Set alight by Cristian Demuro approaching two out, the 2-1 favourite who is G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches-bound swamped Godolphin's Vertbois (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) a furlong later en route to an authoritative three-length success. Last year's Criterium d'Ete winner Jasna's Secret (Fr) (Galiway {GB}), who had started favourite for the G1 Cheveley Park S. only to disappoint when last seen, was a further length behind in third.

“I think she might have hurt herself on her debut at Saint-Cloud, but she showed a lot of quality in her second race and now she will go straight to the [G1] Poule d'Essai des Pouliches,” Rouget said. “She has six weeks now and the season is long, so she will go there directly. Siyouni is extraordinary–when they are good they are good and it's not only me who thinks that, if I could only train them it would be good. We've taught her to relax and I think for now the mile will be okay.”

Louise Procter, a €360,000 Arqana Deauville August graduate, joins the likes of St Mark's Basilica (Fr), Sottsass (Fr), Paddington (GB) and Tahiyra (Ire) as she adds to her sire's TDN Rising Star tally. She is the third foal out of the Chelsey Flower S. winner Create A Dream (Oasis Dream {GB}), whose second is last year's California Derby runner-up Phosphorescence (Fr) (City Of Light).

The aforementioned Anabaa's Creation, who captured the Listed Prix Isonomy before placing in the G1 Prix Saint-Alary in this country, was also runner-up in the GI Clement L. Hirsch S. She is a half-sister to the G3 Prix Cleopatre winner Leo's Starlet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose full-sibling Starlet's Sister (Ire) is the dam of the Arc hero Sottsass himself, the champion turf female Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), the multiple group and graded-stakes scorer and GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf and GI Flower Bowl S. runner-up My Sister Nat (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}) and another notable Siyouni in the G1 Hopeful S. runner-up Shin Emperor (Fr).
Create A Dream also has the 2-year-old filly Say Yes To Dreams (Ire) again by Siyouni and a yearling son of Dark Angel (Ire) to come.

Classic contender!

Siyouni filly Louise Procter has French Classic entries and makes a blistering return to action in the Du Belvedere Stakes at @fgchantilly for Cristian Demuro and Jean-Claude Rouget… pic.twitter.com/jlA9ryIeSl

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) March 28, 2024

3rd-Chantilly, €35,000, Cond, 3-28, 3yo, 7f (AWT), 1:27.46, st.
LOUISE PROCTER (FR), f, 3, by Siyouni (Fr)
   1st Dam: Create A Dream, by Oasis Dream (GB)
   2nd Dam: Anabaa's Creation (Ire), by Anabaa
   3rd Dam: Premiere Creation (Fr), by Green Tune
Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, €49,500. O-White Birch Farm; B-St Elias Stable LLC (FR); T-Jean-Claude Rouget. *€360,000 Ylg '22 ARQAUG. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Classic Filly Comes Good At Keeneland

Godolphin homebred Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), already a winner of the G1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, doubled her top-level tally in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. at Keeneland on Saturday and gave trainer Saeed bin Suroor his 500th group/graded win in the process (video).

A half-sister to Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), an Eclipse Award champion in the U.S. and soon to be a Darley stallion, as well as the stakes winner Modern News (GB) (Shamardal) who was twice group placed, Mawj is followed by a juvenile filly by Mastercraftsman (Ire) and a weanling filly by Dubawi. Her dam is a half-sister to G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner and sire Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), and her great granddam is the Italian champion Proskona (Mr. Prospector).

One of 18 worldwide Group 1 winners for her former Darley reverse shuttle sire, Mawj is one of three Grade I winners in the U.S. after GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner-turned-sire Outstrip (GB) and Mischief Magic (Ire), who landed the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Exceed And Excel's 42 Stateside runners have resulted in 23 winners (55%) and 11 stakes winners (26%).

Beautifully controlled by @oismurphy! Mawj wins the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland for Saeed bin Suroor… pic.twitter.com/Qt7xnQBoIF

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 14, 2023

Luck O' The Irish For Ten Sovereigns Colt

Robert and Lawana Low's Irish Gent (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) became the 24th winner for his sire at third asking when taking an off-turf affair during the Belmont at the Big A meeting for trainer Todd Pletcher (video).

Bred by Denis McCarthy, the dark bay made €130,000 as a Goffs November foal when purchased by Pier House Stud. his value rose appreciably to €500,000 when he was sent back through that ring during the Orby Sale, where Jacob West picked out the son of Indigo Butterfly (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) on behalf of the Lows. The third and last reported foal from his dam is a relative of G1 Jebel Hatta hero Dream Castle (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and that gelding's full-sister With The Moonlight (Ire), who was a three-time group/graded winner and third in the GI E. P. Taylor S.

