Wings of Desire bred for Group 1 success

WINGS OF DESIRE (GB) - 2013 chestnut colt

The all-weather tracks have proved themselves to be a tremendous asset to the racing industry and a growing trend associated with them is that there is an increasing number of potentially top-class performers who are getting their initial wins at those venues.

In 2015, for example, Covert Love won the Group 1 Irish Oaks just over two months after taking a 10 furlong maiden at Chelmsford, and Jack Hobbs, whose only outing as a juvenile was a three-length success in an eight and a half furlong maiden at Wolverhampton, scored by five lengths in the Group 1 Irish Derby.

It remains to be sees if Wings of Desire can follow their example by winning a classic, or any other Group 1 contest, and his Group 2 Betfred Dante Stakes success, over 10 and a half furlongs at York, came 19 days after his odds-on win in a 12 furlong Wolverhampton maiden. His only other start was when third, at 14/1, over a mile and a quarter at Newmarket 10 days earlier.

He is now one of the ante-post favourites for next month's Group 1 Investec Derby at Epsom, and with such a promising start made to his career, it looks certain that his rating will soon rise well above the 114 he earned at York.

Lady Bamford's homebred chestnut is trained by John Gosden and he is a son of veteran Cheveley Park Stud stallion Pivotal (by Polar Falcon), the Group 1-winning sprinter whose tally of more than 120 individual stakes winners features 25 who have won at least once at the highest level.

The best of his progeny can be sprinters, milers or middle-distance horses, with the distaff side of the family influencing what suits them best. Wings of Desire has already proved his ability to stay the Derby distance, and with his family connections it was to be expected that the trip would be within his range.

Pivotal's Group 1 classic winners are Buzzword (Deutsches Derby), Falco (Poule d'Essai des Poulains), Halfway To Heaven (Irish 1000 Guineas), Saoire (Irish 1000 Guineas), Silvester Lady (Preis der Diana) and Sariska (Oaks, Irish Oaks), and the latter could be described as being a three-parts sister to Wings of Desire.

The dual classic heroine is out of the 14-furlong listed scorer Maycocks Bay (by Muhtarram) and her siblings include Gull Wing (by In The Wings), winner of the Listed Further Flight Stakes over 14 furlongs at Nottingham and dam of the recent Dante Stakes hero.

Sariska's daughter Snow Moon (by Oasis Dream) won an eight and a half furlong maiden at Nottingham earlier in the month and holds an entry in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot. Her third foal is a Frankel (by Galileo) colt who was born last year, and her current one is a daughter of Dubawi (by Dubai Millennium).

Wings of Desire is Gull Wing's fourth foal and he is a full-brother to The Lark and Eagle Top. The Lark won the Group 2 Park Hill Stakes over the St Leger course and distance at Doncaster and the more notable of her other two pieces of blacktype is her third place finish behind Talent and Secret Gesture in the Group 1 Oaks at Epsom. She was trained by Michael Bell.

Eagle Top is a member of the John Gosden team and although the entire has not been as consistent as might be hoped, his easy victory over Adelaide in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes in 2014 and his nose defeat by Postponed in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot last summer prove that he is capable of producing top-class form.

The mare's other racing-age offspring are The Mighty Eagle (by Shamardal), who was born in 2012, and two-year-old colt Crowned Eagle (by Oasis Dream). Her sixth foal is a yearling full-brother to her star trio.

The next dam is an unraced mare called Beacon (by High Top) and although only six of her 15 siblings were winners, they included the Group 3 Gordon Stakes winner and Group 1 Gold Cup third Compton Ace (by Pharly), who died young, and his stakes-winning half-brother Turbine Blade (by Kings Lake). Their winning half-sister Clara House (by Shirley Heights) was represented by a pair of listed scorers in Italy and she is the grandam of Tiger Tops (by Tiger Hill) who was a leading filly in India.

Mountain Lodge (by Blakeney), who won the Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket as a three-year-old and the Group 1 Irish St Leger at the age of four, is the fourth dam of Wings of Desire. She was a half-sister to the dam of the Group 3 Goodwood Cup runner-up El Conquistador (by Shirley Heights), related to the Group 1 Prix Vermeille heroine Pearly Shells (by Efisio) and also to Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup winner Frenchpark (by Fools Holme). If you go back another few generations then you find that this is the family of the Derby hero and prolific champion sire Hyperion (by Gainsborough).

Wings of Desire is the third Group 2 scorer from the first four foals of Gull Wing, which is a tremendous start to that mare's career at stud. His talented siblings have been placed at the highest level, he has the potential surpass their achievements, and if he should go on to become a Group 1 star then that accolade, plus ongoing success for the Pivotal-sired stallions Kyllachy and Siyouni, will make him an attractive future addition to the covering shed.