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The Royal Stud/The Queen 2020

Discussion in 'Horse Racing' started by Bustino74, Mar 13, 2020.

  1. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    It is now 43 years since The Queen last won a Classic. A Classic win, indeed a Derby win, must still be the aim but it looks no nearer this year. Though this fact is disappointing one has to acknowledge The Queen had a large number of winners in 2019 (29) and she does have some attractively bred mares. In previous years I’ve made a list of those new families (new from 10 years ago) but won’t do the same this year and will just add the one additional family/mare. The horse representing this new mare is:-
    Companionship a 2yo filly by Galileo out of Sweet Idea (an Australian Group 1 winner by Snitzel): an interesting edition to the Royal Stud and in training with Haggas.

    4 year olds and older

    This year I thought I’d look at the Royal horses by age group. Leading the 4yo and older group is the 5yo gelding, Sextant, who won 4 races last year, two of them listed. He improved considerably last season and if Stoute can get half as much improvement again (he still appears immature) he should easily win a 12f Group 3 this season. He doesn’t seem to like very soft ground or distances in excess of 12f. Sextant was entered for the Autumn Sales but withdrawn, as was another of this years’ Royal older horses, Desert Caravan (Haggas). This Oasis Dream gelding did not appear until November but won on his debut and then quickly followed up with a second all-weather win. He is the first winning foal of a Selkirk mare who’s a half-sister to Derby/Arc winner Sinndar. At the moment Desert Caravan seems suited to 8-9f but may get a bit further and should add to his wins. There are two staying 4yo geldings. The better of the two is Estimate’s first foal, Calculation (Stoute), who won 3 races last season and looks capable of doing better (again he seems to prefer good or faster ground). The other 4yo gelding is Space Walk (Haggas), who is a full-brother to both Recorder and the good stayer Call to Mind. After winning midsummer his form tailed off and he needs to do better this year. The older geldings are completed by the twice-raced Youthful (Bell), who having won as a 2yo ran only once as a 3yo but was pulled up lame. He looks a bit of a character and should be watched, but if repeating his winning form could win more races. The final older horse is Sovereign Grant (by Kingman with Stoute) who looked the best Royal 2yo of his year but totally missed out his 3yo season.

    3yos

    There appears little likelihood that there is a Classic horse amongst the 3yo colts. As it is the two most promising at this stage are both in the keeping of Andrew Balding, who probably doesn’t get first choice of yearlings. The first is the big money winner of 2019, Kings Lynn, who ran twice as a 2yo winning the big Doncaster sales race. He is by Cable Bay out of a Kyllachy mare. He’s won over 6.5f and could just get a bit further. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is aimed at something like the Free Handicap if he comes to hand early enough. The surprise has been Balding’s Punctuation who didn’t run until January but has provided The Queen with her first win of 2020 on his 2nd start. This colt is by Dansili out of a Galileo half-sister to the Aga Khan’s Kalanisi. So far Key Point has been a bit of a dead loss at stud and with this in mind Punctuation’s debut didn’t raise great expectations as he started at 20/1. He ran well and was beaten a head by a Gosden inmate. Appearing 3 weeks later he won his maiden in spectacular fashion beating his field (including 2 expensive Godolphin colts) by 11 lengths. Worth watching the race as Punctuation was hindered at the start and was well adrift at half way. However de Sousa hardly moved a muscle as he just forged to the front 5f out then just went away from his strongly ridden field while he hardly seemed to exert himself. With 4 white legs he looks like a big Rocking Horse and it may be he can just outgallop horses but not have a change of pace. If he has got one he could prove quite useful and I’d think a Royal Ascot date in the Queen’s Vase could be a target; a way to go before he gets there though.
    Winning 2019 2yos are Otago and Cloud Drift (both Bell), both near relations of Kings Lynn. They could add to their wins. They have both been gelded which seems to be a thing with older Royal horses. Not gelded is the Derby entered Vindicate (Stoute) who ran twice as a 2yo winning an all-weather maiden on his second start. I’d expect him to start in a handicap at somewhere like Newbury or Newmarket. By Lope de Vega out of a Fasiliyev mare called Aurore, who has been disappointing as a mare so far I’d want to watch Vindicate’s early runs this year. Haggas has an interesting gelding in Fruition who gets his name from her dam Ananas (who is a daughter of Nayef out of a Sadler’s Wells sister to Dancing Brave). Fruition improved with every run eventually winning what looked a competitive maiden on the all-weather (incidentally ridden by star, French, young jockey Boudot). He looked very game when winning and though likely to be just a handicapper can win more races, most likely at 8-10f.
    Of the maiden 2yo colts I’m expecting Evening Sun (Charlton) to win races and be progressive (especially if he can learn to settle), while the same trainer’s Code of Conduct should be useful and as a Siyouni half-brother to Desert Caravan should be an 8-10f horse. Of others that have raced First Receiver (Stoute) looked useful on his debut at the Newmarket July meeting and one would have thought he’d reappear and win his maiden. As it was he didn’t reappear again until mid-November when he was narrowly beaten by a colt giving him 7lb. He should go for a maiden, win that and go on from there. One colt we know little about is Formality (Frankel) who’s the 2nd foal of an Oasis Dream mare called Silver Mirage and was the final foal of Ribblesdale winner Phantom Gold, and so a half-sister to an Oaks 2nd , amongst others. He ran once as a 2yo, finishing 5th in a Newmarket maiden in late October. He has been busy on the gallops and is likely to be aimed at a maiden in March/April.
    There are several unraced colts and the two most interesting are probably Dauntless (Gosden), who is a Dubawi full-brother to Diploma, and Glittering Gift (Stoute), another by Dubawi out of the good racemare Golden Stream. Both of these are gelded already so the Queen has a large number of geldings.

    When we come to the 3yo fillies there are even more unraced and only a pair of 2yo winners. Some optimism must have been gained when Desert Flyer (Gosden) won her maiden on the all-weather in December. It didn’t appear much of a heat but the 3rd, 4th and 5th have all come out and won since, while the 2nd hasn’t run. Desert Flyer is by Shamardal out of the unbeaten White Moonstone, who was the champion staying 2yo of 2010. It’s questionable how far she could stay, probably 10f and possibly 12f. We’ll have to wait to see if she picks up any high profile entries.
    The raced fillies are interesting, so I will mention a few. The first is the Siyouni filly Award Scheme (Haggas), who ran 3rd on her debut mid-July, looked useful but then didn’t run again. I’m sure she can do a lot better and may need 10f to be seen at her best and an April maiden would seem to be the order (she has a Prix de Diane entry). Two others are Approximate (a Dubawi filly out of Estimate with Bell) and Dusty Dream (a Dubawi sister to Recorder and Call to Mind with Haggas). Both of these ran disappointingly first time out (they could have hardly been worse) and their 2nd runs were not much better (though Dusty Dream improved more than the other). They are both valuable fillies however, being the first fillies born to these two dams. A more promising filly than these two may be Lightness (Gosden) who is by Shamardal out of a Street Cry mare from the family of Bandini. Her only run was a promising, running-on 3rd to a very good Varian filly.
    There are a whole bunch of unraced fillies who could make their mark this year. My favourites are headed by Stoute’s Quick Waltz (by Australia out of Momentary): the dam was an unraced 2yo but useful 3yo, hopefully she’ll be the same. Kew Palace (Haggas) should also be interesting.

    2yos

    The Queen has a bumper 34 2yos this season. A lot of them are well-bred and by top sires, and if anything, her fillies look stronger than her colts. For example amongst her fillies she has 2 Dubawis, 2 Galileos, 2 Kingmans, 2 Siyounis, 1 Frankel and 1 Deep Impact. I’ll write more about these later but if there are to be early 2yos I’d expect them to be these:-

    Closeness (Bell) filly by Iffraaj out of Pack Together,
    Collinsbay (Hannon) colt by Cable Bay out of Kinematic [full brother to Kings Lynn],
    Safe Passage (Hannon) filly by Paco Boy out of Daring Aim,
    Tactical (Balding) colt by Toronado out of Make Fast.

