Royal Stud 2023

Three 3yos (in the end) sold at the Sales for 72,500gns. Top price was for unraced filly Keen Melody who made 35,000gns. Garner made 30,000gns. The filly Silver Pageant was withdrawn at the last moment. Could be any reason for this but if she does go back into training will she return to Bell?

 

I usually start describing the Royal Horses in Training once the 2yos are named, but as they are still unnamed I thought I'd start by looking at 2023's 3yos and older horses.

Older Horses

The King faces his first full year as an owner-breeder. His older horses look a reasonably strong lot, but many of them have something to prove after a disappointing 2022. Top of the list is 6yo Kings Lynn, who definitely didn’t disappoint last year. He had his best victory in the Group 2 Temple Stakes, which was surprisingly only his 4th victory. His problem is that having won this G2 where does he go? He’s not a G! horse and he’s fully exposed. He seems to run well when fresh.
Hopefully Reach for the Moon will prove the best of the older horses. He ran 3 times as a 3yo and though his first run (a 2nd to My Prospero) looked promising, his subsequent two runs were very disappointing. He was gelded at the end of the season and now has to bounce back and fulfill his 2yo promise. Another question will be his distance. He looked a stayer as a 2yo (his full-brother Chalk Stream stays 12f+) but ended up in an 8f Listed race last season..

Also gelded is Saga. He ran well when 2nd at Royal Ascot and probably should have won. After that his season went downhill. If his gelding has had a positive effect he could be a possible for the Lincoln and other mile handicaps. Educator did at least win last year. He was then injured because he did not reappear until September when he was a rather stuffy and remote 2nd. On his next start he couldn’t have been more disappointing: he was subsequently gelded. He has always been highly regarded and is undoubtedly a fine specimen of a thoroughbred, but now he’s got to do it on the track. 10f looks his distance.

The last older horse in the UK is the filly Perfect Alibi, who I’ve already discussed. As a daughter of the recently deceased Le Havre she is valuable and it is to be hoped she can improve further this year.. Perhaps she'll be aimed at races like the John Porter and Aston Park Stakes (or whatever they are called now).

That's forgetting Chalk Stream who could possibly get a chance at the Melbourne Cup this year.

 

According to the Heath House website the Almanzor ex Star Value 2 yo is in training there. Is this the first time Sir Mark has trained a Royal horse?

 

Thanks for that Janabelle, hadn't seen that coming. The answer is yes.

 

Beckett gets a fourth 2yo: a full sister to Kings Lynn.
The changes are being rung.

 

Three Year Colts

I cannot remember a time when the monarch has owned 3 colts close-up in the betting for the Derby. Current 5th favourite is Slipofthepen, who’s the top Royal colt as well as being Gosden’s top Derby colt. He looked a very promising colt when winning on his debut at Kempton and he could be very good. The issue I have is whether he’ll stay the Derby distance. He’s by Dubawi’s son Night of Thunder, who most people would think was suited to 8f, though. I think he’s capable of siring a Derby winner: the issue for Slipofthepen is his dam, Free Verse. She won 3 races and got 7f. She was by Danehill Dancer who again suggests a mile. Free Verse is now sold as a broodmare and of her 7 live foals 3 have won. The best before Slipofthepen was the handicapper Frontispiece who has won over further than 12f. As regards Free Verse she is a daughter of Fictious, who was a full-sister to Phantom Gold who won the Ribblesdale and definitely stayed 12f+. However Fictitious, who was also a good filly, seemed suited to 10f. So, the colt may stay 12f but at the same time may find the final 2f of a race like the Derby a bit far. How good they think he is we should know when we see where he’s entered this Spring. Brilliantly named by the Queen though.

