Satellite systems: trainers from around the world are setting up shop in the Gulf
James Thomas takes a Middle Eastern view with trainer George Baker and owner Anoj Don
The sky is the limit for Dubai’s rookie trainer Bhupat Seemar, writes Debbie Burt
Romance is in the air: Jeremy Green profiles the exciting Corduff Stud-bred Hong Kong star
French and German bloodstock focus
Cape Cross - Asheerah (Shamardal)
PROVEN SIRE
Sired a Gr.2 Arc weekend double in 2022 with the high-class pair ANMAAT and AL QAREEM
IN DEMAND AT THE SALES IN 2022
Yearlings reached 120,000gns, €90,000 and 87,000gns, whilst broodmare prospects made up to 600,000gns, 300,000gns and 200,000gns
Fee: € 5,000 January 1st SLF
Sea The Stars - Aghareed (Kingmambo)
THE HIGHEST-RATED TURF HORSE IN THE WORLD FOR A DECADE
A breathtaking six-time Gr.1 winner
“ The perfect racehorse.
Jim Crowley, jockey
Fee: £80,000 October 1st SLF New for 2023
Invincible Spirit - Madany (Acclamation)
ROYAL ASCOT GROUP 1 WINNING SPRINTER
Won the Commonwealth Cup defeating Sioux Nation, Invincible Army, Unfortunately and Sands Of Mali
PEDIGREE TO SUCCEED
By sire of sires Invincible Spirit, sire of Kingman and I Am Invincible, and from a blue-blooded Shadwell family
Fee: £5,000 January 1st SLF
To book a nomination or arrange a viewing, contact: Stephen Collins | Joe Behan | Kay Skehan Tel: +353 (0)1 6286228 | nominations@derrinstown.com
”
Mehmas - Pardoven (Clodovil)
THE HIGHEST-RATED SPRINTER IN EUROPE
Emphatic 33⁄4 length winner of the Gr.1 Sprint Cup in 1 minute 08 seconds
GROUP 1 CONSISTENCY
Won or placed at the top level at 2, 3 and 4 as well as an astounding victory in the Gr.2 Gimcrack at 2
Fee: € 15,000 January 1st SLF
New for 2023
Showcasing - Roodeye (Inchinor)
THE EXPLOSIVE GROUP 1 SUSSEX WINNING MILER
- defeating Gr.1 winners Kameko, Circus Maximus and Siskin
“ The natural speed and turn of foot he possessed was frightening ”
Marcus Tregoning, trainer
FIRST FOALS REACHED 110,000gns, €95,000, 90,000gns etc...
Fee: £15,000 January 1st SLF
Showcasing - Bird Key (Cadeaux Genereux)
ELECTRIFYING START WITH HIS FIRST TWO-YEAR-OLDS
inc. Royal Ascot Gr.2 Coventry Stakes winner BRADSELL “ BRADSELL is as good a two-year-old as I have ever ridden. ”
Hollie Doyle, jockey
SECOND CROP OF YEARLINGS OUTSOLD HIS FIRST
Prices included €110,000 , £90,000 , 78,000gns etc.
Fee: £6,000 January 1st SLF
To book a nomination or arrange a viewing, contact: Will Wright +44 (0)7787 422901 | wwright@shadwellstud.co.uk or +44 (0)1842 756963 | nominations@shadwellstud.co.uk
View our stallion roster: www.shadwellstud.com
Standing at Nunnery Stud (UK): BAAEED
WORLD CHAMPION 3YO
CARTIER HORSE OF THE YEAR
The best son of SIYOUNI
Out of a Group-winning 2YO by GALILEO
Half-brother to Gr.1 winning 2YO & 2,000 Guineas winner MAGNA GRECIA
2 YEAR OLDS
121p ST MARK’S BASILICA (FR) Aidan O’Brien, Ireland
Siyouni (FR) - Cabaret (IRE) (Galileo (IRE))
3 YEAR OLDS
132 ST MARK’S BASILICA (FR) Aidan O’Brien, Ireland
Siyouni (FR) - Cabaret (IRE) (Galileo (IRE))
131 ADAYAR (IRE) Charlie Appleby
Frankel - Anna Salai (USA) (Dubawi (IRE))
130 BAAEED William Haggas
Sea The Stars (IRE) - Aghareed (USA) (Kingmambo (USA))
FEE: €65,000
tColt ex Vital Force, an Invincible Spirit half-sister to Gr.2 Coventry Stakes winner Buratino from the immediate family of Danehill Dancer.
Owned by the John Ferguson-headed Natalma Bloodstock.
Colt ex Timbuktu, dam of Group perfomers Ontario & Ivy League from the Reprocolor family.
Owned by the Coolmore Partners.
Filly ex Drumfad Bay, a Listed-winning daughter of Acclamation and Gr.2 Blandford Stakes winner Manieree from the immediate family of Oath.
tOwned by Stonethorn Stud Farm Ltd.
Christy Grassick, David O’Loughlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Maurice Moloney, Gerry Aherne, Jason Walsh, Mark Byrne, Neil Magee or Hermine Bastide Tel: 052 6131298. David Magnier, Tom Gaffney, Joe Hernon, Paddy Fleming, Cathal Murphy or Barry Kennedy Tel: 025 31966. Kevin Buckley (UK Rep.) +44-7827-795156. E-mail: sales@coolmore.ie Web site: www.coolmore.com14 First Word
The microeconomics of supply and demand are highlighting the polarisation of those producing horses at the top, and bottom, of the bloodstock market
14 Ted talks
Ted asks a chatbot for suggestions as to how we can shorten over-lengthy bloodstock sale days
16 Girls aloud
Cathy Grassick is looking forward to seeing Phoenix Of Spain’s soon-to-debut runners
20 Arise State Man!
French-breds sweep the board and, as usual, Willie Mullins lands a host of big race winners at the Dublin Festival
28 Stallion statistics
Leading NH and All-Weather sires
34 Romance is in the air
Jeremy Greene profiles the rise of the new Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior, the son of Acclamation bred in Ireland at Corduff Stud
42 A Middle Eastern view
James Thomas meets up with trainer George Baker, who has been spending much of the winter in Bahrain, and Amy Murphy’s owner Anoj Don, whose dreams have come true in Dubai with his horse Magical Morning
48 Keeping it in the family
Bhupat Seemar, nephew of Dubai stalwart trainer Satish, has taken over the reins from his uncle and has ambitious targets, writes Debbie Burt
56 Satellite systems
Trainers from all over the world are establishing satellite yards in the Middle East to take advantage of the growth of racing in the Gulf region
64 Frankel’s equal?
Alan Porter’s bloodstock perspective on the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings questions whether Flightline, ranked the highest US horse since their ratings began, should be on a par with Frankel
80 Photo finish
In February the NH trainer Philip Hobbs produced his 3000th career winner
THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND is a first concept taught in economics… that the two sides of commerce are in a continual flux trying to find balance with price acting as the pivotal point and the mechanic to bring the two in line.
When demand outstrips supply then prices rise, producers see a high price and enter the market, when there is a glut on the market or demand has dropped away for any reason, then price falls and suppliers start to leave the market.
Conversely, it seems that both effects are currently in evidence in the British bloodstock industry – the bloodstock sales industry recording round after round of endless record prices that should bring in many more producers attracted by the great returns that could be made in the sale ring, but yet according to the Thoroughbred Breeders Association’s Third Breeding Industry Economic Impact Study, smaller scale Britishbased suppliers of yearlings are leaving the industry having made loss after loss after loss when selling their annual yearling produce.
It is perhaps reflective of a two-tier bloodstock and racing industry, the report also stating that, as has been well known and seen anecdotally the market is highly polarised with the progeny by certain higher-priced stallions i.e. the ones who are deemed to be “good”, achieving higher prices at the sales. That number of stallions, who are deemed to have a fashionable status, has also become far more concentrated to just a few.
This has happened across both codes – Flat breeders with progeny by those few stallions and with pedigrees appealing to the international market are often highly rewarded.
And the trend was even more evident at the winter’s British and Irish NH sales when generally only foals by a handful of stallions were in demand by the buyers. This was perhaps also reflective of the strength of the pinhooking market as foal buyers can not risk purchasing stock by sires who are not likely to be of interest to end users by the time they sell.
