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). Comments are closed.
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