The other 2 Derby colts are Desert Hero (Haggas) and Circle of Fire (Stoute). Desert Hero is by Sea the Stars out of a full-sister to Dartmouth and the mare’s first foal. He looked very impressive on his debut when, relatively unconsidered (as a comparison Slipofthepen started odds-on for his debut), he won a competitive maiden at Haydock. He then went straight to Group company and was favourite for the Solario. Unlike his debut, he seemed to overrace and had nothing left for the business-end of the race: finishing 3rd to Silver Knott who later won the Autumn Stakes and finished 2nd in the Breeder’s Cup Turf. Nearly two months later he reappeared in a small race at Redcar whiche he won easily in workmanlike fashion. In many respects he has better form than Slipofthepen but did not quite show the same sparkle. However, he is certainly suited to 12f and if there is to be a Royal Derby colt it wouldn’t surprise me if it was him.

Circle of Fire did nothing wrong as a 2yo, finishing a promising 3rd on his debut and following it up with a resolute win at Salisbury. By Almanzor out of a Galileo mare he should get 12f as a 3yo. I just feel he may be more suited to longer distances. A slight negative is that his dam was sold at the December Sales, which would tend to suggest they feel they have broodmares capable of producing better horses.

At this point, critical as I am of some of the decisions made by the Royal management team, I must applaud the fact that the only 3 Royal colts who were entered for the 2023 Derby back in 2021 all won as 2yos and are all at 33-1 or less in the betting (that’s with Ladbrokes).

There are 3 other Royal 3yo colts (or geldings). The first is the Ribchester colt Marching Band. He is out of Medley who is the dam of the good filly Light Music and granddam of her daughter Light Refrain (G3 winner). Medley started well as a broodmare but has gone right off. Marching Band did not run as a 2yo and was actually taken out of training in November. This usually signals that the horse is injured or needs to be freshened up at home. So hopefully he’ll return to training with Stoute soon. The other two colts are similarly out of training. They were with Cox (Spanish Serenade) and Persian Gold (Gosden). These were taken out of training in early Autumn and are yet to return. They are both ‘brought-in’ horses (from Darley). The fact that there are only 6 colts in training this year is because another 6 were sold as 2yos or young 3yos: this included 2 winning 2yos, Theme Park and Garner.

 

Three Year Old Fillies

The 3yo fillies’ picture is very different, with 11 of them. There are three 2yo winners amongst them and the one with the best form is Candle of Hope, who won her first two races in pleasing style and was then 3rd in the Denford Stakes behind the useful Victory Road. I felt this placed effort did not reflect her ability as she was ridden too far off the pace and came too late. Trainer Hughes suggested the same on her next start but on softish ground she didn’t show the same sparkle. Surprisingly she was then run on heavy ground in the Radley Stakes and she ran no race at all. Despite being by Cable Bay she should stay 8f+ and just needs to be kept from running on soft ground. She has something to prove but if there is a dry spring she may start in a listed or group race somewhere to find out what level she is.
Blue Missile made her debut as favourite in an early July maiden but was then not seen until late November when she won an all-weather maiden readily. She was also favourite that day so the Haggas stable must have had some confidence in her. She’s very well bred, being by Galileo out of an Iffraaj mare who was top class. The first foal was Dukedom (by Dubawi) who did win but was a bit disappointing. He won over 7f eventually so it’s unlikely Blue Missile will get much further than 8-9f. One has to hope Blue Missile will be a different class to Dukedom and her early season entries will be instructive. The third winning filly was Calmly who I’ve already discussed. She could be anything or nothing.

There are then a number of fillies who have run as 2yos. The best run was by Value Added (by Iffraaj and trained by Hughes), a full-brother to Kiteflyer who won a race as a 3yo in 2022. She ran in an October Newbury maiden on atrocious ground and acquitted herself well coming 2nd to the winning favourite. Judging the form of these races is difficult, so all we know is that she has some ability. The one factor in her favour is that Buick rode her with some confidence. Market Value (a Siyouni daughter of Estimate in training with Haggas) ran in similarly heavy ground at Doncaster. She ran green, was not particularly supported in the market and tired late on to finish 6th of 9. However she showed enough mid-race to suggest that over 12f+ she could win races. Definitely a filly to keep your eye on. The final raced filly is Barrier (Balding), who ran twice as a 2yo. On her first outing she was left at the start and the race was over for her. She reappeared 3 weeks later and though slowly away and running green did manage 4th in a decent maiden. She looked a big filly who needed to strengthen and I believe she’s a horse to follow this year. She’s by Australia out of a half-sister to Slipofthepen’s dam.

