There was a time when the Gold Cup at Ascot was one of the most prestigious races of the year and a natural target for the previous year's classic stars. It was the first race at the Royal meeting to get Group 1 status when the pattern system was introduced, but the attribute required to win it – stamina – has since become something of a dirty word.
That is a pity because not only are the top stayers' races an important and popular part of the racing calendar, but the shifting trend towards early speed and precocity is greatly reducing the number of stallions with the potential to sire Derby and Oaks stars plus, of course, St Leger and Gold Cup horses. Order Of St George is one of the best stayers of the modern era, a horse who is as effective at 12 furlongs as he is over a mile farther, and so something of a throwback to those days of old when a Derby hero would remain in training to tackle the Ascot feature, a race that, as Timeform pointed out again in their 2016 essay on this Aidan O'Brien-trained champion, does not include the word Ascot in its title (Racehorses of 2016, p.740).
He began his career in July of his two-year-old season, finishing fourth in a mile maiden at Leopardstown and ran away with a similar contest over the same course and distance the following month. He was runner-up to Parish Boy over a furlong less at Naas 10 days before and it was that same colt who beat him in the Listed Eyrefield Stakes over nine furlongs at Leopardstown that October.
Order Of St George missed the early season classics and was short-headed by Bondi Beach on his return to action in the Group 3 Curragh Cup in late June. He then posted wide-margin wins in Her Majesty's Plate at Down Royal and the Group 3 Irish St Leger Trial Stakes at the Curragh, and that seven and a half-length defeat of Sea Moon was followed by an 11-length drubbing of Agent Murphy in the Group 1 Irish St Leger. Timeform rated him 129 that season, just 5lbs behind Horse of the Year, Derby and Arc hero Golden Horn, and although the Gold Cup was the obvious target, it was hoped by some that this exciting colt might also drop back to 12 furlongs at some point.
He ran six times as a four-year-old, duly landing the Group 1 Gold Cup at Ascot, in which he beat Mizzou by three lengths. A shock half-length defeat by Wicklow Brave in the Group 1 Irish St Leger was, however, followed by what was arguably the best performance of his career to that point.
Order Of St George chased home Found and Highland Reel in the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe over 12 furlongs at Chantilly, beaten one and three-quarter lengths and one and a half lengths, and securing for his trainer an historic one-two-three in Europe's most prestigious race. He was a warm favourite for the Group 2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup, over two miles at Ascot, 13 days later but, on this occasion, he disappointed, finishing only fourth to Sheikhzayedroad. His five starts in 2017 have yielded three wins and two seconds, and having been short-headed by Big Orange in the Gold Cup and beaten Rekindling easily when taking a third edition of the Group 3 Irish St Leger Trial at the Curragh, he goes into tomorrow afternoon's Group 1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe off the back of a nine-length score in this month's Group 1 Comer Group International Irish St Leger.
Order Of St George is, of course, among 70 Group 1 winners sired by Coolmore Stud's prolific champion sire Galileo (by Sadler's Wells). He is a $550,000 graduate of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and, as that fact might suggest, he comes from a top US family, which is part of why it would be fascinating to see how he might fare if given the chance as a flat sire.
He is the best of four stakes winners out of Another Storm (by Gone West), those siblings include the mile Group/Grade 3 scorers Angel Terrace (by Ghostzapper) and Asperity (by War Chant), and his dam is a daughter of 1996's US juvenile filly champion Storm Song (by Summer Squall). She won the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes, Grade 1 Frizette Stakes and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, she is the grandam of the top Singapore mile to 10-furlong runner Better Life (by Smarty Jones), and she is a half-sister to the ill-fated Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes winner Diamond Omi (by Giant's Causeway). Her siblings also include the unraced Happy Tune (by A.P. Indy), who is the dam of 12-furlong Grade 3 scorer Symphony Kid (by Unbridled) and of Grade 3-winning miler High Cotton (by Dixie Union). Hum Along (by Fappiano), whose offspring included the $6.8 million yearling purchase Tasmanian Tiger (by Storm Cat), is the third dam of Order Of St George. She was only placed once as a two-year-old but each of her next three dams was a multiple stakes winner. Minstress (by The Minstrel) was a Grade 3-placed dual listed scorer, Fleet Victress (by King Of The Tudors) won the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay Handicap and was a track record setter over eight and a half furlongs at Belmont Park, and Countess Fleet (by Count Fleet) – the sixth dam of the young Ballydoyle star – won the prestigious Milady and Vanity Handicaps, setting a new track record for nine furlongs in the latter. On pedigree, Order Of St George had the potential to prove best in the mile to 12-furlong range and so, with the right mares, it is entirely possible that he could sire top-class performers over those distances, in addition to the stayers that he will surely get. He will, of course, attract considerable attention from the National Hunt sector, but at a time when so many new flat recruits are good sprinters or milers, or even precocious sorts who retire early, aiming him solely at the jumps market could be a missed opportunity.
Breeding the best to the best and then hoping for the best is an oft-quoted strategy, but even when sending the cream of the broodmare band to the elite stallions there are no guarantees of success.
There are many expensively produced disappointments and many pattern winners who have come from comparatively humble origins. Even so, those supposedly lesser members of the annual foal crop tend to be by stallions who are covering at least small to medium-sized books of mares. On rare occasions a notable performer can come from one of the most unlikeliest sources – offspring of a teaser. Many stud farms use ponies or part-bred horses for this mostly thankless yet invaluable role, but sometimes the job goes to a thoroughbred, perhaps one who was himself a talented racehorse and/or who has a good pedigree, but was not selected to stand or remain as an active stallion on the farm. In 1989, Call To Arms was runner-up in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes, splitting Dashing Blade and Anshan in a three-way photo and earning a Timeform rating of 116. He was by the well-bred teaser North Briton (by Northfields), a son of 1975's dual Oaks heroine Juliette Marny (by Blakeney). This afternoon, the Alain Couetil-trained Tiberian made it four wins from five starts in 2017 with victory in the Group 2 Lucien Barriere Grand Prix de Deauville, his third pattern success of the year. He was Group 2-placed at three and four years of age, and now the five-year-old is set to bid for Group 1 glory in the Melbourne Cup in November.
Tiberius Caesar (by Zieten) was a talented racehorse, a mile Group 3 scorer in Germany who was multiple blacktype placed, winning a total of five of his 47 starts. He retired to Haras du Logis, but as a teaser, and he was rewarded for his efforts by the chance to cover stakes-placed Toamasina (by Marju). Tiberian was the result.
He is also the sire of the four-year-old gelding Magnentius – a winner who has twice been fifth in listed company – and the three-year-old filly Yellow Storm, who won over 11 and a half furlongs shortly before finishing eighth of 16 in the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) in June, beaten 10 and a half lengths by Senga. With a Group 2 and two Group 3 wins to his name, Tiberian – a talented great-grandson of Danzig (by Northern Dancer) – could have a stud career in his future, and should he succeed at the highest level then, despite his apparently humble origins, he would be the third to do so within the first few generations of his family. Toamasina is a half-sister to the stakes-placed Lady Weaseley (by Zieten) and her winning dam, Top Speed (by Wolfhound), is a half-sister to Group 1 Deutsches Derby scorer All My Dreams (by Assert). Their dam is the dual stakes-placed French winner Marie De Beaujeu (by Kenmare), a half-sister to a multiple blacktype-placed horse in Belgium and with a few minor stakes winners in her family. That might not sound particularly promising, but that mare was also responsible for Summer Dreams (by Sadler's Wells), and that placed filly has produced two offspring of particular note. Moudez (by Xaar) has been a prolific winner and he was Group 3-placed at Ascot before going on to blacktype success in the USA. His half-sister I'm A Dreamer (by Noverre) is the David Simcock-trained bay who was an easy winner of the Group 3 Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket and later won the Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes at Arlington. Her placed form includes a head second to Miss Keller in the Grade 1 E P Taylor Stakes at Woodbine and third to Izzi Top in both the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh and Group 2 Middleton Stakes at York. Her first foal, named Dream Warrior (by Dubawi), is a Godolphin-owned and Derby-entered juvenile who made 575,000gns in Newmarket as a yearling. The circumstances that led to his birth may be somewhat unusual, but there is no doubt that Tiberian is a talented middle-distance racehorse. He was bred by the partnership of Heiko Volz, Julian Ince and Stefan Falk, he achieved a Timeform rating of 111 at three and 115 at four, and it is fair bet that he will finish the current year on a higher figure.
Talented sprinter Showcasing (by Oasis Dream) has made a promising start to his stallion career. His first crop includes the Group 1 star Quiet Reflection, his second features Tasleet, and, to date, he has come up with 18 individual stakes winners, including several from his time shuttling to New Zealand.
Tasleet was bred by Whitsbury Manor Stud – where his sire stands – he made £52,000 in Doncaster as a yearling, and he is trained by William Haggas for Hamdan Al Maktoum. He was fourth over six furlongs at York on his juvenile debut, was a three-length winner over the same trip at Chepstow 17 days later, and then added the Listed Rose Bowl Stakes at Newbury before chasing home subsequent Group 1 star Shalaa in the Group 2 Richmond Stakes at Goodwood. Three weeks later he took the valuable DBS Premier Yearling Stakes at York and then, on his final outing of the year, he stepped up to seven furlongs at Newmarket, failing by just a nose to beat Sanus Per Aquam in the Group 3 Somerville Tattersall Stakes.
The colt's three-year-old season was cut short due to a setback after his narrow winning reappearance in the Group 3 Greenham Stakes, which was run at Chelmsford, but the horse he short-headed that day was Knife Edge, subsequent winner of the Group 2 Mehl-Muhlens-Rennen (German 2000 Guineas). That rival was later gelded, sent to Hong Kong and renamed Encounter.
Tasleet's only other start came in October, when he finished down the field behind Aclaim in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes at Newmarket, also over seven furlongs, but his four-year-old debut was in the Listed Leicestershire Stakes over the same trip in late April and, having chased home Home Of The Brave, he showed enough to suggest that he could be set for a good year. Since then he had run three times, all over six furlongs. First he beat Magical Memory by two and a half lengths in the Group 2 Duke of York Clipper Logistics Stakes, then failed by a neck to beat The Tin Man in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. On the strength of those two efforts, the Timeform 125-rated bay was sent off at 9/1 for the Group 1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket but this time he disappointed, coming home last behind Harry Angel. He holds entries in both the Group 1 32Red Sprint Cup Stakes at Haydock and the Group 1 Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot.
Tasleet is the best of three winners out of Bird Key (by Cadeaux Genereux), a mare who was unplaced on her only start. Two of her half-brothers and two half-sisters are blacktype horses, including the Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner and Group 1 July Cup third Etlaala (by Selkirk), but the relation who catches the eye is the son of one of her lesser siblings.
Anna Law (by Lawman) ran a few times as a juvenile, without troubling the judge, but her three-year-old son Battaash (by Dark Angel) is one of the most exciting sprinters we have seen in recent years. Also owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum, the Charles Hills-trained bay is a triple blacktype scorer in 2017, earned a massive Timeform rating of 135+ after an impressive victory in the Group 2 King George Stakes over five furlongs at Goodwood, and tomorrow is due to take on the brilliant filly Lady Aurelia for what could be a Group 1 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes for the ages. These most recent generations of the family are all about speed and yet this is a branch of one that is also associated with a different type of talent. Krakow (by Malinowski) is the fourth dam of both Tasleet and Battaash, she earned her blacktype when third in the Listed Montrose Handicap at Newmarket, her son Adam Smith (by Sadler's Wells) was a multiple Grade 3 scorer in the USA, and his full-brother Braashee was a stayer who took both the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak and Group 2 Yorkshire Cup. Krakow's daughter Ghariba (by Final Straw) was speedier, winning the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes and finishing fourth in the Group 1 1000 Guineas, and her descendants include the Group 3 Autumn Stakes winner and Group 1 Racing Post Trophy runner-up Fantastic View (by Distant View), plus the Group 1-placed and pattern-winning sprinter High Standing (by High Yield). Tasleet is a highly talented sprinter from the Green Desert branch of the mighty Danzig (by Northern Dancer) line, which will make him an attractive prospect as a future stallion, especially as his 'cousin' Battaash is a gelding with the potential to continue advertising the family's talent for the next few years.
