Seven Days: Lamenting the Four Horsemen

[Wandering Eyes]

On the day that Kevin Prendergast was remembered at the Curragh in the naming of the International Stakes, and a day after Peter Easterby was laid to rest, another great of the training ranks was lost with the passing of Barry Hills. Then came the news from America that D Wayne Lukas had too departed.

To read the tributes paid to these men, who did so much to enrich the colour of this storied sport, is something of a treat in itself – their parting gift, if you like – as they conjure the tales and ethos of a far different time. As we remember them, it is easy to feel an extra sorrowful pang of 'things ain't what they used to be'. They sure ain't, but that's not a reason to overlook the positives in what we still have. 

Now more than ever never, it is time to get behind racing and do our bit to impress upon those in power just how key the racing and breeding industry it is to the economies of our various nations, in rural areas in particular. But more than that, it is important to enjoy it. So instead of collectively moaning about all the bits we don't like, why not take a non-racing friend to the races for the day or out on the gallops of a morning. Seeing the majesty of racehorses through the eyes of others may just remind us, whether writing about the sport or reading about it each day, how we got here in the first place. And you never know, it could even attract the odd convert.

Not to wish July away, but this year's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a little under four weeks away and at this stage looks an unmissable contest. The prospect of seeing dual Derby winner Lambourn take on his elders at Ascot is everything this great race should be, with Sunday's Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Calandagan (Gleneagles) also in the mix with Kalpana (Study Of Man), Jan Brueghel (Galileo) and Rebel's Romance (Dubawi) among others.

Wootton's World

With a brace of French Classic winners, it is no surprise to see Wootton Bassett at the head of the sires' table for Europe. The exploits of this last weekend will also help his march on the championship in Britain and Ireland and, even at this halfway stage, there has to be a realistic chance of him securing a first title.

The vagaries of the stallion world are such that there was never any guarantee that Wootton Bassett's success would continue following his high-profile move from Haras d'Etreham to Coolmore, even when taking into account the calibre of mares that he has been covering since relocating five years ago. But now we can see that his transfer fee, however high it may have been, was money well spent. 

Chiefly mixed with that stamina-laced Galileo blood, his offspring are showing more of a tendency towards middle-distance contests than had previously been the case. Four of the ten runners for the Irish Derby were his sons, three out of daughters of Galileo and one from a mare by Galileo's sire Sadler's Wells. 

Any breeding operation which stands stallions as well as having a significant broodmare band will have in mind the need to recruit sires who complement the mares' bloodlines. Danehill, bought by Coolmore from his breeder Juddmonte, did that so well, blending with notable success with Sadler's Wells and later his son Galileo. His profile is not dissimilar to Wootton Bassett in that both were decent two-year-olds who showed plenty of zip, and neither won beyond seven furlongs. Wootton Bassett's finest moment came when taking the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on his fifth start at two, while Danehill's was in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup at three. 

Wootton Bassett gives an alternative route to the Mr. Prospector line which is flourishing over this side of the Atlantic thanks largely to Dubawi, and it is notable that it is Dubawi's son Night Of Thunder currently at the head of the British and Irish sires' championship, with Field Of Gold's sire Kingman splitting him and Wootton Bassett. None of the current top three won beyond a mile but both Night Of Thunder (himself out of a Galileo mare) and Wootton Bassett are proving to be versatile in the distances over which their offspring shine. 

Wootton Bassett's daughter Whirl, for example, won Saturday's G1 Pretty Polly Stakes over 10 furlongs but was only narrowly denied in the Oaks, while Serious Contender, bred on the same cross with Galileo, was less than a length away from winning the Irish Derby. 

Fiona Carmichael's homebred Carmers claimed the G2 Queen's Vase on just his third start and, from the family of City Of Troy, he is an interesting prospect for Wootton Bassett in the St Leger reckoning.

Hanly on High

It is proving to be quite the summer for James Hanly of Ballyhimikin Stud, who hit the heights at Royal Ascot as the breeder of the G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes winner Ombudsman and is the co-breeder, with Trevor Stewart and Anthony Stroud, of Cheveley Park Stud's G3 Pinnacle Stakes winner Estrange. Those two, both by the aforementioned Night Of Thunder, look set to return this Saturday in the G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes and G2 Lancashire Oaks respectively. 

Last Saturday, Hanly was at the Curragh to enjoy a winner in his own colours when Charasson (Kodiac), representing three generations of Hanly family breeding, lifted the six-furlong maiden for John James Feane. Meanwhile, over at Lingfield, the seven-year-old Ballyhimikin graduate River Alwen (Dark Angel), trained by Craig Benton, won for the fifth time. 

Night Of Thunder's ability to get a good fast one, already exemplified by the brilliant but ill-fated Highfield Princess, was evident again at the Curragh on Sunday when Al Shira'aa Racing's Vespertilio got up just at the right moment under a canny Dylan Brown McMonagle ride to claim the Listed Dash Stakes on her drop back to six furlongs. That performance has trainer Willie McCreery dreaming of returning Vespertilio to her home nation of France for a crack at the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest on August 10. A decent performance there would provide a timely update for her Zarak half-sister, who features in the recently released catalogue for the Arqana August Yearling Sale in the draft from breeder Ecurie des Monceaux.

From Ireland to Chile via Argentina

Owner-breeder Arturo Cousino was present at the Curragh on Saturday to watch his homebred Jancis (Tamayuz) finish fifth in a barnstormer of a Pretty Polly Stakes behind Whirl and Kalpana.

