Dark Angel (by Acclamation) has exceeded expectations at stud and the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes winner had a phenomenal year in 2017, headlined by his brilliant sprinting sons Battaash and Harry Angel, Group 1 stars rated 136 and 132 respectively by Timeform.
He has also proved his ability to get high-class milers, which gives him the potential to get classic horses, and his best in that division include Timeform 123-rated Persuasive who beat Ribchester by a length in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in October. Stage Magic is not yet in their league, but the Charlie Appleby-trained bay won the Group 3 Prix de Chenes over a mile on soft ground at Chantilly in early September, holding on in a three-way photo to deny Olmedo and Zyzzyva by a short-head and neck, and with a six-length gap back to the fourth. This came just over two weeks after he had been short-headed by Francesco Bere in the valuable Listed Criterium du Fonds Europeen de l'Elevage over the same trip at Deauville – in which subsequent dual stakes winner Alounak was fourth. He was a neck runner-up over seven furlongs at Haydock on his debut in mid-June, won by four and a half lengths over the same trip at Newbury the following month, but disappoined in very soft ground at Chantilly – in the nine-furlong Group 3 Prix de Conde – on his only other outing. He is due to make his seasonal reappearance in the Listed bet365 Fielden Stakes over that same trip at Newmarket tomorrow, and if has inherited some of the family's stamina, as shown by his dam's half-brother and others farther back on the page, then Stage Magic could be a smart 10-furlong horse in the making.
The early March-born colt was bred by Paul and Billy McEnery, he cost 160,000gns in Newmarket as a foal, and he carries the famous Godolphin colours. He is the second foal of the twice-raced Witnessed (by Authorized), who beat Esentepe by a length at Beverley on her only juvenile start, and his now two-year-old Bungle Inthejungle (by Exceed And Excel) half-sister made €55,000 at the Goffs Sportsmans Sale in late September.
His grandam is the Grade 1-placed mile to 10-furlong filly Magic Mission, whose best win came in the Grade 3 Royal Heroine Stakes, and that makes him inbred 3x3 to her sire Machiavellian (by Mr Prospector). The combination of that cross with being a son of Dark Angel might suggest he has a future as a miler – and that is possible – but the exploits of his dam's star brother offer hope that he will stay farther. That colt is the distinctively marked Talismanic (by Medaglia d'Oro), winner of the Group 2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil over 14 furlongs before returning to the mile and a half to beat Beach Patrol by half a length in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar in early November. He then chased home Highland Reel in the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin in December and made a winning seasonal reappearance at over nine and a half furlongs at Chantilly last month, beating Cloth Of Stars by one and three-quarter lengths on the polytrack. Talismanic holds an entry in the Group 1 Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom, while Stage Magic is engaged in both the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) and Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris. Magic Mission is a half-sister to the dam of Japanese mile Group 3 scorer Logi Cry (by Heart's Cry) and she is a granddaughter of Capo Di Monte (by Final Straw), the Listed Pretty Polly Stakes winner and Group 2 Sun Chariot Stakes runner-up who took a Grade 3 handicap in the USA and whose Group 1-winning half-sister Wind In Her Hair (by Alzao) is the dam of Japanese Triple Crown hero and phenomenal stallion Deep Impact (by Sunday Silence). The fifth dam of Stage Magic is, therefore, Burghclere (by Busted), daughter of dual classic heroine Highclere (by Queen's Hussar) and so a half-sister to Height Of Fashion (by Bustino). That pattern-winning filly is best known as being the dam of Nashwan (by Blushing Groom), Nayef (by Gulch) and Unfuwain (by Northern Dancer), grandam of Group 1 1000 Guineas star Ghanaati (by Giant's Causeway), and ancestor of many others of note. It remains to be seen if he is good enough to justify his classic and other Group 1 entry, but it will be disappointing if Stage Magic fails to improve on the official 106 and Timeform 107 figures that he earned last year, especially as the distaff side of his pedigree suggests that progress is likely.
The Mark Johnston-trained Threading looked a future Group 1 star in the making when eased down to take a six-furlong Goodwood maiden by six lengths on soft ground in early August, and although her next start was nowhere near as visually impressive, the daughter of leading international sire Exceed And Excel (by Danehill) won that too.
It was the Group 2 Sky Bet Lowther Stakes at York where she beat listed scorer Madeline and dual pattern-placed Mamba Noire by one and three-quarter lengths and three-parts of a length. Her only other start at two was in the Group 1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in late September, but that day she disappointed, finishing only seventh behind Clemmie. The Timeform 110-rated bay is due to make her seasonal reappearance in Wednesday's Group 3 Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes, she is also engaged in next month's Group 1 Qipco 1000 Guineas, Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, and Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas, and a quick glance at her pedigree suggests that the step up to seven furlongs and a mile should suit her well. However, it catches the eye that she has also been entered in the Group 2 Duke of York Clipper Logistics Stakes over six furlongs, and that suggests she has been showing enough speed at home to have connections thinking that she may have inherited more of the family's sprinting speed than mile to middle-distance talent.
Her Kildangan Stud sire is well known as a source of both sprinters and milers, he himself was a sprint champion in Australia, and he has been champion sire in that country. What is key, however, will be what Threading has inherited through her dam.
The Darley-bred is a half-sister to sprint winner Camargue (by Invincible Spirit), to mile scorer Chequers (by Pivotal) and to Beachy Head (by Shamardal), a multiple seven-furlong winner who has been placed at both a mile and 10 furlongs. None shares the level of talent shown by their young relation, but their dam, Chaquiras (by Seeking The Gold), has one of the most famous siblings of recent decades. She is a daughter of Colorado Dancer (by Shareef Dancer), who won the Group 2 Prix de Pomone over 13 and a half furlongs at Deauville and Group 3 Prix Minerve over 12 furlongs at Evry, and that makes her a full-sister to Timeform 140-rated champion Dubai Millennium. A dual Group 1-winning miler who was brilliant over 10 furlongs, with wide-margin wins in both the Group 1 Dubai World Cup and Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes, he died during his first season at stud, but the stakes winners he left behind featured juvenile star and classic-winning miler Dubawi, now one of the world's leading sires. If you look no further – and it may not be necessary to do so – then it seems obvious that Threading will stay a mile. But not all of the mare's offspring showed the ability to stay middle-distances. Ragsah (by Shamardal), a half-sister to Dubai Millennium, won over seven furlongs, earned her blacktype when runner-up in the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes over six, and was well-beaten on her three attempts at a mile. Colorado Dancer's half-brother Hamas (by Danzig) won the Group 1 July Cup, his full-brother Bianconi easily won the Group 2 Diadem Stakes over six furlongs at Ascot a few months after finishing a nine-length fourth to Desert Prince in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas, and that pair are quite closely related to Threading. So too is sprint champion and Group 1 July Cup hero Elnadim (by Danzig), who is out of Colorado Dancer's Group 2 Prix d'Astarte-winning and Group 2 Prix de l'Opera-placed half-sister Elle Seule (by Exclusive Native) and so a half-brother to Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas star Mehthaaf (by Nureyev) and to the dam of Group 1 Prix de la Foret and Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest heroine Occupandiste (by Kaldoun). Clearly there is a chance that, like the other talented Danzig-line horses in her immediate family, Threading will ultimately prove best at six furlongs, even though so much on her page suggests that a mile should be ideal. As a daughter of US Grade 1 Matron Stakes winner Fall Aspen (by Pretense), Colorado Dancer's siblings also included Fort Wood (by Sadler's Wells), who won the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris over 10 furlongs, Grade 1 Preakness Stakes winner and Grade 1 Kentucky Derby third Timber Country (by Woodman), and also Mazzacano (by Alleged), who won the Group 3 Goodwood Cup when it was run over two miles, four and a half furlongs. There are also many other notable descendants of Fall Aspen – including Charnwood Forest (by Warning), Kabool (by Groom Dancer), Khulood (by Storm Cat), Medaaly (by Highest Honor), Mondialiste (by Galileo), and Najah (by Nashwan) – but they don't tell us anything more than we already know about Threading and her prospects. She is one of the best bred horses in training, she has the long-term potential to become a broodmare of note, and she could be a leading member of the three-year-old filly class of 2018. What remains to be seen is how highly she can go in the rankings and over what distance(s) her talent will best be expressed.
Classic trials are important races in their own right, but they are also about potential, and the most visually impressive winner of one of those events in Europe so far this year is Butzje, a filly who won't be physically three years old until May 1st.
She was eased down shortly after being hampered a furlong out in the Group 3 Preis der Winterkonigin over a mile on soft ground at Baden-Baden in October, passing the post over 22 lengths behind the front-running winner Rock My Love. The second, third and fourth from that race – one of the top juvenile contests in Germany – met again in the Group 3 Karin Baronin Von Ullmann - Schwarzgold-Rennen over the same trip at Cologne this afternoon, also on soft ground. Dina dropped a placing to fifth this time around, and Angelita turned a one-and-a-quarter-length deficit into a four-length margin of superiority over Suada, but she was no match for Butzje. The Markus Klug-trained bay set off in front, was several lengths clear with a quarter-mile to go, and extended that margin further in the final furlong, winning by seven lengths.
Butzje is a daughter of German Group 2 winner It's Gino (by Perugino), whose final start resulted in a surprise third-place finish in the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, beaten two lengths and half a length by Zarkava and Youmzain and dead-heating with Soldier Of Fortune.
He is in his first season at Haras de Rosieres Aux Salines in France, having spent the previous seven years at Union-Gestüt and one year at Gestüt Reitberg, and his offspring include Group 2-placed stakes winners Forgino and Rosebay, plus the Kayley Woolacott-trained Lalor who won the Grade 1 Betway Top Novices' Hurdle at Aintree on Friday. Like Butzje, that talented gelding was bred by Stall 5-Stars – in whose colours It's Gino raced – and both were bargain-basement purchases in Baden-Baden. The filly, now a major contender for this year's German classics, was bought by owner Holger Renz as a yearling for just €5,500. She is a full-sister to the 12-furlong winner Baby Love, her dam Beltana (by Areion) won a six-furlong listed contest as a two-year-old, and her grandam Bat Sheva (by Dashing Blade), a half-sister to seven-furlong listed scorer Baroness Happyness (by Always Fair), is a daughter of the multiple stakes-placed sprinter Be Happy (by Homing). Fourth dam Balafallay (by Priamos) was unplaced, but she was out of Friedrichsruh (by Dschingis Khan), the Group 2 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) winner and Group 3 Schwarzgold-Rennen (German 1000 Guineas) runner-up of 1977. That star only contributes 3.125% of the make-up of Butzje but the produce record of two of her daughters show that Germany's newest rising star comes from a weak branch of what has been a successful family. Friedrichslust (by Caerleon) was unraced but her blacktype descendants are headed by her notable son Faberger (by Dashing Blade), a somewhat close relative of Butzje's grandam, and winner of the Group 1 Premio Vittorio di Capua and Group 3 Prix Messidor, both over a mile. Blessed Event (by Kings Lake), on the other hand, won the Listed Ballymacoll Stud Stakes at Newbury and was runner-up in each of the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks, Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes and Group 2 Pretty Polly Stakes before going on to become the dam of dual middle-distance Group 2 scorer Sacrament (by Shirley Heights) and ancestor of a string of talented performers. They include her Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes-winning granddaughter Chorist (by Pivotal), Group 2 Yorkshire Cup scorer Gospel Choir (by Galileo), 10-furlong listed scorer and 14-time winner Sennockian Star (by Rock of Gibraltar), Group 3 Prestige Stakes heroine Icicle (by Polar Falcon) and her Group 2-placed, pattern-winning son Icelandic (by Selkirk). Butzje is a fascinating prospect who has shown a hint of brilliance over a mile. It is possible that this may prove to be her best trip, despite her sister's stamina and that of her famous ancestor, but it is just as likely that she could stay middle-distances and so become a Group 1 Preis der Diana or even Group 1 Deutsches Derby candidate.
Classic trial season is under way and, as these listed and pattern events are used by some of the horses who will contest the classics and other Group 1 events in the weeks and months ahead, it is generally hoped that they will produce some clear-cut winners and informative results.
