ITB_March_April2018

MARCH-APRIL 2018

MARCH-APRIL 2018

£4.95 • ISSUE 79

Racing in Bahrain

with clerk of the course Neil Mackenzie Ross

Emirates Entertainment www.facebook.com/internationalthoroughbred

Gunned it Admirable Gun Runner tops off his great career in the Pegasus Cup

the racing syndicate in Dubai

Ratings assessment

The Fappiano line dominates the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings

NEW FOR 2018 STANDING AT ELWICK STUD

MONDIALISTE A GLOBAL NAME AND THE STUNNING SON OF SUPER SIRE GALILEO A DUAL GR.1 WINNER AND HAS DEFEATED 16 GR.1 WINNERS

A LANDMARK FAMILY Sire: GALILEO – Champion: won Gr.1 Derby S, Gr.1 Irish Derby, Gr.1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S, etc: Multiple Champion Sire and Sire of Sires, incl: FRANKEL (Triple Champion, sire), TEOFILO (Champion 2yo, sire), NEW APPROACH (Champion, sire), RULER OF THE WORLD (Gr.1, sire), NATHANIEL (Gr.1, sire), SIXTIES ICON (Gr.1, sire), INTELLO (Gr.1, sire) CHURCHILL, ULYSSES, etc.

Dam: OCCUPANDISTE – won 6 races, incl Gr.1 Prix de la Forêt, Gr.1 Prix Maurice de Gheest; dam of 7 winners, incl MONDIALISTE, IMPRESSIONANTE (Gr.2 Prix de Sandringham, 2nd Gr.1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, Gr.1 Prix d’Astarté; herself dam of INTELLO, by GALILEO [Gr.1 Prix du Jockey Club, Gr.3 x 2, 3rd Gr.1 x 3, promising young sire]), ONLY ANSWER (Gr.3 Prix de Saint-Georges, Gr.3 Prix du Petit Couvert, LR Prix du Cercle), PLANETAIRE (by Galileo; LR Prix Pelleas, 3rd Gr.3 La Coupe) Her grandam ELLE SEULE won Gr.2 Prix d’Astarté; dam of 10 winners, incl ELNADIM (Champion Sprinter, sire), MEHTAAF (Champion, Gr.1 1,000 Guineas, dam of a Champion).

Her dam FALL ASPEN (Gr.1 Matron S); dam of: FORT WOOD (Gr.1, Champion Sire), HAMAS (Gr.1, sire), NORTHERN ASPEN (Gr.1), TIMBER COUNTRY (Champion at 2, sire), BIANCONI (Gr.2, sire), COLORADO DANCER (Gr.2, dam of DUBAI MILLENIUM [Champion, sire of DUBAWI].

@StudElwick

@ElwickStud

@elwickstud

t: +44 (0) 1429 856 530 e: info@elwickstud.co.uk w: www.elwickstud.co.uk

A TOP CLASS STALLION’S PEDIGREE Out of Champion racemare and multiple stakes producer Occupandiste.

NORTHERN DANCER

NEARCTIC NATALMA

FAIRY BRIDGE

BOLD REASON SPECIAL

MISWAKI

MR PROSPECTOR HOPESPRINGSETERNAL

ALLEGRETTA

LOMBARD ANATEVKA

CARO

FORTINO II CHAMBORD

KATANA

LE HAAR EMBELLIE

LYPHARD

NORTHERN DANCER GOOFED

ELLE SEULE

EXCLUSIVE NATIVE FALL ASPEN

SADLER’S WELLS

GALILEO b.1998

URBAN SEA

KALDOUN

OCCUPANDISTE b.1993

ONLY SEULE

20/20

20/20 GOLDMINE GOLDMINE MATCHES MATCHES

WILL RECEIVE WILL RECEIVE A DISCOUNT A DISCOUNT

BREEDER BONUS By sending your mare to Mondialiste in his first season at stud, you are therefore eligible for the bonus*

1ST 2YO

T LISTED 1S

T G ROU 1S P

£5,000

£10,000

£15,000

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

FEE £6,000 *Terms and Conditions Apply

WIND CHIMES (A Fabre) “She put up a very impressive performance against the colts and will head straight for the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket.“ Andre Fabre, following her runaway success in the Listed Prix Herod

ALPHA CENTAURI (Mrs J Harrington) “an exciting 3YO prospect, the fact that she was able to run to such a big rating in the Albany boding particularly well” TIMEFORM’S ANTE-POST PREVIEW: 1000 GUINEAS

Dark horses promise a bright year ahead for Mastercraftsman

RACING POST, 02/01/18

THE KING (Mrs J Harrington)

“The King could be a serious classic prospect for 2018” THE IRISH FIELD, 22/09/17

STREAM SONG (John Gosden) “She’s a lovely filly who’ll be put away and we’ll see her in an Oaks trial next year” John Gosden, RACING POST, 24/09/17

• AUSTRALIA • CAMELOT • CARAVAGGIO • CHURCHILL • EXCELEBRATION • FASTNET ROCK • FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND • GALILEO • GLENEAGLES • • HIGHLAND REEL • HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR• IVAWOOD • KINGSTON HILL • MASTERCRAFTSMAN • NO NAY NEVER • PRIDE OF DUBAI • REQUINTO • ROCK OF GIBRALTAR • • RULER OF THE WORLD • STARSPANGLEDBANNER • THE GURKHA • WAR COMMAND • ZOFFANY •

2017 yearlings sold for €445,000, €310,000, €250,000, €235,000, €230,000 etc.

And are now with all the right people…

Alain de Royer Dupre/HH Aga Khan (x4) John Gosden/Godolphin Sir Michael Stoute/Cheveley Park Freddie Head/George Strawbridge John Gosden/Coolmore partners Andre Fabre/Coolmore partners Andre Fabre/Rothschild Family C. Ferland/Wertheimer Brothers Roger Varian/China Horse Club Freddie Head/ Wertheimer Brothers

Ralph Beckett/J C Smith David O’Meara/Sir Robert Ogden Joseph O’Brien/Mrs A­M O’Brien Roger Varian/Paul Smith David Simcock/Orbis Bloodstock Ltd. Richard Fahey/Sir Robert Ogden William Haggas/Lee Yuk Lun Alan Martyn Meade/Sefton Lodge Thoroughbred Racing Andre Fabre/H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani Francis­Henri Graffard/H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani

Group/Listed winners in 2017 including Matriarch S.-Gr.1 winner OFF LIMITS

His biggest and best-bred crops are 2YO’s and 3YO’s of 2018

Contact: Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Tel: 353-52-6131298. Fax: 353-52-6131382. Christy Grassick, David O’Loughlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Tim Corballis, Maurice Moloney, Gerry Aherne, Mathieu Legars, Jason Walsh, Tom Miller or Neil Magee. Tom Gaffney, David Magnier, Joe Hernon, John Kennedy or Cathal Murphy: 353-25-31966/31689. Kevin Buckley (UK Rep.) 44-7827-795156.

E-mail: sales@coolmore.ie Web site: www.coolmore.com All stallions nominated to EBF.

Cape Thoroughbred Sales S

outh Africa’s April Yearling Sale takes place on 12-13 April in Cape Town with Day 1 being a Select Session. The sale is a consolidation of the CTS Select Yearling

Sale and the CTS March Yearling Sale which have produced 33 stakes winners since 2013 including the likes of Kotchka (G1 Equus Champion 2yo), Guiness (G1), Siren’s Call (G1), Lauderdale (G1), Seventh Plain (G1 Equus Champion 2yo), Copper Force

(2nd G1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate 2018), Always In Charge (G1 Equus Champion 2yo), Safe Harbour (G1p), Neptune’s Rain (G1p), Dutch Philip ($500,000 CTS Sprint), Illuminator ($1,000,000 CTS Million Dollar), Milton (G2), My Sanctuary (G2), Trophy Wife (G2), Hard Day’s Night (G2), Rocket Countdown (G2), Trip Tease (G3), Hot Affair (G3), Royal Dreamer (G3), Eventual Angel (G3), Exit Here (G3), Harlem Shake (G3), Exquisite Touch (G3), Deputy Ryder (G2p), etc.

It’s A Lifestyle

Contact Kerry Jack (Bloodstock Manager) E: kerry@cthbs.com M: +27 (0) 82 782 7297 or Kirsty Coertze (Sales Manager) E: kirsty@cthbs.com T: +27 (0) 21 873 0734 European Representative: Mick Flanagan E: mick@townleyhallbloodstock.com M: +353 86 609 8119 W: www.capethoroughbredsales.com

April Yearling Sale 12 - 13 April 2018

SAFE HARBOUR (2015 MYS Graduate) - 3 wins, R2,746,100; 2nd Cape Fillies Guineas G1, Paddock Stakes G1, SA Fillies Classic G1; 3rd Woolavington 2000 G1; 4th Thekwini Stakes G1, etc.

contents march-april

10 First word

Paul Haigh questions whether anyone outside of Florida knew much about the Pegasus Cup?

14 News

Cobalt positive investigated in the UK, Championship Horse Racing announced, Cathy organises a point-to-point, and William reports on the Robert Smerdon and Aquanita Racing milk shake allegations and charges in Australia

20 New paths

The Dublin Festival at Leopardstown provided great racing and the perfect mid-season prelude to Cheltenham

26 Stallion stats

Leading sires of chasers and hurdlers

30 Look back in anger

Simon Rowlands is not too convinced of the methodology behind the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.

36 All guns blazing

Melissa Bauer-Herzog reports from the US Eclipse Awards that saw Gun Runner voted Horse of the Year

40

60 In the Club

Debbie Burt chats to Justin and Rebecca Byrne, the owners and managers of the Emirates Entertainment Racing Club, Dubai’s first ownership syndicate

66 Singapore swing

After a break of four years, Singapores International Races are due to return in 2019, reports Paul Haigh

70 Where are we heading?

Breeder David Brocklehurst asks a number of strategic industry questions

72 Mare of the month

Debonnaire, the dam of Hartnell

76 The database

Early stakes race results from 2018

82 Photo of the month Native River and Altior

82 MARCH-APRIL

40 Fappiano becoming a dominant force

2018

The growing influence of the sire line can be seen in the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, writes Alan Porter

MARCH

-APRIL

£4.95

2018

• ISSU E 79

48 WBRR’s leading tables

Horses rated over 117, the leading European two-year-old classifications and leading WBRR sires

www.internationalthoroughbred.net

ughbred

8

onalthoro

Neil Mackenzie Ross moved from Lingfield Park to become facilities manager and clerk at Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club in Bahrain.

He reports on the challenges faced and exciting opportunities for racing in the Middle East

www.face book.com /internati

54 Racing in Bahrain

Racing in Ba

Gunned it

Admirable Gun Runner topped

off a great

career in Pe gasus

with clerk of hrain course Neil Mackethe nzie Ross

Emirates Entertai en the racingnm syndic t ate in Dubai

Ra gs assessmtin ent Fap

piano dominated line the Wo Racehorse Rarld’s Best nkings

Gun Runner at the Pegasus Cup Photo courtesy of Gulfstream Park

follow us on twitter @tbredpublishing

contents march-april

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This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in whole or part without permission of the publisher. The views expressed in International Thoroughbred are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. While every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the content herein, or any consequences arising from them.

the team editor sally duckett publisher declan rickatson photography trevor jones design thoroughbred publishing advertising declan rickatson 00 44 (0)7767 310381 declan.rickatson@btinternet.com subscriptions tracey glaysher 00 44 (0) 1428 724063 itsubs@btinternet.com

the photographers

the writers

press association equine creative media tattersalls laura green gulfstream park emirates racing

paul haigh william huntingdon simon rowlands melissa bauer-herzog cathy grassick alan porter

the printers buxton press accounts tracey glaysher 00 44 (0) 1428 724063

the stats weatherbys

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9

first word

D

epending on what time you Google the word “Pegasus”, and in what country you go online (in this case Britain) you get a bridge, an airline, a men’s clothing manufacturer, images (not photos sadly) of the winged horse of ancient mythology, and something to do with the University of Strathclyde.

You keep scrolling down in the hope of seeing something about a horserace, and you have to get about halfway through page two before you find any mention of racing.

This lack of immediate visibility for its supposedly earth-shattering enterprise will come as something of a disappointment to the organisers of the Pegasus World Cup, who will no doubt have hoped that the richest horserace ever run (unless Croesus staged one that hasn’t been recorded) might have become something a bit more of a global talking point by now, if not a household name.

In fact, if you were in the process of travelling by plane on the day the Gulfstream bonanza was run you’d have had trouble finding out the outcome on Twitter, if you’d landed even a few hours after it was all over.

And you’d only have found out that Gun Runner had completed the best compensated lap of honour in the history of the sport, or indeed of sport, by means of deduction after people started putting up summaries of his career and reminders of Gun Runner’s breeding.

What is inarguable anyway is that the much trumpeted event never actually “trended”. At least it didn’t trend anywhere much except perhaps on the east coast of Florida.

We now have two World Cups, worth an aggregate $26 million. Cynics might say this is at least $20 million or so too much. There may be more than two – does The Everest count? – although it’s a relief to know that the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, a 3m event at next month’s Cheltenham Festival, has now changed its name to something a bit more rational.

Keen eyed students of international horseracing will have noticed that both these two remaining races that feature the adjective “World” (or adjectival noun if you want to be a fusspot) are designed specifically for American Dirt horses. Apparently it costs around $26 million to get all the best of them, or at least a quorum, together at the same places.

The implication that either of these two races identifies the best racehorse on earth has understandably raised more than a few eyebrows in the rest of the world where racing is conducted on Turf.

Japan has a small proportion of its racing on Dirt.

Other countries have All-Weather tracks, which are close to being the same thing as Dirt, but not close enough to satisfy those North American connections who

10

www.internationalthoroughbred.net

Who knew of Pegasus?

How many outside of Florida and away from Gulfstream Park were aware of the richest race in the world?

first word

by Paul Haigh www.internationalthoroughbred.net

11

first word

virtually boycotted the Dubai World Cup while it was run on Tapeta and only returned once it had been dug up without ceremony and replaced by something with which they were more familiar.

Outside America (North and South) All-Weather tracks exist primarily to keep the sport going in the winter months.

But essentially racing on anything but Turf is an American sport and to call its champions “world champions”, almost with a jerking knee, seems curious to the rest of us to say the least.

It brings to mind the baseball “World Series”. They play baseball in Japan, in Cuba and in other pockets of the Caribbean. Otherwise it’s purely an American sport.

You might as well have a “World Series” of buz kasha, bogsnorkelling or rolling cheeses down a hill.

Like baseball they are played only in certain parts of the known world.

There is a difference between racing’s two “world cups”.

The Dubai World Cup is at least a proper modern horserace in that anyone is allowed to enter who feels it’s worth the risk of jeopardising a home campaign for their horse to chase the $10 million on offer.

The Pegasus World Cup is another beast altogether.

Only those who feel comfortable coughing up an early $1 million for a slot in the gate are allowed to see their horses run in it. Effectively the Pegasus World Cup is a throwback to the sport’s early days when England’s over-privileged put up however many guineas they felt like to match their horses on Newmarket Heath.

T

he result, of course, is that Florida’s gigantic sweepstake, jacked up to $16 million by the addition of $4 million by the Stronach organisation, rather distorts the international prize-money table. But there’s no real problem about that. You might as well complain that the Japanese have distorted it for years by having such extraordinarily high prizemoney for their best races.

The mistake we shouldn’t make is what one might call the Trumpist one of thinking that the horse with the biggest prize-money to his name is necessarily the best horse in the world.

International handicappers as much as ordinary fans should avoid this elementary blunder which has been encouraged for a while by the huge prize-money available in Dubai in March and is now expanded by Gulfstream’s retort.

Because he raced primarily in a country without prize-money inflation – sadly Britain has bookmakers instead – Frankel’s earnings, for example, pale into insignificance compared with those who raced for bigger prizes. But ask yourself who you’d rather have on your side in a match?

Of course, we never found out how Frankel might have performed on Dirt. But equally we’ve never found

12

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Far too many American glamour horses have been plonked at the top of the handicapping tree without an evidence that they are either superior or inferior to Turf horses

out how Dirt horses can perform on Turf.

Very occasionally the Dirt greats have successfully crossed the border between the two codes. Secretariat won on Turf, but hardly in the style of his Belmont.

And some of us who made a packet by laying Animal Kingdom when he ventured to Ascot are still mourning the fact that California Chrome never made it to the course because we would have tucked in with equal confidence if he’d tried to take on Group 1 Turf horses at the Royal meeting.

You could argue that Turf racing and Dirt racing are entirely different tests. One requires relaxation followed by a surge of acceleration; the other requires the ability to grind the resolution out of opponents.

Is one discipline superior to the other? No real way of knowing.

It’s just a question of which you find more exciting.

The other mistake everyone should avoid though is trying to compare the practitioners of one with the practitioners of the other, particularly if you compound this error by deciding in advance which is superior.

This is an error which international handicappers have not obviously avoided. Far too many American glamour horses have been plonked at the top of the handicapping tree without an evidence that they are either superior or inferior to Turf horses.

Which brings us to the awards season. No obvious howlers in the Eclipse Awards as you might expect of a system which involves democratic voting by people who should know what they’re talking about.

The major flaw in the Longines Awards was clearly revealed by the granting the World’s Best Racehorse award to Arrogate.

Arrogate was at one time the World’s Best Dirt Horse, but he hasn’t deserved even that title since his extraordinary effort in overcoming a missed break as well as Gun Runner in Dubai last March apparently burst his enthusiasm, and nothing even Bob Baffert could do could bring it back.

Fortunately for the Dubai World Cup, Gun Runner more than survived his trip to the desert.

Arrogate won the first Pegasus World Cup, Gun Runner the second. It will take a horse of comparable quality to raise the race’s profile further when the third comes round, or to defend it against the accusation that it’s really just a re-run of the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

It would be nice to see it run under what should be its proper name, which ought to be “The World Big Bucks Bonanza For American Dirt Horses”, but it won’t be.

The money will always be a magnet as it has been in Dubai, but we’ll just have to wait and see whether this Pegasus has functioning wings.

Our love and thoughts go out to the family and friends of those who have recently lost loved ones, the families of trainers Richard Woollacott, Willie Codd, the 82-year-old Peter Casey and Malcolm Jefferson, who had fought a long battle with cancer.

MUKHADRAM

Shamardal - Magic Tree

FIRST 2YOS IN 2018 Yearlings sold for up to £200,000 and averaged more than five times his fee £7,000 (1st JAN, SLF) Call the nominations team to discuss terms

Discover more about the Shadwell Stallions at www.shadwellstud.com Or call Richard Lancaster, James O’Donnell or Tom Pennington on 01842 755913 Email us at: nominations@shadwellstud.co.uk

the news

New Championship Horse Racing series plans announced A new brand vision of Flat racing for British racing has been revealed.

Called Championship Horse Racing (CHR), it is envisaged as a team competition and would be

established to attract multi-national companies to participate in a concept similar to F1 motor racing and cycle racing.

The CHR website reports it will be a “dynamic flat-racing competition” called The Series.

“This innovative and interactive team-based format – similar to F1 – will attract a wider global audience to horseracing.

The teams will be owned by

major international brands.”

The website goes onto to explain: “CHR’s The Series will showcase the pure excitement of the sport, distancing it from the perceived dependency on gambling and the idea that ‘expert’ knowledge is a pre-requisite to following the action.

“The new format will turbo boost the audience, prize money and participation growth rates as

seen recently in Premier League Football, Twenty20 Cricket, Cycling and Formula E.” CHR would centre on a scoring system similar to F1, pitting 12 global brands against each other in an eight-week summer series.

The concept is the brain child of Jeremy Wray, former chairman of Swindon Town Football Club.

Plans revealed to the Racing Post are geared towards a 2019

Jooste’s dispersal and further trouble in Australia

14

at Lucy Clayton’s in London.

From Kingsclere she moved to Ken Oliver’s at Hawick where she met and married Barry Brogan.

This was a torrid time in Brogan’s life and the marriage was short lived.

Mary moved on to become a ground-breaking sales consignor under her Cotswold Stud banner.

She introduced the Americanoriginated sale marketing techniques and showmanship, now replicated everywhere.

She worked for Pacemaker, and was polo correspondent for The Times, a steward at Sandown and at the equestrian events at the London Olympics.

After her marriage to Ric Hambro she fulfilled a role as the wife of the chairman of Newmarket racecourse.

At home she put in an all-weather gallop and trained some long-priced winners, and proudly owned a gold medal-winning eventer, Fernhill Sox. She and I would often meet in Australia where she became particularly firm friends of the Hayes and Messara families.

I remember the story of her and Colin McAlpine of Eureka Stud persuading Colin Hayes to buy a yearling he had not seen.

www.internationalthoroughbred.net

“

In last autumn’s Melbourne Cup the three Australia-bred runners were by Testa Rossa, Not A Single Doubt and Flying Spur – all predominatly sprint sires

“

F

ebruary’s sales calendar was somewhat enlivened this year with some choice lots on offer at Tattersalls and Goffs due to the dispersal of Markus Jooste’s racing empire.

Buying bloodstock worldwide under the banner of Mayfair Speculators, Jooste had accumulated a stable numbering about 350.

His leading three-year-old prospect Willie John sold for 1.9 million guineas at Tattersalls, dissolving Jooste’s partnership with the China Horse Club. The horse was purchased by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum to be trained by Roger Varian.

Sheikh Obaid seems to be playing equine “Happy Families” – he also bought Willie John’s half-brother

by Dubawi at last year’s Book 1 for 2.6 million guineas.

Tattersalls is a reminder of the loss in January of long-standing friend Mary Hambro, who finally lost her long war with cancer.

In 1966 she arrived at Kingsclere as Mary Briggs to work as an assistant secretary after completing her finishing and secretarial course

Mary had been struck by his athletic walk. When Colin saw him in his stall he turned on them and asked why on earth they had made him buy a rabbit?

The rabbit cost $NZ3,000 and was named Dulcify. He went on to win seven Group 1s and Hayes rated him

as the best horse he trained.

Mary fought long and hard against both Ric’s and her disease and confounded the doctors with her resilience.

I

n last autumn’s Melbourne Cup the three Australia-bred runners were by Testa Rossa, Not A Single Doubt and Flying Spur – all predominatly sprint sires.

The winner of the Perth Cup 2018 was by Vital Equine from the family of Habibiti – perhaps it is no wonder then that Melbourne’s most historic prize has been plundered by European-bred horses?

I have been enjoying some dialogue with a prominent New Zealand breeder on the dearth of staying power amongst the traditional power base of that breed.

He has complained that European hurdlers and bumper horses were keeping “good” Australian stayers out of the Cup (... a bit of an oxymoron here).

He told me that a winner of a Group 3 German race was preventing the winner of the Brisbane Cup from competing.

He failed to mention that the

the news July launch and would include: • 12 branded teams similar to Red Bull in F1 or Team Sky in cycling • A £10 million+ investment in British racing • Six £100,000+ handicaps per meeting • Squads of 30 horses and four riders per team A different Group 1 racecourse would stage the series in an early-evening televised slot every Thursday for eight weeks through the summer.

“The anonymity of racing

German race was a weight-for-age contest and the Brisbane Cup is a handicap!

I remember a banter with him when I believed he had played for the All Blacks. When I asked him which year, his response was that he was “good enough, but just not selected!”.

The “potential” All Black has argued to me that recent Cup winners are far inferior to previous laureates – 32 earlier winners in the last 50 years have bettered Rekindling’s time of 3m21sec.

I was lucky enough to have two runners in the Cup – Drum Taps was favourite the year Vintage Crop won but was past his best, while Arabian Story ran a great race after an unenterprising ride to finish sixth, beaten just a couple of lengths by the front-running Might And Power.

What my friend fails to mention is that until very recently many Australian-trained horses raced with the benefit of milk shakes, EPO, cobalt blue, and in the earlier days, liberal dosages of steroids.

Training and racing is made much easier with those aids, as many Russian athletes have found out.

I admit when I was training I used one of the methods that helped the East German female Olympic team in the days before anabolics… pregnancy.

has always driven me mad,” said Wray to the Post. “I’m confident that by going out there and setting up a competition which is team based and has an exclusivity to it, you’re going to get a very exciting mix of brands.