Teofilo was an undefeated Group 1 star as a two-year-old and although he did not run again after that championship season, he differs from most of the increasing number of those tried only at two but then go to stud.
Whereas they are typically horses who were withdrawn from training at the end of their first season, he was one of the major classic market leaders at three, missed the campaign due to a setback and so covered his first book at Kildangan Stud at the age of four. He has been a tremendous success in that role, he is 13 years old and his current tally of 68 stakes winners worldwide includes 13 who have won at least once at the highest level. The most recent addition to that baker's dozen was Ajman Princess, a Group 2-placed stakes winner who put up the performance of her career in the Group 1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville on Sunday.
This was a third win from 11 starts for the Roger Varian-trained four-year-old, with all of those victories coming this season. Last year she was still a maiden when chasing home Even Song in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes at Ascot and, in 2017, she has been third to The Black Princess in the Group 2 Lancashire Oaks and to Bateel in the Group 3 Pinnacle Stakes.
Ajman Princess is the fourth foal out of stakes-placed triple winner Reem Three (by Mark Of Esteem), she is a half-sister to three winners, and her dam is a half-sister to Afsare (by Dubawi), the Group 2 Celebration Mile scorer who was runner-up in both the Grade 1 Arlington Million and Group 1 Premio Presidente della Republica. Jumaireyah (by Fairy King), dam of that smart pair, is out of the placed mare Donya (by Mill Reef) and that makes her a half-sister to a string of successful runners of whom Lost Soldier Three (by Barathea) is most notable. He won the Listed Silver Cup Handicap at York and his multiple blacktype placings include third in the Group 3 City of Gold Stakes at Nad Al Sheba. Stakes-placed Altaweelah is a full-sister to Jumaireyah and, although she is the dam of just one winner from five foals, that sole scorer is Qasirah (by Machiavellian), the Group 3 Princess Elizabeth Stakes third whose string of winning progeny features the listed race scorers Toolain (by Diktat) and Tantshi (by Invincible Spirit). Donya is also the grandam of the Group 3 Huxley Stakes winner Danadana (by Dubawi) – out of the lightly raced one-time winner Zeeba (by Barathea) – and, as one might expect of a daughter of Mill Reef (by Never Bend), she has some very notable immediate relations. Her half-brother French Glory, among the early runners by the late, great Sadler's Wells (by Northern Dancer), won the Grade 1 Rothman's International Stakes at Woodbine and Group 2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil at Maisons-Laffitte, and her dam is the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) and Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud heroine Dunette (by Hard To Beat). Norland (by Gay Mecene), a half-sister to Dunette, was runner-up in the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary before becoming the dam of dual US Grade 2 scorer Ampulla (by Chief's Crown), while Godille (by Bolkonski) – another sibling of the classic star – is the grandam of two-mile South African Grade 1 winner Desert Links (by Kahal). With a new Timeform rating of 119, Ajman Princess still has some way to go if she is to prove herself to be a top-class filly, although it is possible that she can improve again before the year is out.
The list of Group 1 stars who got an early winning start on the artificial tracks includes Covert Love, Hawkbill, Jack Hobbs, Seventh Heaven, Silverwave, Winter, and Zelzal and one of the most recent additions to the roll of honour is Nezwaah, the Roger Varian-trained four-year-old who won the Pretty Polly Stakes in style 12 days ago.
She was unraced as a two-year-old but made a winning debut over a mile at Chelmsford in January 2016 and followed that, a month later, with another odds-on success, this time over a half-furlong farther at Wolverhampton. Her turf debut came two and a half months after that, when she finished third in a 10-furlong listed contest at Newbury, and then she went to Newcastle where she ran out a three-length winner of the Listed Hoppings Stakes on the Tapeta surface. All of her subsequent outings have been over the same trip and on turf, each in a different country, and culminating with her Group 1 success in Ireland. First was the Group 2 Prix de la Nonette at Deauville, where she finished last of five behind La Cressonniere, and then the Listed John Musker Fillies’ Stakes at Yarmouth, where she was only beaten half a length by So Mi Dar. Then it was on to Canada for the Grade 1 E P Taylor Stakes at Woodbine, and although finishing out of the frame, she was only beaten by two lengths into seventh. Timeform rated her 113 at the end of that season. Nezwaah made her four-year-old debut in Scotland, easily winning the Listed Tennent’s British Stallion Studs EBF Rothesay Stakes at Ayr in late May, and her second start of the year is her aforementioned three and a quarter-length defeat of Rain Goddess at the Curragh. Turret Rocks was another length and a half back in third, with Grade 1 heroine Zhukova disappointing in fourth, another head behind. This was not a strong renewal of the race, with all but one of the first six home sporting an official pre-race handicap mark of either 108 or 109, but Nezwaah is improving, talented and yet another Group 1 winner for her outstanding sire, Dubawi (by Dubai Millennium).
She was bred by Darley and she is the first foal out of Ferdoos (by Dansili), a lightly-raced triple winner who began her career with a five-length score over 10 furlongs on the polytrack at Kempton and later took the Listed Pinnacle Stakes over a quarter-mile farther at Haydock.
The mare’s half-brother Brusco (by Rock Of Gibraltar) won the Listed Coppa d’Oro di Milano and a listed contest at Cologne, he was placed many times, including third in the Group 3 Deutsches St Leger at Dortmund, and this talented pair are their dam’s only runners. Blaze Of Colour (by Rainbow Quest), the grandam of Nezwaah, earned her blacktype when third in the Listed Aphrodite Stakes at Newmarket, her half-sister Blue Dream (by Cadeaux Genereux) was listed-placed at Chester and another sibling, Equity Princess (by Warning), was a multiple blacktype earner who was runner-up in the Group 3 Oettingen-Rennen at Baden-Baden. The latter is the grandam of a middle-distance listed scorer in France, their own dam was the Listed George Stubbs Stakes winner Hawait Al Barr (by Green Desert), and the only stakes winner among several blacktype earners under Group 2-placed fourth dam, Allegedly Blue (by Alleged), is the Group 3 Prix Messidor winner and dual Group 2 Premio Emilio Turati runner-up Ryono (by Mountain Cat), a son of Hawait Al Barr’s Group 2 Deutsches St Leger-placed half-sister Racing Blue (by Reference Point). This is a smart family but perhaps not one from which you might expect to see a Group 1 winner emerge, given that it is the first four generations that make the most meaningful contribution to the horse. Indeed, each ancestor in the fourth generation is only contributing 6.25%, little to none of which could be influencing racing talent. But if you go back another generation or two then you will find that the filly is just the latest representative of her distaff line to succeed or be placed at the top level. These horses are so remotely connected to her that they are making no contribution to her obvious talent, but their presence shows that there is actually no surprise that a major sire like Dubawi could help to revive its former glory. Allegedly Blue was one of five winners from seven foals out of Meadow Blue (by Raise a Native), an unraced full-sister to Dewhurst Stakes winner Crowned Prince and to dual US classic star Majestic Prince whose only loss in 10 career starts was his second-place finish in the Belmont Stakes, a race that his son Coastal would win 10 years later. Really Blue (by Believe It), a three-time winner and half-sister to Allegedly Blue, is best known as being the dam of US champion Real Quiet (by Quiet American) who, like his famous relation, also won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes before being runner-up in the Belmont. He also won the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup, Grade 1 Pimlico Special and Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity, and his offspring include the Grade 1 stars Midnight Lute and Pussycat Doll. Mining My Business (by Mining), a half-sister to Real Quiet, has done her part for the family’s honour as she is the dam of Grade 2 Fair Ground Oaks winner Real Cozzy (by Cozzene) who was placed in each of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes and Grade 1 Acorn Stakes. Nureyev’s Best (by Nureyev), who won the Listed Prix Finlande and finished third in the Group 3 Prix de Sandringham, was another of Allegedly Blue’s siblings and the most notable of her blacktype descendents is her daughter Andujar (by Quiet American), winner of the Grade 2 Milady Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Hollywood and placed in both the Grade 1 Go For Wand Handicap and Grade 1 Vanity Handicap. Also notable is dual winner Mangala (by Sharpen Up) as that daughter of Meadow Blue came up with eight winners from a dozen foals, headlined by the high-class miler Allied Forces (by Miswaki). A dual Grade 2 scorer in the USA, he also won the Group 2 Queen Anne Stakes at Ascot and was third in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. Although still below being a true Group 1-calibre runner – she was raised to an official mark of 116 (Timeform rated her 120) after this latest success – there is reason to hope that Nezwaah can improve further before she eventually retires to stud for what could be an equally notable career as a broodmare. She holds entries in the Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes, Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes, and Group 1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks so we may not have long to wait to get another chance to assess her capabilities.
It takes a very good horse to earn an end of year rating of 130 or more from Timeform and exceptional one to achieve the feat more than once. The brilliant Petite Etoile is among those special individuals who reached or passed that mark in each of three seasons on the track and only a handful of fillies and mares have ever been rated more highly than her by that organisation.
Although her two-year-old season showed enough talent that she earned a mark of 120 from them, her glittering career did not start off on a particularly promising note. All four of her juvenile outings were over five furlongs and, as Racehorses of 1958 reported, on her debut in a two-horse race at Manchester that May she was green, slowly away, trounced by eight lengths, then got loose and galloped around for a while before being caught. But she was eased down to win a Sandown maiden by five lengths next time out, then chased home Krakenwake in the Molecomb Stakes before making all to beat three rivals with ease in the Rose Stakes at Sandown. Despite this early speed, one could have been hopeful that the Noel Murless-trained grey would stay a mile at three, and possibly even a bit farther, rather than follow in the hoofprints of one of her most famous ancestors. She was by the Eclipse Stakes winner Petition (by Fair Trial), who was a leading six-furlong juvenile, and she was out of Star Of Iran (by Bois Roussel), who won over a mile in France but was a full-sister to Migoli. He won the Dewhurst Stakes at two and by the time he retired, with a dozen wins from 21 starts, he had added the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Eclipse Stakes and Champion Stakes, among other races of note.
Their dam, Mah Iran (by Bahram), was out of Mah Mahal (by Gainsborough) – the mare who gave us 1936’s Derby hero Mahmoud (by Blenheim) – and the next dam was “The Flying Filly” Mumtaz Mahal (by The Tetrarch), a sprint champion whose seven wins featured the Nunthorpe Stakes.
Petite Etoile won the Free Handicap, 1000 Guineas, Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and Champion Stakes as a three-year-old, earning a rating of 134 from Timeform. The following year she retained that mark, winning the Coronation Cup and finishing a half-length runner-up to Aggressor (TFR 130) in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot – from just three starts – and she was awarded a figure of 131 at five when her wins included another edition of the Coronation Cup. With her pedigree and connections there was every reason to hope that Petite Etoile would excel at stud. There are never any guarantees, of course, but had there been odds offered on the likelihood that she would produce at least one top-level performer then those would have been a shade of odds-on. Sadly, as is well-known, Petite Etoile produced just three named foals: Afaridaan (by Charlottesville), Kazakstaan (by Never Say Die), and Zahra (by Habitat). The latter was her only daughter, she was placed a few times on the track, and it is through her that this famous Aga Khan family has survived to this day. Zahra has many blacktype descendants but three of them are horses of particular note and now, for the first time, they include a Group 1-winning colt who could go on to make an impact as a stallion.
Her granddaughter Zainta (by Kahyasi) won both the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary and Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) in 1998 and became the dam of the National Hunt Grade 1 stars Zaidpour (by Red Ransom) and Zaynar (by Daylami).