The Group 3 Prix Noailles at ParisLongchamp produced a three-way photo finish, which is usually disappointing, but these colts finished eight lengths clear of their closest pursuer so it may be decent form. The ground was heavy, which can exaggerate the margins, and perhaps some of those who were well-beaten will be seen to better effect on a sounder surface. It is possible that the runner-up, Alhadab, could ultimately prove best of the trio as that first-crop son of Camelot (by Montjeu) was the least experienced, having just his fourth start. Third-placed Flag Of Honour, an Aidan O'Brien-trained Galileo colt who won the Group 3 Eyrefield Stakes at Leopardstown in late October, was favourite and running his fifth race, but could be a smart 10-12 furlong performer. The winner, however, could be a leading stayer in the making. A 30th individual stakes winner for Haras du Logis stallion Manduro (by Monsun), whose six top-level winners include Group 1 Prix du Cadran, dual Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak and triple Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup star Vazirabad, he comes from a family whose stakes and pattern winners have come over the full range of flat racing distances.
Pharrell began his career at La Teste De Buch in July, finishing third over seven furlongs on good ground, and got off the mark over a furlong farther at the same venue a month later. He was then a one-and-three-quarter-length third to Latita – who filled that same placing behind Musis Amica in the Group 3 Prix de la Grotte today – over nine furlongs on soft ground at Salon-de-Provence in late September.
After that, he stepped up to 10 furlongs and won two races on soft ground at Angers, one by two and a half lengths in late October and the other a two-length victory in late November. His pattern success came on his sixth start. The colt was bred by Pierre Camus-Denais and Bruno Camus-Denais and he was snapped up by trainer Jean-Claude Rouget for just €15,000 at the Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale. Between prize money and premiums, he had earned almost €73,000 before today's race. He is the fourth foal out of Censure (by Kendor), whose three wins from 20 starts included a pair of races over nine furlongs as a four-year-old, and is a half-brother to the lightly-raced 11-furlong winner Sage De La Gesse (by Soldier Of Fortune). The mare had a Dabirsim (by Hat Trick) filly last year. Grandam Nebraska (by Octagonal) was unraced but has produced several multiple winners, notably stakes-placed Mogadishio (by American Post) who won 10 of his 84 starts. Third dam Touraille (by Jim French) was only placed but has 10 winning offspring among 18 foals and her blacktype trio include dual juvenile listed scorer Kandakiev (by African Song) and also Skatesheba (by Green Tune). The latter is the stakes-placed dam of Perfectly Majestic (by Majesticperfection), a US-based gelding whose prolific blacktype placings, including the runners-up spot in a mile Grade 2 event at Santa Anita, have pushed his earnings to just under $400,000. It is under the fourth generation of the pedigree that you find the branches leading to the stayers in the family, and although their relationship to Pharrell is distant to remote, their presence on the page shows that there is a stamina element that pops up from time to time in this distaff line. Fourth dam Trelex (by Exbury) did not race, and her best representative on the track was the speedy Big John (by Gift Card) who won the Group 3 Prix de Ris-Orangis, Group 3 Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord, and Group 3 Prix Thomas Bryon. Her grandson Bannaby (by Dyhim Diamond), who is out of a Lashkari (by Mill Reef) mare, won the Group 1 Prix du Cadran at Longchamp, granddaughter Quirinetta (by Ardross) won the Grade 3 Transvaal Cesarewitch in South Africa, and great-grandson Motivado (by Motivator), later a Group 3 winner in Australia, was fourth in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket in 2012. There are many other stakes and pattern winners to be found among Trelex's descendants, including Grade 1 Personal Ensign Handicap heroine Passing Shot (by A.P. Indy), Grade 1-placed Grade 2 Buena Vista Handicap winner Blue Moon (by Lomitas) and her 10-furlong Grade 2-winning daughter Malibu Pier (by Malibu Moon), Group 3 Prix de Flore scorer Tamise (by Time For A Change; dam of Motivado), and Group 1-placed, Group 3-winning sprinter Morawij (by Exceed And Excel) – all distantly or remotely connected to Pharrell. He holds an entry in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby), but having been effective over 10 furlongs on soft ground as a two-year-old it seems likely that it will be when racing over 12 furlongs and farther that we see him to best effect. He is a bright prospect who could become a notable member of the stayers division in France.
The first stakes winner is a notable landmark in any stallion's career and for Kildangan Stud stallion Dawn Approach the one to get him off the mark is Godolphin's homebred filly Musis Amica, winner of the Group 3 Prix de la Grotte over a mile on heavy ground at ParisLongchamp.
The Andre Fabre-trained bay made a winning debut over a half-furlong less on soft ground at Saint-Cloud in early November, and in maintaining her undefeated record this afternoon she beat Sea Prose by one and a quarter lengths. There was another half-length back to Latita in third, with Magical and Wind Chimes performing below their best in fourth and fifth. As you might expect, she holds entries in the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas), Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary and Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks), and it will be fascinating to find out how good she is. Sounder underfoot conditions should suit, and she could be effective anywhere from a mile up to 12 furlongs. As for Dawn Approach, the juvenile champion and subsequent classic star has had six blacktype horses in his first crop. They include Group 2 Debutante Stakes third Mary Tudor, Group 3 Tyros Stakes third Dawn Delivers, and also Fast Approach and Gongs, who have been pattern-placed in Japan and Australia respectively. This is below the level of success that could have been expected of a horse who won the first two-year-old race of the Irish season, went on to become an unbeaten, Group 1-winning champion at that age, and then a Group 1 2000 Guineas and Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes hero at three, but it would be a mistake to write him off at this point of his career. He comes from the first crop of juvenile champion and Derby-winner New Approach, and so represents the Galileo branch of the mighty Sadler's Wells (by Northern Dancer) line, and much about the distaff side of his pedigree suggests the likelihood of better results with three-year-olds and older horses. Don't forget, Galileo did not set the world alight with his first two-year-olds. Just imagine what would have been lost had he been written off then! Give him time – Musis Amica is the first of what should be many stakes winners for Dawn Approach.
Musis Amica is the twelfth foal of White Star (by Darshaan) and the best of her siblings is the lightly raced Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam scorer Harland (by Halling), who was trained by Michael Jarvis. Her dam won twice, stayed middle-distances, and earned her blacktype with placings in the Group 3 Prix de Royaumont and Group 2 Prix de Mallaret.
The best of White Star's half-sisters is Group 2 Prix de Pomone winner Whitehaven (by Top Ville) – the dam of listed scorer Copeland (by Generous) and grandam of Australian pattern scorers Samara Dancer (by Hinchinbrook) and Eclair Big Bang (Savabeel) – and the best of her half-brothers is the Grade 3-placed, Listed Acomb Stakes scorer Native Wizard (by In Reality). Her winning half-sister Hill Of Snow (by Reference Point) contributed to the family's honour by giving us the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine and Irish juvenile filly champion Preseli (by Caerleon), but another of her siblings has done even more. Lustre (by Halo), whose only win came at the age of two, earned her blacktype for a fourth-place finish in the Group 3 Fred Darling Stakes at Newbury – a performance that would miss out on that value-enhancer nowadays – and she went on to produce both Valley Of Gold (by Shirley Heights) and Dublin (by Carson City). The latter was a leading two-year-old who won the Group 3 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood and finished third in the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh, but Valley Of Gold won the Group 1 Oaks d'Italia, was runner-up in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille, and third in the Group 1 Irish Oaks before going to stud. There she came up with Group 3 Gordon Stakes winner Cap O'Rushes (by New Approach) and Group 3 Joel Stakes scorer Splendid Era (by Green Desert), and she is the grandam of French listed race winner Meteoric (by Lope De Vega). This is a well-known family and many will quickly recognise that the grandam of Musis Amica is White Star Line (by Northern Dancer), the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, Grade 1 Delaware Oaks and Grade 1 Alabama Stakes heroine of 1978. That daughter of one-time winner Fast Line (by Mr. Busher) was a half-sister to Group 1 Prix Morny scorer Filiberto (by Ribot; sire of Group 1 winner Grease), to Alcibiades Stakes winner and blacktype producer Fairway Fun (by Prince John), and also to Trick Chick (by Prince John), the unraced dam of Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) and Prix 1 Prix Vermeille heroine and Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe runner-up Northern Trick (by Northern Dancer). That three-parts sister to White Star Line has been influential at stud and the Group/Grade 1 winners who descend from her include Cloth Of Stars (by Sea The Stars), Light Shift (by Kingmambo), Main Sequence (by Aldebaran), Shiva (by Hector Protector), and new Cheveley Park Stud stallion Ulysses (by Galileo). Throttle Wide (by Flying Heels), the fourth dam of Musis Amica, was born in 1936 – and you don't see that era showing up very often this close-up in a pedigree! In addition to be being the dam of Fast Line, she was responsible for Miss Request (by Requested). That 12-time winner's haul of big races included the Beldame Handicap, Ladies Handicap, and Delaware Oaks and she was 1948's US champion three-year-old filly. Musis Amica has a long way to go yet if she is to become as well-known as some of her close and distant relations, but she has made a highly promising to career and could be anything.
One star does not make a horse a top sire, but it can be the catalyst he needed to boost his support, thereby improving his prospects of making a real impact. There are many stallions who have just that one Group 1 winner standing out among a handful of career stakes winners, but sometimes that initial one-hit-wonder makes the most of his better mares and goes on to become a sire of real note.
It is too early to know into which group Haras d'Etreham's Wootton Bassett (by Iffraaj) will ultimately fall, but his third-crop son Wootton has shown a lot of promise in his first three starts and could be the next Group 1 winner for him. Right now the stallion has only three stakes winners to his name, from three crops of racing age, plus three others who have been blacktype placed, but his first crop to benefit from the 'Almanzor effect' are only foals so it could be 2020 and 2021 before we start to see what he can really do. And before then, his blacktype tally will have increased and could include some notable individuals. The Henri-Alex Pantall-trained Wootton was bred by Ecurie Haras de Quetieville, in whose colours he ran when taking a mile newcomers' race on good ground at Deauville by six lengths in late August, and he now runs in the Godolphin blue. His second race was the Listed Isonomy over the same course and distance two months later, and despite the very soft ground, he won it by five lengths. Today's race was more challenging, easily the strongest opposition he has faced so far, but he extended his unbeaten record to three with a head defeat of last year's top-rated French-trained juvenile colt Olmedo in the Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleau at ParisLongchamp. The ground was heavy, and this colt's ability to perform on a variety of surfaces should serve him well in the coming months. He holds an entry in next month's Group 1 Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and, as you might expect of a colt of such potential, he is also engaged in the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas), Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) and Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris.
Wootton is the best of the first four foals out of American Nizzy (by American Post), a juvenile winner who earned her blacktype with placings in the Group 3 Prix du Calvados, Listed Prix Roland de Chambure, and Listed Prix Finlande. Her dam, Quietude (by Woodman), was placed in Belgium, and the next dam is Listed Prix Isola Bella winner Quittance (by Riverman), a daughter of dual US three-year-old scorer Quarrel Over Halo (by Halo).
Those are the highlights of the first four generations of the pedigree, which suggests that much of the credit for the talent and potential shown by this colt can be given to his sire. Wootton Bassett has upgraded the mare. There are two main reasons why we usually only look at the first three or four generations of a horse's pedigree when trying to analyse its strengths and weaknesses and to highlight its owner's future potential. One is that there is usually more than enough to say about the good horses in those early generations, the other is that any ancestor farther back makes little meaningful contribution. Each ancestor in the fifth generation only contributes 3.125% of the genetic makeup, each one in the sixth is responsible for only 1.5625% – and that's the direct ancestors. Their offspring and descendants make zero contribution. What they do provide, however, is academic interest and indications of the strength or weakness of that distant part of the pedigree, the roots from which the current horse eventually developed.
In the case of Wootton, an examination of the fifth generation of the pedigree shows us that he comes from a weak branch of what was a successful blacktype family, one that even yielded classic horses.