    As regards others I’ll be looking out for the colt Realist (a Camelot half-sister to Formality with Bell), Pineapple Ring (a Kingman half-sister to Fruition, with Haggas) and the filly Geometrist (Kingman half-sister to Sextant, with Stoute).

    Last year the Queen had 58 flat horses in training, 3 never made it into training, but this year has 65 horses listed as in training in Horses in Training. Hopefully the Queen can have more winners than last year and have more listed and Group winners. The big hope is that one of the 2yos comes through as a Classic possible for next year.
     
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  2. Janabelle13

    Janabelle13 Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the interesting write up.

    Fingers crossed HM gets a superstar this year
     
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  3. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    Worth taking a look at this video on the Michael Bell site. He takes you (and that could very well mean the Royal you) through all the Queen's horses in his stable.
    https://vimeo.com/user84091943

    Some notes: in my article I said Glittering Gift was with Stoute and he was. He's now been transferred to Bell. I don't think that is a good sign. Inveigle is a 2yo but not Royal bred and appears to be a Darley bred horse. The only horse not shown appears to be the 2yo filly Stimulate, who is by Muharrar out of Shama.
     
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  4. OddDog

    OddDog Mild mannered janitor
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    She ought to have kept a few quid back for a new telephone <laugh>



    upload_2020-3-27_17-57-11.png
     
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  5. stick

    stick Bumper King

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    Stumbled upon this and thought it may interest you;

    First Receiver colt
    Trained by Sir Michael Stoute
    A Royal bred colt by the Epsom Derby winner of 2008 New Approach, out of Her Majesty’s mare Touchline who was twice placed in Listed company over seven furlongs and a mile. First Receiver had two outings as a juvenile, and ran well in both. He finished third on his debut at Newmarket in July over seven furlongs behind Al Madhar in a race that the form has been franked since on a number of occasions. While on his second run – some four months later, he was beaten just half a length at Kempton over a mile by the Godolphin runner First View, who was following up a win at the track the previous month. I would imagine First Receiver would start his season off over a mile in Maiden or Novice company, but may well make up into a nice handicapper over ten furlongs with a bit more experience behind him. He has the added bonus of acting on both turf and an artificial surface.
     
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  6. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    Thanks Stick, where did you find that?
     
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  7. stick

    stick Bumper King

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  8. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    A few years ago (in fact quite a few years ago 2014/5) I wrote a critique of Ballymacoll’s mares that was more prescient than I could have believed. I criticised a number of things, one was the non-use of fast sires and the other was the almost blinkered use of Sadler’s Wells. The latter criticism was mainly aimed at their best mare Hellenic who had 14 foals but 9 of them were by Sadler’s Wells. You might ask what’s wrong with that, he was the top sire wasn’t he? Well soon as you do something like that, and you are a stud that breeds, you are precluded from using sons and grandsons of Sadler’s Wells. Daughters of Hellenic could not be covered by Galileo (a greater sire arguably than Sadler’s Wells) and his son Frankel. Even the other sires Hellenic was sent to were all grandsons or great grandsons of Sadler’s Wells’ sire Northern Dancer. Were there not other sire-lines they could have used sires like Rainbow Quest, Monsun or Machiavellian?

    Hellenic sired 3 Group 1 horses but the offspring of her daughters have hardly worried the judges at that level (the exception is Desert Beauty by Green Desert who when bred to Monsun produced Fiorente). I believe this narrow view on sires (alongside other factors) led to the demise of the Ballymacoll Stud and its eventual sale at the end of 2017.


    So now I’m going to look at the Royal Stud (as I seem to have a bit of time just now). I’m going to do this by looking at families that are in the stud, at what has been successful and what has been tried. I did an article on Feola in 2015 so I’ll leave the Feola family until last. I’ll start with what I’d call the Amicable family.


    The Amicable Family: part 1 (mares in bold are still active or have 2yo horses in training this season)


    Amicable was purchased as a mare by The Queen in the late ‘60s. Her attraction to The Queen that she was by her excellent racehorse and promising sire Doutelle, who had just died. Amicable was no backmarker herself as she won the Nell Gwynn and Lingfield Oaks Trial, she was also 2nd in the Yorkshire Oaks. She was bought as a 7yo in foal to Exbury, having up to then just one foal. The Exbury foal was a filly named Example and was trained by Balding. Apparently a beautiful chestnut filly she was slow to come to hand. A 2nd in the Lingfield Oaks Trial showed she had more than average ability but it wasn’t until the Doncaster St Leger meeting, when Lester Piggott pinned her at the back of the Park Hill Stakes field and came round all of them to win easily, that people realised how good she was. She then went to France and Piggott did the same again in the Prix Chaudeney. She stayed in training as a 4yo and though not a total success added another Group 2 in France.

    As a 5yo mare she was sent to the USA to be covered by Nijinsky, then disaster struck. When foaling, her filly foal stepped through her uterus and Example died a few days later. The foal was a fairly insignificant specimen and was named Pas de Deux. She won one race but was not a bad broodmare. It’s a sad fact that her colt by Young Generation called Unknown Quantity was the last Royal Stud bred horse to win a Group 1 race (even if that Group 1 was a Grade 1 handicap in the USA). Pas de Deux also had a useful filly called Starlet (one of the best horses sired by Teenoso) who was 2nd in the Nassau and Sun Chariot as well as winning a German Group 2. As a mare she had some reasonable produce and the best was the filly Interlude, who was the result of the Queen’s first use of Sadler’s Wells. Unfortunately she died as a new broodmare after winning a French Group 2 race and finishing 2nd in the Ribblesdale. Another daughter, Success Story, was not as good a racehorse but had winning foals the best of which was Film Script (by Unfuwain and who won 3 times including the Lingfield Oaks Trial). Film Script started well as a broodmare as her 3rd foal was Chesham Stakes winner Free Agent. Sadly again, her 2015 foal Natural History is the last descendant of Example in Royal ownership. Film Script’s 1st foal was a winning Rainbow Quest filly called Rainbow Edge who was sold out of the stud after producing Peacock (by Paco Boy) who won 3 races and whose best performances were when 2nd to both Golden Horn and Time Test. Rainbow’s Edge has a decent 3yo this year this year called Queen Gamrah (by Toronado) who is trained by Johnston and has won 2 races. Another daughter of Rainbow’s Edge is in the Aga Khan’s stud. She is by Zamindar and is called Raiysina. She has so far had two winning foals.

    I’ve started with the Amicable family because it is the most numerous family in the Royal Stud, and all those mares and their produce trace back to Example’s full sister Expansive. Trained by Dick Hern she ran promisingly once as a 2yo. Hern must have thought something of her as her 3yo debut was in Newbury’s Sandleford Priory stakes (or whatever it’s called now) in which she finished 3rd to subsequent 1979 Oaks winner Scintillate. She bypassed the Oaks and ran next in the Ribblesdale which she won. It was to be her last race and she retired to the Royal Stud.
    She wasn’t a great mare. She had a fair colt called Salient (High Top) who was consistent but seemed unsound and a Northern Baby (by Northern Dancer) filly called Trying for Gold. This was poignantly one of the last Royal horses trained by her best trainer Dick Hern. She was above average but obtained no black-type. She won twice as a 3yo in Hern’s penultimate season as a Royal trainer. She was then retired to the paddocks, and had an immediate impact.
    Her 2nd foal was a Machiavellian filly called Phantom Gold and trained by Hern’s replacement Hastings-Bass. She improved considerably in the midsummer of her 3yo season and won the Ribblesdale and the St Simon Stakes. She stayed in training as a 4yo and won the Geoffrey Freer Stakes and could be considered just off top-class. She was hugely successful as a broodmare. Just a point of interest, Phantom Gold ran as a pregnant 4yo and the resulting foal was useless.