Zarkasha (by Kahyasi), a great-granddaughter of Zahra, is closely related to Zainta and although she did not race she has made a considerable contribution to the breed as she is the dam of the undefeated champion Zarkava (by Zamindar), whom Timeform rated just 1lb behind her great ancestor. Zarkava was trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, she won the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac and champion French two-year-old filly title in 2007, then returned at three to sweep the Group 3 Prix de la Grotte, Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas), Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks), Group 1 Prix Vermeille, and Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Her first foal, a grey filly named Zerkaza (by Dalakhani), did not race, her second – a colt named Zarkash (by Sea The Stars) – died at the age of three, and her third, Zarkar (by Galileo), was unraced, is reported to have covered 64 mares in his first season at stud in Argentina, but then suffered a fatal paddock injury. Zarkava’s fourth foal, however, is Zarak and the son of Dalham Hall Stud’s outstanding stallion Dubawi (by Dubai Millennium) carried his owner/breeder’s famous green and red colours to victory in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud a week ago, beating Silverwave by three-parts of a length. The Alain de Royer-Dupre trained four-year-old won his only start at two – a mile maiden in heavy ground at Deauville that October – and he was among the better three-year-olds in France last year even though his only success came in a mile conditions race at Maisons-Laffitte in April. He was fifth to The Gurkha when favourite for the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas), then chased home Almanzor in both the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) and Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano before finishing fourth to Vadamos in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp at Chantilly. He was only third to Potemkin in the Group 2 Prix Dollar at that same venue on his final start of the year but returned to action at Meydan in February with a one and three-quarter-length score in the Group 3 Dubai Millennium Stakes over 10 furlongs. Zarak was fourth to Vivlos, Heshem and Ribchester in the Group 1 Dubai Turf over nine furlongs at the same venue five weeks later and failed by just a short-neck to beat Cloth Of Stars in the Group 1 Prix Ganay on his return to Europe. His only outing between then and his recent win was a disappointing last of five behind Mekhtaal in the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan at Chantilly in late May. Zarak has a long way to go yet if he is to reach the sort of ratings achieved by his brilliant dam and sixth dam, but he is the latest top-level winner for one of H.H. the Aga Khan’s most famous families and it will be fascinating to see how he fares as a stallion, when the time comes. Before then there are more good prizes to be won with him, and now that he has shown that he stays 12 furlongs the range of potentially suitable targets has increased. Zarkava's current three-year-old is an unraced colt named Zarmitan (by Redoute's Choice), her two-year-old filly has been named Zarkamiya (by Frankel), she has a yearling son of Invincible Spirit (by Green Desert) and a colt foal by her owner/breeder's excellent young stallion Siyouni (by Pivotal).
There is always plenty of interest when a very well bred juvenile makes its debut and although he finished only sixth behind Algometer in late October, his only start at two, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Ulysses showed potential and earned a Timeform rating of 81p.
That mile Newbury maiden was followed by a 10-furlong contest at Leicester in late April of last year but he was beaten again, this time finishing a half-length runner-up. Three weeks later, however, he was so impressive in scoring by eight lengths over the same trip at Newbury that he was sent off at 8/1 for the Group 1 Investec Derby at Epsom on his next start. He disappointed there but bounced back to beat The Major General by half a length in the Group 3 Gordon Stakes over 12 furlongs at Goodwood, was short-headed by the front-running Chain Of Daisies in the Group 3 Winter Hill Stakes over 10 at Windsor, and then advertised his Group 1 potential when finishing fourth to Highland Reel in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita in early November. He finished the season with a Timeform rating of 121, but when he beat Deauville by a length in the Group 3 Gordon Richards Stakes at Sandown on his four-year-old debut in late April, that figure moved up to 126p which identified him as one of the potential stars of 2017 and a major contender for the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. He put up an excellent performance on the fast ground, and even got his head in front briefly in the final furlong, but had to settle for third to Highland Reel and Decorated Knight, another one-two-three for Coolmore Stud stallion Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) in a top-level event.
Ulysses is owned and bred by the Niarchos family’s Flaxman Stables Ireland Ltd, and in addition to being a son of the prolific champion sire, he has the considerable attraction of being out of the Group 1 Oaks heroine Light Shift (by Kingmambo).
She was trained by the late Sir Henry Cecil, her classic victory was by half a length from Peeping Fawn, and it followed defeat of All My Loving in the Listed Cheshire Oaks. After Epsom she ran three times, chasing home Peeping Fawn in the Group 1 Irish Oaks at the Curragh, finishing third behind that same star in the Group 1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood, and then disappointing as an unplaced favourite behind Satwa Queen in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp. Light Shift is out of Lingerie (by Shirley Heights) and that makes her a half-sister to the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup heroine Shiva (by Hector Protector), to the French Group 2 scorer Limnos (by Hector Protector), to Grade 1 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap runner-up Hyades (by Aldebaran), and to Burning Sunset (by Caerleon), a mile Saint-Cloud listed scorer who finished third in the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt over 10 furlongs at Longchamp.
The best of Shiva’s offspring is the Francis-Henri Graffard-trained four-year-old That Which Is Not (by Elusive Quality), who won the Listed Prix Zarkava over 10 and a half furlongs at Saint-Cloud in early April and chased home Armande in the Group 2 Prix Corrida over the same course and distance last month.
Burning Sunset, on the other hand, is the dam of the Group 2-placed stakes winner Zhiyi (by Henrythenavigator), of Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt scorer and Group 1 Singapore Airlines International Cup runner-up Smoking Sun (by Smart Strike), and of Ikat (by Pivotal), the Group 3 Prix d’Aumale runner-up who gave us Group 1 Investec Derby runner-up and multiple US Grade 1 star Main Sequence (by Aldebaran). Lingerie also has two non-winning daughters who deserve a mention because of what they have achieved at stud, and one of them is Molasses (Machiavellian). She was unraced but her son Magadan (by High Chaparral) won the Group 3 Prix d’Hedouville and finished third in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris, both at Longchamp. He stands at Haras de Treban, in France, and is off the mark as a sire. Strawberry Fledge (by Kingmambo) is the other one. She is a full-sister to Light Shift, she was placed, and her son Cloth Of Stars (by Sea The Stars) won the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Saint-Cloud early last month. That short-neck defeat of Zarak was his third pattern victory of the year, following the Group 3 Prix Exbury in March and a neck win over Mekhtaal in the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt at Chantilly in April. Last year he won both the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe and Group 3 Prix La Force and finished third in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris, and at two he won the Group 3 Prix des Chenes and was placed behind Robin Of Navan in both the Group 3 Prix de Conde and Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) and Group 1 Prix Vermeille heroine Northern Trick (by Northern Dancer) is the third dam of Ulysees. She was runner-up in the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary, chased home Sagace in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and was rated 131 by Timeform. The only stakes winner among her seven successful runners was the Listed Prix Imprudence scorer Onda Nova (by Keos) and, in addition to Lingerie, she has another daughter who hit the top at stud. That is the placed Creature du Ciel (by Machiavellian), dam of the Brazilian Grade 1 stars Jeune-Turc (by Know Heights) and Nonno Luigi (by Dubai Dust). With family connections like these, Ulysses is one of the best bred horses in training. He is a top-notch racehorse and, especially given how the Galileo stallions are doing, he also has the potential to do well whenever the time comes for him to go to stud.
Rathbarry Stud’s veteran stallion Acclamation (by Royal Applause) was among the best runners for his sire and, despite not winning at the highest level on the track, he has sired three Group 1 stars. Leading sire Dark Angel is one of them, Group 1 sire Equiano is another, and the third is last year’s Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp heroine Marsha.
The Sir Mark Prescott-trained bay went into that race as a Group 3-placed dual stakes winner ad she earned a Timeform rating of 121 after her three-quarter-length defeat of Washington DC at Chantilly. She put up an even better performance on that firm’s figures when she defied her Group 1 penalty to beat that same colt by a neck in the Group 3 Palace House Stakes on her seasonal reappearance at Newmarket. She went into today’s Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes with a Timeform rating of 127, and although she likely did not run up to that same level, she finished an honourable third to Lady Aurelia and Profitable.
Marsha is owned and bred by the Elite Racing Club, she is a half-sister to the eight-time winner Judicial (by Iffraaj) and she is the second foal out of the French listed scorer Marlinka (by Marju). That mare, a half-sister to several multiple winners, is out of Baralinka (by Barathea), which makes her a half-sister to the excellent miler Soviet Song (by Marju).
This means that Marsha is out of a three-parts sister to Soviet Song, the Timeform 126-rated star who won the Group 1 Sussex Stakes, Group 1 Matron Stakes, Group 1 Fillies’ Mile, and two editions of the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes. Soviet Song has had some well-documented misfortune at stud so far but her winning full-sister Sister Act is the dam of Ribbons (by Manduro), the prolific filly who won the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville and the Group 2 Blandford Stakes at the Curragh. The races in which that James Fanshawe-trained chestnut was placed included the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera and Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes, and both she and Soviet Song were also bred by Elite Racing Club. Kazatzka (by Groom Dancer), a placed half-sister to Baralinka, Sister Act and Soviet Song, has also done her part for the family as her daughter Miss Marjurie (by Marju) won the Group 3 Pinnacle Stakes and finished third in the Group 2 Lancashire Oaks, both over 12 furlongs at Haydock. They also have an unraced half-sister called Kalinova (by Red Ransom) and her offspring include Stars Above Me (by Exceed And Excel) who won over six furlongs in England as a two-year-old and later added a five and a half-furlong listed contest at Saratoga. Kalinka (by Soviet Star), the third dam of Marsha, is out of the Listed Lupe Stakes and Listed Rockfel Stakes heroine Tralthee (by Tromos), a mare whose siblings include Epanoui (by Val De l’Orne), and what makes that one significant is that she is the dam of the the US Grade 3 winners Ask Anita (by Wolf Power) and Club Champ (by Shimatoree). Marsha is one of the best sprinters in training and it is to be hoped that she will have as successful a career at stud as she has been having on the track.
Darley’s Australian-bred Group 1 star Exceed And Excel (by Danehill) has been a shining light for the reverse shuttle stallions, so far, and he has become well established as a source of high-class sprinters and milers in Europe, as well as in his native land.
One might expect that one of his offspring that was related to horses to who won their Group 1s over 10 furlongs and 15 and a half furlongs would be among his milers, but even families that are noted for producing top winners over middle-distance and staying trips can sometimes have a speedier branch. The Clive Cox-trained filly Priceless represents such a line, her handicap mark has increased by 12lbs in the past year, and her half-length defeat of Goldream in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock late last month saw it reach a new high of 110. She needs to improve again if she is to take the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot, but it would not be a surprise to see her sneak into the frame.
All of her races were over six furlongs until early September of 2016 when she took a listed contest at Doncaster. She then skated home by five lengths in a similar event at Bath on her seasonal reappearance in April, both over the minimum trip.
Her only other outing between that and Haydock was at Newmarket where she finished a three-length fifth to Marsha in the Group 3 Palace House Stakes, so her record over five furlongs reads as three wins from four starts. Her racecourse debut was at Haydock in September of her two-year-old season and, although sent off at 20/1, she won by seven lengths. She was favourite for her only two runs that year but was only third to Shaden in the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes at Ayr and then fifth behind Only Mine in a listed contest at Newmarket. She was unplaced in her first two starts at three but then chased home subsequent Stewards Cup heroine Dancing Star in a valuable heritage handicap at Newmarket in July – only beaten by three-parts of a length. She lost out by a head in another handicap over that course and distance two weeks later and was fourth in a Pontefract listed contest on her final start over six. Priceless was bred by Biddestone Stud Ltd and she is a 70,000gns graduate of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. She is the tenth foal of her dam, she is a half-sister to a string of winners and they include both the five-time scorer Brazen (by Kyllachy) and the smart Doctor Brown (by Dr Fong), who was short-headed by Excellent Art in the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes on his final start in Europe. He was later a blacktype performer in Hong Kong under the name Helene Brilliant. Her dam, Molly Brown (by Rudimentary), was trained by Richard Hannon to win two of her 14 starts - one over five furlongs and the other over six - and she was well-beaten the only time she tried farther.
