Naval Crown NE W

The power-packed Dubawi who beat the winners of the July Cup, Commonwealth Cup, Nunthorpe, Sussex, Prix Maurice de Gheest, Flying Five, Prix de la Forêt and the British Champions Sprint in an incredibly strong field for the G1 Diamond Jubilee.

jetting allthe wayto Australia didthennotfaze himashe took outoneofthe nation’s most reveredprizes, beating prolific top-level winner AnamoeintheCox Plate.

Hisfour-year-old campaign gotoff to aflyeras he wonfor thethirdtimeinthehighest grade,landingthePrix Morny, andthere wasto be a fourth Group1 successinthePrince of Wales’s Stakes,inwhichhis rivals were Bay Bridge,Grand Glory, Shahr yarand Lord North.

Thedecisionto revert toa mileforthefirsttimeinmore thana year, ratherthan have a pop atBaaeed at York, backfired whenhefinished out withthe washinginthePrix Jacquesle Marois,and rather typicallyinjurythen necessitatedhis retirement.

StateOf Rest is outofan unraced Repose half-sister to Listed winners Echo Riverand PrinceAlzain, making hima half-brothertothedual Group-winningTranquilLady (by Australia),who soldto Godolphinfor2,700,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale.

Notably, QuietAmerican was soldprivatelyto Juddmonte carr yingtoFrankel in May.

Stradivarius

9ch SeaThe Stars -Private Life (Bering)

The National Stud:£10,000 RPR125

Oneofthe best andmost popular stayers thiscentury, the National Stud’s Stradivariuscutsaunique figure amongtheclassof2023 anditishoped by thiswriter that the seven-timeGroup1 winneris supported by breeders at a timewhen staminais seenasaheinous crime.

A sonofthegreat Sea The Starswhoselongevity, soundnessandfortitudeare traitsthat should be prized whenitcomes to breeding racehorses, Stradivarius wasa winneronhisthirdandfinal start at two, overamile.

He begantocomeinto his ownasathree-year-old, winningtheGroup2 Queen’s Vase andthefirstoffour Group1 Goodwood Cups Stradivarius wasalso just halfa lengthandashorthead away from becominga Classic hero inthe St Leger, when beaten that distanceinthird behind Capri.

TheBjorn Nielsen homebred progressed to leading stayer statuswhen winningallfiveofhis starts at four,mostnotablythe Gold Cup at RoyalAscotand another Goodwood Cup.

He wonfiveofhis startsasa five-year-old,defendinghis crowns at Ascotand Goodwood, bothtimes with Dee Ex Bee as runner-up,and hetruly wasthe cupkingof 2019,ashealso wonthe Yorkshire, Lonsdaleand Doncaster Cups.

He wonhisthird Gold Cup at Ascot by animpressive ten lengths at the ageofsixin 2020,and beat the samehorse, Nayef Road,to winthe Goodwood Cupforthefourth time. Stradivariusdeser veda crack at the Arc and duly got one, buttheground was unhelpfullyheavyandhe didn’t getaproperchanceto showwhat he coulddoback at amileanda half.

At sevenheaddedthree moreGroup-race wins to his CV,thoughatop-levelvictory eludedhimasTrueshantook champion stayerhonours.

And at eight, it was Kyprios’s youngerlegsthat prevented Stradivariusfromadding to his seventop-level wins,though hedidlandathird Yorkshire Cup.

Thegreat stayer retired the winnerof20ofhis35 outings, and withprize-moneyof nearly£3.5million-nicely topped up by bonuses. His18 Pattern winsisa European record.

Outofthe Bering mare Private Lifeanda half-brother to winnersincludingGroup3 scorer Persian Storm, Stradivarius hailsfromthe familyofchampion stayer and German sireProtectionistand descendsfromchampionfilly Pawneese

Waldkonig 6b Kingman- Waldlerche (Monsun) Knockhouse Stud:€2,500 RPR116

A sonof Kingmanandfrom theexceptionalWfamilythat includesArcheroandfirstseason sire Waldgeist, Waldkonig standshisfirst season at Knockhouse Studas a National Hunt sire, perhaps not sucha surprisingmove givenacloserlook at his pedigree

Bred by Newsells Park and GestutAmmerland, Waldkonig commandedplenty of attention fromtheoffashis 600,000gnspricetagfrom Tattersalls Book1testifies.

He isnotonlya half-brother toanArc winneranda talentedGroup2-winningfilly in Waldlied,heis outofthe Group-winning Waldlerche, a Monsun half-sister to St Leger heroandexciting young jumps sire Masked Marvel,thesireof this season’sGrade1 Hatton’s Grace scorer Teahupoo

Thepage notablyincludes the wonderful Wurftaube, the damof German Derbyhero Waldparkand Waldmark.

Waldkonig ranonlyfive timesforthe Gosdens. His nine-length Wolverhampton scoreonhis sole start at two sawhimenterthe bookmakers’ reckoningfor Classichonoursthefollowing year, butthat didnotcome to fruition.

He dulydid make his reappearance at three inthe Covid-hit yearof2020on 2,000 Guineasdayonthe Rowley Mile, butinthe contestthat preceded the Classic,the Listed Newmarket Stakes,andany Derbydreams were ratherdashedasthe odds-onfavourite could manage onlythirdto Mishriffform, though,that was made tolook much betterindue course.

Waldkonig wasthen runnerup to subsequent Dante Stakes second HighestGroundina noviceevent at Haydock.

He returned at fourto successfullyconcede weight to

Unfortunately,he was unabletofulfilhis potential–whichcould have included tryingtoemulatehis halfbrother ’s Arc triumph–as injuryinter vened,thoughit speaksvolumesforthe regard inwhichhe washeldthat Waldkonig wasnot retired untillast year, with connectionsfrustrated in attemptstogivehima chance at Group1level.

Last-to-firstwinneroffour stallion-makingraces and from thenumberoneRoyal Ascotjuvenilesireline.