Although some 6,000-odd yearlings are catalogued for sale each year in Europe, nearly 2,100 alone at the Tattersalls October Sale, the top sector horse, the horse who can satisfy the demands of buyers purchasing for the global bloodstock industry, is still a rarity.
That horse, to coin a well-worn phrase, “who ticks all the boxes”, who could become a globally important
The British bloodstock business is seeking answers to its ills, but essentially it all comes back to supply and demand
“..at the winter’s British and Irish NH sales generally only foals by a handful of stallions were in demand by the buyers
stallion and so attractive to the stallion farms for purchase, or could take its racing owners to the biggest day’s racing, is in strong demand from a wealthy clientele.
That British-bred horse, if by the likes of Dubawi, Frankel or Kingman, will continue to be in demand and will continue to create a strong price; the global racing industry seemingly on an upward curve with strong industries abroad and people wanting to own racehorses in the Middle East and Australia and the US.
And, of course, the large stallion farms are massively important in the market either through supporting its own sires via buying his progeny, buying unraced prospects who might achieve a roster place, or picking fillies as future mates for stallions already on those rosters.
All breeders, whatever scale they are producing, have horses who, for whatever reason, do not make that top tier category, and by the law of averages those with fewer mares, and those with lesser mares, will miss the mark more frequently or not at all.
If you don’t hit that top sector (which by all accounts is a fairly thin market reliant on a handful of people), that ticks-all-the-boxes Book 1 or commercial Book 2-type horse, or Land Rover or Derby Sale NH store, then where is the demand?
“We have fallen down the cliff face” is an oft-quoted phrase at the sales by sellers who find themselves without a market for their oh-so-cared-for and expensively produced individual possibly by a stallion who, though at the height of fashion when the foal conceived, has crashed since, or out of a mare whose previous progeny may not have converted racecourse hopes to racecourse success. There is no buyer there for that sort of horse s anymore.
And that is a comment frequently heard at commercial middle sector yearling sales, let alone at lesser levels or the early year NH sales where the market can be just flat.
We can go all around the houses in this industry to try and find the reasons as to why breeders are not making money, to try and find out why smaller breeders have been exiting the industry and why the industry has been contracting and concentrating, but there is essentially one single reason that needs addressing – a fall in demand.
And that fall in demand is singularly a reduction of buyers, a fall in the number of future owners who are interested in purchasing yearlings and store horses.
It can be laid to a certain extent at racing’s door and the lack of collaboration between the two facets of this industry, bloodstock and racing, seemingly failing to
work hand in hand.
There is no point anymore in a British-based owner or trainer buying a Flat yearling who does not have a respectable chance in their view (judging by the individual’s physique and pedigree) of achieving a rating at least in the 80s. Of course, many fail to do just that, but in the first place any owner, or his or her advisor, trainer or agent, can not head to the Flat market with that objective.
In the NH sphere, many buyers are only really looking for horses capable of getting to The Festival, for various reasons there is little interest in success further down the pecking order.
Second, trainers do not buy on spec to a great degree any more, and while many can’t afford to buy the “commercial” grade yearling circa £50,000+, they also realise there is no point in buying a yearling who is unlikely to achieve that 80-odd mark quote above – if they get left with the horse (prospective owners aren’t always that easy to find) it is certainly not going to pay its way. Alternatively, if it can get to that sort of mark or has the prospect of doing so, then onwards sale abroad beckons, but said trainer can invest a lot of money in the search for such types.
For the 60-75 rated horse there is certainly not enough prize-money on offer at the level to support its keep, even if it is capable of winning races, very quickly, training fees and costs mount and create a valuation in excess of the value of the horse.
This is not an argument to push a load of prize-money to low-quality races, it is merely an observation that the sheer top quality British racing has in fact pushed that lower quality horse out of its sphere. Along with a possible decline in the ownership ranks due to training costs, and the need to invest such a lot of money in order to buy the desired “Saturday” horse, many of those types of buyers have left the bidders’ bench or have joined syndicates, which though a great way to keep people involved in the sport, obviously reduces individual sales ring buyers.
Add in the influence of Brexit and changes in the European racing profile, those buyers who might have turned up to provide a market place for the lower middle market yearling, are no longer around in such numbers as once before.
As an aside, and before we get any further, it would be interesting to understand in a little more depth more about the “two-mare breeder” who is being lost.
According to the Weatherbys Fact Book, 90 per cent of breeders own fewer than five mares, and the TBA’s own study reports that this is the greatest loss in the breeding rankings.
“We can go all around the houses in this industry to try and find the reasons as to why breeders are not making money, to try and find out why smaller breeders have been exiting the industry and why the industry has been contracting and concentrating, but there is essentially one single reason that needs addressing –a fall in demand
For future knowledge banks it would be good to know what something of the profile of mares owned by such entities, what stallions were being used, how many are in the business at a smaller scale size-wise but are pitching in high, and what their experience was. Also, were they just starting out and what were they wanting to achieve from breeding horses – was it to produce racehorses for themselves to compete or were they looking to develop a commercial enterprise.
A breeder trying to make a profit out of the production of racehorses needs successful days in the sale ring, he or she has to marry the quartet of fashion and pedigree and stallion power and confirmation, a very difficult achievement when demand has narrowed so much.
Some will argue that breeding racehorses is just a sport for kings, a rich man’s and woman’s hobby, and that such breeders are not really relevant.
They may argue that we should not even worry that smaller-scale and “starter” breeders, who are unable to use the fashionable stallions, and who maybe own mares who don’t have the pedigree profile demanded by the market, aren’t able to be involved.
But it does matter because these are the people whose early or mid-life involvement can lead to bigger and onward and inward involvement; if they find early forays into industry a strong and positive experience, it will do much to help them become aspirational in their bloodstock mission and create a desire to be involved in a bigger and better way.
They also make good use of ancillary business – vets, feed companies, farriers – and if they collect a few mares and have a good experience of breeding racehorses, will end up becoming an employer (if there is indeed any staff around to be employed).
The two-mare breeder is an important part of the rural economy and should not be ignored – as reported in the Impact Study the British bloodstock industry as a whole contributes £375m to the UK economy and directly employs 21,000 people and indirectly another 13,000. Obviously, much of the output and many of the jobs will be generated by the bigger farms, but the smaller operations, too, will be significant, especially if 90 per cent of breeders come into the “two-mare” category.
The bloodstock industry supports and provides the products for a world-class racing industry, and racing, if nothing else, provides various lucrative taxation sources for the government.
What is also frustrating is that horses can be perfectly a viable individuals as future racehorses, but who might just not be in “market” demand.
Racing has to extend the fashion remit in order that demand filters through from the sport to the sale
ring – essentially racing industry needs to increase and diversify the demand for racehorses.
Let’s make a very simple analogy to women’s fashion. Now it is equally “trendy” to wear skinny jeans, and straight-legged jeans and flared jeans, smart jeans, daily jeans, black jeans and blue jeans… the trend for jeans has diversified and most women probably have various differing styles of wear on differing occasions.
And while we are certainly not experts in the world of fashion, I’d bet to an extent this has been engineered by the clothing companies themselves in order to grow its market and spread the risk.
The larger companies also produce cheaper products, or budget versions, so those with less cash still have an opportunity to buy a fashion item. This is often pitched at a younger audience so that the company can encourage brand loyalty (we all have our favs) from the very first days of consumer spending.
Alternatively, clothes companies often have a premier line made from higher quality materials in order to attract the higher-end purchaser. This will give the company a good margin on its product, and much, like the bloodstock auction houses, this is where the money is made for the year ... as long as perhaps the credit lines are not too long (Cue a winking emoji).
Again, the desire for that higher value product is probably engineered by a company’s slick marketing and promotion.
So a fashion house has a variety of avenues in which to sell its products, and does a pretty good job of creating the demand for itself.
The example offers a good indication as to what the bloodstock and racing industry needs to do and could
“Racing has to extend the fashion remit in order that demand filters through from the sport to the sale ring – essentially increase and spread the demand for racehorses
co-ordinate in order to support the sport, the bloodstock industry and participants – drive its own demand.
The two sides are obviously mutually compatible and provide a supportive circle, however the obvious has been lost somewhere along the way.
Of course, there is certainly no god given right for anyone to be making a profit from selling bloodstock, but the industry does need to ensure that there are enough “basic” products on offer to encourage those who wish to buy racehorses the opportunity to become involved at the grass roots, and enough premium products to attract the uber rich. For its part, the racing industry need to ensure there are sporting opportunities for buyers of racehorses at all of levels. It is a virtuous circle.
