Imprudence and Djebel Share Centre Stage on Thursday

With the European Classics around the corner, expect an explosion of activity over the next few days beginning at Deauville on Tuesday with the G3 Prix Imprudence and G3 Prix Djebel. TDN Rising Star Ramatuelle (Justify) lines up in the former, stepping up to seven furlongs for the first time after a storming juvenile campaign that saw her take the G2 Prix Robert Papin and G3 Prix du Bois and finish a narrow second to Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) in the G1 Prix Morny here in August.

Godolphin's Listed Bosra Sham S. winner Romantic Style (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) also goes beyond six furlongs for the first time and Charlie Appleby is not certain that she will excel. “She won the Bosra Sham Stakes on testing ground, so similar conditions shouldn't be an issue, but the step up to seven furlongs is the slight question mark,” he said. Also from Britain is the David Menuisier-trained G3 Prix Miesque scorer Tamfana (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}), while Juddmonte's Polytrack debut winner Abstract (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is an intriguing contender from the Henri-Francis Graffard stable.

In the Djebel, Nurlan Bizakov's unbeaten gelding Lazzat (Fr) (Territories {Ire}) has won his three starts by a cumulative margin of 14 lengths including in the Listed Prix de la Californie on similar ground last time. Trainer Jerome Reynier said, “Tomorrow will be pretty deep and sticky, he's running around a straight course for the first time. I am very happy with Lazzat, he looks good, has been training very well and I'm very enthusiastic about him.”

Menuisier saddles Clive Washbourn's G1 Futurity Trophy runner-up Devil's Point (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), who sets the standard on that form. “He seems well, it's a prep run and the ground will be testing but we know he likes those sorts of conditions,” he said. “We will take his races one by one and we feel he might be more efficient over seven furlongs than a mile.” Jean-Claude Rouget usually targets something significant at these preps and he relies on The Aga Khan's impressive Cagnes-Sur-Mer conditions winner Keran (Fr) (Blue Point {Ire}) as he shuffles his Classic pack.

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Wootton Bassett up to €200,000; Paddington to Stand at €55,000

Coolmore has introduced three new names to its Irish roster for next year with Paddington (GB) heading the list of newcomers at €55,000. The son of Siyouni (Fr) won six of his eight races this year, including four Group 1 victories in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, St James's Palace, Eclipse, and Sussex S.

Little Big Bear (Ire), winner of the G1 Phoenix S. at two followed by the G2 Sandy Lane S. this year before finishing runner-up in the G1 Commonwealth Cup, will stand for €27,500. The Antarctic (Ire), a dual Group 3-winning brother to Battaash (Ire), joins Castle Hyde Stud at €6,000.

Of the current Coolmore residents, Wootton Bassett (GB), who covered 218 mares this year, leads the field at €200,000, up from €150,000 in 2023. He was represented with a new Grade I winner at the Breeders' Cup by Unquestionable (Fr) in the Juvenile Turf. His other top-level winners this year include King Of Steel and Bucanero Fuerte (Fr).

No Nay Never, who stood at €175,000 in 2023, is advertised at €150,000 for next season. He stands alongside four of his sons on the roster: Arizona (Ire) (€5,000), Blackbeard (Ire) (€20,000), Little Big Bear, as above, and Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (€17,500).

The European champion 2-year-old and 3-year-old St Mark's Basilica (Fr) will have his first foals for sale from later this month and his fee has been trimmed to €50,000. He has stood at €65,000 in his first two seasons at stud. Another son of Siyouni, the Arc winner Sottsass (Fr), will have his first runners on the track next year and will remain at €25,000.

Coolmore's David O'Loughlin told TDN Europe, “We're delighted to have three new exciting prospects for the coming season in the shape of Siyouni's brilliant son Paddington, No Nay Never's European champion 2-year-old Little Big Bear and Battaash's well-performed own-brother The Antarctic. Many of our stallions have enjoyed fantastic seasons but, in line with prevailing market conditions, we've decreased the fees of 10 of the 18 which remain on the roster from last year.”

A decision on whether Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) remains in training next year at four or retires to stud will be made next week.

