Varian Building on Best Season as The Platinum Queen Joins Team

Twelve years have passed since Roger Varian became a licensed trainer as the health of his much-loved former boss and mentor, Michael Jarvis, declined. One softly-spoken but calmly assured man took over from another after Varian had served a decade as Jarvis's assistant. By that stage he had clearly proved himself a worthy successor, and the rise of the Varian stable in the intervening years has only served to underline Jarvis's judgement in this regard.

Last year was Varian's best to date. There haven't been many seasons during his term as a trainer that he hasn't secured a top-ten finish in the championship. In 2022, he was fifth overall, his highest place yet, with a domestic prize-money haul well beyond the £3 million mark for the first time. 

A British Classic winner, Eldar Eldarov (GB), who also won the G2 Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot ahead of the St Leger, was one of the headline acts, along with the smart juvenile Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), winner of the G2 Mill Reef S. and now a leading Guineas contender. Another exciting two-year-old, Charyn (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), won the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte and, to cap off a great turf season, Bayside Boy (Ire) landed the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. on QIPCO British Champions Day before joining his sire New Bay (GB) at Ballylinch Stud.

Now, along with a raft of well-bred two-year-olds to have boosted the string for 2023, Varian has taken charge of the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye winner The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) following her purchase at the Tattersalls December Sales by Katsumi Yoshida of Northern Farm for 1.2 million gns. The high-class sprinter has also been joined at Varian's Carlburg Stables by last year's G1 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) winner Toskana Belle (Fr) (Shamalgan {Fr}). Again, highlighting the value placed on European race form by Japanese breeders, Toskana Belle was bought by Katsumi's brother Teruya Yoshida of Japan's other major powerhouse operation, Shadai Farm.

“It's great to have the support of both Shadai Farm and Northern Farm,” Varian acknowledges, while also crediting his Japanese wife Hanako, who is a key component in his stable's set-up and has a good relationship with both operations from her time spent working in racing and breeding in her home country.

He is also quick to credit The Platinum Queen's former trainer, Richard Fahey, for whom she won four of eight races, including her big strike on Arc day, and was runner-up in both the G1 Nunthorpe S. and G2 Flying Childers S.

“He was very much a gentleman, as you would expect from Richard,” says Varian. “He was very helpful with telling us all about her. She looks very well and she's obviously a Group 1 winner, so I hope I can add to her CV, but in a way her CV is already there. The programme can be tough for the sprinting fillies at three, but hopefully she trains forward nicely. She looks a real speedball. Five [furlongs] looks her trip; maybe she's good enough to run in a King's Stand. She's quite a spicy character, but she's very talented and it's nice to be training these good animals.”

He continues, “The programme's quite sparse early season, so she might not run before Royal Ascot. She could run in something like a Temple Stakes, but she's not doing anything fast yet.”

One three-year-old who does have an early season target is Sakheer, who has done little wrong in his three runs to date in the colours of KHK Racing, representing Bahrain's Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Whether we see him on the racecourse before the 2,000 Guineas on May 6 remains to be seen, but the Arqana breeze-up graduate is continuing to put a smile on his trainer's face, even after a week of bleak March weather in Newmarket.

Sakheer is very natural…he knows his job and I would have no qualms about going straight into a Guineas without a trial

“We'd be very pleased with his condition, very pleased with his action, and his attitude as well,” says Varian. “He's always looked the part. He was an exceptional workhorse going into his two-year-old races, and sometimes the performance on a racecourse doesn't always match their home life. Some of those really flashy workers can never quite live up to that when they run but, with him, what we saw at home was what we were seeing on the track. He looks like he's training on nicely. He's not a huge horse, but he's big enough and he's very well-made. Touch wood he's in a good place.”

He adds, “I'm not sure if he'll trial or not. I think our trials, the Craven and the Greenham in particular, come so close to a Guineas. This horse is very natural and he didn't have a huge amount of racing last year, but he knows his job and I would have no qualms about going straight into a Guineas without a trial. 

“What's key is the impression and the look he gives us over the next three or four weeks. As we sit here today in a snowstorm, I don't think we're committed one way or the other to a trial. He's training nicely and is on the point of where I think he needs to be, and he still looks the part, as he did last year.”