    Phantom Gold’s 2nd live foal was the Sadler’s Wells filly Flight of Fancy (Stoute) who as a 2yo ran twice winning a Newmarket maiden in good style. She became fancied for the Oaks and made her seasonal debut in the Musidora for which she was favourite. Apparently this was not Fallon’s finest hour and she finished 4th much to Racing Manager Carnarvon’s annoyance. She still ran in the Oaks finishing 2nd to Imagine and unfortunately that was the last we saw of her and she became a Royal broodmare. She wasn’t a prolific producer and was often barren. Her best foal was Fabricate (Makfi) who won 7 races (including 3 Group 3s) and retired last year. Her most important produce was her first foal Fleeting Memory (Danehill) who won a maiden. She did not have long in the stud and it’s her 2nd foal Momentary (Nayef) who is of interest. She (an unraced 2yo) ran only 3 times and after a pipe-opener at the Newbury April meeting returned to the course a month later she won the Sandleford Priory at a price of 33-1. Bell reported her victory as no surprise as she was his best 3yo filly and that she would now go for the Ribblesdale. She was hugely disappointing in that race and something must have been wrong as she was retired to the Royal Stud. Any breeder wants (i) their mares to be producers, then (ii) to breed winners, then (iii) to breed black type horses with the ultimate being Group 1 winners. Momentary has passed steps (i) and (ii) so far with 6 live foals off the reel and the only 3 to race having won. Her first foal was an Oasis Dream colt called Merlin who won 3 races as a 3yo. The second foal was by Redoutes Choice and called Sharp Practice who managed to win a small race as a 3yo. Her third foal was Sovereign Grant (by Kingman), who looked useful when winning as a 2yo but has not run since but is still in training as a 4yo. There is a 3yo filly by Australia called Quick Waltz with Stoute and a 2yo colt called Wink of an Eye is with Haggas. What is noticeable is the quality of sires is rising. She has a yearling full-sister to Wink of an Eye but a return to Kingman may have resulted in a missed year. I say this because she is already listed as being covered by top French sire Le Havre. I can see Momentary producing a good horse one day. It would be a big positive to see Wink of an Eye running and winning as a 2yo.

    Phantom Gold’s Daylami foal, Daring Aim, came 3 years after Flight of Fancy and she appeared to have ability. She also appeared to have a mind of her own. She acquired notoriety as she featured in the trial of Kieren Fallon. Allegedly Fallon said this horse would not win a race. Given her attitude that wasn’t red hot information. Strangely enough Daring aim won that race with Fallon producing a miracle. Despite her attitude she became part of the broodmare band. She has been very fertile and out of 14 tries produced 11 foals. Her first foal was Highland Glen (Montjeu) who inherited her mother’s attitude. After 3 wins as a gelded 3yo he was sold to continue racing in the UAE. The next 2 foals won as did the next one, Bold Sniper (New Approach) with this colt winning 3 races as a 3yo before being sent to Australia where he continued his winning ways. He was again a difficult horse but had plenty of ability.
    The first filly came next and Queen’s Prize (Dansili) won her only race as a 2yo. After a disappointing 3yo debut she was sent to the USA where she was placed but did not win. She retired to the paddocks and her first foal, West Newton (by Kitten’s Joy) managed a small win as a 3yo. Her 2nd foal may be a lot better and she, Award Scheme (by Siyouni), is now a 3yo. She ran very promisingly on her only 2yo start and perhaps Haggas can conjure some black type from her. The current 2yo is a colt by Toronado called Tynwald, while there is a Recorder yearling colt and a Lope de Vega colt foal. This mare could be useful in the future and Award Scheme could be the start of it.
    Daring Aim produced an even better filly when sent to Duke of Marmalade. Daphne did not do much as a 2yo but improved as 3yo winning twice over 12f and 14f. She stayed in training as a 4yo and while not running until September she won 2 races the second of which was a listed race. At stud she has a yearling filly by Le Havre and hopefully will produce a foal to New Approach. She showed none of her dam’s waywardness and if sent to 6-10f sires could produce useful animals.
    The Royal Stud must have rated Daring Aim as she was sent to Frankel in 2015 and the mare produced a colt called Invictus Spirit. Unfortunately this unraced 2yo won his 3rd start as a 3yo but appeared struck into and was put down after winning his maiden. There is a 2yo colt by Paco Boy called Safe Passage and an unnamed yearling colt by Recorder. It doesn’t appear that Daring Aim was covered in 2019. It could be at the age of 19 she’s been retired. We’ll find out. What is certain is that she’s been one of the most successful Royal mares of the last 10 years but the question is will her daughters take the family to a higher level?


    Phantom Gold then had another filly by Sadler’s Wells called Well Hidden, although listed as in the Stud she had no representatives for the Queen. Two years later was a further Sadler’s Wells filly called Hypoteneuse. She won a small race and went to stud. At first her foals seemed to be swapped with Juddmonte, then she became very much a Royal Stud mare with her first Royal horse being Maths Prize (Royal Applause) who looked a decent 2yo winning twice and being place at a listed level. Unfortunately his 3yo career was ruined by petty injury and he was sold. He didn’t do badly as a 4yo in Ireland winning twice. Next Hypoteneuse produced a colt by Sea the Stars called Sextant. Unraced as a 2yo, he ran three times as a 3yo, winning once, but was such an unruly colt it was no surprise when he was gelded. As a 4yo he won 4 races and he stays in training as a 5yo. In training , out of Hypoteneuse, are two fillies; 3yo High Shine (by Paco Boy) and; 2yo Geometrist (Kingman). The mare has a Golden Horn yearling filly and should produce a Golden Horn foal this year. A promising mare Hypoteneuse looks as if she can produce decent horses and maybe speedy sires like Kingman and Muharrar may be the key to her producing a top class horse. Phantom Gold’s next Sadler’s Wells filly was Golden Stream who like her full-sisters was trained by Stoute. She won first time out with the report being she was a much better 2yo than Flight of Fancy. Unlike her big sister she ran a lot, she won 3 races but she didn’t seem to stay beyond 7f.

    A slight aside here. Why was Phantom Gold sent to Sadler’s Wells so much? She had 4 daughters (all at one time in the Royal Stud) and one colt and was barren a few times to him. So being sent to Sadler’s Wells 7 times, 4 other Northern Dancer line sires, Cadeaux Genereux (the sire of the first foal) and Daylami hardly meets Tesio’s rule to "Include a few close inbreedings, a few complete outcrosses, one or two proven blood affinities, and one or two crosses which it is felt could become nicks". I think Tesio’s wisdom is illustrated by the success of the Daylami foal as a mare. Maybe Phantom Gold should have been sent to Doyoun or Dalakhani as other Mill Reef/ Never Bend line sires.

    Golden Stream has so far had 5 foals only one of which has run. That was her first foal, Mainstream (by Dansili), who won twice and was then sold to Australia where he won 2 further races and in his new name of Invictus Spirit finished 2nd to Winx in a Group 1. However he was a headstrong colt and then gelding and not the best advertisement, temperament-wise, for his dam. The second living foal, Tidal Stream (by Redoutes Choice) , who never got to the track, in fact was only in training as a 2yo, but is in the Royal Stud and was sent to Recorder for her first mating. The fact that she was by the late Redoutes Choice probably was a factor in keeping this mare. The third foal is Glittering Gift (by Dubawi) who is already gelded and changed trainers (Stoute to Bell) so that doesn’t bode well. There is a Sea the Stars 2yo colt called Chalk Stream in training with Haggas. There is a yearling full-brother to this colt and she may have a Dubawi foal. Sea the stars looks the right type of sire for this mare who badly needs to show something.