A feature of last year was the dry conditions and the high number of 2yos that didn’t see the turf (though some saw the AW later). There are 4 (or maybe 5) unraced Royal fillies, and all are very well-bred. The first is Reminder (by Dubawi out of Memory) and so a half-sister to 4 winners, including the useful Recorder and Call to Mind. She is in training with Balding and has remained so. She should stay 10f+ and could easily be a stayer like Call to Mind and his full brother Space Walk. Stoute is training Gentle Light, who is a full sister by Frankel to Light Refrain. This filly went out of training in the Autumn but has returned to Freemason Lodge. Though by Frankel and out of a mare who got 7f+, Light Refrain seemed best suited to 6f and proved that by winning a Listed race and a G3 at that distance. It will be interesting to see how far Gentle Light stays. The third unraced filly is Clear Thinking (Haggas), who is again by Dubawi. She is out of a G1 winning Australian mare called Sweet Idea. Though her first live foal won, her second General Idea (by Galileo) was a complete flop and this mare has something to prove. Worryingly Clear Thinking was taken out of training in the Autumn and has not been returned yet. The fourth unraced filly is the brought-in Torchlight (Gosden) who hails from the family of Wonderful Tonight and Camelot. She similarly is out of training at the moment. A possible fifth unraced filly is Silver Pageant, who was withdrawn from the February Sales at the last moment.

It is worth remembering that last year’s best 3yo filly was unraced as a 2yo, and that was Perfect Alibi.

Last year I wrote that if the Queen was to have a Classic horse from her 2020 foals it was liable to be a filly. So far the fillies haven’t reached the level of performance of the colts, but they could easily do so.

 

Today sees the posting of entries for the first 4 French classics (if they have classics).

Slipofthepen is entered for the French 2000G and Value Added is entered for the Prix de Diane. In addition Desert Hero has been entered for the Grand Prix de Paris.

If Slipofthepen is entered for that race will they enter him for the English equivalent? He is not entered for the Prix de Jockey Club.

 

With the 2yos, as yet, mostly unnamed it’s pointless to discuss them. Instead, I thought I’d look at the breeding bloodstock of the Royal Studs. Most fillies that are going to stud retire at the end of their 3yo career. They are then covered in the Spring of the next year, with hopefully a foal the next year. Two years later the foal is a 2yo and may start racing. So the produce of a maiden mare first hits the racecourse in the 7th year of the dam’s life. That first produce to race may have a yearling and a foal (brother or sister) following her. A big investment without anything much to go on.
If a broodmare has a healthy life she could conceivably produce foals up until her early twenties. 20 is a good age for a broodmare as some will not reach that age.

Royal Bloodstock

Here I’ll look at the broodmares, plus fillies in training and yearlings/foals, and I’ll look at them oldest first (and then their families).

There are two 18yo mares. The first is Medley (root mare: Marl) and was bred by the Royal Stud. As stated elsewhere, she started well but has had only 3 winning foals. She has an Elusive Quality filly called Light Music (now a 10yo) who looked a useful 2yo but didn’t win as a 3yo. She in turn had a very useful Frankel filly, Light Refrain (5yo) who is now in the stud. Light Music also has an unraced 3yo, Gentle Light, who’s a full-sister to Light Refrain. This family has a healthy pipeline, though Medley was one of the mares for whom there was no recorded mating in 2022..

