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Rising Stars: The Ones That Got Away

For all that the annual parade of TDN Rising Stars is generally a formidable one, there are always those that just miss the cut and who forge on to bring that familiar sense of regret and longing from our team here. Of the Europeans who were closely considered but ultimately left out of the picture, none stings more than Ballydoyle's rugged Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never), who first appeared in the five-furlong Dundalk maiden in early April won in the past by Scat Daddy's high-achieving Caravaggio and Skitter Scatter. Mostly workmanlike on this debut, the future star of two of the six-furlong peaks of his generation was judged more in the mould of two of his stable's more recent winners of this race in Cadamosto (Ire), another son of No Nay Never who failed to hit the heights, and King Neptune (War Front). How wrong we were! Like fellow luminaries Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Silver Knott (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), he was only hinting at the depth of his ability on his Polytrack bow and is truly the one that got away. Below are a few others who, like Blackbeard, were denied Rising Star status but unlike him will be racing in 2023 with the chance to prove us wrong.

COMMISSIONING (GB) (f, Kingman {GB}–Sovereign Parade {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire})

While Kingman enjoys a swathe of TDN Rising Stars, due to his progeny's tendency to instantly wow as he did when handed the tag himself on the July Course at Newmarket 10 years ago, Isa Salman and Abdulla Al Khalifa's homebred was left out of the reckoning after her imposing win there in the summer. John and Thady Gosden's G1 Fillies' Mile and G2 Rockfel S. heroine is a class act and a glaring omission from the ranks. We hold our hands up.

MEDITATE (IRE) (f, No Nay Never–Pembina {Ire}, by Dalakhani {Ire})

Oh, Meditate! How could we? Or how could we not is our question after her emphatic Curragh debut win, also in April. Our only alibi is that the Ballydoyle juveniles at this time of year come thick and fast and it is hard to select the real deals among them. Although she was brushed aside by TDN Rising Star Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G1 Moyglare Stud S., her GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf romp suggests she is going to be reminding us of our misdemeanour for some time to come.

TRILLIUM (GB) (f, No Nay Never–Marsh Hawk {GB}, by Invincible Spirit {Ire})

Another filly who looks destined for the top, Rockcliffe Stud's homebred looked highly promising at Newbury in July and was as close as it gets to getting on our TDN Rising Star radar without making it. We were left flinching after her G3 Molecomb S. win and defeat of the Abbaye winner The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) in the G2 Flying Childers S., and she is readily forgiven her G1 Cheveley Park S. flop which was probably one run too many. Whether the Richard Hannon stable would forgive us for not bestowing on her the TDN's chief monicker is another question. Expect big things in 2023 from this talent.

MIDNIGHT MILE (IRE) (f, No Nay Never–Ruby Tuesday {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire})

Another daughter of No Nay Never who deserved more of the spotlight when impressing with her finishing surge on her Doncaster debut in July and who made that clear with another strong closing effort to win the G3 Oh So Sharp S. It has been a while since Roisin Henry's colours have been prominent and the way that Richard Fahey's intriguing stable figurehead went through the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf behind Meditate suggests they can be so again.

DRAGON ICON (IRE) (c, Lope De Vega {Ire}–Matauri Pearl {Ire}, by Hurricane Run {Ire})

Maidens and novices at Kempton in November aren't always the strongest, but there was a lot to like about the way Yoshiro Kubota's full-brother to Aunt Pearl (Ire) went through his seven-furlong introduction and jockey David Egan was notably impressed. While the make-up of the race made it a touch difficult to grant a TDN Rising Star tag, it would be no surprise if the Roger Varian trainee, whose dam is a full-sister to another smart Stateside performer in Wekeela (Fr), comes to the fore in 2023.