His fifth dam, Quarrel Over (by One For All), won five times, was runner-up in the Grade 2 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland and fourth in the Grade 1 Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes, a placing that counted for blacktype in those days. She produced 10 winners from 14 foals, of whom Grade 2 Del Mar Oaks winner and Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes runner-up Suivi (by Diesis) was best, and the stakes winners who descend from her include multiple graded sprint scorer Mr Nightlinger (by Indian Charlie) and the smart Waterway Run (by Arch), who won a Grade 3 at Belmont Park as well as the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket as a juvenile. Sixth dam Quarrel (by Raise a Native), who was out of the track record-setting, stakes-winning sprinter-miler Rhubarb (by Barbizon), was a half-sister to the Grade 1-placed juvenile Grade 3 winner Bottle Top (by Topsider) – the dam of dual classic-placed colt Strodes Creek (by Halo) – and her own siblings included ill-fated Grade 1 Arlington-Washington Futurity star Lets Dont Fight (by Drone), classic-placed Grade 3 scorer Fight Over (by Grey Dawn II) and Group 3 Desmond Stakes winner Wise Counsellor (by Alleged). These horses have no bearing on the talent or potential of Wootton but there is value in noting their presence in the family history. He represents a weak branch on a tree that has strong roots, and if he becomes a Group 1 star and so earns a good berth at stud, then this son of Wootton Bassett could be the seed from which a new sapling sprouts.
Horses who change hands at the very bottom end of the market seldom amount to much in the racing and bloodstock world, but every now and then something from that tier hits the headlines.
In October 2011, a three-year-old filly of limited talent changed hands for just €800 in Goffs. Llew Law (by Verglas) had made the frame in middle-distance handicaps at Tramore, Killarney and Down Royal but was well-beaten in many of her other dozen starts, including when tailed off in a juvenile hurdle at Thurles – hardly the stuff of dreams. She was bought that day by Emer McNamara, but sold on again for €5,000 at the same venue 13 months later. New owner Patrick Headon first sent her to Footstepsinthesand (by Giant's Causeway), which resulted in the dual 12-furlong winner Thunder Crash – who was a €37,000 Goffs yearling – and then she went to Zoffany (by Dansili). The result of that second covering is Who's Steph. She made €20,000 in Goffs as a foal, was snapped up for €40,000 by trainer Ger Lyons at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, was a three-length winner of a mile maiden at Naas on her second start last year, and had a winning return to action at Leopardstown today when making most of the running to take the Group 3 Ballylinch Stud 'Priory Belle' 1,000 Guineas Trial Stakes. She landed that seven-furlong contest by a length and a half from Yulong Gold Fairy, with the initial race leader I Can Fly another half-length back in third. The ground was heavy, she holds an entry in next month's Group 3 Coolmore Mastercraftsman Irish EBF Athasi Stakes over the same trip at Naas, and she is an intriguing member of the current classic generation.
Llew Law is out of Harlem Dancer (by Dr Devious), a dual mile and a quarter winner in the famous Wildenstein colours and who earned her blacktype when finishing third to Shamdala in the Listed Prix de Thiberville over 12 furlongs on good ground at Longchamp 13 years ago.
That mare's only winner is Hototo (by Sleeping Indian), who took the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot and finished third in the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes, both in 2012, and those are the highlights of the first three generations of Who's Steph's distaff line. What happens farther back in the family history has little bearing on the current member but it would be not be right to ignore the next generation of this filly's pedigree. She represents a weak line that also has a low percentage of winners to foals born – with the notable exception of her dam – but her fourth dam was 1973's French juvenile filly champion Hippodamia (by Hail To Reason). She won the Group 1 Criterium des Pouliches and took third in the Group 1 Prix Robert Papin that year and then went on to be runner-up in both the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) and Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary. Eight of her 14 foals were successful, including US Grade 2 winner Globe (by Secretariat), French listed scorer Hoya (by Secreto), and two blacktype-placed fillies, and in addition to Who's Steph's third dam Hymenee (by Chief's Crown), they also include Housatonic (by Riverman). That one-time scorer is the dam of Group 2 Prix Niel winner Housamix (by Linamix) and of blacktype winner Housa Dancer (by Fabulous Dancer), she is the grandam of Grade 1 Garden City Stakes heroine Alexander Tango (by Danehill Dancer) and of Group 3 Diomed Stakes scorer Bushman (by Maria's Mon), and she is the third dam of an Argentine-bred Grade 2 winner. Hippodamia's half-brother Bad Conduct (by Stalwart) also deserves a mention as he won the Group 3 Prix de Guiche and finished third in the Group 1 Prix Lupin in 1986. Who's Steph represents a weak branch of a former Group 1-producing family, which suggests that a lot of the credit for her talent is due to her sire, and it catches the eye that, like her, one of its top-level stars represents a stallion from the Danehill (by Danzig) line. It remains to be seen how good she will be when she reaches her peak. We already know that she stays a mile, and given the stamina shown by her dam and grandam there is every chance that she too could stay at least 10 furlongs.
No horse has won the Triple Crown since Nijinsky swept the 2000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger in 1970, but Camelot (by Montjeu) came close in 2012. He beat French Fifteen by a neck in the first leg, thrashed Main Sequence by five lengths in the second, and then failed by three-parts of a length to beat the ill-fated Encke at Doncaster.
He won the Group 3 Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh first time out as a four-year-old, chased home Al Kazeem in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup over a half-furlong farther at that venue three weeks later, and finished fourth behind that same rival in the Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at Ascot on his final start. His top Timeform rating was 128. He has been an understandably popular member of the Coolmore stallion team since retiring from the track, and although he was not precocious – his only two juvenile outings were over a mile, spaced three months apart, and featured defeat of Zip Top in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy – it was always on the cards that he would get plenty of first-crop winners in the second half of the season. His final total was 20 winners from a large number of runners, they include the pattern-placed Italian stakes winner Wait Forever and German listed scorer Alounak, plus two stakes-placed individuals, and they are headed by Fighting Irish, who took a three-runner edition of the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte in mid-October. The Harry Dunlop-trained colt took that six-furlong contest by a head and three lengths from Nebo and French Pegasus, and this came three weeks after he ran away with a nursery over the same trip at Yarmouth. He got off the mark at the third attempt, when scoring at Salisbury in late July, but has been out of the frame in his other three starts. Of course, six furlongs is not the sort of trip over which you would expect to see a son of Camelot prove best, even one who, like Fighting Irish, comes from a family that is strongly associated with producing Group 1 milers. It seems likely, therefore, that he will stay that distance and that would give him plenty of options. Depending on what he has inherited from his sire, it is also possible that he will stay 10 furlongs – Camelot can be expected to get his best winners anywhere from a mile and upwards – and the stallion has already been represented this year by the aforementioned Alounak, who ran away with an 11-furlong listed Derby trial on soft ground at Dusseldorf on Sunday.
Fighting Irish is yet another notable horse bred by Pat O'Kelly's Kilcarn Stud, he made €50,000 in Goffs as a foal, £70,000 in Doncaster as a yearling, and earned almost £102,000 last season. He has an official handicap mark of 104, and Timeform rate him 102, so he clearly needs to show a lot of improvement if he is to be up to winning again in pattern company.
He is entered in Wednesday's Listed bet365 European Free Handicap at Newmarket and presumably a good effort there could see him travel to ParisLongchamp next month to take his place in the line-up for the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas). He is the best of the first four foals out of Quixotic (by Pivotal), his dam is an unraced full-sister to Group 1 Lockinge Stakes winner Virtual, and the pair are three-part siblings to Iceman (by Polar Falcon), who won the Group 2 Coventry Stakes and earned placings in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes and Group 1 Middle Park Stakes as a two-year-old. Their dam is Virtuous (by Exit To Nowhere), who earned her blacktype when finishing third in the Listed Oaks Trial at Lingfield, and that mare is a half-sister to Dancing Debut (by Polar Falcon), who was a non-winner on the track but successful at stud. Her daughter Dance Parntner (by Danzero) won five times over middle-distances including the Listed John Musker Fillies' Stakes over 10 furlongs at Yarmouth, the late Kindlelight Debut (by Groom Dancer) was a stakes-placed winner of 10 races from seven to nine and a half furlongs, and unraced Flames (by Blushing Flame) became the dam of Grade 1 E P Taylor Stakes heroine Lahaleeb (by Redback). That filly, who was sold for 1,000,000gns in Newmarket as a three-year-old, also won the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes and Group 3 Fred Darling Stakes and she was a neck runner-up to Again in the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas. The fourth dam of Fighting Irish is the Group 2 Prix Maurice de Gheest winner Exclusive Order (by Exclusive Native) and it is that high-class sprinter-miler who gave us the star siblings Entrepreneur (by Sadler's Wells) and Exclusive (by Polar Falcon) as well as Oaks-placed listed scorer Dance A Dream (by Sadler's Wells). Although that last-named one and her stakes-winning full-brother Sadler's Image were middle-distance horses, Entrepreneur won the Group 1 2000 Guineas and classic-placed Exclusive took the Group 1 Coronation Stakes. Both of those milers then went on to success at stud. Entrepreneur did not get as many stakes winners as would have been hoped, but they included Group 1 Irish Oaks heroine Vintage Tipple and also Damson, the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes-winning dam of Group 2 scorer and blacktype stallion Requinto (by Dansili). Exclusive, on the other hand, is the dam of Group 1-placed, Group 2-winning miler Chic (by Machiavellian) and of prolific pattern winner Echelon (by Danehill), the Group 1 Matron Stakes heroine who gave us Group 1 Falmouth Stakes and Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes star Integral (by Dalakhani). This is a famous Cheveley Park Stud family, and Quixotic left that team when sold for 105,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale in 2010, as an unraced two-year-old. It remains to be seen just how good her son will be at his peak, but regardless of how his career turns out, his young sire, Camelot, has made an eye-catching start to his stallion career and can be expected to supply more stakes and pattern winners as the year progresses, including some who will perform with credit in Group 1 company.
Well-bred horses who begin their careers with an eye-catching debut win can generate plenty of excitement, but just because one was well-beaten on that first visit to the racecourse does not mean that they are not destined to become leading Group 1 contenders within the next few months.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained three-year-old The Pentagon is a good example and, in an interesting coincidence, one of the horses who was beaten by a long way the day he won his maiden on fast ground at the Curragh is his Ballydoyle team-mate and exciting Grade 1 star Mendelssohn. Needless to say, the latter has improved by a massive amount since that 16 and a quarter-length defeat. The Pentagon won by eight and a half lengths that day in mid-July, sent off the stable's second string of three, ridden by leading apprentice Ana O'Brien, and soon to become the ante-post favourite for 2018's Group 1 Investec Derby. A month before it had been he who was the well-beaten debutant, finishing a 19 and a quarter-length sixth behind runaway first-timer and subsequent Group 1 star Verbal Dexterity over the same course and distance, but on soft ground. Just 12 days after his maiden success, he stayed-on well to beat Theobald by one and three-quarter lengths in the Group 3 JRA Tyros Stakes on good ground at Leopardstown, but it was three months before he was seen in action again, this time finishing third to Saxon Warrior and Roaring Lion in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy over a furlong farther at Doncaster, with old rival Verbal Dexterity three-parts of a length back in fourth.
The Pentagon, whom Timeform rated 114p in 2017, is due to make his seasonal reappearance in the Group 3 P.W. McGrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes over 10 furlongs at Leopardstown tomorrow where his rivals include talented stablemates Nelson and Delano Roosevelt, both of whom also have the potential to reach the top.
He was bred by the famous Irish farm Barronstown Stud, he is a son of Coolmore Stud's phenomenal stallion Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) and he is out of the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Vadawina (by Unfuwain), which makes him inbred 3x3 to the dynasty-maker Northern Dancer (by Nearctic). His siblings include the Group 1-placed Group 2 Prix du Conseil de Paris winner Vadamar (by Dalakhani) and pattern-placed stakes winner Vedouma (by Dalakhani), and his dam is a half-sister to Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary scorer Vazira (by Sea The Stars) and also to dual 10-furlong Group 3 winner Vadapolina (by Trempolino). The latter is the dam of Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) runner-up Veda (by Dansili). This is a colt who should have no trouble staying the Derby distance.
Of course, all of those good horses are just the tip of the iceberg of his pedigree as his grandam is Vadaza (by Zafonic), a stakes-placed half-sister to Valixir (by Trempolino) and Celebre Vadala (by Peintre Celebre) and out of a stakes-winning half-sister to several other horses of note.
