uk and ire racing
Supreme in the Middle Park The son of first-season sire sensation Mehmas becomes a Group 1 king, writes Aisling Crowe
M
EHMAS HAS transformed the European first-season sires’ title race into a procession, breaking the record held by Iffraaj for most two-year-old winners sired by a first-season sire in the process. And although Tally-Ho Stud’s and Al Shaqab’s son of Acclamation has held a numerical advantage over some of his contemporaries, his debut crop is not short on quality either with nine stakes horses out of 40 winners (at the time of writing). Mehmas was a high-class juvenile, winning the Group 2 July and Richmond Stakes, and placing second in the Group 1 National Stakes and Group 2 Coventry Stakes, his only season to race. From just this first crop of runners he has already sired a colt who has surpassed his own achievements – the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes winner Supremacy. Trained by Clive Cox, Supremacy emulated his sire with victory in Goodwood’s Group 2 Richmond Stakes, and then stepped up to Group 1 class, fending off the challenge of Lucky Vega, who had previously won the Group 1 National Stakes, to win the Middle Park Stakes.
It was a 1-3 in the race for Mehmas whose Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes winner Minzaal took bronze for Shadwell and trainer Owen Burrows. Supremacy was bred by the Honourable Kenneth Lau’s Kangyu International Racing operation and is from a top-class family. His dam Triggers Broom is an Arcano half-sister to dual Group 1 Hong Kong Champions Mile winner Xtension and to Beatrix Potter. She is dam of Harry Angel, who won the Group 1 July Cup and Haydock Sprint Cup, and of last year’s Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes winner Pierre Lapin. Another half-sister A Huge Dream (Refuse To Bend), was Listed placed in France and is the dam of Listed winner Mrs Gallagher. It is also the family of Grade 1 winners Stephen Got Even and Artemis Argotera. Lau boards his mares at John Tuthill’s Owenstown Stud and the farm consigned Supremacy at Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale where he was purchased for £65,000 by Cox. Triggers Broom has a yearling colt by Cotai Glory who made 180,000gns to SackvilleDonald at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1, consigned by Owenstown, who also offers her filly foal by the same sire as Lot 987 at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale. Mehmas was not alone among the first-season sires to have a winner of an important late-season juvenile contest. Both Darley’s Belardo, himself a winner of the Dewhurst, and New Bay, who stands at Ballylinch, added to their impressive early records. Belardo’s daughter Isabella Giles added the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes to
Supremacy with jockey Adam Kirby. The colt cost trainer Clive Cox just £65,000 as a yearling at the Goffs UK Premier Sale
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