A couple of breeders (2017)

The Royal Stud

As in previous years I’ll illustrate the change that is happening with the Royal Stud by listing this year’s 2yos that would not have been in the stud 10 years ago.

Learn by Heart c by Frankel out of Memory (3 parts brother to Recorder: Haggas).
Queens Gallery c by Dutch Art out of Raymi Coya (Hannon)
Round the Buoy c Henrythe navigator out of Key Point (out of half-sister to Kalanisi: Haggas)
Northwest Passage c by Oasis Dream out of Sequence (out of half-sister to Sinndar: Balding)
Elector c by Dansili out of Enticement (half-brother to Diploma: Stoute)

There are other new families in the stud but they don’t have 2yos this year. An example of this is Estimate who has a yearling colt and filly foal by Dubawi.

Last year’s star performer was Dartmouth and he stays in training. His best performance last year was his defeat of Highland Reel at Royal Ascot. He didn’t quite sustain that. The problem for him this year is whether he will improve on whats he did last year. His target must be a Group 1 but it may be overseas.

Last year’s 3yos were not that impressive. So it is slightly surprising that so many of them have stayed in the ranks. The biggest surprise is Labyrinth, who showed early promise but then seemed to sour somewhat. She has been moved to Bell from Stoute, which may be OK but a move out of Newmarket may have achieved more. Another filly kept in training is Daphne, whom Haggas won twice with last season and is surely on the hunt for some black type. Other 4yos kept in training are Mainstream (Stoute), Clear Evidence and Fabricate (both with Bell). However the most important 4yo is Recorder, who has not run since August 2015, when he won the Acomb Stakes but injured himself. This is a colt who could get to Group 1 level if he has retained his ability.

The 3yo with the most obvious expectations is the once-raced Frontispiece (Stoute). As a colt by Sharmadal out of a Danehill Dancer mare who won over 7f it is unlikely, though not impossible, this colt will get the Derby distance. So a life at 8f-10f is a more likely future. His first start of the year will tell us how much he is rated by the Royal team. This colt is homebred but the Queen has another brought-in (Dubawi) colt called Seniority (Haggas) who appeared to have a big future when winning on his debut. In his next start in the Solario Stakes he totally failed. Either he’s no good or there was something wrong. This is a stoutly bred colt and would get 12f, so his first start is going to show us what they think of him.

One unraced 3yo colt who could come through is Call to Mind (a full-brother to Recorder: Haggas). Early reports of this colt were good and I’m sure a lot is expected of him. Other homebred colts who should win this year are; Maths Prize (2 wins last year and now gelded) could pick up reasonable races at 8f+; and Merlin (Bell) who should win at around 10f. Finally the Queen does have an unraced Frankel 3yo called Brave Venture. He has now been gelded and put into training with Balding, along with another unraced gelding called Missed (by So You Think).

There are then a number of brought-in 3yo colts (Swiftsure by Dubawi (Stoute), Musical Terms by Sharmadal (Haggas), Spey by Sharmadal (Stoute) ) who are all well-bred and look to be donations from Darley. Swiftsure’s debut was promising as he was 2nd to the horse that Frontispeiece had narrowly beaten at Ascot. On his subsequent start he did not follow up this promise, so we need a good seasonal debut from this one and he too has a 10-12f pedigree being from the family that gave us Vitiges and Vacarme.

As regards fillies there does not appear at this stage to be any likely Group horses which is disappointing. In fact the home-bred cupboard is fairly bare with Glassalt (Bell: by Medaglio d’Oro out of a filly from the Barathea family) being the most exposed and likely to pick up her maiden. Hannon has an unraced Paco Boy 3yo filly, called Mayan Gold, who is a half-sister to the useful Mustard. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wins races. Other than that there are 2 brought-in 3yo fillies who are well-bred and at this point Silent Approach (by New Approach) look likely to win races this year after a promising backend run. Better bred is the unraced Shimmering Light (Bell: by Dubawi) who comes from the family of Golden Fleece. Of all these I’d follow Silent Approach.

