Seven Days: A Classic Fit For a King

[Wandering Eyes]

Poor old Kingman, eh? It was his bad luck to pitch up at Banstead Manor Stud in the year that all the fuss was about Frankel's first yearlings. Much of the interest in the intervening decade has been about Frankel, too, but that hasn't stopped Kingman laying down his own markers in achievement at stud, highlighted this past weekend with a one-two in the Irish 2,000 Guineas via Field Of Gold and Cosmic Year. 

They are not by any means his first star performers – Persian King first held that accolade, and Palace Pier, Sparkling Plenty and Elmalka are among those to have added to Kingman's portfolio – but Field Of Gold is the first to look like he could be that bit extra special. Only time will tell whether he is or not, but his Curragh romp, on ground easier than that which he encountered in the Guineas at Newmarket, carried the portent of greater things to come. 

Let's not forget that Kingman himself, also trained at the Gosdens' Clarehaven, was only claiming the first of his four Group 1s when he won the Irish Guineas. He overturned his Newmarket conqueror Night Of Thunder when next the pair met in the St James's Palace Stakes, before giving Juddmonte a third Sussex Stakes in four years when defeating the previous year's winner Toronado. Kingman then rounded out a career that amounted to 14 months of racing but plenty of flashes of brilliance in the Prix Jacques Le Marois. 

With Ruling Court reportedly heading to Epsom, Field Of Gold could have the Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Henri Matisse (Wootton Bassett) and Guineas third Shadow Of Light to contend with if the St James's Palace is indeed his next target, and a rematch with Cosmic Year also seems likely.

It's not exactly breaking news to state that the late Prince Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte has, over four decades and counting, become one of the most revered owner-breeder operations in the world. It is now the norm for other breeders, great and small, to take pride in buying into a Juddmonte family. It is then a great compliment to the breeders whose stock are chosen by the Juddmonte buying team, which includes in Europe Simon Mockridge and Barry Mahon. Bobby and Honora Donworth's Roundhill Stud – of which we will be hearing more in TDN later this week – is the latest to supply Juddmonte with a Classic winner after the Harper family of Whitsbury Manor Stud bred and sold Chaldean, winner of the 2,000 Guineas two years ago. These sons of Kingman and Frankel respectively were bought as foals: in Chaldean's year Juddmonte bought four foals from Tattersalls and Goffs, including Arrest, another son of Frankel who is now a dual Group 3 winner and was runner-up in the St Leger. They returned to the draft of his breeder Swordlestown Little two years later to buy his Wootton Bassett half-brother Detain, who is entered in Sunday's G1 Prix du Jockey Club. The other foal bought from the Goffs November Sale that year was Field Of Gold. Another four were picked up at Tattersalls, but from a small sample it's quite something to have two lining up in Classics on consecutive weekends, not to mention a number of homebreds. 

Of course Kingman could not have the spotlight to himself for long. Come Sunday, Frankel's daughter Lake Victoria, the top-rated juvenile filly in Europe in 2024, claimed the Classic that she so richly deserved when landing the Irish 1,000 Guineas. Back in 2016, her dam Quiet Reflection became the second winner of the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, and all eyes will be on her daughter in the Coronation Stakes this year. 

Within the space of 15 minutes Frankel's offspring had claimed two of the four Group 1 races on offer in Europe on Sunday afternoon, Lake Victoria at a mile and the Aga Khan Studs' Candelari over almost two miles in the newly promoted Prix Vicomtesse Vigier. The four-year-old gelding continues an excellent season for his trainer Francis Graffard and may be seen next in the Gold Cup. 

In fact, Candelari's fellow group winners on the day at Lomgchamp may all be seen next in England as the Coral-Eclipse Stakes is being considered by Andre Fabre for the Wertheimers' Prix d'Ispahan winner Sosie (Sea The Stars), while Hisaaki Saito's Prix du Palais Royal winner Topgear (Wootton Bassett) is being primed for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. 

“I already have my hat ready for Ascot,” trainer Christopher Head told our colleagues at JDG.

Here's to Maturity

The two standouts from the older-horse division – so far anyway – continued their romp through the season on Sunday and may yet clash in the Eclipse on July 5. The aforementioned Sosie is fast becoming a favourite with this column. Any runner from the family of the great Gestut Karslhof matriarch Sacarina always piques the interest in this corner and Sosie has put himself firmly up there with the best of this family, which includes his close relative Sea The Moon and the latter's fellow German Derby winners Samum and Schiaparelli. 

Fourth in the Arc last year having beaten Illinois to win the Grand Prix de Paris, Sosie has so far annexed the Ganay and the Ispahan and it will be a thrill indeed to see him at Sandown. 