The mare’s siblings include four-time mile scorer The Fun Merchant (by Mind Games) and also the multiple French winner Zilzoom (by Zilzal) whose successes came from five and a half furlongs up to a mile and a quarter.
It may seem a bit surprising that the former, the son of a leading sprinter, might have been a miler but it would appear that he got some of the stamina that prevails in the distaff side of the family. Molly Brown and her daughter, however, likely got the speed passed on through Midyan (by Miswaki), the sire of Molly Brown’s unraced dam Sinking. When bred to the speedy Statoblest (by Ahonoora), Sinking came up with the prolific Italian winner Stato King, whose double-digit tally includes a listed contest. And Molly Brown’s offspring also include Bright Moll, a dual sprint-winning full-sister to The Fun Merchant and dam of the six-furlong Group 3 Chipchase Stakes winner Aeolus (by Araafa). That talented gelding has a notable half-sister in Hezmah (by Oasis Dream), a six-furlong Newmarket handicap scorer who earned her blacktype when finishing third in a listed contest, over the same trip, on the polytrack at Lingfield on her final start. This is clearly an established speed branch of the family. Sinking’s siblings include Fleeting Rainbow (by Rainbow Quest), who finished third in a 10-furlong maiden before going on the produce the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup heroine Rebelline (by Robellino) and Group 2 Blandford Stakes winner Quws (by Robellino). Their dam, Taplow (by Tap On Wood), was an unraced half-sister the pattern-placed stakes winner Leipzig (by Relkino) but also to Krakow (by Malinowski), the listed-placed dam of Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak winner and Group 1 Irish St Leger third Braashee (by Sadler’s Wells). His full-brother Adam Smith was a multiple Grade 3 winner in the USA – a miler who stayed 10 furlongs. Their half-sister Ghariba (by Final Straw) won the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes and finished fourth in the Group 1 1000 Guineas, and she is the grandam of Fantastic View (by Distant View) who won the Group 3 Autumn Stakes and was runner-up in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy in 2003. But even among this family trend for ability from a mile and upwards – the sires of those horses likely played a major role in determining the distance preferences – there is some speed. When Ghariba was bred to Green Desert (by Danzig), for example, the result was the pattern-placed prolific sprint winner Reinaldo, and Noirmont (by Dominion), an unraced half-sister to Braashee, is the grandam of the Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner and Group 1 July Cup third Etlaala (by Selkirk). Again, look at the sires – all are horses associated with producing sprinters or milers. So given the established pattern of the most recent generations of this family – and its branches – and despite having horses such as Rebelline and Braashee on the page, there is no surprise that sprinting is the game for Priceless – a daughter of Exceed And Excel, out of a Rudimentary mare who was produced from a daughter of Midyan. Whether she has already hit her peak or can improve further remains to be seen, and it will be fascinating too to see how she gets on later as a broodmare as, if she follows her family’s pattern at stud, the distance ranges of her offspring may depend on the influence of their sires. Blacktype is an important commodity for any filly or mare and if that comes from winning in pattern company then the boost to her perceived value, and to the opportunities that she may be afforded at stud, is greater.
The popular chestnut Creggs Pipes picked up a Group 2 at the Curragh recently, despite having an official rating that still entitles her to run in handicaps. She had already won six of her 21 starts, including a listed contest over a mile at Killarney last summer and just days before adding a premier handicap at Galway. She was runner-up to Tanaza in the Group 3 Fairy Bridge Stakes a month later, unplaced behind Alice Springs in the Group 1 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown, and the beaten by even farther when out of the frame behind Jet Setting in the Group 3 Concorde Stakes over a half-furlong less at Tipperary in early October. It would have been entirely understandable if she had been retired to the paddocks then, but the Andy Slattery-trained daughter of Rip Van Winkle (by Galileo) returned to action in April, at the age of five. She was only fifth to Somehow in a listed contest over nine and a half furlongs at Gowran Park on her seasonal reappearance, beaten by five and a half lengths, but then stepped up to 10 furlongs and took third to Turret Rocks in the Group 3 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Blue Wind Stakes at the Curragh. It was a fortnight after that when she benefitted from the combination a weak line-up for the Group 2 Lanwades Stud Stakes over a mile and some of her more highly rated rivals performing below expectations, as she made all, under Declan McDonogh, to beat Opal Tiara by three and three-quarter lengths. Her official rating was raised to 109 after this win, 1lb above her previous career-best figure, and still a long way below what you expect to see in a Group 2 winner. She has an ambitious list of big-race entries, which includes the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes, Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes, and Group 1 Qipco Irish Champion Stakes. The first-named represents his best chance, but even if she fails to make the frame in any of those prestigious events, she will still go to stud with an eye-catching profile. Creggs Pipes was bred by John Hayes, she is among the best representatives of her sire and she is the first foal out of an unraced mare called Sophie Germain (by Indian Ridge). Her grandam, Nydrion (by Critique), won the Group 1 Oaks d'Italia and her third dam, Nabila (by Foolish Pleasure), was a winning half-sister to several winners. Those siblings included the Grade 3-placed multiple stakes winner Forty Weight (by Quadratic), whose stakes-placed daughter Forty Fran (by El Gran Senor) produced the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity winner and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Square Eddie (by Smart Strike). Nabila was also a half-sister to Turn Down The Heat (by Key To The Mint), a three-time winner whose Grade 2-placed and stakes-winning daughter Flying Heat (by Private Account) was the dam of the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Handicap heroine Pompeii (by Broad Brush). Flying Heat, who won nine times and was placed 19 times from 34 starts, was also responsible for the Grade 3 winner Omi (by Wild Again) and for dual listed scorer Ground Storm (by Summer Squall), she is the grandam of Take The Cake (by Fly So Free), who won the Grade 3 Forward Gal Stakes and finished second in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes, and third dam of the prolific listed sprint winner Free As A Bird (by Hard Spun). Some of those horses are remotely connected to Creggs Pipes, but their presence on page shows that this is distaff line that is no stranger to blacktype success and that, combined with being a pattern-winning granddaughter of Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) will make her a very interesting broodmare prospect.
One afternoon in the summer of 1993 I left the press area of the stands at Leopardstown feeling saddened by what I had just seen. A two-year-old filly I'd liked in the parade ring pulled-up, clearly badly injured, in the Listed Rochestown Stakes – her fourth start - and the end result for her seemed inevitable.
Scroll on a year and a half later, to my first morning as a student on the Irish National Stud's famous management course, a cold January day made warmer by what, or rather who I found in the farm's Kildare Yard barn. The foreman misunderstood my surprise and my question “do you mean the Bluebird filly?” when she gave me the name of the next mare I was to bring out to the teaser, and it was over the next few weeks that I learned what an amazing individual their homebred chestnut Ridge Pool was. Her injury at Leopardstown was, as it looked from the stands, to her pelvis, but thanks to her wonderful temperament and the dedication of the team at the stud, she made a full recovery after a lengthy period of convalescence that included some considerable restrictions temporarily placed on her ability to move about. 'Ridgey', the sweet-natured live model for practicals on tacking and bandaging, the frequent depositor of partially chewed feed in my jacket pocket – a garment she appeared to favour as an ideal scratching tool – was among the favourites of all of the horses with whom I've worked, and although she is long gone now, she left a lasting impression, both on me and on the racing scene.
Ridge Pool's only sibling was the stakes-placed nine-time winner Captain Le Saux (by Persian Heights), and she had just three foals of her own, but the last of them was Caumshinaun (by Indian Ridge), the top-rated older mare in Ireland in 2001.
That chestnut won five times for the Dermot Weld stable, including the Listed Platinum Stakes over a mile at Cork, and went on to become a prolific producer at stud. Her finest hour in that role came in 2006 when her daughter Nightime (by Galileo), who was owned and bred by the late Marguerite Weld, ran away with the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh, and she became the grandam of a top-level star when Zhukova (by Fastnet Rock) trounced the boys with a six-length victory in the recent Grade 1 Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park. Zhukova, who has also won the Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes, Group 3 Kilternan Stakes and three listed contests for the Weld stable, is a daughter of Nightime. She is reportedly being aimed at several major targets in 2017, including the Group 1 Qipco Irish Champion Stakes and Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and with the opportunities she has earned and will be afforded at stud, she could extend the family's Group 1 record to at least one more generation.
One of the best-bred fillies in training gave her future paddocks value another boost when easily winning the Group 2 Charm Spirit Dahlia Stakes over nine furlongs at Newmarket this afternoon. The Aidan O'Brien-trained Somehow (by Fastnet Rock) took over the lead from the front-running Elbereth at the furlong pole and pulled away to win by three and a quarter lengths on fast ground.
Just one week earlier she won a listed contest over a half-furlong farther at Gowran Park, a performance that came a month after she was beaten half a length by Czabo in the Group 3 Park Express Stakes over a mile at Naas.
Somehow, who was bred by the partnership of Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt, was third to Pretty Perfect in a seven-furlong Leopardstown maiden on her only start as a juvenile, and got off the mark first time out at three, taking a 10-furlong maiden on heavy ground at that same venue.
She followed that with a half-length win in the Listed Cheshire Oaks, was then a well-beaten fourth behind Minding in the Group 1 Oaks at Epsom, and finished an eight and a half-length fifth to Seventh Heaven in the Group 1 Irish Oaks at the Curragh. A few weeks later and wearing a visor for the first time, she was beaten a neck by Best In The World in the Group 3 Give Thanks Stakes over 12 furlongs at Cork, but since then she has dropped back in trip with a seven-length defeat of Epsom Icon in the nine-furlong Group 3 Snow Fairy Fillies Stakes at the Curragh her remaining start. Her sire is well known in both hemispheres – a prolific classic and Group 1 source – and her dam Alexandrova (by Sadler's Wells) will be remembered by most as she won both the Group 1 Oaks and Group 1 Irish Oaks in 2006. Alexandrova is also the dam of the Group 2-winning stayer Alex My Boy (by Dalakhani), her daughter Drops (by Kingmambo) is the dam of the useful colt Majoris (by Frankel), and her own siblings include the Derby-placed stallion Masterofthehorse (by Sadler's Wells) and Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Magical Romance (by Barathea). That speedy star is the dam of the Group 2-placed Australian stakes winner Tall Ship (by Sea The Stars). Shouk (by Shirley Heights), the winning grandam of Somehow, is a half-sister to the listed race scorer and Group 3 Park Hill Stakes runner-up Puce (by Darshaan) and also to one-time scorer Sitara (by Salse), both of whom have caught the eye at stud. The latter is the dam of Group 3 Chester Vase winner and Group 1 Irish Derby runner-up Golden Sword (by High Chaparral) and grandam of the Group 2-placed Saratoga listed race winner Julie's Love (by Ad Valorem), while Puce is the dam of both Group 2 Lancashire Oaks winner and Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks runner-up Pongee (by Barathea) and dual listed scorer Lion Sands (by Montjeu). Puce is also notable as being the grandam of Group 3 Prix de Lutece winner Pacifique (by Montjeu), of Group 2-placed stakes winner Pinzolo (by Monsun) and of listed scorer Prudenzia (by Dansili), and the latter is the dam of the Group 1 Irish Oaks heroine and Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) runner-up Chicquita (by Montjeu). These are the highlights of the first few of generations of Somehow's pedigree and, with connections like these, it is no surprise that she has become such a high-class performer. Her string of big-race entries includes the Group 1 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes, Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup, Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, and Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes, and although further improvement is required to be up to winning any of those, this 113-rated bay has plenty of ability.
Brando was placed in the final three of his five starts as a juvenile, was gelded soon afterwards and then ran just three times in his second season. He won a maiden by four lengths at Hamilton and a six-furlong handicap at Haydock that September, and he was rated a useful 88.
