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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
We have become accustomed to the prevalence of Urban Sea in today's pedigrees, chiefly through her high-flying sons Galileo and Sea The Stars. But another mare whose name pops up on the page of Sea The Stars as well as that of the recently deceased Wootton Bassett is Park Appeal, whose influence should not be underestimated. The daughter of Ahonoora features in the second and third generations respectively of those two stallions, who commanded the highest fees in Ireland in 2025 at €250,000 and €300,000. In the case of Sea The Stars, Park Appeal is there as the dam of his sire, Cape Cross. In turn, Wootton Bassett's sire Iffraaj is out of Cape Cross's half-sister, Pastorale (Nureyev). It is likely that Park Appeal will have her say in some way in the result of Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, for six of the 17 runners carry traces of her blood. The Wertheimer pair of Aventure and Sosie, and the Aga Khan Studs' Daryz are all by Sea The Stars, the winner of the Arc at the culmination of his own sensational three-year-old season in 2009, and who also features as the broodmare sire of Quisisana (Le Havre). The Japanese Derby winner Croix Du Nord is out of Rising Cross, the mighty little filly from the third crop of Cape Cross who ran second in the Oaks back in 2006. Then there is the Prix de Diane winner Gezora, who is easily now the best runner for her exiled sire Almanzor, the horse responsible for bringing his own father Wootton Bassett to wider attention when becoming the champion three-year-old of 2016. Wootton Bassett has been fully praised for his exploits thus far and his untimely death last week at the age of 17 will almost certainly continue to be rued in the years ahead. But there remains a nagging feeling that Cape Cross, a son of Green Desert, has never quite been given the credit he deserves for his own contribution to the breed, particularly when considering the fact that he sired three of the best horses of the modern era: Sea The Stars, Golden Horn and Ouija Board. Sea The Stars's feat of winning the Derby, Eclipse, Irish Champion Stakes and the Arc among his six Group 1 victories was emulated six years later by Golden Horn, who missed out on a fifth when beaten a neck by Arabian Queen (Dubawi) in the Juddmonte International. Ouija Board was simply an outstanding mare. Her wins included the Oaks, Irish Oaks, Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (twice), Hong Kong Vase, Prince of Wales's Stakes, and Nassau Stakes. Finally, Lord Derby's homebred filly was also just over two lengths behind Deep Impact when third in the Japan Cup in her swansong on the track before she set sail for Stanley House Stud. There she went on to deliver a Derby winner. What breeder could ask for more? Oujia Board's Derby winner Australia (Galileo) has put his own stamp on this season by providing the Derby and Irish Derby winner Lambourn as well as the Coronation Stakes winner Cercene, and another of her sons, the Coronation Cup runner-up Frontiersman (Dubawi), is also at stud, standing at Overbury alongside Golden Horn, who has sired the winners of this year's Gold Cup at Ascot, and Champion Hurdle and Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. In the background of all these horses, some 40 years after her glittering juvenile season, is Park Appeal. How much of their success can be attributed to her genetic presence is debatable but it is worth recalling her own exploits on the track and her influence thereafter. Pinhooked as a foal in Ireland for 6,600gns, the buyers of the dark brown Ahonoora filly were gifted a dream update when Park Appeal's year-older half-sister Desirable (Lord Gayle) won the Cheveley Park Stakes of 1983 a fortnight before she returned to the ring as a yearling, selling for 62,000gns to Paddy and Seamus Burns of Lodge Park Stud. Desirable, who also found fame as the dam of 1,000 Guineas winner Shadayid, proved to be no fluke for their dam Balidaress, who also produced Irish Oaks winner Alydaress and Balistroika, who became the dam of Classic winner Russian Rhythm. Park Appeal, trained by Jim Bolger, followed her sister in landing the Cheveley Park Stakes having finished one place better than Desirable when also winning the Moyglare Stud Stakes. Named the 1984 champion two-year-old filly in both Ireland and England, she was sold to Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum towards the end of her juvenile season. This was by far her best year on the track and four subsequent runs at three and four garnered only one more victory, in the Country Queen Stakes at Hollywood Park. Park Appeal died 20 years ago, but not before she had bestowed a number of stallions upon Sheikh Mohammed's Darley operation. The Group 1-winning miler Cape Cross of course leads the cohort, and two of the mare's daughters, the aforementioned Pastorale as well as Arvola (Sadler's Wells), respectively produced Iffraaj and Diktat. Cape Cross's Listed-winning full-brother Great Britain ended up at stud in South Africa, while another half-brother Lord Of Appeal (Sadler's Wells) stood in Ireland at Knockhouse Stud. In all, Park Appeal was responsible for six black-type performers, including the Group 3 winner Vincennes (King's Best). Though her name is regressing in pedigrees, appearing in those of two such prominent stallions as Sea The Stars and Wootton Bassett will mean that Park Appeal will linger for some time at least. Both are already represented by a number of sons at stud, and will doubtless play important roles as broodmare sires. In the case of Sea The Stars, this yearling sales season includes the first crops of two of his star performers: Baaeed and Stradivarius. At Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, which begins on Tuesday, Baaeed has the