    Phantom Gold’s last foal was an Oasis Dream filly called Silver Mirage. Oasis Dream was a very fast horse but has got horses that stayed quite a bit further, however Silver Mirage’s only win was in a small 6f all-weather race. At stud she has had 5 foals (which is good) though only one has raced and that was the second foal, the colt Formality (by Frankel with Bell) whom the trainer seems to like. The first foal was Sightseeing (by New Approach) who was unraced but retained. Like a lot of Royal mares her first mating was Recorder and hopefully a foal will be produced. Bell has a 2yo colt called Realist (by Camelot). There is a Lope de Vega yearling filly, and an Iffraaj filly foal. Silver Mirage has been sent to an eyecatching bunch of sires so it will be good to see Formality getting her off the mark.

    To be continued…….
     
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  9. floridaspearl

    floridaspearl Well-Known Member

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    A bit of an aside duke of marmalade was a late developer for me proving top class eventually I always look at his progeny over the sticks.
     
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  10. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    You are probably right. He hasn't been a great success as a flat sire. Maybe the Queen will have Daphne's produce sent to Henderson.
     
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  11. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    Amicable Family part 2


    After Phantom Gold, Trying for Gold produced a decent filly called Tempting Prospect (Shirley Heights) who won as a 2yo and was placed in 4 listed races as a 3yo. An obvious filly for stud she never quite got the decent horse she promised to get. Her best foals were Promotion (Sadler’s Wells) and Tactician (Motivator) but there was no worthwhile filly forthcoming: an interesting Mill Reef line started and ended.

    Trying for Gold’s next foal was a replication of Phantom Gold’s mating as Fictitious was by Machiavellian. Nowhere near as good as her full-sister, she was useful. After showing promise as a 2yo and 3yo whe eventually won a listed race at Newcastle before being sent to the USA. There she won a Group 3 race and was placed in a race at the same level. Initially at stud she was disappointing but had a good colt in 2007 by Danehill Dancer called Quadrille. He won twice as a 2yo and again as a 3yo, but then ran his best race when beaten a short-head at Royal Ascot in the Hampton Court Stakes. Upped in class he was injured in the Prix Eugene Adam and never raced again. Two years later a full-sister called Free Verse was born. Similarly she won twice as a 2yo and once as a 3yo but was not the class of Quadrille. At stud she has had 6 foals only two of which have run. That first was Frontispiece (Shamardal), a colt who won his first two races (one as a 2yo and one as a 3yo) before being sold as a 4yo ( he has won twice since). His full-sister Any Little Rhyme managed one place in 7 starts and was sold. Last years 3yo, Poetic Gift (by Sea the Stars) never ran. In training this year is the once-raced 3yo filly Innovation (Dubawi: with Gosden) and the 2yo filly Bookmark ( New Approach: with Bell). There is an Australia yearling filly and this year she is due to Night of Thunder. She has been sent to top sires and though productive one winner from 4 possible runners is a touch disappointing.

    Fictitious’s final filly was by Fastnet Rock and called Pure Fantasy. Backward as a 2yo she showed some promise. She won on her 3yo debut and then won a reasonable maiden later in the season. Her first foal Pied Piper (by New Approach) is a colt in training with Gosden. There is a full-sister yearling and hopefully she’ll produce an Australia foal this year.

    The Amicable story is nearly over and ends with two further Trying for Gold mares. The first is the maiden Flash of Gold (Darshaan) who had a useful gelding in the shape of the three-time winner Mustard (Motivator) but left nothing else. The second was a fairly average filly called Trianon (Nayef) who was sold after producing 4 foals but leaving an Exceed and Excel filly called Touchline in the stud. Much was made of Touchline before she ran but backed down to near favourite for her Glorious Goodwood debut she disappointed. She did win next time out and later was placed in the Sandringham Handicap at Royal Ascot. She had some ability but was slightly disappointing. She died in 2019 after producing two foals: the first is 3yo First Receiver (New Approach: with Stoute) and a yearling colt by Ulysses.

    To summarise this is the largest family in the Royal Stud with 11 current mares (10 if Daring Aim has gone). For some reason, despite the use of the best sires available, the level attained by Amicable (and indeed her daughters of the ‘70s) has been maintained rather than improved. Of course far from a disaster but does it justify having 10 mares? It looks as if a stricter selection is needed and some of these mares should be weeded out. Though I’m not against unraced mares, 2 of these 10 are unraced. As a mare Golden Stream seems vulnerable but why is her unraced daughter Tidal Stream in the stud? Reading through the sire lists shows how many middle distance sires are used with mares of this family. The use of 6-8f sires rather than 10-12f sires is needed to get more speed into the family.


    Lyrical Family


    Lyrical was a mare who resided in the Royal Stud for just a few years in the mid-‘70s. She was a fast filly by Gratitude (a sprinter) and had her winning debut as a mare in the Royal Stud with the useful miler/10f gelding, Rhyme Royal: a good handicapper who also was placed at the Group3 level. For us Lyrical is important because of her daughter Contralto (Busted) who won two races She in turn produced the black type winner Soprano (Kris) who ran her best race when a close-up 3rd in Royal Ascot’s Coronation Stakes (behind Al Bahathri). She in turn produced a Shirley Heights filly called Zenith who was more of a stayer. When sent to Alzao she produced a useful filly who unfortunately only raced 3 times. She won on her 3yo seasonal debut and then ran her last race when 2nd in the Lupe Stakes.

    She hasn’t be the most fertile mare but of her 8 live foals to go into training all won races and in total her foals have won 26 races. There hasn’t been a Group win amongst them but the best of her produce, the gelding Musical Comedy (Royal Applause). Won 4 races including one listed sprint (he was also placed twice in listed company). Spinning Top appears to have been retired and has her last foal in training. This is the Cable Bay colt, Otago, who ran 4 times as a 2yo and won his third start. He has a BHA rating of 80 and now gelded can have a handicap career.

    Before Musical Comedy, Spinning Top produced a useful filly called Humdrum (Dr Fong) who was a 90 rated filly and won 3 races over 7 to 8f. Unlike Spinning Top she is very fertile and has produced 7 foals off the reel, like her dam all her foals that have raced have won. Perhaps the best was her first foal Husbandry (Paco Boy) who unfortunately died after 3 starts and one victory. Her best produce may therefore be Humbolt Current (Fastnet Rock) who ran once as a 2yo and though unplaced showed enough on the gallops to be entered for the 2000G. Backed down to favourite on his seasonal debut he disappointed. He then did that again and was promptly gelded. He won 3 of his next 4 starts and was then sold.Last years 2yo was Cloud Drift (Toronado), who won his maiden on his third start then ran 2nd in a C2 Nursery: now gelded, he could show more improvement but is no more than a handicapper. The 2yo this year is Humming Bee (Oasis Dream) and it is to be hoped that this better sire can give a step up in performance. There’s a yearling colt by Cable Bay (see below) and there should be another foal by Oasis Dream (hopefully a good sign she’s returned to him and hopefully it’ll be a filly).

    Spinning Top’s second daughter is Kinematic, who won once as a 2yo (at Chester: a course record). By the sprinter sire Kyllachy, her first two coverings were by Highclere Stud’s Cable Bay and what a cracker she produced in Kings Lynn, who after an encouraging 2nd on his debut won the big Doncaster Sales Race over 6.5f. Balding is saying he’s Royal Ascot bound and will be aimed at the Jersey Stakes or Commonwealth Cup. This years’ 2yo is Collinsbay (with Hannon), while the yearling colt is by Oasis Dream. This trend, a good first foal a second by the same sire then an uptick to Oasis Dream would make you feel this mare has something about her. Does the 2019 mating to Recorder make you feel that? Well not quite. Perhaps Recorder will be a great sire but that must be a bit of a long shot.