That was however just the start of a memorable day for the owner of Haras Macul in Chile as Cousino was represented in three Group/Grade 1 races in three different countries on Saturday, with his Acento Final taking third in the Gran Premio Estrellas Classic at Palermo in Argentina, while he also bred and co-owns Have A Good One, who ran in the Premio Tanteo de Potrancas in Chile. 

Cousino bred Jancis at Ballylinch Stud from the Ruler Of The World mare Blame The Ruler, and he clearly has a strong attachment to a line which the Willie McCreery-trained filly has helped to bring back to life, as he told Brian Sheerin last year when Jancis won the G3 Brownstown Stakes at Leopardstown. 

Cousino is also rightly proud of Acento Final, winner of won last year's G1 Gran Premio Jockey Club at San Isidro, whom he purchased as a youngster and is one of 11 Grade 1 winners for Treasure Beach, who was runner-up in the Derby before going on to win the Irish Derby 14 years ago. The son of Galileo started his stud career in Florida before Cousino put together a syndicate to stand him at Haras Abolengo in Argentina. 

Cousino explained how he has always been drawn to European racing. He said, “Racing here in Ireland and England is much more similar to racing in Chile or Argentina, than to American racing. There is more racing on the turf and over longer distances, and that is what I like.”

Cousino will hopefully have more happy days on the track with Jancis, for whom her trainer is considering a return to Gowran Park, where she ran a good second on her seasonal debut back in May. She has already done plenty to justify her continuing the international outlook of the breeder's operation when the time comes for her to head to the paddocks. 

Skukuza Rewards Rupert's International Operation

The only non-Irish-based trainer to lift one of the prizes on offer at the Irish Derby meeting was Ed Dunlop, whose Skukuza landed his first stakes victory in the Listed Colm McLoughlin Celebration Stakes, named to honour the late CEO of Dubai Duty Free, who had a long association with the Curragh as a valued sponsor. 

The decision to keep the four-year-old son of Blue Point back from his intended mission in the Royal Hunt Cup has worked out well for Dunlop and for Skukuza's owner-breeder Gaynor Rupert, whose Cayton Park Stud is the former Juddmonte-owned farm in Wargrave. Prior to being in Prince Khalid Abdullah's ownership, Cayton Park Stud was the starting point for owner-breeder Gerald Leigh, who later moved to Eydon Hall Farm Stud. 

Hermione Fitzgerald was at the Curragh over the weekend to represent Rupert, who also owns Drakenstein Stud in her native South Africa, and who bought Wemightakedlongway (Australia) after her victory in the G3 Salsabil Stakes in April. The filly has subsequently finished fourth in both the Oaks and the Pretty Polly Stakes.

“It was definitely worth Skukuza missing Ascot last week to come back here. It's a shame Gaynor isn't here to enjoy this, as she also had Wemightakedlongway running [on Saturday] but I have just spoken to her and she's delighted,” said Fitzgerald.

As well as Dunlop, Rupert currently has horses in training with Ed Walker, Ralph Beckett, Andrew Balding, Joseph O'Brien, James Ferguson, John and Thady Gosden, and William Haggas, and she also recently purchased the Marco Botti-trained Great Generation (Holy Roman Emperor), who won the G3 Chartwell Fillies' Stakes in her colours.

Fitzgerald added, “South Africa is obviously her main focus, and she's hoping to be champion breeder there this year – it's very close at the moment with Mary Slack – but she has some lovely runners coming through here and is developing a select broodmare band at Cayton Park with a few South African mares coming over.”

One of those mares is the homebred Shingwedzi (Trippi), the dam of Skukuza, who was a treble winner and Group-placed in South Africa. She is herself out of the Daniel Wildenstein-bred Buffalo Dance (Sadler's Wells), a half-sister to the G1 Prix de Diane winner Bright Sky (Wolfhound), and Shingwedzi's good page looks as though it could be in for a few more updates from her upwardly mobile son.

Dept Q

The Quinault Appreciation Society, which surely has a growing membership season by season, was very happy with the latest win for the five-year-old at York on Saturday in the relocated G3 Criterion Stakes. 

Recruited from Godolphin by owner Tom Morley for 25,000gns as a juvenile, Quinault continues to showcase the talents of his excellent trainer Stuart Williams, who, after patiently coaxing the headstrong son of Oasis Dream to settle, has reaped the rewards of his remedial work with the sprinter who has now won 11 of his 25 starts and amassed more than £400,000 in earnings. 

This, however, was his first Group win, to add to three at Listed level, and it earns Quinault a free pass for the newly upgraded G1 City Of York Stakes back on the Knavesmire in August. 

Kyprios's Farewell to Fans

Along with the top-class racing on offer, Irish Champions Weekend will be enhanced by a farewell appearance from Kyprios (Galileo), who will parade at the Curragh, scene of his two G1 Irish St Leger victories in 2022 and 2024. 

The brilliant stayer was retired at the end of May after aggravating an old injury in his final start in the G3 Saval Beg Levmoss Stakes. He went out on a high, claiming his 17th win from 21 starts, and will stand at one of Coolmore's stallion stations for next year. 

His co-owner-breeder Moyglare Stud has another decent runner to look forward to this season in Suzie Songs (Starspangledbanner), who prevented a Coolmore/Wootton Bassett hat-trick of group-race wins on Saturday when overhauling odds-on favourite Flushing Meadows to land the G3 Anglesey Stakes for Ger Lyons on her second start. 

The post Seven Days: Lamenting the Four Horsemen appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article