The other 18yo mare is Hypoteneuse (by Sadler’s Wells) and she hails from the most prolific family in the Royal Stud this century. The family traces back to the rootmare Amicable. Hypoteneuse has produced two useful colts in Math’s Prize and Sextant but has no daughter in the Royal Stud though she does have a Zoustar unnamed 2yo. Hypoteneuse is a full-sister to Oaks 2nd Flight of Fancy: indeed at one time there were 4 full-sisters in the stud out of the Machiavellian mare, Phantom Gold. In fact the 17yo mare Golden Stream (dam of Chalk Stream and Reach for the Moon) is now the remaining full-sister in the Stud. She similarly has no daughter in the stud but does have a yearling filly by Sea the Moon.
There are other branches of the Amicable family. The oldest representative is Momentary (13yo by Nayef) whose granddam was Flight of Fancy. She has had 6 foals, to race, and 5 have won (the best of whom was probably Wink of an Eye). She too has no daughter in the stud, nor any young fillies and worryingly she was not covered in 2022. It is to be hoped there is nothing amiss and that a direct relative of Flight of Fancy is one day produced.
Another branch comes through a now deceased mare called Daring Aim, who was a Darshaan half sister to Flight of Fancy. She was a good mare, though her produce were often, like her, temperamental. She has 12yo Dansili mare in the Stud called Queen’s Prize. She has had 5 foals to race and 4 of them have won. She has a Too Darn Hot yearling filly but has already produced a better filly than herself in Award Scheme (6yo by Siyouni) who joined her dam in the Stud, though she is yet to produce a live foal. This branch doesn’t end there as Daphne (by Duke of Marmalade and now a 10yo) has got off to a great start with the still in-training Perfect Alibi, who hopefully will join her dam in the Stud. Daphne also has a Night of Thunder yearling filly. This is a very strong branch of the Amicable family.
Two other branches are not in such good fettle. The first is represented bloodstock-wise by the unraced 3yo filly Silver Pageant, who is out of an Oasis Dream half-sister of Phantom Gold called Siver Mirage (now deceased). Silver Pageant was all set to be sold at the February Sales, but withdrawn. We will have to see what becomes of her. The final branch is represented by 3yo filly Barrier and an unnamed 2yo filly by Le Havre. These two are daughters of the now sold Pure Fantasy (by Fastnet Rock) out of a full-sister to Phantom Gold. Hopefully one of them will keep this interesting branch alive of this strong and improving family.

Enticement is a 17yo mare, who is one of the rarely bought horses by a monarch. She was a useful racefilly and won two Listed races and did start favourite for the 2009 Musidora (though clearly put in her place by the eventual Oaks winner). She has been ‘in and out’ as a broodmare producing the useful Diploma (by Dubawi now 10yo) but little else of note. She has an unnamed 2yo filly by Kingman. In turn Diploma has a Deep Impact daughter in the stud called Portfolio (by Deep Impact now 5yo), who was an above average filly. This family needs to prove itself worthy of all its high profile matings. It is worth pointing out that Secret Haunt, an unraced full-sister to Diploma, is a maiden mare in foal to Frankel and owned by Juddmonte.

Star Value (by Danehill Dancer) is a 15yo mare who has little to show for her 11 years in the Royal Stud. She is very well bred being out of a Prix de Diane winner but was unraced. She did not have a winner until 2022 (Kiteflyer). She has the 3yo filly Value Added in training and has an unnamed Almanzor 2yo filly. She was one of the broodmares who wasn’t covered in 2022.

The same age is Humdrum and this introduces us to the family of rootmare Lyrical. There have been some good but not great horses from this family. Humdrum is by Dr Fong out of an Alzao mare called Spinning Top. As a racefilly she won 3 races and she started her stud career well with her first 5 foals being winners. She’s trailed of a little since then and has no daughter in the stud. In fact she was one of the mares for which there is no record of a covering in 2022. She does have a half-sister called Kinematic (11yo) who is surprisingly by the sprinter-bred sire Kyllachy. Her first foal was the G2 winner Kings Lynn. Her 2nd and 3rd foals also won, with the second picking up a G3 race in Italy after being foaled. There is an unnamed 2yo full-sister to Kings Lynn this year. An interesting family that unlike most of the Royal families shows precocious speed.