    To summarise the Lyrical family has great value as a family of good winners but mainly at a level below Group level. There are two promising mares that may be capable with the right sires (and Oasis Dream will be a test) to upgrade this family: not a bad bread and butter family to have though.


    Marl Family


    Like Lyrical, Marl was present in the Royal Stud for just a few years and was a good 2yo by Mr Prospector son, Lycius, out of a Habitat mare from a good USA/Canada family . She got a couple of good horses, the first of which was Green Line (Green Desert) who won 3 races and was sold to race in the US. A few years later Marl produced a useful Danehill Dance filly called Medley who won as a 2yo but was thought good enough to go to Royal Ascot for the Albany: she finished 4th. As a 3yo she won the Sceptre Stakes and was then sent to the USA where she picked up more black type. She then spent 4 years in America being covered by various sires. Hannon trained the first foal (Sea Shanty) to win 4 races and a full-sister to him, Light Music (Elusive Quality) proved really useful. Trained by Haggas, she was a promising 2nd on her debut and 5 weeks later won her maiden by a dozen lengths. She followed this up with a victory in Newbury’s listed, Radley Stakes and was being talked of as a possible Guineas filly. Something must have gone wrong over the winter as Haggas didn’t get her out until mid-May when she contested an all-weather listed race in which she ran 2nd. She ran OK, though unplaced, at Royal Ascot and then her form tailed right off. Sent to stud, her first cover was Frankel (there is a 2yo filly, Light Refrain, with Haggas), followed by a Fastnet Rock yearling filly and she should produce a Frankel foal this year: so great expectations. As for Medley she has been a huge disappointment having foals that don’t run, being barren and having a 3yo filly called Sound Mixer who is (extremely) frustrating. There is no 2yo or yearling and there’ll possibly be a Ribchester foal.

    To summarise I have to say this is a family I’m worried about. I would sell Medley if you could get her in foal. I’d then monitor the robustness of Light Music’s foals as they come to the racecourse. Hopefully Light Refrain will be a real star and Light Music will prove to be a mare capable of getting in foal more than her dam and capable of getting foals that justify the top sires they are throwing at her. So a few doubts about this family.


    To be continued ……..(with the stud reformation mares of the 21st century)
     
    #11
  12. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    The Reformation Mares

    In the new century the Royal Stud set about renewing itself. Go back 30-40 years and you’ll find that the Royal Stud was mainly filled with well-established families. Only two of those remain (the Amicable family and Feola family) so families that gave the Queen fine horses like Pall Mall, Almeria and Dunfermline are gone. The time was ripe for getting new blood into the stud and you have to commend the team on achieving that change (even if so far results are mixed). The route to this change was varied: some families were bought into, some came from Juddmonte, some from the Aga Khan and some from Darley. In addition some colts have arrived from Darley (the most famous being Derby 3rd Carlton House) and this relationship still exists. I cannot know the details of these relationships though I have read that the Aga Khan, at the time of the Queen’s 80th birthday, set up a relationship whereby the Queen was offered the produce of certain mares where she paid the stallion fee (and got the foal) if it was a filly.

    I’ll approach this by date, the earliest producers of foals in the Stud coming first. If mares came into the stud but left I won’t mention them.

    Aurore Family

    Aurore is a Wildenstein bred mare by Fasliyev who was obtained at the end of her racing career. Her first two foals both won, the first after being sold and the second in the Royal colours in 2014. She then did not have another runner until 2019 when her 2yo colt Vindicate (Lope de Vega) won on the all-weather for Stoute. So far little to show and there is Siyouni yearling colt and should be a Recorder foal this year. So why has this mare been kept? The reason is probably that Aurore is so well bred and comes from a fine family. She is half-sister to 3 Group winners (all by Danehill) with the best being Acquarelliste who won the Ganay, Diane and Vermeille as well as being 2nd in the Arc.
    The Royal Stud could possibly have a full-sister to Vindicate in the shape of the unraced 4yo Starry. As it is this is a venture has not delivered. I’d like to see Vindicate defeating my pessimism.

    Enticement Family

    This mare was purchased as a yearling in 2007 for 310,000gns. By Montjeu she was out of an unraced Rahy mare from the Storm Bird and Green Tune family. Unbeaten as a 2yo, she won the listed Duchess of Montrose Stakes on her second start. Her 3yo seasonal debut saw her start favourite for the Musidora Stakes and finish a distant 3rd to the Oaks winner, Sarafina. She then did not reappear again until the Autumn when she ran 3 times winning another listed race over 10f. Given her breeding and then racing performance she appeared an interesting mare to have in the stud.
    She spent her first two years in the US being covered by Street Cry. The first foal did not go into training but the second was a moderate handicapper called Pick Your Choice who won 2 races. The mare was next sent to Dubawi and produced an attractive filly called Diploma. Given the normal Stoute debut, she reappeared at Newmarket to win a maiden in good fashion. She then reappeared in the Oh So Sharp Stakes as the stable’s second-string (though with Dettori) and finished last. Dettori reported her as still weak.
    As a 3yo Diploma won a reasonable handicap at York over 10f before a reasonable 5th in the Sandringham at Ascot. She then reappeared at York and easily won a listed race before returning again for the Listed Strensall Stakes in which as favourite she disappointed. The plan was then go to the US for a Group race, but she was injured and retired.
    She didn’t come back immediately as she spent the next 2 years in Japan being covered by Deep Impact. This could not have gone better as the first year she had a filly and the next year a colt. The 2yo filly is called Portfolio and is in training with Stoute.There should be a No Nay Never foal this year. A lot riding on this mare and if her produce can emulate her quality and be robust The Queen may get some good horses.
    After Diploma the next live foal was Elector (Dansili), who won his only start as a 2yo, appeared to lose his way as a 3yo but then won his 4yo seasonal debut. He didn’t keep it up and is now sold and in training with O’Meara. Her next foal is an unraced 3yo called Dauntless (Dubawi) in training with Gosden. Haggas has a 2yo full-sister called Secet Haunt while there is a full-brother yearling. Enticement fell off my radarfor 2020 so she may be dead or overseas being mated. A touch too much Dubawi I’d say.

    This is a very important family for The Royal Stud and the exploits of Portfolio and Secret Haunt are awaited this year. This is a family that could rise to Group1/2 level.

    The Anasazi Family

    Anasazi was a Juddmonte mare who found herself arriving in the Royal Stud in 2009/10 (she was already 16yo). She is of note because she is by Sadler’s Wells, she is of even more note as she is a half-sister to Dancing Brave. Her second foal for the stud was a Nayef filly called Ananas. She was unraced though in training with Bell. Her first foal is the Oasis Dream gelding, Fruition, who appears fairly useful having won a maiden for Haggas. Unfortunately Ananas died, but not before producing two fillies of which hopefully at least one will keep this family alive in the stud. Pineapple Ring (Kingman) is in training with Haggas while there is a Motivator filly yearling.
    Anasazi was retired after one more foal who won a small race. The victory of Fruition was reassuring last season. There must be something about this family and it’s worth keeping going with it. The Kingman filly may be worth watching.

    Star Value family

    One of the first Aga Khan yearlings, who though in training with Stoute for 2 seasons was unraced. She is by Danehill Dancer out of a Nishapour mare called Shemaka who won the Prix de Diane plus two Group 3 races. As a broodmare she has been disappointing. In 7 years she has had 5 live foals of which only one has run (Topical, who won one race), so she has nothing in training at the moment. She does have an Iffraaj yearling colt and filly foal. They must have persisted for some reason but maybe if the filly is healthy and sound it’s time to dispense of this mare.