Racing needs to be inventive – race programmes need to broaden the appeal in various ways from a more appealing race conditions to varying bonuses and enticements.
If you create them they will come… and this has already been identified by the various fillies’ schemes (see graphic left). If you programme races or bonus schemes, trainers identify pretty quickly new opportunities to win races and make a little extra cash for their owners, and so you create a market.
It becomes an easier sell for trainers who can market those opportunities to ordinary clients who might not top bracket budgets, or they could in fact own racehorses
themselves and have a chance of keeping out of the red.
It also gives those breeders, who might not have not been able to sell at market or might not have gone to market at all, an opportunity to support their mares and race her progeny (one of the biggest sector of owners are breeders) with the hope of winning some extra money to pay for training fees or creating an in-training value that the market will see. By supporting their own stock there is then a greater chance of a growth in value of the later foals out of a mare.
The prize-money argument has been a long one, however, if there is money to be sourced, it needs to be used to provide a equine diversity in racing so that the bloodstock industry can see opportunities for a broader range of racehorse “products”.
With the British racing industry replanning and refocusing, now is the ideal time for bloodstock to really make its voice heard and for the details of this study to be used as a foundation for the future.
Finally, while the TBA’s Impact Study predicted a continuing fall in the size of the foal crop and a dramatic contraction of horses produced in the UK by 2030, the Weatherbys Fact Book published figures from the following year’s 2022 foal crop finding that, in spite of everything that has been thrown at all of us over the last few years, there was actually some growth. The arc of supply and demand and price as ever in a state of flux.
“Racing needs to be inventive … race programmes need to broaden the appeal in various ways from a more appealing race conditions to varying bonuses and enticementsThe most recent figures from Weatherbys show a slight uplift in the size of the foal crops produced in Britain and Ireland in 2022 Courtesy of Weatherbys Fact Book 2022
Ted has been getting very tech savvy through the winter and has been experimenting with ChatGPT getting the bot to give him suggestions as to how we can try and shorten bloodstock sale days. It seems that, while there are methods for the auction houses to speed things along, it is also incumbent on all of us to look at how we work so we can avoid selling thoroughbreds well into the night
EVERYWHERE I LOOK there are articles on ChatGPT. This chatbot was launched late last year and will change many aspects of day-to-day life.
The days of “googling” will be replaced with Openai, and Google has already developed its own bot to be launched later this year.
I thought I would take ChatGPT for a test run and get it to answer a very current topic of conversation swirling around the sale grounds –how to avoid long sales days?
To start my research I asked Openai: “How to increase the rate at which auctioneers sell at public auction?”
Instantly the following response was generated :-
“Here are a few suggestions to potentially increase the rate at which auctioneers sell at public auction:
1. Improve the auctioneer’s skills and performance to help keep the bidding process moving quickly and smoothly.
2. Encourage competitive bidding by setting fair reserve prices and creating a sense of urgency among potential buyers.
3. Provide clear and detailed information about the items being auctioned, including their condition, history, and provenance, to help generate more interest and confidence among buyers.
4. Consider auctioning off items in smaller lots or groups, which can create more excitement and competition and may result in quicker sales.
5. Use technology to streamline the bidding process and provide real-time updates to buyers, which can help to keep them engaged and make the auction more efficient.
6. Market the auction more
effectively to attract a larger and more diverse group of potential buyers, which can increase competition and result in quicker sales.”
A pretty good first attempt for a “non-horsey” bot!
Some of the solutions are not applicable so I streamlined the question: “How do auctioneers speed up the rate of selling?”
ChatGPT wrote: “Here are some common ways that auctioneers can speed up the rate of selling at public auctions:
1. Keep the pace of the auction moving quickly, with good rhythm and clear, concise calls to encourage bidders to keep up with the process.
2. Encourage competitive bidding by setting an attractive initial bid and continually increasing the bidding increments.
3. Provide clear and detailed information about each item being
auctioned, including any relevant background information or features, to generate more interest among bidders and make the bidding process more efficient.
4. Utilise bid assistants to help manage the bidding process and assist the auctioneer in identifying and responding to bidders quickly.
5. Be aware of the level of interest in each item being auctioned and adjust the pace of the auction accordingly, slowing down or speeding up the process as needed.
6. Utilise technology, such as online bidding platforms, to help increase the number of bidders and speed up the process of selling items. (Edit: not sure bot is correct here – the anecdotal evidence so far shows that an internet bidding platform slows things down).
7. Anticipate common bidding patterns and work to keep the auction on track, keeping bidders
engaged and focused on the items being auctioned.”
The rate of selling of thoroughbreds at public auction has long been openly criticised by purchasers, but not as much by the vendors who want a fair amount of time in the ring with their horse.
WE ARE ALL responsible for speeding up the selling rate at a sale and the dilemma we have to face, amongst other things, are staff working hours together with human and equine welfare.
The days of starting work between 4am and 5am and selling to around 10pm are just not possible anymore for various reasons, and nor are they right.
The sales companies have the option to catalogue less horses per day, though obviously that would reduce their income per day.
The sales calendar is already full to bursting point so increasing the number of sales days is also a limited option.
There are options for the auctioneers to consider, including shortening the introduction of each lot or using a bit less theatre.
They could also abolish the announcement when a horse is on the market.
They could accept bids through a bid spotter without identifying the actual person bidding.
Furthermore, the horse could be knocked down before the exit rope, or, conversely, the auction could start as the horse is walking in.
The current rate of sale at most
select sales is 20-22 lots per hour, by the end of Keeneland that rate increases to 40 lots per hour.
I have marvelled at the auctioneers in the US who never look at the stock they sell but sit with consignors to be briefed in an office environment.
It could save time if auctioneers know to what level the sale is at, and who might be interested.
The purchasers could bid quicker, they could value the horse and bid a reasonable amount instead of waiting for the auctioneer to start at zero, as is the case when large drafts of horses sell without reserve.
IT IS DIFFICULT to have clients on the phone and bid as it slows the pace, but bidding to a pre-agreed budget would save time. Vendors have the ability to work more closely with the auction houses to spread entries over various sale days instead of all of us trying to sell on the best days even with stock, who are unlikely to attain the sale day average.
We need to adapt by resting horses during the selling days so giving time for employees and equines alike.
The winter days are easier to create working shifts, but rotas will become more common – provided we can find enough people.
Prompt sale ring entry also enables auctioneering to begin sharply.
We all have a part to play, and we need to do it before employment and welfare law does it for us with sets of rigid guidelines.
We have to shorten sales days so that staff working hours are more realistic, otherwise we could find legal rulings will make the move for usPhoto courtesy of Tattersalls and by Laura Green
WITH THE EARLY FLUSHES of spring comes the rush of new foals on the ground and the covering season kicks off, very aptly, around Valentine’s Day.
In every training stable, pre-training stable and breeze-up yard the next generation of two-yearolds are being put through their paces and their handlers are eagerly scrutinising them for that spark of talent and a reason to get excited.
Breeders and stallion masters are all also busy studying all of the data, facts and figures, as well as getting the early reports from trainers to try and find out which young stallion could become the next Mehmas or Sioux Nation.
It is clear to see that 2023 is likely to be a hugely competitive year with a very high-class range of horses lining up to take part in this year’s “First-Season Sire Stakes”.
Brian Grassick Bloodstock and Newtown Stud have their own particular favourite in the race, the Irish National Stud’s resident Phoenix Of Spain, who was bred by our clients and dear friends Arild Faeste and his late wife Cherry of Tourgar Bloodstock.
I was very lucky at an early stage in my career to be asked to purchase a mare on behalf of Cherry, who not only was a huge supporter of mine but also the mother of my good friend Nina Casey.
Lucky Clio was duly purchased for 17,000gns at Tattersalls December Mare Sale; she took to her broodmare career with aplomb producing top-class performers on the track and at the sales.
It was with her mating to Ballylinch Stud’s Lope De Vega that really struck gold. Phoenix Of Spain was born at Newtown Stud, raised at Tourgar and then sold as a foal by Newtown for Tourgar at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale bought by Mick Fitzpatrick of Kilminfoyle Stud.
