A nice win by Kalpana today at Kempton in the September Stakes. The word on the street is that Study of Man produce take some time to mature. If that's the case we'll need to look our for his best 4yos next year and Kalpana may be there too: already fancied for this year's Fillies and Mares at Ascot in early October..
The National Stakes, run last weekend, has generally been a good hunting ground for Coolmore and Godolphin while at the same time supplying plenty of Classic winners. The latest renewal was surprisingly won by Joseph O'Brien's Scorthy Champ who beat the AOB trained Henri Matisse basically by running in a straight line. Henri loomed up at the furlong pole as if victory was assured but then ran about and hung in towards the eventual 3rd, Hugo Palmer's Seagulls Eleven. Much will be made of Henri Matisse being unlucky and likely to turn the tables on the winner but I know I'd prefer to follow the more straightforward Scorthy Champ. He is a Group 1 winner for Mehmas and this is his first crop from the season after he announced himself as a talented stallion. Will Scorthy Champ be a Classic candidate for next season? I think he could be, though he'll have to improve again. In his previous race he'd been 3rd to Henri Matisse but he was unlucky that day having dwelt at the start and was running on at the finish and beaten 2 lengths by his more experienced rival. Though by Mehmas his dam is stoutly bred being by New Approach who seems to be a reasonable damsire. However look back further and you see this is the family of Shergar with the colt's 4th dam being a Darshaan half-sister to Shergar. You can't keep a good family down. The only inbreeding in Scorthy Camp's near pedigree is to Ahonoora, that being 4 x 4. I always like seeing this son of Lorenzaccio in a pedigree. It was sad that he died so young. I'm old enough to remember his first start at Newbury in 1977. Scothy Camp has every chance of getting 8f and it would be good to see him turning up in one of the Guineas in 2025.
Boussac winner Virtual Blue may have been a surprise and may have been lucky but even if the 2nd should have won she easily beat a field of highly rated 2yo fillies. She was Mehmas's second Group 1 winner and though this sire is usually regarded as a source of speed Vertical Blue, like the other Group 1 winner, won over 8f. This will make breeders who look for 8 to 10f (maybe even 12f) horses start to look at him. Today, at the Newmarket Book 2 Sale, M V Magnier purchased a Mehmas colt (out of a Frankel mare) for 350,000gns. Will Coolmore send a mare or two to this stallion of precocious stock?
And she won it very impressively. Study of Man gets his first Group 1 winner. He has a 56% winner to runner ratio with his 3yos. Will Kalpana be aimed at the King George and then Arc next year?
I think Study of Man has proved all I hoped for (and more) when I wrote this in early May with today's victory of Kalpana. Balding must like the sire as he bought a couple of yearlings by him this week. I think he also has a 4yo for next year in Contacto (by Study of Man) who looked a bit weak this year.
I've mentioned elsewhere that Beckett seems to be having an amazing run with his 2yos.On Wednesday he won two 2yo races at Nottingham with horses, making their debuts, that could figure prominently next year. Fist up was a Too Darn Hot filly called Smoken. She wasn't unfancied at 6-1 but the favourite Archivist was expected, with his experience, to win his maiden. It wasn't to be as anything he could do she could do better and she ran out a very impressive winner. She is out of a Marju mare who comes from the prolific family of Kalinka who was not only the dam of Soviet Song but great grandam of Marsha. She can be a miler to be reckoned with next year. She was followed by another filly whose future is probably over longer distances. She is Revoir who is from the family of her owner's Look Here (Oaks winner) family. Unlike her stablemate she was made favourite though started slowly. She soon made up the ground and came away from the field with the 2nd at the distance. She's by Study of Man out of the dam of the very useful Remarquee, so should stay 10f or further. A race like the Pretty Polly at Newmarket would seem a sensible target. Though the 2nd may win races the better long term prospect could be the 3rd in this race and this was Simcock's Miss Wong. Though this may begin to sound like a Study of Man fest Miss Wong is also by this sire. She comes from one of the greatest families in the Thoroughbred world as she traces back to Special, the dam of Nureyev and grandam of Sadler's Wells. Miss Wong's owner, Kerstin Rausing, has already has a champion from this family with Madame Chiang, who was a Champion staying filly and is the granddam of Miss Wong. This looks like a filly who will need 10f+ to truly show her ability. She was doing her best work in the last half furlong after laying up close to the winner until being outpaced 2f out.
I hope you are keeping a record of these in a notebook Bustino, to be published before the next flat season starts
If you haven't seen it it's worth watching the first at Yarmouth yesterday. Ghaiyyath, as a 5yo, was the champion older horse of 2020. He went to stud in '21 and his first crop of 2yos are now running. As a sire he was a slow starter but in the last few weeks he's had a couple of nice winners: none more so than yesterday's. Alobayyah trailed the field for most of the race but without much effort put herself in the race 3f out and 2f out was challenging the leaders. With Marquand hardly pushing she came away from her field: impressive to say the least. She's probably the best Ghaiyyath we've seen so far( though Haggas's Rhapsody was pretty impressive too, on her Yarmouth start) and shows the stallion can get exciting horses. You'd always expect Ghaiyyath to get better 3yos. The bottom-line of this filly's pedigree is a trawl through German breeding of the last 120 years. Her dam was Aquatinta was good enough to take a French Group 3 event. She was by a son of Monsun called Samum who was a top colt in Germany and won the German Derby. Overall the female side of Alobayyah's pedigree is a mixture of stamina and speed but she is likely to stay 10f at least. I can see her being an interesting filly for next year.
