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Goffs, It’s Good To Be Back

KILDARE, Ireland–There's no denying that bloodstock sales are an important part of the business but it is what happens on the racecourse that truly counts and recent events have put an extra spring in the step of a number of breeders at Kildare Paddocks ahead of the start of the Goffs Orby Sale.

Standing outside her draft of six from Staffordstown on Monday morning was Kirsten Rausing, chatting happily with her staff and brand new director of the stud John Oxx. Rausing broke off every now and then to accept congratulations from passers-by on the second Group 1 win for her homebred Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in Cologne on Sunday. One of those passing was fellow owner/breeder Liz Barry of Manister House Stud, whose Astadash (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) had won the previous weekend's G3 Denny Cordell Lavarack & Lanwades Fillies S. The race is sponsored by Rausing, who was delighted to see a photo of Barry's grandson Alex holding aloft the giant trophy won by their homebred.

“We all know how much can go wrong with horses,” said Rausing with the experience of a breeder of some 50 years' standing, who has learnt, as we all must, to appreciate the good days.

Fortunately there have been many good days this year for the horses racing in her white and green-hooped colours, as well as for those who started their days in the paddocks of Lanwades and Staffordstown. The weekend started in excellent fashion when Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}) extended his group-race winning streak to five when landing the Underwood S., his second Group 1 victory in Australia for British ex-pat trainer Annabel Neasham.

Later that afternoon, Rausing was on the Rowley Mile to watch Sandrine (GB) (Bobby's Kitten), already the winner of the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. and G3 Albany S., finish third in the G1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park S. And the breeder was already in Ireland on Sunday afternoon by the time the Sir Mark Prescott-trained Alpinista emulated her grandam by winning the Preis von Europa 17 years after Albanova (GB) (Alzao) made Germany her own in a glorious summer of three Group 1 victories in Dusseldorf and Cologne.

Germany's leading older horse Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) and top 3-year-old Sisfahan (Ger) (Isfahan {Ger}) fought out a thrilling finish to the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden earlier this month, but Alpinista has got the better of both of them independently, the former when she won the Grosser Preis von Berlin in August, while Sisfahan was third in Sunday's Preis von Europa.

So prolific is the Lanwades 'AL' family that it is no surprise that four relations of Alpinista feature among the Staffordstown draft, including a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt out of the G3 Oh So Sharp S. runner-up Alamode (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}), who features as lot 336. The only filly in the consignment (lot 337) features Lanwades stallions on both sides of her pedigree: the daughter of Sea The Moon (Ger) is the first foal of Albizzia (GB) (Archipenko), whose Galileo (Ire) half-sister Alegra (GB) has already produced two stakes winners.

Rausing takes understandable pride that all 20 horses whose names appear in bold type on Albinista's pedigree page were bred at Lanwades, and it is doubtless the long-term thinking, planning and devotion to cultivating various families that has led to a record-breaking season for Lanwades on the racecourse this year.

Power To The Breeders

Similar comments apply to Patrick Burns of Newlands House Stud, whose draft of four contains a full-brother to another of this season's Group 1-winning fillies, Winter Power (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {Ire}), herself a graduate of the 2019 Orby Sale.

The breeder points to the catalogue page on the door of the colt who will sell as lot 294 on Wednesday and highlights the names to have appeared since he bought Winter Power's grandam Nordic Living (Ire) (Nordico) as a 4-year-old from Jim Bolger's Glebe House for IR£1,200 in 1995.

“The family's been good to me, and so has the stallion,” Burns said of the clan which includes Winter Power's listed-winning half-sister Hay Chewed (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) and G2 Ridgewood Pearl S. winner Devonshire (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}).

The stallion in question is his brother Maurice's Bungle Inthejungle, resident of Rathasker Stud and sire of another member of the Newlands House Stud draft (lot 370), the full-brother to G2 Lowther S. victrix Living In The Past (Ire). He has indeed been good to Burns, but then good breeders help to make stallions, too.