As members of Bahrain's royal family continue to increase their investment in British racing as well as their domestic programme, Sakheer and his fellow colour-bearer Eldar Eldarov, who, similarly, had been bought by Oliver St Lawrence at the previous year's breeze-up in Deauville, were both significant winners for KHK Racing in 2022, and each has a good chance of enhancing their record.

“The team behind KHK have been big supporters over the last couple of years,” Varian notes. “Shaikh Khalid is relatively new to the international scene of racing, so it's great that he had some nice horses to have enjoyed last year and hopefully to look forward to this year. [The Bahrainis] are very good sportsmen in their own right and have really got behind their own racing scene in Bahrain, but they are also spreading that interest into Europe and America, and I think that can only be good for the sport.”

Eldar Eldarov, whose dam All At Sea (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is a half-sister to Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}), dam of the celebrated Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}), owns a pedigree which gives those around him every right to dream of him progressing with age and, potentially, a step up in trip. The four-year-old, who last year became Varian's second St Leger winner after Kingston Hill (GB), is described by Varian as “a bit of a street fighter” and he is clearly a horse held in much fondness within the stable.

“He's not a big robust horse and I think he'll always look a bit like a long-distance runner,” the trainer says. “Last year he took an age to come to himself out of the winter. In fact, we had aspirations of Derby trials having seen him win his maiden as a two-year-old so impressively, but he just didn't really come to hand. I'm not quite sure why, but the earliest we could have run him was when we did run him, which in the end was in a novice at Newcastle, which was probably about three weeks before Royal Ascot. He won there and suddenly started to blossom, just in time for Ascot. I don't think that he's ready to do anything too early this season. I don't know if that's just his make-up, but I wouldn't think we'll be racing him before May.”

 The 'street fighter' Eldar Eldarov

He continues, “We'd dearly love to see him back at Royal Ascot, hopefully in the Gold Cup, I would think, over the Hardwicke. Royal Ascot for us as a training establishment, and for the owners as well, is very important. If we can set up a first half of the season target at Ascot and work back from there, I think it'll only be one run before, so it could be a Yorkshire Cup or a Sagaro.

“We're hopeful that he's of a calibre to establish himself as a Cup horse, though of course Kyprios looks the standout in that division at the moment. But Eldar Eldarov had to dig deep to win the Queen's Vase. He came from a long way back that day and he's got this lovely head carriage. He pins his ears back and he really seems to relish the fights, and I think that's very important in all horses, but particularly in staying horses because they have to dig deep. You do need that attitude.”

Varian also highlights Charyn among the colts he is looking forward to seeing back on the track this season. Nurlan Bizakov's homebred was third to Sakheer in the Mill Reef before claiming his own Group 2 triumph across the Channel. 

“I thought his run in the Mill Reef was good because he was still learning, and was probably on the wrong side of the track, and I actually felt he was second best to Sakheer that day,” he says. “He's a horse with a very laidback demeanour, which I like, and he's another one who hasn't raced beyond six [furlongs], but looks like he's crying out for a little bit further. He might be a horse to look at the Greenham with. He's got a Guineas entry at Newmarket and in Ireland. He's not flashy but he's really a very professional horse who should improve as the year goes on.”

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's Resolute Man (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), won a Yarmouth novice last October, and Dragon Icon (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), the Yoshiro Kubota-owned full-brother to Breeders' Cup wunner Aunt Pearl (Ire) are also singled out as three-year-olds to note for the coming campaign.

“We had some nice horses win novices last year and they need testing in deeper water, but they look quite nice horses,” Varian notes.

As the trainer sits in his office still drying out from a morning of squally snow showers in subzero temperatures, it is easy to imagine that, for him, spring can't come soon enough, but he says, “I actually love January, February and March, because you start counting back from the season. Of course we run horses all year round now, we have winter runners, but the majority of our horses are on that spring programme. You've got targets starting to be set and plans starting to formalise and you really see a change in the horses on a week-to-week basis at this time of year.

“As the better weather starts to come, you can really see them change and develop in a positive way in front of your eyes, and spot the ones that are really starting to shine through early and the ones which have not come to themselves. It's an enjoyable time to be able to start recognising the difference without all the helter-skelter of the season being upon you. I think it's a lovely time of year to be a racehorse trainer because you really can be with the horses every day and see them develop from their winter programme into where they need to be for the start of the season.”