CIRCLE OF FIRE (GB) (c, Almanzor {Fr}–Fiery Sunset {GB}, by Galileo {Ire})

What would a list of promising Classic prospects be without a member of Sir Michael Stoute's Freemason Lodge? One of the last of The Queen's winners, the half-brother to the GIII San Francisco Mile scorer Evening Sun (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) looks all over a Derby type and while his novice win over a mile at Salisbury in September was not quite enough to clinch TDN Rising Star status he has all the materials to be a leading light for The King.

RAJAPOUR (IRE) (c, Almanzor {Fr}–Raydara {Ire}, by Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire})

Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) proved last year what Jean-Claude Rouget can do with an Aga Khan homebred and Rajapour went slightly under the Rising Star radar on his debut at Deauville August. Two wins later, the son of the G2 Debutante S. scorer Raydara (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) was back there taking the Listed Prix Isonomy which Montjeu (Ire) captured in 1998, and he is one of the most exciting among France's Classic crop.

SOUL SISTER (IRE) (f, Frankel {GB}–Dream Peace {Ire}, by Dansili {GB})

It would be remiss not to include a Frankel here, albeit one that prevailed only narrowly on her sole start when getting the better of the experienced Doom (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) over a mile on testing ground at Doncaster on her sole start in October. Bred to be a smart middle-distance performer, Lady Bamford's daughter of the G2 Prix de la Nonette winner and multiple Grade I-placed Dream Peace is a half-sister to past TDN Rising Star Guru (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who ultimately proved to be disappointing. From the family of Moonstone (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}) and Cerulean Sky (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}) et al, the John and Thady Gosden-trained homebred performed to a high standard on her debut and has every chance of being a top-class performer at three.

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Bumper Saturday For Juveniles at HQ and Beyond

Newmarket's three-day Cambridgeshire meeting's titular event, the annual nine-furlong cavalry charge boasting a purse of £200,000, is overshadowed by two Group 1 championships on a bumper Saturday of juvenile action at Headquarters and beyond.

First of the elite-level heats is the six-furlong G1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park S., with ante-post markets pointing to an effective match between Coolmore and Westerberg's Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Rockcliffe Stud's homebred Trillium (GB) (No Nay Never). In reality, it is an open edition which also features G2 Lowther S. victrix Swingalong (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), G3 Round Tower S. winner Treasure Trove (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) and a Group 3-winning duo, Juliet Sierra (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) and Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}), from the Ralph Beckett stable. Meditate forfeited her unblemished record when her standard was lowered by Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. on Irish Champions Weekend and this swift-draining surface offering more bounce will bolster her chances of redemption. August's G2 Debutante S. heroine also revisits the distance of Royal Ascot's G3 Albany S., over which she outshone 'TDN Rising Star' Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and Sydneyarms Chelsea (Ire) (Sioux Nation), but opposition is deep and she must draw from the well once more.

Trillium Nearing Full Bloom

Richard Hannon resident Trillium (GB) (No Nay Never) has displayed plenty of zip in all four prior starts and embraces a return to six furlongs after annexing Goodwood's G3 Molecomb and Doncaster's G2 Flying Childers over five. She shed maiden status in style when tackling a downhill six at the Sussex track in July and her trainer expects a reboot to suit the April-foaled bay.

“She held the track record for a matter of minutes [after the Molecomb],” he revealed. “Then, at Doncaster, she beat the filly [The Platinum Queen] who beat her track record. I won this in 2014 with Tiggy Wiggy and she had a lot of speed, but Trillium has a lot of scope and only gets going a furlong out. I've always thought she wants six furlongs and I'm very hopeful.”

Blackbeard To Plunder More Booty

Saturday's £275,000 G1 Juddmonte Middle Park S. is also blessed with quality and a field of eight will assemble for another dash across the final three-quarters of Newmarket's Rowley Mile. Coolmore and Westerberg's G3 Marble Hill and G2 Prix Robert Papin victor Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never) will bid to become the ninth colt this century to have garnered France's G1 Prix Morny en route to glory here, a list which includes former Ballydoyle luminary Johannesburg (Hennessy). The February-foaled bay, whose year-younger full-sister is catalogued as lot 93 on day one of Goffs' forthcoming Orby sale, renews rivalry with Amo Racing's ultra-consistent G2 July S. winner Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who ran second in the G1 Phoenix S. before occupying the same slot in the Morny.

