Godolphin's homebred Wild Illusion gave her sire a second consecutive winner of the Group 1 Total Prix Marcel Boussac - Criterium des Pouliches when beating Polydream and Mission Impassible by one and a half lengths and a head over a mile at Chantilly this afternoon.
Twelve months ago, the same connections struck with the subsequently classic-placed chestnut Wuheida and, along with South African colt Willow Magic, these three are the only juveniles among the 33 top-level winners sired by Dalham Hall Stud's outstanding stallion Dubawi (by Dubai Millennium). She made a winning debut over a mile at Yarmouth in August, which she won by two and a half lengths, and then finished third to Soustraction and Efaadah in the Group 3 Prix d'Aumale at Chantilly. The ground was soft that day, as it was this afternoon, but good-to-firm on her debut, and an eye-catching aspect of her defeat was that there was an eight-length gap back to the fourth.
Wild Illusion is a half-sister to Really Special (by Shamardal) who won the Listed Montrose Fillies' Stakes over a mile at Newmarket last year, finished third in a seven-furlong listed contest at Meydan in February, but was tailed off in the Listed Sandringham Handicap at Ascot on her only subsequent start.
They are the first two foals out of the Listed Ballymacoll Stud Stakes winner Rumh (by Monsun), and with the way she won at Chantilly, it can be expected that Wild Illusion will, like her dam, stay 10 furlongs. Her grandam, Royal Dubai (by Dashing Blade), won the Group 3 Preis der Winterkonigin and was the joint-champion German juvenile filly of 2002, and she is a half-sister to Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes heroine Royal Highness (by Monsun), who could be described as being a three-parts sister to Rumh. That German-bred star began her career in Europe, where she won the Group 2 Prix de Mallaret and was placed in both the Group 1 Prix Ganay and two editions of the Group 1 Prix Vermeille, and her successful offspring include Free Port Lux (by Oasis Dream), the Group 2 Prix Dollar and Group 2 Prix Hocquart scorer who took up stallion duties this year at Haras de Cercy. Reem Dubai (by Nashwan), the third dam of Wild Illusion, was only placed but is a half-sister to Elbaaha (by Arazi), the mare who gave us the pattern-placed stakes winner Grigorieva (by Woodman) and the top-class but tragically ill-fated Electrocutionist (by Red Ransom). He won the Group 1 Dubai World Cup, Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes and Group 1 Gran Premio di Milano, he was runner-up in each of the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes and Group 1 Gran Premio del Jockey Club, and he took third place in the Grade 1 Canadian International Stakes, but died of a heart attack in early September of his five-year-old season. Electrocutionist was rated 125 by Timeform at the age of three and 127 at both four and five, but he is not the most highly rated member of the family. Reem Dubai was out of Group 3 Prix de Flore scorer Gesedeh (by Ela-Mana-Mou) and that chestnut was, in turn, out of Le Melody (by Arctic Slave), which made her a half-sister to the great Arc-placed dual Group 1 Gold Cup star Ardross (by Run The Gantlet), one of the greatest stayers of all time. Timeform rated him 134. There are many other notable horses in this famous family, including all of those descended from Le Melody's Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas-winning half-sister Arctique Royale (by Royal And Regal), but their connection to Wild Illusion is remote. Godolphin's newest rising star could be an Oaks or Prix de Diane (French Oaks) filly in 2018 and, with her pedigree, there is every reason to hope that she could also make an impact at stud, whenever her racing days come to an end.
Juvenile maidens at the best tracks are contests to which we often look in our search for potential top-class performers, and the seven-furlong fillies' maiden at Newmarket on 26th August has been attracting a lot of attention.