There have been plenty of changes in the 12 years since Varian joined the training ranks. In 2017, he migrated from the Jarvis family's Kremlin House Stables to purchase Carlburg Stables from Clive Brittain, who still lives alongside the yard. Sir Michael Stoute is his next-door neighbour in Freemason Lodge, and from last year the Varian string started occupying Beech Hurst just across the Bury Road, which had been Stoute's original base and had for many years acted as his second yard. The additions of senior staff such as Kate Grimwade as general manager overseeing all aspects of the business speaks to the demands of running a modern-day international racing stable, backed up by the appointments of form expert David Baxter as racing manager and Eleanor Rance as communications manager. 

There are, however, some familiar faces from the days of Michael Jarvis, notably long-term racing secretary Jim Hiner and Jo Fowles, the accomplished horsewoman who oversees Beech Hurst and is one of three assistant trainers, along with Oliver Rix and George Hill.

“It's a really good team, and the results of last season show that everyone's pulling in the same direction,” says Varian. 

“And we've got a good team of jockeys, headed by David Egan. There's no official order of hierarchy amongst the jockeys, but David's at a point of his career where he's been progressive. He's still a young man and he's ready to build on what he achieved last year. Jack Mitchell is a brilliant team player, of course, and Ray Dawson's been in Dubai but will be coming back. Although Andrea [Atzeni] is not employed by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid any more, he will no doubt still ride at times for us. We also train for owners who have their own jockeys.”

Egan, who set another benchmark with his first British Classic victory last year on Eldar Eldarov, has recently enjoyed a fruitful first spell riding in Japan over the winter. A stint perhaps inspirited by his unofficial guv'nor's close ties to the country, it has done his international profile no harm, especially when considering the high-class horses with Japanese links in Varian's stable. Mind you, there is also now no shortage of horses from that country competing at the major meetings around the world.

[The Japanese] don't really set their sights on just doing something, they set their sights on mastering something

“I don't think they're about to slow down,” says Varian of the competition from Japanese trainers. “I think they've got 25 horses in Dubai for World Cup night. They had 14 or 15 in Saudi. They're all invited, so they're all good enough to be invited. I think they are really becoming a superpower. They haven't quite had the consistency of winners in Europe like they have done in Dubai, America and Australia, and Europe is probably another challenge for them. We actually hosted some of their horses for Royal Ascot here, and of course the holy grail for them is the Arc, isn't it? It's probably only a matter of time before they win it.”

He adds, “I feel a little bit close to them through Hanako and I think once you delve into Japanese culture you understand why they do very well in racing. They don't really set their sights on just doing something, they set their sights on mastering something, and I think that's very much embedded in the culture of Japan in any form of industry. 

“Obviously they've got quite a lengthy history of racing, but it's nowhere near what we can delve into. But they've been buying some amazing bloodlines over the last 20, 25 years, and they've also created their own. They are no doubt breeding exceptionally talented horses, as they are proving on the international stage.”

Varian, whose brother-in-law is the Japanese champion trainer Mitsu Nakauchida, admits to being able to “fool my way through a few pleasantries” when it comes to speaking the language. He adds, “If someone thought, 'Oh he speaks Japanese, we'll carry on and have a conversation', I'd get found out very quickly. But they're great people, it's a lovely culture, and it's nice to be connected to that side of the world.

“I think what's very nice about the racing industry is that it's quite a niche industry, but it is a global industry, and I love it. We live and train horses in Newmarket, but that opens up a world in itself.”

There has perhaps been no more better time in racing's history to grasp the global opportunities available and, with a client base incorporating owners from a diverse group of nations, it would seem that the Varian stable is already a frontrunner in this regard.

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Seven Days: Who Bears Wins

'Industry heavyweights' seems to have been the buzz phrase of the last few weeks, and we have a few of those in our long-running 12-to-follow competition organised by my husband every Flat and National Hunt season. Those competing this summer include several leading Irish stud masters, bloodstock agents, trainers, breeders, sales company executives, and the head of the Tote. And they are all currently trailing in the wake of an 11-year-old boy who was shrewd enough to include Little Big Bear in his list.

What a selection that was. Mind you, Alex Barry is no ordinary 11-year-old boy. He devours pedigrees for breakfast and will surely one day shove his dad Luke aside to take the helm at Manister House Stud. They start 'em young in Ireland, and that's one of the reasons the Irish have the edge in just about every facet of the bloodstock industry.