The colt has always possessed his amazing laid back, chilled out persona that he carried right through his racing career and this, coupled with his incredible walk, which continued to stand to him when he got bigger and stronger as a yearling. He was purchased by Howson Houldsworth and was trained by Charlie Hills for Tony Wechsler and Anne Plummer.
Sadly, Cherry passed away before she was able to see her star performer win the Irish 2,000 Guineas, but all of her family were present to cheer him on, including Arild, who continues to run Tourgar Bloodstock alongside daughter Nina.
It was clear to see that the horse’s impressive physique, temperament and athleticism really came to the forefront that day at The Curragh.
I am sure the Irish National Stud is eagerly awaiting the first runners for Phoenix Of Spain, but also his fan clubs at Tourgar House, Newtown Stud and, dare I say, Kilminfoyle Stud and Charlie Hills, will be too.
Anyone who has any dealings with this handsome son of Lope De
Cathy Grassick, chairman of the Irish Breeders’ Association, is looking forward to seeing Phoenix Of Spain’s first runners
Vega can not but be impressed by what he brings to the table and with 97 two-year-olds to run for him this year, and yearlings who made up to €200,000, he is very much following in the footsteps of his sire and grand sire Shamardal at this stage of his career.
One can only dream and look forward to the year ahead.
THE SOCIAL CALENDAR AND RACING CALENDARS have been warming up recently as evident at the recent Dublin Racing Festival. Credit is due to the team at Leopardstown who had the track in immaculate condition and insured a wonderful weekend of racing, fashion and sport for those that flocked to the south Dublin track.
Congratulations to operations manager Jane Hedley and her team – the attendance of 34,591 was up 40 per cent from 24,929 in 2022 with 27 per cent of tickets purchased in the UK.
The recent Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Awards was a wonderful evening with so many important award winners such as Hall of Fame winner William Flood for his contribution to NH breeding, and Wild Geese winners David and Ann Hanley, who have made such a mark on the bloodstock industry in the US, and Tom Lacey for his huge success as a small breeder. There were many important politicians in attendance such as Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue and his fellow agricultural ministers Pippa Hackett and Martine Heydon, as well as Ceann Comhairle Sean O’Fearghaill, TD’s and Senators.
It was wonderful to see so many supporters of the breeding industry in attendance and award winners from around the world who have chosen to produce their bloodstock in Ireland – Princess Zahra Aga Khan, Eva Maria Bucher-Hefner of Moyglare Stud and Ben Sangster.
Breeder Arild Faeste, Nina Casey and her son Alex, with Phoenix Of Spain after the son of Lope De Vega won the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2019The biggest names in the business
NEW: European Champion sprinter at three who won four sire-making races...
G2 NORFOLK Like Europe’s top freshman of 2022, Sioux Nation.
G1 MORNY Star speed sire No Nay Never also doubled up at Deauville.
G1 MIDDLE PARK Dutch Ar t, sire of a Champion sprinter, also won all three.
G1 COMMONWE ALTH CUP His great-grandsire Danehill won the equivalent race af ter failing to stay in the Guineas.
£15,000 Oct 1, SLF Dalham Hall Stud
BY DUBAWI
Second highest rated 2yo in 2021
2nd Gr.1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes to European Champion 2yo Native Trail. Only one first season sire rated higher as a 2yo
Higher rated than Bayside Boy, Persian Force, Minzaal, State Of Rest, Caturra, Naval Crown, Space Traveller, Stradivarius, Baaeed, etc.
Out of a Stakes winner & half to a Stakes winner
Won 5f Gr.3 Palace House in blistering speed
Timeform Rating higher than leading stallions Invincible Spirit, Kodiac, Dark Angel, No Nay Never and Showcasing.
First foals averaged 4x his stud fee
Realising 52,000gns, €48,000, €30,000, €28,000, 27,000gns, €24,000 x2, etc.
GROUP WINNER UNDEFEATED OVER 5F/6F
TIMEFORM: 122
250+ mares in his first two books
Timeform: 126. Beating the best of his generation...
8 Gr.1 winners - Magna Grecia, The Revenant, Benbatl, Mohaather, Phoenix Of Spain, Veracious, Lord Glitters, Accidental Agent. Also 2nd Gr.1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas.
By Gr.1 miler Farhh
First foals averaged 4.5x his stud fee
Realising €50,000, €48,000, 30,000gns, etc.
17% Black-Type horses to foals from his first-crop
Kurious, Dunkerron, Daphinia, etc. Plus Gr.1 sprinter Savatoxl in Australia.
First 2yo winners since his return to Europe inc: Gozen (OR: 100. Gr.3 2nd & Irish 1,000 Guineas contender), Panic Alarm (OR: 95), Legend Of Leros (French 2,000 Guineas contender), etc.
2022 yearlings realised up to £120,000
The son of Doctor Dino takes himself to a new level with victory over Honeysuckle in the Grade 1 Irish Champion Hurdle on Dublin Festival weekend, writes Amy Bennett
THAT FRENCH-BREDS are a dominant force in NH racing is scarcely any more revelatory than the fact that Willie Mullins can train a bit. However, the two-day Dublin Racing Festival, hosted by Leopardstown at the start of February, underlined those two facts in bold black lines.
Of the eight Grade 1 races staged over the blockbuster weekend, French-breds landed every single one, with French-based sires accounting for six of the octet and the remaining two both conceived before their sires – Blue Bresil and Jukebox Jury –relocated to Ireland.
As for that man Mullins, the master of Closutton trained six of the eight top-level winners at Leopardstown, including the showpiece on Day 1, the Irish Gold Cup (G1), which went the way of the multiple top-level scorer Galopin Des Champs (Timos).
Gordon Elliot recorded a cross-Irish Sea Grade 1 double over the weekend, winning the Scilly Isles Novices Chase (G1) at Sandown with another French-bred in Gerri Colombe (Saddler Maker), before following up a day later at Leopardstown with Mighty Potter in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase (G1).
There were many talking points both before and after the weekend’s action, not least with the Cheltenham Festival looming large.
For all the young pretenders with their sights on Cheltenham, it was an older stager who had all eyes on her on Sunday.
Now nine, Honeysuckle is at an age where her Flat counterparts have usually delivered three or four foals, but the daughter of Sulamani instead bid for her fourth consecutive victory in the Irish Champion Hurdle (G1).
The mighty mare came up short for only the second time in her career, going down
by just under 5l, and it has since been confirmed that she will not contest a third Champion Hurdle (G1) in March, instead returning to the scene of her 2020 triumph in the Mares’ Hurdle (G1).
Her conqueror, three years her junior, was State Man, who made all to clock up his fourth consecutive top-level triumph, and is now unbeaten in all six of his completed starts over hurdles in Ireland and Britain.
Those victories included the County Hurdle (G3) at last year’s Cheltenham Festival, and with two decades having elapsed since Rooster Booster became the last horse to do the County HurdleChampion Hurdle double, history weighs heavy on State Man.
State Man’s sire Doctor Dino stood for a career high of €20,000 last year and will repeat the feat this season at Haras du Mesnil, an impressive rise on the €3,000 he commanded just eight years ago.
Bred by Vincent Barrett’s M L Bloodstock, State Man is out of the Listed-winning hurdler Arret Station (Johann Quatz).
She banked €260,530 during an impressively active career for a mare – 42 starts over the course of four years – but did not attract much attention when she passed through the Osarus sale ring at MaisonsLaffitte in June 2011, two years after her Listed success.
Purchased privately for €13,000 by Barrett, she won once more for him in a 37000m chase at Auteuil the following April before departing for the paddocks.
Barrett hit the jackpot with the mare’s second foal, the 2021 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle (G1) winner Statuaire (Muhtathir), and she has also produced the Listed-placed Stop Line (Martaline).
The 17-year-old produced a filly by It’s Gino last year, following on from daughters of Born To Sea and Pastorius in the previous two seasons.
Honeysuckle may have come up short in the Irish Champion Hurdle, but owner Kenny Alexander celebrated a top-level success with another filly in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle (G1) on the opening day of the meeting when Gala Matceau overturned her better-fancied stablemate Lossiemouth to lead home a 1-2-3 for Mullins.
A Listed winner at Auteuil on her final start last April in her native France, the four-year-old daughter of Galiway was beaten seven and half lengths by Lossiemouth in a Grade 2 juvenile hurdle over course and distance on St Stephen’s Day.