“Many other sports have strong brand sponsorship involvement and it is something that racing has struggled to attact.”

The CHR website promises that the series “will help teams – and brands – communicate with their fans as never before. Live

Charged trainer Robert Smerdon

The fillies Granny’s Bank ran in the Hunt Cup, Starlet won a Group 2 and finished second in the Nassau Stakes (G2) and Sun Chariot Stakes (G2), while Indian Queen won the Gold Cup at Ascot carrying her best produce Prince Of India, who went on to become a black-type winner.

Sadly, yet again the use of milk shakes has been in the Australian news with accusations laying over the head of trainer Robert Smerdon, other Aquanita Racing trainers and employees.

Smerdon is one of eight licenced persons to be charged by Racing Victoria stewards for alleged raceday treatment extending back to 2010.

Stewards claim Smerdon and a stable employee Greg Nelligan were involved in more than 100 illegal raceday treatments to horses in the period from 2010 to 2017.

Jeremy Wray: keen for racing to become less “anonymous”

Smeardon faces 115 counts of engaging “in a practice that was dishonest, corrupt or fraudulent, improper or dishonourable, in that he was a party to the administration of alkalinising agents and/or medications to a horse or horses on a race day” over a seven-year period.

A further seven – Aquanita Racing trainers and stable employees – have been implicated.

In total, there are 271 charges against five trainers and three stable employees with links to texted betting scams.

The charges relate to the administration of alkalising agent bicarbonate of soda on race day. It is alleged that in many instances the horses were treated on arrival at the races or soon thereafter.

Aquanita Racing was designed so that trainers could concentrate on training their horses, whilst Aquanita managed the administrative side of the business; there were close to 300 horses listed on the organisation’s website as under its care.

Hopefully, this time Racing Victoria has got tighter cases than they had with the cobalt blue charges.

Edit: Aquanita Racing has been renamed Neerim Lodge (google its website) and amazingly is currently carrying on business as usual, but with different trainers.

interaction with the audience via the CHR app will stimulate conversation and transactional opportunities.

“Plus, the unique ‘we win, you win’ concept means that fans benefit directly from their team’s success in the form of prizes, giveaways and experiential opportunities.”

Wray, whose brother Ed co-founded Betfair with Chasemore Farm’s Andrew Black, explained that each squad of 30 horses may be in the care of a single trainer or multiple trainers, while the team brand they race under will have four dedicated jockeys, who will ride only for their team during the series.

It is envisaged that CHR will create a F1 fanfare for the events.

All team squad members, from the jockeys to the racing grooms, will be fully branded.

Each brand will have experiential and transactional stands, plus entertainment areas, from which they can interact with fans.

F1-style “pit areas” means fans will get up close and personal with the teams, brand ambassadors and jockeys.

After the races, fans will enjoy music and entertainment from cutting edge acts and have further opportunities to interact with the teams, brands and celebrities.

It would be planned that the race series would revolve around handicaps rather than Listed or Group races.

Initial backing from the British Horseracing Authority and other stakes holders has been positive.

“This is an exciting development for our sport, which can capture the imagination of the wider British public,” said Nick Rust, chief executive of the BHA. According to CHR’s organisers, a board which which includes former trainer Charlie Brooks, it has already partnered with the Jockey Club and the Racecourse Media Group, while there is also an agreement in principle of ownership structure and partnership terms in the series.

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15

the news

Cobalt positive under investigation The BHA is investigating a positive test for cobalt discovered as part of the BHA’s retrospective testing programme and found in a batch of around 400 tests taken in 2016.

The BHA’s director of integrity and raceday operations Brant Dunshea said on Racing UK’s Luck On Sunday programme: “The overwhelming majority of samples that were retrospectively tested were negative, but there were some lines of inquiry we’re following up in relation to that. We do have one matter under investigation.”

F

Last autumn the County Armagh-based trainer Stephen McConville and son Michael, owner and rider of Anseanachai Cliste, became the first to be disqualified in Britain for the use of cobalt. They were disqualified for three years after being found guilty of injecting the horse at Cheltenham last March with a tonic which included cobalt, although they claimed they were unaware that the injections were performance-enhancing.

Last year the BHA collected around 8,500 samples post-race and around 2,500 out-of-competition tests.

....Girls aloud

or the past couple of years I have had the pleasure to be involved in the County Clare Hunt Point to Point Committee.

My involvement happened somewhat by accident and over a couple of hot whiskeys in the Linnane family’s pub, Daly’s of Bellharbour. The clan patriarch Tom asked for some assistance in boosting the profile of the point-to-point that takes place on his son Dermot’s land, and I happily agreed.

A couple of phone calls later from Paul O’Neill, the point-to-point guru of the County Clare Hunt, I realised that Mr Linnane had volunteered me for a little bit more than I had bargained for!

Before long, while I was spending my nights on foal watch, I found that I was updating facebook and twitter accounts and writing press releases, but despite the extra work load, I have really enjoyed the sense of community and camaraderie being involved with NH racing at grass roots level.

The real surprise came when, after a successful edition of the Bellharbour meeting, I found out that the County Clare Hunt have a second point-to-point that runs at Quakerstown on Easter Sunday... it was quickly back unto the breach once more!

This time we attracted some new members to the committee and I can safely say that I have made life-long friends from my involvement.

If you are not familiar with point-to-pointing in Ireland or the UK, then you are missing out. It offers a whole range of wonderful opportunities to those who are not afraid to brave the weather – whether it is the chance to spot future talents, both equine and human, en route to fame, or to see some of the older stars ease their way back down the ranks on their way to retirement.

There is a real sense of community spirit at each meeting with many local people making the most of their chance to get up close to the horses and the world of horseracing.

The meetings are an important social occasion within each area and the atmosphere is always buzzing, no matter what the weather.

In my opinion point-to-points are a great way to attract more people into racing and more could be done at this local level to build on this.

There is a freedom to dress how you like and, while there is plenty of

16

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“We never go into specifics of strategy,” added Dunshea. “We’ve a random generator, which generates one horse that’s selected each day at a fixture.We have some samples that are intelligence-led and have specific samples that are collected as a result of a horse’s performance in relation to the pattern races.”

In Australia, the Grafton-based trainer Gordon Yorke has been disqualified for 18 months after being found guilty of presenting Follow Through with an elevated cobalt level, while as William Huntingdon discusses Robert Smerdon, further trainers and employees from Aquanita Racing are facing a number of charges for administering milk shakes to horses on raceday.

Bloodstock agents Cathy Grassick and Tina Rau share our new column discussing bloodstock and racing issues.

Grassick finds herself organising the County Clare Hunt point-to-point

fashion on show, it is definitely of a utilitarian nature.

While organising a “most-appropriately” dressed lady competition at Quakerstown last year one woman told me with authority that one needs to dress with “Country Casuals” in mind – in wellies and a woolly hat; I felt as if I had maybe missed the brief!

You will see every walk of life and everyone mixing together with no need for reserved enclosures – from farmers to politicians, from grandparents to babes in arms and almost always with a dog in tow, which all adds to the general enjoyment.

With such a strength of community spirit it is easy to see why the point-to-point world has been shocked in recent times by the sad and untimely deaths of two major figures, Richard Woollacott and Willie Codd.

Both were young men with families and important figures in the point-to-point scene; both lost their struggle with mental health within days of each other.

It is important to reflect on how talented both of these men were as horsemen, but equally how the illness of depression is indiscriminate.

My deepest sympathy goes out to all their families and friends on such a sad loss.

Dr Adrian McGoldrick, chief medical officer of the Irish Turf Club, has worked tirelessly along with his UK counterpart Dr Jerry Hill to help support jockeys and trainers facing these problems. Intensive study has been carried out to research how best help support people within the industry suffering from symptoms of depression.

There is much work to be done, but the strong sense of community within the sport and with good people such as Dr Mc Goldrick providing a willing ear to listen and help, hopefully such great losses will diminish.

As a mark of respect to Willie Codd, a minute’s silence was held at Bellharbour point-to-point and with a record crowd in attendance all came to a standstill to pay their respects to a key member of the Irish point-to-point world There was something beautiful in the silence of the crowd as they looked out across the majestic Burren and across Galway Bay.

AL WUKAIR

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Winner of an epic Prix Jacques-le-Marois Gr.1, of the Prix Djebel Gr.3 and placed in the 2000 Guineas Gr.1.

Undefeated Stakes winner at 2. Timeform 123.

Faster than Havana Gold, Charm Spirit and Thunder Snow in his Prix Jean Prat Gr.1 victory, beating the track record over the mile at Chantilly.

From the Sea The Stars x Kingmambo x Sadler’s Wells cross.

€ 8,000 LF

€ 8,000 LF

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BRAMETOT

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Dual Classic winner, showing an impressive turn of foot in each of his Gr.1 victories. Out of a half-sister to the great Monsun. A complete outcross, free from any of the Sadler’s Wells or Danzig bloodlines.

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€ 5,000 LF

nh racing

New paths The Dublin Festival at Leopardstown is the perfect solution to the mid-winter NH programme and provides an intriguing prelude to Cheltenham in March

I

rish racing over the last eight years has proved to be innovative and dynamic – ready to take on new ideas, fill perceived gaps in the market and just being seen to “do”, be prepared to take a chance and reassess if it fails.

While there is a constant discussion regarding the lack of racegoers on a day-today basis, the sport’s fairly recent innovation the Irish Champions’ weekend has been a successful development, and the first-running of the NH version, the Dublin Festival, added its name to the list.

The desire to add to the winter jumping programme, augment the development of the NH path to Cheltenham without trying to be an alternative to The Festival, was an unqualified success.

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The project was undoubtedly helped by the high quality of NH horse currently in training in Ireland, but trainers and owners took the concept on board and ran with it producing two days of top-class entertainment filling what can be a void in the wait for The Festival.

The star of the weekend was, of course, Samcro, the much-heralded son of Germany fulfilling the “hype” that owner Michael O’Leary had claimed was unjustified.

The unbeaten chestnut six-year-old is viewed as a staying chaser in the making and, according to O’Leary, whatever he does over hurdles is a bonus. On that basis the future looks very shiny indeed as the gelding won his first Grade 1, the 2m Deloitte Novice Hurdle but an unflustered five and a half lengths,

nh racing Samcro jumps his way to victory in the Grade 1 Deloitte Novice Hurdle, setting himself up as an evens favourite for the Ballymore Novices Hurdle

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nh racing showing off both pace, a high cruising speed and a neat hurdling ability.

Some were arguing after the success that the horse could be redirected to the shorter 2m Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at The Festival rather than the more likely 2m5f Ballymore Novices Hurdle. He is a 4-5 favourite for the latter and 3-1 second favourite for the shorter event.

By the deceased sire Germany – also sire of Faugheen who put in a better performance over the Leopardstown weekend but without looking quite the force of old – a dual German Group 1-winning son of Trempolino and out of Inca Princess, a Grade 1 heroine of the Top Flight Handicap at Aquaduct in the US. Germany stood in the country of the same name for year one before he transferred to Ireland where he was initially based at Clongell Stud before he moved on to Woodlands Stud in County Galway. He stood at the County Galway farm at a fee of €3,000 until his last covering season of 2013.

Samcro appeared in 2012 – as Faugheen only had his first winning point-to-point debut that year it is assumed that the chestnut gelding’s breeder Doug Taylor was influenced to use the sire by his 13-time winning 2001-born son Captain Cee Bee. He was successful in the Ryanair Chase in 2010, and winner of a strong Supreme Novices Hurdle in 2008 when 2l the victor over the

Frankly Native gained her place at stud courtesy of her half-brother Sound Man, a four-time Grade 1 winner subsequent Champion Hurdler Binocular.

Samcro is out of the unraced Saddlers’ Hall mare Dun Dun and is a grandson of another unraced mare Frankly Native (Be My Native).

Frankly Native gained her place at stud courtesy of her half-brother Sound Man, a four-time Grade 1 winner, his victories at the level being as a dual winner of the Tingle Creek Chase, of the Comet Chase at Ascot and the Drinmore Novices Chase at Fairyhouse.

Frankly Native kept her end of the bargain and produced three black-type horses, the

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Monalee (and inset) ridden by Noel Fehily (striped cap) jumps the last to win the Flogas Novice Chase during day two of the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown

best being the Micky Hammond-trained Master Of The Hall (Saddlers’ Hall), winner of the Reynoldstown Novice Chase, and Pairofbrowneyes (Luso), a 2009-born Grade 2-winning and a dual Grade 1-placed chaser.

Dun Dun, a full-sister to Master Of The Hall, was bought in 2006 at the Tattersalls

Ireland February NH Sale as a four-year-old for €12,000 by M.C.R. Bloodstock, two years ahead of her full-brother’s racing debut.

His sole public appearance until his 2008 point-to-point run had been as a foal at the 2004 November Sale when he fetched €23,000 bought by Highflyer Bloodstock from Grange Stud.

nh racing

in 2014 called Think Positive (a €30,000 Goffs Landrover graduate and fourth in a November bumper at Towcester), a filly by the same sire in 2015, and a Jet Away filly in 2016.

Samcro is listed as a €95,000 2015 Goffs Landrover NH Sale graduate, but a year later he ran and won his point-to-point at Monkstown in his breeders’ name. Five days after that success he was sold at the inaugural Aintree Sale for a sale-topping £335,000, bought by trainer Gordon Elliot.

Milan gained his seventh Grade 1 winner, his son Monalee winning the Floglas Novices Chase (G1) for the son of Sadler’s Wells.

A consistent sire, Milan has finished in the top ten – and mostly in the top five – on the NH sires’ list since the 2011-12 season.

Dun Dun’s first foal appeared ahead of her sale in 2005 for Sweetmans Bloodstock – Cocacobana (Snurge). He went on to be a winner over hurdles, placed over fences and a point-to-point winner.

Subsequently things all went a little quiet for Dun Dun – she missed to Flemensfirth, was not covered in 2007 or 2010, while her

2008 foal Incher Rose (Golan) and Meet The Boss (Lend A Hand) have been of little account.

At that point Taylor must have been wondering about the wisdom of his purchase, but his idea to cover his mare with Germany in 2012 is reaping its rewards now.

The mare went on to have a Jeremy colt

At that point Taylor must have been wondering about the wisdom of his purchase, but his idea to cover his mare with Germany in 2012 is reaping its rewards now www.internationalthoroughbred.net

23

May 31st DEADLINE

for nominating US sired yearlings of 2018 for $600

Key dates

EBF payments and deadlinesFunded by contributions from 2YOS YEARLINGS 2YO’S STALLIONS STALLIONS

February 15th May 31stJune 30th June 30th December 15th -

for nominating two-year-olds for $3,000 European Stallion Farms, for nominating yearlings for $600 the EBF has allocated for nominating two-year-olds for $6,000 for provisionally registering stallions to the EBF for the year for payments to fully qualify stallions to the EBF for the year

100,000,000

to the European Racing Industry.

WWW.EBFHORSERACING.COM

The European Breeders’ Fund Lushington House 119 High Street, Newmarket Suffolk, CB8 9AE

Contact: Angela Brown, IEBF, Greenhills, Kill, Co Kildare.

Contact: Angela Brown, IEBF, Greenhills, Kill, Co Kildare.

Tel: +353 45 910999 Fax: +353 45 910998 e: iebf@eircom.net

Tel: +353 45 910999 Fax: +353 45 910998 e: iebf@eircom.net

T: +44 1638 667960 F: +44 1638 667270 E: info@ebfhorseracing.co.uk W: ebfstallions.com

nh racing Monalee, an Aidan Aherne-bred sevenyear-old, was sold as a foal by his breeeder in 2011 for €18,000 to Thomas N Fitzgerald, the gelding went on to be a debut winner of his point-to-point at Templenacarrig under Fitzgerald’s ownership.

Monalee, bought after that pointing success by Barry Maloney and transfered to trainer Henry de Bromhead, is out of the mare Tempest Belle, a half-sister to the Grade 1-winning chaser and Tyestes Handicap winner Be My Belle. Bred by Malachy Hanley, she raced for Monica Aherne.

Another point-to-point winner with success over the Dublin weekend is the current 6-1 championship bumper favourite Blackbow, although his success came in the UK at Maisemore Park for Sophie Lacey, wife of NH trainer Tom. It is something of a feather in the cap for the British pointing field and if success were to come at The Festival for the son of Stowaway, it could really help take the UK sphere strides forward on a commercial bloodstock basis.

Blackbow was purchased at the 2016 Derby Sale for €32,000 from Hillcrest Stables. He is the first foal out of his unraced Accordian dam Rinnce Moll from an Irish NH family that boasts a number of graded race performers – its most talented representatives so far being the Tripleprint

Blackbow: the son of Stowaway is now favourite for the Weatherbys Champion NH Flat Race

Chase (G3) winner Go Roger Go and, a little more distantly, the DJ Moriarty (G1) winner

Total Recall: the 156-rated chaser made the most of his 125 hurdle mark to win the 3m handicap

Apache Stronghold.

The Laceys sold Blackbow (who in that debut point-to-point at Maisemore beat the 122-rated Canelo, now owned by the Million In Mind syndicate) to Harold Kirk / Willie Mullins for £150,000 at the Aintree auction, a year later than Samcro’s big-priced sale.

This year the Lacey team gained a first time out maiden victory with Sebastopol, a first progeny victory for Fame And Glory, at Larkhill.

The gelding, who is out of a Flat and hurdle-winning Pelder mare, was withdrawn from this year’s Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham February Sale.

Total Recall became the ante-post second favourite for the Grand National after his “extraordinary” Leopardstown handicap hurdle victory off a mark of 125, signifciantly lower than his chase rating of 149.

The son of Westerner just had to be kept up to his work to win. Unsurprisingly, his ratings have since been reassessed by the handicapper, and shifted upwards to 156 over fences and 149 over hurdles.

Like many by Westerner, Total Recall does appear to have a marked preference so trainer Mullins will be hoping for a wet Aintree meeting.

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nh racing Leading sires of hurdlers in Britain and Ireland 2017-2018: (by prize-money earned to February 11, 2018) Stallion

Runners

Winners

Races won

FLEMENSFIRTH (USA) 168 42 61 OSCAR (IRE) 173 46 61 MILAN (GB) 192 49 73 BENEFICIAL (GB) 161 42 60 WESTERNER (GB) 152 42 55 PRESENTING (GB) 161 35 49 MIDNIGHT LEGEND (GB) 100 32 48 STOWAWAY (GB) 105 22 34 MONTJEU (IRE) 23 9 15 KAYF TARA (GB) 132 25 35 YEATS (IRE) 88 25 39 GALILEO (IRE) 62 21 23 SHANTOU (USA) 63 23 31 BLACK SAM BELLAMY (IRE) 72 18 26 MARTALINE (GB) 44 12 17 COURT CAVE (IRE) 82 13 21 DUBAI DESTINATION (USA) 54 14 21 KALANISI (IRE) 100 18 25 CRAIGSTEEL (GB) 63 15 18 MAHLER (GB) 85 18 24 JEREMY (USA) 42 8 12 SCORPION (IRE) 114 20 24 AUTHORIZED (IRE) 43 14 19 SADDLER MAKER (IRE) 7 4 9 CRILLON (FR) 5 2 4 BRIAN BORU (GB) 56 17 22 HIGH CHAPARRAL (IRE) 50 9 11 DUKE OF MARMALADE (IRE) 25 7 12 GERMANY (USA) 9 2 4 GETAWAY (GER) 74 8 12 SAINT DES SAINTS (FR) 28 4 8 VOIX DU NORD (FR) 19 7 12 ROBIN DES CHAMPS (FR) 58 15 17 AZAMOUR (IRE) 26 9 13 POLIGLOTE (GB) 15 7 9 GOLD WELL (GB) 61 12 14 GOLAN (IRE) 39 9 12 TRANS ISLAND (GB) 36 9 13 VINNIE ROE (IRE) 38 10 15 MASTERCRAFTSMAN (IRE) 51 9 10 NETWORK (GER) 20 7 12 GREAT PRETENDER (IRE) 15 5 8 MOUNTAIN HIGH (IRE) 38 7 11 MEDICEAN (GB) 26 7 12 ROBIN DES PRES (FR) 45 5 10 SIR PERCY (GB) 29 6 11 WINDSOR KNOT (IRE) 16 3 4 WHITMORE’S CONN (USA) 24 7 10

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Places

Prize-money

165 168 188 196 170 180 136 112 34 140 92 83 76 87 44 68 62 110 74 77 46 97 53 5 7 69 52 19 4 55 32 19 52 27 25 70 44 47 31 59 25 11 37 38 52 37 17 16

Courtesy of Weatherbys Wnrs to Rnrs

691,389 25.00 671,781 26.58 659,451 25.52 657,350 26.08 501,062 27.63 493,608 21.73 399,761 32.00 354,618 20.95 351,653 39.13 344,838 18.93 341,542 28.40 332,753 33.87 302,851 36.50 302,589 25.00 278,448 27.27 252,534 15.85 252,323 25.92 230,373 18.00 211,371 23.80 197,213 21.17 197,008 19.04 196,893 17.54 191,868 32.55 185,907 57.14 182,859 40.00 174,398 30.35 154,644 18.00 154,332 28.00 150,252 22.22 149,757 10.81 148,828 14.28 142,666 36.84 141,814 25.86 137,371 34.61 135,135 46.66 133,834 19.67 129,209 23.07 123,420 25.00 122,229 26.31 122,042 17.64 121,607 35.00 121,178 33.33 120,006 18.42 118,676 26.92 118,467 11.11 116,599 20.68 113,481 18.75 113,129 29.16

Av Earnings 4,115 3,883 3,435 4,083 3,296 3,066 3,998 3,377 15,289 2,612 3,881 5,367 4,807 4,203 6,328 3,080 4,673 2,304 3,355 2,320 4,691 1,727 4,462 26,558 36,572 3,114 3,093 6,173 16,695 2,024 5,315 7,509 2,445 5,284 9,009 2,194 3,313 3,428 3,217 2,393 6,080 8,079 3,158 4,564 2,633 4,021 7,093 4,714

nh racing Leading sires of chasers in Britain and Ireland 2017-2018: (by prize-money earned to February 10, 2018) Stallion

Runners

Winners

Races won

PRESENTING (GB) 148 41 53 KING’S THEATRE (IRE) 118 31 39 WESTERNER (GB) 76 25 35 KAYF TARA (GB) 105 30 34 BENEFICIAL (GB) 136 34 44 FLEMENSFIRTH (USA) 91 33 37 OSCAR (IRE) 81 21 29 SCORPION (IRE) 47 16 24 MILAN (GB) 103 16 19 MIDNIGHT LEGEND (GB) 57 16 25 ROBIN DES CHAMPS (FR) 23 10 14 SADDLER MAKER (IRE) 7 3 5 STOWAWAY (GB) 49 12 14 SHANTOU (USA) 42 14 18 POLIGLOTE (GB) 9 3 7 KAPGARDE (FR) 23 6 10 GOLD WELL (GB) 41 10 14 BALKO (FR) 8 3 5 NETWORK (GER) 22 12 18 YEATS (IRE) 25 9 15 SAINT DES SAINTS (FR) 16 9 12 FRUITS OF LOVE (USA) 21 6 7 DR MASSINI (IRE) 22 9 11 VINNIE ROE (IRE) 29 11 13 BRIAN BORU (GB) 33 10 11 CLOUDINGS (IRE) 29 7 9 DEFINITE ARTICLE (GB) 32 8 10 WINGED LOVE (IRE) 33 6 7 GAMUT (IRE) 18 3 6 MAHLER (GB) 30 11 14 MARTALINE (GB) 21 6 6 COURT CAVE (IRE) 32 7 10 ROBIN DES PRES (FR) 39 12 16 ARCADIO (GER) 14 6 7 HERON ISLAND (IRE) 24 1 4 NICKNAME (FR) 6 3 7 GOLAN (IRE) 34 9 13 INDIAN RIVER (FR) 24 11 13 OVERBURY (IRE) 21 6 6 LAVEROCK (IRE) 2 1 7 TIKKANEN (USA) 20 7 7 ALFLORA (IRE) 26 3 3 ASSESSOR (IRE) 4 1 1 DARK ANGEL (IRE) 1 1 2 VOIX DU NORD (FR) 11 2 3 OLD VIC 21 4 5 SHAANMER (IRE) 1 1 1 TURTLE ISLAND (IRE) 20 3 5

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Places

Prize-money

193 139 103 122 156 91 86 57 94 71 29 11 57 35 6 34 69 15 41 28 16 31 36 51 55 44 33 39 20 40 29 32 52 17 29 14 37 37 27 2 21 25 5 2 17 25 1 30

Courtesy of Weatherbys Wnrs to Rnrs

775,997 27.70 708,128 26.27 610,766 32.89 599,633 28.57 590,017 25.00 499,138 36.26 428,250 25.92 359,893 34.04 347,351 15.53 322,929 28.07 313,813 43.47 273,389 42.85 262,523 24.48 261,540 33.33 257,927 33.33 225,187 26.08 212,877 24.39 212,793 37.50 206,624 54.54 198,559 36.00 188,573 56.25 187,803 28.57 162,378 40.90 160,153 37.93 157,473 30.30 157,183 24.13 154,903 25.00 149,053 18.18 148,476 16.66 145,433 36.66 136,640 28.57 133,748 21.87 132,642 30.76 131,765 42.85 126,632 4.16 125,674 50.00 124,680 26.47 123,825 45.83 120,115 28.57 115,801 50.00 107,443 35.00 106,758 11.53 103,233 25.00 99,451 100.00 95,754 18.18 94,229 19.04 93,545 100.00 92,763 15.00

Av Earnings 5,243 6,001 8,036 5,711 4,338 5,485 5,287 7,657 3,372 5,665 13,644 39,056 5,358 6,227 28,659 9,791 5,192 26,599 9,392 7,942 11,786 8,943 7,381 5,523 4,772 5,420 4,841 4,517 8,249 4,848 6,507 4,180 3,401 9,412 5,276 20,946 3,667 5,159 5,720 57,900 5,372 4,106 25,808 99,451 8,705 4,487 93,545 4,638

Looking for Classic winners…

BBAG graduate WINDSTOSS leads home a remarkable 1-2-3-4 in the „148. IDEE Deutsches Derby“ (Gr. I)

BBAG graduate DSCHINGIS SECRET winner of the „Grosser Preis von Berlin“ (Gr.I) winner of the „Grosser Hansa-Preis“ (Gr. II), „Gerling Preis“ (Gr.II) „Prix Foy“ (Gr.II)

Spring Breeze Up Mixed Sale: 1st June 2018 Premier Yearling Sales: 31st August 2018 Sales & Racing Festival: 19th and 20th October 2018

www.bbag-sales.de

simon says...