    Memory family

    Memory was a top 2yo, owned by a Highclere syndicate and trained by Richard Hannon. She appeared exceptionally good after winning the Albany Stakes and then the Cherry Hinton. As a 3yo she was unruly and wouldn’t race so eventually was retired. With the close relationship between the Queen’s Racing Manager and Highclere it must have been easy to secure a private purchase of this filly for the Royal Stud. Memory’s first mate was Galileo and the foal was a good looking colt called Recorder. He came to hand early and was entered to run as early as mid-May. Apparently a slight knock kept him off the course until July when he was placed in a Newbury maiden. He followed up 8 days later winning a 7f maiden and then took the Group 3 Acomb Stakes. He finished lame and although spoken of as a possible Classic colt he didn’t race again despite being kept in training until a 4yo. He retired to stud in France.
    Since then Memory has visited Galileo 3 more times, Dubawi 3 times and Frankel once. The second Galileo colt was Call to Mind who was unraced as a 2yo but turned out a decent stayer. The Frankel colt won as a 2yo but was sold at the end of that season. Space Walk is a 4yo gelding by Galileo who remains in training. The 3yo is Dusty Dream (Dubawi) and the first filly. The aim must be some black type but that looks a way off at the moment. The 2yo is a Galileo filly called Thought Process. There’s no yearling (she was barren to Dubawi) but is due to foal to the same sire.
    She seems fertile, has produced two group horses but the sending of her to Galileo and Dubawi is becoming monotonous. She has the opportunity to visit Green Desert line sires (such as Kingman, Golden Horn or Sea the Stars). There are also sires like Blue Point, Lope de Vega and Siyouni. She may be joined by her daughters if they prove worthy.


    Key Point family

    Another Aga Khan bred mare who was again unraced but beautifully bred being a Galileo half-sister to Kalanisi. There were great expectations as she was sent to the USA and Street Cry. The produce, like all Key Point’s first four foals came to nothing. So far so bad, but the fifth foal Punctuation (Dansili with Balding) has made things look better. Obviously backward, he was entered to run in November of his 2yo season but withdrawn on the day of the race. Was it going to be the same old story? He eventually ran this January and was a promising 2nd. He followed that up with a 12 lengths success and looks a promising colt even if the fear must be that he’ll be a bit one-paced (Balding feels he’ll need easy ground on turf). The mare doesn’t have a 2yo but does have a yearling colt by Kingman. She should have a foal by Cable Bay this year: a filly would be useful.
    Despite the promise of Punctuation this mare has to be considered disappointing. Perhaps she should be sent to more Danehill branch sires, as well as Green Desert sires.


    Set to Music family

    This filly arrived as a 2yo in Bell’s yard in 2010, she ran a few promising races as a 2yo but then her form tailed off and she ended the season on a BHA rating of 70. Rather than taking advantage of her low rating in handicaps she started in a class 5 classified race which she won. She then changed to handicaps (class 5 and 4) and won two on the trot. Upped to class 1 she then took the Listed Galtres Stakes at York. Held at the back of the field she sliced through the whole field in the final furlong. Bell then started talking about a Group race, but having won 3 races over 10f and the York race over 12f she was surprisingly upped to 14.5f when she finished 2nd in the Park Hill Stakes. By the time of this race she was rated 110 by the BHA.
    She did stay in training as a 4yo which was perhaps a mistake. She ran 7 times and despite winning another Listed race and being placed in two Group 3 races but may have been more profitably sent to stud at the end of 2011. She was very well bred being by Danehill Dancer out of an unraced Aga Khan mare called Zarabaya (by Doyoun). This is the Aga’s Z family, most famous for Zarkava. Zarkava’s dam has the magnificent Petite Etoile as her 4th dam as does Set to Music.
    Unfortunately Set to Music’s career at stud has not gone well. Her first year was she was barren, her second foal never made it into training and her fourth foal did likewise. Happily her third foal, Eightsome Reel (Iffraaj) turned out to be useful. He won his only 2yo race, and after a place on his seasonal debut won a second start. Unhappily his career ended after perhaps his best performance when 4th at Royal Ascot in the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes. He seemed capable of winning at this level.
    This year there is a Lope de Vega colt called Orchestral, who worryingly is not allocated to a trainer yet but this may be because he (like Eightsome Reel) is a backward colt. Set to Music has had her first filly and this is a full-sister to Eightsome Reel. Hopefully she will make it to the races and get some black type. Set to Music should have a Le Havre foal.
    A potentially important family where it would be helpful if the produce raced.


    Sequence Family

    Another Aga Khan foal and another well-bred individual, she is a Selkirk half-sister to another Arc winner Sinndar. She had none of the ability of her brother but after starting slowly won a 12f Thirsk handicap (off a BHA rating of 78) in July of her 3yo campaign. She then followed up impressively in a 10f handicap at Newmarket before being raised to listed class in York’s Galtres Stakes. Amazingly she started favourite but despite running on well could do no better than 2nd beaten fairly comfortably. She ended up the season with a BHA rating of 100.
    Sent to stud her first partner was Frankel but the colt Brave Venture never made it to the track. Similarly her Oasis Dream 2nd foal was unraced and a full-brother to this colt, Desert Caravan, looked as if he’d do the same. He suddenly appeared at the beginning of November of his 3yo season and won his maiden and then followed up with a penalty at Wolverhampton: already gelded, he remains in training. His 3yo brother Code of Conduct (Siyouni) ran two promising races as a 2yo and should improve. There is a full-sister 2yo filly called Orderofsuccession who is yet to be assigned to a trainer. Interestingly the yearling is a colt by the Queen's Dartmouth (brought-in from Darley), while she should have a foal by Mastercraftsman this year.
    Certainly an interesting mare from a good family. Looks as if she should be kept. Being by Selkirk out of a Northern Dancer-free bottom line she can be bred to any number of Northern Dancer sires. Which is rare these days!

    To be continued…..

    I’m sure this is of little or no interest to most people on here but useful for me to go through these mares and collect my thoughts about them.
     
    #12
    Last edited: May 4, 2020
  13. Janabelle13

    Janabelle13 Well-Known Member

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    Always fascinating.

    Thanks
     
    #13
  14. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    Thanks Janabelle, very kind of you. Just realised I hadn't actually finished off Sequence: now completed.
     
    #14
  15. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    The reformation mares continued

    The Raymi Coya Family
    Raymi Coya arrived in the Royal Stud in 2012. She had been a useful racefilly and had won the Oh So Sharp Stakes as a 2yo and a listed York 8f race as a 3yo. She was by Storm Cat’s son Van Nistleroy out of an American mare. Her first foal in The Royal Stud was a Makfi filly called Make Fast who won on her debut at Ffos Las and later in the season finished a neck 2nd to the Queen’s Light Music in Nebury’s Radley Stakes. She didn’t win as a 3yo but ran some reasonable races and went to stud. Her first foal Tactical. By Toronado, is a 2yo with Make Fast’s trainer Balding. She has a yearling colt by Iffraaj and a filly foal by Recorder.
    Raymi Coya then went on to have a series of disappointing foals and it was no surprise when she was sold in-foal in 2019. Her penultimate Royal foal was Cranberry who (at last) had some ability but after winning once as a 2yo is not in training as a 3yo. It could be she will turn up in the stud. Raymi Coya’s last foal, Festival Sun (a 2yo Toronado colt), is a full-brother to Cranberry in training with Bell.
    Raymi Coya has been a disappointing mare but Make Fast may change the view of her. It is worth comparing Make Fast and Light Music. Both of their dams were reasonable racefillies, both are by comparable sires and as fillies based on their best performance they were within a 1lb of each other. Apparently Light Music was a wonderful looking filly and maybe that explains why she has been sent to Frankel twice and Fastnet Rock once while Make Fast has been a tier down in quality. It will be interesting to compare the abilities of their offspring.