The tables were turned in emphatic fashion in February however, although with Lossiemouth having hit plenty of trouble in running the winner still lags her stablemate in the Triumph Hurdle betting.
French-based stallions may have dominated, but it was heartening to see Burgage Stud’s Jukebox Jury gain a new Grade 1 winner, albeit conceived during the stallion’s last season at Gestüt Etzean.
Il Etait Temps stayed on strongly for an easy victory in the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle (G1), a first Graded victory for the five-year-old, runner-up to Facile Vega in the Future Champions Novice Chase (G1) over course and distance on December 27. With
that rival, and stablemate, failing to fire in February, it was left to Il Etait Temps to land the spoils.
He is a third winner at the highest level over obstacles for his sire, who relocated from Germany to Burgage for the 2018 season, the same year Il Etait Temps was foaled.
The Prix du Cadran (G1) heroine Princess Zoe remains his biggest success to date on the Flat, and it was interesting to see that mare make her hurdling debut at the end of January, hanging on for a dead-heat with Ladybank (Balko) in a maiden hurdle over an extended 2m4f at Punchestown for Anthony and Danny Mullins.
French-based stallions may have dominated, but it was heartening to see Burgage Stud’s Jukebox Jury gain a new Grade 1 winnerAnother top level winner by Blue Bresil: Good Land ridden by Michael O’Sullivan
Interestingly, the Burgage Stud stallions scored a trans-Atlantic stakes double on the day with Jukebox Jury’s studmate Fascinating Rock responsible for the Thunder Road Stakes (G3) winner Earls Rock at Santa Anita.
Trained by Andrew Slattery before his move Stateside, it was a first Graded victory
relocating to Burgage Stud for the 2022 season.
With Constitution Hill dominating talk ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, his sire Blue Bresil, resident at Glenview Stud, looks to have not so much another talking horse on his hands as a shouting one.
Having hacked up in a Wexford bumper in
at Leopardstown over Christmas. Pitched straight in at the highest level in the opening race on the Dublin Festival card, a Grade 1 novice hurdle over 2m6f, he sluiced home by a length and a half to beat the Grade 2-placed Absolute Notions (Milan).
A day later, Good Land’s paternal halfbrother Blue Lord (Blue Bresil) was widely touted to follow up on his success in last year’s Irish Arkle Novice Chase (G1) at the same meeting with success in the Dublin Chase (G1). However, victory went to his stablemate Gentleman De Mee, with the son of Saint Des Saints registering his second top-level triumph after last year’s Maghull Novices’ Chase (G1) at the expense of his heavily odds-on stablemate Blue Lord.
The winner, bred by the Pommerai family and Gwenaelle Barre out of the Video Rock mare Koeur De Mee, was clearly no slouch as a novice, even if he had struggled to hit his stride this season prior to February. He is now as short as 10/1 for the Queen Mother Champion Chase (G1).
The loss of Martaline, who died in November 2019, is still keenly felt,
● Won the Gr.1 Dewhurst at 2 and the Gr.1 Lockinge at 4
● Sire of three first-crop Group winners including a Gr.2 winner
● 2022 successes included Gr.2 winners Bellabel and Gold Phoen
● His 2018 and 2019 crops have produced a better strike rate of Camelot, Siyouni, Kodiac, Acclamation, Churchill, Dark Angel, Night O No Nay Never and Showcasing In fact, the only British stallions doing Kingman.
Timeform rated 126 - “To win Group 1 races at two and four is testament to the durability of Belardo”
Fee: £6,500 Oct 1st SLF
underlined by a Graded double on Day 2 at Leopardstown.
Mighty Potter was an impressive winner of the Ladbrokes Novice Chase (G1) for Gordon Elliott, recording his fourth Grade 1 success in total and second over fences.
Pulled up in last year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (G1), the six-year-old has the Turners Novices’ Chase (G1), registered as the Golden Miller, in his sights at this year’s meeting.
His victory at Leopardstown was also notable for providing Davy Russell with his first Group 1 success since his improbable return from retirement.
Martaline also provided the final winner of the meeting when Fun Fun Fun hacked up in the Grade 2 mares’ bumper giving Willie Mullins his eighth victory of the two-day meeting.
It was also a second winner of the meeting for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, who also saw their green colours carried to success by the Irish Arkle Novice Chase (G1) victor El Fabiolo, a son of Spanish Moon, who was recording his first Graded victory.
The Grade 2 bumper that closed the Day 1 card went the way of A Dream To
Share, providing a fairytale result for Brian and Claire Gleeson, who not only bred the five-year-old son of Muhaarar, but also the winning jockey, son John.
By a champion sprinter out of a Galileo mare, the winner could feasibly have had his sights on shorter pursuits than bumpers, but he made a winning debut in that discipline in May, sluicing up at Tipperary, before
following up at Roscommon a month later.
After a break of 235 days, he returned to triumph at Leopardstown by almost 3l and will now head to Prestbury Park.
Also boasting a pedigree for the Flat was Final Orders, who landed the 2m1f Grade B chase on the opening day at Leopardstown.
Gavin Cromwell’s charge is a son of Camelot, out of a Pivotal mare, and was placed as a three-year-old for Simon Crisford before switching disciplines after being purchased for 14,000gns at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale in 2019.
He is now unbeaten in his last five starts over fences and could line up in the Arkle at Cheltenham.
A day later at Musselburgh, Camelot was also represented by another eye-catching jumper in Afadil, who stayed on strongly to land the Listed Scottish Triumph Hurdle for Paul Nicholls.
A graduate of the Aga Khan’s nursery and a winner in France for Francis Graffard, he is a €255,000 graduate of last year’s Summer Sale at Arqana, where he was snapped up by Tom Malone.
Camelot was also represented by another eye-catching jumper in Afadil, who stayed on strongly to land the Scottish Triumph Hurdle for Paul NichollsA Dream To Share (Muhaarar), ridden by John Gleeson and bred by his family out of the Galileo mare Hikari, wins the Grade 2 Future Stars bumper
Leading NH sires 2022-23 in Britain and Ireland (by prize-money earned to February 8, 2023) Courtesy of Weatherbys
“I was very impressed with the yearlings I saw by Land Force, I bought a lovely filly for 120,000gns who looked a real no nonsense, tough filly with a great attitude. If he continues to breed such good-looking stock I’m sure he will make a successful stallion, particularly with his outstanding pedigree.”
“Having broken a number of Land Force yearlings over the last few months, I’ve been seriously impressed. As such, I’m going to send a mare this year as I believe Land Force has a serious chance. I picked Havana Grey last year, so let’s hope I’m right again.” Jane Allison, Pre-trainer
“Alastair and I bought three yearlings by Land Force this year for up to 60,000gns, he is getting very strong and precocious looking stock and his pedigree has so much class. I tried to buy a foal by him in December because I feel he has such a great chance.”
“We have a very inspiring sharp looking Land Force who I bought at Doncaster for £82,000. He’s been very straight forward, and at this stage I couldn’t be more pleased. He has balance, a very fluid motion and a good mind.”
“The Land Force colt I bought for 135,000gns was an outstanding physical and a beautiful mover, we felt he was one of the best looking colts in the whole of Book 2, the stallion must have a good chance this year.”
Federico Barberini, Agent
“The Land Force I purchased in Book 2 for 60,000gns is a big, strong, dark bay who really fills the eye. He’s gone into training with Grant Tuer who is already waxing lyrical about him, let’s hope he’s as fast as his father!”
Alex Elliott, Agent
“The Land Force colt we bought for £78,000 looked very athletic and had a big square set of quarters, he was a ‘Must Buy’ for us.”
Oliver St Lawrence on the Land Force x Basque Beauty yearling
Fee: £5,000
1st Oct SLF with
ALL THE CREDENTIALS FOR A LEADING SIRE IN THE MAKING
(by prize-money earned to February 8, 2023) Courtesy of Weatherbys
KEY DATES ( EBF payments and deadlines)
2YO’S February 15th - for nominating two-year-olds for $3,000
YEARLINGS May 31st - for nominating yearlings for $600
2YO’S June 30th - for nominating two-year-olds for $6,000
STALLIONS June 30th - for provisionally registering stallions to the EBF for the year
STALLIONS December 15th - for payments to fully qualify stallions to the EBF for the year
THE BEST GALILEO SINCE FRANKEL €12,500
First crop yearlings averaged €66,000 132
“ “
WINNER OF 4GROUP1s • GROUP1 WINNING 2YO
in training with top handlers including:
• Ralph Beckett
• Jim Bolger
• Chad Brown
• Nicolas Clement
• André Fabre
• Francis-Henri Graffard
• William Haggas
• Richard Hannon
• Eve Johnson Houghton
• David Menuisier
• Joseph O’Brien
• David O’Meara
• Michael Stoute
The highly talented Romantic Warrior, bred by Corduff Stud and Tim Rooney, has taken himself to the top in Hong Kong and the son of Acclamation could have an international campaign ahead, writes Jeremy
Photos courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Greene
THE GREAT UNPREDICTABILITY of racing extends to how the equine stars of the sport can surface anywhere, unannounced, at any time.