Leading Timeform NH Rankings (05.02.18) Rating Horse

Sire

Look back in anger

CHASERS 182 Douvan

Walk In The Park

175P Altior

High Chaparral

172 Might Bite

Scorpion

172 Sizing John

Midnight Legend

169 Top Notch

Poliglote

169 Un De Sceaux

Denham Red

168P Great Field

Great Pretender

168 Fox Norton

Lando

168 Road To Respect

Gamut

167+ Coney Island

Flemensfirth

167 Double Shuffle

Milan

166P Waiting Patiently Flemensfirth 166+ Definitely Red

Definite Article

166 Bristol De Mai

Saddler Maker

166 Cue Card

King’s Theatre

166 Don Poli

Poliglote

166 Min

Walk In The Park

166 Native River

Indian River

166 Special Tiara

Kayf Tara

165+ Yorkhill

Presenting

HURDLERS 170 BUVEUR D’AIR

Crillon

168 FAUGHEEN

Germany

168 YORKHILL

Presenting

166+ CAMPING GROUND 166 UN DE SCEAUX 164 SAM SPINNER

Goldneyev Denham Red

Black Sam Bellamy

164 YANWORTH

Norse Dancer

163 MY TENT OR YOURS Desert Prince 163 THE NEW ONE

King’s Theatre

162 ARCTIC FIRE

Soldier Hollow

162 PETIT MOUCHOIR

Al Namix

162 UN TEMPS POUR TOUT Robin des Champs 161 L’AMI SERGE 161 PTIT ZIG

King’s Theatre Great Pretender

161 UNOWHATIMEANHARRY Sir Harry Lewis 162§ WICKLOW BRAVE

Beat Hollow

160 AGRAPART

Martaline

160 LIL ROCKERFELLER

Hard Spun

160 SUTTON PLACE

Mahler

160§ DIAKALI

Sinndar

160§ LABAIK

Montmarte

30

Simon Rowlands assesses the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings and asks whether the methodology really is fit for purpose

I

t is the time of year for award ceremonies.

The movie industry is building up to the Oscars, before then we have the BRITs, while in racing the Eclipse Awards in the US and the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings have just been and gone.

Some awards are more objective than others, and some can even come to radically different conclusions to others on the self-same subject.

The Eclipse Awards feted Gun Runner, the horse who emerged from Arrogate’s shadow to win four consecutive Grade 1s in 2017, culminating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at

www.internationalthoroughbred.net

Evidence of subsequent success rates in handicaps in Britain further supports the notion that handicappers there are selling wide-margin winners short

simon says...

Leading NH horses (05.02.18)

Rating Horse

Sire

NOVICE CHASERS 160p FOOTPAD

Creachadoir

157p SAINT CALVADOS Saint Des Saints 157p SCEAU ROYAL

Doctor Dino

156+ BRAIN POWER

Kalanisi

155p PRESENTING PERCY

Sir Percy

154 DEATH DUTY

Shantou

154 FINIAN’S OSCAR 151P ACTING LASS

Oscar King’s Theatre

151p FOUNTAINS WINDFALL Passing Glance 151p PETIT MOUCHOIR

Al Namix

151+ BAMAKO MORIVIERE 151+ YANWORTH

Califet

Norse Dancer

NOVICE HURDLERS 151P SAMCRO Germany 150p ON THE BLIND SIDE Stowaway 149p IF THE CAP FITS Milan 149p NEXT DESTINATION Dubai Destination 148p CLAIMANTAKINFORGAN Great Pretender 148p GETABIRD Getaway 147p FIRST BLOW 147 MENGLI KHAN

Lope De Vega

146p SANTINI Milan 146p SHARJAH

Doctor Dino

145p BLACK OP Sandmason 145p REAL STEEL

Loup Breton

144p CRACKING SMART Grest Prentender 142p DAVIDS CHARM Milan 142p MR WHIPPED Beneficial 142p SUMMERVILLE BOY Sandmason JUVENILE HURDLERS 140p ESPOIR D’ALLEN 140p REDICEAN

Voix du Nord Medicean

139p APPLE’S SHAKIRA Saddler Maker 139p WE HAVE A DREAM

Martaline

138p STORMY IRELAND

Motivator

137 SUSSEX RANGER

Gun Runner acheived a rare level of consistency at the top level, but by this time next year his achievements will be viewed by the subsequent performances of his defeated opponents, in particular West Coast, runner-up in the Pegasus Cup

Hat Trick

133p FARCLAS

Jukebox Jury

132 GUMBALL

No Risk At All

131p NUBE NEGRA

Dink

131 LOOK MY WAY

Pour Moi

131 MITCHOUKA 130p MR ADJUDICATOR

Creachadoir Camacho

Photo courtesy of Laura King / Gulfstream Park

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31

simon says...

By this time next year, West Coast will be the horse key to Gun Runner’s public assessment Those with short memories to have forgotten already what Arrogate achieved last spring are going to struggle even more 12 months from now when asked to consider Gun Runner’s standing among the best horses in the whole of 2018.

Gun Runner ensured that he will be a contender for top honours again with an authoritative win in the second Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in late-January, but he has gone to stud, so his reputation now depends on those he beat.

In particular, it depends on the subsequent exploits of West Coast, who came well clear of the rest in chasing Gun Runner home.

Gun Runner was rated 130 (West Coast 122) in the 2017 WBRRs and 133 (128) by Timeform. It seems unlikely that

Del Mar. The WBRRs favoured Arrogate over Gun Runner, and over other credible candidates for the highest-rated horse of the year, such as Winx, Enable, Cracksman and Battaash.

The Eclipse Awards is essentially a popularity contest – there is no harm in that – while the WBRRs claim to apply a rigorous methodology to their assessments.

That is much more what I, for one, am interested in, but the methodology needs to be fit for purpose, and it is not clear that it always is.

The forerunner of the WBRRs, the International Classifications, used to be on the same level as Timeform’s longer-standing ratings, but have now dropped about 5lb below on average.

There are some significant differences of opinion this year even after that has been allowed for.

The WBRRs are about 4lb higher than Timeform on Arrogate in real terms, and I think that is right.

It has Arrogate on 134, while Timeform hacked an initial 141 for his Dubai World Cup win at Meydan in March by 6lb.

That seems an over-reaction given that Gun Runner was the horse that Arrogate beat emphatically in Dubai, the pair

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“Advocacy” has its drawbacks when attempting to evaluate an essentially objective notion like racehorse performance clear, and that Arrogate had previously trotted up in the first Pegasus World Cup. For whatever reason, the Arrogate we saw in the second half of the year was a shadow of the one we saw in the spring.

Where Timeform is almost certainly nearer the mark is in their assessment of sprinters, and in particular of Battaash, who is joint-top with Timeform, but only joint-12th on the WBRRs. Video analysis combined with comments made in a BHA handicapping blog indicate that the official handicappers have used just 18lb per second in the Abbaye, when most informed authorities would use a good deal more.

www.internationalthoroughbred.net

either body will increase Gun Runner’s rating as a result of this latest success, but events will tell.

What Gun Runner can boast is a consistency that is rare at any level. Timeform has every one of his runs from that defeat in Meydan to last month’s Pegasus worth a rating of between 131 and 133 once value extra is factored in.

Another criticism of the WBRRs is that they fail to recognise or reward such consistency. Winx, who figured second in the WBRRs on 134, had six separate efforts of 127 or more on Timeform figures.

A start would be to make greater reference to performance ratings, and not just master ratings, in the future. Who knows, perhaps Longines could be persuaded to bankroll an award for the horse with the most high-level performances in the year?

Evidence of subsequent success rates in handicaps in Britain further supports the notion that handicappers there are selling wide-margin winners short, and that this effect is most pronounced at distances of less than a mile.

The upshot for Battaash is that he is rated just 123 by the WBRRs when he should probably be around the 130 mark.

What exactly does a sprinter need to do to figure among the top-rated horses in the world if winning the Abbaye by a clear margin in a quick time is insufficient?

A feature of the WBRRs which calls into question their objectivity is the degree to which ratings are subject to decision by committee.

Surely, fit-for-purpose methodologies – which are perfectly possible to agree – should render such things all but redundant.

When pressed on the rise of Australian representation in the WBRRs from 36 in 2008 to a record 55 in 2017, that country’s handicapping spokesperson suggested on social media that it was down to “effective advocacy”.

Maybe, but that does by implication undermine past WBRRs – at a time when

Australian advocacy was implicitly less effective – and it begs the question as to whether some jurisdictions are more persuasive than others.

“Advocacy” has its drawbacks when attempting to evaluate an essentially objective notion like racehorse performance.

In the same time period, Japan has gone from 28 representatives to 43 (in both 2015 and 2017), in a manifestation of what is likely to have been an under-appreciation of Japanese stock previously rather than a dramatic uplift in quality.

The seven nations with the greatest representation in the latest WBRRs are: USA 71 (average of 77.65 over a decade); Australia 55 (46.4); Britain 48 (49.5); Japan 43 (34.3); France 23 (26.5); Hong Kong 22 (19.9); and Ireland 22 (19.5).

France had only one representative – Cloth Of Stars – in the top 19 in the latest list, and has dropped from a high-water mark of 36 representatives rated 115 or higher as recently as 2011 to that 23 now.

French racing may not be quite as healthy as it once was, but maybe it also needs to work on its powers of persuasion before next year.

TIMEFORM RATED 125

TIME TEST DUBAWI x PASSAGE OF TIME (DANSILI)

ROYAL ASCOT TRACK RECORD BREAKER By record breaking sire Dubawi, out of Gr.1 winning DANSILI mare Passage Of Time, from the family of Champions Twice Over, All At Sea etc.

“Time Test blew away the opposition at Royal Ascot as a three-year-old when he looked like a Group 1 horse. Speed and acceleration were his main assets...”

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2 3 1. Trainer Bob Baffert with his wife Jill at the Eclipse Awards ceremony 2. Trainer Peter Miller accepts Roy H’s award for leading male sprinter 3. Jason Frakes all smiles after receiving the media award for commentary 4. The award for outstanding breeder is given to Clearsky Farms

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5. From left to right: Chad Brown, Sol Kumin and Bradley Weisbord

All guns blazing

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Melissa Bauer-Herzog reports on the US Eclipse Awards

nly days after being named the US 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner produced a performance to show why he’d nearly unanimously won the award. After giving champion three-year-old West Coast false hope in the stretch of the $16 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) the son of Candy Ride pulled away to win by two and a half lengths.

Gun Runner is undoubtedly the most exciting stallion prospect to retire this year with a strong family behind a race record that saw him win nearly $16 million in prize-money and 12 races in 19 starts.

Retiring to Three Chimneys Farm, Gun Runner won the older Dirt male Eclipse Championship in a runaway victory of 247 votes to Arrogate’s three.

Steve Asmussen, who earned the thirdmost votes of any trainer in the outstanding

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trainer category, now has a unique accomplishment to his name after Gun Runner’s Pegasus victory.

The trainer of Curlin, who held the title of North America’s all-time richest racehorse from 2007 to 2016, can boast that he has trained two of the top four highest North American-based earners in history, in addition to training the ninth and 11th richest females on the continent.

Bob Baffert, the trainer of the all-time richest racehorse in Arrogate, once again had the champion three-year-old in his barn – West Coast taking home the award in another runaway victory of 229 votes to runner-up Always Dreaming’s 14.

Baffert has trained the last three champion three-year-olds and five of the 17 champions crowned since 2000.

Overall, Baffert has trained eight three-year-old male Eclipse winners, but interestingly has only trained two fillies to the

female equivalent of the award.

This year he pulled off an impressive double having produced both the champion three-year-old colt and the three-year-old filly – Abel Tasman having reeled off three Grade 1s in the middle of the year, surrounded by multiple second place finishes in graded stakes company.

Transferred to Baffert after a second in the Santa Ysabel (G3), where she lost to future champion female sprinter Unique Bella, the filly became the best by her sire Quality Road.

Quality Road had a breakout year in 2017 that saw 22 stakes winners, 11 individual graded stakes winner and three Grade 1 winners, including two champions. His two-year-old Breeders’ Cup-winning daughter Caledonia Road also took home an Eclipse award, though it was a bit closer judgement than Abel Tasman’s with a vote of 161 to runner-up Rushing Fall’s 68.

This year’s Grade 1 winners all come from

us racing

Owner Charlotte Weber with the Eclipse Award for the leading Turf Male given for World Approval.

The Mark Casse-trained son of Northern Afleet won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile

crops bred after he sired a Breeders’ Cup winner in his first crop – the recently retired Hootenanny. It looks like there will be more to come for the young Lane’s End Farm sire in future years.

Perhaps the most debated award going into this Eclipse season was the two-year-old colt award.

Bolt D’Oro went into the Breeders’ Cup as an undefeated two-time Grade 1 winner, while Good Magic was still a maiden going into the race but in his prep race had finished second in a Grade 1.

Good Magic left Del Mar as the Breeders’ Cup hero – he won 10 years after his sire Curlin took the Classic on the way to a Horse of the Year title and his broodmare sire Hard Spun finished second in the same race As it turned out, the voters felt Good Magic’s Breeders’ Cup victory was convincing enough to overcome Bolt D’Oro’s resume with 131 people voting in his favour.

The closest vote for the Flat awards went to the wide-open female sprinter division, which over the last few years hasn’t had a clear-cut standout.

Arguably, Unique Bella was the best three-year-old filly early in the season when she won three straight graded stakes races, but she suffered an injury causing her to miss

seven months of racing while Abel Tasman was on a tear through the division.

Cut back to the sprint division, Unique Bella beat elder females in the L.A. Woman Stakes (G3) on her return.

After a next-time-out, off-the-board finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1), Unique Bella earned her first Grade 1 in the La Brea Stakes on Boxing Day. Her abbreviated season was still good enough for voters to believe it was championship level and the regally bred filly became Tapit’s first US champion since Untapable won the champion three-year-old filly award in 2014.

While Medaglia D’Oro didn’t see any of his runners take home a US championship in 2017, he showed his class as a top US stallion with five different finalists in five different categories stretching from his Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Bar Of Gold to Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Talismanic.

Originally slated to stand for $200,000 in 2018, the stallion saw a raise to $250,000 only a few weeks after his original fee was announced.

Already the sire of multiple global superstars, the stud fee makes it look like

Eclipse Award winners for 2017 Category

Winner

Sire

Two-Year-Old Male.........................Good Magic........................................................................... Curlin Two-Year-Old Filly...........................Caledonia Road......................................................Quality Road Three-Year-Old Male......................West Coast.............................................................................Flatter Three-Year-Old Filly........................Abel Tasman............................................................Quality Road Older Dirt Male.................................Gun Runner ............................................................... Candy Ride Older Dirt Female............................Forever Unbridled........................................ Unbridled's Song Male Sprinter.....................................Roy H ................................................................More Than Ready Female Sprinter................................Unique Bella.............................................................................Tapit Male Turf Horse................................World Approval ............................................... Northern Afleet Female Turf Horse...........................Lady Eli .........................................................................Divine Park Steeplechase Horse........................Scorpiancer...................................................................... Scorpion Owner...................................................Juddmonte Farms, Inc Breeder................................................. Clearsky Farms Jockey...................................................Jose Ortiz Apprentice Jockey..........................Evin Roman Trainer..................................................Chad Brown Horse of the Year............................Gun Runner

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us racing the best may still be yet to come for Darley America’s flagship stallion.

Curlin surprised many people when he sired a Breeders’ Cup-winning two-year-old as the stallion has historically been one whose runners get better with age.

But even more surprising may be that the stallion also sired two two-year-old finalists at the Eclipses, one of whom won.

His $6 million daughter Stellar Wind, sold to Coolmore in November for $6 million, was also an Eclipse finalist for the third straight year.

In 2015, Stellar Wind won the three-yearold filly championship and was an older Dirt female finalist in 2016 and again this year – though she was beaten by Beholder last year and Forever Unbridled this year.

Forever Unbridled saved the best for nearly last for her late sire Unbridled’s Song, who has sired two champions the last two years

Overall, 20 different stallions had Eclipse award finalists this year with nine siring Eclipse champions and whose 2017 champion three-year-old male Arrogate was also a finalist for two Eclipse Awards this year.

Unbridled’s Song’s last crop of about 80 foals turned four in 2018, but as the stallion’s runners have historically performed well at that age so, though Arrogate has retired, the stallion may still have a star or two in the pipeline.

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One evergreen stallion who saw two of his runners named as Eclipse finalists this year, with one taking home championship honours, was 21-year-old More Than Ready.

The sire of two Breeders’ Cup winners in 2017, both those horses were named as finalists with his gelding Roy H taking the stallion’s total career northern and southern hemisphere champions to nine.

Overall, 20 different stallions had Eclipse award finalists this year with nine siring Eclipse champions.

The victories also prove that racing’s heros hail from all backgrounds – the sires of this year’s Eclipse winners stood for between $2,500 and $300,000 in 2017.

Of the 10 Eclipse champions named in late January, only two have been confirmed as retired. It looks as though 2018 could be an extremely promising racing season as it heats up in the coming months.

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world’s best racehorse rankings

Fappiano

an influential force It is clear to see on the World Best Racehorse Rankings that the sire line is a growing influence, writes Alan Porter, but maybe the real game changer was ancestor Rough’n Tumble?

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world’s best racehorse rankings Arrogate: the son of Unbridled’s Song topped the rankings, and his great grandsire Fappiano is taking a dominate role in the US

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HE TOP OF THE World Thoroughbred Rankings 2017 looked a lot like 2016: Arrogate leading the way on 134 with the Australian mare Winx the leading female on 132, and a European three-year-old colt – Almanzor in 2016 and this year Cracksman – heading the three-year-olds.

From a pedigree standpoint, much also remained the same.

In North America what was particularly notable was something that we touched on last year – the influence of Fappiano and his background.

A son of Mr. Prospector out of mare by Dr. Fager – who uniquely earned honours as Horse of the Year, champion older horse, champion sprinter and champion Turf horse in one season – Fappiano took a lot more after Dr. Fager than his sire, and his legacy has been a line of tall, fast, on or near-the-pace, Dirt runners, who could carry their speed.

While Dr. Fager – whose world record for a mile on Dirt set in 1968 still stands – represents the archetype of this, we wonder whether the actual game changer in many aspects may have been his sire, Rough’n Tumble.

Thought to be a Kentucky Derby prospect when taking the Santa Anita Derby early in his three-year-old season, Rough’n Tumble was sidelined by injury, and subsequently never retured to that level of form.

He stood for most of his career in Florida, after moving there from Maryland, and he became the foundation stallion of that state’s nascent breeding industry.

He covered what were far from the best of mares and sired just 209 foals and 192 starters, but was represented by 24 stakes winners (12.5 per cent stakes winners to starters) at least ten of whom would now be graded level winners with five at Grade 1 level.

While Dr. Fager was the pinnacle of his achievements, Rough’n Tumble was also represented by champion two-year-old filly My Dear Girl, subsequently the dam of In Reality.

Under the management of John Nerud, the breeding programmes of Tartan Farms – who bred Dr. Fager – and Francis A. Genter, created frequent matings that doubled Rough’n Tumble through Dr. Fager and In Reality.

One such example is Arrogate’s grandsire, the Genter-bred Kentucky Derby (G1) hero

Unbridled (by Fappiano, with a second dam

by In Reality), who was also inbred to Dr. Fager’s dam, Aspidistra.

Arrogate, who is by Unbridled’s most successful stallion son Unbridled’s Song (who inherited the grey coat that he passed to Arrogate from his broodmare sire Caro, who is frequently seen in combination with these strains), also goes back to a mare by In Reality – his third dam, the champion Meadow Star, being out of the In Reality mare Inreality Star.

Unbridled’s Song has so far disappointed as a sire of sires, but has a chance to redeem himself with three of his best sons – Will Take Charge (first runners in 2018), Liam’s Map (first runners in 2019) and Arrogate (first season at stud in 2018) – still to face the progeny test.

It’s likely that Arrogate’s unbelieveable performance in the Dubai World Cup (G1) –after a horrible break that found him at the rear of the field some lengths adrift of Gun Runner with a mile to run, he not only caught that rival, but powered past to score by over 2l – took more of a toll than was apparent at the time, as he never showed anything like that form again.

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world’s best racehorse rankings Candy Ride’s branch of Fappiano is also beginning to cross well over mares from the Unbridled/ Unbridled’s Song branch As far as the US is concerned it was the Dubai World Cup runner-up Gun Runner who stepped out of Arrogate’s shadow.

He bounced out of his Meydan excursion to earn Horse of the Year honours with four straight Grade 1 triumphs culminating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).

Gun Runner stayed in training just long enough to record an impressive victory – only last term’s champion three-year-old West Coast was within 13l – in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at the end of January before he also retired to stud.

Gun Runner is from a branch of Fappiano that was repatriated from Argentina.

Despite foot problems his sire Candy Ride was undefeated in six starts, three times in Argentina where he was a champion miler, and three times in the US, victories including a spectacular score in the Pacific Classic (G1).

He is by Ride The Rails, an exported son of the Fappiano stallion Cryptoclearance.

Gun Runner is representative of a growing Fappiano trend which is duplication of that horse – his second dam is by Quiet American, who is not only by Fappiano but also inbred 3x2 to Dr. Fager through three-quarters sisters.

Candy Ride’s branch of Fappiano is also beginning to cross well over mares from the Unbridled/Unbridled’s Song branch, an example being last year’s Grade 1-winning Candy Ride juvenile filly, Separationofpowers.