From an even more celebrated family comes the tall, dark and handsome Camelot colt Los Angeles, who has the celebrated Allegretta as his fourth dam. He was a length and a half ahead of Sosie when third in the Arc and is this season starting to look like a saviour of the reputation of the Irish Derby by winning first the Mooresbridge Stakes and now the Tattersalls Gold Cup. The latter had a proper cast of five previous Group 1 winners lining up and they duly finished in the first four places bar Continuous, whose tardy break and pace-making duties gave him little chance of finishing anywhere but out the back. 

With Anmaat, Kalpana, White Birch, Calandagan, Goliath, Economics, Facteur Cheval, Tamfana, Illinois, Jan Brueghel and Friendly Soul among the older horses in training this year, we could be in for some enticing clashes come high summer. 

Hot, Hot, Hot

Among that brigade we must also recognise the efforts of Mgheera in her first two starts for Ed Walker since leaving France. The daughter of Zoustar was already a Listed winner and Group 2-placed for her former trainer Manon Scandella-Lacaille, and she is thriving at the age of five, having won the G3 Prix de Saint-Georges and G2 Temple Stakes within a fortnight. 

Bred by David Redvers and Stephen and Becky Hillen at Ecurie des Monceaux, she changed hands in December at Arqana for €250,000 and now races for Lord Lloyd Webber and Arthur Mitchell of Yarraman Park Stud in Australia. Longer-term plans for Mgheera include a date with the Lloyd Webbers' Too Darn Hot, but in Australia rather than in Newmarket. A run at Royal Ascot is surely on the cards first, but it would be great if she can stick around up north long enough to run in the Nunthorpe in August. 

Too Darn Hot could himself feature prominently at the royal meeting if his recent run of two-year-old winners is anything to go by. In something of a flurry of new TDN Rising Stars last week, his son Wild Desert, whose dam Winters Moon (New Approach) is already well on her way to Blue Hen territory, courtesy of her Group 1-winning sons Shadow Of Light and Earthlight, became the latest for his sire on debut at Haydock. 

Wild Desert was the second Rising Star in two days for Too Darn Hot, following the Yarmouth romp of Wathnan Racing's Postmodern, and the stallion's third juvenile winner of last week was the Hugo Palmer-trained Fitzella, who looks to be Albany-bound.

Medallions All Round

Various permutations of syndicates involving American owners Steve Weston, Dean Reeves and Medallion Racing enjoyed a memorable Sunday on the Curragh thanks to trainer Donnacha O'Brien. His stable star Porta Fortuna (Caravaggio) returned in fine style in the G2 Lanwades Stud Stakes ahead of her bid to claim her third successive group victory at Royal Ascot following her win in the 2023 Albany Stakes and last year's Coronation Stakes. 

The opening two-year-old maiden on Sunday had gone to Balantina (Ten Sovereigns), who races for Steve Weston and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and was picked up at Arqana last August for €100,000 by Mark McStay's Avenue Bloodstock, which had sponsored the opening race on the previous day at the Curragh. It will be no surprise to see her now attempt to give the team a second Albany Stakes win.

Later on the card, the three-year-old filly Sharpen (Fastnet Rock), who was also making her second start, underlined the good form of the younger O'Brien's stable when winning the 10-furlong maiden for Weston along with Stewart Hoffman, Philip Shelton's Medallion Racing, and Jon Green's DJ Stable. McStay, who also bought Porta Fortuna privately as a two-year-old, had signed up Sharpen at the Goffs Orby Sale of 2023 with Kim Valerio.

More Stakes Glory for Aykroyds 

For owner-breeders who have just four mares, David and Vimy Aykroyd can take immense pride in having won two Derby trials this season. First came Pride Of Arras's impressive victory in the G2 Dante Stakes at York, and the New Bay colt is now third-favourite for the Derby. On Saturday his stable-mate Amiloc (Postponed) won the Listed Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood but, as a gelding, he will not be Epsom-bound. 

Trainer Ralph Beckett pointed to a little wayward streak in his dam Colima – herself by Derby winner Authorized – and some of her offspring as the reason for Amiloc having not remained a colt. He does appear now to be channeling his ability nicely, however. It took a little time for him to warm to the idea of winning the Cocked Hat but, once rolling, Amiloc beat another stable-mate, Sir Dinadan, by a comfortable four lengths. They are both now being considered for Royal Ascot, with the King Edward VII Stakes the likely target for Amiloc and the Queen's Vase for Sir Dinadan.

Liberate, Celebrate 

Our congratulations go to James Horton and Maria Ryan who were married on Saturday.  We had a little chuckle that the day of their nuptials coincided with a win for their stable of Kirsten Rausing's filly – ironically named in this case – Liberate. She was the third winner of the week for the Hortons and we wish them many more days of happiness and success, both in marriage and on the turf. 

 

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