Making memories

Above, the Muhaarar Group 1 one-two: his daughters, the three-year-old Eshaada and the year-older Albaflora, fight out the finish to the British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes, the younger filly was successful by a short head

British Champions Day became a race day tribute to the late owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, writes Aisling Crowe

THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY of the QIPCO-sponsored end-of-season extravaganza at Ascot belonged to the breeding empire founded by the late deputy ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum.

His Shadwell Estate Company, which is now headed by his daughter Sheikha Hissa, won three of the six races on the card, including two Group 1 races, both of which were won by homebreds. Both owned their existence in some shape or form to the 1981 Group 1 Fillies’ Mile winner Height Of Fashion purchased by Sheikh Hamdan from her owner-breeder The Queen.

Height Of Fashion continues to be a major influence in so many of the pedigrees of Shadwell’s top-class performers, but Champions’ Day also saw Shadwell’s young stallion, the champion three-year-old sprinter Muhaarar, not only gain his first Group 1 winner but also his first Group 1 runner-up as he sired the one-two in the British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes. The son of Oasis Dream, who won the Group 1 British Champions’ Sprint Stakes on this card in 2015, broke his Group 1 duck as a stallion in style as his daughters Eshaada and Albaflora served up a thrilling finish.

In a tight finish that needed the judge to confirm the result, Eshaada was declared the winner by a nose for Shadwell, jockey Jim Crowley and trainer Roger Varian over Kirsten Rausing’s homebred four-year-old Listed winner Albalfora, trained by Ralph Beckett.

They were more than 3l ahead of the triple Group 1 winner Snowfall, who had beaten Albaflora into second in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks.

“To sire the first two in a Group 1 on a day when the European racing and breeding industry is watching is fantastic,” said Shadwell’s marketing and nominations manager Tom Pennington. “Albaflora, already a Listed winner this year, has been a model of consistency and her day will come, but it was great to see the pair of them giving their all up the Ascot straight. They both showed a fabulous will to win.

“Muhaarar has had a very good year, especially with his fillies, and this has capped it off perfectly,” added Pennington.

Eshaada made a winning debut at two, her only start as a juvenile, and was plunged into Listed company on her seasonal reappearance at three when she won the Haras de Boquetot Fillies’ Trial at Newbury.

She was then second in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes to Loving Dream, who went on to become her sire Gleneagles’ first Group 1 winner in the Prix Royallieu at ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend.

She disappointed when down the field behind Snowfall and Albaflora at York but, freshened up by her trainer for this test, she proved her mettle at the highest level. A glimpse at her pedigree shows where that talent comes from.

She is the third foal out of Muhawalah, who is a Nayef fullsister to the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois and Prix Jean Prat winner Tamayuz, who heads the stallion roster at Shadwell’s Irish division at Derrinstown Stud.

Their dam Al Ishq is by Nureyev and is a half-sister to the Group 1 Prix du Jockey-Club winner and sire Anabaa Blue and out of the Group 3 winner Allez Les Trois, a Riverman half-sister to the great Urban Sea.

Muhawalah has a two-year-old fullbrother to Eshaada named Moonis and a Kingman colt foal on the ground. She was covered by Sea The Stars.

As Nayef’s presence in her pedigree attests, Eshaada provides another link to Height Of Fashion.

“It goes all the way back to the foundations that Sheikh Hamdan laid 35 years ago when he bought Height Of Fashion, and to see her still having such an impact on pedigrees is phenomenal,” remarked Pennington.

After everything that has happened this year, for the team and the staff to have a day like this and for Height Of Fashion to be such a big influence on the results, is amazing. It is incredibly sad that Sheikh Hamdan is not here to be a part of it.

“However, his legacy will live on and Sheikha Hissa was ecstatic following today’s results. “These marquee days are what we all do it for and it is fabulous for everyone involved at Shadwell – it is such a huge team effort.”

The unbeaten Baaeed outpoints Palace Pier in the QEII. It was a race of the highest order – Palace Pier had himself only been beaten once before this race, and jockey Frankie Dettori said after Royal Ascot that the horse was the best miler he had ridden

Height Of Fashion’s direct descendant Baaeed will eventually stand alongside Muhaarar at Shadwell’s Nunnery Stud in Norfolk, or at Derrinstown Stud in Ireland, that much is certain after he dethroned Palace Pier in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, but when he will join the trio, that includes Tasleet and Eqtidaar, is the question.

“Baaeed is a serious horse. He’s unbeaten, already a dual Group 1-winning miler and has proven himself to be right out of the topdrawer beating Palace Pier.

“It is incredibly exciting to think what he can go on and develop into next year,” said Pennington, articulating the excitement that the unbeaten three-year-old has generated for racing fans and pedigree enthusiasts alike.