Spatial, who had been runner-up in a similar event on her only previous start, 20 days before, was an odds-on winner, beating the newcomer Unforgetable Filly by two and a half lengths. Sobetsu was a length back in third, also making her debut, and the once-raced Flying North was another neck away in fourth. Since then, Flying North has won over a mile at Ascot, Unforgetable Filly romped home by seven lengths at Lingfield before being short-headed in a conditions race back at Newmarket, and Sobetsu's 10-length victory over a mile, also at headquarters, was one of the most impressive by any two-year-old of 2016. As these winners emerged, it was time to look back at Spatial's debut. Who beat her that day? It was a Dubawi (by Dubai Millennium) debutante, that length-and-a-quarter scorer had not run since, and there would be an understandable temptation to think that this one could be a potential star, given the collateral form that followed. Often it does not work out that way, but now that chestnut has had her second start, and with the way that Wuheida beat Promise To Be True, Dabyah and Senga in the Group 1 Total Prix Marcel Boussac – Criterium des Pouliches over a mile at Chantilly this afternoon, she could indeed be anything. The margins were three-parts of a length, a short-neck, and another three-parts of a length, and there was an additional two-length gap back to the fifth, Group 3 scorer Cavale Doree. Wuheida was bred by Darley, she is trained by Charlie Appleby and she carries the famous colours of Godolphin. She is a first European juvenile Group 1 scorer for her outstanding sire Dubawi (by Dubai Millennium), although not his first ever top-level two-year-old winner as was reported in some places. Summerhill Stud's new stallion Willow Magic won the Grade 1 The South African Nursery at Turffontein at that age in 2013. Her three-year-old half-sister Lacey's Lane (by Street Cry) was a wide-margin winner of a 10 and a half furlong maiden in the French provinces in August, her dam's third foal is a Dubawi filly born in April of this year, and the mare is Hibaayeb (by Singspiel), winner of the Group 1 Fillies' Mile at Ascot and of the Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon Invitational Stakes over 10 furlongs at Hollywood Park. A half-sister to the twice-raced stakes-placed Irish sprint winner May Meeting (by Diktat), Hibaayeb is out of Lady Zonda (by Lion Cavern), a dual winning half-sister to two stakes-placed horses and out of the stakes-placed Zonda (by Fabulous Dancer). One of her winning siblings is the dam of two stakes-placed runners and grandam of the pattern-placed dual stakes winner Pelerin (by Shamardal), and one of her unraced siblings is the dam of the pattern-winning sprinter Arnold Lane (by Footstepsinthesand), but these are the highlights of the first four generations of the pedigree. That might sound as though Wuheida and her top-class dam are the best that the family has produced but, instead, they are reviving the strength of what was a famous classic family. Zonda was the only winner among three foals out of Oh So Hot (by Habitat), the unraced fourth dam of Wuheida, but that older mare was a full-sister to Our Home and Roussalka and a half-sister to the outstanding Oh So Sharp (by Kris). Our Home was not a stakes winner, but she was runner-up to the tragically ill-fated Quick As Lightning in the Group 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and also placed in the Group 2 Coronation Stakes, Group 3 Child Stakes (now Falmouth Stakes), Group 3 Cherry Hinton Stakes and Group 3 Musidora Stakes. Roussalka's seven wins featured the Group 2 Coronation Stakes, Group 3 Cherry Hinton Stakes and two editions of the Group 2 Nassau Stakes, and her descendants include the Group 1 1000 Guineas heroine Ameerat (by Mark of Esteem) and the gelding Collier Hill (by Dr Devious), winner of the Group 1 Irish St Leger, Grade 1 Canadian International Stakes and Grade 1 Hong Kong Vase. Oh So Sharp, of course, won the Fillies' Triple Crown in England 1985 – the 1000 Guineas, Oaks and St Leger – a treble that had not been achieved since Meld 30 years before. She won the Solario Stakes and the Group 3 Fillies' Mile at two, lost her unbeaten record when going down by a neck to Petoski in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, and was also a runner-up to Commanche Run in the Group 1 Benson & Hedges Gold Cup (now Juddmonte International Stakes) at York. Oh So Sharp, who Timeform rated 131, became the dam of the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Rosefinch (by Blushing Groom) and of Grade 2 Long Island Handicap scorer Shaima (by Shareef Dancer), and the latter is the dam of the Group 1 St Leger and Group 1 Gran Premio del Jockey Club e Coppa d'Oro star Shantou (by Alleged). These celebrities are distantly related to leading Guineas and Oaks contender Wuheida, but this rising star, the daughter of multiple Group 1 winners Dubawi and Hibaayeb, is bred to achieve anything, and it will be disappointing if today's win remains her only one at the highest level. |
Archives
September 2018
Sires
All
|