largest representation of any of the first-season sires, with 23 lots on offer. They include Cheveley Park Stud's colt out of the G1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Queen's Trust (Dansili) and Camas Park Stud's half-sister to top sprinter Ten Sovereigns. Notably, Lodge Park Stud is selling one of the two Stradivarius yearlings in Book 1. The Burns family, perhaps more than anyone, will have appreciated of the efforts of Park Appeal. In the year of her superb two-year-old season, Paddy Burns struck again at the yearling sales for another daughter of Ahonooora, giving 42,000gns for the filly who would become known as Park Express. Those two Ahonoora mares each left a significant mark, both at the races and in the paddocks, and the story of Park Express is one for another day. The post A Champion on the Track, Park Appeal Remains a Force in Modern-Day Pedigrees appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The Challenge, presented by GaineswayView the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Local trainer Robert Dennis won half of the eight-race card at Ascot Park on Friday, culminating with a special win by Sir Sterling in the Vale Tony Dennis (1400m). The $40,000 race was run a month after the passing of Robert Dennis’ father, the multiple Group One-winning horseman Tony Dennis. “It’s been a terrific day – it’s always great to train any winner, so to get four is hugely rewarding,” Robert Dennis said. “Winning the race named for Dad was a nice cherry on top.” Sir Sterling went into Friday’s Rating 75 event on the back of a first-up victory over 1335m at Gore on September 21. Despite rising from 58.5kg to 60.5kg on Friday, he was backed into $4.80 equal favouritism. Ridden by Daniel Bothamley, Sir Sterling settled in second before slowly but surely wearing down the front-running Buoyant and winning by half a head. Third-placed Maximus Augustus finished four and a half lengths behind the first pair. “It’s really satisfying to go back-to-back with Sir Sterling,” Dennis said. “I thought he might need the run at Gore in order to have him ready for today. I didn’t expect him to win so well at Gore. He had more weight today, but he did the job very well again, which was great to see. “We’ll see how he comes through this run today and then have a look at the programmes. He’s up to open grade now, so we’ll try to find some nice open handicaps for him through the coming weeks.” Dennis also played a prominent role in Friday’s two $50,000 open handicaps. The Radiant One resumed with an eye-catching second behind the high-flying Martell in the STAC Weddings Handicap (1200m), and then Stolen Magic drew right away down the straight to win the Olphert Contracting Handicap (1600m) by six and a quarter lengths. Stolen Magic has now had 18 starts for four wins and three placings, with the promise of more to come. “Stolen Magic is really coming of age this time in,” Dennis said. “She’s always shown ability, but has just been a bit physically and mentally immature. She’s starting to become the finished package. “We could look for a race for her during the New Zealand Cup Carnival, but she might be a better horse kept closer to home. My feeling is we’d also be better off targeting races in the autumn, particularly if she continues to improve the way she has been.” Dennis was also pleased to see Azilee Star and Pretty Fly leave maiden ranks earlier on the Ascot Park card. “Azilee Star just continues to improve,” Dennis said. “She’s been thriving since her last-start placing at Gore. She’s a bit of an unassuming filly and still has a bit of maturing to do, but she has plenty of ability and handles rain-affected ground well. “Pretty Fly’s performance was expected first-up today. The break that we gave her has done her the world of good. She’s another one that’s always shown a lot of ability and is really going the right way.” Azilee Star, Pretty Fly and Stolen Magic were all ridden by Donovan Cooper, who completed a winning quartet of his own with victory on the Graham Eade and Brooke Kincaid-trained Orepuki Gem in the Vale Peter Williams (2200m). View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Last year's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes winner Economics, who has been off the track for almost a year, has been given an entry for the G2 Bahrain International Trophy on November 15. The 2025 running of the $1m contest has attracted strong interest from across the globe, with the 68 entries representing seven different territories and including five Group 1 winners. His Highness Shaikh Isa Bin Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa's Economics is joined by White Birch, Tornado Alert, Calif, Sibayan, See The Fire, Wimbledon Hawkeye and Royal Champion among the glittering list of potential runners. Also set to return to Bahrain is Victorious Forever's G2 Hardwicke Stakes winner Isle Of Jura, who enjoyed a notable spell in Bahrain in 2023-24, winning four times, culminating with victory in The King's Cup. Britain has the largest entry of 24 horses, followed by Japan with 14 entries and 11 from France. The Bahrain International Trophy, which is run over 2000m and has been won in the last two years by the Richard Fahey-trained Spirit Dancer, has a maximum field of 14 runners. The post Economics Heads Bumper Entries for Bahrain International Trophy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
I see your 'mate' Birdcage Bill having a bit of trouble grasping that. I see also the infamous in his own lunchtime, Michael Hawke, has moved on to giving CW a bit of stick for some of the garbage he posts on his FB site. He is deluded to think that many of those famous quotes from very deep-thinking people, actually refer to him and his codswallop............... baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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