The unbeaten Baaeed only stepped onto a racecourse in the heat of competition for the first time in June and the bay colt has answered every question posed to him with aplomb.

He upgraded from winning a Leicester maiden to Listed success at Newmarket in July, followed by his Group 3 Thoroughbred Stakes win at Goodwood and then success in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin before his triumph over the top-class field of milers in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

Baaeed is the year-younger full-brother of the four-time Group 3 winner Hukum, who has won at trips of up to 1m6f. They have an older winning half-brother by Dansili named Khasban, who was a winner over a mile and 1m2f.

They are out of the 1m2f Listed Prix de Liancourt winner Aghareed, who is a daughter of the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Lahudood (Singspiel). Their fifth dam is Height Of Fashion. Baaeed and Hukum are bred on the extremely successful cross of Sea The Stars with Kingmambo – the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and Arc winner has eight black-type winners from 20 runners (all races), which is an astonishing 40 per cent.

Sea The Stars is, like Muhaarar, a grandson of Sheikh Hamdan’s dual Group 1-winning sprinter and influential sire Green Desert.

Shadwell has enjoyed plenty of success breeding to Sea The Stars during his stud career with the Group 1 Oaks and King George VI Stakes winner Taghrooda, Mutakayyef and Terebellum, who were multiple Group 2 winners, and the Group 1-placed and the Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Al Aasy amongst the best performers Shadwell has bred by Aga Khan Stud’s six-time Group 1 winner.

“Shadwell has had great success with Sea The Stars and we’re thrilled to have bred arguably his best miler.

“Baaeed also descends from our iconic blue-hen Height Of Fashion and it gives everyone great satisfaction that the foundations Sheikh Hamdan laid during the organisation’s infancy are the cornerstone of our success today,” smiled Pennington.

Choose Me scores again

John Tuthill’s Choisir mare Choose Me produced her second Champions Day winner when Creative Force won the Group 1 British Champions’ Sprint, astoundingly the first runner at the meeting for his all-conquering trainer Charlie Appleby.

The three-year-old gelding is the 46th individual Group 1 winner for his sire Dubawi, who is accustomed to glory on this card, as is Creative Force’s dam, the Listed Fairy Bridge Stakes winner Choose Me.

The 16-year-old is the dam of 2017 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Persuasive, who was also placed at Group 1 level in the Matron Stakes (twice) and the Sun Chariot Stakes for Cheveley Park Stud and John Gosden.

The daughter of Dark Angel has a two-year-old Frankel filly named Persist and yearling colt by the champion, too. Her foal of this year is by Creative Force’s sire and she returned to Dubawi in 2021.

Choose Me has a two-year-old full-brother to Persuasive named Mr Zero. A full-sister to the pair made €230,000 to Amanda Skiffington at Goffs Orby Sale last month. Choose Me has no recorded foal this year, having been covered by Kingman.

She is also the dam of the Listed Distaff Stakes winner Tisbutadream and has a perfect record with all six of her foals to race so far winning.

Creative Force cost Godolphin €400,000 at the 2019 Goffs Orby Sale. He has also won the Group 3 Jersey Stakes and the Listed Carnarvon Stakes this year, and was also second in the Group 2 Lennox Stakes. Trainer Appleby is excited about his potential as a sprinter in the future.

The British Long Distance Cup, won by Trueshan (far right), was a messy race and caused some controversy – Frankie Dettori (Stradivarius) moaned afterwards about the ride and actions of the young jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle on board Baron Samedi (not in shot) saying that: “It was a disgrace. The kid [Dylan Browne McMonagle] in front of me did everything possible to get me beat.”

“Creative Force is a typical Dubawi who should get better with age. The sprint division is there for someone to take the mantle next year and we’ve been looking for a new star sprinter since Blue Point was

retired, so hopefully this horse can be a fun horse for the next year or two. There’s a hole there to be filled and I think he is a young enough horse to do that.”

“I’m delighted for the horse because he has been on the go. He was out at the Craven Meeting, rose through the ranks and came here to win the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot.”

Changing of the guard complete in stayers

Last year, Trueshan announced himself as a stayer of potential with his victory over dual Irish St Leger heroine Search For A Song in the Group 2 British Champions Long Distance Cup.

This year the son of Planteur has gone on to confirm himself the best stayer around

winning the Group 1 Goodwood Cup and defeating Stradivarius in the Group 1 Prix du Cadran, another horse to race on Arc weekend and shine on Champions Day.

The five-year-old gelding, ridden by Hollie Doyle, dethroned the king Stradivarius with victory in the Group 2 event which kick-started Champions’ Day with the chesnut champion only third on the rain-softened ground.

Trainer Alan King said: “I haven’t been this nervous for a long time. I was just a bit worried that it had only been two weeks since France – he was quite a handful to saddle today, so we got away with it.