Timeform had him on 97p at that point, but the progress that the Kevin Ryan-trained chestnut made at four saw him rocket up the rankings, reaching 116 in the official handicap and an impressive 125 from Timeform, the mark of a Group 1 calibre horse. He was only beaten by a head in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot, followed that with a short-head victory in the Group 3 Coral Charge at Sandown, and then chased home Mecca's Angel in the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes over five furlongs at the Curragh before finishing unplaced behind that same star in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York. A month later he defied 9st 10lbs to beat Growl by one and a quarter lengths in the Ayr Gold Cup, so it was no surprise that he ran so well in the Group 1 Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot several weeks later, beaten a length and a short-head by The Tin Man and Growl. Brando made his seasonal reappearance at Newmarket last month, justifying favouritism with a one-length defeat of Ornate in the Group 3 Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes over six furlongs on fast ground and he looks set for another good year.
Brando is one of 133 stakes winners for Group 1 star and Cheveley Park Stud stallion Pivotal (by Polar Falcon), a classic sire whose tally includes 26 individuals who have won at least once at the highest level.
He was bred by Car Colston Hall Stud, he is a 115,000gns graduate of the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale, and he a gelded son of Argent Du Bois (by Silver Hawk), a multiple placed mare with some famous relations and notable descendants. In addition to her pattern-winning son, the mare has given us Ticker Tape (by Royal Applause) and Sant Elena (by Efisio), the latter being the stakes-placed dam of Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and Group 1 Prix Morny star Reckless Abandon (by Exchange Rate). He has a tiny sole crop to represent him, now aged two. Ticker Tape won the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Stakes at Keeneland and the Grade 1 American Oaks Invitational at Hollywood Park. She was placed in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks and Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes, and her grandson War Decree (by War Front) won last year's Group 2 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood. Argent Du Bois is out of an unplaced mare called Wiener Wald (by Woodman) and that dam of nine winners from 16 foals has six blacktype offspring. Crowded House (by Rainbow Quest) won the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy and was runner-up in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, his full-brother On Reflection was a pattern-placed stakes winner in France, and the other four are stakes-placed. Riotous Applause (by Royal Applause) is one of that quartet and she has made a good start to her broodmare career as her first six foals include four winers, one of whom is the stakes-winning sprinter Invincible Warrior (by Invincible Spirit). Vienna Affair (by Red Ransom), a non-winning daughter of Wiener Wald, has done her part by coming up with the Grade 2 Lake George Stakes winner Daring Dancer (by Empire Maker) and Grade 3-placed listed race winner Hamp (by Sky Mesa) in the USA. The next three dams will be well known to many as they are Chapel Of Dreams (by Northern Dancer), Terlingua (by Secretariat) and Crimson Saint (by Crimson Satin). The first-named won the Grade 2 Palomar Handicap and Grade 2 Wilshire Handicap as a four-year-old, was runner-up in the Grade 1 Gamely Handicap and Grade 1 Ramona Handicap, and her list of blacktype descendants also includes the US Grade 2 winners Tale Of A Champion (by Tale Of The Cat), Postponed (by Summer Squall), and Juniper Pass (by Lemon Drop Kid). Grade 1-placed multiple Grade 2 star Terlingua is, of course, the mare who gave us the Grade 1 winner and multiple US champion sire Storm Cat (by Storm Bird). His 177 individual stakes winners include 35 Group/Grade 1 stars and the exploits of his descendants, on the track and at stud, have made him one of the most influential stallions of recent decades. Record-breaking sprinter Crimson Saint, on the other hand, gave us the brilliant Royal Academy (by Nijinsky), the Vincent O'Brien-trained classic-placed Group 1 July Cup and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile hero who achieved a tally of 168 stakes-winning offspring, 22 of whom won at least once at the highest level.
Dual classic star Lope De Vega (by Shamardal) has made a good start to his stallion career at Ballylinch Stud and his first three crops have so far yielded 28 individual stakes winners, headed by the Group 1 stars Belardo, Jemayel, and The Right Man.
They also include Steel Of Madrid, the Richard Hannon-trained four-year-old who won the Group 3 bet365 Earl Of Sefton Stakes over nine furlongs at Newmarket this afternoon, beating Folkswood by half a length. A second-crop son of his sire, the colt is a 120,000gns graduate of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and this was his fourth win from a dozen starts. Last year he won the Listed Fairway Stakes over 10 furlongs at Newmarket, beating Linguistic by one and a half lengths, and although he did not make the frame in any of his subsequent outings, he was not disgraced in pattern events won by standouts such as Hawkbill, Ulysees, and Almanzor. Steel Of Madrid was bred by Jeddah Bloodstock, he is the second foal out of the one-time scorer Bibury (by Royal Applause) and his now two-year-old Born To Sea (by Invincible Spirit) half-brother made 52,000gns from Book 3 of last year's Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. Bibury is a half-sister to the Group 1 Gold Cup and Group 3 Long Distance Cup star Rite Passage (by Giant's Causeway), who is spending his retirement as a 'Living Legend' at the Irish National Stud, and she is out of Dahlia's Krissy (by Kris S), a stakes-placed five-time winner whose listed-placed dam Dahlia's Image (by Lyphard) was a daughter of the great Dahlia (by Vaguely Noble). Many top-class fillies disappoint at stud but Dahlia was an exception, a dual champion racehorse who Timeform rated 132 at three and 135 at four, and who went on to become of the most successful broodmares of all time. Her 15 wins featured the Group 1 Irish Oaks, Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary, Grade 1 Washington DC International, and two editions of both the Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Group 1 Benson & Hedges Gold Cup (now Juddmonte International Stakes), and of her eight winning offspring, four won at the highest level.
Dahar (by Lyphard) won the Grade 1 Prix Lupin, Grade 1 Century Handicap, Grade 1 San Juan Capistrano Handicap and Grade 1 San Luis Rey Stakes, Rivlia (by Riverman) won that latter contest plus the Grade 1 Hollywood Invitational Handicap and Grade 1 Carleton F Burke Handicap, and Delegant (by Grey Dawn II) got his top win in the Grade 1 San Juan Capistrano Handicap.
Dahlia's Dreamer (by Theatrical) won the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational Handicap, Llandaff (by Lyphard) is the Grade 2 Jersey Derby-winning sire of Group 1 scorer Vespone, and Wajd (by Northern Dancer) won both the Group 2 Grand Prix d'Evry and Group 3 Prix Minerve before going on to a notable career at stud. She was also third in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks. The best of Wajd's offspring is the Group 1 St Leger star and Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes runner-up Nedawi (by Rainbow Quest), who went on to sire Grade 1 winners in Brazil, and her sons also include the ill-fated Group 3 Cumberland Lodge Stakes scorer Wall Street (by Mr Prospector). Fitful Skies (by Dubawi) was her most notable daughter on the track, winning a Group 3 contest at Hannover and taking the runners-up spot in the Grade 1 E P Taylor Stakes at Woodbine, but her one-time winner Whist (by Mr Prospector) has contributed to the family's honour by being the grandam of the Australian-bred full-brothers Mission Critical and Brilliant Light. The former won the Group 1 Whakanui Stud International Stakes over 10 furlongs at Te Rapa, in New Zealand, and the latter is a Group 2 Ajax Stakes winner who finished third in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile at Randwick. They are sons of the top-class international performer Fantastic Light (by Rahy). Dahlia is also the dam of Miss Dahlia (by Strawberry Road), the unraced dam of Grade 2 Santa Barbara Handicap winner and Grade 1 Gamely Stakes third Capital Plan (by Rock Hard Ten). With family connections like these, there is no surprise that Steel Of Madrid made a six-figure sum as a yearling or that he has become a pattern winner. He was rated 106 before today's seasonal debut, he holds an entry in next month's Group 2 Dunaden Jockey Club Stakes over 12 furlongs at Newmarket, and it will be interesting to see how high in the rankings he can climb.
Juvenile champion and impressive Group 1 2000 Guineas star Zafonic (by Gone West) compiled a good record at stud and he has several sons getting stakes and pattern winners, including at Group 1 level – most notably international classic sire Iffraaj.
His Group 3-winning full-brother Zamindar also got a chance at stud, and although he is without a sire son to carry on his line, he did some up with with Group 1-winning daughters. One of those is Zenda, the classic-winning dam of brilliant miler and popular young Banstead Manor Stud stallion Kingman (by Invincible Spirit), but his standout performer was the undefeated Arc and classic heroine Zarkava, and she is the dam of the classic-placed pattern winner Zarak (by Dubawi). Zamindar's sons of note include the prolific Air Pilot, and Lady Cobham's homebred is now a triple Group 3 scorer following his narrow defeat of Success Days in the Dr Vincent O'Brien Centenary Alleged Stakes at Naas eight days ago. He got up on the line to score by a head from the talented grey and had the classic-placed US Army Ranger three and a quarter lengths farther back in third, with Stellar Mass also performing below expectations in fourth. All four of his blacktype victories have come over 10 furlongs, two of them on good ground, last week's one on was on yielding, and last summer he beat subsequent Group 1 scorer Elliptique by two lengths in the Group 3 La Coupe on soft at Chantilly. The 113-rated gelding is trained by Ralph Beckett and his career earnings stand at just over £260,000.
Air Pilot is the best of several winners out of one-time scorer Countess Sybil (by Dr Devious), a mare whose string of successful siblings includes Mint Crisp (by Green Desert). That five-time winner stayed a little farther than most by her famous sire, getting her top win in the Group 3 Grand Prix de Vichy over 10 furlongs.
The best of her offspring, however, was the Undeterred (by Zafonic), whose 11 wins included the Listed Rockingham Stakes over six furlongs. In fact, nine of his wins came over that trip and, although his form deteriorated, he stepped up in trip later in his career and was successful over eight and a half furlongs at Wolverhampton and in an 11 and a half-furlong handicap at Windsor, both at the age of 10. Group 3 Park Stakes heroine Countess Candy (by Great Nephew) is the grandam of Air Pilot, she was a half-sister to listed scorer and Group 3 Princess Royal Stakes third Countess Tully (by Hotfoot) and also to Intimidate (by Formidable), who was runner-up in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes and Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes as a juvenile and third to Prince Of Birds in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas the following spring. Countess Tully went on to produce six winners at stud, most notably Russian Countess (by Nureyev), the stakes-placed dam of the Group 1-placed stakes winners Alboostan (by Sabrehill) and Crown Of Light (by Mtoto). The Group 1s in which the latter was placed were the Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks. Russian Countess is also the grandam of multiple Group 2-placed stayer, dual listed scorer and prolific gelding Balkan Knight (by Selkirk) and of Charlie Farnsbarns (by Cape Cross), the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy runner-up whose five wins included the Group 3 Darley Stakes at Newmarket. Countess Tully, on the other hand, is also the grandam of Orange Sunset (by Roanoake), who won the Listed Victor McCalmont Memorial Stakes at Gowran Park before going on to become a Grade 2-placed stakes winner across the Atlantic. Zepha, a three-time winning full-sister to Countess Tully, also did her part for the family as her descendants include the speedy pattern-placed Irish stakes winners Sunset Reigns (by Taufan) and Irish Jig (by Celtic Swing). If you go back farther then you find that the fifth dam of Air Pilot is Kandy Sauce (by Hard Sauce), the Queen Anne Stakes and Atalanta Stakes heroine of 1956, a three-year-old campaign for which Timeform rated her 129. Regular racegoers could be forgiven for underestimating the prospects of Diamond Fields in Sunday's Group 3 Gladness Stakes at Naas as last time she had been seen in action in Ireland was when finishing a four and a half-length fourth behind Divine in a Group 3 sprint at the Curragh in early June.