There are also some other Fappiano related trends apparent among the Classic-winning US colts last year. Top of those on the World Rankings at 120 – a full 10 points below the top European three-year-old – is the Kentucky Derby (G1) victor Always Dreaming.

He is from the first crop of Bodemeister, who is by Pioneerof the Nile, a son of Empire Maker (Unbridled), and out of a Storm Cat mare with a second dam by A.P. Indy.

Always Dreaming is out of a mare by In Excess (Siberian Express), a son of Caro and so has that Fappiano/Caro hook-up again.

Two points below Always Dreaming is the Preakness Stakes (G1) scorer, Cloud

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Gun Runner after his Pegasus Cup victory

Computing. He is from the first crop of the once-raced Maclean’s Music (by Distorted Humor, out of an Unbridled’s Song mare), and his dam is by A.P. Indy.

The final winner of a 2017 US Triple Crown event is Tapwrit, who is by Tapit (by A.P. Indy son’s Pulpit and out of a mare by Unbridled), out of a mare by Successful Appeal, a grandson of In Reality.

I

n addition to being represented by his third winner of the Belmont Stakes (G1) in four years, Tapit was also represented by US Eclipse champion sprint filly or mare Unique Bella. She is inbred 3x3 to Unbridled, and also has Tapit’s third dam Moon Glitter, along with her brother Relaunch, both by In Reality.

The highest rated US three-year-old colt did not win a Classic, but West Coast, a later-developer, won five straight races, including the Travers Stakes (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G1) before finishing third to Gun Runner in the Breeders’ Cup (G1).

He doesn’t have Fappiano in his pedigree, but is by Flatter (a non-stakeswinning son of A.P. Indy who has worked his way up the ranks), out a mare by Honour And Glory, a son of Relaunch (In Reality) from the immediate family of Fappiano.

The top-rated US-trained filly was unusual in that she did her best work in Europe. This was Lady Aurelia (122), a daughter of the late Scat Daddy (by Hennessy’s international champion twoyear-old, Johannesburg), who won the King’s Stand Stakes (G1) and missed by a nose to Marsha in the Nunthorpe Stakes (G1).

Another by Scat Daddy, his son Caravaggio, with his paternal half-brother No Nay Never at Coolmore for 2018, was the third rated three-year-old sprinter in Europe on 120.

The top US Dirt mare, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) winner Forever Unbridled, returns to a theme that we opened with – she is by Unbridled’s Song out of a mare by Lemon Drop Kid (by Kingmambo out of a three-quarters sister to A.P. Indy).

To win her Breeders’ Cup Forever Unbridled had to hold off the late charge of the champion three-year-old filly, Abel Tasman.

Rated 118, which makes her superior to the Classic-winning Dirt colts of her generation when the sex-allowance is considered, Abel Tasman is by the fast-rising Quality Road (by Elusive Quality, a son of Gone West) out of a Deputy Minister mare.

world’s best racehorse rankings Cracksman: Frankel’s son is the highest-rated three-year-old colt in the world, the sire with four of his progeny in the world’s elite

Is the European baton in change-over zone?

A

s far as Europe goes Galileo was again the dominant influence with 17 sons and daughters rated, including Churchill, the top threeyear-old miler, Capri, the top three-year-old colt in the long and extended distances, Winter, the top three-year-old filly in the mile and intermediate categories, Ulysses, who was the top Turf male at intermediate distances, and Order Of St. George, top extended distance horse for the third straight year.

For all of that, this year’s World Racehorse Ratings do give a sense that, if the baton hasn’t exactly been passed, with Galileo now a 20-year-old, it is at least entering the “change-over” zone.

Galileo already has two proven major sire sons in Teofilo and New Approach. This year, however, was particularly notable for the fact that not only were the two best Galileo-line runners in the classications not by Galileo himself, but that the duo of Cracksman and Enable – rated the best three-year-old colt and best three-year-old filly in the world – were from the first crop of different sons of Galileo.

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Galileo dominated European racing in 2017, but interestingly the two best Galileo-line horses were not by the leading sire himself, but by two of his sons Cracksman is by the mighty Frankel, who had four of his freshman get among the world elite, and who with 17 first crop stakes winners of which 13 were group or graded winners from 89 starters, has started as if he intends to forge a stud record which will match his magnificent racing career.

The wonderful filly Enable is from the first crop of Nathaniel, himself a European champion at three and four.

Out of a mare by Sadler’s Wells, Enable made a little pedigree history as she is the first Grade 1 winner inbred to Galileo’s sire Sadler’s Wells as close as 3x2 or 2x3.

Another chapter in the Galileo story that was written was that for his first Groupsiring grandson – Havana Gold (Teofilo) had two horses on the European juvenile classifications.

Interestingly, that duo Havana Grey and Treasuring were both Group winners over sprint distances.

If Havana Gold is going to throw speed – given the pace that Frankel showed at times, particularly in the 2,000 Guineas (G1) – and given that speedier sons such as Gleneagles, The Gurkha and Churchill are coming along, could we see the development of a sprinting branch of Galileo in the same way that Galileo’s half-brother Sea The Stars represents a stamina branch of Green Desert?

We should also mention some interesting Sadler’s Wells developments in the US via El Prado.

There is definitely going to be a Dirt branch via Medaglia D’Oro, who is represented on the World Rankings by Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) victor Talismanic, and Elate, the jointhighweighted three-year-old filly on Dirt.

Medaglia D’Oro has a US stallion son Violence, a Grade 1 winner on Dirt who is off to a promising start with his first crop three-

world’s best racehorse rankings year-olds of 2017, while there are several promising Dirt runners by Medaglia D’Oro. They are three-year-olds to run in 2018 and include Bolt D’Oro, who may well have been the best two-year-old to race in the US last year, his Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) defeat not withstanding.

El Prado’s champion US Turf horse and leading US Turf sire Kitten’s Joy had five horses on the three-year-old and up rankings, and, in a case of “carrying coals to Newcastle”, has become a major factor in Europe with his sons Taareef and Hawkbill both ranking on the strength of European performances. is juvenile Roaring Lion earning a rating as Europe’s third top two-year-old.

The Montjeu branch of Sadler’s Wells hasn’t been able to keep pace with Galileo, but his son Pour Moi was represented by the Epsom Derby (G1) winner Wings Of Eagles, while his very good New Zealandbased son Tavistock had the Hong Kongtrained Werther at 119, the Australian and New Zealand-raced Tavago at 117 and Volkstok’n’Barrell at 115 among the older horses.

Try My Best line dominated the sprinters

On the sprinting front, the ascendency of the Royal Applause/Acclamation branch of Northern Dancer that comes down from El Gran Senor’s brother Try My Best was underlined by the presence of Dark Angel’s three-year-olds Harry Angel (125) and Battaash (123) as the top two sprinters in the world (although Lady Aurelia ties them if weight for sex is taken into consideration).

Marsha, a daughter of Acclamation, was top older sprint female on 119.

The top older sprinters overall – tied on 122 – were the Australian runner Chautauqua (Encosta De Lago) and Roy H (More Than Ready), the champion US sprinter of 2017.

Australian-breds have been a dominant factor in the sprint rankings over the years, but generally less so in longer categories.

Flying in the face of that tradition for the last two years has been the Australian mare Winx, who for the second year in succession rated as the world’s leading Turf runner in two different categories. But for the brilliance of California Chrome in Dubai 2016 and his subsequent defeat by Arrogate, and of Arrogate in Dubai in 2017, Winx may have emulated her compatriot Black Caviar and topped the ratings outright.

Winx with 22 straight wins is closing on Black Caviar’s total of 25, although Black Caviar was undefeated, but with

Taareef, a son of Kittens Joy, wins the Prix Daniel Wildenstein at Chantilly

Versatility also is a trait that defined the stud career of Winx’s sire Street Cry, who sired Group and Grade 1 winners from 5f to two miles stakes victories from six and a half furlongs to 1m2f she does have the edge on Black Caviar in terms of versatility.

Versatility is also a trait that defined the stud career of Winx’s sire Street Cry, who sired Group and Grade 1 winners from 5f to two miles, and is sire of another mighty mare in Zenyatta.

Winx’s dam, the New Zealand-bred Vegas Showgirl, is by Al Akbar, a son of Success Express (from the now virtually extinct Princequillo line), a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner, who became a very successful sire in Australia.

Oddly enough, given the part that the Dubai World Cup (G1) has played in keeping Winx from heading the rankings, Street Cry scored the most notable victory of his career in that race.

Out of the Irish Oaks (G1) heroine Helen Street, Street Cry was sent to be trained in the US as part of a plan to increase the profile of his sire Machiavellian (Mr. Prospector) in that part of the world.

And indeed the concept has worked – Street Cry is the chief flag-bearer for the Machiavellian line in the US and Australia, but there is a Machiavellian branch in Europe via Dutch Art (Machiavellian’s son, Medicean).

Mr. Prospector in Japan and Europe

A Mr. Prospector branch that might have found it’s deepest routes away from Europe may be that of Kingmambo.

His Japanese-foaled son King Kamehameha has long been a leading sire there and he was represented on the international classification by the top-rated Japanese three-year-old Rey De Oro (121) – successful in the Tokyo Yunshun (Japan’s Derby) – who looks sure to be of considerable interest as a stallion prospect since he is free of Sunday Silence, but has a grand-dam who is half-sister to that horse’s all-conquering son Deep Impact.

We will also note that King Kamehameha’s son Rulership had a pair of first crop threeyear-olds Kiseki (118) and Danburite (116).

One is out of a Deep Impact mare, the other out of a mare by Sunday Silence.

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world’s best racehorse rankings A branch of Mr. Prospector that has now become a primarily European one is that of Seeking The Gold. His grandson Dubawi continued to enhance his standing as one of the world’s top sires in 2017 with nine horses on this year’s rankings, three of whom Postponed, Zarak and Time Test, will be standing at stud in 2018.

Another branch of Mr. Prospector going well in Europe is that of Gone West via

Wootton Bassett and Almanzor will be standing alongside two retirees from branches of sire lines that are becoming a rarity

Zafonic to Iffraaj.

Iffraaj’s son Ribchester was the highweighted Turf miler among males on 124. He will be at stud in 2018, and Iffraaj is also represented among the stallion ranks

by Wootton Bassett, and his son Almanzor, the top-rated European on the 2016 classification. Iffraaj also had a trio of New Zealand-bred, shuttle-sired runners included on the list.

Wootton Bassett and Almanzor will be standing alongside two retirees from branches of sire lines that are becoming a rarity.

B

The Prix Jacques Le Marois winner Al Wukair, a new sire for 2018 at Haras de Bouquetot.

By Dream Ahead, he represents the Known Fact / Man O’War line

rametot, winner of the Poule D’Essai des Poulains (G1) and Prix de Jockey-Club (G1), is from Lyphard’s branch of Northern Dancer, coming down through Bellypha, Mendez, the champion French sire Linamix, and Rajsaman.

Brametot offers a lot of outcross potential on the distaff side of his pedigree too – his dam is by Law Society (by Alleged, from the Ribot) line, and is half-sister to the great German sire, Monsun.

The Man O’ War line, which was given a boost by In Reality in the latter third of the 20th century, appears to rest in the US with sons of Tiznow (by Cee’s Tizzy, by In Reality son, Relaunch), but there is now also a European branch.

This comes down through Known Fact,

Deep making his Impact with the European two-year-olds

W

ith reference to Sadler’s Wells/Galileo above, if we consider the European TwoYear-Old Classification we can see that while the prevalance of Deep Impact might be a challenge in one part of the globe, it’s also presenting a potential solution elsewhere.

Since the success of Deep Impact’s daughter Beauty Parlour in the 2012 renewal of the Poule D’Essai des Pouliches (G1), a number of major international outfits have sent mares to Japan to visit Deep Impact.

Last year he was represented by one of France’s top two-year-olds, the Prix des Chenes (G3) victor Akihiro, and this term he was represented by the duo – both representing Coolmore-related partnerships – of Saxon Warrior and September.

Saxon Warrior, out of Galileo’s European champion three-year-old filly Maybe, went three-for-three, including victories in the Beresford Stakes (G3) and Racing Post

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Trophy (G1), while September, who is out of the Irish Oaks (G1) heroine Peeping Fawn, a Danehill/Sadler’s Wells cross, took the Chesham Stakes, finished second in the Fillies’ Mile (G1) and third in the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1).

Had it not been for his stable-companion U S Navy Flag (War Front), Saxon Warrior would have topped the European two-year-old classifications.

U S Navy Flag is a son of another horse warmly embraced

by Coolmore as a cross for Galileo mares, and is out of Misty For Me, winner of three Group 1 events, including the Irish 1,000 Guineas (G1).

U S Navy Flag started ten times last year, but a look behind that statistic reveals a pattern – probably not accidental – of steady, consistent progress: he didn’t break his maiden until donning blinkers for his fifth start, and then was beaten twice more before taking in succession the Round Tower Stakes (G3), Middle Park Stakes (G1)

world’s best racehorse rankings Warning and Diktat to Dream Ahead, who is now standing in France having started his stud career in Ireland.

For 2018 he will be joined by an interesting son in Al Wukair (out of a Machiavellian mare), who was rated 119 after his win in the Prix Jacques Le Marois (G1).

The top-rated horse in Japan was Kistasan Black on 124. The Horse of the Year in Japan for 2016 and 2017, Kitasan Black is not by Deep Impact, but still has a connection to that horse as his sire is Black Tide, a yearolder brother to Deep Impact who never won beyond Listed level.

Kitasan Black was rated one point above the fellow Japanese horse Cheval Grand, who is by Heart’s Cry, a Sunday Silence horse whose most notable victory came in the 2006 Dubai Sheema Classic (G1).

That said, the presence of Deep Impact was overwhelming with 12 of his 2017 runners earned a rating among the world’s elite.

The fact that Deep Impact has not only been the dominanant sire in Japan for the best part of the last decade, but is a son of Sunday Silence who ruled the roost their from the mid-1990s until the early years of this century, has provided it’s own challenge, much as did the success of Northern Dancer for Windfields Farm, and in the current era of Sadler’s Wells and his heir Galileo at Coolmore.

One previous rankings topper who may make an impact in Japan in an outcross role is Harbinger, highweight in 2010.

U S Navy Flag

....the presence of Deep Impact was overwhelming with 12 of his 2017 runners earning a rating among the world’s elite

A son of Dansili out of a mare by Bering, Harbinger had three 2017 Grade 1-winning three-year-olds, one of whom Persian Knight (out of a Sunday Silence mare) was rated 118, while his older horse Tosen Basil (out of a mare by a son of Sunday Silence) was assigned 115.

Interestingly, through his grandsire Danehill, Harbinger has Almahmoud as grand-dam of Northern Dancer and a half-sister, and features another Almahmoud grandson Arctic Tern as sire of Bering.

Of course, Sunday Silence is by Halo, yet another grandson of Almahmoud.

Harbinger’s Japanese Grade 1-winning son Persian Knight, who is rated 118 on the WBRR

and Dewhurst Stakes (G1).

Given his progressive trend, and the fact that he’s a brother to Roly Poly, a three-time Group 1 winner at three last year, U S Navy Flag may fair better than Air Force Blue and War Command in his second season, assuming no ill-effects from his unsuccessful shot on Dirt in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

Still with War Front, we should also note that his first crop son Declaration Of War was represented by Olmedo, the top-rated French juvenile colt.

Finally, just a little further down the two-year-old classification, we find a real rarity in the shape of the National Stakes (G1) victor Verbal Dexterity.

He’s by Vocalised, an Irish-raced son of Seattle Slew’s undefeated champion US two-year-old Vindication, and as far as we can recall is the first top level European runner for the Seattle Slew line for quite some time.

Verbal Dexterity’s dam is by Holy Roman Emperor, a son of Danehill, out of a Sadler’s Wells mare, so he’d be a very interesting mate for all those Galileo/Danehill crosses out there.

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world’s best racehorse rankings World Rankings 2017: through to horses rated 119 Rating Distance Surface 134 I, M D 132 M T 130 I T 130 I T 130 M, I D 128 L T 126 I T 125 L T 125 S T 124 I D 124 L T 124 M T 123 S T 123 L T 123 M T 123 I T 123 M D 123 E T 123 M D 123 M T 122 S T 122 M, I T 122 L T 122 S T 122 S D 122 L, I T 122 M T 122 L T 122 I,M D 121 I T 121 L T 121 M T 121 S D 121 M T 121 M T 121 L T 121 S T 121 I T 121 S T 121 L T 120 I D 120 M D 120 E T 120 L, E T 120 S T 120 I T

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Horse D of B Arrogate (USA) 2013 Winx (AUS) 2011 Winx (AUS) 2011 Cracksman (GB) 2014 Gun Runner (USA) 2013 Enable (GB) 2014 Ulysses (IRE) 2013 Cloth of Stars (IRE) 2013 Harry Angel (IRE) 2014 Collected (USA) 2013 Kitasan Black (JPN) 2012 Ribchester (IRE) 2013 Battaash (IRE) 2014 Cheval Grand (JPN) 2012 Churchill (IRE) 2014 Highland Reel (IRE) 2012 Mor Spirit (USA) 2013 Order Of St George (IRE) 2012 Sharp Azteca (USA) 2013 World Approval (USA) 2012 Chautauqua (AUS) 2010 Humidor (NZ) 2012 Jack Hobbs (GB) 2012 Lady Aurelia (USA) 2014 Roy H (USA) 2012 Satono Crown (JPN) 2012 Taareef (USA) 2013 Talismanic (GB) 2013 West Coast (USA) 2014 Barney Roy (GB) 2014 Beach Patrol (USA) 2013 Brametot (IRE) 2014 Drefong (USA) 2013 Happy Clapper (AUS) 2010 Hartnell (GB) 2011 Jameka (AUS) 2012 Mr Stunning (AUS) 2012 Oscar Performance (USA) 2014 Redzel (AUS) 2012 Rey De Oro (JPN) 2014 Always Dreaming (USA) 2014 Battle Of Midway (USA) 2014 Big Orange (GB) 2011 Capri (IRE) 2014 Caravaggio (USA) 2014 Decorated Knight (GB) 2012

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Sex C M M C C F C C C C H C G H C H R H C G G G H F G H C C C C C C C G G M G R G C C C G C C H

Owner Juddmonte Farms Inc Magic Bloodstock Racing et al Magic Bloodstock Racing et al Anthony Oppenheimer Winchell T’breds & Three Chimneys Farm Khalid Abdullah Flaxman Stables Ireland Ltd Godolphin SNC Godolphin Speedway Stable LLC Ono Shoji Godolphin Hamdan al Maktoum Kazuhiro Sasaki M. Tabor, Mrs J. Magnier & D. Smith D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor Michael Lund Petersen M. Tabor, D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier et al Ivan Rodriguez Live Oak Plantation R & C Legh Racing, G P I Racing et al Forest Lodge, Jomara Bstock Ltd et al Godolphin & Partners Stonestreet Stables, G. Bolton & P. Leidel Rockingham Ranch & David Bernsen Satomi Horse Company Co Ltd Hamdan al Maktoum Godolphin Gary & Mary West Godolphin James Covello et al Al Shaqab & Gerard Augustin-Normand Baoma Corporation M. W. Thomas Godolphin C. L. Maher, Mrs J. M. McKenna et al Maurice Koo Win Chong Amerman Racing Stables LLC Triple Diamond Racing Syndicate U Carrot Farm MeB Racing, Brooklyn Boyz et al Don Alberto Stable & Winstar Farm LLC W. J. & T. C. O. Gredley D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor Mrs J. Magnier, M. Tabor & D. Smith Saleh Al Homaizi & Imad Al Sagar

Sire Unbridled’s Sng Street Cry Street Cry Frankel Candy Ride Nathaniel Sinndar Sea The Stars Dark Angel City Zip Black Tide Iffraaj Dark Angel Heart’s Cry Galileo Galileo Eskendereya Galileo Freud Northern Afleet Encosta De Lago Teofilo Halling Scat Daddy More Than Ready Marju Kitten’s Joy Medaglia D’Oro Flatter Excelebration Lemon Drop Kid Rajsaman Gio Ponti Teofilo Authorized Myboycharlie Exceed And Excel Kitten’s Joy Snitzel King Kamehameha Bodemeister Smart Strike Duke Of Marmalade Galileo Scat Daddy Galileo

Dam Bubbler Vegas Showgirl Vegas Showgirl Rhadegunda Quiet Giant Concentric Ungarin Strawberry Fledge Beatrix Potter Helena Bay Sugar Heart Mujarah Anna Law Halwa Sweet Meow Hveger I’m A Dixie Girl Another Storm So Sharp Win Approval Lovely Jubly Zalika Swain’s Gold D’Wildcat Speed Elusive Diva Jioconda Sacred Feather Magic Mission Caressing Alina Bashful Bertie Morning Light Eltimaas Busking Debonnaire Mine Game With Fervour Devine Actress Millrich La Dorada Above Perfection Rigoletta Miss Brown To You Dialafara Mekko Hokte Pearling

Dam sire Country Distorted Humor USA Al Alkbar AUS Al Alkbar AUS Pivotal GB Giant’s Causeway USA Sadler’s Wells GB Goofailk GB Kingmambo FR Cadeaux Genereux GB Johannesburg USA Hisashi Shimizu JPN Marju GB Lawman GB Machiavellian JPN Storm Cat IRE Danehill IRE Dixie Union USA Gone West IRE Saint Liam USA With Approval USA Lion Hunter AUS Zabeel AUS Swain GB Forest Wildcat USA Elusive Quality USA Rossini JPN Carson City FR Machiavellian FR Honor And Glory USA Galileo GB Quiet American USA Law Society FR Ghostzapper USA Encosta De lago AUS Anabaa AUS General Nediym AUS Dayjur HK Theatrical USA Rubiton AUS Symboli Kris S JPN In Excess USA Concerto USA Fasliyev GB Anabaa IRE Holy Bull IRE Storm Cat GB

world’s best racehorse rankings World Rankings 2017 Rating Distance Surface Horse D of B 120 L T Dschingis Secret (GER) 2013 120 L T Gold Actor (JPN) 2011 120 M T Heshem (IRE) 2013 120 M T Le Brivido (FR) 2014 120 M T Legal Eagle (SAF) 2011 120 S, M T Le Romain (AUS) 2012 120 L T Marinaresco (SAF) 2012 120 I T Minding (IRE) 2013 120 S D Mind Your Biscuits (USA) 2013 120 M T Mutakayyef (GB) 2011 120 L T Puerto Escondido (ARG) 2013 120 E T Satono Diamond (JPN) 2013 120 S,M T Vega Magic (AUS) 2012 119 M T Al Wukair (IRE) 2014 119 L T Bateel (IRE) 2012 119 M T Beauty Only (IRE) 2011 119 M T Black Heart Bart (AUS) 2010 119 S T D B Pin (NZ) 2012 119 M T Deauville (IRE) 2013 119 I D Diversify (USA) 2013 119 M D Forever Unbridled (USA) 2012 119 L T Guignol (GER) 2012 119 M T Helene Paragon (FR) 2012 119 L T Hydrangea (IRE) 2014 119 L T Idaho (IRE) 2013 119 S D Imperial Hint (USA) 2013 119 S T Librisa Breeze (GB) 2012 119 M T Limato (IRE) 2012 119 S T Lucky Bubbles (AUS) 2011 119 S T Marsha (IRE) 2013 119 I T Neorealism (JPN) 2011 119 I T Our Ivanhowe (GER) 2010 119 S T Peniaphobia (IRE) 2011 119 I T Poet’s Word (IRE) 2013 119 I T Rapper Dragon (AUS) 2012 119 E T Rekindling (GB) 2014 119 M, I D Shaman Ghost (CAN) 2012 119 L T Sixties Song (ARG) 2013 119 M T Thewizardofoz (AUS) 2011 119 I T Time Warp (GB) 2013 119 I D War Story (USA) 2012 119 L T Werther (NZ) 2011 119 L T Wings of Eagles (FR) 2014 119 M, I T Winter (IRE) 2014