“Let’s hope we get a wet Royal Ascot as it would be lovely to run him in the Gold Cup,” he added.

Trueshan was bred in France by Didier Blot and was sold for just €8,000 at the 2017 Osarus September Yearling Sale by Haras de Clairefontaine to Pegasus Bloodstock.

He provided a return on that investment when sold by Thomond O’Mara’s Knockanglass Stables to Highflyer Bloodstock and trainer Alan King at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale for 31,000gns.

He ran once at two and won four of his five starts at three. As a four-year-old he won the Listed Tapster Stakes at Haydock and the Persian Punch Stakes on his first attempt at 1m6f. Last year’s victory over Search For A Song was both his first run in a Group race and his first try at the 2m trip.

His sire Planteur is by Danehill Dancer and comes from the Wildenstein family of Peintre Celebre; he is out of the unraced Giant’s Causeway mare Plante Rare, who is a half-sister to Policy Maker.

Planteur won the Group 1 Prix Ganay at four and was second to Lope De Vega in the Prix du Jockey Club. He was also placed in the Grand Prix de Paris, Prix d’Ispahan and twice in the Dubai World Cup.

Planteur stood in France for seven seasons and transferred to Chapel Stud this year, with Trueshan’s emergence shining the spotlight on him just at the right time for Chapel.

Sealiway is champion for France

The breeding accolades after the Champion Stakes belonged to Haras de Colleville, which not only bred the winner Sealiway, his dam Kensea and raced his second dam, but also stand his sire and broodmare sire.

Already a Group 1 winner at two, when defeating the Group 2 Coventry Stakes winner Nando Parrado and the subsequent Group 1 Prix Jean Prat winner Laws Of Indices in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère,

Earlier this year, Sealiway finished second to St Mark’s Basilica in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey-Club and fifth in the Arc just 13 days before his Ascot triumph.

Sealiway transferred to the yard of trainer Cedric Rossi from that of his uncle Freddie after his Classic second, but Mikael Barzalona, who was on board for his first Group 1 victory, was in the saddle at Ascot and expressed his delight at the success.

We had a good draw, he broke well, settled well and we had a good position – it was good. Sealiway showed plenty of stamina in the Arc, but today he showed plenty of speed. He is an excellent horse. He deserved to prove his talent like he did today.

He was sold by his breeder to Paul Nataf for €62,000 at the Arqana August Yearling Sale and is owned by the Chehboub family’s Haras de la Gousserie and his breeder Guy Pariente. It was a magical fortnight for the Chehboub family whose colours were also carried to victory by Rougir in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera.

Sealiway is from the second crop of Galiway and has a fascinating pedigree as he is inbred 3S x 4D to the Wertheimers’ Blushing Away and 4S x 5D to Kenmare.

The Champion Stakes winner is a son of the Kendargent mare Kensea, who won the Listed Prix Herod at Chantilly.

She has a two-year-old full-brother to Sealiway, who was sold for €110,000 at Arqana’s August Sale to MAB Agency, and their yearling full-sister was knocked down to Trotting Bloodstock for €360,000 at Deauville in August.

Kensea produced a full-brother to Sealiway this spring.

Sealiway’s triumph put the seal on a fantastic season for Pariente’s Normandy farm. Earlier in the summer, Kendargent, who has been a star for the stud for a decade, finally got the Group 1 winner he deserved with the victories of Skalletti in the Prix d’ Ispahan and Grosser Dallmayr Preis.

Dubai Honour, a gallant runner-up to Sealiway, also ran on Arc weekend – winning the Group 2 Prix Dollar proving that the short gap between the two meetings no barrier.

Trained by William Haggas for Mohammed Obaida, the three-year-old gelding is from the first of just two European crops sired by Pride Of Dubai, who was champion first-season sire in Australia last year.

The dual Group 1-winning son of Street Cry is from a pre-eminent stallion family as he is out of Al Anood, a Listed-placed Danehill half-sister to Group 1 winner Rafha, the dam of Invincible Spirit and Kodiac, who is also by Danehill, and it’s the family of Mishriff.

Haggas hinted that Dubai Honour may next be sent on his travels in search for that Group 1 success.

“He’s another that has made great progress. I was thinking that the Hong Kong Cup might suit him. He would enjoy that long straight and seems to run well right handed. I don’t know about Australia for him yet,” remarked the trainer.

Cheveley Park winner Tenebrism a first Group 1 score for Caravaggio

A GROUP 1 WINNER in his first crop means that the following year’s marketing and promotion writes itself. For Coolmore’s young sire Caravaggio the Old Master himself couldn’t have painted a better picture for the stud’s stallion brochure when his daughter Tenebrism returned from a lengthy absence to fly home in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes. The bay filly has been exemplary for her sire giving him his first winner from just his second runner when making a successful debut in a Naas 5f maiden at the end of March.