Valixir won the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes and Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan, and the races in which he was placed included the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby), Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois, and Group 1 Prix Lupin. Celebre Vadala got her best win in the Listed Prix Melisande over 10 furlongs, she was also successful over a mile and a half, and her star son is the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp star and young Tally-Ho Stud stallion Vadamos (by Monsun), who has his first foals on the ground. Vadlamixa (by Linamix), third dam of The Pentagon, got her blacktype success in a mile listed contest at Deauville, but her half-brother Val Royal (by Royal Academy) won the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile and a trio of Group/Grade 2 contests from eight to 10 furlongs before going on to sire Group 1 2000 Guineas and Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas hero Cockney Rebel in a short stallion career: he died at the age of 12. Their half-sister Grand Vadla (by Grand Lodge) won a pair of listed contests, half-brother Vadlawys (by Always Fair) won the Group 2 Prix Hocquart over 12 furlongs at Longchamp, and his full-sister Vadlawysa is the grandam of ill-fated Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) heroine Valyra (by Azamour) and of Group 2 Prix Chaudenay winner and Whytemount Stud stallion Valirann (by Nayef). If you go back to the fifth dam then you will find branches leading to classic-winning miler Vahorimix (by Linamix) and to Group 1 Irish St Leger heroine Voleuse De Coeurs (by Teofilo), both of whom are, of course, only distant relations to The Pentagon. The heavy ground, lack of a recent outing, and a small field may combine to produce a result that is not truly reflective of the long-term potential of each of the runners in tomorrow's classic trial, but there is every reason to hope that The Pentagon, and his two stable companions, can go on to become leading members of the current three-year-old crop.
Dabirsim (by Hat Trick) lit up the two-year-old scene in France in 2011, going unbeaten in five starts that included both the Group 1 Prix Morny and Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. He had kicked off that campaign with a 10-length debut score over six furlongs at La Teste De Buch in early June and his end of season Timeform rating was 120p.
The grandson of Group 1 Oaks d'Italia heroine Bright Generation (by Rainbow Quest) promised to be a classic colt and top miler at three, with the potential to stay the Prix du Jockey Club distance too, and that added to the disappointment of his truncated career. He was short-headed by Dragon Pulse in the Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleau over a mile at Longchamp in mid-April and was then beaten by only about half a length in a blanket finish to the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas), passing the post in sixth place. Lucayan won the race. He began his stallion career at Gestut Karlshof in Germany but moved to Haras de Grandcamp, in France, after two years. He has received large books of mares, his fee was €9,000 in each of his first four seasons, and the impression he made with his first juveniles is reflected in the more than tripling of his fee for 2018. It's now €30,000. His double-digit tally of winners is headed by Different League, the Group 3 Albany Stakes winner who was runner-up in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes, third in the Group 1 Prix Morny, and then sold for 1,500,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale to join the all-conquering Aidan O'Brien team in Ireland. He has also had three blacktype-placed runners and, at Deauville on Monday, his Mauricio Delcher Sanchez-trained daughter Coeur De Beaute won the Group 3 Prix Imprudence, beating Zonza by half a length on heavy ground. Last year she won the six-furlong Listed Prix Zeddaan by two lengths, she chased home Sound And Silence in the Group 3 Prix Eclipse over the same course and distance, and was only beaten by a neck when runner-up in a five-furlong listed contest on good ground at Deauville.
Coeur De Beaute was bred by Haras de Grandcamp Earl, she is a €30,000 graduate of the Osarus September Yearling Sale, and she is the third foal out of the once-raced Twilight Tear (by Rock Of Gibraltar). That mare is out of one-time winner Clara Bow (by Sadler's Wells) and comes from a famous family.
Clara Bow is a full-sister to the Group 1 stars Sequoyah and Listen, both of whom have done well at stud. Listen, the youngest of the trio, was the champion two-year-old filly in Ireland in 2007, she won the Group 1 Fillies' Mile at Ascot, was runner-up in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh, and is the dam of the Group 1-placed Japanese Group 2 scorer Touching Speech (by Deep Impact). Sequoyah won the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes in 2000, she is the dam of dual Guineas star Henrythenavigator (by Kingmambo) and of his full-sister Queen Cleopatra, the dual classic-placed pattern winner whose stakes-winning grandson Cliffs Of Moher (by Galileo) chased home Wings Of Eagles in the Group 1 Investec Derby at Epsom last year. Clara Bow's sisters also include Lady Windermere (by Lake Coniston), the unraced dam of pattern-placed Irish listed sprint winner Absolutelyfabulous (by Mozart) and so the grandam of that one's most talented offspring, the full-siblings Magician (by Galileo), Apple Betty, and Outstanding. The latter won the Listed Oaks Trial at Naas and finished third in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes, Apple Betty was a listed race winner in France before going on to become a Grade 2-placed Grade 3 scorer in the USA, and Magician is the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf star who stands at Ashford Farm in Kentucky and is a freshman sire of 2018. Brigid (by Irish River), the third dam of Coeur De Beaute, won once in France as a three-year-old, she is out of the stakes-placed dual US winner Luv Luvin' (by Raise a Native), and so is a full-sister to Or Vision, the stakes-winning dam of Group 1 stars Dolphin Street (by Bluebird), Insight (by Sadler's Wells) and Saffron Walden (by Sadler's Wells). Their stakes-winning full-sister Litani River is the grandam of Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes scorer Beethoven (by Oratorio), and there are many other blacktype horses to be found within the various branches of these first four generations of the pedigree. Coeur De Beaute has not yet tried a mile but, on pedigree, there would not appear to be any reason why that trip would be beyond her. Whether or not she will be good enough to make the frame in a well-run edition of the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) remains to be seen, but there should be plenty of good prizes to be won with her from six furlongs to a mile, with a chance that she will also be effective at 10 furlongs.
Classic-placed Group 1 sprint star Green Desert forged one of the two most powerful branches of the Danzig (by Northern Dancer) line and there are now several subdivisions emerging in Europe thanks to the exploits of Cape Cross, Invincible Spirit and Oasis Dream, each of whom has stallion sons of note. Right now it is the Invincible Spirit branch that appears strongest, but it is early days yet.
The early Oasis Dream stallions include Showcasing, a Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes winner and Group 1 Middle Park Stakes third whose three-year-old campaign consisted of an excellent second to Prime Defender in the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes and then two crushing defeats. He is a half-brother to blacktype sire Camacho (by Danehill), his stakes-winning dam is out of Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes winner Prophecy (by Warning), and his combination of pedigree, two-year-old talent plus early three-year-old sprint form all but guaranteed he would be a popular addition to the stallion ranks. He is a member of the team at Whitsbury Manor Stud, his 25 stakes winners feature dual Group 1 sprint star Quiet Reflection and multiple Group 1-placed Group 2 Duke of York Stakes winner Tasleet. He has also achieved something very important with regard to his potential to take high rank in the general sires' championship title race – he has proved his ability to get milers. Projected and Prize Exhibit – the latter a Grade 1-placed filly who is a proven sprinter-miler – are Grade 2 scorers over the trip in the USA. If Showcasing can sire good milers then he can get classic horses, and if he can get good milers then, with the right mares, he can get some high-class 10-furlong horses too. Heavy ground can exaggerate superiority, but it was hard not to be impressed with the way that his son Dice Roll won the Group 3 Prix Djebel over seven furlongs at Deauville on Monday, and it would be no surprise to see colt make the frame in the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) – or even win it – and go on to become one of the leading milers of the year.
Dice Roll was bred by Gestut Zur Kuste Ag, he is a €130,000 graduate of the Arqana Deauville October Yearling Sale, and he is trained by Fabrice Chappet.
He made a short-head winning debut over six furlongs on good ground at Maisons-Laffitte in mid-July and rounded off his juvenile campaign with a one-and-three-quarter-length victory in a valuable mile sales race at Chantilly. His only defeat in five starts came when fourth of seven in a seven-furlong listed contest at Deauville a month after his debut. The fourth living foal of 12-furlong scorer Schlague (by Pulpit), he is a half-brother to dual sprint winner Falcon (by Falco) and a grandson of Si Je N'Avais Plus (by Kaldoun), who earned her blacktype over seven and nine furlongs. That mare's siblings include smart sprinter-miler River Of Light (by Irish River) and also two fillies who made their names at stud. Battani (by Top Ville), who won once, is the dam of Grade 1-winning hurdler Me Voici (by Saint Des Saints) and of blacktype chase scorer St Devote (by Saint Des Saints) and she is the grandam of Grade 1-winning hurdler L'Unique (by Reefscape) and of Grade 2 hurdles scorer Baan Rim Pa (by Dyhim Diamond). Dibenoise (by Kendor), on the other hand, was unraced but her string of successful offspring features Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud and Group 2 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial winner Recital (by Montjeu), Group 1 Prix Ganay star Corre Caminos (by Montjeu), and Group 2-winning miler Racinger (by Spectrum). The third dam of Dice Roll is, therefore, the Group 3 Prix des Reservoirs winner and Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) runner-up Boreale (by Bellypha), a daughter of blacktype miler Princesse Tora (by Prince Taj) and so a half-sister to listed scorer Tory Conquest (by Rainbow Quest) and to Group 1 Prix Morny third Princesse Lee (by Habitat). The latter is also notable as being the dam of Princesse Lida (by Nijinsky), France's champion two-year-old filly of 1979 when she won both the Group 1 Prix Morny and Group 1 Prix de la Salamandre. She was rated 119 by Timeform that season and went on to take third in the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. It is true that, with the exception of Baan Rim Pa, the middle-distance and staying horses among those noted above are by stallions with whom you would associate such aptitude, but their presence in the family offers hope that Schlague could be "the right mare" who could get a 10-furlong horse by Showcasing. And, if so, then this colt could also be a leading contender for the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby).
Deep Impact (by Sunday Silence) was one of the most brilliant racehorses ever to be trained in Japan and the Timeform 134-rated, seven-time Group 1 ace, who stands at Shadai Stallion Station, has followed in the hoofprints of his dynasty-making sire by becoming one of the greatest stallions of the modern era.
His triple-digit tally of stakes winners consists mostly of horses who have won at Group 3 level or above, 33 of them have won at the highest level and, in addition to standouts such as Gentildonna, Kizuna, Real Steel, Tosen Stardom and Vivlos – to name just a few – they include A Shin Hikari (Prix d'Ispahan), Beauty Parlour (Poule d'Essai des Pouliches) and Saxon Warrior, each of whom has achieved the feat in Europe. The latter is trained in Ireland by Aidan O'Brien and the unbeaten colt is one of the leading classic and Group 1 prospects for 2018. So far, all of his races have been over a mile, starting with an easy debut success at the Curragh in late August. He followed that with a two-and-a-half-length defeat of Delano Roosevelt in the Group 2 Juddmonte Beresford Stakes on soft ground at Naas and then, a month later, fought well to beat Roaring Lion by a neck in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy. The pair finished two and a half lengths clear of The Pentagon, with Group 1 National Stakes winner Verbal Dexterity another three-parts of a length back in fourth, and Chilean, who won the Group 3 Prix La Force at ParisLongchamp this afternoon, another two and a half lengths farther behind in sixth. Saxon Warrior finished his first season on an official rating of 119, just 3lbs below champion U S Navy Flag. Timeform placed the pair on 120p and 123 respectively.
Yet another top-level winner bred by Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt, the late-January-born colt is a full-brother to the stakes-placed filly Pavlenko and he is the second foal of Maybe (by Galileo), a filly who finished a three and three-quarter-length fifth to Was in the Group 1 Oaks at Epsom on her only attempt beyond a mile.
She had been a 10-length third to Homecoming Queen in the Group 1 1000 Guineas on her previous start – her first defeat – and won both the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes and Group 2 Debutante Stakes over seven furlongs at the Curragh as a juvenile. Maybe has the potential to produce both high-class milers and middle-distance horses, and given that he's a son of Deep Impact, there is every chance that Saxon Warrior will be the latter, or both. And should he win the Group 1 Investec Derby at Epsom in June then he would be the latest member of his family to take a classic at that venue.
Promise To Be True, a full-sister to Maybe, was never asked to try beyond a mile, but then she only ran once as a three-year-old. At two she won the Group 3 Silver Flash Stakes over seven furlongs at Leopardstown, chased home Wuheida in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac over a mile at Chantilly, and then took third behind Thunder Snow in the Group 1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud, over seven furlongs on soft ground.