Sex C H C C G G G F C G C C G C M G G G C G M H H F C C G G G F H H G C G C H C G G G G C F

Owner Horst Pudwill Hisayo Ishiro Al Shaqab Racing Prince Faisal bin Khaled Mayfair Speculators (Pty) Ltd A. Carusi, A. P. Agius et al M. W. Bass, F. Green et al D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor J. Stables, Head of Plains Partners LLC et al Hamdan al Maktoum Facundito Satomi Horse Company Co Ltd H. W. & G. E. Daly Al Shaqab Racing Al Asayl Bloodstock Ltd Eleanor Kwok et al K. B. Renner, C. R. Delacy et al Samuel Wong Yin Shun Fitri Hay, M. Tabor, Mrs J. Magnier & D. Smith Lauren & Ralph Evans Charles Fipke Stall Ullmann Sir Po-Shing & Lady Woo et al D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor M. Tabor, D. Smith & Mrs J. Magnier Raymond Mamone Tony Bloom Paul Jacobs Lucky Syndicate Elite Racing Club U Carrot Farm A. Kheir, P. M. Mehrten et al Huang Kai Wen Saeed Suhail Albert Hung Chao Hong Lloyd Williams Stronach Stables Santa Elena Martin Siu Kim Sun Martin Siu Kim Sun Loooch Racing Stables et al Johnson Chen D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor Mrs J. Magnier, M. Tabor & D. Smith

Sire Soldier Hollow Screen Ghero Footstepsinthesand Siyouni Greys Inn Hard Spun Silvano Galileo Posse Sea The Stars Hurricane Cat Deep Impact Lope De Vega Dream Ahead Dubawi Holy Roman Emperor Blackfriars Darci Brahma Galileo Bellamy Road Unbridled’s Sng Cape Cross Polan Galileo Galileo Imperialism Mount Nelson Tagula Sebring Acclamation Meo Universe Soldier Hollow Dandy Man Poet’s Voice Street Boss High Chaparral Ghostzapper Sixities Icon Redoute’s Choice Archipenko Northern Afleet Tavistock Pour Moi Galileo

Dam Dam sire Country Divya Platini GER Heilong Xing Kyowa Alysheba JPN Doohulla Stravinsky FR La Bugatty Dr Fong FR Young Sensation National Emblem SAF Mignard Strategic AUS Gay Fortune Fort Wood SAF Lille Langtry Danehill Dancer IRE Jazzmane Toccet USA Infallible Pivotal GB Surf Point Louis Quatorze ARG Malpensa Orpen JPN Admirable Magic Albert AUS Macheera Machiavellian FR Attractive Crown Chief’s Crown FR Goldendale Ali-Royal HK Sister Theresa At Talaq AUS Pins ‘N’ Needles Pins HK Walklikeanegyptian Danehill IRE Rule One Street Cry USA Lemons Forever Lemon Drop Kid USA Guadalupe Monsun GER High Zaff High Chaparral HK Beauty Is Truth Pivotal IRE Hveger Danehill IRE Royal Hint Lahint USA Bruxxalina Linamix GB Come April Singspiel GB Bubble Below Hussonet HK Marlinka Marju GB Tokio Reality Meadowlake JPN Indigo Girl Sternkoenig AUS Great Commotion HK Umlani Whirly Bird Nashwan GB Swing Dance Danehill Dancer HK Sitara Salse IRE Getback Time Gilded Time USA Blissful Song Unbridled’s Song ARG Princess Coup Encosta De Lago HK Here To Eternity Stormy Atlantic HK Belle Watling Pulpit USA Bagalollies Zabeel HK Ysoldina Kendor IRE Laddies Poker Two Choisir IRE

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world’s best racehorse rankings European 2yo Classifications 2017: through to horses rated 110 Rating

Horse

122 119 118 117 117 116 116 116 115 115 115 114 113 113 113 113 113 113 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 111 111 111 111 111 111 111 111 111 111 110 110 110 110 110 110

U S Navy Flag (USA) Saxon Warrior (JPN) Roaring Lion (USA) Expert Eye (GB) Verbal Dexterity (IRE) Mendelssohn (USA) Sands of Mali (FR) Unfortunately (IRE) Clemmie (IRE) Fleet Review (USA) Sioux Nation (USA) Wild Illusion (GB) Beckford (GB) Happily (IRE) Havana Grey (GB) Laurens (FR) Olmedo (FR) The Pentagon (IRE) Elarqam (GB) Erasmus (GER) Heartache (GB) James Garfield (IRE) Masar (IRE) Nelson (IRE) Sacred Life (FR) Seahenge (USA) September (IRE) Wootton (FR) Barraquero (IRE) Cardsharp (GB) Ghaiyyath (IRE) Gustav Klimt (IRE) Hey Gaman (GB) Magical (IRE) Magic Lily (IRE) Mission Impassible (IRE) Polydream (FR) Threeandfourpence (USA) Different League (FR) Hey Jonesy (IRE) Invincible Army (IRE) Kew Gardens (IRE) Luminate (IRE) Mythical Magic (IRE)

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Sex C C C C C C C C F C C F C F C F C C C C F C C C C C F C C C C C C F F F F C F C C C F C

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Owner D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor Qatar Racing Limited Khalid Abdullah Mrs J. S. Bolger D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor The Cool Silk Partnership Cheveley Park Stud M. Tabor, D. Smith & Mrs J. Magnier Mrs J. Magnier, D. Smith & M. Tabor M. Tabor, D. Smith & Mrs J. Magnier Godolphin Newtown Anner Stud Farm Ltd D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor Global Racing Club & Elaine Burke John Dance Ecurie Antonio Caro & Gerard Augustin-Normand D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor Hamdan Al Maktoum Gestut Rottgen The Hot To Trot Syndicate - Heartache W. J. & T. C. O. Gredley Godolphin Mrs J. Magnier, M. Tabor & D. Smith Ecurie Jean-Louis Bouchard M. Tabor, D. Smith & Mrs J. Magnier Mrs J. Magnier, M. Tabor & D. Smith Godolphin SNC Manton Thoroughbreds II Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum Godolphin Mrs J. Magnier, M. Tabor & D. Smith Sultan Ali D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor Godolphin Riviera Equine SARL Wertheimer & Frere Mrs E. M. Stockwell Theresa Marnane Pallister Racing Saeed Manana D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier & M. Tabor Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Godolphin

Sire-Dam (Dam sire) War Front-Misty For Me (Galileo) Deep Impact-Maybe (Galileo) Kitten’s Joy-Vionnet (Street Sense) Acclamation-Exemplify (Dansili) Vocalised-Lonrach (Holy Roman Emperor) Scat Daddy-Leslie’s lady (Tricky Creek) Panis-Kadiania (Indian Rocket) Society Rock-Unfortunate (Komaite) Galileo-Meow (Storm Cat) War Front-A Star is Born (Galileo) Scat Daddy-Stream The Blues (Oasis Dream) Dubawi-Rumh (Monsun) Bated Breath-Whirly Dancer (Danehill Dancer) Galileo-You’resothrilling (Storm Cat) Havana Gold-Blanc De Chine (Dark Angel) Siyouni-Recambe (Cape Cross) Declaration Of War-Super Pie (Pivotal) Galileo-Vadawina (Unfuwain) Frankel-Attraction (Efisio) Reliable Man-Enora (Noverre) Kyllachy-Place In My Heart (Compton Place) Exceed And Excel-Whazzat (Daylami) New Approach-Khawlah (Cape Cross) Frankel-Moonstone (Dalalhani) Siyouni- Knyazha (Montjeu) Scat Daddy-Fools In Love (Not For Love) Deep Impact-Peeping Fawn (Danehill)

Trainer

Aidan O'Brien IRE Aidan O'Brien IRE John Gosden GB Sir Michael Stoute GB Jim Bolger IRE Aidan O'Brien IRE Richard Fahey GB Karl Burke GB Aidan O'Brien IRE Aidan O'Brien IRE Aidan O'Brien IRE Charlie Appleby GB Gordon Elliott IRE Aidan O'Brien IRE Karl Burke GB Karl Burke GB Jean-Claude Rouget FR Aidan O'Brien IRE Mark Johnston GB Markus Klug GER Clive Cox GB George Scott GB Charlie Appleby GB Aidan O'Brien IRE Stephane Wattel FR Aidan O'Brien IRE Aidan O'Brien IRE Wootton Bassett-American Nizzy (American Post) Alex Pantall FR Zebedee-Chica Whopa (Oasis Dream) Brian Meehan GB Lonhro-Pure Illusion (Danehill) Mark Johnston GB Dubawi-Nightime (Galileo) Charlie Appleby GB Galileo-Massarra (Danehill) Aidan O'Brien IRE New Approach-Arsaadi (Dubawi) James Tate GB Galileo-Halfway To Heaven (Pivotal) Aidan O'Brien IRE New Approach-Dancing Rain (Danehill Dancer) Charlie Appleby GB Galileo-Margot Did (Exceed And Excel) Jean-Claude Rouget FR Oasis Dream-Polygreen (Green Tune) Freddy Head FR War Front-Liscanna (Sadler’s Wells) Aidan O'Brien IRE Dabirsim-Danseuse Corse (Danehill Dancer) Matthieu Palussiere FR Excelebration-Fikrah (Medicean) Kevin Ryan GB Invincible Spirit-Rajeem (Diktat) James Tate GB Galileo-Chelsea Rose (Desert King) Aidan O'Brien IRE Lawman-Kalandara (Rainbow Quest) Freddy Head FR Iffraaj-Mythie (Octagonal) Charlie Appleby GB

TA R A S T U D S TA L L I O N S 2 0 1 8

PURE SPEED – AMAZING VALUE Superb Fertility

DIVINE PROPHET B. 2013, 16.1HH, by CHOISIR ex PROPHET JEWEL (ENCOSTA DE LAGO)

THE BEST LOOKING FIRST SEASON SIRE ABOUT

Fee: €7,500 Oct. Free Return) Fee: (1st €7,500 (1st Oct. Free Return)

A Gr.1 winner of the stallion making Caulfield Guineas (REDOUTE’S CHOICE & STARSPANGLEDBANNER) and the Gr.3 Up and Coming Stakes (EXCEED AND EXCEL & FASTNET ROCK)

Fee: €5,000 (1st Oct.)

By CHOISIR, sire of 12 Gr.1 winners

Fee: €5,000 (1st Oct.)

ALHEBAYEB

ESTIDHKAAR

GR. 2010, 16.00HH, by DARK ANGEL ex MISS INDIGO (INDIAN RIDGE)

B. 2012, 16.00HH, by DARK ANGEL ex DANETIME OUT (DANETIME)

VERY POSITIVE VIBES FROM TRAINERS FOR HIS FIRST 2YOS THIS YEAR

OUTSTANDING FIRST FOALS ON THE GROUND

A Gr.2 winner by DARK ANGEL from a Classic family with speed His first yearlings stormed the sales making up to 180,000gns

TARA STUD

Joint highest rated 2yo by DARK ANGEL (with GUTAIFAN) at stud Multiple Gr.2 winning 2yo sprinter, rated 121 by Timeform A half-brother to Gr.1 winning TOORMORE

DEREK ICETON Mob: +353 (0) 87 2323566 • derekiceton@tarastud.com IVAN CLARKE Assistant Manager • Mob: +353 (0) 87 9969643 JOHN WALSH Mob: +353 (0) 86 2558945 • walshbloodstock@gmail.com

WWW.TARASTUD.IE

end of year Sires by number of horses rated 117+ Sire

Leading stayers Order Of St George Satono Diamond Big Orange

Nos of horses

Galileo.....................................................................................13 Deep Impact........................................................................... 8 Kitten’s Joy............................................................................... 4 Dubawi..................................................................................... 4 Sea The Stars........................................................................... 4 Iffraaj.......................................................................................... 3 King Kamehameha.............................................................. 3 Medaglia D’Oro..................................................................... 3 Street Cry................................................................................. 3 Teofilo........................................................................................ 3

Roy H: the Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner was the highest-rated Dirt sprinter of 2017

Leading Dirt Horses Arrogate (USA) Gun Runner (USA) Collected (USA) Mor Spirit (USA) Sharp Azteca (USA) West Coast (USA) Roy H (USA) Drefong (USA) Always Dreaming (USA) Battle Of Midway (USA) Mind Your Biscuits (USA)

Cloth Of Stars: the Arc runner-up is one of four horses in 2017 rated over 117 by Sea The Stars

Dam sires by number of horses rated 115+ Sire

Nos of horses

Storm Cat................................................................................. 4 Stravinsky................................................................................. 4 Sunday Silence...................................................................... 4 Machiavellian......................................................................... 4 Danehill.................................................................................... 3 Anabaa...................................................................................... 3 Encosta De Lago................................................................... 3 French Deputy....................................................................... 3 Pivotal........................................................................................ 3 Seeking The Gold................................................................. 3 Zabeel....................................................................................... 3

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Leading Turf Horses Winx (AUS) Cracksman (GB) Enable (GB) Ulysses (IRE) Cloth of Stars (IRE) Harry Angel (IRE) Kitasan Black (JPN) Ribchester (IRE)

Leading intermediate runners Arrogate 130 Cracksman 130 Winx 130 Gun Runner 130 Ulysses 126 Collected 124

134 130 124 123 123 122 122 121 120 120 120

Leading long runners Enable (GB) 128 Cloth Of Stars 125 Kitasan Black 124 Cheval Black 124 Talismanic 122 Jack Hobbs 122 Satono Crown 122 Beach Patrol 121 Rey De Oro 121 Jameka 121

132 130 128 126 125 125 124 124

Leading middle-distance runners Winx 132 Gun Runner 130 Ribchester 124 Sharp Azteca 123 Churchill 123 World Approval 123 Mor Spirit 123 Taareef 122 Humidor 122

Leading Females Winx (AUS) 132 Enable (GB) 128S Lady Aurelia (USA) 122 Jameka 121 Minding (IRE) 120 Leading Three-Year-Old Colts Cracksman (GB) Harry Angel (IRE) Churchill (IRE) West Coast (USA) Barney Roy (GB) Rey de Oro (JPN)

123 120 120

130 125 123 122 121 121

Leading sprinters Harry Angel 125 Battaash 123 Lady Aurelia 122 Chautauqua 122 Roy H 122 Drefong 121 Mr Stunning 121 Redzel 121 Distance Categories S : 5f-6.5f : 1000m-1300m M : 6.51f -9.49f : 1301m-1899m I : 9.5f-10.5f : 1900m-2100m L : 10.51f-13.5f : 2101m-2700m E: 13.51f+ : 2701m+

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neil mackenzie ross

Racing in Bahrain Neil Mackenzie Ross has moved from being the clerk of the course at Lingfield to becoming facilities manager and clerk of the course at Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club in Bahrain.

He talks to us about his job, as well as the challenges posed and opportunities offered by the role in the Middle East.

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neil mackenzie ross What is your career background?

I spent time after leaving school as a stable lad for Robin Dickin and Lawrence Wells with sandwiched in between a couple of years as a betting shop manager.

I then went to university at 25 to study recreation management, and after that I applied to an advert for a race programmes assistant at the British Horseracing Board (as it was then) and, thanks to Ruth Quinn, I got the job.

I was quickly promoted to jump race executive responsible for the entire jump race programme in the UK, which was a fantastic grounding and really helped me understand how the UK racing industry worked.

After two and a half years the opportunity to become clerk of the course at Lingfield Park came up and I spent nine years there before coming out to Bahrain.

Clerking at Lingfield – you must have learnt a lot…

Definitely! At times I was responsible for three sites, including Windsor and Folkestone.

I was always very busy but I enjoyed it tremendously and, as well as the racing side, it provided a real education on the business side.

A view of the grandstand at the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club.

The track is the only racecourse in Bahrain

How come an interest in racing and that you wanted to make it a career?

My interest was sparked by my uncle Peter Thorne who owned a stud farm in Warwickshire.

I used to go and stay with him as a young boy and just loved being around the horses.

I was a sporty youngster and so naturally a desire to learn to ride came about and from there an interest in racing grew.

What are your best memories of Lingfield?

Memories would be some of the horses that ran, including such stars as Midday, Snow Fairy and Our Vic who won the relocated “Ascot” Chase.

I am proud of the many achievements during my time there, not least keeping racing going whilst the construction of the hotel, which also incorporated a new racing staff lodge, lorry park and sampling unit, was taking place.

The replacement of the polytrack surface stands out, while I also made some great friends.

advertised in the Racing Post and it did happen!

Must have been a big decision to make…

Christine and I and our boys Alex (11) and Ben (7) were up for the adventure so to be honest we didn’t think twice.

What were your first impressions?

So many, and it is so different when you see someone sweeping up with a palm tree frond!

But, overall, it was the passion and potential, and to be involved in a project in which you can see boundless opportunities, is motivating.

What changes since you’ve been there?

So much, notably the installation of a new track irrigation system and pump house, the construction of a purpose-built quarantine unit, renovation of the grandstand, replacement of all the old aluminium running rail with new plastic rail and the replacement of the entire training track sand surface .

We have overhauled the maintenance regime on the Turf and training tracks, built a new paddock and pre-parade ring, installed a sauna and new medical room, put in new PA system, integrity cameras

How did Bahrain come about?

I felt I needed something different on my CV so started to look for opportunities overseas and fortunately my wife Christine was supportive.

After a few remote possibilities didn’t happen the Bahrain job was Neil Mackenzie Ross in his former role as Lingfield Park’s clerk of the course

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neil mackenzie ross Abdulla Faisal is one of the Emirate’s top jockeys

Turning into the home straight

and control room, to name a few things, so I certainly haven’t been sitting getting a suntan!

What have you aimed to achieve?

I identified three “big rocks” when I arrived that I felt were my priorities. Whilst there is always room for improvement I feel I have

achieved two of them so far which were the improved maintenance of the Turf and training tracks.

The third big rock was to increase our available water supply, which we are starting work on now. The increase in available water will hopefully enable us to resurrect a second grass track which sits within the existing Turf track; that is my project this year.

Increased provision of a water supply in order to open up a second grass track is Mackenzie’s main project for 2018

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Whilst there are many similarities with the clerk of the course job in the UK in that ultimately I am aiming to produce a safe racing surface for horses and jockeys, the main difference here is that I am my own regulator.

I don’t have the BHA sending out the course inspector; I am the course inspector, so I feel an added pressure there.

neil mackenzie ross Improving the daily maintenance of the Turf track was a priority for Mackenize Ross when he first moved to Bahrain (left), and now (main photo) his current project is the inner track.

This photo shows the training track on the inside

Right, with the British Ambassador Simon Martin

What’s your daily routine… raceday / nonraceday?

We are a government-owned organisation so I spend a lot of my time communicating with relevant ministries responsible for certain needs I require.

In particular the Ministry of Works to whom I pitch projects and then carry them out, and the Ministry of Finance in order to secure funding. I have been working with the Ministry of Health recently to better co-ordinate our medical provision on a raceday.

I have dealings with the Royal Court keeping them up to date on what I am doing, while I am forever chasing contractors!

A raceday is fairly similar to the UK in that you walk the track and are checking and double checking everything is in place.

What’s the structure of racing in Bahrain?

We start racing in early November, racing every Friday through to the end of April, a total of 26 days.

Generally, each raceday consists of three races for imported thoroughbreds, three races for local thoroughbreds (horses that have been bred in the Kingdom) and one Arabian race.

We have approximately 300 horses in

Whilst there are many similarities with the job in the UK – ultimately I am aiming to produce a safe racing surface for horses and jockeys – the main difference here is that I am my own regulator

similar amount of jockeys.

Allan Smith has been the leading trainer for many years and another British trainer based here is James Naylor.

Other trainers include Fawzi Nass, who also has horses in Dubai, as well as an operation in Newmarket where George Peckham is his trainer. Abdulla Kuwaiti is another successful Bahrain trainer who last year trained Chopin to win the $1 million H.H. the Emir’s Trophy in Doha.

Brett Doyle has been leading jockey many times, while Andrew Elliott is leading the table this year. There are some good Bahraini jockeys riding, including Abdulla Faisal and Hussain Makki and jockeys including Frankie Dettori, Pat Smullen, Gerald Mosse, Richard Hughes and Jamie Spencer have all ridden here.

training with the top-rated Shogun (ex Aidan O’Brien) and Thorkhill Star (ex Rirchard Fahey) rated 110 (Bahrain rating).

Our major races are H.H The Crown Prince’s Cup in early February and H.M. The King’s Cup in the middle of March.

Are all the horses trained on the track?

With the exception of one trainer who is based at the Endurance stables on the island, all the horses are trained on site.

How many trainers / jockeys are there?

There are around 20 licensed trainers and a

Is the quality improving?

The quality of horses here is improving year on year and I think you can see that

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neil mackenzie ross through the horses the owners are buying at the Tattersalls horses in training sale each year.

What’s the situation with staff?

The majority of staff employed at the racecourse are from Bahrain. Myself and Francesco, the veterinarian here, are the only two Europeans and we employ six guys from India as well.

The majority of the grooms come from Asian countries and they and the Bahrainis put us (the Brits) to shame in that they all generally speak a second language (English) if not a third language.

What do you want to achieve in Bahrain’s racing?

I truly believe there is enormous potential here and my goal is to help achieve it.

Are you still involved in European racing?

I am not directly involved but I still follow it Frankie Dettori with Shogun after winning the Crown Prince Cup in February

How many racecourses?

The Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club is the only racecourse in the Kingdom.

Are there links with racing in other Middle Eastern countries?

There are, in particular via the jockeys who will ride in many of the countries within the region throughout the season.

on a daily basis and through many of the UKbased jockeys who come out here I am kept up to speed on what is going on.

Liam Jones has been here this winter and spent Christmas day with us.

Can you see yourself coming back to work in Europe or are your ambitions in the Middle East now?

I certainly see us returning to the UK in the future, but for now we are happy in Bahrain.

What do you miss as regards racing in Europe?

Talking as a racecourse employee, there is a great support network within UK racing, with the BHA and RCA in particular, and peers on your racecourse or, in the case of Lingfield where I worked, as part of Arena Racing Company.

It meant that you had other peoples’ expertise and knowledge to lean on if you needed support or assistance. It is not until you experience a new environment that you realise what you take for granted at home.

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Cr a

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Gr.3 winner DABAN purchased for 260,000 gns at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale

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EERC syndicate

In the

Club I

n the 2006-2007 season, the Emirates Entertainment Racing Club (EERC) became the first ownership syndicate in the UAE, established by husband and wife team of Justin and Rebecca Byrne, the aim being to attract smaller-scale owners such as themselves into horseracing.

Fast forward to the current season and the EERC has grown to 90 members with 22 horses across three countries, plus one broodmare.

The Byrnes are ex-pats, though Rebecca was born in Dubai, while Justin went to the Emirate for a mini-working break in 2001 and never left.

As is often the case, he credits luck for fostering their involvement saying: “We got involved in a horse, had a little bit of fun with it and we then bought a quarter share in a horse called Sir Edwin Landseer who ended up being very good. He won in the Carnival and the night he won, we decided to set up the syndicate.�

They run the racing club between them, with Rebecca managing the people and Justin the horses. Neither come from a traditional racing background, but both credit their

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Debbie Burts meets Justin and Rebecca Byrne of the Emirates Entertainment Racing Club, the first ownership syndicate in Dubai

EERC syndicate Los Barbados, ridden by Adrie De Vries, wins the EGA Al Taweelah Trophy at Meydan in January.

He is owned by EERC and trainer Fazwi Nasss, and the team is hopeful that the son of Galileo, closely related to Holy Roman Emperor, will be invited to race on World Cup night All photos courtesy UAE Racing

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EERC syndicate interest to early racing experiences in the UK with their respective grandparents.

They describe the club as “a hobby” though admit that “it takes up nearly as much time as our real jobs”, which is working for Emirates Entertainment.

Justin Byrne takes up the story saying: “There had been partnerships before and we even had a horse shared between a few friends, but with the plan to grow and compete, we were the first in the UAE. “Another syndicate started just after us, but didn’t stay around for long. Currently, there are a few others – the Horse In Dubai Sale has helped this development – and a couple of them have had some nice results. The more owners who get involved in racing here in Dubai, the stronger as a whole it will become and the better for racing.”

He believes the key to their success is being honest about the horses’ abilities and making the experience fun.