The bears came out of the woods on Saturday with Little Big Bear landing the Curragh's G1 Keeneland Phoenix S., and the admirably hardy Go Bears Go (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}), who had been a close third in that same race last year, posting his third group win in the G3 Rathasker Stud Phoenix Sprint S.

Little Big Bear became the fourth Group/Grade 1 winner for his sire No Nay Never, whose name has popped up at pretty much every major meeting this season, with his star performer Alcohol Free (Ire) having added the July Cup to her tally of top-level wins, Blackbeard (Ire) notching group wins in Ireland and France, Trillium (GB) landing the Molecomb S., and Little Big Bear having first hinted at his prowess in the Windsor Castle S. at Royal Ascot.

No Nay Never's sire Scat Daddy is a son of Aidan O'Brien's outstanding juvenile Johannesburg, the winner of Group/Grade 1 races in Ireland, France, Britain and America in his debut season. That run started with the Phoenix S., which was taken by his great-grandson in such impressive fashion at the Curragh on Saturday. The G1 Prix Morny was next on the list for Johannesburg 21 years ago, but it appears that Little Big Bear will not yet take a trip to the land where his dam Adventure Seeker (Fr) (Bering {GB}) was bred by the Wildenstein family, and indeed where his third dam, the champion All Along (Fr) (Targowice), won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1983. Aidan O'Brien told the Nick Luck Daily podcast on Monday that the star juvenile will likely stay at home to contest the G1 National S. next.

Daddy's Legacy

Scat Daddy was only 11 when he died in 2015 but his reputation had grown enough by that stage for him to have left a number of sons at stud, with at least 15 currently scattered between Europe and America. His former home of Ashford Stud contains three of those sons: Caravaggio, the sire of the dual Group 1 winner Tenebrism, Triple Crown winner Justify, and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Mendelssohn. Those last two named both have first-crop runners this year, with Justify currently in second in the American freshman table. His leading performer to date is the G2 Airlie Stud S. winner Statuette, a three-parts-sister to Tenebrism, their dam being the celebrated Group 1-winning miler Immortal Verse (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}).

At Coolmore in Ireland, another freshman sire of 2022, Sioux Nation, stands alongside No Nay Never, and he has had a pretty stonking week with two Group 3 winners to his credit – Sydneyarms Chelsea (Ire) at Deauville and the tail-swishing Lakota Sioux (Ire) at Newmarket. All of this activity means that No Nay Never has taken over from Havana Grey (GB) as Europe's leading sire of 2-year-olds, with Sioux Nation now in third place in that particular table. 

It is also worth noting that Yeomanstown Stud's grey son of Scat Daddy, El Kabeir, provided arguably the most eye-catching maiden winner of the last week in the Karl Burke-trained Bright Diamond (Ire), who sparkled on debut when beating some smartly-bred types by nine lengths at Newmarket.

Meanwhile there are now four young sons of No Nay Never at stud. The first yearlings of Coolmore's Ten Sovereigns will come under the hammer this weekend at Arqana, where the first yearling by Highclere Stud's Land Force (Ire) is also consigned. The G2 Coventry S. winner Arizona (Ire) will have his first foals for sale later this year, while in France Al Shaqab's Molecomb winner Armor (GB) covered his first book of mares this spring at Haras de Bouquetot.

Clearly we will be seeing plenty more runners representing the Scat Daddy line in the coming seasons. The most interesting question to be answered in the relatively short term will be whether the classy female family of the Camas Park Stud and Summerhill-bred Little Big Bear will combine with this generally fast and precocious line well enough to help him show a similar level of form at a mile and fulfil his obvious Classic pretensions. 

The Queen of Highfield 

There is encouragement to be gained for breeders large and small by the admirable progression of John Fairley's homebred Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), who took some notable scalps when winning the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest on Sunday. Born only a few miles up the road from Deauville, she is really a child of Yorkshire, where she is trained by John Quinn in the yard he rents from Fairley, Highfield Stables, from which she takes her name.