“I'm going in there with a horse we know is good enough,” insisted the latter's trainer Richard Hannon. “He has lasted all year and he has proved himself at the top level. Blackbeard is a very good horse who probably beat us fair and square in France, but half a length is the sort of margin to have another go at him with. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose.”

Strength in depth is provided by Prix Morny third The Antarctic (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), Godolphin's G3 Sirenia S. winner Mischief Magic (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), G2 Gimcrack S. runner-up Marshman (GB) (Harry Angel {Ire}) and impressive Yarmouth novice scorer Zoology (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}).

The Zousome Twosome

Widden Stud's antipodean sire sensation Zoustar (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}) has hit the ground running with his first Northern Hemisphere crop, striking for 11 individual winners headed by Marc Chan and Andrew Rosen's G3 Princess Margaret S. victrix Lezoo (Ire). The €110,000 Arqana Breeze-Up graduate, whose lone defeat in four outings was a G2 Duchess of Cambridge second at the town's summer venue, takes her place alongside nine for the G1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park.

Qatar Racing's four-length debut winner Zoology (GB), who was a 90,000gns Tattersalls December foal and trainer James Ferguson's first juvenile scorer of the campaign, doubles up for the sire and flies the Southern Cross in the G1 Juddmonte Middle Park. Bold shows from either, or both, should cap a fine week for the Tweenhills operation which recently revealed the G1 Golden Rose S. and G1 Coolmore Stud S. hero is to shuttle this way for the 2023 breeding season.

Earning Your Wings

Opening HQ's seven-race programme, the one-mile G2 Juddmonte Royal Lodge S. has attracted a field of four, with the winner entitled to a fees-paid berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland in early November.

With three 'TDN Rising Stars', all subsequent multiple Group 1 winners, already in the race's hall of fame–Jukebox Jury (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and Best Of Days (GB) (Azamour {Ire})–Godolphin's Flying Honours (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) qualifies as the only contender attempting to become a fourth such victor. He carries the best form into this test and ratified a 9 1/2-length demolition at Sandown in July with another daylight exhibition in last month's Listed Stonehenge S. at Salisbury. Aidan O'Brien, on the lookout for a record-equalling eighth renewal, is represented by Roscommon maiden scorer Greenland (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}).

Getting Two Little Ducks In A Row

Of the many records Aidan O'Brien does not track, none matches his vice-like grip on Saturday's seven-runner G2 Alan Smurfit Memorial Beresford S. at the Curragh, with the modern maestro poised on an astonishing 21 wins in the one-mile juvenile test. Azamour (Ire) (Night Shift) and Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) are two of just four to have interrupted the sequence since Johan Cruyff (GB) (Danehill) set the ball rolling in 1996, that first win coming five years after the trainer's namesake and original Ballydoyle denizen, Vincent, claimed the last of a then-record 15 with El Prado (Ire) (Sadler's Wells).

In the quest for 22 overall and 12 straight, O'Brien has clipped his five-day entry of 21 down to two, Wayne Lordan taking the mount on this month's G3 Prix des Chenes second Adelaide River (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and Emmet McNamara aboard last month's landmark winner Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}).

Later on the Co. Kildare card is a €1,234,000 reincarnation of the Goffs Million, which appears at the mercy of Teme Valley Racing's G3 Tyros S. runner-up and Listed Churchill S. winner Hellsing (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) and Ballydoyle's lone nominee Hiawatha (Ire) (Camelot {GB}).

Sunday Cracker In Store

Sunday's European highlight is a mouthwatering edition of Cologne's G1 60th Preis von Europa, with seven declared for a 12-furlong cracker at the Weidenpescher venue.

