come true for me personally and could hopefully inspire other women to get into the sport. It's a great opportunity to get a ride with a live chance.”
Seen by many as a trailblazer, Doyle has become accustomed to the extra attention that generates and insists she is fully focussed about the task in hand.
“I'm fairly used to it now. Every time I've done something new this is what happens, which is great,” she said in a Qipco British Champions Series Zoom call on Monday.
“I'm used to it and take it all in my stride. Ultimately I'm a jockey and I've got a job to do, that's how I approach it.”
Nashwa brings strong claims to the table, having built on the promise of a third-placed finish at Newmarket on her sole juvenile start with impressive wins at Haydock and Newbury this spring.
The one question that remains unanswered ahead of her appearance at Epsom is whether her stamina will last out on her first start over a mile and a half, but Doyle is optimistic.
She said, “I was very pleased with the performance at Newbury, as at Haydock I kind of gave her a no excuses ride, jumped out in the box seat and she was a little bit gassy.
“Stepping up into listed company at Newbury, I just wanted to ride her quietly to see how she'd relax and go through the gears and she relaxed beautifully-and was very responsive when I asked her.
“To me there was no definitive answer off the back of that performance whether she'd stay a mile and a half or not, but I think she ticks a lot of boxes that need ticking, so we'll find out won't we?”