Coolmore's Ten Sovereigns already has three stakes winners in his first crop of 2-year-olds internationally. Represented by just three runners in the U.S. so far, Irish Gent is the stallion's first American winner.

Brant Runner Collects In New York

Peter Brant homebred Francesco Clemente (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) won a Belmont at the Big A contest for Chad Brown on Thursday (video).

A winner of his first three starts for John and Thady Gosden in the UK last year, the White Birch Farm-bred earned black-type with a second in the Listed Festival S. in May. The half-brother to the multiple stakes winner and multiple group-placed Abingdon (Street Cry {Ire}) was switched to the U.S. after a start in the Listed Wolferton S. at Royal Ascot. His dam Justlookdon'touch (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is a half-sister to the influential champion Islington (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), and produced Dubawi full-siblings as her latest foals–a 3-year-old colt named Howeitat (Ire) and a 2-year-old filly christened Birkin (Ire).

Darley's Dubawi now has 37 winners from 77 runners in the U.S. (48%). His 19 North American stakes winners (25%) are anchored by three-time Grade I winner In Italian (GB).

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The winner is also the first runner for the dam, who was a stakes winner and was placed in the G3 Premio Regina Elena, GIII Noble Damsel S. and GIII Intercontinental S. Also connected to the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte-winning sire Blu Constellation (Ity) (Orpen) and the G1 Irish Champion S. and G1 Eclipse S.-winning sire Oratorio (Ire), her yearling daughter of Sottsass (Fr) is catalogued in the upcoming Tattersalls Ireland September Sale.

4th-Clairefontaine, €30,000, Cond, 8-18, 2yo, c/g, 8fT, 1:42.10, vs.
DE SICA (FR) (c, 2, Demarchelier {GB}–Stella Di Camelot {Ire}, by Camelot {GB}) Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, €22,100. O/B-White Birch Farm (FR); T-Jean-Claude Rouget. Video, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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He had already caused a stir at Newmarket last October, when knocked down for 2.4-million guineas at Tattersalls' Book 1 sale, but was unable to fulfil a June engagement over this strip after suffering an allergic reaction. There was a buzz in the air for this belated debut and the April-foaled bay was hammered down to odds-on favouritism. The eventual winner was slightly askew leaving the gates and soon recovered to stalk the tempo in a prominent second. Asked to stretch soon after passing halfway, the 2-5 pick quickened stylishly to seize control approaching the final furlong and powered clear in impressive fashion to easily outclass Guildenstern (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) by 4 3/4 lengths.

Frankel, a 'TDN Rising Star' himself, now has 37 on a roster which also features multiple Group 1 winner Nashwa (GB), Sunday's G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois contender Onesto (Ire) and leading juvenile filly and stablemate Ylang Ylang (GB).

“We had him ready to run about a month ago, but he'd a little setback so we had to stop and start again,” O'Brien explained. “We wanted to get him out and he was ready to come racing today. Ryan [Moore] said he was very babyish, but he obviously has a massive engine. He doesn't even know what he's at yet, he only came on the bridle with 50 yards to go and only realised he was racing then. We felt he could go anywhere, but looking at today you'd like to give him another run somewhere before he goes for a big one. He was absolutely half-speeding with horses [at home], but didn't take hold of the bridle today. That can happen first time as it did with Paddington first time in Ascot last year. He's probably going to come on and learn a lot from it.”

Diego Velazquez, immediately identifiable due to his four white socks, has the option of Leopardstown's G2 Golden Fleece S. on Irish Champions Weekend next month, according to the trainer.

Diego Velazquez, the latest of 11 foals, becomes the seventh for Listed National S. victrix Sweepstake (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), whose own dam Dust Flicker (GB) (Suave Dancer) is a full-sister to G3 Prix de la Nonette victrix Dust Dancer (GB). Dust Dancer, in turn, is the second dam of G1 Phoenix S.-winning sire Zoffany (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) and G3 Bengough S. winner Projection (GB) (Acclamation {GB}). Dust Flicker is also kin to G3 Fred Darling S. heroine Bulaxie (GB) (Bustino {GB}), herself the dam of G2 Premio Lydia Tesio victrix Claxon (GB) (Caerleon). Claxon is responsible for GIII Hillsborough S. victrix Cassydora (GB) (Darshaan {GB}), whose three stakes scorers include multiple Group 3 winner Ernest Hemingway (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and G3 Prix d'Aumale victrix Toulifaut (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). The winner's siblings include G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud victor Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and MGSW G1 Vincent O'Brien National S. and G1 Coronation Cup placegetter Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}).