There was no guarantee that she or Maybe would stay the Oaks distance, despite being Galileo and out of a stakes-winning three-parts sister to Oaks heroine Dancing Rain (by Danehill Dancer), and that's because their dam, Sumora (by Danehill), was a sprinter whose blacktype success came over five furlongs and as a two-year-old. The odds were very good, of course, but likely to be dependant on which attribute Sumora had passed on to them. Maybe's Oaks fifth suggests that she may have got the stamina assist, and that would boost her prospects of producing offspring who can stay that trip. Sumora and Dancing Rain are out of the unraced Indian Ridge (by Ahonoora) mare Rain Flower and, in addition to her three-quarter-length defeat of Wonder Of Wonders at Epsom in 2011, Dancing Rain also took the Group 1 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) over a furlong less on soft ground at Dusseldorf before adding victory in the Group 2 British Champions Fillies' and Mares Stakes' at Ascot. Originally a €200,000 Goffs Orby Sale graduate, Dancing Rain made 4,000,000gns when sold at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale in Newmarket four years later, and her second foal is Godolphin's exciting Magic Lily (by New Approach). That eight-length Newmarket debut winner was only beaten by three-quarters of a length when third to Laurens and September in the Group 1 bet365 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket in October. It may seem surprising that a pair of three-part sisters could show such different aptitudes – one a five-furlong filly and the other an Oaks star – but it is not really so when you consider the mixed potential of their pedigrees. Their dam is by a leading source of sprinter and miler speed, and she is a half-sister to two horses of particular note, one of whom is the high-class sprinter Archway (by Thatching). He won the Group 3 Greenlands Stakes and Listed Waterford Testimonal Stakes when trained by Vincent O'Brien and the brightest stars among his offspring are Roman Arch, Grand Archway, Rose Archway, and Group 1 Melbourne Cup runner-up She's Archie – the latter trio all Group 1 winners over 12 furlongs. Roman Arch got his top-level wins at eight and 10 furlongs. Strange? No, not when you consider that Archway was a half-brother to Group 1 Derby and Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes star Dr Devious (by Ahonoora) – a three-parts brother to Rain Flower – and that their dam, Rose Of Jericho, was a daughter of dual Arc hero and noted stamina influence Alleged (by Hoist The Flag). Former Peter Chapple-Hyam-trained ace Dr Devious died recently, at the age of 29, and although his overall record as a stallion was disappointing for a horse of his calibre and pedigree, he did leave us the Group 1 winners Kinnaird (Prix de l'Opera) and Collier Hill (Irish St Leger, Canadian International, Hong Kong Vase). Clearly, Saxon Warrior is bred for stardom on the track and with the potential to excel at anywhere in the mile to 12-furlong range. There is every reason to hope that his victory at Doncaster will be seen as just his first top-level win whenever the time comes for him to go to stud.
Siyouni is one of 27 Group 1 winners by Cheveley Park Stud's sprint star and outstanding stallion Pivotal (by Polar Falcon) and he achieved his top win at the age of two, taking the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere-Grand Criterium over seven furlongs at Longchamp.
He failed to win from six starts as a three-year-old but was placed in both the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat and Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp and improved his Timeform rating from 117 to 122. Being a high-class son of the sire of Kyllachy and out of a stakes-winning half-sister to Group 1 star Slickly (by Linamix), he went to stud as a promising prospect. The fee for his first four years at Haras de Bonneval was just €7,000, but since then it has soared and he will busy this season at €75,000. Classic and triple mile Group 1 heroine Ervedya heads his current tally of 20 stakes winners, a roll of honour that also includes the Group 1-placed pattern winners Le Brivido, Siyoushake, Spectre and Volta, recent Australian Group 2 scorer Aylmerton, and this afternoon's impressive Group 3 Prix Vantaux winner Barkaa. Of course, Siyouni is also the sire of Laurens, the Karl Burke-trained filly who held on in game fashion for a narrow victory in the Group 1 bet365 Fillies' Mile Stakes at Newmarket in October. This came a month after she beat Dark Rose Angel by a head in a blanket finish for the Group 2 William Hill May Hill Stakes over the same trip at Doncaster.
Laurens, who was bred by Bloodstock Agency Ltd and made £220,000 at the Goffs UK Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale, made a winning debut over seven furlongs at that same venue in mid-July and her only other start to date came at Deauville in August when she chased home Polydream in the Group 3 Shadwell Prix du Calvados.
It is fair to say that she was lucky to win the Newmarket race, as the Aidan O'Brien-trained runner-up September met with trouble in running and just failed by a nose at the line. Timeform, who had her on 105p before the race, raised her only to a mark of 112 – her official handicap figure is 113.
Laurens, a half-sister to two National Hunt winners, is the fourth foal out of Recambe (by Cape Cross), which makes her inbred 4x4 to Danzig (by Northern Dancer). Her dam's siblings include Listed Newmarket Stakes winner and top Hong Kong performer Salford Mill (by Peintre Celebre), and her grandam is the stakes-placed Razana (by Kahyasi).
That daughter of triple winner Raysiya (by Cure The Blues) is a half-sister to four blacktype producers, one of whom was herself a listed winner and two of whom are of particular note. Profit Alert (by Alzao), a full-sister to stakes winner and blacktype producer Raysiza, is the dam of the high-class miler Shifting Power (by Compton Place). He won the Listed European Free Handicap and Listed Royal Windsor Stakes, he chased home Kingman in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas, was a one-length runner-up to Charm Spirit in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat, and was third to Custom Cut in the Group 2 bet365 Mile at Sandown. Ribot's Guest (by Be My Guest), the other mare of note, was unraced, but her son Mickdaam (by Dubawi) won the Group 3 Chester Vase and her daughter Kinnaird (by Dr Devious) won the Group 1 Prix de l'Opera before going on to success at stud. Kinnaird is the dam of Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes winner Berkshire (by Mount Nelson), who is in his first season at Haras de Sorelis in France, and she is the grandam of young Coolmore stallion Ivawood (by Zebedee). That grandson of Invincible Spirit (by Green Desert) won both the Group 2 July Stakes and Group 2 Richmond Stakes as a two-year-old, was a nose runner-up to Charming Thought in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes that autumn, and filled third place in the Group 1 2000 Guineas and Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas the following spring, both won by Gleneagles. His top-priced first-crop foal made 105,000gns in Newmarket in late November. Laurens holds entries in the Group 1 Qipco 1000 Guineas, Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas, Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas), Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary, Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks), and Group 1 Darley Irish Oaks. She needs to improve quite a bit on her two-year-old ratings to be up to winning any of those, but she is arguably bred to be better at the age of three than she was as a juvenile, and there is every reason to hope that she can figure prominently in the best mile to 10 and a half-furlong fillies' races of 2018, possibly also staying 12 furlongs.
Heavy ground can make form unreliable and can exaggerate superiority, but it was hard not to have been impressed with Barkaa's performance in winning the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux over nine furlongs at ParisLongchamp this afternoon, on what was her turf debut.
The Fabrice Vermeulen-trained bay hit the front early in the straight and pulled clear of her rivals to win by four lengths from last year's Group 3 Prix d'Aumale scorer Soustraction, who was running for the first time since finishing out of the frame behind Wild Illusion in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac in October. Barkaa, on the other hand, was race-fit. She made a two-length winning debut over 10 furlongs at Marseille Pont-de-Vivaux in November, followed-up with a short-head success over that same course and distance in mid-December, finished third over a mile at Cagnes-sur-Mer in January and then won a listed contest over that same track and trip three weeks later. All four of those races were on fibresand.
A €66,000 graduate of Book 2 of the Arqana Deauville Yearling Sale, Barkaa was bred by Jean-Pierre Columbu and she is a daughter of Haras de Bonneval's rising star Siyouni (by Pivotal). His eldest offspring are six years old, his 20 stakes winners include Group 1 stars Ervedya and Laurens, recent Australian Group 2 scorer Aylmerton, and several who have been Group 1 runners-up, namely pattern winners Le Brivido, Siyoushake, Spectre and Volta.
She is a half-sister to the multiple listed scorer My Old Husband (by Gentlewave) – who stays middle-distances – and to the stakes-placed broodmares Dumnonia (by Silver Frost) and Danse du Soir (by Nombre Premier), but these are the only blacktype horses on the page until you look under the fourth dam and find that she is the grandam of Irish Grade B-winning hurdler Bon Temps Rouler (by Hero's Honor). Barkaa's dam, Dentelle (by Apeldoorn), notched up three wins and 11 places on the flat, was also placed once over obstacles and is out of Dryden (by Shernazar), an unraced daughter of one-time scorer Bedford Row. That mare, who was out of one-time winner Gnulia (by Margouillat), was a daughter of Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner R B Chesne, thereby making Dentelle inbred 2x3 to that son of the great Brigadier Gerard (by Queen's Hussar). This is not the sort of distaff line that you expect to find on a horse who could play a leading role in the top French fillies' races, and yet Barkaa is a worthy holder of entries in both the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) and Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks). It will be fascinating to find out just how good this filly is, and to see how she eventually gets on at stud given the light distaff side of her pedigree. Both parents make a contribution, of course, but it would be fair to say that the bulk of the credit for her talent and potential must go to her sire.
Triple seven-furlong Group 2 scorer Iffraaj (by Zafonic) came within a head of getting a top-level win to his name – he was runner-up to Les Arcs in the Group 1 July Cup – but he has more than compensated at stud with Jungle Cat's recent Al Quoz Sprint victory at Meydan giving him a ninth Group 1 scorer.
It would be no surprise to see the Dalham Hall Stud stallion get a tenth or even eleventh one in the coming months, but whether or not Chilean will be the one to achieve the feat remains to be seen. His performance in winning the Group 3 Prix La Force over nine furlongs at the newly reopened ParisLongchamp this afternoon was a good effort, albeit one still some way short of suggesting Group 1 potential, but he is clearly a colt with promise. A 130,000gns graduate of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, the Martyn Meade-trained bay was fourth on his debut in a seven-furlong soft-ground maiden at Newmarket in August, reappeared after 20 days to score over a mile on the Polytrack at Chelmsford, and then easily won the Listed Ascendant Stakes over the same trip on heavy ground at Haydock just nine days later. His final juvenile outing was in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy and he was not disgraced in finishing a six-length sixth behind the exciting pair Saxon Warrior and Roaring Lion. He looks likely to do well in the eight to 10-furlong range this year. Might he stay farther?
Chilean was bred by Ed's Stud Ltd and he is the first foal out of Childa (by Duke Of Marmalade), a Listed Prix Rose de Mai winner who finished third in the Group 2 Prix de Conseil de Paris and whose dam, Chill (by Verglas) showed similar talent to win the Listed Prix Finlande and take second in the Group 3 Prix Cleopatre.
Childa stayed 12 furlongs and Chill won at up to 10 and a half but was well-beaten on her sole try at 12, but this could have been expected given their respective sires. Chill's three-parts brother Remus De La Tour (by Stormy River), who took the Group 3 Prix du Lys and was placed in both the Group 2 Grand Prix de Chantilly and Group 3 Prix d'Hedouville, won at up to 13 furlongs. This would suggest that Chilean will have no problem with a mile and a quarter, and as he is by a stallion who has proved his ability to get top winners over a wide variety of trips, including the Derby distance, it is possible that 12 furlongs could be within his range. It is noticeable, however, that his big-race entries include the Group 1 Qipco 2000 Guineas, Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas), Group 2 Betfred Dante Stakes, and Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby), but not the Group 1 Investec Derby, so 10 and a half furlongs may be as far as he will be asked to try, at least for the first half of the season. These are the highlights of the first four generations of his pedigree but if you go back another step on the page you will find a plethora of notable horses appearing under various branches of the fifth. Those horses are so remotely connected to Chilean as to have no bearing on his potential, but it would be an oversight to ignore them especially as one is Verglas (by Highest Honor), the sire of his grandam. That makes him inbred 5x5 to the unraced mare Fager's Glory (by Mr Prospector), which is likely of no importance while still catching the eye. Dam of nine winners from a dozen foals, including Chilean's non-winning fourth dam Queen Caroline (by Chief's Crown) and classic-placed juvenile mile Group 3 scorer Glory Forever (by Forever Casting), she is the third dam of Brazilian Grade 1-winning champion Bandido Secreto (by Romarin) and of Grade 1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) heroine Nuovo Record (by Heart's Cry). More notable, however, is that she is also the dam of Rahaam (by Secreto), the one-time winner who gave us the aforementioned classic-placed pattern winner and sire Verglas (by Highest Honor), plus Group 2-winning sprinter and influential broodmare Cassandra Go (by Indian Ridge). This is, therefore, a branch of the family of Group/Grade 1 stars Halfway To Heaven (by Pivotal), Photo Call (by Galileo), and Rhododendron (by Galileo). Again, their relationship to Chilean is so remote as to have no bearing on his potential. What they do show, however, is that if he goes on give Iffraaj another Group 1 star then he will not be the first top-level winner to have emerged from the descendants of that well-related ancestor Fager's Glory, a mare whose grandam was 1966 Kentucky Oaks heroine and Grade 1 producer Native Street (by Native Dancer).