    The Estimate family
    Estimate was probably the most significant Aga Khan filly to arrive in Royal ownership. She was foaled in her dam’s 20th year, but she had already produced a number of Group 1 winners. By Monsun, Estimate was out of the important Darshaan mare Ebayiza, whose Sadler’s Wells daughter Ebadiyla won the Irish Oaks and Prix Royal Oak. She also produced the Moyglare Stakes winner Edabiya (Rainbow Quest). Sent to Stoute, Estimate had a conventional Stoute debut in October of her 2yo season. She reappeared in an early May Salisbury 12f maiden and though unfancied (12-1) won readily. Her next race was the Queens Vase at Royal Ascot for which she started favourite and won impressively. She had two more races as a 3yo being placed 3rd both times in slightly shorter races.
    As a 4yo she came out early winning the Sagaro Stakes and followed that up with her famous victory in the Ascot Gold Cup. She then had 4 months off before running disappointingly in the stayer’s race on Champions day. Kept in training as a 5yo she reappeared in the Ascot Gold Cup where she was readily beaten albeit by a neck. She was disqualified after this race for having consumed morphine which had contaminated her feed. She ran 4 more times, finishing 2nd in the Lonsdale and winning the Doncater Cup.
    As a broodmare she was attractive to the Queen in that like many Aga Khan horses she traced back to a Boussac foundation mare, indeed Estimate’s dam traced back to Boussac’s mare Albanilla (5 x 3) on both sides of her pedigree. What is more Estimate had no Northern Dancer in her pedigree.
    So given that I think you’d expect her to go to a fast Northern Dancer-line sire; someone like Oasis Dream, Invincible Spirit or Kodiac. She was sent to Dubawi and produced a (now gelded) colt called Calculation. He won 3 races as a 3yo over 13f plus and is in training this year as a 4yo.. She was again sent to Dubawi and produced a filly called Approximate, who started of with Stoute but was sent to Bell midsummer. She appeared a bit slow and may need 16f. I’ve no doubt she will be retained until Estimate has produced at least one better filly. Sent to Dubawi again there is a colt called Evaluation who is with Stoute. At last she visited a Northern Dancer sire in the shape of Frankel. This year she should produce a foal by Siyouni, which is an interesting coupling (and brings ND into the mix).
    A mare that excelled over 20f is difficult to breed to. But in order to get a horse that can run as a 2yo and win over 10f+ you need a sire who excelled at 7f (6-8f). The fact that Calculation raced as a 2yo and won races as a 3yo is promising for this mare but more speed is needed.

    Shama Family
    Shama arrived as a foal a few years later but entered the Royal Stud at the same time as Estimate. Another filly by Danehill Dancer (another one), she was out of a mare who had finished 2nd in the Irish Oaks and the dam’ granddam was Shergar’s mothers (Shama’s dam was an 18yo when she was sired). Shama went into training with Stoute and gallops reports soon reported that he had this huge filly who also had a bit of ability. She eventually appeared in November on the all-weather and was a pleasing 3rd.
    She reappeared in April on the AW and was a very impressive winner but it was still some surprise when she went for the Musidora. She was well beaten and then didn’t run for 4 months: in two races her best effort was 4th. She was retired to the Royal Stud with a BHA rating of 82.
    Her first foal was a 3yo last year. Shrewdness (by Lawman) was well entered as a 2yo but then just appeared once in a back-end maiden. On her seasonal debut she ran a promising 2nd in a 10f maiden. However subsequent runs were disappointing though eventually Haggas was able to squeeze an AW handicap win out of her: she was then sold. This season she has an unraced 3yo filly called Kew Palace (by Kingman) and Motivator filly called Stimulate (with Bell). There is no yearling but she has a Dubawi filly foal.
    Breeding to such a large mare is difficult and the choice of sire must be difficult. It should be remembered that Lord Carnarvon’s excuse for selling Height of Fashion was that she was a big mare and would be difficult to breed to: she bred numerous black type horses, a 2000G and Derby winner, Nashwan, and founded a fine dynasty at Hamdan al Maktoum’s stud. Now Height of Fashion was a big filly but not the size of Shama and it will be interesting to see how her foals turn out. At least the first foal was a winner and the fact they sent her to Stimulate is promising.

    Fiery Sunset Family
    Fiery Sunset was a Juddmonte filly who found her way into The Royal Stud under some form of relationship. By Galileo she is from the same family as El Gran Senor but also good horses like Monroe and Xaar. With Bell, she was unraced as a 2yo and ran 7 times as a 3yo winning once over 12f and being placed once. Not a great filly but she had a BHA rating of 83.
    Her first mating was to Exceed and Excel and the filly produced, Flarepath, who won a small AW maiden as a 2yo and didn’t move on as a 3yo. Sent next to new sire Muharaar she produced Eastern Dawn who ran promisingly on both his 2yo starts. Her 2yo this year is the colt Shepherd’s Delight who is by Golden Horn and in training with Gosden. There is no yearling but hopefully there’ll be an Almanzor foal.
    A lot of resources being thrown at this Galileo mare and she could start producing interesting prospects. A good year for Eastern Dawn and Shepherd’s Delight would help.

    Others
    There are then a series of other new mares who either did not run or came in as mares in the last few years. None of them have had a runner so far. Sweet Idea is the first and is an Australian filly by Snitzel who won one Group1 race and 4 Group2 races. She has her first foal as a 2yo this year that being the filly Companionship (by Glalileo). She has a yearling colt by Galileo and should have produced a foal by Dubawi this year. Her matings follow a well-worn path for favoured mares.
    Another new mare is Nathra (by Iffraaj) who as a 2yo was 2nd in the Fillies Mile and as a 3yo won the Nell Gwynn and was 2nd in the French 1000Guineas. She has a yearling colt by Dubawi and filly foal by Galileo. Like Sweet Idea, a mare with definite race ability.
    Next comes Shimmering Light, a Dubawi mare out of Darshaan mare who comes from the family of Golden Fleece. She has a Siyouni yearling filly and should produce a Highland Reel foal this year.
    This mare came from Darley and an important transfer to The Queen was Dartmouth who was a Dubawi colt out of a Galileo mare and won 8 races for The Queen including the John Porter, Ormonde Hardwicke and Yorkshire Cup. The Queen now has her unraced full-sister Desert Breeze who has a colt foal by Sea the Stars. Could be an interesting mare: at least she won’t be sent to Dubawi and Galileo.
    The Queen has usually stood a stallion at the Sandringham Stud. Aureole, Bustino, Royal Applause, Motivator and Al Kazeem have all stood at the Stud. Unfortunately the last of these was found to be subfertile in his first year at the stud and was returned to racing. The Queen does have one of the foals he sired, and that is a mare called Craftiness who though in training with Charlton never ran.She is out of a Green Desert mare who traces back to Soviet Lad and Green Dancer’s mare. She has a colt foal by Recorder.
    The final mare I’ll mention is Magnetic Charm (by Exceed and Excel) who was a pretty good racefilly being placed and a winner of listed races. She will be covered for the first time this year.

    This set of brought-in fillies have drastically changed the Royal Stud and definitely for the better. Some of these mares come from some of the very best families. I think they need to be strict in keeping and culling mares.