Also the same age is Memory (by Danehill Dancer: at one time there were 6 Danehill Dancer broodmares in the Royal Stud!). Memory was an excellent 2yo but did not train on or inded showed no interest in racing as a 3yo. At the end of her career Memory was purchased by the Queen. Her first foal was Recorder, who looked a real prospect asa 2yo but was injured and did not run again. Her 2nd foal was the very useful Call to Mind who won the G2 Belmont Cup, but died soon after. In fact her 4 first foal all won. At the moment she may have a 5yo daughter in the stud because an unraced daughter, Thought Process (by Galileo), wasn’t sold as far as I could discern. Then there is a raft of fillies: Reminder (3yo by Dubawi), a2yo filly by Night of Thunder and a yearling filly by Kingman. No concerns with this family staying in the stud.

to be continued

 

Royal Bloodstock continued

A year younger is Estimate (14yo by Monsun) and the best Royal horse of the last 40 years. She has had 4 foals to reach the racecourse and two have won. The best of them is the 5yo gelding Evaluation (by Dubawi), who has won 5 races over staying distances. In many respects she’s so far been a failure. She has a daughter, Approximate (6yo), who never won and is a full-sister to Evaluation. She has so far not produced a foal. Estimate has a 3yo filly called Market Value (by Siyouni). Getting the right stallion for a mare like Estimate who stayed 20f is always difficult. She is still relatively young and hopefully one of her daughters will prove the family’s value.

The same age is Sequence(by Selkirk), who like Estimate was bred by the Aga Khan. She is a half-sister to Derby winner Sinndarr. She has produced two winners but has been a disappointment. She has no daughters in the wings and was not covered in 2022, so may have been lost already.


Sweet Idea (13yo by Snitzel (AUS)) is an interesting import into the Royal Stud from Australia, where she was a Group 1 winner as well as winning 4 Group 2s. She was sold as a 5yo for AUD1,600 in 2015. She has had 2 foals to race, the useful looking Companionship (5yo by Galileo) who raced twice as a 2yo (winning once) but did not train on: she is now in the stud. Her other runner was her full-brother General Idea, who was useless. She has a 3yo filly called Clear Thinking (by Dubawi) who’s currently not in training and a 2yo filly called The King’s Ginger (by Kingman). An interesting family who has a lot to prove.

Next up is the significant Great Hope (12yo by Cape Cross), who is from the most important Royal family of the last 80 years, that of rootmare Feola. This is the family that gave the Classic winners Hypericum and Highclere, and gave the Queen her best two colts Aureole and Doutelle. Of course bloodstock-wise this is also the family of Nashwan, Unfuwain, Nayef, Ghanaati, Hukum, Baaeed and Deep Impact: all through daughters of Highclere. Unfortunately in the Royal Stud the line has not flourished and today there is only one broodmare, Good Hope. She was a moderate winning racefilly and as a broodmare has produced 4 foals to get to the racecourse and three of them have won. Fortunately she has produced the useful (now 3yo) filly Candle of Hope (Cable Bay), has a well-named 2yo filly called Lady Wulfrun (by Saxon Warrior) and a yearling filly by Sea the Moon. With this broodmare, and one or two of her daughters, a renaissance of this family in the Royal Stud looks possible.
There is a yearling filly by Cable Bay out of Pack Together, this mare descending from a So Blessed sister to Highclere.

The same age is Shama (by Danehill Dancer) who arrived in the Royal Stud from the Aha Khan. She was a big racefilly (nearly 18 hands) who ran only 3 times, winning one race as a 3yo. She traces back to Shergar’s dam Sharmeen. As a broodmare her first 4 foals have all won. She has no daughter in the stud but has a 3yo filly, Calmly (by Dubawi) who won her second start this January. This is a family that could do better and it is to be hoped becomes established in the stud.

Next up is Nathra (10yo by Iffraaj) who again was purchased. She was a very good racefilly, winning the Nell Gwynn while finishing 2nd in both the Fillies Mile as a 2yo and the French 1000G as a 3yo. She has had 2 foals to race so far; Dukedom (by Dubawi), who was disappointing and seemed ingenuine; and the now 3yo filly Blue Missile (by Galileo) who won her second start. It is likely this filly will follow her dam into the stud and it is to be hoped she puts in some good performances this season.