The full list of Coolmore fees for 2024:

Arizona (Ire) €5,000
Australia (GB) €17,500
Blackbeard (Ire) €20,000
Calyx (GB) €12,500
Camelot (GB) €50,000
Churchill (Ire) €30,000
Footstepsinthesand (GB) €8,000
Gleneagles €17,500
Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) €8,000
Little Big Bear (Ire) €27,500
Magna Grecia (Ire) €10,000
No Nay Never €150,000
Paddington (GB) €55,000
Saxon Warrior (Jpn) €25,000
Sioux Nation €27,500
Sottsass (Fr) €25,000
St Mark's Basilica (Fr) €50,000
Starspangledbanner (Aus) €45,000
Ten Sovereigns (Ire) €17,500
The Antarctic (Ire) €6,000
Wootton Bassett (GB) €200,000

 

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Big Day for Europe? That’s Unquestionable  

ARCADIA, USA — A clean sweep for Europe in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. How about that to start the Breeders' Cup? And then for the closing act, a one-two for Aidan O'Brien in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf after the drama of the early-morning scratching of race favourite River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

For the curtain up, Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), named to honour a fallen friend, paid the best possible tribute to the late Paul Evans in giving his British owners Paul and Rachael Teasdale an extraordinary introduction to racing on the other side of the world.

“This is absolutely fantastic for Paul. It's a year on Wednesday since he died, so it's very fitting for a great guy with a great horse. It couldn't be any better,” said Paul Teasdale.

“This is what it's all about. We came here knowing that it was going to be a tough race and that we were racing against the best in the world, but we have a little saying that we wanted to be brave and to be among the best, and that's what the guy who this horse is named for would have said. It's a tribute to him with an amazing horse.”

Big Evs, trained by Breeders' Cup debutant Mick Appleby, is the stand-out performer from a strong first crop of runners by European champion freshman sire-elect Blue Point. He had been picked up for 50,000gns as a yearling by breeze-up pinhooker Micky Cleere, but was withdrawn from his intended appearance at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale when sold privately.

Teasdale continued, “I bought the horse in March of this year and didn't necessarily plan to call him Big Evs, which was Paul's nickname, but when Mick called me and said he was going to enter him and we needed a name it just seemed the natural thing to do.

“He was a personal friend for 40 years and we went racing together for 25 years. He was diagnosed last year with lung cancer and he died after a short illness.”

Since winning the Listed Windsor Castle S. at Royal Ascot on only his second start, Big Evs has been in the sights of plenty of potential purchasers. As he added the G3 Molecomb S. and G2 Flying Childers S. to his burgeoning resume, the offers kept coming and the price kept rising. So was Teasdale ever tempted to sell his horse with such an emotional connection for him?

“Absolutely not,” he replied without a moment's hesitation. “We're delighted with what he's done. We didn't have to do any soul searching, we just turned them down.”

For Tom Marquand, it was a case of one and done, as he triumphed on his first ever Breeders' Cup ride and heads off now to Australia for the Melbourne Cup Carnival and on to Japan for a winter in which his international profile can only continue to be enhanced.

“That's his run style at home but English gate speed is different to American gate speed and we were just hoping that he would be fast enough to get a good pitch,” said the jockey. “I think he's tough as well because he did break half a length slower than some of them and he needed that top gear, but he trucked along. I'd say he was learning around the bend, he wasn't the smoothest but he got the hang of it. To be perfectly honest for as much confidence that you have that you're going to win, he just felt that there were two gears left all the way.”

In behind Big Evs and closing fast was another Royal Ascot winner, Amo Racing's Valiant Force (Malibu Moon), with champion jockey William Buick aboard, while Frankie Dettori and Starlust (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) claimed third for Ralph Beckett and Jim and Fitri Hay to give Britain and Ireland the trifecta in the opening contest.

A Ballydoyle one-two is nothing out of the ordinary, even at this exalted level, but the team could well have been left wondering whether they might have had the first three home in the Juvenile Turf but for the withdrawal on the insistence of the veterinary team at Santa Anita that River Tiber be stood down from the race. In his place, Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) was an emphatic winner – O'Brien's sixth in this contest – with Mountain Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) the valiant runner-up sustaining a non-displaced condylar fracture of his cannon bone in running. 

“We thought that he might be a miler as a three-year-old so we thought that we would get away with a mile around here now,” said O'Brien of Unquestionable. “We hope he might be a French Guineas horse.”

On Mountain Bear's injury, he added, “[The fracture] is not displaced, so that's good. He'll get a cast on it for four weeks and he should be fine. He's back at the barn and settled in now. They were unbelievably quick to pick him up and bring him down so he did no damage.”

O'Brien also said that he felt prior to Friday morning that Unquestionable would have finished behind River Tiber.

“We felt that River Tiber was in a different place to where he's been for his last two runs. His work had been excellent and everything had been very good with him,” he said. 

“We were sorry to see him go out. But the rules are the rules. We thought he was ready to run but the vets didn't agree, and it's their job. Whatever the authorities decide happens, and we accept that. It's just the way it was.”

While this was essentially a victory for an Irish-Qatari partnership, Unquestionable, who runs in the colours of Al Shaqab Racing, is a member of the final crop of Wootton Bassett to be conceived in France. Nobody at Santa Anita had bigger smiles on their faces than Guillaume and Camille Vitse, who bred the colt with their daughters Valentine and Axel at their “boutique” farm in France.