    Feola Family
    I’m not going to write a lot about this family as I wrote about it a few years back. If you haven’t had enough of all this you can read this background to this family. https://www.not606.com/threads/a-filly-called-feola.269580/
    At the moment The Royal Stud has 5 mares from this family and not really a star mare amongst them. However this is a real Group1 family and with the right matings can return to that level again: it’s just a matter of finding the right mating. The senior mare is Caraboss who is by Cape Cross out of Fairy Godmother, a Fairy Ring daughter of Highbrow who in turn was a daughter of 1000G and Prix de Diane winner Highclere. She was only a fair racefilly, winning a small maiden over 10f. She was sent to the USA to be covered and her first foal was a Smart Strike colt called Hammer Gun. He was sold as a maiden 3yo and has turned out to be the winning-most horse bred by The Royal Stud this century. His current score stands at 12 wins, he’s not great (current BHA rating 72 but has been as high as 93) but he’s likely to win more. Caraboss has had one more winner since then in the shape of Clarion (Dubawi) who won a 10f maiden and was sold. Clarion’s full-sister Witching Time was unraced and retained by the stud: she should produce her first foal (by Recorder) this year. Caraboss has no 3yo, but does have a 2yo full-sister to these Dubawi fillies called Sentence. There is a yearling colt by Nathaniel and should be a foal by Ulysses. Overall a disappointing mare.
    Her year younger half-sister is Dawn Glory (Oasis Dream) who ran in the UK and USA but never won, though placed a few times. Her stud career started with two moderate winners in the shape of First Drive (Street Cry) and Break of Day (Shamardal). She then had a disappointing colt and her 2yo filly this year is Eastern Dawn (Iffraaj), in training with Bell. She has a yearling colt by Camelot and there may be a foal by Recorder. Hopefully Eastern Dawn will put this mare on the right track but the move to Recorder is worrying.
    A full-sister to Caraboss makes up the fourth mare in the stud and that is Good Hope. She could not have started better having a Sharmadal colt called Youthful who won well on his sole start as a 2yo. Unfortunately on his 3yo start he was injured and missed the whole of last year. Gelded after his 2yo run, he remains in training with Bell. He also trains her 3yo filly Good Try (Iffraaj) while Charlton has the 2yo colt Encourage (Iffraaj). There is no yearling but there could be a foal by Cable Bay.
    The last mare in this family comes from a different branch of the Feola family and this is Pack Together (by Paco Boy) She is out of a Machiavellian mare called New Assembly who was out of a Shadeed mare called Abbey Strand whose dam was a So Blessed half-sister to Highclere. Pack Together was a pretty useful filly who won first time out as a 2yo and while unfortunately she never won again she was placed in a couple of listed races over 7 and 8f. Pack Together’s first foal was Divine Covey (refreshingly by Dark Angel). Despite being backed down to favourite on her debut she was sold as a maiden at the end of the season. Her 2yo is the filly Closeness (by Iffraaj and with Bell), while she has a colt foal by Churchill. Certainly not second rate sires (the year she missed it was Caravaggio) and they obviously hope for good things with this mare, with luck Closeness will prove this confidence is well-founded.
    This is a great family and a true Group1 family. Hopefully Witching Time will justify being kept despite being unraced, hopefully Good Hope will breed more talented horses and hopefully Pack Together will breed speedy fillies that can be bred to the best sires. All families in all studs go through a quiet period. It’s time The Queen’s mares from this family start making some noise.

    So this thread has taken you (in length) through the whole gamut of Royal mares and many of their offspring. The stud is markedly stronger than it was 20-35years ago. It would be heartening to see some of these mares living up to their pedigrees. As a general comment I’d like to see more speed invested in the mares but that has got better. The ambition must be to get some Group1 success and Classic colts and fillies in the next 5-6 years.
    Let's hope so.
     
    #15
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  16. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    Two Royal 2yos are on the BHAs' preferred 2yos list. They are Tactical (Balding) and Light Refrain (Haggas). The former is already entered 3 times next week so Balding must want to get a run into him before a possible tilt at Royal Ascot. Light Refrain is yet to be entered. I compared these mares in the above posts.
    Lots of Royal entries next week from Stoute and Bell.
     
    #16
  17. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    First runner First winner and colt's name is First Receiver. On form should have won the race anyway, but at least gone the right way and won with authority. Should get 10f and with luck may be a useful handicapper.
    First foal of an Exceed and Excel mare who died after producing her 2nd foal, who is now a yearling.
     
    #17
  18. As We Know

    As We Know 1 of the top judges in Europe

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    I see New Approach as a bit underrated as a sire and as a race horse, although he is my favourite horse so maybe im biased but I think he is very good value at 30k. Not many horses sire the winners of the Guineas, Oaks and Derby and stand that cheap I wouldnt have thought, and compared to Frankel at 175k I know where id be sending a mare. Dubawi similarly at 250k has produced a lot of good horses but has a poor record in the Derby/Oaks. How much must Galileo be worth, hes by miles the best sire, a freak of nature.
     
    #18
  19. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    Agree with you. It seems he was shunned even before his runners appeared on the track and I remember murmurings of experts saying he was unimpressive as a specimen. That should have changed after his first crop but didn't totally, even though there were 2 Classic winners amongst them. What I liked about that first crop was the success as 2yos. As a Derby winner he actually had 3 Royal Ascot 2yo winners in that crop. The unlucky one was Newfangled who won the Albany. She was put down after a pelvic injury in the Lowther.
    Dubawi looks more of a miler stallion to me. He really stamps his stock with his good looks but sometimes feel there;s a hole in the middle. But he's developing a sire-line if Night of thunder is anything to go by. I always thought Makfi was unfairly criticised and he seems to have produced a reasonable son in Make Believe. Yes Galileo is the boss but for how much longer? Is the '20s going to be the decade of Shamardal and his sons?
     
    #19
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2020
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  20. As We Know

    As We Know 1 of the top judges in Europe

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    Yeah I remember Newfangled, looked like she could have been one of the top 2yos fillies that season before the injury. He had a bit of a lull after that explosive start from the first crop with 3 Royal Ascot 2yo winners including the Champion 2yo Dawn Approach, but with the recent Derby winner and Derby fav this year, hopefully there is more to come for him.

    Edit: I realised that jump results were being included, so everything was inflated by those higher rprs, updated with flat only results.

    I was thinking about how to judge a sire and thought checking the average best RPR of the mares against the average best RPR of the offspring produced could be an interesting metric to see if a stallion "upgrades" his mares.

    In the case of New Approach it appears that he does upgrade his mares on average.

    New Approach (30k)
    runners: 81
    mares: 77


    Checked another couple of big names and quite interesting, New Approach is a bit below the elite but the numbers would back up the suspicion that he is good value for money. Frankel may be doing better than ive gave him credit for, he does have a high volume of well above average horses, but like Secretariat, he could be a victim of the fact he was such a freak on the track, hes never going to produce anything like himself and the impression will always be slightly disappointing.

    Galileo (blank cheque)
    runners: 88
    mares: 78

    Frankel (175k)
    runners: 90
    mares: 78

    Dubawi (250k)
    runners: 87
    mares: 76

    Sea The Stars (150k)
    runners: 85
    mares: 75

    Shamardal

    runners: 84
    mares: 77

    Invincible Spirit (100k)
    runners: 80
    mares: 76

    For some context I checked a few lower priced stallions.

    Worth bearing in mind that a number of regally bred unraced mares go to the best so its not a true representation of mare quality.

    Teofilo (40k)
    runners: 81
    mares: 75

    Acclamation (35k)
    runners: 75
    mares: 76

    Iffraaj (30k)
    runners: 76
    mares: 77

    Exceed And Excel (40k)
    runners: 79
    mares 74

    Mastercraftsman (25k)
    runners: 75
    mares: 77

    Dark Angel (85k)
    runners: 75
    mares: 77

    If anyone wants some stallions checked let me know.

     
    #20
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2020

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