Two summers ago, Baaeed popped up unheralded at odds of 6-1 to land a Leicester maiden and spark a sequence that made him the best horse seen on the Turf since Frankel. Similarly, a few weeks shy of Christmas 2016, Enable prompted the trade press to boldly predict “she looks capable of going onto better things” after she easily collected first time out at Newcastle.
Now let’s export these examples of initial obscurity to the Far East and Hong Kong. Happy Valley is a superb place to go racing, but few have ever described it as a haven of champions. Hong Kong’s best horses rarely, if ever, venture beyond the confines of Sha Tin because that’s where all the best races are run.
Quick disclosure here: this correspondent worked for the Hong Kong Jockey Club for many years, and keeping close tabs on the sport there remains relevant. As such, I remember the debut made by its latest megastar Romantic Warrior because it stood out so much.
It was during one lunchtime in October 2021
Below: it was an easy success for Romantic Warrior in the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup
Right: the son of Acclamation started out at Happy Valley and has progressed from the mid-week meetings at the Valley to becoming a globally important horse
when I was tuned into the racing at Happy Valley from home in Ireland. Here was this Irish-bred newcomer who, despite being drawn in the widest gate of 12 over the tight 6f track, was starting a very strong favourite – an unusual occurrence in itself.
Why was he so short in the betting? A brief glance at his two barrier trials showed he had won both with some ease. Still, showing up nicely in trials does not always translate when real race pressure is applied.
The passage of the race for him did not bode well – he was caught wide and without cover at halfway, a position very few manage to win from
in Hong Kong at any time, never mind on debut. But win he did and in some style. Into the tracker went this very promising type Romantic Warrior.
“Going to win more races,” the accompanying note boldly predicted.
But to land the local holy grail, the Hong Kong Derby, just five months later? Then to be ranked joint-eighth on a mark of 124 in the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings after winning the Hong Kong Cup last December? Nobody, but nobody, could have foreseen that.
Because, to repeat, horses like that just do not graduate from the middle-to-lower ranks at
Happy Valley. Or at least that used to be the case. So where did it all start?
Romantic Warrior was foaled in March 2018 at Corduff Stud near Prosperous in County Kildare for breeders James Egan and Tim Rooney. Egan had a breeding right in Rathbarry Stud-based stallion Acclamation and used him on Folk Melody, a Godolphin mare the farm had acquired at the Goffs Breeding Stock Sale just months earlier for €82,000. Her dam, Folk Dance, ranked the Grade 1 EP Taylor in Canada as her crowning achievement on the track.
“It might sound easy to say this now, but he really was a standout from the get-go. There was always something special about him,” recalls Henrietta Egan, wife of James Egan’s son David when speaking to me on behalf of the breeders.
“When it came to the sales, we were so busy with so many people wanting to see him and vet him.”
Mick Kinane was one of those inquiring visitors. The 13-time champion jockey of Ireland had just been recruited by the HKJC to source youngsters from the northern hemisphere for resale at the Hong Kong International Sale as broken and breezing three-year-olds.
Celebrated as much in Hong Kong as his homeland after 170 wins – all the major races included, of course – in winter stints and flying
visits to a place he still describes as “my second home” over a period of around 20 years, Kinane knew exactly what type of horses he wanted and pretty soon he found the exemplar.
“The brief was to buy mile to 1m2f horses. You are trying to find that balance of speed and stamina, but everyone is looking for that. When I first saw Romantic Warrior at Newmarket, he was that striking that I sent him to be vetted straight away,” recalls Kinane. “He was just a lovely individual. He was very athletic, very correct, he had a lovely head. I had my mind made up, I wanted him.
“If you were to have an idea of what the perfect model of a racehorse should look like, it would be something like him.”
Identifying the right horse was only part of the battle. Securing him would not be straightforward as Kinane knew he would face strong competition, not least from Angus Gold representing Shadwell. Even an element of subterfuge was required to sign the sales chit at 300,000gns.
“We wouldn’t have got him if it was a bidding match with Angus, especially if he had the late Sheikh Hamdan on the phone. I got my daughter Aisling to bid in a sort of a disguise, to give the opposition the run-around, while I was hidden out of sight. He was knocked down to the HKJC, but we were lucky,” reflects Kinane.
shone in a racecourse gallop at Kempton, subsequently won
eastwards to the Hong Kong
Tin held at the end of June
owner Peter Lau takes up
Photo courtesy of Tattersalls
Above, top: selling at the Hong Kong International Sale when he extended his valuation to HK$4.8 million, which is around £500,000
Above: owner Peter Lau signing for his purchase
Photos courtesy of HKJC
a series of right decisions that were taken. At the time, I already had a PP [private purchase] permit to import a horse with form. But I was aware the International Sale horses were coming in under a different regime, so I asked for the permit to be changed so I could bid,” he says.
Lau is the CEO and founder of Japan Home Centre, an international house ware retailer.
He had been an owner in Hong Kong with a couple of horses before he struck up a rapport with Shum.
“I had three horses with Danny before, they had all won. It was important to stay with him.
“When it came to the sale, I had my eye on another horse at first, but Danny kept drawing my attention to Romantic Warrior. He said he was the only horse in the sale that he wanted, how he loved his attitude, temperament and his movement. You need to trust your trainer when it comes to the finer details of these assessments.
“It must be like to trying to identify Ronaldo as a star of the future as a ten-year-old!
“It seemed a lot of money at the time, but I paid HK$4.8 million [around £500,000], he was the second highest lot of that sale. I can’t believe how well it has worked out. I am honoured to own such a wonderful horse.”
THE PINNACLE to date arrived last December when Romantic Warrior emulated another stellar Irishbred, Hong Kong import Designs On Rome when he added the Hong Kong Cup to the Derby and QEII Cup won earlier that year.
It was the way he did it, though, thrashing a solid field, featuring five Japanese Group 1 performers, in one of the fastest ever times recorded at Sha Tin for the 1m2f distance.
Kinane was on hand to witness the demolition and says with understandable pride: “It was my best day in racing out of the saddle. You always hope one of them will become a star, but racing is rarely like that. I was thrilled to be there to see him win such a big race and win it so well. It was a great moment.”
Jockey James McDonald, flown in from Australia to take the mount, was just as effusive in the aftermath. “I promise you, that was really as good as it looked,” he enthused.
“He was perfect from start to finish and he’s right up there with any of the other really good ones I’ve ridden. He’s got everything a good horse
needs and he’s got it in spades. He’s so versatile, he’s very economical, he doesn’t spend a penny in the run and the other thing is that he’s got a good turn-of-foot off any kind of tempo.”
At the time of writing, in the wake of a second place to Golden Sixty in the Group 1 Stewards Cup over a mile – a race billed as Hong Kong’s “Race of the Decade” – at the end of January, Romantic Warrior had over £6 million in earnings, and racked up nine wins from 11 starts. Owner Lau is to be commended for having a crack at the Hong Kong Triple Crown, and only the most successful horse in Hong Kong racing history could deny him glory in that first leg. Romantic Warrior will be long odds-on to win the Gold Cup over 1m2f in late February and following that the QEII Cup over the same trip against international opposition in April. There are plans are for him to stretch out to 1m4f in the Champions & Chater Cup at the end of May. Depending on how he goes in the latter event, Lau said he could target the Japan Cup towards the end of the year.
International travel is certainly on the agenda next season and the Tenno Sho (Autumn) over 1m2f in Tokyo could figure if the 1m4f does stretch his stamina.