Talking rubbish about her being the best, as although she may turn out to be the best, the so far award has to go to Beckett's Stanhope Gardens who was beaten a neck by Delacroix in the Autumn Stakes. That is much superior form. His third dam is Pure Grain (Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and Musidora winner) and this Barnett family is famous for breeding staying types. Stanhope Gardens' dam is by the speedier Dutch Art though she, Pure Art, won over 10f and was 3rd in a Listed race over that distance. It's likely Stanhope Gardens will stay 10f+. The other useful Ghaiyyath winner is Gethin. He is trained by Burrows and won his only start quite smartly at Nottingham. His female line is pure Wildenstein breeding so he should stay 12f without much trouble.
Another to go in the notebook should be Fan Club. He's a Too Darn Hot colt who made his debut in the 7f maiden at Doncaster today. He looked very green in the early part of the race and was shown up when the pace increased 3f out and looked to be finishing out with the washing. Then in the last furlong the penny dropped and he made up a vast amount of ground to finish just a neck off 3rd. If it had been another furlong he'd have won I'd wager. He's out of a Dylan Thomas mare who traces back to one of the great mares in British breeding and that's Jest, who won the 1000G and Oaks and was the dam of the ill-fated Derby winner Humorist. It is of course the best Joel family, which later gave us Royal Palace (2000G & Derby) and Fairy Footsteps (1000G). Fan Club's 5th dam is a Charlottesville half-sister to these two. Families like these wax and wane and there hasn't been a really good horse since Desert Prince (Irish 2000G, Prix Moulin and QE II) and World Champion 3yo of 1998. It's due another one. I'm not saying this is it but he'll certainly be worth following over 8f and further.
Fascinating that exciting young sire Havana Grey has gone private. Apparently the reason isn't that his covering fee has gone up (though it has) but is because potential mares will be sifted out on size. Is he against short hairy legs or long skinny legs? I think we should be told.
On a day when everyone is watching some great jump racing or waiting to see if City of Troy wins his Breeder's Cup appointment Smoken gets her winning black type. She never looked in trouble though it was never more than a workmanlike performance, though she beat some highly rated fillies. She's got to be faster than that to win Group races next year. I'd imagine Beckett will consider her starting in the Nell Gwyn or Fred Darling next year to see if she has it. Must mention the 2nd Secret of Love. A daughter of her owner's Sea the Moon she comes from the family of Sandrine and Petoski. She could make a name for herself next year over 10-12f.
Dreadful budget and very bad news for small trainers and small studs. I think NH racing will be particularly hit. Soon we'll have races on the flat where all the runners come from Coolmore, Juddmonte, Shadwell and Godolphin. Of course the Irish will not be affected so their dominance in Jump racing will be reinforced. If this was a budget for growth then I'm a chinaman. Politicians haven't a clue how industry works and industries such as the Bloodstock Industry make a lot of money for the UK and employ a lot of people. Why would you stand a stallion in the UK when you can stand it in Ireland? Why would a moderately rich person run a stud farm when he has to sell it to a big outfit before his or her death? They know not what they are doing.
The Feola family that keeps on giving (though not to the Royal Stud) produces another hot prospect today in Falakeyah. On her debut she looked a touch green as she was entitled to be but it was noticeable that Crowley was at the same time riding her as if he was taking good care of her and as if he knew he had a lot of horse under him. He eased her through a gap 3f out and then parted the leaders like a knife through butter. She came away from her field and had a perfect debut. She'll have learned a lot. She's by New Bay out of an unraced War Front mare who is a half-sister to Baaeed and Hukum. I'm sure the Prix de Diane must be high on her list of objectives but she could be a Guineas filly (with the relaxed change of pace she showed today) and possibly an Oaks filly. Of course it's a long way from Wolverhampton to Chantilly or Epsom but she impressed me as much as Hukum did on his maiden win as a 2yo.
Amazing scenes at Goffs Sale as a bid of €5million was deemed not enough and a 12 year old mare in foal to Baaeed was led out of the ring unsold. To the casual onlooker it appears even more amazing when one reads that the same mare (in foal to Blackbeard) was sold for €200,000 a year ago. Of course the mare is Gouache the dam of Goliath, but you'd have thought in the precarious world of thoroughbred breeding that near on €4.7million profit would have seemed a fair day's work.
Mehmas has had a good season and ends up being the top sire of 2yos in Europe, mainly because he's the top sire of 2yos in GB/Ire. He's only 9th in the table for France however where Goken is the top producer of winners. Yesterday Mehmas's foremost produce in France, Vertical Blue, was sold for 3.2million guineas at Tattersalls. Mehmas has had 4 fillies/mares sell for in excess of 1 million guineas at these sales over the years and yesterday the 4th was the sprinter Believing who sold for 3million and stays in training with George Boughey: Coolmore being the new owners. Looking down the other end of the telescope, Mabs Cross who was led out unsold at over a million guineas 3 or 4 years ago sold for just (!) 470,000guineas yesterday.
Impressive performance by Gosden's Bowmark at Kempton on Wednesday. Jumped smartly and pulled for the first furlong until the colt settled down. Swinging into the straight Shoemark angled him out and 2 furlongs out he overtook the two leaders. At the furlong pole Shoemark gave him one crack and he lengthened away from his field. Surprisingly he started at 5-1. He had an ideal introduction to racing. He's by Kingman out of a Galileo daughter of Oaks 2nd Remember When, who's a three parts sister to Dylan Thomas. Beautifully bred, there must be great hopes for him and he should be ideally suited to 10f and the Prix de Jockey Club would be an obvious target. Will he stay further? Maybe....