Tally-Ho Stud's season just keeps getting better and better, latterly thanks to one of the standout juvenile colts of the year, Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}), who on Saturday added the G1 Juddmonte Middle Park S. to his earlier successes in the G1 Darley Prix Morny and G2 Norfolk S. The enjoyment is undoubtedly extra sweet given that Tally-Ho also bred Perfect Power's sire Ardad–one of two freshman stallions to have supplied the winners of Newmarket's Group 1 races at the weekend, the other being Caravaggio, whose daughter Tenebrism came with a late flourish to land the Juddmonte Cheveley Park S.

Perfect Power's three-parts sister by Kodiac (GB) features among a strong draft from the stud as lot 214, alongside another five yearlings by Tally-Ho's flagship stallion, as well as one by Kodiac's son Kessaar (Ire), who has his first yearlings for sale this year. That colt (lot 384) is out of Bisous Y Besos (Ire) (Big Bad Bob), a mare who has already worked well with another of the farm's young stallions, Galileo Gold (GB), to produce Oscula (Ire), who has provided three updates since the catalogue was printed in winning the G3 Prix Six Perfections and finishing third in both the G2 Prix du Calvados and G2 Rockfel S. on Saturday.

Time For Rest

Another whose page has had a major boost since publication of the catalogue is lot 205, Tinnakill House's Dandy Man (Ire) half-sister to the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational S. winner State Of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}). The filly may have been bred just down the road from Goffs but the page has a proper transatlantic feel to it. Her dam Repose is an unraced daughter of Quiet American, while the third dam is the champion race filly It's In The Air (Mr Prospector), whose 16 wins include five Grade 1s, while her dynasty boasts such names as the Group 1 winners Storming Home (GB) and Musical Chimes.

Not only has the major win for State Of Rest–who has recently touched down in Melbourne for the next stage of his globetrotting tour–improved the page significantly but the mare's next foal, 2-year-old Tranquil Lady (Ire) (Australia {GB}), won at Galway on Sept. 7 for the same connections, Teme Valley Racing and Joseph O'Brien.

“It's all happening in the family, it's very exciting,” said Dermot Cantillon of Tinnakill House, who bought the grandam Monaassabaat (Zilzal) at Goffs back in 2007 from the late Sheikh Maktoum Al Maktoum's Gainsborough Farm. “She's a lovely filly and seems to be going down very well.”

Marju Magic For Oghill House Stud

Oghill House Stud has had notable success through daughters of Marju (Ire), with Mauresmo (Ire) having produced the G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Marcel (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), while another son of Invincible Spirit (Ire), the first-season sire Profitable (Ire), has also worked well with Marju to produce this year's G2 Queen Mary S. victrix Quick Suzy (Ire). The racy full-brother to that filly appears early in Wednesday's session as lot 247.

“We've always been big fans of Invincible Spirit and we bred his first ever winner,” said Hugh Hyland. “We are also fans of his sons, which was why we used Profitable. Quick Suzy was such a nice model that we sent the mare back. It's all about the Breeders' Cup now for Quick Suzy and we're looking forward to cheering her on.”

Quick Suzy's dam, the dual winner Snooze (Ire), also has a Belardo (Ire) colt foal on the ground and is now back in foal to Profitable.

The stud also offers a three-parts-sister to Marcel, by Invincible Spirit himself, as lot 123.

A Welcome Return

A beautiful autumnal morning for the final day of viewing added to the sense of joy for many at the sale being back in its rightful home of Kildare. Henry Beeby regularly bounds up and down the stairs next to the Goffs press room with a sprightliness that belies his fifty-something years, and his sectionals were livelier than ever on Monday.

“We're delighted to be back here,” said the Goffs Group Chief Executive. “This is what it's all about. It is the Irish national yearling sale and it needs to be in Ireland. Vendors are happy because that's where they want to be. It didn't bear contemplating going elsewhere so we're very happy to be here.”

This year's sale also features the return of the Goffs Million, a race that sets out to do exactly what it says on the tin, offering guaranteed minimum prize-money of €1 million. Graduates of this year's Orby Sale are eligible for the seven-furlong contest, which will be staged on the Curragh on Sept. 24, 2022.

Beeby said, “A noted breeder said to me that it isn't that people might come because of the Million, they will have to come. And happily the purchasers have engaged with it and said it's at the right time and at the right trip. Seven furlongs at that time of the year is the stepping stone to Classic distances, and that's what we are aspiring to sell.”