“The hardest part is what Rebecca does, dealing with the members,” he smiles, “but as long as you’re honest and not overselling, you can get lucky and we have done, but the truth is with 90 per cent of the horses you’re throwing your money away, so as long as you get pleasure out of it, that’s the main thing.

“Members have to understand that it’s a

“So we enjoy the racing experience as best as we can, it is meant to be fun.

We have had 76 winners so far, which for the budget we have, is exceptional hobby and they are investing in it for their enjoyment, rather than one that is going to show a profit because so few people do.

“We have a box here at Meydan, so the focus is Meydan racing and the prize-money is exceptional, to give credit to the organisers.

You can win more from a maiden here than you can for some Listed races in the UK. “We’re trying to get people along to have a good time, that’s the syndicate that we want to be, but also to be successful,” he adds.

“When you get successful, it starts to cost a bit more for the horses, though usually most of the horses racing in Dubai are more expensive than the ones we purchase, so we realise that the chances of us winning are limited.

“So we enjoy the racing experience as best as we can, it is meant to be fun. We have had 76 winners so far, which for the budget we have, is exceptional.”

Clearly having a good time is an attraction Most of their members have come by word of mouth, though the club does have a presence on social media and a new website is under construction.

Dubai Racing Channel presenter, Laura King is a member.

“It has been wonderful to watch the club grow from just having two horses to now around 20,” smiles King.“It is a welcoming team to be involved with and remains a colourful and lively presence on the racecourse. There’s a great atmosphere whenever there is a winner, particularly at Meydan on a Carnival night.”

With members from Dubai, Australia, Bahrain, Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore and the US, the syndicate is made up of a broad mix of people ranging from complete novices to those with a wealth of racing knowledge.

Some even come with the horse, as Byrne explains: “When we bought a horse from America, we had a person phone up from Australia saying, ‘We love this horse, we’ve been following this horse in America, we

Some of the 90 members – who hail from right around the world – of the EERC enjoying themselves on a night out racing at Meydan

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EERC syndicate understand you’re a syndicate, can we buy a share?’”

Each horse is syndicated separately, usually at a minimum of five per cent shares. The Byrne’s take between 20-25 per cent of each horse, so the maximum number of partners would be 16 in the horse, plus the Byrnes.

“You can be involved in just one horse, a few or all of them,” he explains, adding: “You purchase your shares and then you own that share. You are billed for your share of the upkeep and running costs. You receive your share of the prize-money and when the horse is sold, your share of the sales money.”

O

f the current equine numbers, he says: “In the UAE we have 13 with Doug Watson and two with Fawzi Nass and also one in Bahrain with Fawzi.

“In the UK, we have six and a broodmare and these are spread around different trainers, including George Baker and George Peckham. One of the horses is on a break at the moment and will be heading to John Berry. We tend to spread the horses around more in the UK.” Of their involvement with the champion UAE trainer Watson, Byrne says: “Before the syndicate we had a few shares in horses with Christian Wroe [an ex-Polo player turned trainer].

“During that time, we got to know a few people in racing, including Melvin Day the UAE handicapper. He first introduced us to Doug, who was champion trainer at the time.

Having talked to Doug, we decided to put our next horse with him.

“During the early years we had horses with Erwan Charpy, Satish Seemar, Mike de Kock and Tony Manuel, as well as Christian, but apart from Doug’s success, I find him great to work with and we have become very good friends too.”

Watson himself is full of praise for the syndicate saying: “If you go up into the grandstand at Meydan on a night when they have a couple of runners, they just fill a box.

“Justin and Rebecca do a great job with the EERC, they make nothing out of it, it’s a passion for them. It gets a lot of ex-pats involved, it’s great for Dubai and great for the racing over here.”

As for the relationship with Fawzi Nass, Byrne smiles saying: “The short version is I was bidding on Krypton Factor when Fawzi bought the horse, but I stopped bidding when I saw who I was bidding against.

“...I buy the horse and then syndicate it, nobody gets involved until they see what’s on offer; I take the risk “That horse, of course, went on to win the sprint on World Cup night. When I went to congratulate Fawzi that night, I joked that I should have asked to go halves on the horse.

He said: ‘You should have, I would have said yes!’

“I thought he was joking, but over the next few weeks we talked more and when he bought Run To The Hills, he was my pick of that sale, so we got involved. Then he bought Los Barbados, who I love and we took half of that. Now anything he buys, if he has not already sold the horse, we can always ask.”

Of their buying policy, Byrne explains: “If we go to the UK, Doug normally comes with me; we’re pretty much similar in our taste with horses now.

“At the end of the day, without being

disrespectful, it’s my money, so it’s my decision; I buy the horse and then syndicate it, nobody gets involved until they see what’s on offer; I take the risk.

“The main thing is you don’t want to buy a horse that the trainer doesn’t want. We bought Right Flank together in the July Sale, I think he was in the top three of both of our picks and when we’d looked at them he was pretty much my number one pick, so we decided that he was the one we were going to go for.

“I went back in October and one of our syndicate guys Ben Watson called me about a horse called Pillar Of Society, who I’d knocked off my list.

“After a couple of calls and speaking to Doug and to Pat Dobbs, we ended up buying him from Julie Wood, a really wonderful lady. She wished us well with him out here – they’re the type of people you want to buy off – and her horses have been successful out here too. She sold Championship out here, who turned out to be an amazing horse.

“It is a team effort, but the be all and end all is it’s my money, so I go with my own judgement. Whether I’m right or wrong I’ll take the criticism at the same time as the praise.”

Jockey selection can often incur criticism

Justin Byrne (centre) with trainer Doug Watson: they enjoy a good working and racing relationship

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EERC syndicate and Byrne is clear on his policy.

“At Doug’s yard, Pat Dobbs and Sam Hitchcott are the stable jockeys and have first and second picks,” he says. “If they don’t select our horses then I will discuss options with Doug. We have input with most trainers, but if they have a stable jockey I believe they should have first pick in any race.”

Recent seasons have seen the EERC go from strength to strength with 2016-17 being its best for prize-money with a Carnival winner and one horse placing three times at Group level.

The previous season the club finished third in the owners’ table.

“We were behind only Sheikh Hamdan and Godolphin, which is amazing achievement in any country, let alone here in their own back yard,” smiles Byrne.

It is this season that could be the best yet as Los Barbados recently won the EGA

Al Taweelah Trophy at Meydan and the following day Shamaal Nebras scored in the Group 3 Shadwell Jebel Ali Mile.

B

yrne is delighted with both horses, though past experience has taught him that a World Cup invitation is not guaranteed.

He says ruefully: “I have been very disappointed in the past regarding horses not being invited to run on World Cup night, Shamaal should have been invited last year.

“Currently, Shamaal is flying. He has won three of his last four races. He is a nine-yearold now so we do have to pick his races carefully and I guess this will work against us again.

“Because we targeted the Jebel Ali Mile,

we have not yet run at the Carnival. Due to the shrinking number of Dirt races during the Carnival, the only mile races left are Group races, so if he has one bad effort or is drawn wide again and then runs a poor race, he will likely lose his chance.

“Los Barbados has won one of the three races over 1m4f during the Carnival so if he doesn’t get an invite to the Gold Cup then we might as well give up trying!

“He will run in the Group race over 2m next and a good run in that would hopefully cement a spot.

“It is strange that we have had a runner at Royal Ascot every year, but can’t get an invite in our own backyard.

“Los Barbados will be a fun horse to take over to Royal Ascot this year – we are considering a trip to the UK for Ascot and Goodwood and may even look at heading to Melbourne Cup – that would be fun!”

The club enjoyed a good run of form in January: Shamaal Nibras (First Samauri) is seen here ridden by Pat Dobbs winning the Jebel Ali Mile (G3)

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singapore racing

Singapore swing

After a hiatus of four years, the Singapore international races are making a return to the global racing scene in 2019. Paul Haigh chats to the former vice president of the Singapore Turf Club Soong Tze Ming about the change of plans

T

he importance of an international flagship meeting to every major racing jurisdiction is now firmly established, not just as a symbol of prestige but as a focal point for local fans who want to see their own heroes tested against world-class opposition.

So it was a bitter disappointment to Singapore’s racing when it was decided in 2015 after a decade and a half of experimentation that the Singapore Airlines International Cup and KrisFlyer Sprint had to be discontinued.

Put simply, it seemed as though they were costing the Singapore Turf Club too much money.

There was a faction in Singaporean racing, too, who asked with some justification how their existence could be sustained when almost all the prize-money from these major races was syphoned overseas. They also felt that the meeting was really not succeeding in raising the profile of the island nation’s racing by showing its champions could compete against the best invaders. Quite the opposite in fact.

There had been Ouzo, who’d raised Singaporean expectation levels by winning the inaugural SIA Cup, then a long wait Soong Tze Ming: looking forward to the future

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before the arrival of Rocket Man, the brilliant but quirky individual who won in Dubai and deadheated in Hong Kong. Rocket Man remains the most popular horse ever trained in Singapore.

And then for several years, nothing. Or virtually nothing, as the invaders, particularly those from Hong Kong, simply farmed the STC’s showpiece events. No one was more disappointed than Soong Tze Ming, then a senior vice president at the STC who’d given much of his working life to the establishment of a meeting that would confirm Singapore’s

place at racing’s top table.

Yet even he, at a time when the newly legalised casinos were also threatening the STC’s position as the country’s main betting outlet, was forced albeit reluctantly to concede that continuation was just impractical.

Internationalists, who had long loved the meeting in a city that really knows how to stage a party as much as anything else, sighed along with Soong and more or less reconciled themselves to the permanent loss of one of the most enjoyable meetings on the global calendar.

How, we wondered, was it ever going to come back when in its geographical area even more richly endowed meetings, some of them new ones such as Australia’s ‘The Championships’, seemed to have got them surrounded? Where else could it go in the international calendar that might give it a better chance than its regular slot in early May? But the seriously good news is that Singapore’s international May meeting is back; the tough examiners of the bottom line have calculated that the upsides of discontinuation really didn’t meet the downsides, which included the loss of Singapore’s international Group 1 status.

So play will officially resume in 2019.

New sponsors are going to have to be found for both the SIA Cup and the KrisFlyer Sprint as Singapore Airlines

singapore racing

have backed out, but both races will return, with new titles and one hopes plenty of swagger next May. How have the problems that induced the pause been overcome?

Soong says: “While there was a bit of grumbling about Hong Kong coming to plunder our prize-money, there was never any real opposition to the idea of international racing.

“Everybody realised though that we just had to take stock and calculate the ways in which the international races were cost-effective. We had to consider all the intangible benefits they brought us, including the branding they gave to Singapore racing and to Singapore in general.

“Yes, they were costly, but as Hong Kong has found through its own experience, they

put Singapore on the map – and not just in racing terms.

“How important is an international race meeting? Well, the importance of international racing to any jurisdiction depends on that jurisdiction’s level of aspiration, and our aspirations were and are very high. We export our ordinary races to many different countries, including the UK, and they require a certain standard of competition which international competition helps us to provide.

“One of our objectives in initiating the international races was that they would spur local owners – and many of our owners as well as around half our population come from overseas, so it might be a bit misleading to refer to them like that – to buy higher quality horses in order to compete. It did work to

Above, Australian jockey Tommy Berry aboard Dan Excel celebrates after winning the Singapore Airlines International Cup in 2014.

The international races came to a temporary end the following year as it was felt that all the prize-money always went to raiders from abroad

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singapore racing Around 1,000 horses are trained in Singapore

some extent. There was an improvement, but what did perhaps happen was that while we were doing so, other countries were improving their quality even faster.

“In the last couple of years, though, our standards have risen again. All our local Group 1 races are now worth a S$1 million or more. Every one of our Group 2 races is now worth half a million or more.

“It means that if an owner brings good horses to Singapore [where the racehorse population has never exceeded 1,000] he’s not going to be wasting his time, whether his horses are going to be good enough to compete internationally or not, because there is plenty of prize-money to be won.”

(And with the Sing dollar not far off the US these days, those are figures that compare favourably with anywhere else in the world).

“Our three-year-old race median of around S$85,000,” continues Soong, “means that race by race there are very few countries that can compete with us in prize-money terms.

“In comparison with previous years our average purchase price at sale of imported horses has risen from A$69,000 a couple of years ago to around A$83,000 now – our standards are rising.”

A

ustralia remains the country where most Singaporean-trained horses are sourced, but Soong is realistic about finding a horse such as Rocket Man again.

“Perhaps there’ll never be another Rocket Man,” he smiles, adding: “He was such a great horse he’ll be difficult to replace. But we’re putting the conditions in place we’d hope for another Rocket Man to emerge.

“We have a few good horses already we’d hope to see competing strongly against

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“Perhaps there’ll never be another Rocket Man. He was such a great horse he’ll be difficult to replace.

But we’re putting the conditions in place we’d hope for another Rocket Man to emerge invaders in just over a year’s time. I’m thinking of Infantry, Guilt Complex and Debt Collector. But it would be good to think there’ll be others too by May 2019.

“It is a competitive arena sourcing international runners for big races, but the races were previously well supported and Soong doesn’t see that changing.

“Where do we expect to recruit the international competition from? Well, besides Hong Kong and Australia, we’ve always had strong support from Britain, France and Japan,” he says. “We also want to foster our links with South Africa, which has already sent us good horses, including three winners of what was then the SIA Cup – Jay Peg, Lizard’s Desire and Gitano Hernando.

“We don’t see any need to look at other dates in the racing calendar. Where we are now should see us again as part of an Asian swing that starts in Dubai in March, goes on to the APQEII and Champions Mile in Hong Kong and then comes on to us.”

Soong plays down the fact that while Singapore law expressly forbids advertising

Kranji racecourse

by the Turf Club – a law that’s always seemed unfair to outsiders and the casinos have found legal ways of almost subliminally insinuating themselves into the Singaporean public mind – “major individual events” are exempt from this restriction to a certain extent. With restrictions they are allowed to be advertised, and the international races meet that criterion.

And the role that the international races have therefore played in keeping racing in the Singaporean public consciousness should not be underestimated, particularly now the country needs additional racing excitement since Joao Moreira, whose sensational Singaporean career earned him the nickname “Magic Man” long before his transfer to Singapore’s powerful north-eastern rivals, was seduced and then effortlessly assimilated

by Hong Kong.

Co-ordinating the comeback of international racing to Singapore will be the International Racing Bureau alongside Soong in his newly promoted job of chief operations officer [yes, quite right: that can be acronym-ed as COO] responsible directly to new CEO, BC Chong, who has taken over the reins from Yu Pang Fey who’s retired after years of solid service.

No time limit has yet been put on the revived concept. No one has yet gone out on a limb and said “The Singapore International Races will continue for the next X years”.

But that may come when the new sponsor is revealed later this year. No one who loves international racing can wish the STC, and its new COO, who remembers how “extremely disappointed” he was when the present pause was deemed a necessity two years ago, anything but the very best of luck.

There are not too many international meetings. There are still too few. And Singapore has shown already it knows how to run one.

Mahsoob Bay 2011

By

Dansili – MooakaDa (Montjeu)

Royal Ascot winner • NEW FOR 2017 PEDIGREE

DANSILI Sire of 20 G1 winners of 35 individual G1 races, with over 180 individual blacktype horses and winners of over 275 stakes races.

Sire of sires.

Out of MOOAKADA

By Champion and outstanding broodmare sire MONTJEU. Mooakada, 2nd foal, half-sister to 3yo winners Iktibas (8f) and Khams-Alhawas (10f) out of Bint Shadayid, a high-class 6-10f performer at 2-3.

RACE RECORD WON 9f Earl of Sefton Stakes, G3 Newmarket WON 10f Wolferton Stakes, LR Royal Ascot WON 10.5f 888 Handicap, York WON 10f Dubai Duty Free Handicap, Newbury WON 8f Maiden, Kempton (on first start) Timeform Rated 120

FEE 2018:

£2,000 Oct 1st

CONTACT

Andrew Spalding • T: 01325 730209 or M: 07990 518751 • E: andrew@hedgeholmestud.co.uk

Hedgeholme Stud, Winston, Darlington, Co. Durham DL2 3RS - www.hedgeholmestud.com

comment piece

Where are we heading?

T

he fortunes of British Thoroughbred breeding and horseracing are so inextricably linked that it is appropriate to consider their future wellbeing together as, what is good for one, is generally good for the other.

Racecourse success is of paramount importance to breeders so that the sustainability of racing’s funding is crucial, otherwise British breeding will become a nursery for the supply of quality horses to overseas racing jurisdictions where successful owners are rewarded way beyond what is currently available in the UK. It is important to look beyond anecdotal evidence and examine where the racing industry’s funding emanates from, to question its sustainability and potential uplift as without it, the breeding industry will suffer.

Theoretically breeders supply racehorses in equilibrium to demand, but with shrinking single ownership, a high churn of new owners becoming disillusioned with racing and relinquishing ownership, how long can this continue before its effects are felt by the breeding industry, which could see further polarisation around a very few highend studs somewhat to the detriment of smaller breeders who provide the industry with the diversity it needs?

That prize-money underpins racing’s funding is well established and that it is provided by racecourses boosted by income from media rights and sponsorship including from auctioneering houses, owners’ entry

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Charlock Stud’s David Brocklehurst considers a number of strategic questions for the bloodstock industry fees, and a new tax based on 10 per cent of bookmakers’ gross profit is well known, but will this be enough to sustain the current level of owners let alone their increased numbers envisaged by the BHA in their own Strategy for Growth?

Maybe, but in comparison with the prizemoney for owners and breeders in France, the US, Australia and Japan where owners’ cost recovery is much greater than in Britain, this should be called into question and does not augur well for British breeders.

Indeed, given the likely demise of licensed betting offices (LBO) following the capping of FOBT stakes, there is a case for government to examine whether profits derived from gambling on horseracing should be more equitably distributed amongst the racing and breeding industries.

Alternative sources of funding should be

considered, including a better understanding of the relationship between sponsorship and marketing spends and the value they provide in today’s brand conscious society, so that more companies outside the gambling industry can be enticed into sponsorship.

Somewhat surprisingly many racecourses are still missing out on meaningful additional revenue, which could be used to boost prizemoney still further, by failing to supply the in-running betting market with sectional timings which are monetised through the sale of data rights to the bookmaking fraternity.

ARC racecourses can do this, so why cannot the others?

Tennis has Hawkeye, cricket has Snickometer and the Premier League has video refs so would not it be nice if racing at least had sectional timings showing the order of running whilst actually in running?

Just think how much easier it would be to see who the leading contenders are in the Stewards Cup at every furlong marker? It would surely add to the excitement of the race at the same time as providing an additional and valuable income stream.

To assist breeders, prizes in addition to the Plus 10 bonus and MOPS initiatives could be introduced to reward racecourse success as in France, to promote the breeding of horses capable of running over longer distances to provide more variety and preserve racing’s heritage as well as stemming the current trend to breed for speed with its inherent adverse effect on the gene pool.

Tighter regulations, greater emphasis

comment piece It is imperative, according to Brocklehurst, that the British government is lobbied throughout the Brexit process to ensure that the tripartite agreement between the UK, Ireland and France is not threatened, which could lead to transport issues and even possible equine tariff barriers between the three countries

on pedigrees and conformation and a continuing improvement in equine welfare would broaden racing’s appeal and increase confidence in the integrity of the industry; racing and hence breeding needs to appeal to a wider audience than it does currently.

The BHA have cited having regard to the best interests of the ultimate buyers of bloodstock in support of their review into the practice of trading bloodstock in the light of some particularly colourful anecdotal evidence suggesting a need for regulation.

In the light of MiFiD 2 which similarly purports to overhaul regulation to protect investors’ interests , the BHA’s timing looks apposite and perhaps on reflection some section of the industry’s response challenging the BHA’s jurisdiction might not be too helpful to the industry .

There is clearly an inconsistency in that the breeding industry, being the size that it is, remains relatively free from regulation at a time when regulation and compliance is everywhere and especially as it sits alongside the racing industry which it serves and which itself is regulated by the BHA .

If regulation is inevitable then surely both industries would be best served by one regulator and certainly before one gets imposed on the industry triggered by a

Panorama-style investigation/exposé?

Resistance to regulation has never served any industry well and bloodstock is no exception to this and needs to tread carefully in its response as it has much to lose.

Revisiting racing’s VAT concession and other favourable tax treatments that breeders enjoy would be most unwelcome and send shivers down both industries’ spines.

Brexit brings threats and opportunities for breeders too; and it is essential that the tripartite agreement between the UK, Ireland and France facilitating the unhindered movement of horses remains in place.

The sale of horses and use of stallions could present significant challenges to both industries if tariffs were imposed.

Respective governments must be lobbied to head off any detrimental restraints and perhaps the British government, which appearw keen to support industries at grassroot level, could consider the equivalent of CAP payments being made to breeders, in recognition of their contribution to the rural economy.

Stallion and mare owners could be encouraged to work more closely together to their mutual benefit, especially where the former could reward the latter should the mare’s progeny win, through either future

discounts or partial reimbursement of stallion fees.

Stallion owners might also consider being more sensitive in announcing the movement and pricing of their stallions just prior to the sales and, with one leading stallion farm declining to take in boarders, is it time to reconsider the choice of AI to combat the overuse of prolific sires, broaden the gene pool and have a contingency plan in place in case any restrictions are imposed on the transportation of livestock?

Finally, on the political front, Matt Hancock’s appointment as Secretary of State for DCMS must surely be welcomed, and greater stability in the Middle East would be most comforting for both the thoroughbred breeding and racing industries whose future wellbeing is so dependent on the continued support from the potentates of that region.

David Brocklehurst Charlock Stud, Towcester, Northants. www.charlockstud.com Please do email in with any comments or thoughts on David’s piece.

And if anyone would like to pen something themselves, we are more than happy to consider publishing a comment piece

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mare of the month

Mare of the month

H

artnell took his Group 1 success tally to three in February’s Caulfield C.F. Orr Stakes, and the seven-year-old gelding is now the winner of 12 races from

38 starts.

The assimilated Australian runner was bred in Britain by Darley, and began his career with trainer Mark Johnston The son of Authorised won four times for the Middleham-based stables, successes that culminated with a victory in the 2m Listed Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot and in the 1m6f Group 3 Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket.

After mid-division runs in the Great Voltigeur Stakes (G2) and in the St Leger (G1), the decision was taken by Darley / Godolphin to ship the three-year-old stayer, then BHA rated 110, to the southern hemisphere.

His first run came in February 2015 at Warwick Farm over a mile in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes – he was beaten just a half length by Contributor, a son of High Chaparral.

He then collected victory in the Group 3 1m2f Sky High Stakes before his first southern hemisphere success at the highest level in The BMW over 1m4f.

Since then the colt has predominately been campaigned over middle-distance and staying trips, including twice in the 2m Group 1 Melbourne Cup with a best-placed third in 2016, however he still made three appearances in Group 2 races over distances as short as 7f on returns after spells, finishing second twice and winning the P.B. Lawrence Stakes (G2) last August.

The culmination of the gelding’s adaptablity was his Group 1 win in February, which came over the 7f trip.

It is perhaps not surprising that Hartnell has proved to be so versatile and suited to Australian racing as his dam Debonnaire is a daughter of the July Cup winner Anabaa, a son of Danzig.

Bred by Gainsborough Stud Management, she won twice at two and three (disqualified once also at Yarmouth for a banned substance) for Johnston over 7f and 8f,

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mare of the month

Aleagueoftheirown Debonnaire Danehill Damcer-Golden Coral (Slew O’Gold) Anabaa-Ultra Finesse (Rahy)

Left: Hartnell after winning the P.B. Lawrence Stakes at Caulfield last August Right: showing off his Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes winners’ rug

reaching a handicap mark of 76 at her career end.

She is a half-sister to the 100-rated 5f to mile runner Proceed With Care (Danehill), the winner of seven races for Maktoum Al Maktoum and placed in the 6f Sirenia Stakes, and to the Zafonic colt Dramatic Quest.

He won four races, placed in the Listed 1m4f Godolphin Stakes and went on to win four races over hurdles, eventually ending his career (unsuccessfully with more letters than numbers by his name) in the point-to-point field.