And she is indeed worthy of that regal soubriquet now, though that was not necessarily apparent from the early days of her career. Unraced at two, her three unplaced maiden/novice runs saw Highfield Princess earn an opening handicap mark of 57 as a 3-year-old, though it must be said that third appearance of her life came in a Redcar novice in which she was fourth, beaten ten lengths by subsequent Group 1 winner Dreamloper (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). In good old workmanlike fashion Highfield Princess climbed the ratings to end that opening season on a mark of 83 as a four-time winner. 

Last season's delights included a victory at Royal Ascot then a first stakes success in Chelmsford City's Listed Queen Charlotte Fillies' S., and a runner-up finish to Space Blues (Ire) in the G2 City Of York S. That upwardly mobile progression has continued to the very top this season, and she has rewarded her breeder's decision to keep her in training at five by landing the valuable All-Weather Fillies' and Mares' Championship, followed by the G2 Duke of York S. and now her victory over a field which included three previous Group 1 winners.

John Fairley, who breeds under the name of Trainers House Enterprises, bought the former Godolphin mare Pure Illusion (Ire) (Danehill) when carrying Highfield Princess, a first-crop daughter of Night Of Thunder. His first piece of luck was being able to buy her for 18,000gns, and extra bonuses soon came his way when the next season the mare's 2-year-old colt by Lonhro (Aus), named Cardsharp (GB), won the Woodcote S. and G2 July S. Two years later Night Of Thunder announced himself on the scene by becoming champion first-season sire. Though Highfield Princess was not among his 25 first-crop juvenile winners, she will now become his top-rated runner among three Group 1 winners for the son of Dubawi in Ireland, France and Australia. She could yet extend that geographical range to America, with Quinn keen to take his stable star to the Breeders' Cup meeting at Keeneland.

Sadly for Fairley, Pure Illusion died after producing just one more foal after Highfield Princess, and that 2-year-old colt by Aclaim (Ire) is now in training alongside her and has been named Highland Viking (GB).

Brilliant Buick, Marvellous Moore

It has been a good season so far for those racing fans who prefer their jockeys to be boringly brilliant.

William Buick, who arguably should be the current champion jockey, is in the form of his life and is pushing full steam ahead in his quest to gain that accolade this year, currently racking up the winners at a rate of 25%. Buick returned from his Saratoga Derby and Oaks double over the weekend for Charlie Appleby to take up three rides at Wolverhampton on Monday. Now that's dedication.

Ryan Moore has already been champion jockey on three occasions, and his flitting between Britain and Ireland to fulfil his Ballydoyle obligations means that his tally of winners is more or less equally divided between the two nations, but it is a list certainly not short on quality. Four of his five winners of the last week have been in stakes company, led by Little Big Bear and including a treble at Deauville last Tuesday for three different trainers. 

There's something almost perversely pleasurable about a Ryan Moore post-race interview in that you almost don't want to watch because it's so very clear how much he's hating it, but you have to stick with it to the end just in case he cracks a faint smile, which is all the more special for its rarity value. While Moore sensibly refuses to play the court jester for the media, he is however absolutely superb in his debriefings with owners and trainers. Those charged with promoting the sport may argue that that's not enough, but it is, first and foremost, his job.

The amusing postscript to Little Big Bear's triumph was found in these words from Aidan O'Brien: “Ryan was very complimentary about him and there's not too many horses Ryan is complimentary of.”

Spin? Possibly. But then this was the man who dismounted from his first victory in the Oaks on Snow Fairy and said, “Well it's not the Derby, is it?” The likelihood is that Moore, along with the rest of us, thinks that Little Big Bear is very exciting indeed. 

And to this observer, having two jockeys of the class demonstrated by Buick and Moore, both on and off their horses, is all the excitement one needs. Let's leave the drama and angst to others.

All Roads Lead to Deauville

The strange world within a world that is the bloodstock sales scene cranks into top gear this weekend with the start of the European yearling season in France. 

Readers of The Times may have been disheartened by last week's 'Litany of gloom' leader forewarning of another major recession for Britain, but that is unlikely to upset the bull run of the yearling sales. Not yet anyway, and not while there is such a clamour for European-bred turf horses with a touch of middle-distance class from our colleagues in America, Australia and beyond.

Pre-pandemic, Arqana's August Sale hit a new high just shy of €43 million in 2019, and it wasn't far off that last year when the sale returned to its normal slot after a disrupted calendar in 2020, and almost €40 million was traded for 244 yearlings. The catalogue is slightly smaller this year, but it is fair to expect some pretty red hot trade as temperatures soar again in Europe. 