Acknowledging the difficulties faced by the the relocation of the 2020 Orby Sale to the Goffs UK complex in Doncaster, he continued, “It's no secret that last year's sale was a disappointment to us and wasn't what we hoped it would be, so it was important that we were proactive in addressing those issues, and the Million was a key part of that. We looked at lots of different things. There are some very good incentives and bonus schemes around, but generally the consensus was to have something you could get your teeth into–it's got prize-money down to tenth place, and it's got the Group 1 bonus if the winner goes on to win a Group 1 race. We've also appointed new agents in America, and created an entirely new role and agent in England and in France to add to our other agents, and that's been important. After last year we did a lot of talking to a lot of people and we had to be proactive.”

He added, “Time will tell but, happily for us, breeders have backed us with some lovely horses and the standard of the individuals is high. I've been getting some very good feedback over the last few days.”

The Goffs Orby Sale takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am each day.

The post Goffs, It’s Good To Be Back appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Classic Siblings Aid Orby Revival

By now, the story is well known: after six consecutive years of healthy trade punctuated by six-figure averages and seven-figure leading lots, Goffs is on a recovery mission with its Orby Sale after it was dealt a massive blow in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. With a 14-day mandatory quarantine steadfastly in place for any visitors to Ireland throughout last year's sale season, Goffs was forced to make some gut-wrenching decisions about its flagship sale that included relocating it to its Goffs UK headquarters in Doncaster. That disruption added to the general challenges of the pandemic saw the Orby average drop 35% year-on-year to £67,981–the sale's lowest average since 2011– while the aggregate dropped 44.5% to £21,142,000. While eight yearlings passed the half-million mark in 2019, none did so last year, the top price dropping from €3-million to £450,000.

One thing that can seemingly never be taken away from the Irish, however, is their resilience and fighting spirit, and in the interim 12 months Goffs has channeled considerable resources toward restoring Orby's lustre and bringing it back to its former glory when the sale returns to its home at Kildare Paddocks on Sept. 28 and 29.

“It's no secret that last year, for a variety of reasons, wasn't the most successful sale,” admitted Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby. “In fact, it was a disappointing sale and I've spoken at length about that. We've gone back to the drawing board and sat down and had a long, hard look at the sale.”

One of the initiatives to emerge from those discussions is the re-introduction of the revamped Goffs Million, the sale race that had served Orby well in decades past but had been shelved since 2009. Set to be run over seven furlongs at The Curragh the Saturday prior to next year's Orby sale and exclusively for 2021 Orby graduates, the €1-million Goffs Million will be Europe's richest 2-year-old race with prizemoney paid down to tenth place. Should the Goffs Million winner go on to win a Group 1 race in Ireland, Britain, France, America or Australia as a 3-year-old, they will earn an additional €100,000 bonus. Naas Racecourse will likewise stage a €100,000, six-furlong 2-year-old race for graduates of the Goffs Sportsman's Sale, which follows on from the Orby sale on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

“We gathered some customer feedback and reaction and decided we needed something that inspired people,” Beeby said. “One notable breeder said to me when we were discussing the possibility of re-introducing the Million Race, 'if you put on a race worth €1-million, Europe's richest 2-year-old race, people will have to come, because they won't want to miss out.' If they don't buy at the sale, they automatically can't have a runner in Europe's richest 2-year-old race next year.”

The winner of a €1-million juvenile race next year will come from a pool of just 444 horses, before withdrawals.

“It's a relatively small group of horses; most races are open to every horse,” Beeby said. “We're very pleased that it has gone down really well. It's not an entirely new idea; we've put a different spin on it this time, but it did great things for Goffs in the 80s, it did great things for Goffs in the 90s and we're hoping it will do great things for Goffs in what we're hoping will turn out to be the roaring 20s. It's certainly caught the interest, and a number of agents and trainers have said they're certainly coming and they're putting together groups and syndicates, and that's what it's all about.”

Beeby and his team recognize, too, that it is imperative that when those buyers come they see a set of yearlings in front of them worthy of being in Ireland's national yearling sale, and he says he believes that is what Orby will deliver this year.