2016 was a good year for the Queen and I can see the races-won figure being even higher this year. She has 20 2yos this year and for a change the brought-in 2yos are already listed as hers. One eyecatcher is a full-brother to Dartmouth called Desert Breeze (Stoute). Of the home-breds, other than those highlighted above, Stoute seems to have some interesting juniors in the shape of Natural History (colt by Nathaniel out of Film Script), Sharp Practice (filly by Redoutes Choice out of Momentary) and Sextant (colt by Sea the Stars out of Hypoteneuse), while Haggas has a filly called Witching Time ( a Dubawi filly from the Highclere/Aureole family) and a colt called Humbolt Current (a Redoutes Choice brother to the ill-fated Husbandry) who I’d expect to be an earlier sort. But it’s early days so more of these later.

 

Ballymacoll

For Ballymacoll it’s the final season. Arab Spring stays in training and has already run twice this year. The opportunity seems lost with this colt. The other older horse is Abingdon, who won 3 races last year. Though not a great fan of keeping fillies in training as 4yos I can see Abingdon winning a race or two this year. As a Street Cry filly I think she should be kept to 10f-12f races. An attempt to get her to go over further is a mistake.

Abingdon is the first foal of Justlookdontouch (a Galileo half-sister to Islington) and should be one of the most popular mares for those ready to purchase Ballymacoll families. She has a Hard Spun 3yo filly called Superioritycomplex who should be worth an interest at 8f-10f. She also has a 2yo filly called Aim of Artemis who is by the now dead sire Leroidesanimaux. A huge loss and I think he would have been a fine sire.

At the forefront of Ballymacoll’s 3yo is their only 2yo winner of 2016 Pivoine. He is by Redoutes Choice out of a Montjeu sister of Fiorente’s dam. He did as much as you could expect from a Stoute/Ballymacoll 2yo and could improve a great deal as a 3yo. An entry at Newmarket, Newbury or York could indicate this colt is highly rated. For now we have little to go on. He should get 12f but likely to be more suited to 10f.

I can’t expect a great deal from the other Ballymacoll 3yos. If there is to be an exception it will be Counterweight who made a shocking debut as a 2yo. Next time out she finished 2nd and looked promising. She then ran another shocker. She is a full-sister to the useful Eleanora Duse who improved about 30lbs as a 3yo. She should be given another chance. I can’t take Border Territory (the latest foal of Scottish Stage) seriously and the other 3yo is their Frankel colt called Rainbow Legacy who looks wonderful but appears to have a hole in the middle. I’d love to be proved wrong.

Of the other 2yos the earliest could be Hidden Depths who is by Dark Angel out of Liber Nauticus and so her first foal: this colt could be seen around July time. An interesting final foal is William of Wykeham who is by Arcano and half-brother to Golan and Tartan Bearer. Of the others that are stated as being in training the filly Arizona Belle (a Redoutes Choice sister to Fiorente) has a great pedigree but is more likely to be a 3yo than early 2yo. Again more of the 2yos later.

Viva Pivoine!

 

Trying to sift through the small amount of information we have on these horses I'd take it as positive that Frontispiece and Call to Mind have both been entered for the Grand Prix de Paris. Of course Call to Mind is yet to run so if it's serious I'd expect a start at Newmarket (maybe Wood Ditton) or Newbury in April. Presumably Warren believes both might stay 12f.

For the William Hill radio boys a frontispiece is the page (often illustrated) before the start of a novel. The colt's dam was Free Verse, so it fits I suppose.

No entry for Pivoine.

 

Good read Bustino. I really like ABINGDON. Saw her in the flesh at Newbury last season and she is stunning!

 

I think Abingdon will be the most sought after lot when Ballymacoll goes under the hammer. In fact her dam, her 3yo half-sister Superioritycomplex, her 2yo sister Aim of Artemis will also be worth snapping up after her performances.

In February they sold a set of 2yos, 3yos and a mare. The top lot was Edith Wharton who sold for 200,000euros but being by Dubawi out of Islington I think you'd have expected a bit more. Even at that selling price I doubt they made anything.