Bidding to follow in the hoofprints of last year's champion Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}), 2022's star-studded cast includes this term's G1 Deutsches Derby and G1 Bayerisches Zuchtrennen hero Sammarco (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), last season's Deutsches Derby first and second Sisfahan (Fr) (Isfahan {Ger}) and Alter Adler (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}), respectively, Godolphin's G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin victor Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and G1 Bayerisches Zuchtrennen runner-up Amazing Grace (Ger) (Protectionist {Ger}).

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Scots Wha’ Hae: Flying Juveniles Have Sackville On A High

GOODWOOD, UK–Goodwood has been especially glorious this week for Ed Sackville, wearing two slightly different hats as bloodstock advisor and agent.

First, Trillium (GB) (No Nay Never) blazed a trail in the G3 Molecomb S. for the Keswick family's Rockcliffe Stud, in which Sackville has played an active role in helping to assemble a broodmare band. The filly's success was followed on Thursday by victory in the G2 Richmond S. for Dr Jim and Fitri Hay's Royal Scotsman (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), who was bought by SackvilleDonald for 125,000gns at Book 2 of last year's Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

“I have been lucky enough to be able to buy some horses for Dr Hay in the last couple of years and I am so pleased that his trust in me has been rewarded,” said the agent.

Trained by Paul and Oliver Cole, Royal Scotsman has now won two of his four starts and was third behind Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) and subsequent G2 July S. winner Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot.

Sackville continued, “Royal Scotsman looks like a hugely exciting prospect. I know that Alex Cole and his father and brother were disappointed in the Coventry and obviously now he has shown his true colours. Also, when one looks at the form of the Coventry, it looks like it was an exceptional race.”

Paul Cole added of the colt, “Nothing worries him, he is a fantastic horse. There is the possibility of stepping up in trip, but he has a lot of speed and is out of a fast mare. I can't see anything around that has as much speed as him. There are very good races on the horizon such as the Morny and potentially York [the Gimcrack]. I'm not good at making quick decisions.”

While Cole mulls his options, trainer Richard Hannon will be doing similar in regard to Trillium, who is now a dual winner.

“[Wednesday] was equally exciting,” said Sackville. “It was obviously different in that she is a homebred for the Keswick family, and to me it was a truly important homebred in that the family had Snow Lantern last year, and Snow Lantern is out of [1000 Guineas winner] Sky Lantern who was originally bought as a yearling, whereas this filly Trillium is a granddaughter of Asaawir. When the Keswicks decided to form Rockcliffe Stud Asaawir was one of the foundation mares we bought from three original mares, so to win the Molecomb with a second-generation Keswick-bred filly is arguably more significant for the stud than winning the Falmouth Stakes with Snow Lantern.”

The fourth foal of Asaawir (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}) was the dual winner and Group 3-placed Marsh Hawk (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who has now produced two black-type horses for Rockliffe Stud in Trillium and the Listed runner-up Mohawk King (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}). Her Iffraaj (GB) colt foal will be consigned as lot 113 by Highclere Stud to the forthcoming Goffs UK Premier Sale.

“We still own Marsh Hawk, who is only a 10-year-old mare. She has an Iffraaj yearling going to Doncaster and a Wootton Bassett colt foal, and she is back in foal to the great No Nay Never,” Sackville noted.

“Trillium is a very exciting prospect. I think now that she is a group winner anything else is a bonus. We will probably aim her high, be it the Morny or the Cheveley Park or the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.”

He added, “I think that the most important thing about these two horses is that they are owned by British-based owners who have put a huge amount into the business, and obviously we as an industry are hugely grateful for the international support that we get, but I think that it is nice to have some locally-owned, high-profile winners.

“The Arqana, Doncaster and Fairyhouse catalogues are already out online and I think that winners like these are a great reflection of the strength and depth of the British and Irish breeding industries.”

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