“We said to our vendors and to ourselves that we really had to focus on looking for the classy racehorse,” Beeby said. “The physical specimen is at the forefront of our minds, and happily a lot of Irish breeders and vendors have backed us with what we believe is an improved draft of horses. Time will tell; I think that's for purchasers to judge, but I think if they come they will see a catalogue of very attractive horses and we hope to build the sale back from last year. Hopefully last year was a blip because the sale had been on an upward trajectory in the previous number of years.”

One front on which the Orby sale has already excelled through 2021 has been its stakes-winning graduates. Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) was bred by Grenane House Stud and purchased by MV Magnier from Whitehall Stud for €150,000 at Orby in 2019, and she has progressed from a Group 3-winning and Group 1-placed juvenile last year to a G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Prix Rothschild scorer this season, and has not missed the board in six starts at three, all in Group 1s. Bought at the same sale for €90,000 was Winter Power (Ire) (Bungleinthejungle {GB}), who provided the Orby a major boost when winning the G1 Nunthorpe S. last month.

Five-year-old mare Romantic Proposal (Ire) (Raven's Pass) has been a rapid improver this season, and she punctuated that upward mobility with a win in this month's G1 Flying Five S. Romantic Proposal was originally a €25,000 Goffs November foal and pinhooked for €55,000 at Orby by Aileen and Amy Lynam.

Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) was a €90,000 purchase from the Wildenstein Dispersal at the 2016 Orby sale, and he won his third Grade I in America when taking the Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland in April. Likewise advertising the sale overseas has been Queen Supreme (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), who was exported to South Africa and won two Group 1s there, including the Paddock S. in January, before leaving Mike de Kock to join Andrew Balding over the summer. Other 2021 Group 1 winners who went up for sale at Orby but failed to meet their reserves were G1 Matron S. victress No Speak Alexander (Ire) (Shalaa {Ire}), who was led out unsold at €190,000, and G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud scorer Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}), whose bidding stalled at €120,000.

The 2021 Orby catalogue specifically has been a beneficiary of some of these updates, with siblings to some of Orby's star graduates set to go under the hammer this time around. Whitehall Stud offers a half-sister to Mother Earth and G2 Premio Dormello winner Night Colours (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) by first-season sire Sioux Nation (lot 117), and she is bookended by two more sisters to Classic winners by first-season sires: lot 110 is a Saxon Warrior (Jpn) half-sister to Orby graduate and G1 Prix de Diane winner Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}), while lot 120 is a US Navy Flag half-sister to this year's G1 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace S. scorer Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}). Another Classic pedigree that should generate interest early in the sale is Al Eile Stud's Kingman (GB) filly out of dual Guineas winner Finsceal Beo (Ire) (Mr. Greeley) (lot 29), who is a half-sister to G2 Beresford S. winner Ol' Man River (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). Kingman's eight catalogued also include Mountarmstrong Stud's colt out of champion and stakes producer Alexander Goldrun (Ire) (Gold Away) (lot 338).

Newlands House Stud's lot 294 is a full-brother to Winter Power and two other stakes horses, while Coulonces Sales offers a Footstepsinthesand (GB) half-brother to last year's G1 Phoenix S. winner and Orby graduate Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) (lot 196).

Six sons and daughters of Galileo (Ire) are catalogued, including a filly who is the first foal out of GI Frizette S. winner Nickname (Scat Daddy) (lot 152) and a colt out of dual Group 1 winner Simply Perfect (GB) (Danehill) (lot 242), who is also the dam of G3 International S. winner Mekong River (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). There is a colt and a filly each offered by Dubawi (Ire), including lot 70, a colt out of G3 Balanchine S. winner I Am Beautiful (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) from the Monevassia branch of the Miesque line that has also produced the brilliant Rumplestiltskin (Ire), Tapestry (Ire), Loves Only You (Jpn) and Real Steel (Jpn) among others.