“It's just amazing. It's something we couldn't even think about when we started our operation five years ago,” said Vitse, the former manager of Haras de Colleville who started the family business, Normandie Breeding.

“Being here at the Breeders' Cup is amazing enough but winning is just like a dream. I have had that dream for 35 years now, since I was a kid, so I'm over the moon.”

He added, “There was so much pressure when River Tiber came out and Unquestionable became favourite, and when it goes like that it often doesn't happen, but today everything went fine. It's unbelievable.”

Wootton Bassett adding yet another string to his bow with a juvenile Grade I winner in North America will have delighted the Coolmore team that purchased him three years ago. Having already been represented by Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Audarya (Fr) in 2020, he could yet add to that record with his son King Of Steel being one of the leading fancies in the Breeders' Cup Turf on Saturday. 

But really this was a day for two of the most exciting young stallions on either side of the Atlantic. Blue Point is uncatchable in Europe, and then there's Justify, who is fast becoming an international sire sensation. His first crop are now three, and that vintage includes the GI Belmont Oaks winner Aspen Grove and GI Woody Stephens S. winner Arabian Lion. It is Justify's second crop that has really caught the imagination, however. He has arguably the best juvenile colt and filly in Europe in City Of Troy and Opera Singer, and in the space of 40 minutes on a roasting Friday afternoon, he added two juvenile Breeders' Cup winners, on dirt and turf, to the list in Just F Y I and Hard To Justify. It's a record which is all the more impressive when one considers that Justify didn't even see a racecourse until he was three. His career lasted for four short months but it included a Triple Crown. 

This is the Breeders' Cup, and one breeder in particular who will surely be sending mares back to Justify is Leopoldo Fernandez Pujals of Yeguada Centurion, who produced the Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Hard To Justify from the Quality Road mare Instant Reflex. Pujals has also been represented as breeder this year by the Justify filly Ramatuelle, who was runner-up to Vandeek (GB) in the G1 Prix Morny, and in his own colours the breeder has two of the best three-year-olds in France in the Christopher Head-trained duo of Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) and Big Rock (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}). 

They call this meeting the World Championships, and it starts with the breeders. After day one, breeders from Dubai, France, Spain, and of course America have already seen their labours rewarded with success at the big show. There's plenty more excitement to come. 

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Robson Aguiar Adds 88k Wooded Colt To Breeze-Up Team At Tattersalls Ireland

It has been a year to remember for Robson Aguiar, largely down to the exploits of Amo Racing's breakthrough Group 1 winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who he sourced for Kia Joorabchian's ownership vehicle. 

The ultra-shrewd Brazilian native snapped up a colt by Wooded (Ire), who is a brother to Amo's Phoenix S. hero, for €88,000 on day two of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale and revealed afterwards that the plan was to go breezing for his new recruit. 

“I bought him for myself and he will breeze,” Aguiar said. “I saw a few by Wooded in France and I really liked them. Wooded is a full-brother to Bucanero Fuerte, who won our first Group 1, so it's nice to get one by him. He stood out in this sale. We are looking for quality and I think he is a nice horse.”

A brilliant winner of the Prix de l'Abbaye, Wooded stands at Haras de Bouquetot and his first yearlings have been well-received. Lot 347 was one of only two horses by the stallion in the sale and he represented a whopper of a pinhooking result for John Foley of Ballyvolane Stud who paid just €15,000 for the colt in February.

The Wooded colt who led the way at Tattersalls Ireland | Tattersalls

“Wooded was a Group 1-winning son of Wootton Bassett and I really wanted to buy one by the sire,” he explained. “He was a good-moving foal, a bit weak, and I thought there was a chance he might grow into a nice horse. He has thrived, really thickened out, and most people who saw him said that he was one of the better physicals here and that he stood out a little bit. He has been very popular.”

Foley added, “We always send five or six to sell at this sale and always try to send a couple of nice horses. There are a lot of British trainers here and the Tattersalls Ireland team does a great job getting people to the sale. It has been a lucky sale for us-we sold Sir Busker (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) here.”

Poste Picks Up Another Speedy-Looking Colt To Go Breezing

Charlie Poste spoke to TDN Europe on Tuesday about his reasons for branching out into the breeze-up game and, alongside Blandford Bloodstock's Tom Biggs, he continued his recruitment drive on day two. 

Top of Poste's list was a Blue Point (Ire) colt (lot 366) from Oak Lodge and Springfield House Stud for €78,000, which brought his total haul to €169,000 for four yearlings all told.