The phenomenal legacy left by triple Group 1 star and prolific champion sire Sadler's Wells (by Northern Dancer) has been felt around the world. In Europe many will immediately identify his sons Galileo and Montjeu as having forged mighty branches of his line, with some of us who have been around for a while also naming In The Wings – the first of the major Sadler's Wells sire sons here – as having had influence too.
In North America, however, it is the former Vincent O'Brien-trained Group 1 National Stakes winner El Prado who achieved lasting fame. The grey came from the fourth crop of Sadler's Wells, he stood at Adena Springs in Kentucky, his 83 stakes winners included eight who won at the highest level, and two of his Grade 1-winning sons have become titans: Medaglia d'Oro and Kitten's Joy. The latter, a Ramsey Farm homebred who was a Grade 1 winner over 10 and 12 furlongs on turf, commanded a fee of $100,000 from 2014 to 2017 and now, aged 17, is in his first season at Hill 'N Dale Farms in Kentucky, covering for $60,000. His is not a profile of a horse who would have been expected to make such an impact on that side of the Atlantic, and yet this champion sire has achieved progeny earnings in excess of $10 million every year from 2013 to 2017, gets a high number of individual stakes winners each season, and has a promising stallion son here in Europe. That horse is Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Bobby's Kitten, a highly effective performer from six furlongs to a mile, who was a runaway winner of a listed sprint at Cork on his only start in Ireland. He stands at Lanwades Stud in Newmarket and has his first foals on the ground.
So far, Kitten's Joy has 11 top-level winners to his name, but there is every reason to believe that Hawkbill will not remain unique among them for much longer. Winner of the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan on Saturday, in which he beat Poet's Word by three lengths, the Charlie Appleby-trained chestnut has won 10 of his 20 starts to date, earned over £3.4 million, and his tally includes a half-length defeat of The Gurkha in the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown in 2016.
The stallion's European representatives also include Group 1-placed dual Group 2 scorer Taareef, and Qatar Racing Ltd's exciting grey Roaring Lion, who is among the ante-post market leaders for next month's Group 1 Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and among the entries for the Group 1 Investec Derby at Epsom. The John Gosden-trained colt made a winning debut over a mile at Newmarket's July course in mid-August, followed that with a six-length score over the same trip on the polytrack at Kempton, and then gamely beat Nelson by a neck in the Group 2 Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes. A month later he looked set for victory in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster before veering off a straight course and then losing out by a neck to Saxon Warrior.
Roaring Lion was bred by Ran Jan Racing Inc, he is a $160,000 graduate of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and he is related to a string of high-class performers, most of whom did well at around a mile.
The first foal of Vionnet (by Street Sense), who was a three-quarter-length third in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita, he is a grandson of the prolific Cambiocorsa (by Avenue Of Flags), a dual Grade 3 scorer over six and a half furlongs on the downhill turf course at that same venue. That mare, who won nine of her 18 starts, has excelled at stud, coming up with five blacktype offspring from six runners, and in addition to Vionnet, they are nine-furlong Grade 2 winner Moulin De Mougin (by Curlin), Grade 2-winning miler Schiaparelli (by Ghostzapper), and mile listed scorers Alexis Tangier (by Tiznow) and Bronson (by Medaglia d'Oro). Cambiocorsa also has the distinction of being a full-sister to the high-class sprinter California Flag, whose double-digit tally included three editions of the six and a half-furlong Grade 3 Morvich Handicap at Santa Anita. They, in turn, are out of Ultrafleet (by Afleet), who failed to make the frame in four attempts, and that daughter of multiple stakes-placed six-time winner Social Conduct (by Vigors) is a half-sister to Social Service (by Green Forest), the five-time winning dam of multiple stakes winning filly Princess Deelite (by Afternoon Deelites). All of this points to Roaring Lion as being a potentially high-class mile to 10-furlong horse who, depending on the amount of stamina he has received from his sire, could stay the Derby distance.
It takes a special broodmare to produce two Group/Grade 1 winners at stud and an exceptional one to get three or more, especially when they are by different stallions. When Mendelssohn (by Scat Daddy) took the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in early November his dam, Leslie's Lady (by Tricky Creek), joined that elite club.
Her first one was Into Mischief (by Harlan's Holiday), a lightly raced horse who won the Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity at two and was a Grade 1-placed stakes winner at three, after which he took up stallion duties at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky. His 32 stakes winners, to date, include the multiple Grade 1 stars Goldencents and Practical Joke. His first foals arrived in 2010, which was also the year that his half-sister Beholder (by Henny Hughes) was born. A Grade 1 star in each of five seasons on the track and an Eclipse Award winner in four of them, she was one of the most brilliant US racemares of the modern era, eventually retiring to stud the winner of 18 races from 26 starts and over $6.1 million in prize money. Her final run resulted in a nose defeat of the equally brilliant Songbird in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita, 364 days before Mendelssohn's top win, and her first foal was born on January 23rd of this year – a bay Uncle Mo (by Indian Charlie) colt. As for six-furlong juvenile listed scorer Leslie's Lady, she had a Medaglia d'Oro (by El Prado) colt in 2017 and then went in foal to Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (by Pioneer Ofthe Nile).
Into Mischief was his dam's third foal, Beholder her eighth, and her latest star number 11, and both of the latter pair were bred by Clarkland Farm in Kentucky.
There are a few other stakes winners to be found within the first four generations of the pedigree, and some horses who notched up double-digit tallies of wins on the track, but the most notable is Roanoke (by Pleasant Colony), whose half-sister One Last Bird (by One For All) is the stakes-placed third dam of Mendelssohn. He was a wide-margin winner of the Grade 2 Young America Stakes over eight and a half furlongs as a juvenile, added a mile listed race from nine starts at three, and then took the Grade 1 Californian Stakes over nine furlongs at four, beating Anshan and Marquetry, before going on to sire some stakes and graded winners at stud. Mendelssohn is owned by the Coolmore team, trained in Ireland by Aidan O'Brien, and he is a $3,000,000 graduate of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. There was plenty of interest when he made his debut in a seven-furlong Curragh maiden in July, but he finished a well-beaten eighth. Next time, however, he took a mile maiden by a length at the same venue. This was still a long way off pattern-level form and although it was not a huge surprise that he was beaten in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster a month later, it was disappointing to see him finish a long way last while his stable companion Seahenge took the honours. Blinkers were fitted when he reappeared at Newmarket four weeks after that, he was sent off as a 50/1 longshot, but for the first time showed his real potential. In what was a remarkable one-two-three-four for the Ballydoyle team, he chased home two-and-a-half-length winner U S Navy Flag, and had old rival Seahenge the same distance back in third. Threeandfourpence, a head behind in fourth, completed the clean sweep. When a seemingly exposed longshot produces such an effort it tends to be treated with some suspicion. Perhaps this was one of those performance-of-a-lifetime efforts that do not get repeated, perhaps the form was unreliable, or perhaps this was a colt who was finally beginning to come into his own. His one-length defeat of Untamed Domain at Del Mar a few weeks later announced it to be the latter. A tilt at the Group 1 2000 Guineas and Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas double would be the usual likely route for a leading turf two-year-old that stayed beyond six furlongs but it could be at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May when he makes his first classic bid. O'Brien pointed out the dirt aspect of his pedigree in post-race interviews and indicated that early-season trials on the all-weather tracks in Europe could determine his target, with the Kentucky Derby very much on the cards. Dermot Weld sent Moyglare Stud's homebred Go And Go from Ireland to New York to record an historic victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes back in 1990, but the closest that any European has come to lifting the Derby is when Clive Brittain shipped Bold Arrangement from England to Kentucky to chase home Ferdinand in the 1986 edition of the classic. Mendelssohn and his star siblings are all by stallions who represent the Storm Cat (by Storm Bird) line and, in Europe, his late sire is typically associated with being a source of speed and precocity. That's because Scat Daddy's (by Johannesburg) best-known runners here feature the sprinters Acapulco, Caravaggio, Lady Aurelia and No Nay Never, as well as last year's Group 1 Phoenix Stakes scorer Sioux Nation. Of course, in South America he was a premier source of classic winners, while in North America his best tend to excel in the seven to 10-furlong range. And this, combined with the fact that his most closely related sibling – Beholder – was a runaway winner of the Grade 1 Pacific Classic over 10 furlongs, suggests that the Kentucky Derby distance is unlikely to be a problem for him. It is worth noting, however, that he was born on May 17th, 2015 so he will not have reached his physical third birthday until two days before the Preakness Stakes. The surface, of course, is still an unknown until he tries it, but he is bred for it and it could turn out that what he has achieved on turf is a bonus. Only time will tell, but if this colt lives up to his pedigree and promise then he could become one of the major players of 2018, before eventually going on to what could be – given his half-brother's success – a notable career at stud.
It is hard to know the merit of the form, but on visual impression Gold Town appears to be a young horse with a big future. Godolphin's homebred three-year-old is trained by Charlie Appleby, he has run twice at Meydan this year, both on dirt, and been highly impressive each time.
The first of those outings came in a seven-furlong conditions race, which he took by four and a quarter lengths, and the second was Thursday's Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas over a mile, which he took by a 10 and a half-length margin. The nine and a half-furlong, Group 2 UAE Derby is an obvious next target for him and, after that, perhaps some of the leading events for the classic generation. But where? He is a gelding and that excludes him from the European Group 1 classics, so this exciting prospect could become a candidate for the US Triple Crown series. He was gelded after the third consecutive defeat that followed a debut success over five furlongs at Newbury last year, then finished third in a seven-furlong Newmarket nursery in July before taking a similar contest over the same course and distance a month later. His pattern victory appears to be a massive step forward on all of this.
Gold Town is a son of the late Street Cry (by Machiavellian), the Group 1 Dubai World Cup winner who stood in Kentucky, shuttled to Australia – where he was crowned champion sire – and whose offspring include top sprinters and milers, a Kentucky Derby hero in Street Sense and, of course, two of the greatest fillies of the modern era: Winx and Zenyatta.
He is the second foal of Pimpernel (by Invincible Spirit) who won four times in England as a two-year-old, including the Listed Radley Stakes at Newbury, and was second in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes. Her dam, Anna Pallida (by Sadler's Wells), got her sole victory over 10 furlongs and as she is a daughter of three-time scorer Masskana (by Darshaan) it was always on the cards that she could become the ancestor of some high-class performers. Why? Because that mare is one of those rare gems with at least three individual Group/Grade 1-winning offspring to her name. Eagle Mountain (by Rock Of Gibraltar) won the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin and was placed in each of the Group 1 Derby at Epsom, Group 1 Irish Derby at the Curragh, Group 1 Champion Stakes at Newmarket, and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita. His half-sister Dank (by Dansili) won both the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and the Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes, while Sulk (by Selkirk) took the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac at two before going on to earn placings in the Nassau Stakes, Yorkshire Oaks and Prix Royal-Oak – all Group 1. Sulk is the dam of the Group 2-placed stakes winner Ibn Battuta (by Seeking The Gold), while her unraced full-sister Slink is responsible for Bye Bye Birdie (by Oasis Dream), winner of the Group 3 Grangecon Stud Balanchine Stakes over six furlongs at the Curragh as a two-year-old. Masskana, who is also the dam of the pattern-placed stakes winner Wallace (by Royal Academy), is a half-sister to Grade 1-placed US Grade 3 scorer Madjaristan (by Irish River) and to Massyar (by Kahyasi), who won the Group 2 Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh a few weeks after finishing third to Barathea in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas. The fourth dam of Gold Town is, therefore, Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas), Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac and Group 1 Prix Robert Papin heroine Masarika (by Thatch). It remains to be seen just how good Gold Town will be when he reaches his peak, but there is every reason to hope that he can succeed at the highest level. That may come on dirt and at anywhere from a mile to 10 furlongs – and the Belmont Stakes trip may not be beyond his reach – but it is also going to be interesting to see how he fares if returning to turf.