The same age is Make Fast (10yo by Makfi) who came into the stud through her dam Raymi Coya who entered the stud in 2012. This mare was disappointing and sold in 2019. Her best produce was Make Fast who won as a 2yo and was narrowly defeated in the Radley Stakes by the Queen’s Light Music. Her first foal was the very useful Tactical. Her next two foals were disappointing but she has a 2yo by Zoffany called Works of Art and a yearling filly by Dark Angel. Make Fast has had her partners uprated and it is to be hoped she gets even better stock.

8yo broodmare Desert Breeze (Dubawi) comes next and this Godolphin bred mare is a full-sister to the Queen’s tough colt Dartmouth. Desert Breeze was unraced but has started well as a broodmare with the 2yo winner (now 3yo) Desert Hero. Early days, and she’s an 8yo mare but she already has a yearling filly by Fastnet Rock. Could be a useful family.

The same age is another unraced purchased mare called Craftiness (by Al Kazeem). She may already be lost to the stud as she was one of the mares not covered in 2022, and before that she produced two colts.

A year younger is the excellent racefilly Castle Lady (7yo by Shamardal) and another Godolphin import. Her big day on the track was winning the French 1000G. Her first foal is a 2yo this year but she has no filly at heel so far.

The same age is the black type filly Magnetic Charm (by Exceed and Excel) and again bred by Godolphin. She was a reasonable 2yo but improved as a 3yo to win a listed race and be placed in a G2 event. Hopefully her first 2yo (and filly) will enter training this year and she’s by Dubawi. She also has a yearling filly by Wootton Bassett.

Relatively new to the stud is another Shamardal filly from Godolphin and that is Desert Flyer (6yo). In a very short career won 2 races for the Queen. She has a yearling colt and hopefully will produce her 2nd foal this Spring.

Finally there is the only one new entry to the stud this year and that is the twice-winning filly Mellow Yellow (4yo by Dubawi).


Other (possible) breeding bloodstock (with no [longer] any broodmare from the family in the Royal Stud).

3yo Fillies
Torchlight by Invincible Spirit out of Fireglow

2yo Fillies
Treasure by Mastercraftsmen out of Shimmering Light
Unnamed By Galileo out of Set to Music

Yearling Fillies
By Time Test out of Fiery Sunset
By Magna Grecia out of Shimmering Light

There will undoubtedly be a whole clutch of filly foals this foaling season. According to me at least 23 broodmares were covered in 2023.

 

2000G entries are out and Slipofthepen has an entry for the Newmarket classic. There are no entries for the Royal fillies in the 1000G.

Not the turf season for another 4 weeks but Candle of Hope has an entry for a Listed race at Lingfield on Saturday. Looks like there's likely to be a good field and it will certainly test her.

Half the 2yos have been named but they are coming through at a trickle.

 

Here's the 2yo story so far.

Balding

c by Land Force out of Humdrum
Lady Wulfrun f by Saxon Warrior out of Good Hope
Works of Art f by Zoffany out of Make Fast

Beckett

f by Cable Bay out of Kinematic
c by Land Force out of Pack Together
Treasure f by Mastercraftsman out of Shimmering Light
f by Kingman out of Enticement

Haggas

King’s Ginger f Kingman out of Sweet Idea
Gilded Water c by Fastnet Rock out of Fiery Sunset
Candle Wax c by Dubawi out of Shama

Prescott

f by Almanzor out of Star Value

Stoute

Reaching High c by Sea the Stars out of Estimate


To be allocated
f by Galileo out of Set to Music
Crown Estate c by Dubawi out of Castle Lady
Rainbows Edge f by Night of Thunder out of Memory
c by Le Havre out of Momentary
The King’s General c by Dubawi out of Daphne
f by Zoustar out of Hypoteneuse
c by Siyouni out of Golden Stream
f by Le Havre out of Pure Fantasy
Calculate c by Cracksman out of Craftiness
High Order c by Frankel out of Diploma
f by Dubawi out of Magnetic Charm

Main points:-
Gosden is yet be allocated any 2yos yet, same for Hughes: both have 3yos, and in Gosden's case 4yos
Bell, Charlton, Cox and Hannon, who have no 3yos have not been allocated 2yos: some of these may be leaving the roster
Some 2yos have been named are not in training, and vice versa. Which I find strange.