Dark Angel (Ire's) 17 catalogued include Owenstown Stud's full-sister to G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. winner Persuasive (Ire) and half to this season's G3 Jersey S. winner Creative Force (Ire) and the listed-winning Tisbutadream (Ire) (lot 408), all of which were sold at Orby; and a full-brother to G3 Princess Margaret S. winner Angel's Hideaway (Ire) (lot 289). Sea The Stars (Ire) has 16 catalogued including a half-sister to Hong Kong champion and Group 1 winner Irishcorrespondent (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) (lot 413). Frankel has four catalogued including Marlhill House Stud's lot 377, a colt who is a half-brother to group winners Adjusted (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and Giuseppe Piazza (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and out of a half-sister to the excellent producer In Clover (GB). Another sibling to a 2021 Group 1 winner catalogued is the Starspangledbanner (Aus) half-brother to G1 Prix Jean Prat scorer Laws Of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}) (lot 216).

Of particular appeal to those targeting the Goffs Million will be the yearlings catalogued from precocious families. In addition to the half-brother to Lucky Vega, those include siblings to the winners of this year's G2 Queen Mary S. as well as the last two winners of the G2 Norfolk S. Tally-Ho Stud offers a three-quarter sister by Kodiac (GB) to this year's Norfolk and G1 Prix Morny winner Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) (lot 214), while Kilpatrick Farm offers a Footstepsinthesand (GB) half-brother to last year's Norfolk winner and recent G2 Franklin-Simpson S. scorer The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}) (lot 167). Oghill House Stud's lot 247 is a full-brother to this year's Queen Mary winner Quick Suzy (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}). Lot 364 is a Churchill (Ire) half-brother to Agartha (Ire) (Caravaggio), who added the G2 Debutante S. to her win in the G3 Silver Flash S. since the catalogue was published. Lot 370 is a full-brother to G2 Lowther S. winner Living In The Past (Ire) (Bungleinthejungle {Ire}); lot 430 is a Dragon Pulse (Ire) half-brother to this year's G3 Anglesey S. winner Beauty Inspire (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}); lot 168 is a Belardo (Ire) half-brother to last year's G2 Gimcrack S. winner Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}); and lot 384 is a half-sister to this year's G3 Albany S. third Oscula (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}) by first-season sire Kessaar (Ire).

Another by a first-season sire is Ballyhimikin Stud's Saxon Warrior (Jpn) colt out of Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}) (lot 397), who is the second to last foal out of the highly influential mare. Other first-season sires represented include Cracksman (GB), Expert Eye (GB), Havana Grey (GB), Roaring Lion, the aforementioned Sioux Nation and US Navy Flag and Zoustar (Aus), who has his first Northern Hemisphere-bred yearlings. There is strong representation from American-based first-season sires too, including Scat Daddy sons Justify and Mendelssohn and Kitten's Joy's multiple Grade I-winning Oscar Performance.

“The catalogue reads very, very well,” Beeby said. “The sire profile is good with Galileo, Frankel, Dubawi, Sea the Stars and all the major stallions in there. We are very hopeful. We rely completely on the support of the Irish breeders and we've specifically marketed it, as we have in the past, as Ireland's national yearling sale. It's very important to Ireland as a country, to the bloodstock community in Ireland, and we've been well supported and we're very grateful for that as ever.”

With Tattersalls Ireland opting to stage its September Yearling Sale in Newmarket once again this year, the Orby will be the only flat yearling sale staged in Ireland this year.

“I do think people enjoy coming to Ireland and often this is their only trip to Ireland in the year, whether it be from England or the United States or elsewhere,” Beeby said. “They can have two or three days in a beautiful part of the world with great attractions; they can nip off to places like the Irish National Stud, Kildangan and Coolmore.”

Beeby said he was “encouraged” by the results of the Arqana August Yearling Sale and Goffs UK's Premier and Silver yearling sales to kick off the season, and that his expectations are “realistic” as Goffs works to “reboot and re-establish the Orby sale.”

“We were on an upward trajectory certainly for the previous four years,” Beeby said. “In 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 we grew every year and we had six-figure averages. Our UK sale–and I think the Arqana Sale as well but certainly our UK sale–bounced back to somewhere between where we were in 2019 and 2020, and I think if we can do that with the Orby Sale we'd be delighted. Anything better would be amazing.

“Happily vendors have seen that we've reacted as proactively as we can to the reversal we endured last year. They've bought into that and we think we've put together a very good catalogue and we're hoping to welcome a big group of buyers.

“What I'd like to say to people is come to Kildare. You'll be extremely well looked after, and we believe you'll like what you see. Come and have a look at our horses and you'll see we have some very good-looking horses. It's all about potential racehorses and they'll come from all parts of the catalogue, all consignors. It's a very, very good bunch.”