Before then she had won just once from six starts, chased home Washington DC in a six-furlong listed contest at Navan, and been well-beaten on her only attempt over seven. But all of that was before she began to travel abroad. First stop was Royal Ascot where, at 33/1, she chased home the subsequent Group 1-placed pattern winner Persuasive (rec. 2lbs) in the Listed Sandringham Handicap over a mile on soft ground. Then it was off to Saratoga where, on her second run, she was third to Time And Motion in the Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes over nine and a half furlongs on firm turf, and, a month later, she chased home On Leave in the Grade 2 Sands Point Stakes over the same trip at Belmont Park, again on firm ground. Sunday's win was both her first start since that mid-September run, and her first for new trainer Fozzy Stack, and she claimed a notable scalp with her half-length defeat of Alice Springs (gave 5lbs). It seems unlikely that she could beat that chestnut Group 1 star again, especially over the latter's favoured mile trip, but Diamond Fields has plenty of ability and is good enough to win again at least at the same level. The four-year-old was bred by Sweetmans Bloodstock and she is a daughter of the Australian champion sire Fastnet Rock (by Danehill) whose handful of shuttle-years at Coolmore Stud resulted in the Group 1 stars Qualify, Diamondsandrubies, Intricately, Rivet, and, best of all, Fascinating Rock. Her dam, Question Times (by Shamardal), earned her blacktype when runner-up in the Listed Bosra Sham Stakes over six furlongs at Newmarket as a juvenile, and the mare is a half-sister to Sunday Times (by Holy Roman Emperor), a Group 3 Sceptre Stakes winner who was a half-length runner-up to Lightening Pearl in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes. Their dam, Forever Times (by So Factual), won six times from five to seven furlongs and is a half-sister to three sprinters of note. Brave Prospector (by Oasis Dream) is a Group 3-placed prolific winner, Majestic Times (by Bluebird) got his best win in the Listed Abergwaun Stakes over the minimum trip at Cork, and the third sibling is Welsh Emperor. That gelded son of Emperor Jones (by Danzig) won 13 times including the Group 2 Hungerford Stakes, Group 3 Bentinck Stakes, and two listed events, and his string of pattern race placings featured twice taking the runners-up spot in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret, to Caradak and Toylsome respectively. These are among the 10 offspring of the once-raced maiden Simply Times (by Dodge), one of those rare mares with a 100% record of winners to foals born. Her dam, Nesian's Burn (by Big Burn), was a listed-placed five-time winner from two to four years of age in the USA, and her siblings include the listed scorer Bucky's Baby (by Buckaroo) and Nesian's Dancer (by Sovereign Dancer), the unraced dam of dual listed race winner Sejm Run, a gelded son of the unraced Danzig (by Northern Dancer) stallion Sejm. Nesian's Burn, in turn, is out of the unraced Marnesian's Cross (by Sun Cross), which makes her a full-sister to the 22-time US winner Catch If You Can and half-sister to Aristocratic Cross (by An Eldorado), a grandson of Vaguely Noble (by Vienna) whose impressive tally of 33 wins from 106 starts included several listed events. This is a family that has an established history of producing blacktype horses and also of coming up with some who are both durable and prolific. All of this boosts the prospects of Diamond Fields doing well at stud, whenever her current and admirable racing career comes to an end. The new Irish flat season, on turf, got underway recently at Naas and the opening meeting hosted the country's first pattern event of the year, the Group 3 Lodge Park Stud EBF Park Express Stakes over a mile.
The ground was on the heavy side of soft, the time slow in comparison to the other races over the same trip that day, and so the form may be unreliable, but the winner's performance gave her future paddocks value quite a boost. Czabo was already valuable before this success. A winner on the second of her two starts as a juvenile, she announced her blacktype potential first time out at three when taking the one-mile Esher Cup (handicap) at Sandown by two and a quarter lengths. She was a well-beaten fourth on her next two starts, the latter of which was the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas, won by Jet Setting, but then won a listed contest over a mile on soft ground at Deauville in early June. She came home last behind Qemah in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Ascot on her only other start last season and beat just one home in a listed race at Saint-Cloud on her first outing of 2017. Czabo has had her limitations well-exposed, and her half-length defeat of Somehow at Naas and her official rating remained at 99 following this success, but she is a good advertisement for her sire and has the potential to produce one or more offspring who could surpass her achievements on the track. Czabo was bred by Norman Court Stud, in whose ownership she raced at two and three, and it is at that farm that her classic-winning sire stands. Sixties Icon, the Group 1 St Leger-winning son of classic stars Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) and Love Divine (by Diesis), has produced a surprising number of offspring who excel in the six to 10-furlong range and although awaiting his first top-level winner in the northern hemisphere, has supplied the dual Argentine Grade 1 star Sixties Song. Czabo is the first foal out of Fiumicino (by Danehill Dancer), a one-time scorer who earned her blacktype when runner-up in the Listed Masaka Stakes over a mile at Kempton. The mare's second produce is a two-year-old full-brother to her talented daughter: he has been named Billy Ray. Fiumicino is the best of three winners from nine foals out of the unplaced Valhalla Moon (by Sadler's Wells) and that mare is, in turn, a half-sister to four blacktype earners produced from Akuna Bay (by Mr Prospector), a winning relation to a string of Group 1 performers. It is the first three generations of her family tree that, obviously, make the greatest contribution to the genetic make-up of Czabo – who is inbred 3x3 to Sadler's Wells (by Northern Dancer) – but what's in the fourth and fifth ones cannot be ignored, even if just for pure academic interest. They show that the roots from which her somewhat unremarkable recent distaff line comes are strong, and with the opportunities that her new owners are likely to give her at stud, she may be capable of giving her branch new strength. Dark Lomond (by Lomond) is the fourth dam of Czabo and she was the champion three-year-old stayer in Ireland in 1988 after her victory in the Group 1 Irish St Leger over 14 furlongs at the Curragh. She also won the Group 2 Pretty Polly Stakes over 10 furlongs at the same venue, plus a listed contest at Phoenix Park, and she was runner-up in the Group 3 Meld Stakes. Dark Lomond only had five foals and, in addition to Czabo's third dam Akuna Bay, they included Gothic Dream (by Nashwan). That John Oxx-trained bay didn't win a stakes race but she was runner-up in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes and Group 2 Europachampionat, and third in the Group 1 Irish Oaks. Gothic Dream's best son is the Curragh and Fairyhouse listed scorer and Group 1 Irish St Leger runner-up Pugin (by Darshaan), and her stakes-winning daughter Chartres (by Danehill) is the dam of Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup victor Certerach (by Halling). She is also responsible for Sogno Verde (by Green Desert), who is the winning dam of Lilbourne Lad (by Acclamation). He showed notably different aptitudes to those of his best-known relations, possessing his sire's speed rather than the family's stamina, but failed to make the grade at stud. On the track he was a leading juvenile who won the Group 2 Railway Stakes and Listed Rochestown Stakes and was runner-up in both the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes. Each fifth-generation member on the pedigree chart contributes only 3.25%, which is why going back that far, or farther, is of little meaning beyond academic interest, and when the fifth dam of Czabo is a mare as well-known as Arkadina (by Ribot) then it would be remiss to fail to mention her. She won the Athasi Stakes, was placed in each of the Oaks, Irish Oaks, and Irish 1000 Guineas, and in addition to her Group 1-winning daughter Dark Lomond, she was the dam of Group 2 Blandford Stakes winner South Atlantic (by Mill Reef), Group 3 Silken Glider Stakes winner Forlene (by Forli), and Listed Ulster Derby scorer Encyclopedia (by Reviewer). She was out of champion three-year-old and US Broodmare of the Year Natashka (by Dedicate), was a full-sister to the pattern-winning stayer Blood Royal, and half-sister to Group 1 Joe McGrath Memorial Stakes winner Gregorian (by Graustark), and her siblings also included the Grade 2 winner Truly Bound (by In Reality), Grade 3 scorer Ivory Wand (by Sir Ivor; dam of Group 1 star Gold And Ivory, by Key To The Mint), and Tash (by Never Bend) who was the winning dam of Group 1-placed Group 2 scorer and somewhat successful sire Mukaddamah (by Storm Bird).
He's back! Jack Hobbs, the Timeform 129-rated star who was a five-length winner of the Group 1 Irish Derby at the Curragh two years ago, easily beat Seventh Heaven and Postponed to take the Group 1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic in style over 12 furlongs at Meydan this afternoon.
One of a growing number of top-level winners who began their racing careers on the all-weather tracks, Godolphin's five-year-old made his debut in an eight and a half furlong contest at Wolverhampton in late December of his juvenile year and followed that with a hugely impressive 12-length victory in a 10-furlong handicap on turf at Sandown four months later. Such was the impression he created that day that he shot to prominence in the ante-post markets for the Group 1 Investec Derby, and after losing his unbeaten record when runner-up to Golden Horn in the Group 2 Dante Stakes at York next time out, he chased home that same star at Epsom before his easy classic success in Ireland. After the Curragh, Jack Hobbs won the Group 3 September Stakes on the polytrack at Kempton, he finished third to Fascinating Rock and Found in the Group 1 Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot, but then apparent disaster struck when he was pulled-up and dismounted over a furlong from home in the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket on his four-year-old reappearance. The injury was a stress fracture of his pelvis and not only did he make it back to the track just five and a half months later, but his first run after the absence was a third place finish to Almanzor and Found in the Group 1 Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot. Today's victory brings his record to five wins from 10 starts and the manner of it suggests that he could be one of the brightest stars of 2017.
Jack Hobbs was bred by Willie Carson's Minster Stud, he is the best of four Group 1 stars and three millionnaires by the late Dalham Hall Stud stallion Halling (by Diesis), and he is out of a three-time US winner called Swain's Gold (by Swain).
The mare has produced three other multiple winners, including Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes third Niceofyoutotellme (by Hernando), and she is out of the prolific Golden Pond (by Don't Forget Me), a seven-time scorer who was a listed race winner in France before going on to add the Grade 2 Orchid Handicap and Grade 3 Suwanee River Handicap in the USA. Golden Pond's offspring also include Brazilian (by Stravinsky), who is the stakes-winning dam of the dual listed scorer La Malaguena (by English Channel), and she was one of four winners out of an unraced mare called Golden Bloom (by Main Reef). The quartet also included Group 3 Chester Vase third Golden Wells (by Sadler's Wells), but is is their non-winning half-sister Ceanothus (by Bluebird) who is most notable and that is because of her record at stud. The most prolific of her progeny is the eight-time scorer Competitor (by Danzero), but Pollenator (by Motivator) won the Group 2 May Hill Stakes as a two-year-old and Wedding Party (by Groom Dancer), who was runner-up in the Listed Radley Stakes at that age, is the dam of three blacktype earners, one of whom is last year's Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes runner-up Rosebride (by Mayson). These are the highlights of the first three generations of the pedigree of Jack Hobbs, but if you go back another step then you will find that he is not the only Group 1 star in the family. That's because, in addition to being a half-sister to the Group 3 Matron Stakes winner Spring Daffodil (by Pharly), Golden Bloom was a half-sister to the Group 1 Australian Derby winner Dance The Day Away (by Seattle Dancer), and her dam, Daffodil Day (by Welsh Pageant), was a half-sister to Connaught (by St Paddy). One of many top horses who ran in the famous Jim Joel colours, Connaught chased home Sir Ivor in the Derby at Epsom, he took the Eclipse Stakes in record time, won two editions of the Prince of Wales's Stakes, and also had the King Edward VII Stakes and Great Voltigeur Stakes on his tally, achieving a career-best Timeform rating of 130 at the age of five. His offspring included the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks winner Connaught Bridge, Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois scorer Lirung, Guineas and Derby-placed pattern scorer Remainder Man, and the high-class filly Sauceboat, to name just a few, and this success augurs well for the prospects of Jack Hobbs when he eventually takes up his place at stud. Nagaika (by Goyama), who was the dam of Connaught, is the fifth dam of Jack Hobbs, her wins included the Solario Stakes, Princess Royal Stakes and Lonsdale Stakes, and she was rated 117 by Timeform. It is great to see Jack Hobbs back in action at the highest level and this dual Group 1 star should be one of the top contenders for all of the best middle-distance events in Europe in 2017. Given all that he has achieved, it is remarkable to think that he made just 60,000gns from Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
Three Troikas (by Lyphard) was both Horse of the Year and champion three-year-old in Europe in 1979 following an outstanding season in which she swept the Group 1 series of Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas), Prix Saint-Alary, Prix Vermeille and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. She was also runner-up in the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks).