The further he goes, the better he looks!

Diego Velazquez, who went for 2.4million guineas as a yearling, came with a huge home reputation and he's justified strong market support on debut.

We'll be hearing plenty more about this Frankel colt!@coolmorestud | @curraghrace pic.twitter.com/SCjsaf94NO

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 12, 2023

1st-Curragh, €20,000, Mdn, 8-12, 2yo, 7fT, 1:27.22, gd.
DIEGO VELAZQUEZ (IRE), c, 2, by Frankel (GB)
1st Dam: Sweepstake (Ire) (SW & GSP-Eng & US, $114,162), by Acclamation (GB)
2nd Dam: Dust Flicker (GB), by Suave Dancer
3rd Dam: Galaxie Dust, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
(2,400,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT) Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, €11,800. *1/2 to Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}), G1SW-Fr, MGSW & G1SP-Ire, GSW-Eng & UAE, GISP-US, $2,756,270; and Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}), MGSW & G1SP-Ire, GSW & G1SP-Eng, $413,216. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Smith, Magnier, Tabor, Westerberg & Brant; B-Epona Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore.

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Havana Cigar failed to make best use of his stands' side draw and was steadied at the tail of the six-runner field after missing a beat at the kick. Powering by rivals inside the final quarter-mile, the 12-5 second favourite surged beyond the pacesetting 'TDN Rising Star' Alcantor (Fr) (New Bay {GB}) entering the final furlong and quickened clear in highly impressive fashion to hit the line strong and five lengths ahead of the outclassed Gotta Skedaddle (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) in second.

“I'm aware the horse of Monsieur Fabre's [Alcantor] started as the [1-2] favourite, but Havana Cigar is a very nice colt too and he had won well at Saint-Cloud first time out,” the winning trainer said. “Maybe he didn't have the best possible trip, being positioned where he was in rear early, but he has good speed and quality and quickened well. He will be fine for Deauville with his next start possibly in the [July 30 G3] Prix de Cabourg.”

Pedigree Notes
Havana Cigar is the first of two foals produced by an unraced half-sister to G3 Cumberland Lodge S. victor Danehill Kodiac (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). The February-foaled grey, a 21,000gns Tattersalls December foal turned 150,000gns October Book 2 yearling, is kin to a yearling colt by Showcasing (GB). Descendants of his third dam Marl (GB) (Lycius) include G1 Australian Cup hero Spillway (GB) (Rail Link {GB}) and G3 Summer S. victrix Light Refrain (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

6th-Chantilly, €34,000, Cond, 7-1, 2yo, 6fT, 1:11.28, g/s.
HAVANA CIGAR (GB), c, 2, by Havana Grey (GB)
1st Dam: Speculating (Ire), by Xtension (Ire)
2nd Dam: Meadow (GB), by Green Desert
3rd Dam: Marl (GB), by Lycius
(21,000gns Wlg '21 TATFOA; 150,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT) Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, €32,000. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.
O-White Birch Farm; B-Josh Cameron (GB); T-Jean-Claude Rouget; J-Cristian Demuro.

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“She was never away [from home], as she was so babyish, she was working very well and we're delighted with her,” O'Brien said. “It was nice to see her doing that and she's probably going to come on leaps and bounds. Ryan [Moore] gave her one back-hander to get down and stretch and said she was only playing in front. The [G2] Debutante S. should be perfect for her. She's working with the good colts no problem, which is usually a very good sign.”

Pedigree Notes
Ylang Ylang is the first of two foals out of Listed Pretty Polly S., Listed Height Of Fashion S. and Listed Chalice S. placegetter Shambolic (Ire) (Shamardal). The March-foaled bay's dam, who has a yearling colt by Kingman (GB) to come, is a half-sister to dual G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup-winning multiple Hong Kong champion Comic Strip (GB) (Marju {Ire}) and GI Flower Bowl Invitational and GI Diana S. heroine Laughing (Ire) (Dansili {GB}). Shambolic is also a half-sister to the unraced Blinking (GB) (Marju {Ire}), whose descendants include stakes-winning G3 Lillie Langtry S. third Twitch (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), stakes-winning G3 Premio Dormello third Romsey (GB) (Mukhadram {GB}) and G3 Sweet Solera S. third Mottisfont (Ire) (Adaay {Ire}).