Multiple Group 1 star Whipper (by Miesque's Son) looked full of promise when he retired to stud, and not just because of his considerable talent as a racehorse.
He is by a full-brother to leading sire Kingmambo (by Mr Prospector), he could be described as being a three-parts brother to the top-class filly Divine Proportions (by Kingmambo), and his grandam was a full-sister to dual Derby hero and influential stallion Shirley Heights (by Mill Reef). Sadly, he has not lived up to that potential, getting some stakes and pattern winners but no standout performers. He does have a talented three-year-old this season and it will be interesting to see how that colt fares if he remains in training in 2018. Sarl Darpat France's homebred Recoletos stays farther than his sire did, but as he comes from the direct family of a Timeform 135-rated dual Derby hero, that's not really a surprise.
He first came to prominence when beating Waldgeist in the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud in early May. That colt reversed the placings when they met again in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) a month later but the pair had to settle for second and third to Brametot, who won by a short-head and a length.
Recoletos disappointed when well-beaten behind Eminent in the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano Haras du Logis Saint-Germain over 10 furlongs at Deauville in mid-August but bounced back to pip Plumatic by a nose in the Group 3 Prix du Prince d'Orange over the same trip at Maisons-Laffitte a month later. Both of his pattern wins came on very soft ground, and it was described as good-to-soft when he earned his classic placing, but he has won on good ground, albeit in a conditions race. It was also soft at Ascot today when he put up what has arguably been his best performance to date, finishing fourth in the Group 1 Qipco Champion Stakes. Cracksman stormed home seven lengths clear of Poet's Word, with Highland Reel a neck back in third and just one length more back to Recoletos.
Recoletos is trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias, he is the best of several winners for his dam, and she, Highphar (by Highest Honor), is an unraced daughter of the Grade 2 Garden City Breeders' Cup Handicap and Group 3 Prix de Sandringham scorer Pharatta (by Fairy King).
That talented filly, whose top wins came over nine and eight furlongs respectively, is out of the unraced Sharata (by Darshaan), which makes her a half-sister to Group 2 Premio Ribot and Group 3 September Stakes scorer Crimson Tide (by Sadler's Wells), a successful sire in Brazil. The next dam is the three-time winner Shademah (by Thatch) and so Sharata, the third dam of Recoletos, is a half-sister to the Aga Khan's homebred dual Derby hero but disappointing stallion Shahrastani (by Nijinsky). He won the Group 3 Guardian Classic Trial and Group 2 Dante Stakes before that rather fortunate defeat of Dancing Brave at Epsom, and then ran away with the Group 1 Irish Derby before finishing fourth behind his old rival in both the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in what was a vintage year – 1986. His dam was a half-sister to Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Shakapour (by Kalamoun), to Grade 1 Bowling Green Handicap scorer Sharannpour (by Busted), and to Shashna (by Blakeney) – the unplaced dam of Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) heroine Shemaka (by Nishapour) – and they were out of Shamim (by Le Haar), a winning half-sister to the classic-placed Group 2 Prix du Conseil de Paris winner Kamaraan (by Tanerko). Recoletos is not in the same league as his most famous relation, but he is a talented colt who has probably done enough to attract some interest as a prospective stallion, and who could do well on the track as a four-year-old.
There was a somewhat unusual aspect to this year's Group 1 Qatar Goodwood Cup and not just that it was carrying the highest status for the first time.
The two-mile feature was won by the three-year-old Stradivarius, who beat six-year-old Group 1 Gold Cup hero Big Orange by one and three-quarter lengths, with the third, another three and a half lengths behind, being Desert Skyline, another member of the classic generation. One does not expect to see three-year-olds doing so well in midsummer all-aged stayers' pattern events and this performance augured well for their future prospects. The obvious immediate potential target for the winner was the Group 1 William Hill St Leger Stakes at Doncaster in September, and he ran another fine race there, finishing third to Capri and Crystal Ocean, beaten just half a length and a short-head. Desert Skyline also went to Doncaster but his target was necessarily different as, being a gelding, he is barred from the classics. So he stepped up another quarter-mile and landed the Group 2 Doncaster Cup Stakes, further advertising his potential to take high rank in the stayers' division in 2018.
Desert Skyline, who was bred by Tinnakill Bloodstock & Cannings, is a €40,000 graduate of the Goffs Orby Sale, he is trained by David Elsworth, and he is a son of the Group 1-winning miler and Derrinstown Stud stallion Tamayuz (by Nayef).
That stallion has been having a notably successful year in 2017 and his string of current blacktype performers include Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) heroine Precieuse, Group 2 Middleton Stakes winner and Group 1 Nassau Stakes runner-up Blond Me, Group 3 Strensall Stakes scorer Mustashry, and listed race winner and Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest third Tupi. Desert Skyline is a half-brother to three blacktype performers, including Group 3 Prix de Lutece runner-up Dounyapour (by Lope De Vega), and he is out of the Group 2 Prix de Pomone winner Diamond Tango (by Acatenango). She, in turn, is a half-sister to Saint-Cloud listed scorer Crystal Diamond (by Teofilo) and is the best of several winners out of Group 3 Prix Penelope victress Diamond Dance (by Dancehall). A half-sister to Group 1-placed Group 2 winner Diamond Mix (by Linamix) and to Group 3 Prix de Royaumont scorer Diasilixa (by Linamix), Diamond Dance is also a half-sister to the ancestor of a current classic star. That sibling is Diamonaka (by Akarad) who, although not a stakes winner, was placed in the Group 2 Prix de Mallaret at Longchamp and Group 3 Prix de Royaumont at Saint-Cloud, and her three pattern-winning offspring include Diamilina (by Linamix), the Group 2 Prix de Mallaret winner and Group 1 Prix Vermeille runner-up whose grandson, Capri (by Galileo), won the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby before his aforementioned St Leger success. Diamonaka's other pair are the ill-fated runaway Group 3 Prix Cleopatre winner Diamonixa (by Linamix) and the talented miler Diamond Green (by Green Desert), who won the Group 3 Prix La Rochette and was runner-up in each of the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas), Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, and Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes. The talented trio also have a notable sister in Dali's Grey (by Linamix), a one-time winner whose star son is Group 3 winner and Group 1 Melbourne Cup runner-up Bauer (by Halling) and whose descendants include current talented three-year-old Khalidi (by High Chaparral) – the dual stakes winner who chased home the ill-fated Permian in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Ascot in June. The third dam of Desert Skyline is, therefore, Phoenix Park listed race winner Diamond Seal (by Persian Bold), a granddaughter of 1967 Irish Oaks heroine Pampalina (by Bairam), and so out of a half-sister to 1977's Irish 2000 Guineas winner Pampapaul (by Yellow God).
Top-class miler Paco Boy (by Desert Style) came up with Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes winner Beacon in his first crop and the classic-winning miler Galileo Gold in his second but he has left Highclere Stud and will stand in Turkey from next year.
His Group 1 2000 Guineas and Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes hero will be taking up stallion duties at Tally-Ho Stud then, and although his third-crop star is a gelding, Beat The Bank looks likely to make an impact at the highest level on the track. The bay was bred by A S Denniff of Denniff Farms and he made just 30,000gns from Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in Newmarket, bought by Curragh trainer Darren Bunyan. He won easily over seven furlongs at Dundalk on his debut in February and then moved to England to join the Andrew Balding stable. Since then he has run four times with his only defeat being a disappointing effort behind Le Brivido in the Group 3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. His first two starts after that, however, resulted in wins in the Listed Robinsons Mercedes-Benz Sir Henry Cecil Stakes and Group 3 Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes, by a combined margin of six lengths.
Then he went to Newmarket where he put up an impressive display to beat Sir John Lavery by five lengths in the Group 2 Shadwell Joel Stakes, with Jallota another two and a quarter lengths back in third. Like his other blacktype wins, this race is over a mile.
He holds an entry in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in three weeks' time and it would be no surprise to see him produce another big effort there before going on to a notable four-year-old campaign. Beat The Bank is a half-brother to the ill-fated stakes-placed handicapper Salt Island (by Exceed And Excel), who produced a performance of a lifetime effort to finish fourth to Muhaarar in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Ascot and earned a Timeform rating of 112. Their dam, Tiana (by Diktat), earned her blacktype when third in the Listed Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket as a juvenile and her eight winning siblings include Mary Read (by Bahamian Bounty), the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes runner-up whose star grandson is Group 3 Molecomb Stakes winner and Group 1 Commonwealth Cup runner-up Kachy (by Kyllachy). That Tom Dascombe-trained four-year-old was fourth to Marsha in the Group 3 Palace House Stakes at Newmarket in May, was short-headed by Magical Memory in a six-furlong conditions event at Haydock in July, and was also bred by Denniff Farms. Hill Welcome (by Most Welcome), the grandam of Beat The Bank, was only placed but her dam, Tarvie (by Swing Easy), won three times and produced both the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes winner Stalker (by Kala Shikari) and Listed Marble Stakes heroine Regal Peace (by Known Fact). The latter is the grandam of Grade 2 Palos Verdes Handicap scorer Friendly Island (by Crafty Friend), who was placed in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint, Group 1 Golden Shaheen Stakes, and Grade 1 Forego Stakes, and also of current two-year-old Ardenode (by Helvellyn), who has won the Listed Prix La Fleche and finished third in the Group 3 Prix du Bois at Deauville from just three starts. Denniff Farms have a full-sister to Salt Island catalogued as Lot 927 in Book 2 of the upcoming Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, and with the way her half-brother Beat The Bank won just a few minutes away from that auction house yesterday, that filly is likely to attract plenty of attention.
Top-class middle-distance horse Adlerflug is a son of In The Wings (by Sadler's Wells) and from a branch of the family of Galileo (by Sadler's Wells), Sea The Stars (by Cape Cross), and King's Best (by Kingmambo) so it is no surprise that he has emerged as a leading sire in Germany.
His 11 stakes winners include Group 1 scorer and young Gestut Ammerland stallion Ito (first foals in 2018), dual Group 1 winner Iquitos, and Group 1 Henkel-Preis der Diana heroine Lacazar who is due to run next in the Group 1 Prix de l'Opera Longines at Chantilly. The Peter Schiergen-trained three-year-old has won four in a row this season and her classic victory against Megera and Wuheida over 11 furlongs on soft ground at Dusseldorf last month was preceded by a one and a half-length defeat of Diana Storm in a Group 3 contest over the same trip on heavy ground at Hamburg.
A full-sister to the pattern-placed Liberry Gold, Lacazar was bred by Ina Emma Zimmerman and she is the second foal out of Laey Diamond (by Dai Jin), an unraced full-sister to Liang Kay.
His four pattern wins featured the Group 2 Oppenheim-Union-Rennen, his many pattern placings included one in the Group 2 Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen (German 2000 Guineas), and he missed out on Group 1 placings when fourth in the Deutsches Derby and Grosser Dallmayr Preis. Linton Bay (by Funambule), the grandam of Lacazar, was a German listed winner over seven furlongs and over a mile and her offspring also include both the pattern-placed stakes winner and blacktype producer Laeya Star (by Royal Dragon) and this year's Group 2 Diana-Trial third Litaara (by Wiener Walzer). The next two dams – Ludhiana (by Ti Amo) and Lumaria (by Herero) – were both unraced, and other than a stakes-winning sprinter out of a half-sister to Linton Bay, those noted above represent the highlights of the first four generations of the pedigree. Lacazar is still something of an unknown quantity and it will be fascinating to see how she gets on against the strong line-up at Chantilly.
Galileo's brilliant half-brother Sea The Stars (by Cape Cross) has made an excellent start to his career at Gilltown Stud and the 11-year-old notched up his eighth individual Group 1 winner when Stradivarius took the Qatar Goodwood Cup earlier this month.
