Taareef has not yet won at the highest level but there is no doubt that he has the ability to do so. Nine days ago he became a dual winner of the Group 2 Qatar Prix Daniel Wildenstein over a mile at Chantilly, just three weeks after he was a three-quarter-length runner-up to Ribchester in the Group 1 Qatar Prix du Moulin de Longchamp over the same course and distance.
From just five starts this year, he has also won the Group 3 Prix Bertrand du Breuil Longines – beating Zelzal by one and three-quarter lengths – and the Group 3 Prix Messidor, in which he beat Al Wukair by two lengths. Last year, in addition to his aforementioned Group 2 success, he took the Group 3 Prix Daphnis over nine furlongs, and his only runs as a two-year-old resulted in wins at Bordeaux Le Bouscat and Deauville. He has an official rating of 122, a Timeform one of 125, and that places him among the most highly ranked sons of his sire to have raced in Europe.
Ramsey Farm's homebred star Kitten's Joy is a son of former Vincent O'Brien-trained Group 1 scorer El Prado (by Sadler's Wells), the stallion who also gave us the outstanding racehorse and sire Medaglia d'Oro.
He is well-established as one of the best sires of turf horses in North America and, in addition to Taareef, his runners in Europe include Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes star Hawkbill and young Lanwades Stud stallion Bobby's Kitten, a Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint hero who was Grade 1-placed at a mile before coming to Ireland where he ran away with a listed sprint at Cork on his only start for the Dermot Weld stable.
Taareef was bred in Kentucky by Dixiana Farms Llc and he is a $675,000 graduate of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He is the best of three winners out of stakes-placed five-time scorer Sacred Feather (by Carson City) and he has a two-year-old half-brother in training with John Gosden – a first-crop Point Of Entry (by Dynaformer) colt named Momtalik, who made $140,000 at the same venue as a yearling and 390,000gns at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale in Newmarket in April.
The mare has made a good start to her stud career yet has a long way to go to match the record of her dam. That's because she is one of 13 winners from 15 foals out of Grade 3 scorer Marianna's Girl (by Dewan) and so is a half-sister to five stakes winners, including the Grade 2-placed Grade 3 winners Marastani (by Shahrastani) and Christine's Outlaw (by Wild Again). Marianna's Girl's success surpassed that of her dam, Marianna Trench (by Pago Pago), who produced 10 winners from 17 foals, notably Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap victor and Grade 1 Whitney Stakes runner-up Bold Style (by Bold Commander). The next generation of the family includes plenty of winners too, including prolific sprinter Pocket Boy (by Full Pocket) and one-time scorer Go Feather Go (by Go Marching), the latter notable as being the dam of classic star Mutafaweq's (by Silver Hawk) multiple Irish stakes-winning dam The Caretaker (by Caerleon). Taareef's pedigree is an outcross – a term that means no duplicated ancestors within the first five generations and yet is often misused – and he is among the most talented milers in Europe. This will make him an interesting stallion prospect, should he get that chance. Before then, however, there is every reason to hope that he can win a Group 1 on the track. Comments are closed.
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