Debonnaire’s remaining siblings collected minor races in Hungary, Russia, the US and once over hurdles in Ireland.

Heading down through the pedigree to the third dam of Hartnell provides the Classic link and the reason why Gainsborough developed the pedigree.

It is perhaps not surprising that Hartnell has proved to be so versatile and suited to Australian racing as his dam Debonnaire is a daughter of the July Cup winner Anabaa Suavite, a daughter of Alleged, was a runner-up in the Comely Stakes (G3), but it was as a dam that she has exerted her influence.

Her daughter Ultra Finesse (Rahy), the dam of Debonnaire, placed second in the Prix de Malleret (G2), her Arctic Tern colt Suave Tern was an Italian champion and twice second in Group 1s, but the achievements of both were eclipsed by their half-brother who became a champion three-year-old in Europe of 1991.

Named Suave Dancer, the son of Green Desert won five races, including the Irish Champion Stakes (G1), the Arc de Triomphe (G1), the Prix du Jockey Club (G1), the Prix Greffulhe (G2), and placed second in the Irish Derby (G1), the Prix Lupin (G1) and third in the Prix Ganay (G1).

Suave Dancer was bred in the US by Kentucky’s Xalapa Farm, owned by French businessman Henri Chalhoub and trained in France by the Englishman, John Hammond.

Suave Dancer was purchased at the 1989

www.internationalthoroughbred.net

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mare of the month

The wonderful Sauve Dancer winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 1991. He was Timeform rated 137

Keeneland yearling sales by Chalhoub for $45,000.

The horse was initially sent to Keith Asmussen (Cash Asmussen’s father) for pre-training in Texas. He was a latermaturing colt and did not run in the US as a juvenile so, after a spring and summer of long steady canter work, was sent to France for a European Turf campaign.

He made his racecourse debut over a mile in soft ground at Saint-Cloud in November 1990. Far from fully wound-up, the colt was a fast-finishing third beaten two and quarter lengths.

Through the early spring of 1991 Hammond did not believe Suave Dancer to be the best and was pinning Classic hopes on a colt called Reason To Trick, also owned by Chalhoub.

The son of Clever Trick had won the Group 3 Prix de Chenes very easily at two, but on his first start at three in the Prix Djebel he sadly dropped dead from an aneurysm on the way to the start.

It was Suave Dancer who made up for that loss and he kicked off his year with victory in a Longchamp maiden by 8l.

Despite the loss of Reason To Trick, the spring and summer of 1991 was an amazing period in the Hammond stable.

“I had only been training for around four years at the time and was perhaps a little blasé about it all,” said Hammond to interviewer Andrew Pelis for coursespecialist. co.uk. “Looking back I was slightly spoiled and had a really good bunch of horses. There was one morning when I remember going into the yard and there were four horses in a row in their boxes and they all looked up.

Three of them were Group 1 winners and the other was a Group 2 winner!”

Of the four it was Suave Dancer who made a global impact, blessed with an incredible Group 1 acceleration.

“He was a pretty straight-forward horse although he was quite keen in the mornings,”

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reported Hammond to Pelis. “His front legs always had to be minded, but he settled well in his races. Like all horses with good acceleration you have to slightly bury them in races and then deliver that late kick.”

After collecting the Jockey-Club, Sauve Dancer was beaten in the Irish Derby by Generous (a defeat which Hammond blames himself for – Asmussen was unable to ride and the trainer feels he gave stand-in jockey Walter Swinburn the wrong instructions) before winning the Irish Champion Stakes.

T

he culmination of the European season was that year’s Arc, and it was a vintage renewal – not only was the Derby winner and Sauve Dancer’s previous conqueror Generous out for a rematch, but the field also included the 1990 Epsom Derby winner Quest For Fame, the multiple Group 1-winning filly In The Groove, the last two St Leger winners Snurge and Toulon, the highly-rated Pistolet Bleu, the runaway Oaks winner Jet Ski Lady and the crack American horse El Senor.

Hamond said: “There was roughly three weeks between the Irish Champion Stakes and the Arc. His important work was on a Thursday ten days before the race. It was in heavy fog and he appeared to not really work at all which left us somewhat in limbo. It was a complete non-event.

“He then did a shorter piece of work over 4f on his own just four days before the race where he really showed some zip so we felt we were back on track.”

With such strength in depth in the field and the likelihood of pacemakers, Hammond and Asmussen decided that the best plan of action was to sit patiently once again.

“I was pretty sure there would be lots of pace in the race and was also sure that Alan Munro [who rode Generous] didn’t know

Longchamp very well.

“Given that Generous was drawn out wide, we felt that he may well use up juice early on for position. So I felt that we should stick to the same tactics as Ireland.

“Generous had endured a pretty hard year and we took the view to drop Suave Dancer out and be confident. I told Cash beforehand that I would stand by him if it all went wrong.

“Afterwards Cash said that I had given him the best piece of advice and that he went out to ride filled with confidence!”

Sauve Dancer produced that amazing burst of acceleration down the outside and won by an easy 2l.

He ran once the following year in the Prix Ganay, but picked up injury and was retired.

In 1991, The National Stud at Newmarket had bought a half-share and sent him on shuttle duties to Eliza Park Stud in Victoria, Australia. In 1998 at just ten years of age he was found dead in his paddock at the Australian farm, believed killed by lightning strike.

Returning to Debonniare, in 2015 and 2016 she produced offspring by Frankel.

Her 2015 colt was bought for 250,000gns as a yearling by Charlie Gordon-Watson Bloodstock. Named Hazarfan, he was placed once as a two-year-old last year for trainer Ed Dunlop and owner Mohammed Jaber and still holds an entry in the Derby.

Her 2016 offspring was a filly bought by Narvick International at Book 1 last autumn for 500,000gns.

Both Frankels were bred by US-based Greg Goodman’s Mt Brilliant Broodmares, the mare having been sold privately by Darley to Goodman in 2013 / 2014 after being withdrawn from the Tattersalls December Mares Sale of 2013.

She has been shipped to the US and was covered by Malibu Moon in 2017 and according to the farm’s website is booked to Medaglia D’Oro for this spring.

PROCONSUL

YORGUNNABELUCKY

2013 GALILEO - KIND (DANEHILL) 16.1 (1.65m) Fee: £3,500 1st Oct. SLF

2006 GIANT’S CAUSEWAY - HELSINKI (MACHIAVELLIAN) 16.1 (1.65m) Fee: £1,500 1st Oct. SLF

FIRST FOALS 2018

Full Brother to FRANKEL, unbeaten Champion Racehorse and 3 time Gr.1 winner NOBLE MISSION In 2017, Frankel was sire of Gr.1 winners Cracksman and Soul Stirring, 3 Gr.2 winners and 7 Gr.3 winners Frankel’s 2017 yearling average is over 580,000gns The fifth son of Kind to retire to stud

FIRST 4YOS 2018

1 winner and 3 placed horses from only 5 runners First store horse realised €60,000 to Mags O’Toole in the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale 2017 2017 NH Yearlings have made up to €30,000 (James Mernagh) and £10,000 (Martin Wanless) from only 5 offered Biggest and best crops yet to come

Standing at MICKLEY STUD alongside HEERAAT and CAPTAIN GERRARD Enquiries: Richard Kent T: 079 73 315722 • E: mickleystud@btconnect.com • www.mickleystud.com

international database

The Global Database Data supplied by Weatherbys

UAE LINCOLN NAVIGATOR THE GARHOUD SPRINT, L, Meydan, December 21, 1200m 1 Muarrab (GB) 9 b g Oasis Dream (GB) - Licence To Thrill (GB) (Wolfhound (USA)) 2 Comicas (USA) 5 ch g Distorted Humor (USA) - Abby's Angel (USA) (Touch Gold (USA)) 3 My Catch (IRE) 7 b c Camacho (GB) - Catch The Sea (IRE) (Barathea (IRE)) Danzig Green Desert Foreign Courier OASIS DREAM b 2000 Dancing Brave Hope Bahamian MUARRAB b g 2009 Nureyev Wolfhound Lassie Dear LICENCE TO THRILL ch 97 Dragonara Palace Crime of Passion Catriona

LINCOLN CONTINENTAL THE DUBAI CREEK MILE, L, Meydan, December 21, 1600m 1 Heavy Metal (GB) 8 b g Exceed And Excel (AUS) - Rock Opera (SAF) (Lecture (USA)) 2 Wild Dude (USA) 8 b/br c Wildcat Heir (USA) - Courtly Choice (USA) (Doneraile Court (USA)) 3 Stunned (GB) 7 b g Shamardal (USA) - Amazed (GB) (Clantime)

76

Danzig Danehill Razyana EXCEED AND EXCEL b 2000 Lomond Patrona Gladiolus HEAVY METAL b g 2010 Seeking The Gold Lecture Narrate ROCK OPERA b 2002 Al Mufti Drummer Girl Swinging Girl

AL TAYER MOTORS THE ENTISAR STAKES, L, Meydan, December 21, 2000m 1 Etijaah (USA) 8 b g Daaher (CAN) - Hasheema (IRE) (Darshaan) 2 Barreesh (IRE) 6 ch g Giant's Causeway (USA) - Astrologie (FR) (Polish Precedent (USA)) 3 Faulkner (GB) 8 ch c Pivotal (GB) - Fibou (USA) (Seeking The Gold (USA)) Deputy Minister Awesome Again Primal Force DAAHER b 2004 Irish Open Irish Cherry Eston ETIJAAH b g 2010 Shirley Heights Darshaan Delsy HASHEEMA b 99 Shareef Dancer Dance Ahead Shoot Clear

LONGINES LADIES MASTER SINGSPIEL STAKES, G3, Meydan, January 11, 1800m 1 Benbatl (GB) 4 b c Dubawi (IRE) Nahrain (GB) (Selkirk (USA)) 2 Emotionless (IRE) 5 b g Shamardal (USA) - Unbridled Elaine (USA) (Unbridled's Song (USA)) 3 Earnshaw (USA) 7 gr/ro c Medaglia d'Oro (USA) - Emily Bronte (GB) (Machiavellian (USA)) Seeking The Gold Dubai Millennium Colorado Dancer DUBAWI b 2002 Deploy Zomaradah Jawaher BENBATL b c 2014 Sharpen Up Selkirk Annie Edge NAHRAIN ch 2008 Generous Bahr Lady of The Sea

www.internationalthoroughbred.net

LONGINES AL MAKTOUM CHALLENGE ROUND 1, G2, Meydan, January 11, 1600m 1 Heavy Metal (GB) 8 b g Exceed And Excel (AUS) - Rock Opera (SAF) (Lecture (USA)) 2 Thunder Snow (IRE) 4 b c Helmet (AUS) - Eastern Joy (GB) (Dubai Destination (USA)) 3 North America (GB) 6 b g Dubawi (IRE) - Northern Mischief (USA) (Yankee Victor (USA)) Danzig Danehill Razyana EXCEED AND EXCEL b 2000 Lomond Patrona Gladiolus HEAVY METAL b g 2010 Seeking The Gold Lecture Narrate ROCK OPERA b 2002 Al Mufti Drummer Girl Swinging Girl

BOREALIS DUBAWI STAKES, G3, Meydan, January 18, 1200m 1 Comicas (USA) 5 ch g Distorted Humor (USA) - Abby's Angel (USA) (Touch Gold (USA)) 2 Muarrab (GB) 9 b g Oasis Dream (GB) - Licence To Thrill (GB) (Wolfhound (USA)) 3 Reynaldothewizard (USA) 12 b c Speightstown (USA) - Holiday Runner (USA) (Meadowlake (USA)) Mr Prospector Forty Niner File DISTORTED HUMOR ch 93 Danzig Danzig's Beauty Sweetest Chant COMICAS ch g 2013 Deputy Minister Touch Gold Passing Mood ABBY'S ANGEL b/br 2005 A P Indy Miss Kilroy Miss Caerleona

GLOBAL ALUMINIUM CESPA CAPE VERDI STAKES, G2, Meydan, January 25, 1600m 1 Promising Run (USA) 5 b f Hard Spun (USA) - Aviacion (BRZ) (Know Heights (IRE)) 2 Rehana (IRE) 4 b f Dark Angel (IRE) - Rayka (IRE) (Selkirk (USA)) 3 Aljuljalah (USA) 5 b f Exchange Rate (USA) - Ruler's Charm (USA) (Cape Town (USA))

Danzig

Northern Dancer

Pas de Nom HARD SPUN b 2004 Turkoman Turkish Tryst Darbyvail PROMISING RUN b f 2013 Shirley Heights Know Heights Unknown Lady AVIACION b 98 Liloy Arbulus Buck The Tide

SHADWELL FARM JEBEL ALI MILE, G3, Jebel Ali, January 26, 1600m 1 Shamaal Nibras (USA) 9 b c First Samurai (USA) - Sashay Away (USA) (Farma Way (USA)) 2 Forjatt (IRE) 10 b g Iffraaj (GB) Graceful Air (IRE) (Danzero (AUS)) 3 Farrier (USA) 10 b c Tapit (USA) Wild Vision (USA) (Wild Again (USA)) Storm Cat Giant's Causeway Mariah's Storm FIRST SAMURAI ch 2003 Dixieland Band Freddie Frisson Frisson SHAMAAL NIBRAS b c 2009 Marfa Farma Way Fine Tribute SASHAY AWAY b 97 Verbatim Speak Halory Halory

JEBEL ALI PORT AL RASHIDIYA STAKES, G2, Meydan, February 1, 1800m 1 Benbatl (GB) 4 b c Dubawi (IRE) Nahrain (GB) (Selkirk (USA)) 2 Bay of Poets (IRE) 4 b g Lope de Vega (IRE) - Bristol Bay (IRE) (Montjeu (IRE)) 3 Bravo Zolo (IRE) 6 b g Rip Van Winkle (IRE) - Set Fire (IRE) (Bertolini (USA)) Seeking The Gold Dubai Millennium Colorado Dancer DUBAWI b 2002 Deploy Zomaradah Jawaher BENBATL b c 2014 Sharpen Up Selkirk Annie Edge NAHRAIN ch 2008 Generous Bahr Lady of The Sea

international database DP WORLD UAE REGION AL FAHIDI FORT, G2, Meydan, February 1, 1400m 1 Jungle Cat (IRE) 6 b c Iffraaj (GB) - Mike's Wildcat (USA) (Forest Wildcat (USA)) 2 Janoobi (SAF) 5 b c Silvano (GER) - Shasta Daisy (SAF) (Rakeen (USA)) 3 Dream Castle (GB) 4 b c Frankel (GB) - Sand Vixen (GB) (Dubawi (IRE)) Gone West Zafonic Zaizafon IFFRAAJ b 2001 Nureyev Pastorale Park Appeal JUNGLE CAT b c 2012 Storm Cat Forest Wildcat Victoria Beauty MIKE'S WILDCAT ch 2000 Black Tie Affair Old Flame Mistyray

USA SHAM STAKES, G3, Santa Anita, January 6, 8f 1 McKinzie (USA) 3 b c Street Sense (USA) - Runway Model (USA) (Petionville (USA)) 2 All Out Blitz (USA) 3 b c Concord Point (USA) - Smart and Single (USA) (Smart Strike (CAN)) 3 My Boy Jack (USA) 3 b/br c Creative Cause (USA) - Gold N Shaft (USA) (Mineshaft (USA)) SAN GABRIEL STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, January 6, 9f 1 Itsinthepost (FR) 6 b g American Post (GB) - Sakkara Star (IRE) (Mozart (IRE)) 2 Flamboyant (FR) 7 b g Peer Gynt (JPN) - Relicia Bere (FR) (Until Sundown (USA)) 3 Editore (BRZ) 6 b c Redattore (BRZ) - Jolie Rose (ARG) (Easing Along (USA)) SANTA YNEZ STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, January 7, 7f 1 Midnight Bisou (USA) 3 b/br f Midnight Lute (USA) - Diva Delite (USA) (Repent (USA))

2 Steph Being Steph (USA) 3 b f Majestic Warrior (USA) - More Than Proud (USA) (More Than Ready (USA)) 3 Win the War (USA) 3 b f War Front (USA) - City Sister (USA) (Carson City (USA)) LA CANADA STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, January 13, 8f 1 Mopotism (USA) 4 b f Uncle Mo (USA) - Peppy Rafaela (USA) (Bernardini (USA)) 2 Mended (USA) 5 b f Broken Vow (USA) - Fair and Square (USA) (Awesome Again (CAN)) 3 La Force (GER) 4 b/br f Power (GB) - La Miraculeuse (GER) (Samum (GER)) MARSHUA'S RIVER STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, January 13, 8f 110yds 1 Ultra Brat (USA) 5 b f Uncle Mo (USA) - Prof McGonagall (USA) (Storm Cat (USA)) 2 Dream Dancing (USA) 4 gr/ro f Tapit (USA) - To Dream About (USA) (Monarchos (USA)) 3 King's Ghost (CAN) 6 b f Ghostzapper (USA) - Fourth Power (USA) (Cozzene (USA)) FT. LAUDERDALE STAKES, G2, Gulfstream Park, January 13, 8f 110yds 1 Shining Copper (USA) 8 ch g Aragorn (IRE) - La Minuta (CHI) (Winged Victory (USA)) 2 One Go All Go (USA) 6 b c Fairbanks (USA) - See Ashleigh Run (USA) (Marquetry (USA)) 3 All Included (USA) 7 ch c Include (USA) - Eximius (GB) (Atticus (USA)) LECOMTE STAKES, G3, Fair Grounds, January 13, 8f 1 Instilled Regard (USA) 3 b/br c Arch (USA) - Enhancing (USA) (Forestry (USA)) 2 Principe Guilherme (USA) 3 b c Tapit (USA) - Aubby K (USA) (Street Sense (USA)) 3 Snapper Sinclair (USA) 3 b c City Zip (USA) - True Addiction (USA) (Yes It's True (USA))

MEGAHERTZ STAKES, G3, Santa Anita, January 15, 8f 1 Madame Stripes (ARG) 6 b f Equal Stripes (ARG) - Courtisane (ARG) (Silver Finder (USA)) 2 Insta Erma (USA) 5 b f Pioneerof the Nile (USA) - Enchanted Woods (USA) (Woodman (USA)) 3 Thundering Sky (USA) 5 b/br f Sky Mesa (USA) - Uninhibited Song (USA) (Unbridled's Song (USA)) LAS CIENEGAS STAKES, G3, Santa Anita, January 20, 6f 110yds 1 Coniah (USA) 5 b/br f Harlington (USA) - Pretti Woman (USA) (Lord At War (ARG)) 2 Bendable (USA) 5 b f Horse Greeley (USA) - Bend (USA) (Arch) 3 Princess Princess (USA) 5 ch f Discreet Cat (USA) - Chez La Femme (USA) (Afternoon Deelites (USA)) W L MCKNIGHT HANDICAP, G3, Gulfstream Park, January 27, 12f 1 Oscar Nominated (USA) 5 ch c Kitten's Joy (USA) - Devine Actress (USA) (Theatrical) 2 Nessy (USA) 5 b/br c Flower Alley (USA) - Flower Forest (USA) (Kris S (USA)) 3 Bullards Alley (USA) 6 b/br g Flower Alley (USA) - Flower Forest (USA) (Kris S (USA)) PEGASUS WORLD CUP INVITATIONAL STAKES, G1, Gulfstream Park, January 27, 9f 1 Gun Runner (USA) 5 ch c Candy Ride (ARG) - Quiet Giant (USA) (Giant's Causeway (USA)) 2 West Coast (USA) 4 b c Flatter (USA) - Caressing (USA) (Honour And Glory (USA)) 3 Gunnevera (USA) 4 ch c Dialed In (USA) - Unbridled Rage (USA) (Unbridled (USA)) LA PREVOYANTE HANDICAP, G3, Gulfstream Park, January 27, 12f 1 Texting (USA) 5 b/br f Candy Ride (ARG) - Mumbo Jumbo (USA) (Kingmambo (USA))

2 Daring Duchess (USA) 6 b f Arch (USA) - A True Pussycat (USA) (Yes It's True (USA)) 3 Taralena (USA) 5 b/br f Arch (USA) - Lenatareese (USA) (Broad Brush (USA)) HURRICANE BERTIE STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, January 27, 7f 1 Jordan's Henny (USA) 4 gr/ro f Henny Hughes (USA) - Sophiano (USA) (Rubiano (USA)) 2 Curlin's Approval (USA) 5 b/br f Curlin (USA) - Withmom'sapproval (USA) (With Approval (CAN)) 3 Rich Mommy (USA) 4 ch f Algorithms (USA) - Woodford Girl (USA) (Honour And Glory (USA)) FRED W HOOPER STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, January 27, 8f 1 Tommy Macho (USA) 6 b c Macho Uno (USA) - Starstream (USA) (Awesome Again (CAN)) 2 Conquest Big E (USA) 5 gr/ro c Tapit (USA) - Seeinsbelieven (USA) (Carson City (USA)) 3 Tale of Silence (USA) 4 b/br c Tale of The Cat (USA) - Silence Beauty (JPN) (Sunday Silence (USA)) TOBOGGAN STAKES, G3, Aqueduct, January 27, 7f 1 Great Stuff (USA) 6 b c Quality Road (USA) - Sumptuous (USA) (Hennessy (USA)) 2 Vulcan's Forge (USA) 5 b/br c Giant's Causeway (USA) - Possibly A Ten (USA) (Seeking The Gold) 3 Takaful (USA) 4 b/br c Bernardini (USA) - Sablah (USA) (Distorted Humor (USA)) JOHN B CONNALLY TURF CUP STAKES, G3, Sam Houston, January 28, 12f 1 Bigger Picture (USA) 7 ch g Badge of Silver (USA) - Glory Dancer (CAN) (Honour And Glory (USA)) 2 Some In Tieme (BRZ) 6 b c Shirocco (GER) - Orma Giusta (BRZ) (Royal Academy (USA)) 3 Chicago Style (USA) 5 b g Kitten's Joy (USA) - You Go West Girl (USA) (Mr Greeley (USA))

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international database HOUSTON LADIES CLASSIC STAKES, G3, Sam Houston, January 28, 8f 110yds 1 Tiger Moth (USA) 6 b/br f Street Sense (USA) - Saratoga Cat (USA) (Sir Cat (USA)) 2 Actress (USA) 4 gr/ro f Tapit (USA) - Milwaukee Appeal (CAN) (Milwaukee Brew (USA)) 3 Martini Glass (USA) 5 b f Kitalpha (USA) - Glassy (USA) (Run Softly (USA)) SAN PASQUAL STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, February 3, 9f 1 Accelerate (USA) 5 ch c Lookin At Lucky (USA) - Issues (USA) (Awesome Again (CAN)) 2 Prime Attraction (USA) 5 b/br c Unbridled's Song (USA) Strawberry Sense (USA) (A P Indy (USA)) 3 Mubtaahij (IRE) 6 b c Dubawi (IRE) - Pennegale (IRE) (Pennekamp (USA)) SAN MARCOS STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, February 3, 10f 1 Itsinthepost (FR) 6 b g American Post (GB) - Sakkara Star (IRE) (Mozart (IRE)) 2 Hayabusa One (FR) 5 ch c Siyouni (FR) - Northern Ocean (FR) (Green Tune (USA)) 3 Editore (BRZ) 6 b c Redattore (BRZ) - Jolie Rose (ARG) (Easing Along (USA)) ROBERT B LEWIS STAKES, G3, Santa Anita, February 3, 8f 110yds 1 Lombo (USA) 3 gr/ro c Graydar (USA) - Burg Berg (USA) (Johannesburg (USA)) 2 Ayacara (GB) 3 ch c Violence (USA) - Pacifica Highway (USA) (Pulpit (USA)) 3 Dark Vader (USA) 3 b/br c Tale of Ekati (USA) - Dark Obsession (USA) (Grand Slam (USA)) PALOS VERDES STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, February 3, 6f 1 Roy H (USA) 6 b g More Than Ready (USA) - Elusive Diva (USA) (Elusive Quality (USA))