Not raced since then, she certainly seemed a little ring rusty and was last out of the gates, but about halfway through the race she suddenly came alive and Ryan Moore was able to unleash a devastating turn of foot that allowed Tenebrism to hunt down and overtake the runaway Listed Ripon Champion Two-Year-Old Trophy winner Flotus.

The Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes and Group 3 Albany Stakes winner Sandrine finished 3l behind in third.

Tenebrism is one of four black-type winners from the first crop of Caravaggio, who was transferred to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky for the 2021 breeding season.

Intriguingly all four of them are fillies and, as well as Tenebrism, include the Group 2 Debutante Stakes and Group 3 Silver Flash Stakes winner Agartha, who was also second in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes and fourth in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac, Dizzy Bizu, who was Caravaggio’s first stakes winner when emerging victorious in the Listed Prix la Fleche, and the Wesley Ward-trained Her World, who won the

Tyros Stakes at Monmouth Park. Caravaggio is to date the sire of 21 winners from 74 runners with a stakes winners-to-runners record of 5.4 per cent. Of course, the stallion is only one element in the genetic mix and

Tenebrism comes from an outstanding maternal line.

Tenebrism (near side)

She is also the first Group 1 winner for her dam Immortal Verse, who beat Goldikova to win the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois and was also successful in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes for Robert Collet and her owner-breeder Robert Strauss. She sold for a then European record price of 4.3m guineas at the 2013 Tattersalls December Mare Sale, bought by MV Magnier.

Tenebrism is the fourth foal and first Group winner at any level for Immortal Verse, who has clocked up transatlantic air miles as a broodmare. She was covered this spring by Wootton Bassett.

Immortal Verse is a daughter of the outstanding broodmare sire Pivotal, and her full-sister Go Lovely Rose is the dam of Listed Ben Marshall Stakes winner Roseman (Kingman). They are out of the Sadler’s Wells Listed Prix La Camargo winner Side Of Paradise, which means they are inbred 4x4 to the brilliant mare Special.

Side Of Paradise is a half-sister to the champion sprinter and sire Last Tycoon, the Group 2 Premio Melton winner and sire Astronef and the Group 3 Prix du Bois winner The Perfect Life.

Her half-sisters have been extraordinarily successful at stud with the Listed-placed Save Me The Waltz foaling the Group 1 winners Valentine Waltz and Sense Of Style, Tender Is Thenight is the dam of the Group 1 winner Tie Black, while Zelda is the dam of Group 2 winner Zipping and Group 3 winner Zelding, who is the second dam of the Group 1 winners Hydrangea, Hermosa and The United Stakes. They are all out of her Pivotal daughter the Group 2 Prix du Gros-Chene winner Beauty Is Truth.

Ballylinch’s rising star

New Bay was one of the stand-out first-season sires in 2020 with 13.3 per cent stakes horses-to-runners. The son of Dubawi has maintained that level of black-type winners and runners this season, so it is no surprise really that, in his first group of runners, he would get a Group 1 winner.

That it was Saffron Beach only added to the excitement as the filly is also the first Group 1 winner for trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam. Saffron Beach won both of her starts at two, including the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes, and she returned at three to finish second to Mother Earth by just a length in the 1,000 Guineas.

She won the Group 3 Atalanta Stakes to prepare for the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes in which she comprehensively turned the tables on Mother Earth, defeating the dual Group 1-winning daughter of Zoffany by 3l with Dreamloper, by New Bay’s stud companion Lope De Vega, a head behind in third.

Excitingly, owners Ben Sangster and James Wigan confirm they intend to keep Saffron Beach in training as a four-year-old.

She was bred by China Horse Club, a shareholder in New Bay, and the Club was immediately rewarded in the sales ring by the 450,000gns Blandford Bloodstock paid for the Australia half-sister to Saffron Beach, sold by Ballylinch on the opening day of the Tattersalls October Book 1.

Dam Falling Petals won over 7f at two and is a Raven’s Pass three-parts sister to Huntdown, who was third in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes for Godolphin.

Falling Petals was bought for €235,000 from the Darley draft at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale in 2016 and is a half-sister to Continua, the dam of Group 3-winning sprinter and Group 1 first-season sire Cotai Glory.

Second dam Infinite Spirit is by Maria’s Mon and was second in Pontefract’s Listed Silver Tankard Stakes. She is a full-sister to the Listed Prix des Sablonnets winner Moquette out of the Group 3 Matron Stakes winner Eternal Reve by Diesis. She was also second in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes and the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Stakes at Keeneland.

Falling Petals producd a full-brother to Saffron Beach in the spring and was returned to New Bay.