The Timeform 133-rated filly easily beat Le Marmot and Troy in the Arc, she won the Group 2 Prix d'Harcourt at four in a season that paled in comparison with her classic year yet earned her a Timeform mark of 128, and she went to stud with high expectations. She produced only four winners from seven foals, headed by the Group 3 Prix des Reservoirs winner and Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary runner-up Three Angels (by Halo), she is the grandam of the listed race winners Thames (by Fabulous Dancer) and Three Wrens (by Second Empire), but one of her great-grandsons played a starring role at Meydan this afternoon. The Right Man, who is trained in France by Didier Guillemin, narrowly won the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint Sponsored By Azizi Developments, beating 66/1 Long On Value by a nose in the six-furlong turf event and with big-race favourite Ertijaal one and a quarter lengths farther back in third, a nose ahead of Jungle Cat.
The five-year-old is a gelded son of Group 1 star and Ballylinch Stud stallion Lope De Vega (by Shamardal), he was bred by Anita Wigan and he is a €32,000 graduate of the Arqana October Yearling Sale in Deauville.
Today's win was his ninth, he was third to Jungle Cat in a six-furlong conditions event at Meydan on his seasonal reappearance earlier this month, and he rounded off 2016 with victories in the Listed Prix de Bonneval over five and a half furlongs and Group 3 Prix de Seine-et-Oise over six, both at Maisons-Laffitte. The Right Man is the best of six winners out of one-time scorer Three Owls (by Warning), three of those siblings are multiple scorers, and two are blacktype earners, with the more notable of the latter being Listed Pretty Polly Stakes runner-up Three Moons (by Montjeu) because she is the dam of the Group 3-placed Listed Godolphin Stakes winner Tashaar (by Sea The Stars). Three Terns (by Arctic Tern), the grandam of The Right Man, was one of Three Troikas' four winners on the track. Oregon (by Halo) was another, and he was runner-up in the Grade 3 Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct, but one of their unplaced siblings deserves a mention too. Three Secrets (by Secretariat) shared none of the considerable ability of her famous parents, but her granddaughter Thanks Note (by Sakura Bakushin O) won the Group 2 Keio Hai Spring Cup over seven furlongs at Tokyo as a five-year-old. Today's victory makes The Right Man an interesting contender for Europe's top sprints of 2017 and it made him the third winner at the highest level for his young sire, following Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary heroine Jemayel and new Kildangan Stud stallion Belardo, who won the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes and Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes.
The stayers' division in Europe looks set for a competitive season if we are to judge its prospects from the outcome of the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup Sponsored By Al Tayer Motors at Meydan this afternoon.
Beautiful Romance, who has excelled since moving up to longer trips, looked set for victory when going clear in the straight, but Vazirabad and Sheikhzayedroad were closing steadily, with the former catching the mare close to the finish to win by a neck. There was a gap of one and a quarter lengths back to Sheikhzayedroad in third with Big Orange another half-length behind in fourth, and they finished four and a half lengths and more clear of the rest. The race was over two miles and the turf was yielding. This was an alteration to the placings from when the first three met in last month's Group 3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy over 14 furlongs at the same venue as, on that occasion, Vazirabad failed to catch Beautiful Romance, who had again taken up the running three from home. She landed the spoils by one and a half lengths and Sheikhzayedroad was again third, that time finishing three and a quarter lengths behind the Aga Khan's homebred gelding. Vazirabad is trained in France by Alain de Royer-Dupre and he has now won 10 of his 15 starts. These include last year's Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup, in which he beat Big Orange by a neck, plus two editions of the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak, among other pattern events.
The millionaire is a son of the top-class international performer Manduro (by Monsun), who stands at Haras du Logis, and he is both the seventh foal and one of seven winners out of the talented Visorama (by Linamix).
She won the Group 3 Prix de Flore and Listed Prix Charles Laffitte, she was runner-up in the Group 2 Prix Corrida and third in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, and her successful septet also includes the pattern-placed stakes-winner Visoriyna (by Dansili). That filly, who is a year older than Vazirabad, is also a member of the Aga Khan's powerful broodmare band and her first foal is a Sea The Stars (by Cape Cross) filly born 14 months ago. Visorama, on the other hand, did not have a foal between the arrival of Vazirabad and of a Sinndar (by Grand Lodge) colt born in early February 2016. There is no surprise that Visorama has done well at stud as she is one of six blacktype horses among nine winners for her own dam, Visor (by Mr Prospector), a roll of honour that is headed by the Group 1 Prix de la Foret scorer Varenar (by Rock Of Gibraltar). Half-brother Visindar (by Sinndar) won the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe, Visorama's stakes-winning full-brother Visionary was third in the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas), and Visionnaire (by Linamix) notched up a string of pattern-race placings that included third in both the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) and Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary. Visionnaire is also carrying on the family's good name at stud as she is responsible for the Group 3 Prix La Rochette and dual listed race winner Visionario (by Spinning World) and for the pattern-placed pair Visiyani (by Rock Of Gibraltar) and Vison Celebre (by Peintre Celebre), as well as being the grandam of last year's Group 3 Prix La Force runner-up Viserano (by Rock Of Gibraltar). Visor, who is a half-sister to a dual listed race winner in the USA, is also the dam of Viyadana (by Azamour), who is the unraced dam of last year's Japanese nine-furlong Group 3 scorer Danon Major (by Daiwa Major). Look (by Spectacular Bid), the winning third dam of Vazirabad, is out of the Grade 3 Long Island Handicap and Grade 3 Chrysanthemum Handicap winner Tuerta (by Forli) and that makes her a half-sister to the tragically ill-fated US champion three-year-old Swale (by Seattle Slew). He was a leading juvenile of 1983, when he won the Grade 1 Futurity Stakes, Grade 1 Young America Stakes, Grade 2 Breeders' Futurity and Grade 2 Saratoga Special Stakes, and he secured his championship title with victories in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes the following year. But just a week after the latter success, the Claiborne Farm homebred had a fatal heart attack.
The European turf season has begun again and Saint-Cloud hosted three blacktype events on Sunday, with the Group 3 Prix Exbury being the highlight. Cloth Of Stars, who was running for the first time in eight months, won the 10-furlong contest comfortably, giving 4lbs and a one and a quarter-length beating to Star Victory. Godolphin's four-year-old is trained by Andre Fabre.
He beat Vedevani by one and three-quarter lengths in the Group 3 Prix des Chenes over a mile at Longchamp and chased home Robin Of Navan in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud as a juvenile and was also a Group 1-placed dual winner from four starts at three. That campaign began with an odds-on success in the Group 3 Prix La Force over 10 furlongs on heavy and then he beat Robin Of Navan by two and a half lengths in the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe over the same course and distance, this time on good ground. He was among the market leaders when finishing unplaced behind Harzand in the Group 1 Investec Derby at Epsom and then finished third to Mont Ormel (now known as Helene Charisma) and Red Verdon in the Group 1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris, beaten by one and a quarter lengths and a neck.
Cloth Of Stars was bred by Peter Anastasiou and he is among 34 stakes winners that have come from the early crops of Timeform 140-rated champion Sea The Stars (by Cape Cross), whose offspring also include the aforementioned dual Derby hero Harzand plus additional Group 1 aces Sea The Moon, Taghrooda, Vazira, and Zelzal.
The Aga Khan-homebred Harzand has joined his sire at Gilltown Stud, Sea The Moon is at Lanwades Stud (yearlings in 2017) and it can be expected that a stallion role will be found for the dual Group 1-placed Group 2 winner Cloth Of Stars whenever his racing days come to an end. He is a 400,000gns graduate of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, he is inbred 4x3 to Mr Prospector (by Raise a Native) and is the third foal of an unraced mare called Strawberry Fledge (by Kingmambo). She is a full-sister to Light Shift, who beat Peeping Fawn by half a length in the Group 1 Oaks at Epsom, chased that star home in the Group 1 Irish Oaks and finished third to her in the Group 1 Nassau Stakes. Light Shift was represented on the track last year by her Group 3 Gordon Stakes-winning son Ulysses (by Galileo), a Sir Michael Stoute-trained chestnut who was unplaced in the Derby but rounded off his year with an honourable fourth to Highland Reel in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita. The classic heroine is a half-sister to the Hector Protector (by Woodman)-sired pair Shiva and Limnos. The former was a champion older mare and Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup scorer, while the latter got his best wins in the Group 2 Prix Foy and Group 2 Prix Jean de Chaudennay.
Their non-winning dam Lingerie (by Shirley Heights) is also responsible for the Group 2-placed stakes winner Burning Sunset (by Caerleon), dam of the Group 2 Prix d'Harcourt winner Smoking Sun (by Smart Strike), who was runner-up to Dan Excel in the Group 1 Singapore Airlines International Stakes at Kranji, and also of the Group 2-placed stakes winner Zhiyl (by Henrythenavigator).
Burning Sunset is arguably better known as being the grandam of the Group 1 Derby runner-up and subsequent US champion and four-time Grade 1 star Main Sequence (by Aldebaran), a gelded son of her pattern-placed daughter Ikat (by Pivotal). The horse he chased home at Epsom was Camelot. Lingerie is also the grandam of the Group 1-placed pattern scorer Magadan (by High Chaparral), a French-based stallion who is off the mark with his first crop, and she is a half-sister to the dam of the Brazilian Grade 1 stars Nonno Luigi (by Dubai Dust) and Jeune-Turc (by Know Heights), the latter a champion three-year-old. The third dam of Sunday's Group 3 scorer is Northern Trick (by Northern Dancer), Europe's three-year-old filly champion of 1984 when she won the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) and Group 1 Prix Vermeille and was runner-up to Sagace in the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. With such a strong middle-distance pedigree behind him, it is no surprise that Cloth Of Stars has done so well on the track. If he lives up to the potential he has shown so far then he could go on to success at the highest level, something that would give his prospects of a good future stud career another boost.
Every year produces some shocks and surprises on the track and the loss by 2/5 favourite Postponed in the recent Group 2 Dubai City of Gold Sponsored by Emirates SkyCargo at Meydan will certainly not be the last unexpected result of 2017.
The Group 1 star was somewhat fractious before being loaded into the stalls, he did not have a clear passage at a key stage of that 12-furlong contest and his finish came too late: Prize Money got the verdict by a neck. The winner is a Darley-bred four-year-old in the Saeed bin Suroor stable and he has won three of his four starts since being gelded last August. He had, to that point, been listed and Group 3 placed from six starts. His stronger profile began with victory in a valuable 12-furlong handicap at Doncaster in November, raising his rating from 107 to 113. He was runner-up in a handicap over the same trip at Meydan in January, won a similar contest last month, and went into the Dubai City of Gold rated 115.
Prize Money will need to improve again if he is going to be able to win at the same level in Europe, but he is a son of Derby hero and Haras du Logis stallion Authorized (by Montjeu) and out of a half-sister to a champion and classic heroine, so further big-race success may indeed be within his compass.