Trainer Shum knows what it takes to compete internationally having won the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2012 with Little Bridge. He also has experience of successful raids to Japan when assistant to former champion trainer Ivan Allan, who prepared Indigenous to finish second in the 1999 Japan Cup and Fairy King Prawn to win the Yasuda Kinen a year later, outcomes that were the first to put Hong Kong on the map in the international sense it craved. Back in Kildare, meanwhile, Corduff Stud is preparing to welcome a half-sibling by New Bay and has a yearling colt out of Folk Melody and by Showcasing on the ground. The mare, who is still only 12, is scheduled to visit Night Of Thunder at Kildangan Stud.
The attention on those youngsters will be far greater owing to their older half-brother’s exploits in Hong Kong.
“Early in his career somebody said to me that he is a nice horse but he’s probably only a Happy Valley horse,” Peter Lau laughs, adding: “He turned out a little better than that!”
Ex-jockey Kinane, below, says watching Romantic Warrior win the Hong Kong Cup was the best day he has had at the races since he retired from race riding
Photo courtesy of Tattersalls
BIG THINGS are happening on the racecourses of the Middle East. The Gulf has long since hosted racing of international significance, most notably the Dubai World Cup meeting at Meydan, but recent developments have seen the region offer a much more diverse programme full of races with genuine global resonance.
The most eye-catching addition to the flourishing calendar is the Saudi Cup, which holds the title of the world’s richest race with an astronomical prize fund of $20 million.
The 1m1f contest, which is run on the Dirt track at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, was first run in 2020 when Maximum Security somewhat controversially finished first past the post.
Having initially been run as a lavishly funded conditions race, the event was awarded Group 1 status by the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee ahead of the third renewal last year, which was won by local runner Emblem Road at odds of 80-1 for trainer Mitab Almulawalah.
Across the border in Qatar, Al Rayyan racecourse hosts the $2.5m HH The Amir Trophy, a local Group 1 that forms the thoroughbred centre
piece of the HH The Emir’s Sword festival, which boasts an undercard brimming with other lucrative contests. Although the Saudi Cup has claimed the title of the world’s most valuable race, the Dubai World Cup Carnival has lost none of its lustre.
That particular event’s roll of honour features celebrities such as Cigar, Dubai Millennium, Street Cry, Curlin, Arrogate and back-toback winner Thunder Snow, who struck in 2018 and 2019. However, while races like the Dubai World Cup and the Saudi Cup will rightly attract elite runners from around the world, the real indicator of the direction of travel in the Middle East is the depth that is developing just below the top tier. The Bahrain International Trophy has quickly established itself as a calling point for classy runners from far and wide.
In 2022 the race saw
a one-two for Godolphin and Newmarketbased Saeed bin Suroor as Dubai Future saw off Passion And Glory, while the previous renewal went the way of the popular grey Lord Glitters, who struck for David O’Meara. According to the Bahrain Turf Club’s brochure, the introduction of the 1m2f Group 3 in 2019 “began a new chapter in the history of horseracing in The Kingdom of Bahrain, demonstrating the country’s determination to establish itself as a premier horseracing destination and welcome the sport’s leading competitors.”
That chapter has been furthered with the introduction in 2021 of the Bahrain Turf Series, a programme of ten races aimed at attracting international runners rated between 80 and 100, as well as their connections.
Among the British trainers to have heeded the call is George Baker, who dipped his toe into the Bahraini waters with two representatives in the inaugural Turf Series before returning with three this time around.
The triumvirate have more than paid their way, with Lucander making a successful start for the stable in the Al Muharraq Cup, while the sprinters Get It and Watchya have both finished runner-up. The trio have made seven starts between them and netted well over £75,000 from the abundance of prizemoney on offer.
“Last year was very much a learning curve when we took over a couple of seasoned older handicappers just to feel our way,” says Baker. “And the important thing about learning curves is that you learn; this year
James Thomas meets up with trainer George Baker, who has been spending much of the winter with his team in Bahrain, and Anoj Don, whose horse Magical Morning, trained by Amy Murphy, has been making dreams come true for the ownerGeorge Baker: runners in Bahrain
we’ve taken three horses to Bahrain who have been competitive and are running around for decent prize-money.
“We’ve had a winner, two seconds and two fifths and we’ve gone through £75,000 in prize-money and there’s still another meeting to come. If we could come back having picked up over £100,000, well, we’re going to struggle to pick that up through the winter in Britain with that level of horse.”
Of course, prize-money is not the only incentive attracting owners and trainers to the region, which boasts its share of prestige as well as high levels of international competition at a time when Flat racing is confined to the All-Weather in Britain and Ireland.
Owner Anoj Don, who races in partnership with Daniel MacAuliffe, has had horses in training with the likes of Ivan Furtado, Harry Dunlop and Charlie Fellowes, most notably the classy middle distance runner Pirate King and the Group 2-winning Fighting Irish, who now stands at Haras d’Annebault.
Don is no stranger to winners in Britain, France and Ireland, but says he has always dreamt of seeing his and MacAuliffe’s twotone blue colours carried in Dubai.
This year that dream came true when the Amy Murphy-trained Magical Morning ran at Meydan. The son of Muhaarar gave the owners a day to remember when he finished runner-up to Blue Trail in a 1m2f handicap on his second outing in Dubai.
“It’s a big thing having a horse there,” says Don. “It’s almost like the Olympics as there are runners from Saudi, Bahrain, England, Ireland, France. There are trainers and jockeys from all over the world coming to Dubai. It’s a great atmosphere and there’s good prize-money if you have the right horse.
“But the prize-money is very hard to win so I wouldn’t have my dreams dependant on winning some.
“Meydan is just special, it’s like running at the Breeders’ Cup as you’ve got to have a good horse to even go there.”
Don says the ownership experience in Dubai is quite different to what he has encountered in Britain and Ireland, particularly as the country extends an especially warm welcome to international visitors.
“Meydan has unbelievable facilities and the atmosphere is great,” he says. “They look after you very well there and the whole experience was unbelievable. Everyone was enjoying themselves, including the local crowd who like to come and see the British horses. Even the taxi driver was telling me the British horses are stronger!”
The likes of the Bahrain Turf Club and the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club offer a range of generous incentives and subsidies to encourage international participation, with travel and accommodation for horse, owner, trainer and jockey all on the house.
THE BAHRAIN TURF CLUB also offers connections a £12,500 expenses voucher to spend while in the country.
“The owners who have been have adored it,” says Baker, who trains Get It and Watchya for the MyRacehorse syndicate.
“We’ve actually got around 30 owners coming over, which will be great and exactly what the Bahrain Turf Club wants. There’s a lot of fun to be had here. There’s great restaurants, nice hotels and a lovely golf course. It’s showcasing the Kingdom while giving my owners a real opportunity to make some good money at a time of year when they could easily be trundling around on the All-Weather for chocolate cake and rosettes.
“We brought owners over here last year and in the same way we were dipping our toe into the water, they were too. They were so impressed by the hospitality and the warmth of the welcome, so they enjoyed it even with
limited racecourse success.
“To see them come back tells you a lot, and the fact that we’ve come back with horses winning good money and running really well, it’s been fantastic. We couldn’t have asked for it to go much better.”
Similarly, efforts have been made to ensure that staff – an even more essential part of the whole process – are offered a warm welcome too, particularly as they are likely to stay for a much longer period of time than owners and trainers.
“The staff are incredibly well looked after,” says Baker. “They’re housed a couple of miles away from the racecourse in apartments courtesy of the Bahrain Turf Club. My staff and the others we’ve come across have nothing but praise for the way they’ve been looked after.”
Travelling horses the 4,000 or so miles from Baker’s base at Robins Farm in Surrey to Bahrain is not a minor logistical undertaking, but the trainer notes that, granted the right animal, the process is generally straightforward.
“The logistics of international horse transport now are so fantastic, every month there are racehorses flying around the globe to far flung outposts, so it’s as seamless a process as can be,” he says. “Obviously there are some horses who get in a muck sweat going down the road to Kempton so you need to make sure you take the right type of horse.
“But, by definition the right type has to have a certain level of ability, and the vast majority of horses who perform to that level have a good mind on them and are therefore capable of dealing with it. International horse transport is most certainly not a boundary for us. If we can get there, we’ll go.”
The growing demand for horses to run in the various races that have sprung up across the Middle East has been reflected in the domestic bloodstock market. There is no clearer an example than the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale, which last year generated record turnover of 36,164,500gns for 1,006 lots sold.