The John Gosden-trained chestnut is owned and bred by Bjorn Nielsen, he has won four of his seven starts, and what makes his one and three-quarter length defeat of Group 1 Gold Cup hero Big Orange particularly meritorious is that he is only a three-year-old. Timeform rated him 122. He won the final of three starts at around a mile as a juvenile, started off his current campaign with a six-length score in a 10-furlong handicap at Beverley in April, failed by just half a length to give away 13lbs over two and a half furlongs farther at Chester the following month, and then put his name into the history books as the first winner of the newly framed Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot. Previously run over over two miles and with listed or Group 3 status, it was generally seen as one of the lesser blacktype staying events, but, in 2017 and as part of some enhancements to the stayers' programme, it was reduced in distance to 14 furlongs and boosted in status to Group 2. The presumed hope is that the Queen's Vase might become to stayers what the Commonwealth Cup has to sprinters, a well-supported stepping stone for potentially top-class three-year-olds before they take on the older horses. The latter has quickly become established as one of the best additions to the racing calendar, and if the next few winners of the former go on to the sort of profile that its latest victor has achieved, then it too will play an important role.
Stradivarius is now one of the ante-post market leaders for both the Group 1 William Hill St Leger Stakes at Doncaster next month and for the Group 2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot in October.
He is a half-brother to the dual German 10-furlong Group 3 scorer Persian Storm (by Monsun) and out of Private Life (by Bering), a stakes-placed half-sister to the 15-furlong listed race winner Pretty Tough (by Desert King) and also to Parisienne (by Distant Relative), a juvenile stakes winner with a famous grandson. That star is Protectionist (by Monsun), the Group 1 Melbourne Cup hero of 2014. He was a pattern-winning stayer before making the trip to Flemington, but an extended stay in Australia did not work out for him so he returned to Germany, added Group 1 success in the Grosser Preis von Berlin over 12 furlongs at Hoppegarten, and took up stallion duties at Gestut Rottgen in the spring. His third dam, Poughkeepsie (by Sadler's Wells), is the grandam of Stradivarius and that one-time winner is among five successful runners from the dozen foals produced from Pawneese (by Carvin II), the Group 1 Oaks, Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) and Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes heroine whom Timeform rated 131 in her championship season: 1976. Pawneese's half-sister Petroleuse (by Habitat), who won the Group 3 Princess Elizabeth Stakes, is the grandam of Peintre Celebre (by Nureyev), the Timeform 137-rated star who took the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris and Group 1 Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) in 1997. Although he has not achieved the sort of fame at stud as he did on the track, the brilliant chestnut has supplied 65 stakes winners, 12 of whom have won at the highest level, including the Group 1 standouts Pride, Vallee Enchantee, and Bentley Biscuit. At this point, Stradivarius looks the most likely candidate to win the season's final Group 1 classic at Doncaster. Whether or not he has the stamina for the two and a half-mile Group 1 Gold Cup next year remains to be seen, but a repeat Goodwood Cup success is possible and he could be a leading candidate for championship honours in the stayers' division in 2018. Given his relationship to Protectionist, Pawneese and Peintre Celebre, it would be interesting to see how he might get on if dropping back to a mile and a half next year, and also to see him get a shot at being a flat stallion, rather than being automatically targeted at the National Hunt sector.
Yeomanstown Stud's Dark Angel (by Acclamation) was a leading sprint juvenile who took up stallion duties shortly after winning the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes. The Timeform 113-rated grey is a good-looking son of the high-class sprinter Acclamation (by Royal Applause), he has been hugely popular with breeders from day one, and he wasted little time in establishing himself as an important source of speed and precocity.
We can only guess at what he might have done had he stayed in training at three or four years of age, and if he would have been capable of a higher Timeform rating, but an increasing number of his offspring are matching and surpassing his figure, three have won at the highest level, and it is possible that a fourth will hit the Group 1 target tomorrow afternoon. The big trio are Lethal Force (successful freshman sire), Mecca's Angel, and last month's July Cup hero Harry Angel, and the potential addition is the Charles Hills-trained three-year-old Battaash, one of the most exciting sprinters in Europe in recent years.
He looked a bright prospect when making a winning debut over the minimum trip at Bath in May of last year but was a disappointment when finishing down the field behind Ardad in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot a month later.
He was gelded soon afterwards and although he ran quite well in his three subsequent starts – finishing third each time – he showed nothing of the brilliance that he has exhibited this summer. First he was placed in a conditions race over six at Doncaster – the only time he has tried that distance – then in a Haydock nursery, and finally behind Mrs Danvers in the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket. His three-year-old debut was in the Listed Randox Health Scurry Stakes at Sandown in mid-June and it was an eye-catching effort, beating Koropick by a length and a quarter. Then came his three and a quarter-length defeat of Mirza in the Group 3 Coral Charge, with Goldream another three lengths back in third. That front-running performance suggested that he could be a Group 1 star in the making, but his two and a quarter-length victory in the Group 2 Qatar King George Stakes at Goodwood was breathtaking.
The ground was soft but he showed a powerful turn of foot to beat Profitable by two and a quarter lengths, with Marsha third, Take Cover fourth, and Washington DC fifth – and in a very quick time. Timeform's analysis placed him on a massive 135+, making it one of the best performances by a sprinter in recent years and putting him level with the brilliant Lady Aurelia.
Immediately thoughts turned to the mouthwatering prospect of these two outstanding three-year-olds meeting on the track, and that is due to happen at York tomorrow afternoon in what could be a Group 1 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes for the ages.
Battaash was bred in Ireland by Ballyphilip Stud and he is a 200,000gns graduate of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in Newmarket. He is the first foal out of an unplaced mare called Anna Law (by Lawman), and although there will obviously be no stallion career for him, there is likely to be one for his notably talented 'cousin'.
That horse is the William Haggas-trained four-year-old Tasleet (by Showcasing), a Timeform 125-rated winner of the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes and who was runner-up to The Tin Man in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. He is also owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum, and his dam, Bird Key (by Cadeaux Genereux), is a half-sister to Anna Law. These two mares have four blacktype siblings, best of whom is Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner and Group 1 July Cup third Etlaala (by Selkirk), and they are out of Portelet (by Night Shift), a four-time winning half-sister to stakes-placed sprinter Rozel (by Wolfhound). Noirmant (by Dominion), the third dam of Battaash and Tasleet, was unraced, her half-sister Ghariba (by Final Straw) won the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes and finished fourth in the Group 1 1000 Guineas and then went on to become the ancestor of several talented horses, including Group 1-placed juvenile mile Group 3 scorer Fantastic View (by Distant View) and the Group 1-placed, pattern-winning sprinter High Standing (by High Yield). All of this might sound as though it is a family exclusively associated with talent at a mile and under, but Ghariba and Noirmant are out of Listed Montrose Handicap third Krakow (by Malinowski) and so are half-sisters to Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak and Group 2 Yorkshire Cup hero Braashee (by Sadler's Wells). Their siblings also include Adam Smith (by Sadler's Wells), a multiple Grade 3 winner at around a mile in the USA. It remains to be seen just how good Battaash really is, and despite his huge Timeform rating he has created the impression that he could still be improving. Although many would love the chance to breed to a horse of such immense talent, it has been said that there was good reason to castrate him and that, as a colt, he would likely not have shown his true worth. This means that we could be treated to the sight of this exciting sprinter in action for several years, and if he truly is a 130+ talent rather than a 'one-hit wonder', and if can hold that sort of form over a long period of time, then he has the potential to become one of the most celebrated horses on the international scene, and a yardmark against which to judge the current and future generations.
Timeform 147-rated superstar Frankel (by Galileo) has been bred to some of the cream of the world's elite broodmares and, with such support, anything less than a plethora of stakes and pattern winners from the resulting offspring would be disappointing.
As of today, his tally stands at a dozen pattern winners plus one Group 2-placed listed scorer and a string of blacktype-placed representatives from his first crop, and a Group 2 winner from his second. He is awaiting his first European Group 1 winner – to add to his champion and classic heroine Soul Stirring, in Japan – but with the manner in which Cracksman won the Group 2 Betway Great Voltigeur Stakes at York this afternoon, there is every reason to hope that this John Gosden-trained three-year-old could be one to make the breakthrough. His six-length defeat of Venice Beach was impressive, there was a further six lengths back to Mirage Dancer – who is also by Frankel – and the talented Douglas Macarthur was another half-length behind in fourth. This year's Group 1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe or Group 1 Qipco Champion Stakes, and perhaps next year's Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes were mentioned, by trainer John Gosden, as potential future targets for the colt, and it looks like Anthony Oppenheimer's Hascombe and Valiant Studs have bred another top-class racehorse.
He won a mile maiden at Newmarket in mid-October, his only start at two, and the benefit of hindsight makes his short-head victory in the Investec Derby Trial, over 10 furlongs at Epsom in late April, look so much better than it did on the day as the colt he pipped was the tragically ill-fated subsequent Group 1-placed dual Group 2 ace Permian.
The latter's talent had started to become apparent before Cracksman returned to the venue on the first Saturday in June and so, despite having just those two races under his belt, the grandson of Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) was sent off favourite for the Group 1 Investec Derby. His inexperience showed but he still ran an excellent race, finishing third to Wings Of Eagles and Cliffs Of Moher – beaten by a length and a neck – and with the Frankel colt Eminent another three-parts of a length back in fourth. A month later, he went to the Curragh for the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby where, having come wide and late, he looked like an unlucky loser, crossing the line a short-head in front of Wings Of Eagles but failing by a neck to catch Capri. The Andre Fabre-trained Waldgeist was a length and a half back in fourth, with another two and a quarter back to fifth-placed Douglas Macarthur.
Cracksman is a half-brother to the Group 3 Solario Stakes winner Fantastic Moon (by Dalakhani) and he is the fourth foal out of Rhadegunda (by Pivotal), a triple winner whose tally includes the Listed Prix Solitude over nine furlongs on heavy ground at Fontainebleau, the final start in a nine-race career for the John Gosden-trained bay.
Her half-brother Halla San (by Halling) earned his blacktype with third-place finishes in 14-furlong listed contests at Nottingham and York, he was beaten by just a head when runner-up in the two-mile Northumberland Plate, and went on to some success over hurdles. His stamina stands out in contrast to the aptitude of his sister, to his dam's Listed Sirenia Stakes-winning half-brother Art Of War (by Machiavellian), and to the classic speed of his grandam, On The House (by Be My Guest), the Group 1 1000 Guineas and Group 1 Sussex Stakes heroine of 1982. That Timeform 125-rated star is also the grandam of Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes winner Leo (by Pivotal) and of dual Italian listed scorer Balkenhol (by Polar Falcon), and she is the third dam of Irish Field (by Dubawi), who won the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin and was runner-up in the Group 3 Prix du Bois. In terms of optimal distance, Cracksman could have gone either way – miler or middle-distance horse. These first three generations are mostly about talent at up to nine furlongs, with Halla San an exception. That gelding, however, is by a stallion often noted for getting horses who excel from 12 furlongs to two miles, and so one could argue that this was the source of his stamina. Frankel was bred to stay a mile and a half – something his triple Group 1-winning full-brother Noble Mission did – and so, with the right mares, it was always going to happen that some of his offspring would also be suited to that trip, and maybe a bit farther. Should Cracksman succeed at the highest level over middle-distances, then he will not be the first member of his extended family to achieve the feat. That's because his fourth dam is Lora (by Lorenzaccio), the unraced grandam of Nuryana (by Nureyev) and Littlewick (by Green Desert). The latter is the dam of the Chilean-bred Grade 1 Premio St Leger heroine Fontanella Borghese (by Roy), but in addition to being the stakes-winning dam of Group 1 Coronation Stakes winner Rebecca Sharp (by Machiavellian), Nuryana is a half-sister to 11 and a half-furlong Group 3 scorer and Derby sixth Mystic Knight (by Caerleon) and grandam of Golden Horn (by Cape Cross). That Oppenheimer-bred, Timeform 134-rated champion won the Group 1 Derby, Group 1 Coral-Eclipse, Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes, and Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2015, he stands at Dalham Hall Stud, and his first foals arrived this year. His relationship to Crackman is remote, as are that of Nuryana, Fontanella Borghese, New Zealand-bred dual Group 1 mile star Obsession (by Bachelor Duke; grandam a half-sister to Nuryana), and Australian Group 1 scorers Kidnapped (by Viscount) and Hauraki (by Reset; their grandam is another half-sister to Nuryana). But if Cracksman lives up to the potential that he showed at York today then he could take high rank among the very best horses that his immediate and broad family have produced, before going on to what could be a notably successful career at stud. |
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