2nd-Curragh, €20,000, Mdn, 6-30, 2yo, f, 7fT, 1:25.50, gd.
YLANG YLANG (GB), f, 2, by Frankel (GB)
1st Dam: Shambolic (Ire) (MSP-Eng), by Shamardal
2nd Dam: Comic (Ire), by Be My Chief
3rd Dam: Circus Act (GB), by Shirley Heights (GB)
(1,500,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT) Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, €11,800. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Magnier, Tabor, Smith, Brant & Westerberg; B-Newsells Park Stud & Merry Fox Stud (GB); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore.

Ylang Ylang wins the Kildare House Hotel Maiden under Ryan Moore for trainer Aidan O'Brien.

Many congratulations to all involved. pic.twitter.com/X8LagJ3XIr

— The Curragh Racecourse (@curraghrace) June 30, 2023

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The post Night Of Thunder Colt Goes For 575k Gns To MV Magnier and White Birch Farm appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“He is a nice, uncomplicated horse, we like to see them finish the way he did and it is very promising for the future,” commented trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. “He is an easy horse to train, he is easy to ride and a real pleasure to deal with. He could be a horse for next year's French [2000] Guineas, but first we will try to run him in the [G1] Criterium International at Saint-Cloud if all is well with him.”

Kubrick, the seventh of eight foals, becomes the third scorer produced by Listed Prix de la Cochere runner-up Rosa Bonheur (Mr. Greeley), herself a daughter of G2 Prix Robert Papin victrix Rolly Polly (Ire) (Mukaddamah). The April-foaled homebred bay is a half-brother to GI Hollywood Derby, GI Shoemaker Mile and GI Maker's Mark Mile hero Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and a yearling filly by No Nay Never.

Thursday, ParisLongchamp, France
PRIX DES CHENES-G3, €80,000, ParisLongchamp, 9-8, 2yo, c/g, 8fT, 1:41.80, sf.
1–KUBRICK (IRE), 128, c, 2, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Rosa Bonheur (SP-Fr), by Mr. Greeley
2nd Dam: Rolly Polly (Ire), by Mukaddamah
3rd Dam: Rare Sound (Ire), by Rarity (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. O/B-White Birch Farm (IRE); T-Jean-Claude Rouget; J-Cristian Demuro. €40,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, €62,400. Werk Nick Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Adelaide River (Ire), 128, c, 2, Australia (GB)–Could It Be Love, by War Front. 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (XX). O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Westerberg; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €16,000.
3–Pivotal Trigger (GB), 128, c, 2, Pivotal (GB)–Allegretto (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (62,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Yuesheng Zhang; B-Cheveley Park Stud Ltd (GB); T-Jessica Harrington. €12,000.
Margins: NK, 3/4, 2. Odds: 3.10, 1.60, 13.00.
Also Ran: Bolshkinov (Fr), Hayejohn (Fr), Cte d'Escarbagnas (Fr). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.

Here's Kubrick! The Dubawi colt shines late on to beat Adelaide River in the Group 3 Prix des Chenes at @paris_longchamp! @CristianDemuro pic.twitter.com/Z74MeDbrrQ

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) September 8, 2022

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The post Another Big One for Gun Runner in Saratoga appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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It is also, lest we forget, staged on a benign surface. As such, it is also a win for a whole community that needs to present its way of life to the wider world with absolute confidence. To a degree, you could almost say that the rapid maturity of the elite turf schedule devised by NYRA has become one way for the East Coast to complement the fantastic recent work, celebrated here a couple of weeks ago, on the dirt tracks of California.

In fact, you could even argue that it also dovetails with the progressive aspirations that have just inaugurated the HISA era. We know that some people will cling stubbornly to the wreckage, fiercely opposing federal interference with their constitutional right to treat the training of Thoroughbreds as a branch of pharmacology. But it's good to see so many industry stakeholders beginning to see the bigger picture; to recognize the trouble we've been inviting for ourselves, and to do something about it.

Click the play button below to listen to this week's edition of This Side Up.

And that's heartening, because right now we only have to look around to realize what a special product we have to share, if only we get our act together.

Look at last weekend, and look what's coming down the tracks, and shout it from the rooftops: we have a great game here. Provided we care for them as they deserve–and that includes the provision of scrupulously maintained dirt tracks, and a properly respected turf/synthetics division–we could have no more captivating advocate than these noble horses of ours.