Can't help but feel that Works of Art could be an early 2yo.I like the naming and pedigree of Lady Wulfron: whose name is apparently the Anglo Saxon origin of Wolverhampton. Interestingly she is inbred to Highclere (5 X 4).

Some of those unallocated 2yos look to have exciting pedigrees: those out of Magnetic Attraction, Golden Stream, Castle Lady, and named 2yos High Order and The King's General particularly please the eye.

Candle of Hope runs today and George Rooke rides. Originally attached to Hannon's yard, he now seems to ride a lot of Hughes animals. Maybe he rides her out and gets on well with her.

 

The Tattersalls March Sale sees Silver Pageant going through the ring. She surely must sell this time.

All three Derby colts stand their ground at the 2nd declaration stage. Slightly surprised that Circle of Fire remains, but he must either be better than I think or they are just flying a kite. I'd expect Slipofthepen to have a 2000G trial somewhere. Desert Hero would be expected to go for one of the Derby Trials and Haggas seems to favour Sandown, so perhaps Sandown in April. Circle of Fire looks more like a Lingfield horse.

Candle of Hope ran, in my opinion, another unsatisfactory race. First of all she was unfancied, so definitely not backed by the stable: she started at 25-1. She started well, was held in 2nd/3rd position but then appeared challenged for pace coming into the straight. She then rallied but had no room a furlong and a half out, her jockey had to take a pull and her chance was gone. She ran on in the last half-furlong and eventually finished 5th but beaten only a length and two necks by the winner, who was fully extended. With a clear run would she have won? Possibly, but in order to be a good racehorse you have to have speed at key points in a race. If we presume she was not fully fit then she may improve on this next time out (this reminds me of my golf, which I'm useless at. I play shockingly for about 12 holes and in misery tell myself 'that's it, I'm not playing this game anymore' then on one of the final holes I play a brilliant shot and think 'I'll give it another try'). So I live on in hope that Candle of Hope will run a true race and prove she's worth keeping.

 

It was announced a few weeks back that The King will own horses jointly with his wife, though anyone who had enquired about Royal horses on the BHA website would have known that weeks before. It now appears that The Queen Consort will be listed as sole owner of a few of the Royal horses. She is listed as the owner of Torchlight, an unraced 3yo filly in training with Gosden (though she has only recently returned to training: the horse that is). She is already listed as the owner of Marching Band and Clear Thinking, who are not in training at the moment but were with Stoute and Haggas (respectively) last year.. Unfortunately Calmly has been taken out of training and one must hope this is just temporary.

Sage is now Gosden's sole Lincoln representative. I'm hoping to see gallop reports in next week's Weekender.

Believe it or not Silver Pageant was withdrawn from the February sale.

6 foals have so far been announced as born by the Rpyal Stud. A Frankel colt out of new mare Castle Lady looks the pick so far (pedigree wise).

 

Having said The Queen Consort was listed as owner for 3 horses, I decided to look at a few others and on the BHA site she is listed as owner of just about every horse. So I don't know what's going on.
Perhaps Camilla taking charge of the Royal horses is the best thing. The Duke of Windsor, when King, planned to sell Sandringham which would have been a disaster. Other monarchs showed no interest in racing so there's a precedent. George II delegated all racing matters to his brother. I read a book once about the Royal Stud that said he owned a good handicapper called Stiff Dick. As I've never found a horse listed in Pedigree Queeries with that name it might have been the author having some fun.
Victoria had no interest in racing but Albert felt it imporrtant to keep the Stud going.. When he died Bertie (Edward the Prince of Wales) took over and was very successful.

 

There was a bit in the Mirror I found which explained that Prescott had two fillies sent to him this year. The second (though not on the Heath House list) is a Shalaa filly out of a mare called Al Wathna. She looks like she's a present from Al Shaqab, and was a pretty useful racehorse. More interesting to me is that she she traces back to the Joel line of Fairy Footsteps, Light Cavalry and Royal Palace. If you trace her back further there's the Derby winner Humorist.

The article explained that Prescott HAD trained a Royal horse before, that being a filly called Dark Swan who was owned by the PoW and Camilla. Prescott said she was useless. She was pretty useless at stud too.