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Glass Slippers Tries For Second Flying Five Stakes Win At The Curragh

Irish Champions Weekend concludes at The Curragh on Sunday with two Breeders' Cup Challenge “Win and You're In” races headlining the card. The winner of the Group 1 Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes will receive an automatic starting position into the $1 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, and the winner of the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes earns a free spot into the $1 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge is an international series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into corresponding races of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California, on Nov. 5-6.

Last year the Bearstone Stud-owned Glass Slippers (GB) earned an automatic berth in the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint with a victory in the G1 Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes, before following up with success in the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

This year, the Kevin Ryan-trained mare, a 5-year-old daughter of Dream Ahead, faces 12 rivals in the five-furlong contest. Tom Eaves, who has ridden the mare in 17 of her 18 starts, will again be in the saddle.

Heading the opposition is the King Power Racing owned 3-year-old filly Winter Power (IRE), who earned an automatic entry into the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint with a victory in the Group 1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes at York last month.

Trained in Yorkshire, England, by Tim Easterby, the daughter of Bungle Inthejungle (GB) has won six of her last eight starts and will be ridden by former British champion jockey Silvestre De Sousa.

The Archie Watson-trained Dragon Symbol (GB), was first past the post in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup, but was placed second behind the Wesley Ward-trained Campanelle (IRE) following a Stewards' Enquiry, and is another strong contender from Britain.

The 3-year-old was third behind Winter Power in the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes last time out and jockey Oisin Murphy believes the undulating track will suit. Murphy said: “He's been knocking on the door in Group 1 company all season and we're trying to find the key; so hopefully the stiff nature of The Curragh's five furlongs will help. Hopefully, it will bring him and Winter Power closer together. He's in very good shape.”

The Irish-trained contenders include the Jack Davison-trained Mooneista (IRE) who defeated Gustavus Weston (IRE) and Romantic Proposal (IRE) in the Group 2 Paddy Power Sapphire Stakes over course and distance in July.

Homeless Songs out to Preserve Unbeaten Record in Moyglare Stud Stakes

Impressive Leopardstown maiden winner Homeless Songs (IRE) faces seven juvenile fillies as she bids to make it two wins from two starts in the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes.

Owned by the race sponsors Moyglare Stud Farms and trained by Dermot Weld ― who enjoyed a breakthrough Breeders' Cup success with Tarnawa (IRE) at Keeneland last year ― the daughter of Frankel (GB) defeated subsequent stakes winner Agartha (IRE) by two lengths on debut.

Since finishing second behind Homeless Songs in July, the Joseph O'Brien-trained Agartha (IRE) has gone on to win the Group 3 Frank Conroy Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown and the Group 2 Alpha Centauri Debutante Stakes over course and distance last month. The second, third, and seventh-placed horses that day ― Sunset Shiraz (IRE), Discoveries (IRE), and Concert Hall (IRE) ― all take her on again here.

Ireland's champion trainer Aidan O'Brien has won the seven-furlong contest a record nine times and fields two this year with Prettiest (USA), a daughter of Dubawi (IRE), and the mount of Ryan Moore, and Concert Hall, who will be ridden by Seamie Heffernan.

The eight-runner field is completed by the Ger Lyons trained Caidre Go Deo (FR) and big-priced outsider Missing Matron (IRE), trained by Jim Bolger.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the winners of the Challenge Series winners to start at this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships, which will be run at Del Mar. Breeders' Cup will also provide a travel allowance of $40,000 for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program by the Championships' pre-entry deadline of Oct. 25 to receive the rewards.

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The Weekly Wrap: It’s Good To Be Back

There are banners along the High Street of my home town of Newmarket saying 'Welcome back to racing'. Though we've been fortunate in England to have been able to allow crowds gradually to return to racecourses earlier than some other countries, it has only really been in the last few weeks that it has felt like the proper pre-pandemic experience. And where better to have the people back in force than at York, widely regarded by many to be the best racecourse in the country?