So long as we have Saratoga, we still have a chance. Much as can again be said of Santa Anita, here's a sanctuary from the cares of life to win over even the most surly and snarling of sceptics. And the meet looks more exciting than ever after Olympiad (Speightstown) and Life Is Good (Into Mischief) threw down the gauntlet for the GI Whitney S.

The one pity is that they've dropped all talk of Flightline (Tapit) shipping back across for that race, too. Connections would evidently rather stay in his backyard, this time, even at the cost of a more abrupt step up in distance. We won't reprise our irritation that this huge talent should have become such an extreme example of the modern horseman's dread of actually racing a racehorse. But we all know that while life may indeed be good, it seldom contrives its very best possibilities. And experience sadly tells us that the idea of all three of these horses converging on the same race at the Breeders' Cup, in the same form as now, is a fanciful one.

What we do know is that right here, right now, we could put on one of the great races of our time. Nobody can be complacent about that happening in November, especially if their respective fortunes in the meantime happen to make the Dirt Mile more tempting than the Classic. Of course, we can't expect individual horsemen to base their gameplan on sheer altruism, when they need to redeem such heavy stakes already committed to the industry. But it does just seem a shame that when people start comparing horses to greats of the past, very often they don't see them measured even against the best of their contemporaries.

That became a familiar charge against Frankel (GB), albeit without eroding his status as one of the undisputed giants of the breed. The relentless style trademarked by his stock, in what is proving a no less brilliant stud career, has only heightened regret that he spurned both the Arc and the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Frankel / Juddmonte

But we have long become bleakly familiar with the schism nowadays dividing the industries either side of the pond. The only real trafficking between them today is about plugging the gaps in American grass racing. Frankel's two daughters in the GI Belmont Oaks show that this can be done by participation or trade: one, homebred by Godolphin, mounts a raid from Newmarket; the other was imported from that same town as a yearling. A third way is elaborated, however, by the presence in the colts' race of Stone Age (Ire), a White Birch-bred son of Galileo (Ire) shared by farm owner Peter Brant with partners from Coolmore. It's a massive tribute to the impresarios behind the Turf Triple that once again, as with last year's winner Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), this race has been chosen as the next target for Ballydoyle's principal candidate in the Epsom Derby itself.

Yet while the import market for European horses-in-training and yearlings grows ever stronger, it somehow remains impossible even for highly eligible European stallions to achieve commercial traction in Kentucky. Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}) was retired as the highest earner in the history of the Juddmonte program, and supplanted only by a member of his own family in Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). Yet during his final spring in the Bluegrass–when his first crop had just turned three, one of its members flying into fifth of 19 in the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club–he was outrageously reduced to just eight mares.

American horsemen increasingly talk a good game about turf, but in practice most of them are no less culpable than Europeans about dirt blood. I know this is a drum I have long since banged to a pulp, but it's worth reflecting that all four of Stone Age's grandparents were bred in Kentucky: the icons Sadler's Wells and Urban Sea obviously stand behind Galileo, while his dam is by Danzig's son Anabaa out of an Alysheba mare. Stone Age's maternal line actually tapers to none other than La Troienne (Fr), but as eighth dam she is also the first not to have been conceived with Kentucky seed.

For sure, some horses are more versatile than others. Tiz The Bomb (Hit It A Bomb), for instance, was plainly born for chlorophyll. His connections were originally talking about a tilt at the Classics in Britain, only to be seduced to Churchill–understandably enough–when he found himself with those coveted starting points. Look closer, however, and you'll see that this horse, too, cautions against a prescriptive view of surfaces: his first two dams are by avowed dirt influences, in Tiznow and A.P. Indy, yet both ended up on turf.

His trainer also saddles recent recruit Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway), famously one of three colts from the final crop of one of the last of the old school, a crossover force in both careers. As befits a son of the Iron Horse, he is being turned round just two weeks after his debut for the barn. That kind of thing makes Kenny McPeek a real outlier, in this day and age. And that's why, when I see the future, actually I don't see it working at all.

Not, that is, until breeders start renewing the kind of cross-pollination that previously opened such dynamic cycles in the evolution of the Thoroughbred, from Nasrullah going one way to all those sons of Northern Dancer going the other. In those days, we bred robust horses by the constant, mutual invigoration of the gene pool, either side of the water. If cynical, in-and-out, fast-buck trading in the freshman window is producing horses that can only run every couple of months, that's actually a welfare issue. So while we have found one welcome oasis, we must navigate with care if our final destination is not to prove a mirage.

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