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2 Americanize (USA) 5 gr/ro g Concord Point (USA) - American Story (USA) (Ghostzapper (USA)) 3 Red Lightning (USA) 4 ch c Midshipman (USA) - She Too (USA) (Stormy Atlantic (USA)) SWEETEST CHANT STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, February 3, 8f 1 Thewayiam (FR) 3 b f Thewayyouare (USA) - Water Feature (GB) (Dansili (GB)) 2 Salsa Bella (FR) 3 b f Siyouni (FR) - Katsya (FR) (Sinndar (IRE)) 3 Andina Del Sur (USA) 3 ch f Giant's Causeway (USA) - Andina (IRE) (Singspiel (IRE)) SWALE STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, February 3, 7f 1 Strike Power (USA) 3 ch c Speightstown (USA) - Gold d'Oro (USA) (Medaglia d'Oro (USA)) 2 Gotta Go (USA) 3 gr/ro c Shanghai Bobby (USA) Disturbingly Hot (USA) (Unbridled's Song (USA)) 3 Diamond King (USA) 3 b c Quality Road (USA) - Akron Moon (CAN) (Malibu Moon (USA)) HOLY BULL STAKES, G2, Gulfstream Park, February 3, 8f 110yds 1 Audible (USA) 3 b c Into Mischief (USA) - Blue Devil Bel (USA) (Gilded Time (USA)) 2 Free Drop Billy (USA) 3 ch c Union Rags (USA) - Trensa (USA) (Giant's Causeway (USA)) 3 Tiz Mischief (USA) 3 b c Into Mischief (USA) - Indivia (USA) (Tiznow (USA)) FORWARD GAL STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, February 3, 7f 1 Take Charge Paula (USA) 3 b/br f Take Charge Indy (USA) - Perfect Paula (USA) (Songandaprayer (USA)) 2 Sultry (USA) 3 b/br f Malibu Moon (USA) - Viva Carina (ARG) (Giant's Causeway (USA)) 3 My Miss Lilly (USA) 3 gr/ro f Tapit (USA) - Wicked Deed (USA) (Harlan's Holiday (USA))

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DANIA BEACH STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, February 3, 8f 1 Speed Franco (USA) 3 b c Declaration of War (USA) - Nabat Seif (USA) (Street Sense (USA)) 2 Gidu (IRE) 3 gr/ro c Frankel (GB) - Manerbe (USA) (Unbridled's Song (USA)) 3 Untamed Domain (USA) 3 b c Animal Kingdom (USA) - Ciao (USA) (Lear Fan (USA)) WITHERS STAKES, G3, Aqueduct, February 3, 9f 1 Avery Island (USA) 3 b c Street Sense (USA) - Kinda Spicy (USA) (A P Indy (USA)) 2 Firenze Fire (USA) 3 b c Poseidon's Warrior (USA) - My Every Wish (USA) (Langfuhr (CAN)) 3 Marconi (USA) 3 gr/ro c Tapit (USA) - Ponche de Leona (USA) (Ponche (CAN)) LAS VIRGENES STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, February 4, 8f 1 Dream Tree (USA) 3 b f Uncle Mo (USA) - Afleet Maggi (USA) (Afleet Alex (USA)) 2 Exuberance (USA) 3 b/br f Archarcharch (USA) - Wild Forest Cat (USA) (D'Wildcat (USA)) 3 Steph Being Steph (USA) 3 b f Majestic Warrior (USA) - More Than Proud (USA) (More Than Ready (USA))

ROW

Sistema Railway Stakes, G1, Ellerslie, January 1, 1200m 1 Volpe Veloce (AUS) 5 b f Foxwedge (AUS) - Bardego (AUS) (Barathea (IRE)) 2 Packing Pins (NZ) 8 b g Pins (AUS) - Splashing Out (NZ) (O'Reilly) 3 Volks Lightning (NZ) 6 b f Volksraad (GB) - Next Century (NZ) (Stravinsky (USA)) Sire: FOXWEDGE. Sire of 7 Stakes winners. In 2018 - VOLPE VELOCE Barathea G1.

1st Dam: BARDEGO by Barathea. 2 wins in Australia, Blue Diamond Preview (fillies) G3. Dam of 4 winners:

2004: (c Belong To Me) 2005: Syzygy (f General Nediym).

Broodmare.

2006: DELAGO BOLT (g Delago Brom) 5 wins in Australia, Aami Black Opal S LR, 3rd W J Healy S G3, Concorde S G3.

2007: Set To Bolt (f Reset) unraced. Broodmare.

2008: GOLD RISES (g Bel Esprit) Winner in Australia.

2009: (c Purrealist) 2010: BUENA VIDA (g Encosta de Lago) 2 wins in Australia.

2012: Euroa (g Encosta de Lago) ran on the flat in Australia.

2013: VOLPE VELOCE (f Foxwedge) 10 wins in New Zealand, Sistema Railway S G1, Cambridge Stud Eight Carat Ladies' Mile G2, Lawnmaster Eulogy S G3, John Turkington Castletown Triton S LR, NZ Bloodstock Insurance Karaka Mile LR. 2014: Raposa Rapida (c Foxwedge) 2015: Zorro Rapido (f Foxwedge) unraced to date.

2016: (f Helmet) 2nd Dam: Devil's Gold by Bellotto.

4 wins in Australia, 2nd Toy Show Quality H LR. Dam of BARDEGO (f Barathea, see above) Broodmare Sire: BARATHEA. Sire of the dams of 87 Stakes winners.

In 2018 - VOLPE VELOCE Foxwedge G1.

Danehill Fastnet Rock Piccadilly Circus FOXWEDGE b 2008 Forest Wildcat Forest Native Miss Timebank VOLPE VELOCE b f 2013 Sadler's Wells Barathea Brocade BARDEGO b 99 Bellotto Devil's Gold Lilac Silk

Grant Plumbing Levin Turf Classic, G1, Trentham, January 13, 1600m 1 Age of Fire (AUS) 4 b c Fastnet Rock (AUS) - Dragon's Tail (AUS) (Galileo (IRE)) 2 Belle Du Nord (NZ) 4 gr f Reliable Man (GB) - Bankside Belle (NZ) (Volksraad (GB))

international database 3 Savvy Coup (NZ) 4 b f Savabeel (AUS) - Eudora (NZ) (Pins (AUS)) Sire: FASTNET ROCK. Sire of 126 Stakes winners. In 2018 - AGE OF FIRE Galileo G1.

1st Dam: Dragon's Tail by Galileo. unraced. Dam of 3 winners: 2012: FASTNET FIRE (f Fastnet Rock) Winner in Australia.

2013: DYNAMIC LADY (f Fastnet Rock) Winner in Australia.

2014: AGE OF FIRE (c Fastnet Rock) 3 wins in Australia, Grant Plumbing Levin Turf Classic G1, 2nd Al Basti New Zealand 2000 Guineas G1, 3rd John Grigg S G3.

2016: (f Fastnet Rock) 2017: (f Fastnet Rock) Broodmare Sire: GALILEO. Sire of the dams of 95 Stakes winners. In 2018 - AGE OF FIRE Fastnet Rock G1, PLEIN AIR Manduro LR. The Fastnet Rock/Galileo cross has produced: AGE OF FIRE G1, INTRICATELY G1, MAGICOOL G1, QUALIFY G1, RIVET G1, TURRET ROCKS G1, ZHUKOVA G1, MONGOLIAN FALCON G2, OUT AND ABOUT G2, ROCK HERO G2, COVER SONG G3, EAGLE ISLAND LR, ENTSAR LR, MILWAUKEE LR, STAR ROCK LR, Perfect Dare G2, Sailing By G2, Shogun G2, Land's End LR, Special Memories LR, Bedrock LR. Danzig Danehill Razyana FASTNET ROCK b 2001 Royal Academy Piccadilly Circus Gatana AGE OF FIRE b c 2014 Sadler's Wells Galileo Urban Sea DRAGON'S TAIL b 2007 Soviet Star Zaitoona Rise And Fall

JR & N Berkett Telegraph Handicap, G1, Trentham, January 20, 1200m 1 Enzo's Lad (AUS) 6 b c Testa Rossa (AUS) - Sheerama (AUS) (Catbird (AUS))

2 Kawi (NZ) 8 b g Savabeel (AUS) Magic Time (NZ) (Volksraad (GB)) 3 Ferrando (NZ) 5 b c Fast 'n' Famous (AUS) - Rio Nugget (NZ) (Captain Rio (GB)) Sire: TESTA ROSSA. Sire of 62 Stakes winners. In 2018 - ENZO'S LAD Catbird G1.

1st Dam: SHEERAMA by Catbird.

Winner in Australia. Dam of 3 winners: 2006: Mayfair Place (f Royal Academy). Broodmare.

2007: MILANESA (f Snitzel) Winner in Australia. Broodmare.

2008: OKLAHOMA THUNDER (g More Than Ready) Winner in Australia.

2009: Honeymoon (f Red Ransom) unraced.

2010: City of Gold (g Sebring) ran on the flat in Australia.

2011: Bomdidilly (f Lonhro) ran on the flat in Australia.

2012: ENZO'S LAD (c Testa Rossa) 5 wins in New Zealand, JR & N Berkett Telegraph H G1, Yesberg Insurance Pegasus H LR. 2013: Ravishingrickrude (g Encosta de Lago) ran on the flat in New Zealand.

2nd Dam: ROUQUIN by Paris Prince. 6 wins in Australia Reginald Allen H LR, 2nd The 1000 Guineas G1, 3rd Flight S G1. Dam of PATPONG (f Royal Academy: MRC Schillaci S G2). Grandam of Dasoudi.

Broodmare Sire: CATBIRD. Sire of the dams of 12 Stakes winners. In 2018 - ENZO'S LAD Testa Rossa G1.

Danzig Perugino Fairy Bridge TESTA ROSSA b 96 Sir Dapper Bo Dapper Bodega ENZO'S LAD b c 2012 Danehill Catbird Fitting SHEERAMA 2001 Paris Prince Rouquin Makena

Harcourts Thorndon Mile, G1, Trentham, January 20, 1600m 1 Stolen Dance (NZ) 7 b f Alamosa (NZ) - Songbird (NZ) (Black Minnaloushe (USA)) 2 Watch This Space (NZ) 7 b g Elusive City (USA) - Multi Tasker (NZ) (Kaapstad (NZ)) 3 Hiflyer (NZ) 6 b g Tavistock (NZ) Lady Firebird (NZ) (Stravinsky (USA)) Sire: ALAMOSA. Sire of 10 Stakes winners. In 2018 - STOLEN DANCE Black Minnaloushe G1.

The Stewards' Cup, G1, Sha Tin, January 28, 1600m 1 Seasons Bloom (AUS) 6 br g Captain Sonador (AUS) Pyramisa's Lass (AUS) (Not A Single Doubt (AUS)) 2 Speedy Grey (NZ) 6 gr g Thorn Park (AUS) - Udiditagain (NZ) (D'Cash (AUS)) 3 Werther (NZ) 7 b g Tavistock (NZ) - Bagalollies (AUS) (Zabeel) Age: 4-6; Starts: 13; Wins: 5; Places: 5 Earnings: £1,767,413 Sire: CAPTAIN SONADOR. Sire of 3 Stakes winners. In 2018 SEASONS BLOOM Not A Single Doubt G1.

1st Dam: Songbird by Black Minnaloushe. unraced. Dam of 1 winner: 2011: STOLEN DANCE (f Alamosa) 10 wins in New Zealand, Harcourts Thorndon Mile G1, Cal Isuzu Lady Norrie S G2, Eagle Technology Gt N'thern Chall.Stakes G3, 2nd Zabeel Classic Galaxy S G1, Harcourts Thorndon Mile G1, Herbie Dyke S G1, 3rd Cal Isuzu Lady Norrie S G2 (twice) 2012: (f Align) 2014: (c Keeper) 2016: (c Alamosa) 2017: (f Tavistock)

1st Dam: Pyramisa's Lass by Not A Single Doubt. unraced. Dam of 2 winners: 2012: SEASONS BLOOM (g Captain Sonador) 5 wins at 5 and 6 in Hong Kong, The Stewards' Cup G1, Jockey Club Mile G2, 2nd The Celebration Cup G3, Hong Kong Classic Mile LR, 3rd Hong Kong Classic Cup LR. 2013: AMBITIOUS HEART (g Captain Sonador) 2 wins at 4 and 5 in Hong Kong.

2nd Dam: Drama Queen by Prince of Praise. 4 wins in New Zealand, 3rd HIH Insurance Classic LR. Dam of THE FUZZ (g Danasinga: Blamey S G2)

2nd Dam: PYRAMISA by Marauding. 1 win in Australia.

Own sister to PEMBLETON. Dam of SHARKS BAY (g Canny Lad: Post Merchants H G2, 2nd Mercury Sprint G1)

Broodmare Sire: BLACK MINNALOUSHE. Sire of the dams of 7 Stakes winners. In 2018 STOLEN DANCE Alamosa G1.

Broodmare Sire: NOT A SINGLE DOUBT. Sire of the dams of 1 Stakes winners. In 2018 SEASONS BLOOM Captain Sonador G1.

Last Tycoon O'Reilly Courtza ALAMOSA br 2004 Centaine Lodore Mystic Logical Miss STOLEN DANCE b f 2011 Storm Cat Black Minnaloushe Coral Dance SONGBIRD 2007 Prince of Praise Drama Queen Lady Ukiah

Giant's Causeway Shamardal Helsinki CAPTAIN SONADOR b 2006 Kenny's Best Pal Pushing Daisies Pascaline SEASONS BLOOM br g 2012 Redoute's Choice Not A Single Doubt Singles Bar PYRAMISA'S LASS b 2008 Marauding Pyramisa Royal Aria

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international database The Centenary Sprint Cup, G1, Sha Tin, January 28, 1200m 1 D B Pin (NZ) 6 b g Darci Brahma (NZ) - Pins 'n' Needles (NZ) (Pins (AUS)) 2 Beat The Clock (AUS) 5 b g Hinchinbrook (AUS) - Flion Fenena (AUS) (Lion Hunter (AUS)) 2 Mr Stunning (AUS) 6 b g Exceed And Excel (AUS) - With Fervour (USA) (Dayjur (USA)) Age: 4-6; Starts: 14; Wins: 6; Places: 7 Earnings: £1,562,351 Sire: DARCI BRAHMA. Sire of 34 Stakes winners. In 2018 - D B PIN Pins G1, HELLO IT'S ME O'Reilly G2.

1st Dam: PINS 'N' NEEDLES by Pins. White Robe Lodge H G3, 2nd Thorndon Mile G1. Own sister to MISS ALICE and Johnny Jones.

Dam of 2 winners: 2008: ASAVANT (f Zabeel) New Zealand Bloodstock Warstep S LR, 3rd Darci Brahma International S G1. Dam of AVANTAGE (f Fastnet Rock: Karaka Million LR) 2009: Keep-A-Pin (g Keeper) unraced.

2012: D B PIN (g Darci Brahma) 6 wins at 4 to 6 in Hong Kong, Centenary Sprint Cup G1, 2nd L Hong Kong Sprint G1, The Sha Tin Vase LR, 3rd Jockey Club Sprint G2, National Day Cup G3.

2nd Dam: Raining by Centaine.

3rd Wrightson Bloodstock Newmarket H LR. Dam of PINS 'N' NEEDLES (f Pins, see above), MISS ALICE (f Pins: Valachi Downs Canterbury Breeders S G3), COUP FIELDES (g Carolingian: Slade Farm Canterbury S LR), Johnny Jones (g Pins: 3rd Liquorland Gore Guineas LR). Grandam of KING SAUL.

Danzig Danehill Razyana DARCI BRAHMA b 2002 Zabeel Grand Echezeaux Richebourg D B PIN b g 2012 Snippets Pins No Finer PINS 'N' NEEDLES b 2001 Centaine Raining Storm Force

Grande Premio Henrique Possollo, G1, Gavea, February 4, 1600m 1 Fanciful (BRZ) 4 b f Wild Event (USA) - French Riviera (ARG) (Lode (USA)) 2 Per-Piacere (BRZ) 4 b f Plenty of Kicks (BRZ) - Pemaquid (USA) (Deputy Minister (CAN)) 3 Lepate Goose (BRZ) 4 b f T H Approval (USA) - Yellow Girrafe (BRZ) (Quinze Quilates (BRZ)) Sire: WILD EVENT. Sire of 76 Stakes winners. In 2018 FANCIFUL Lode G1.

1st Dam: French Riviera by Lode. unraced. Own sister to Fricoteiro.

Dam of 3 winners: 2012: DOUBLE TALK (f Wild Event) 7 wins in Brazil, Grande Premio Costa Ferraz G3, 3rd Grande Premio Cordeiro da Graca G2.

2013: EU QUERO (c Put It Back) 2 wins in Brazil.

2014: FANCIFUL (f Wild Event) 3 wins in Brazil, Grande Premio Henrique Possollo G1.

2015: Go To Riviera (f Wild Event) unraced to date.

2016: Hold The Dream (c Put It Back) unraced to date.

Broodmare Sire: PINS. Sire of the dams of 27 Stakes winners. In 2018 - D B PIN Darci Brahma G1.

2nd Dam: FRICOTE by Ogygian. 1 win at 4 in USA. Own sister to Empress Sissi. Dam of FRIEDA FRITZ (f Roy: Clasico Juan Shaw G2), Fricoteiro (c Lode: 2nd Clasico Competencia LR, 3rd Stockholm Cup International G3). Grandam of FRENCH CUP, FRUTA DO CONDE. Third dam of FIDEDIGNO.

The Darci Brahma/Pins cross has produced: D B PIN G1, DUGAN LR.

Broodmare Sire: LODE. Sire of the dams of 69 Stakes winners. In

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2018 - FANCIFUL Wild Event G1, HOLLY WOMAN Tawqeet G3.

The Wild Event/Lode cross has produced: DOUBLE CARE G1, ESCARAMUZA G1, FANCIFUL G1, SABERETE G1, TALENTA G1, TAXI AEREO G1, DOUBLE TALK G2, TICK TOCK G2, AUTONOMA LR, CAMBIODESLIGO LR, EMIX WILD LR, So What G1, Surfer Girl G1, Verboten G2, Different Girl G3, Via Blue G3, Queen Australian LR. Icecapade Wild Again Bushel-N-Peck WILD EVENT b 93 Northfields North of Eden Tree of Knowledge FANCIFUL b f 2014 Mr Prospector Lode Grand Luxe FRENCH RIVIERA b 2006 Ogygian Fricote Quip Mask

Grande Premio Estado de Rio de Janeiro, G1, Gavea, February 4, 1600m 1 Flight Time (BRZ) 4 b c Put It Back (USA) - Quanto Carina (BRZ) (Wild Event (USA)) 2 Quarteto De Cordas (BRZ) 4 b c Rock of Gibraltar (IRE) - New Hampshire (BRZ) (Punk (ARG)) 2 Arrocha (BRZ) 4 b c Pounced (USA) - Avon Lady (BRZ) (Signal Tap (USA)) Sire: PUT IT BACK. Sire of 61 Stakes winners. In 2018 - FLIGHT TIME Wild Event G1, FITZGERALD Wild Event G3.

1st Dam: QUANTO CARINA by Wild Event. Winner in Brazil. Dam of 7 winners: 2009: ARRIVE IN STYLE (c Northern Afleet) 2 wins in Brazil.

2010: BACCELO (g Northern Afleet) 2 wins in Brazil, Grande Premio Jockey Club Brasieiro G1, 2nd Grande Premio Presidente da Republica G1, GP Linneo de Paula Machado Gd Criterium G1, GP Estado de Rio de Janeiro G1.

2011: CARROCEL ENCANTADO (c Elusive Quality) 7 wins in Brazil, Grande Premio Salgado Filho G2, 2nd Grande Premio Jockey Club Brasieiro G1.

2012: DOLEMITE (f Adriano) 4 wins in Brazil, Grande Premio Henrique Possollo G1.

2013: Escrittora (f Put It Back) Winner in Brazil, 3rd GP Luiz Fernando Cirne Lima G3.

2014: FLIGHT TIME (c Put It Back) 4 wins in Brazil, Grande Premio Estado de Rio de Janeiro G1, Grande Premio Frederico Lundgren G3.

2015: BLACK CELLO (c Put It Back) Winner in Brazil.

2016: Hi Butterfly (f Adriano) unraced to date.

2017: I Love You Again (c Adriano) 2nd Dam: Shanty by Southern Halo. ran on the flat in Argentina.

Own sister to KAVALLA. Dam of BOTTEGA (f Put It Back: Grande Premio Costa Ferraz G3, Grande Premio Jockey Club de Sao Paulo G3, 2nd Grande Premio Major Suckow G1). Grandam of ET LA VIE CONTINUE, Diversione.

Broodmare Sire: WILD EVENT. Sire of the dams of 28 Stakes winners. In 2018 - FLIGHT TIME Put It Back G1, FITZGERALD Put It Back G3, EASIEST WAY Adriano LR, PREGONERA Gone Astray LR. The Put It Back/Wild Event cross has produced: CAMPEONISSIMO G1, FLIGHT TIME G1, CABIN SKY G2, ET LA VIE CONTINUE G3, FITZGERALD G3, BEOLMAUI KKUM LR, By The By G3, Escrittora G3, Estrella G3, Colibri LR, Fofolete LR. Relaunch Honour And Glory Fair To All PUT IT BACK b 98 Exuberant Miss Shoplifter Articulate Robbery FLIGHT TIME b c 2014 Wild Again Wild Event North of Eden QUANTO CARINA b 2003 Southern Halo Shanty Shangri-La

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photo of the month: Native River and Altior Native River: put in an excellent display of front-running jumping in the Denman Chase

W

e were going to press as the Newbury February “Betfair Super Saturday” meeting was taking place so did not have a chance to update the NH editorial earlier in this issue, but we could not let Native River’s nor Altior’s impressive performances pass unheralded.

Both were returning from significant breaks – Altior (High Chaparral) from a wind operation in the autumn and Native River (Indian River) after a ligament problem sustained subsequent to the 2017 Gold Cup. Both jumped superbly, were fit and in the zone, both beat

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Altior: seen here at Seven Barrows

useful opponents (in particular, Altior disposed of the challenge raised by former Grade 1 winner Politologue without difficulty) and, despite the heavy ground, not a prerequisite for either, both galloped to the line. Connections of both horses must have been proud, pleased and excited for the future in equal measure.

In a year which has seen question marks develop against some of the Cheltenham contenders, it was a joy to watch two talented horses live up to their reputations – and in Native River’s case arguably exceed it.

Altior heads to the Champion Chase the odds-on favourite, while Native River is the 13-2 second favourite for the Gold Cup.

LE HAVRE «

3 Gr.1 WINNERS

CONCEIVED AT €5.000!

© l’Agence

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They are definitely big hopes for 2018» Jean-Claude Rouget

Trainer of impressive 2yo winners Chailloué & Octeville

Chailloué

Octeville

Sylvain VIDAL • +33 (0)6 20 99 10 15 • office@montfort-preaux.com I Mathieu ALEX • +33 (0)6 26 59 19 18 • malex@montfort-preaux.com

CAMELOT

MASTERCRAFTSMAN

Group 1 winner at 2 and Triple Classic winner at 3 by MONTJEU

Proven Group 1 sire by DANEHILL DANCER

CARAVAGGIO Brilliant Royal Ascot winner at 2 and 3 by SCAT DADDY

CHURCHILL

NO NAY NEVER Royal Ascot rocket by SCAT DADDY

PRIDE OF DUBAI

European Champion 2YO and dual Classic winner by GALILEO

Dual Group 1 winning 2YO by STREET CRY From the immediate family of INVINCIBLE SPIRIT and KODIAC

GLENEAGLES

ROCK OF GIBRALTAR

Champion at both 2 and 3 years by GALILEO Out of an own-sister to GIANT’S CAUSEWAY

Proven Group 1 sire by DANEHILL

HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR Proven Group 1 sire by DANEHILL

KINGSTON HILL Group 1 winner at 2 and 3

by MASTERCRAFTSMAN

WAR COMMAND Dewhurst and Coventry Stakes winner by WAR FRONT

ZOFFANY Proven Group 1 sire by DANSILI

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