Any amount of time spent on the Knavesmire is time well spent indeed, and you really could have picked any of the days of the Ebor meeting to be able to enjoy a proper feature race with intrigue and stars aplenty. Even the queue for the bus to the track from the train station provided a level of fun. A group of men of advanced years huddled together like schoolboys, copies of the Racing Post tucked under their arms, clearly relishing the prospect of a midweek day at the races. When the bus arrived, they rushed for the long bench seat at the back, always the preserve of the naughtiest in class, and with a full load of passengers chattering about their fancies for the day, our chariot trundled off to the track.

Clarehaven Resurgent

Thady Gosden's name was added to his father's training licence just ahead of the start of the turf season in Britain and though the stable played a less prominent role in the Classics than is usually to be expected, it has now clicked into top gear.

A stellar run was launched eight days ago in Deauville, where Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) landed his second G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois, swiftly followed by the G3 Prix Minerve victory for George Strawbridge's Free Wind (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Further big guns were wheeled out for York, with the mighty Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) sparking endless 'Is he the best in the world?' debates with his visually impressive first Group 1 victory in Britain in the Juddmonte International.

Whether he is the best or not will be settled at the end of the year in the international rankings–and even then the debate will likely rage on. What can be said with some certainty is that Mishriff is the most versatile at the highest level, with his wins coming on the Riyadh dirt track over nine furlongs in the Saudi Cup, the Meydan turf over 12 furlongs, and now 10.5 furlongs at York, not forgetting his Classic win at Chantilly last season. Victory at the Breeders' Cup–or even in Japan, as has been mooted, with that tempting $3 million bonus on offer–would go a long way to settling the argument once and for all.

While Palace Pier and Mishriff have strong claims to being the best in their divisions, the king of the stayers is still Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). It is to be hugely regretted that the half-brothers Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Sir Ron Priestley (GB) (Australia {GB}) are both sidelined with injuries as this has undoubtedly weakened the staying division in the second half of the season. But the 7-year-old stallion Stradivarius proved that even if the years have blunted his game a little, he has lost none of his will to win. Arguably, he's at his best when he has to knuckle down and fight, and this is exactly what he did when dispatching the Yorkshire Cup winner Spanish Mission (Noble Mission) on his return to the Knavesmire.

With a race record that now includes three Ascot Gold Cups, four Goodwood Cups, three Lonsdale Cups, two Yorkshire Cups and a Doncaster Cup, Stradivarius is truly one of the modern wonders of the Flat scene. We must continue to enjoy him while we can.

Arise, Sir John?

We already have Sir Mark and Sir Michael in Newmarket; could Sir John be next? If the Gosdens manage to turn the impressive G3 Solario S. winner Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) into a Classic winner for his breeder The Queen in her Platinum Jubilee year then surely a further mention in the honours' list could be on the cards for Gosden senior, who was awarded an OBE in 2017.

The Queen was just 25 when she acceded to the British throne in February 1952. Her coronation took place the following June, on what would have been Derby day, with the great race moved back to the Saturday to allow for the royal festivities. The celebrations within the royal household would have been greater still had the Queen's Derby contender Aureole (GB) not been beaten into second by Pinza (GB). More recently, the Queen's colours have been carried in the Derby by the Darley-bred Carlton House, a gift from Sheikh Mohammed, who was third behind Pour Moi (Ire) in 2011. Who would begrudge racing's greatest patron a Derby winner in the year she celebrates her extraordinary longevity as monarch?

Bred on the Sea The Stars-Sadler's Wells cross, Reach For The Moon's pedigree echoes that of the former Gosden trainee and Oaks winner Taghrooda (GB), and the Solario has good form of late for being won by some pretty special horses, including the Gosden-trained trio of Raven's Pass, Kingman (GB) and Too Darn Hot (GB), not to mention the 2018 Derby winner Masar (Ire).

Next June is an awful long way off in racing terms, but the prospect of Reach For The Moon giving the sport widespread publicity during the year-long jubilee celebrations is an enticing one.

The form of the Chesham S. now has a pleasingly solid look to it, with Reach For The Moon and Great Max (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who finished second and third to Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}), each finishing one place better in the Solario, while the Chesham winner continued his unbeaten passage with victory in the G2 Galileo Irish EBF Futurity S., having previously landed the G3 JRA Tyros S. The Chesham fifth Masekela (Ire) (El Kabeir) has gone on to win the Listed Denford S., and the seventh-placed New Science (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) subsequently returned to Ascot to win the Listed Pat Eddery S.