 

Kings Lynn made his seasonal debut at Doncaster but was a tad disappointing. Admittedly he was baulked coming out of the stalls, but he didn't pick up as one would have expected.

Slipofthepen makes his seasonal debut at Kempton on Monday. He runs in a Novice event, a race which in Kempton's turf days used to be a Classic trial called the Easter Stakes or Kempton 2000G Trial: some good horses have won it. J Doyle is already booked, which I take as a good sign as he rode him on his debut. Slipofthepen is getting positive gallop reports.

This colt was also entered for the Dante, the entries were published yesterday. Circle of Fire is also entered for the York race but no Desert Hero. The Oaks entries also came out yesterday and Value Added was entered. Hughes must think a lot of this filly. I hope he's right.

Only 2 weeks to proper racing.

 

Slipofthepen won comfortably on his seasonal debut in a workmanlike rather than brilliant fashion. The next ten days will show (on the gallops) whether this horse goes to Newmarket or not. He was still green at certain parts of the race, so he's got plenty of growing up to do, and therefore has further potential .
He showed the same turbo change of pace (on the bridle) when given his head. He looks a potentially classy colt and Gosden seemed to favour the Heron Stakes and then St James Palace Stakes.

One ironic note.. Over the last few years Warren has chosen Cable Bay as a sire to send lesser Royal types to, and especially types he feels need to be sold. If you go back to 2019 Slipofthepen's dam, Free Verse, was sent to Cable Bay but he was suffering some fertility problems. So Free Verse was sent on to Night of Thunder. Let's hope Warren doesn't claim what could have been an own goal.
Sadly Free Verse was sold anyway, a year later, as a 12yo barren mare. She is now owned by a Mr Cook who sent him to Postponed (so far no foal posted)..

 

Next week is one of my favourite weeks of the racing season .Strange really because great hopes have been dashed as many times as they have come to pass. The Craven meeting (now thankfully confirmed as a 3 day meet again), followed by the Newbury Spring meeting is my idea of racing heaven.
Last year the Queen had about 9 runnersat these two meetings. So far the King has only 3 entered at Newmarket. First up is last year's failure Reach for The Moon. He starts this year as a gelding and hopefully he'll deliver the performances he did as a 2yo. He isentered for the 9f Earl of Sefton Stakes on Tuesday.

On Wednesday Candle of Hope is entered for the Nell Gwyn. I retain my faith in this fiilly but she needs firm ground. Value Added is entered on Wednesday in a maiden and Thursday in a conditions race. This once-raced filly is very much the talking horse of the Royal band (well fillies anyway). Buick is down to ride her Thursday, because if she is to run at Newmarket that is the more likely race. I say that because she isalso entered in a 10f maiden at Newbury on Friday. This is one of those races that usually throws up a good one.
In the last race on Friday at Newbury there are two Royal entries. It's a race for unraced fillies and the two are Gentle Light (a full sister to Light Refrain) and Reminder a Dubawi half-sister to Recorder and Call to Mind (both Group winners).
Slightly disappointed there aren't more unraced 3yos running.

 

Reach for the Moon goes for the Earl of Sefton Stakes this afternoon and it will be disappointing if he doesn't make a bold show.

Candle of Hope was unsurprisingly withdrawn from the Nell Gwyn, probably due to the prevailing soft ground. Value Added now goes for the Newbury race. Saga is entered for Saturday's Newbury Spring Cup. Again his participation will be dependent upon the going I'm sure. We'll find to morrow if the two unraced fillies run on Friday.

Having got interested in Calmly, I see she's been sold and runs in France today.

On Monday Balding has entered Lady Wulfrun in a 5f 2yo race at Windsor. Surprising that she's entered so early as she's a daughter of Saxon Warrior (by Deep Impact), but if she's ready to go why not go. She's a half-sister to Candle of Hope, and being by a son of Deep Impact she's inbred to the Queen's dual-Classic winner Highclere. Admittedly only 5X4 inbred, but it has become a fashion to look for in-breeding to famous mares.