The Blue Point colt represented a fantastic touch for Reddy Coffey, who purchased the dam Platinum Coast (Speightstown) for just 4,500gns in 2019. 

He said, “It is a great result. Blue Point looks like he is going to be a proper sire. We bought the mare for just 4,500gns. She is by Speightstown and we thought the stallion's physique would suit the mare and he was a very fast horse. Who doesn't like a fast horse!”

Grant's Wishes Come Through With Sioux Nation Colt

Mark Grant knows a thing or two about fast horses. The leading breeze-up handler is famed for producing dual Royal Ascot winner Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) and came away from Fairyhouse with four yearlings bought for the upcoming season. 

Grant, who is based in Britain, said that the conversion rate from Sterling to Euro was a sweetener in going to €80,000 for a belter of a Sioux Nation colt (lot 373) from Glidawn Stud.

He said, “I thought the Sioux Nation was the best horse in the sale and I knew I'd have to pull a bit out for him. I think all of the right people were on him. Hopefully he will turn out to be a Craven horse.”

Grant also came away from Fairyhouse with an Earthlight colt from Moanmore Stables for €60,000, a Saxon Warrior (Jpn) colt from Castletown Quarry Stud for €55,000 and an Acclamation (GB) colt for €45,000. 

He commented, “I have bought some nice horses here in the past and I like coming back here. Buying in Euros is a big help as well. When you look up at the bid board and eight grand was just sixty eight Sterling, so that's a big help.

“I have eleven bought now and I'll probably buy another three or four at the upcoming sales but the nice ones are hard to buy. It's been very hard to buy them this year. A lot of the breeze-up handlers haven't filled their orders yet so they will probably be driving on now.”

 

Solid Trade Posted On Day Two

There may not have been any six-figure lots on day two but the trade remained solid. The €12,522,000 aggregate was up marginally on the figures posted in 2022 while the average climbed 3% to €30,995. The median was also up 8% to €28,000 while the clearance rate was down 5% to 85%.

 

Buy(s) of the Day

John Murphy and his son George have a track record at sniffing out a bargain and time may prove that the father-and-son duo found another here on Wednesday in the shape of lot 322.

A Tamayuz (GB) colt consigned by Wardstown Stud attracted plenty of shrewd judges to the ring but it was Murphy who won out at €30,000.

Out of an Arcano (Ire) mare who has yet to produce a winner, the Tamayuz is a fine stamp of a colt and should make up into a nice two-year-old.

He is a three-parts brother to Blond Me (Ire) and the pedigree traces back to a strong Ballymacoll family.

Elsewhere, another Make Believe colt appeared to be well bought at this sale. It was in this section on Tuesday where Luke Lillingston's €70,000 purchase of a colt by the Ballylinch stallion was put forward as the buy of the day to go to Andrew Balding.

Well, Billy Jackson-Stops may well have found similar value in the Make Believe colt that he sourced for the trainer (lot 286) for just €40,000.

Consigned by Airlie Stud, the Make Believe colt is out of an unraced Galileo (Ire) mare, who has already produced the highly-rated Ralph Beckett-trained Quantum Impact (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

Finally, if it's early speed that you were looking for, Patrick Vaughan and Conor Hoban of Beechlea Bloodstock may have found it. They shelled out just €15,000 to secure a Kuroshio (Aus) colt (lot 261) from Baroda Stud early in the morning.

Kuroshio has already proved himself as a good source of speed, largely down to the exploits of trainer Michael O'Callaghan through Gozen (Ire) and Kairyu (Ire), with the latter on course for Group 1 targets.

This colt looks well capable of clocking a good time should his next connections go down that route and it wouldn't be a surprise to see them turn a profit in the spring whatever path they chart with the colt.

 

Strong Trade, As Curtain Falls On Part 1

Tattersalls Ireland, CEO Simon Kerins said, “Today completes two very successful days of trade at the September Yearling Sale, resulting in a turnover surpassing €12,522,000, the second highest ever recorded for this sale. It was immensely satisfying to see advancements in most key indicators with this year's catalogue producing a record median and the second highest average for the two days. There was also a record number of lots making over €40,000 a testament to the solid trade.

“Results do speak volumes and up to last weekend, the September Yearling Sale was Europe's leading sale for 2-year-winners, complemented by Dawn Charger and Tiger Belle's recent Group 3 success in France. It is these winners that have reinforced the confidence with new and existing buyers to come to Fairyhouse, with more buyers in attendance than ever before. Heartfelt appreciation must go to Charles O' Neill and his team at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing for their exceptional efforts that have contributed to a very successful week.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the vendors who supported us with a catalogue worthy of attracting so many visitors to the site. We wish all our purchasers continued success with their purchases as they go on to achieve great things on the racetrack.”

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