Landfall a well-related son of Myboycharlie

LANDFALL (FR) - 2014 bay gelding

In the 1980s, Bedtime and Teleprompter proved themselves good enough to compete at the highest level in Europe but were prevented from doing so because of their physical status.

It was only in 1986 when the first Group 1 contests here were opened to geldings, too late to catch Bedtime at his peak. Teleprompter, however, made a bit of history by finishing in third place behind Dancing Brave and Triptych in the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown.

Geldings have won many of the European Group 1 contests open to them in the three decades that have followed, but some races still exclude them, notably the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the classics: for those, geldings remain ineligible to compete.

Some may exclaim, 'oh but what about the Irish St Leger and its French equivalent, the Prix Royal-Oak? Geldings have won those!' Once those two top events were opened to older horses (1983 and 1979 respectively) they lost their true classic status as classics are restricted to three-year-olds only.

Time will tell if Landfall is capable of performing with credit at the top level, but this 110-rated three-year-old, an unbeaten pattern winner, was among the best of his age in Ireland in 2016.

He made his debut over seven furlongs on ground described as yielding-to-soft at the Curragh in August and, three weeks later, beat Firey Speech and Douglas Macarthur by two and a quarter lengths and a head in the Group 3 Willis Towers Watson Champions Juvenile Stakes over a mile on good ground at Leopardstown.

The Ken Condon-trained bay was bred in France by Marie-Claude Biaudis and he is a son of juvenile Group 1 scorer and Haras du Mezeray stallion Myboycharlie (by Danetime). That horse's offspring also feature Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes heroine Euro Charline and star Australian filly Jameka, winner of both the Group 1 Caulfield Cup and Group 1 Crown Oaks.

Landfall is out of an unraced mare called Lana Girl (by Arch) and his grandam is Volga (by Caerleon), who won the Grade 1 E P Taylor Stakes, Grade 2 La Prevoyante Handicap and Group 3 Prix de Royaumont.

That star mare is a half-sister to the Grade 1 Hong Kong Vase heroine Vallee Enchantee (by Peintre Celebre) and a full-sister to Group 3 Grand Prix de Vichy scorer Victory Cry, and they are among 11 winners out of the notable performer Verveine (by Lear Fan).

She won the Group 2 Prix de l'Opera and Group 3 Prix du Calvados and the races in which she was placed featured the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks), Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary, and Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac.

The best of Verveine's siblings was the Group 2 Prix du Muguet winner and Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois runner-up Vetheuil (by Riverman), but Vanishing Prairie (by Alysheba) also deserves mention.

She won twice as a three-year-old, her daughter La Sylphide (by Barathea) won the Group 3 Prix Penelope, and that flly became both the dam of Grade 2 Red Smith Handicap scorer Expansion (by Maria's Mon) and grandam of the high-class Usherette (by Shamardal), who won the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes and Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes in 2016.

Vanishing Prairie is also the dam of the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat and Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris star Vespone (by Llandaff), of pattern-placed dual stakes winner Vanishing Cupid (by Galileo), and of Purple Moon (by Galileo), a listed and Ebor Handicap winner who was runner-up in both the Group 1 Melbourne Cup and Group 1 Hong Kong Vase.

Landfall is bred to be a top-class racehorse. It is worth noting that his middle-distance relations tend to be by stallions with a proven track record of getting such horses, so, given Myboycharlie's record in Europe, it is possible that this gelding could be seen to best effect at eight, nine, and 10 furlongs.