He is out of the juvenile winner Dresden Doll (by Elusive Quality) and his siblings include Dubai One (by Exceed And Excel), a useful late-season two-year-old in 2016 and whose career path appears to be going in to quite a different direction to that of her brother. Although he is a high-class middle-distance horse, she is a sprinter and her only time out of the frame in six starts is when she was fifth of six at Newmarket in a race for which she was favourite. She dropped to the minimum trip for her final two starts, winning at Newcastle and Wolverhampton, and she finished the year on a mark of 88. Dresden Doll is among 10 winners out of the one-time juvenile scorer Crimson Conquest (by Diesis) and those siblings include Group 2 Lancashire Oaks runner-up Local Spirit (by Lion Cavern), Group 3 Chester Vase scorer Dutch Gold (by Lahib), and best of all, champion filly Crimplene (by Lion Cavern). She won the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas, Group 1 Coronation Stakes, Group 1 Nassau Stakes and Group 2 Henkel Rennen (German 1000 Guineas), and although this ace miler has not produced anything at stud with her level of talent, she is the dam of the Group 3-placed Crimson Sun (by Danzig) and grandam of Group 2 runner-up Gold City (by Pivotal). Her dam's tally of 10 winners from 14 foals was beaten by the total of 11 from 15 achieved by her stakes-placed grandam, Sweet Ramblin Rose (by Turn-To), and that string included the US Grade 2 winners Rambin Guy (by Ogygian) and Sword Blade (by Damascus). Prize Money has a long way to go if he is to be able to overtake his 'aunt' Crimplene as being the brightest star in the recent generations of his family, but he clearly has ability and there should be some more good pots to be won with him.
Decorated Knight was a Group 2-placed miler when he left Roger Varian's stable to join the Roger Charlton team last year. He started off well from his new base, winning two of his four starts, but was not seen out again after his victory in the Group 3 Meld Stakes over nine furlongs at Leopardstown in mid-July.
The chestnut made a successful return to action in the Listed Betway Winter Derby Trial Stakes over 10 furlongs on the polytrack last month, increasing his official rating to 113, and he looks set for another raise following his win in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta Sponsored by Emirates Airline over nine furlongs at turf at Meydan this afternoon. He is a 63rd winner at the highest level for Coolmore Stud's prolific champion sire Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) and, as he could be described as being a brother-in-blood to two classic stars, in addition to being out of a full-sister to a multiple champion sire, an eventual future role as a stallion has probably been on the cards at least since his victory in a 10-furlong listed contest at Goodwood 10 months ago.
With a Group 1 success to his name, the odds of that new career becoming a reality are surely odds-on and what remains to be discovered is where that will be and the strength of support he will receive.
He will need to do more to enhance his record on the track and, hence, his profile as a prospective stallion, but, with a top-level success on his CV, it just got a whole lot easier to market him as a less expensive alternative to two of his most famous relations. Decorated Knight is out of Pearling (by Storm Cat) and that mare's string of blacktype siblings includes Giant's Causeway, You'resothrilling, and Freud, all of whom are also by Storm Cat (by Storm Bird). Giant's Causeway was a Group 1 star at two, went on to become a Breeders' Cup Classic and dual Guineas-placed winner of the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes, Group 1 Eclipse Stakes, Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes, Group 1 Sussex Stakes, and Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes at three, before going on to become a triple US champion sire. His current tally of 168 stakes winners includes 31 Group/Grade 1 scorers of whom Footstepsinthesand (52 SW inc 5 G1W), Ghanaati, Penelopa, and Shamardal (108 SW inc 18 G1W) have been European classic stars. Group 2-placed sprinter Freud has been the leading New York-based stallion for a long time and his tally of 51 stakes winners includes the Grade 1 Prioress Stakes victress Franny Freud, Argentine Grade 1 scorer Must Go On, and the tragically ill-fated Grade 1 Vosburgh Stakes winner Giant Ryan. You'resothrilling won the Group 2 Cherry Hinton Stakes and her first three foals are the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Marvellous, dual mile classic star and exciting young Coolmore stallion Gleneagles, and the Grade 1-placed pattern-winning filly Coolmore. They are all by Galileo, as is last year's Group 3 Killavullan Stakes third Taj Mahal. The grandam of Decorated Knight is the Grade 1-placed Grade 2-winner Mariah's Storm (by Rahy), her offspring also include the blacktype sires Tumblebrutus (by Storm Cat) and Tiger Dance (by Storm Cat), and unraced Love Me Only (by Sadler's Wells), the dam of Storm The Stars (by Sea The Stars). He won the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes, chased home Jack Hobbs in the Group 1 Irish Derby, and finished third in both the Golden Horn's Group 1 Derby at Epsom and Erupt's Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp before spending a year Australia, where he picked up Group 2 placings at eight and 10 furlongs. It was reported in December that he is to be trained by Andreas Wöhler in 2017, in advance of a stallion career. Panoramic (by Rainbow Quest), the Grade 1-placed Group 2-winning half-brother to Mariah's Storm, enjoyed some success as a dual-purpose sire – most notably with his Grade 1 Ramona Handicap-winning daughter Tuzla – and other descendants of their Grade 3-winning dam, Immense (by Roberto), include the US Grade 2 scorers Guys Reward (by Grand Reward) and Quest Star (by Broad Brush). Decorated Knight still has improvement to make if he is to be able to win a well-contested Group 1 event in Europe, but he is clearly on the upgrade and it will be fascinating to see how the rest of his career turns out, both on the track and, eventually, at stud. The first English pattern event of 2017 was the Group 3 Betway Winter Derby Stakes over 10 furlongs on the polytrack at Lingfield last week and it provided the Juddmonte Farms-bred Convey with a second blacktype success.
The five-year-old was a multiple pattern-placed mile listed race winner in 2016 and his recent success came on his first start since being gelded in November. He was rated 111 before Lingfield, down from a peak of 113, and it will be interesting to see how the Sir Michael Stoute-trained bay performs throughout the year. Convey is a 67th pattern winner, among 116 individual stakes winners, for Banstead Manor Stud's outstanding stallion Dansili (by Danehill) and he is one of three blacktype scorers for his dam, Insinuate (by Mr Prospector). She won a mile listed contest at Ascot, her son Stronghold (by Danehill) won the Group 3 Supreme Stakes over seven furlongs at Goodwood, and her daughter Take The Hint (by Montjeu) won the Listed Pretty Polly over 10 furlongs at Newmarket. Imroz (by Nureyev), a Grade 3-placed half-sister to Insinuate, is the grandam of the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat scorer Mutual Trust (by Cacique), and the talented sisters are out of the Group 1 star All At Sea (by Riverman). That chestnut got her top-level success when beating Brief Truce by a neck in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, her stamina gave out when chasing home User Friendly in the Group 1 Oaks at Epsom, and she also had to second for second place against Rodrigo De Triano in the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York. All At Sea's half-brother Over The Ocean (by Super Concorde) won the Group 3 Prix Gontaut-Biron and Group 3 Prix Perth, her listed-winning half-sister Full Virtue (by Full out) is the third dam of the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes heroine Hilda's Passion (by Canadian Frontier), and her winning half-sister Quack A Doodledoo (by Quack) is the grandam of champion and prolific Grade 1 star Banshee Breeze (by Unbridled). The most notable of her siblings, however, is Quandary (by Blushing Groom). She won the Listed James Seymour Stakes at Newmarket as a four-year-old before becoming the dam of seven winners, two of whom have become important broodmares. Double Crossed (by Caerleon) won the Listed Oaks Trial at Lingfield and her major contribution is her top-class son Twice Over (by Observatory). His dozen wins included the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes, Group 1 Eclipse Stakes, and two editions of the Group 1 Champion Stakes, and he took up stallion duties in South Africa. Quandary's daughter Clepsydra (by Sadler's Wells) won just once but is the dam of the Breeders' Cup-placed Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner Passage Of Time (by Dansili), of Group 1 Falmouth Stakes heroine Timepiece (by Zamindar), and of Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes scorer Father Time (by Dansili) among four stakes-winning offspring. Passage Of Time, of course, is the dam of the high-class Time Test (by Dubawi), the Group 2 York Stakes and Group 2 Joel Stakes winner who finished third to Hawkbill in the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown last July.
One of the earliest articles posted on this website was a review of the Newsells Park Stud stallion Equiano, the dual Group 1-winning sprinter whose first crop two crops had yielded several stakes winners, including the Group 1-placed Strath Burn and promising speedster The Tin Man, the latter a smart handicapper who rounded off his three-year-old campaign by finishing fourth in the Group 1 Qipco British Champions Sprint at Ascot.
The conclusion was that it was only a matter of time before this promising young sire got his first Group 1 winner, and, thanks to The Tin Man, that time was Saturday afternoon. A member of his sire's first crop, the James Fanshawe bay kicked off his current campaign with listed success over six furlongs at Windsor in late May, and although he disappointed when only eighth in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot the following month, he has bounced back from that in style. He narrowly beat Divine in the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury, chased home Quiet Reflection in the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock, and then showed a clean pair of heels to his dozen rivals in the Group 1 Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot. The gelding is an exciting prospect for 2017, and if he can stay happy, healthy and sound, he could become one of those popular horses who complete in the best races for several years. Winning at four, five and older is something that his family tends to do.
Equiano's overall tally of 11 individual stakes winners includes the US Grade 3 scorers Baciami Piccola and Belvoir Bay, the Australian Group 3 winner Sewar – all of whom have been in action in 2016 – and, of course, the high-class juvenile Medicine Jack, who won the Group 2 Railway Stakes at the Curragh in June before finishing third to Caravaggio in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at the same venue.
His prior runners of note include the pattern-winning juveniles Dark Reckoning and Fly On The Night, and two-year-old listed scorer Waipu Cove, and the aforementioned Group 1-placed sprint pattern winner Strath Burn is going to Bridge House Stud for 2017, thereby giving him his first stallion son. The Tin Man was bred by Elizabeth Grundy and he is an 80,000gns graduate of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. His Poet's Voice (by Dubawi) half-brother is catalogued as Lot 765 for the upcoming Tattersalls December Foal Sale and so his victory on Saturday will be among the biggest updates in that book. His dam, Persario (by Bishop Of Cashel) won a seven-furlong maiden at three and got her second score with a six-furlong handicap success at Kempton at the age of five. She was also trained by Fanshawe and so too was her other top-class son Deacon Blues (by Compton Place). He won on the second of his two starts as a juvenile and picked up a Yarmouth handicap at three, but at the age of four and following a seasonal reappearance when he was a neck runner-up over six furlongs at Ascot, the gelding went unbeaten for the rest of that campaign, culminating in an impressive length and a half defeat of Wizz Kid in the Group 2 Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes. Getting two winners of that race is a notable achievement for Persario, and her other three runners are the stakes-placed multiple sprint handicapper Holley Shiftwell (by Bahamian Bounty), four-times scorer If So (by Iffraaj), and current juvenile Hilario (by Sepoy), a twice-raced Charles Hills-trained colt who got off the mark over six furlongs at Kempton last month. Deacon Blues's tally in 2011 also included the Wokingham at Royal Ascot, the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury and the Group 3 Phoenix Sprint Stakes at the Curragh – all over six furlongs – plus the Group 3 Dubai International World Trophy over the minimum trip at Newbury. His official rating was 120, but Timeform placed him on a figure of 130, making him one of the best European sprinters of recent years and giving his younger sibling quite a target to chase. Persario is one of four winners from six foals out of dual scorer Barford Lady (by Stanford) and they include two performers of note. Her full-brother Heretic did not earn any blacktype, but this capable miler won at two, three, four, five and six years of age, reaching a peak handicap mark of 110. Their half-brother Warningford (by Warning), who could be described as being their three-parts brother, notched up 10 wins from three to eight years of age. Those included three editions of the Group 3 Leicestershire Stakes, two renewals of the Listed John of Gaunt Stakes, plus one running of the Listed Dubai Duty Free Cup. Warningford was only beaten a neck by Medicean in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes, he was third to Mount Abu in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret, and fourth (no blacktype) to Slickly in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, he achieved a peak handicap mark of 116 and, at the age of seven, was rated 119 by Timeform. Barford Lady was among six winners from 10 foals out of the stakes-placed triple scorer Grace Poole (by Sallust) and the best of those was Ansellman (by Absalom), who won the Listed Doncaster Stakes over five furlongs as a juvenile and got the final of his 11 wins, from 128 starts, at the age of 10. Last year The Tin Man was Timeform-rated 120, and for his Group 1 success that organisation raised his figure to 126. He is a fine advertisement for his sire and unlikely to remain Equiano's only top-level winner for long. |
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