 

The second declaration stage for the Derby reveals that Frontispiece, Call to Mind and Pivoine are still entered. The Queen's Darley bunch have been withdrawn.

 

Actually the Queen has had a terrific March. Following her winner (bred by her) at Cheltenham, Domesday Book, she has had 4 wins from Hammer Gun, who was sold last Autumn. He was a bit of a rascal last year but has suddenly found himself and won all these races in the last 20 days (and he is declared for Chelmsford tomorrow night!: unsurprisingly with topweight and a 12lb penalty). He is the first foal of a Cape Cross mare called Caraboss, who is the leading flag bearer for the Feola family. The filly Witching Time, who I mentioned in the main article, is his Dubawi half-sister.

In all I make it 5 winners for the stud on the flat as Elementary (sold after winning his maiden) won for her in January.

edit: now withdrawn but likely to run soon

 

Stoute has often favoured the Dante as a trial for his Derby hopefuls. This year he has 5 entries and amongst them is Frontispiece and Pivoine. A good sign that they are not written off as classic possibles at this stage.
In addition Haggas (who is usually fairly mean with his entries for big races) has Call to Mind also entered. If serious, and there's no reason to believe he isn't, then this unraced colt would be expected to start at Newmarket or Newbury at their April meetings.

 

With the return to proper racing this week the Queen (and Royal stud) is facing an important start to the season. Stoute has the Dubaw colt Swiftsure entered at Newmarket, while Haggas has the unraced Sharmadal filly Musical Terms making her debut on the opening day of the Spring meeting. More important Haggas has the unraced Call to Mind entered in a maiden at Newmarket, and this is a big throw for connections. The trainer who may give her a first win of the turf season is Bell. He has Merlin at Redcar on Monday, then the interesting Shimmering Light (from the Golden Fleece family) at Newbury on Friday. This meeting is a great favourite with HM and she also has Charlton's Maths Prize entered in a listed event.

For Ballymacoll it is equally interesting. Rather than wait for a trial Pivoine looks likely to take up a handicap outing at Newmarket or Newbury, while Abingdon's sister Superioritycomplex is set to run at one of these courses.

I'm hoping for a few wins from these teams.

 

I realised I did not follow up on the Ballymacoll sales results from Goffs, earlier this year. Top lot was Edith Wharton who sold for 200,000euros. Not a bad price but when you consider that this Islington filly was by Dubawi, you’ll realise there probably wasn’t much change after paying the stallion fees. The duffer in the pack was the mare Kitty Hawk, who as well as being barren had only produced one winner so far in her stud career. Bought for $400,000 in 2007 she was sold for 9,000euros. The nice surprise was the 60,000euros paid for the last foal (an Arcano filly) out of Athene called Olive Branch. This 3yo filly was the last member of the Gaily/Pilsudski family and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear more of this family. The 2yo filly (by Ifraaj) and 3yo filly (by Pivotal) out of La Divina sold for 5,000euros and 28,000euros respectively. Again I’d imagine big losses on these two. So Olive Branch was the one success from this fire sale.

Ballymacoll’s woes continued with the loss of Spring Symphony and her foal. She was in foal to Camelot so this was a big loss. Spring Symphony had produced 2 Group 1 horses in Glass Harmonium and Fiorente and her line is carried on by the mare Holda (by Docksider): but of course away from Ballymacoll. They also appear to have lost Olympienne’s foal by Sea the Moon.

In addition they no longer own Justlookdontouch’s 4th foal, who was/is a filly by Kingman. My guess, and it is a guess, is that she has been traded for stallion nominations and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this filly end up in the Juddmonte ranks as a 2yo next year. Ballymacoll are sending Eleanora Duse to Frankel and Islington to Kingman. Eleanora Duse’s stud career has been disappointing so far with her first two foals not running. The first didn’t appear up to much but the second died as a 2yo (that usually stops them). The third is in training with Stoute and called Capesthorne (by Oasis Dream). One would imagine they’ve seen something in this mare’s produce if they are willing to send her to Frankel. For information she has a yearling filly by Oasis Dream and a Gleneagles filly foal. At least one of these (in her looks) must have convinced them to send her to Frankel.