Power Play

Fillies filled four of the first six places in the G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S., and while Suesa (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) was favoured to follow up on her Goodwood triumph, it was Winter Power (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) who went the early pace with Wesley Ward's Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), surging straight as an arrow down the centre of the track. As the American raider weakened and wobbled from his early blitz, Winter Power continued to blast home unchallenged to set the seal on a memorable week for her trainer Tim Easterby at one of his local tracks.

There was doubtless much celebration across the Irish Sea in various households of the Burns family, too. For her breeder Patrick Burns it was both a wonderful triumph and huge update for the full-brother to Winter Power that his Newlands House Stud is preparing to send to the Goffs Orby Sale. And for Patrick's brother Maurice, Winter Power became the first Group 1 winner for her speedy sire Bungle Inthejungle, who stands at the family's Rathasker Stud.

Good Week For Coolmore Clan

Wootton Bassett, who lent his name to the Nunthorpe, also enjoyed some success on the Knavesmire with two stakes-winning juveniles. Royal Patronage (Fr) may have been the least fancied of the quintet who lined up for the G3 Tattersalls Acomb S. but he has progressed nicely from his novice win at Epsom to give trainer Mark Johnston back-to-back wins in the race following the victory of Gear Up (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) last year.

On Saturday it was the turn of Steve Parkin's homebred Attagirl (GB), conceived while Wootton Bassett was still standing in France but born and trained in Yorkshire. She bounced out of her narrow defeat the previous week in the listed St Hugh's S. at Newbury to land the listed Julia Graves Roses S., doubtless giving her breeder extra cause for celebration at his favourite meeting of the year.

Wootton Bassett's week was just a nostril away from ending on a high when his star daughter Audarya (Fr) was denied her second win in the G1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet when Grand Glory (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) snatched victory from her on the line in Deauville.

Caravaggio moved from Coolmore's Irish base to Ashford Stud for the most recent stud season but he is creeping up the freshman sires' table in Europe with three stakes winners to his name already, including Saturday's smooth G2 Debutante S. winner Agartha (Ire).

He's not the only son of Scat Daddy on a roll as No Nay Never is enjoying a terrific season, with Alcohol Free (Ire) as his 3-year-old poster girl and the increasingly impressive G2 Lowther S. winner Zain Claudette (Ire) the star of his juvenile crop.

Ho Ho Ho

Tally-Ho Stud is an unstoppable force this season, both as breeder and stallion master. Having had the record-breaking champion first-season sire of 2020 in Mehmas (Ire), who was represented by another top-flight winner over the weekend in the Nicky Hartery-bred GI Del Mar Oaks winner Going Global (Ire), Tally-Ho must now be odds-on to have this year's leading freshman sire.

Whether it will be Galileo Gold (GB) or Cotai Glory (GB) is hard to say. The latter is forging ahead with 23 winners, but Galileo Gold was the first of his peers to notch that all-important Group 1 winner. His leading son Ebro River (Ire), winner of the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S., was bred by Tally-Ho Stud, as was Lusail (Ire), who gave Mehmas back-to-back winners of the G2 Al Basti Equiworld Gimcrack S. and is owned, like Ebro River, by Al Shaqab Racing, which also campaigned the sires of both youngsters.

Further top-level success came on Sunday in the G1 Darley Prix Morny with the Tally-Ho-bred Perfect Power (Ire), who became a first Group 1 winner for his sire Ardad (Ire). Though Ardad is not a Tally-Ho stallion–he stands at Overbury Stud in England –he was however bred by the O'Callaghan family and reflects further glory on the Tally-Ho team as he is a son of its headline stallion Kodiac (GB).

The latter in turn is the sire of the Tally-Ho-bred G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Campanelle (Ire), who was also the winner of last season's Prix Morny. It is a race which has been a particularly successful one for Tally-Ho Stud, which also bred the 2008 winner Bushranger (Ire) and Unfortunately (Ire), who landed the 2017 running of the Morny. Those two colts were also by Tally-Ho stallions, the late Danetime (Ire) and Society Rock (Ire) respectively.

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