Hottest among the trainers in France is the unstoppable Jean-Claude Rouget, who reached a new milestone this weekend when saddling his 7,000th winner, thereby extending his European record as the winningmost trainer. 

On the day of his victory with Vadeni (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the Eclipse at Sandown, Rouget spoke of the slow beginning to his 43-year training career, when he was training “some jumpers and some bad Flat horses”.

Rouget's recent former assistant Tim Donworth has made a quicker start to his own training career, which began last September. The Chantilly-based Irishman now has 13 winners to his name, and recorded his first stakes win on Saturday with Ocean Vision (Ire) (U S Navy Flag) in the Listed Prix de la Vallee d'Auge, in which he also trained the third home, Kokachin (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).

La Vie Est Belle 

Although there was only one non-German-trained runner in Sunday's G1 Preis der Diana, there was still a strong international feel to the result, with the French-bred Toskana Belle becoming the first Group 1 winner for her Normandy-based sire Shamalgan (Fr), a son of Footstepsinthesand (GB). Furthermore, the filly is now owned by Australian Bloodstock, and she was ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, who was making a flying visit to Europe to ride in the Shergar Cup at Ascot on Saturday and stayed on an extra day to land his second European Classic victory following the St Leger win of Rule Of Law (Kingmambo) in 2004.

Luke Murrell and Jamie Lovett of Australian Bloodstock have long had ties to Germany, where their racing and breeding interests are managed by Ronald Rauscher and include the Gestut Rottgen-based stallion Protectionist (Ger). Like Toskana Belle, the Melbourne Cup-winning son of Monsun (Ger) was trained by Andreas Wohler, who collected his seventh German Oaks victory while, remarkably, the Australian Bloodstock syndicate has now won the race three times. 

Toskana Belle, who only started her racing career this April, was initially under the care of Marian Falk Weissmeier, for whom she finished third in the G3 Diana Trial in June before joining the Wohler stable. She was bred by Simon Springer of Ecurie Normandie Pur Sang, who also owns her sire and the Prix Morny winner Dabirsim (Fr). Unusually, Springer bought Shamalgan, now 15, at the Arqana December Sale five years ago for €135,000, and both stallions stand at Haras de Grandcamp. 

Springer's own colours were carried to success in France just minutes after Toskana Belle's Classic success when his homebred son of Dabirsim, Celestin (Fr), won the Grand Handicap de Deauville.

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Kerrin McEvoy Back In European Classic Action

Classic-winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy is making the most of his week-long trip to Europe by riding in the Shergar Cup on Saturday followed by the G1 Preis de Diana in Dusseldorf on Sunday.

A treble winner of the Melbourne Cup, McEvoy joins Christophe Lemaire, Takeshi Yokoyama and Jason Collett on the Rest of the World team for Saturday's unique fixture at Ascot, which welcomes back McEvoy's former Godolphin colleague Frankie Dettori to the Shergar Cup for the first time in six years. 

The Australian spent four years riding in Britain, predominantly for Saeed Bin Suroor, from 2004, during which time he won the St Leger on Rule Of Law, as well as the G1 St James's Palace S. on Shamardal and the G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois aboard Dubawi (Ire). His most recent big-race success in his home country came in May in the G1 Doomben Cup when riding Huetor (Fr) for Peter and Paul Snowden.

The rider confirmed by text message as he was about to board a flight from Sydney to the UK on Monday that he will also return to European Classic action on Sunday when he takes the ride in the German Oaks equivalent on Toskana Belle (Fr) for Andreas Wohler. The German trainer previously teamed up with the owners of the filly, Australian Bloodstock, to win the 2014 Melbourne Cup with Protectionist (Ger), who sired Sunday's G1 Grosser Dallmayr Preis-Bayerisches Zuchtrennen runner-up Amazing Grace (Ger).

Toskana Belle, a daughter of Shamalgan (Fr) was third in the G3 Diana Trial after winning the Listed Henkel-Stutenpreis at Dusseldorf in May. She is currently around 14/1 for the Preis der Diana, with the Aidan O'Brien-trained Toy (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) co-favourite with Gestut Schlenderhan's Mountaha (Ger) (Giuliani {Ger}) at 9/2.

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