Another mare of interest is Liber Nauticus. As mentioned above she has her first foal as a 2yo this year. She has been fertile and produced a foal every year so far and has a yearling filly by Exceed and Excel and colt foal by Golden Horn. She has yet to be tested in foal to Harzand this year and I’d imagine if that goes well she’ll be worth a bit when she goes through the sales ring later this year. Liber Nauticus’s half-sister Thetis has been tested in foal to Lope de Vega.

With all this bad luck Ballymacoll are due some good in this final year. Will some come this Friday? Surprisingly Pivoine returns to the track in a 7f handicap. I was expecting the trial at Sandown or that good handicap run on the same day. But no he starts with a weight of 8-11 in a Class 2 handicap. Those who read gallop reports will know he’s been mentioned, and he has been galloping with the likes of Midterm and Elucidation. He must have speed and with Moore in the plate I think he will open his season with a win on Friday. In the following race Moore is again aboard a Ballymacoll horse that I have touted before the start of last season. She is of course a Hard Spun sister to the useful Abingdon and is called Superioritycomplex and I’m hoping for a big run from her.

With only Saturday to come The Queen’s week has collapsed down to Merlin’s 2nd on Monday and Math’s Prize in a Listed event on Friday at Newbury. Again Moore takes the mount which is unusual for a Charlton trained horse. It’s a bit of a lift up in class for Maths Prize but if he has filled that scopey physique he could go close.

Will Call to Mind make his debut on Saturday?

 

Well he did and he won well. Post-race statements were that he was unlikely to be ready for the Derby but Call to Mind is amongst the acceptors for Friday's Dee Stakes. So perhaps they are going to test his progress. If he turns out he should go close.
The race after Call to Mind's victory Musical Terms made his debut and ran a promising race to be 2nd. A week later he was entered for the St James Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, which was somewhat of a surprise. He is also entered on Friday in a maiden at Lingfield so one would imagine he's expected to score if he runs.
Other Darley imports (Swiftsure and Seniority) have been a dead loss so far, of course Musical Terms could be useful and Dartmouth could still improve this year. Some interesting developments in that Bell has had the first Royal 2yo sighted on the gallops. This is Any Little Rhyme, who is a full-sister to the unbeaten Frontispiece (whom I'm hoping I will see in the flesh in the Dante). Her work with a couple of other 2yos (including Arabian Jazz: who runs this week) was promising enough. ALR is with Bell, who now has the 3yo filly Quinquireme in training with him (was with Haggas). She is a filly by Elusive Quality out of an Oasis Dream mare who emanates from the best Meon Valley Stud family.

Ballymacoll have not got off to a good start and their 2 runners so far have beaten very few home. It was typical that the Fillies maiden race at Sandown (won by a couple of Oaks winners in its time) was won by Serenada ( a full-sister to Liber Nauticus out of Serres). Ballymacoll sold Serres in the year of Liber Nauticus's 3yo career. My feeling is despite only just getting home that we may not have heard the last of her.

 

Dartmouth's Yorkshire Cup win was more exciting than helpful. One thing you can say is that he has not gone backwards. Last year when he won the John Porter he was rated just above 100. He is now rated about a stone higher. The question must be can Stoute get him to improve half of what he improved early summer 2016. It looks as if his next race is the Hardwicke.

He is not the only winner since my last post. Merlin went in at 6f and his gallops seem to reflect a horse who is improving. Next stop is likely to be a 7f handicap. Richard Hughes trained his first Royal winner when Patchwork won his maiden. It was a bit of an egg and spoon race but his previous 2nd marks him out as an improver with some ability. Hopefully he will pick up a mile handicap somewhere in the future.

Of course the big disappointment was the defeat of Call to Mind. All you can say is that either he was too immature, not tough enough or just plainly not good enough. I can't help feeling Haggas had this run forced upon him. He had already said the colt needed time.

Musical Terms, who ran so promisingly on his debut, has been entered for the St James Palace Stakes. To be anywhere near that standard he would need to win his maiden at Chester on Saturday.

As pN suggested the Queen's 2yo Frankel colt has been entered and is to run at Haydock tomorrow. Usually the Queen has a few fast 2yos but this is her first runner of this generation. Tudhope is in the plate and Learn by Heart looks a likely winner to me. He is of course closely related to Call to Mind and his brother Recorder. By the way Recorder has been entered for the Eclipse.

Very little happening on the Ballymacoll front. They have not had a runner in May. Their Frankel 3yo, Rainbow Legacy has been sighted on the gallops, but needs to show a lot more than he did last year.

 

Ballymacoll's dire (last) season continues. Only 4 horses have run and there has only been one winner in the shape of Abingdon. To be fair to her she has been placed in two Group races since her initial listed win at Pontefract but a lot more had been expected from her. Arab Spring was one of the 4 but was sold at the July Sales for 100,000guineas and I can't help feeling an opportunity was lost with this colt a few years back.
However tomorrow Ballymacoll run their 5th horse this year and it is a 2yo which is a surprise. Selling all their 2yos, yearlings and foals in the Autumn they badly need something to brighten up the shopfront. The debutant is an Oasis Dream filly called Capesthorne and she runs at Pontefract. She is the 3rd foal of that good filly Eleanora Duse, who won as a 2yo and won a Group2 in Ireland as well as finishing placed in the group 1 Yorkshire Oaks. However she is the first foal to run as the first didn't make it to the races and the 2nd died as a 2yo.
A forward run by Capesthorne tomorrow will do wonders for morale. Despite Stoute seeming to have the next Pegasus, his 2yos rarely are expected first time out. I will venture that Capesthorne will win this season: it just may not be tomorrow.

Edit: well it won't be tomorrow as she runs on Friday now. Atzeni rides

More on the Royal Stud in a few days.

 

So far it has been a relatively quiet season for the Royal Stud and the Queen. This time last year she had won 3 group races with Dartmouth and had lots of supporting wins. This year hasn’t been so abundant with only one group win from Dartmouth in the Yorkshire Cup.

The 3yos have seemed an ordinary lot. Much was expected of Call to Mind and Frontispiece, but they haven’t measured up to expectations with only a win each. Call to Mind may manage a Listed level win but Frontispece’s future (for now) looks to be in the handicap world. The most successful 3yo has been Merlin, who has improved throughout the season and won 3 races. As the first foal of a Nayef mare called Momentary who won the Sandleford Priory Oaks tial at Newbury getting a good first foal is a big plus and she has a Stoute trained 2yo filly by Redoutes Choice called Sharp Practice In addition she has a Kingman yearling colt and an Australia colt foal. So they are giving her some good sires.

Perhaps the unluckiest 3yo has been Maths Prize with a nightmare race at Royal Ascot, where he banged his head lost his tooth and almost pulled up in the Britannia. He has since run twice but the 2nd of these runs was on too soft ground. He can still win this year.

With the exception of Fabricate the older horses have achieved little. It is disappointing that Recorder has not run. In fact many of the 4yos have not run. Fabricate was a good 3yo who was to be aimed at the Queens Vase. He was withdrawn due to the firm going and then got injured. As a 4yo he won his last race. As a 5yo he has been in and out until surprisingly Bell runs him over the shortest distance he’s ever run over and he wins the Chesterfield Cup (admittedly after a Stewards). Of course Fabricate is the uncle of Momentary.

Bell has had a reasonable season with not only Merlin and Fabricate, but also Elementary and First Drive. The latter is a 2yo Street Cry daughter of Dawn Glory and that mare’s first winner. Dawn Glory is one of the few Feola mares in the Royal Stud and has a Sharmadal filly yearling and a Henrythenavigator colt foal.


The Queen’s other 2yo winner is Learn by Heart who took his second start in a pleasing fashion. As a Frankel colt (and half-brother to Recorder and Call to Mind) it is pleasing that he doesn’t appear headstrong : in fact he appears downright lazy. I should imagine there’s a chance his next race may be at York in the Acomb. The mare has another yearling Galileo full-brother to Recorder and thankfully a Dubawi filly foal.

The 2yos are the big hope but few are being entered. Hannon’s Queen’s Gallery is being entered but there’s little other action at the moment.

Finally something has happened which I don’t fully understand. Balding seems to have ‘lost’ his 3 Royal inmates. Whether they met with an accident, there’s an IT problem at Kingsclere or they have been removed has not been revealed. If Balding (whom I rate) has been dropped a Royal trainer I’d be disappointed.

 

Just an hour after Capeshorne makes her debut Ballymacoll have another 2yo debutant in the shape of a Dark Angel colt called Hidden Depths. Not quite 3 London buses but it is rare to see 2 Ballymacoll 2yos running on the same day.
Not606ers will know Hidden Depth's dam Liber Nauticus. She did little wrong on the course winning her only start as a 2yo and winning the Musidora on her 3yo debut. She failed in the Oaks but was then operated on for a soft palate. That and an injury meant she never ran again. People may also remember how I pleaded back in 2014 that Ballymacoll use faster stallions. Here they did and we'll see the result. I can see this colt being prominent in this race though it is a blue-blooded maiden.
The two debutants are closely related. Both of them trace back to a mare called Sunny Valley, who was the dam of dual classic winner Sun Princess. It is also the family of Spectrum and Conduit.

 

Dire, both last.
When I first started following this stud the horses were trained by Dick Hern. Now and again they had poor horses, all breeders have them. But when Hern ran a horse it was ready to do itself justice. I just don't see that now. These horses can't be that bad.

 

Well Ballymacoll have doubled their wins for the season with the long odds on Superioritycomplex at last winning. On the positive side that means that the mare Justlookdontouch's both foals have won. The third is entered at Newbury on Friday when Aim of Artemis (by Leroidesanimeaux) makes her debut. A great shame this sire died. A better run by a Stoute trained debutant would be good.

Today the Queen should have her third 2yo winner with the Haggas trained Strategist having his 2nd run. This is a brought in Sharmadal colt from a decent Darley family. He has been entered in the Mill Reef Stakes so something is expected of him. Hopefully more interesting is the third start of Lean by Heart on Saturday. Rather than going to York he goes for a listed event at Newbury on Saturday. The Washington Singer Stakes has produced some fine winners, let's hope this is another.

Listening to William Hill Radio the word on the courses is that Stoute has a better 2yo at home than Expert Eye. Too much to hope that it emanates from one of these owners. Also I'm long enough in the tooth to know a horse catching pigeons on the gallops may never be the same thing on the course.

 

Did you see she finally won last night?
Very workmanlike performance but she may progress from here. At least she has a win in the book for breeding terms.

 

Yes, it was at best workmanlike and the head carriage was a bit of a concern. However Moore said the bit slipped in her mouth so it may have been better than it appeared.

Strategist just a poor 4th at 4/6. Another disappointing import.

 

Any hopes of Learn by Heart being something special was put to bed yesterday. He fell away tamely at the business end of the race. So one hope disappears but 2 colts start getting good mentions on the Stoute gallops. Both of them were mentioned in my initial post. The first is Sextant who is by Sea the Stars out of a Sadler's Wells mare called Hypoteneuse. She is a full-sister to the Oaks 2nd Flight of Fancy. This colt is a half-brother to two-times winner Maths Prize. The second colt is Elector who is by Dansili out of a good race filly called Enticement. Expect their debuts over the next month. Both of these are home-bred.
The brought in colt Strategist was hugely disappointing.

Some light in the Ballymacoll tunnel. Aim of Artemis had a pleasing debut. Looking unfurnished and green she showed the right attitude on her debut. Given a sympathetic Moore debut ride even though he gave up hope of getting to the front someway out she gained on the two horses that beat her. Hopefully she will go the right way.