In an illustration of how big an impact Middle Eastern buyers had, three operations from the Gulf region were among the sale’s top ten spenders, led by the Qatar-based
This year we’ve taken three horses to Bahrain who have been competitive and are running around for decent prize-money
Wathnan Racing who spent 1,750,000gns on nine lots, headed by the 450,000gns Persian Royal.
The Saudi-based Tattersalls regulars Najd Stud were the second-biggest buyers with seven bought for 1,460,000gns.
Najd Stud was also in action at the December Mares Sale, where their desire to secure the best prospects for the biggest races was highlighted when the outfit’s representatives went to 3,600,000gns for the dual Group 1 winner Saffron Beach.
The daughter of New Bay was sourced with the aim of running in the Saudi Cup but was retired from racing after a dirty scope ruled her out of this year’s renewal. She is due to begin her breeding career by visiting Frankel.
Another Saudi outfit, first-time buyers Athbah Racing, also made their presence felt when they secured the 525,000gns One World from the Juddmonte draft.
Moreover, it is not just the overseas buyers who are contributing to this surge in demand for prospects to run in the Middle East, as Baker’s three Bahraini runners and Don’s Magical Morning were all sourced as horses-in-training specifically to target races in the region.
Given the flourishing Middle Eastern programme boasts considerable prizemoney, a stark contrast to the meagre sums available in Britain, particularly during the winter months, this market trend looks sure to continue over the coming years.
“I’ve always wanted to race in Dubai and now that we’ve done that we’ll look to go to other countries in the future,” says Don. “The plan is definitely to go to Bahrain next year. They’re trying to get international horses into their country and I think their plan is to be the next Dubai, so that’s definitely on the bucket list.”
Those sentiments are shared by Baker,
who says of Bahrain’s future prospects: “As the international programme books fall onto more and more trainer’s desks there are clearly going to be more and more people here. The International Trophy in November has attracted the big battalions already and that’s clearly becoming a globally recognised race, and the Turf Series has opened the door to a lot of trainers.
“I’ve noticed that when I’ve been saddling up at recent meetings there have been other trainers here having a long hard look.
“Competition is what we want and what the Bahrain Turf Club wants. They’re delighted that our horses are competing with their horses in the way that perhaps they didn’t last season and that’s creating a vibrant and fun atmosphere at the racecourse. The overriding sense I have is that this is a place to be involved with for the long term, so hopefully we can be part of it going forward.”
A GROWING PROGRAMME OF RACING has not only meant an increasing volume of action on the racecourses of the Middle East, but requires hard work and innovative solutions behind the scenes, too.
Having been founded in 1770, Weatherbys is a company steeped in history and tradition. However, the organisation also has its finger on the pulse of digital technology and has been involved in supplying innovative solutions across the Gulf’s key racing jurisdictions in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE Emirates.
“The Middle East has always had an affinity for the horse,” says Weatherbys’ CEO Russell Ferris. “Two of the founding stallions in the stud book are Arabian, and there has always been a passion for racing. It’s now a really strong offering delivering and it’s one that Europe is looking at with envy in terms of how they’re doing it.”
Weatherbys’ solutions are centred around three key products in racing admin, the stud book and the ePassport. All three are in use across the Middle East and are helping the different jurisdictions meet the varying demands of a modern racing nation.
The racing admin system is used to ensure the integrity and distribution of race performance data, managing owner, trainer and jockey details, administering fixtures, races and results, as well as other functions such as data management.
The digital stud book is Weatherbys’ proprietary platform that ensures data integrity and registration compliance to world-leading standards, while the ePassport has brought animal identity documents into the digital world providing round-the-clock management and traceability options.
“We’re working across the four key racing industries in the Arabian peninsula,” says Ferris. “We began with Qatar four years ago working on the
Arabian side of things with their stud book registrations, then we moved into Bahrain, where we’ve been working for 18 months.
“In that solution we’ve dropped the stud book registration system, then we have a racing system deployed that has been operating their programme for the last 12 months. They’ve moved to an international series now so integrity is a big thing when you’re going global and you want to bring horses from other jurisdictions to race in the Kingdom.
“More recently we’ve signed a contract with the Emirates Racing Authority in Dubai. We also signed a contract with Saudi Arabia just before Christmas. We’ve been working with the Kingdom and the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia since 1997 and have been operating their stud book.
“The country is the largest breeding jurisdiction in the Middle East by a long way with 1,800 foals born per annum. They currently have four tracks but their ambition is to grow that to 12 or 14 tracks over the coming four or five years. That racing platform will scale pro rata with what they’re doing on the ground.”
Ferris adds: “Those are the four jurisdictions we’re working with and we’re helping them to manage their ambitions and their growth in racing and breeding.
“We’re delighted to have partners like the Emirates Racing Authority, JCSA, Qatar and Bahrain because it’s helping us to give a future for this sport that we all live and breathe.”
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Debbie Burt reports from Zabeel Stables in Dubai where the busy and ambitious trainer Bhupat Seemar is enjoying life at the helm
ZABEEL STABLES is an equine oasis right in the bustling heart of Dubai city. Since racing was formalised in the UAE in 1992, the stables have been a constant source of winners – Satish Seemar training at the yard very successfully for some years.
Bhupat Seemar took over the licence from Satish, who is his uncl, in the early part of the 2021-2022 season, so it was a remarkable achievement for Seemar Jnr to secure a first UAE trainers’ title on his debut and beating previous champions Ernst Oertel and Doug Watson.
Originally from India where his parents had a small stud farm, 46-year-old Seemar has been based in Dubai for 20 years.
In India he rode while at school and college. On finishing his formal education he
headed to the US, first to Kentucky to Taylor Made Farms before moving to California to work for Bob Baffert.
By the time he arrived in Dubai, Uncle Satish, consistently a top ten trainer and the winner of the six trainers’ titles, had already won the first of those trainers’ championships.
Seemar took over the reins in a temporary capacity in November 2021 after his uncle was suspended by the Emirates Racing Authority (ERA) following his placement on the US sanctions’ list due to his association with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, for whom Satish had trained when he was based in North America.
In July 2022, when Seemar Jnr was officially appointed by Dubai Racing Club as the new trainer at Zabeel, Dr Mohammed Essa Al Adhab, Dubai Racing Club’s general
manager noted: “Seemar has a blend of local and global experience that makes a perfect fit for maintaining the record of the stable and taking it to new heights.”
Reflecting on his appointment and that first trainers’ title, Seemar says: “I’m very grateful to a lot of people to be in this position. I’ve been here for 20 years; I know this racing inside out.”
Wanting to “keep the winning formula”, he admits that little has changed since taking over.
“Our form is always a bit lukewarm at the beginning of the season, but we start hitting form from January onwards,” he reflects. “We want to peak in March, not in November – so far, things are going to plan.”
Given his early grounding with Baffert, Seemar was always going to lean towards
training his horses by the clock as he explains: “It’s what I know from being in America. There’s Dirt racing here, so that style of training suits, but I did have to modify it a bit, so there’s a little mix of Europe in there too, but it works for us. The horses either go out on their own, or in pairs.”
Watching his horses work on Zabeel’s 1800m Dirt track, with markers every 200m, Seemar communicates instructions by radio to each of the riders, which include his wife Caroline, and stable jockey Tadgh O’Shea, who headed to Dubai after winning the Irish apprentices’ championship.
Dylan Browne McMonagle, the 2021 apprentice champion, has also been riding out for Seemar, while also enjoying a winter at Zabeel is Georgia King, daughter of the UK’s dual-purpose trainer Alan King. She
is in Dubai on a mission to expand her knowledge of training and pace.
O’Shea has made Dubai his own, and of the jockey’s talents Seemar observes: “The reason he’s a ten-time UAE champion jockey is because he’s such a hard worker. I don’t think he ever rests! He’s always thinking about horses. It’s hard work that’s paying off, as a person he’s a great guy, and we have a great partnership.”
O’Shea, who in January recorded his 700th UAE win on the stable’s Group 1 Golden Shaheen winner Switzerland, returns the compliment: “I’ve been very, very lucky. Obviously I ride for some great people and I can’t do it without the horses, the trainers, or the owners. I’m very fortunate to be riding for Bhupat with the thoroughbreds and for Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda and Ernst Oertel with the Arabians. If you asked me in 2001
We usually start hitting form from January onward, we want to peak in March, not in November – so far, things are going to plan
when I first came to the country how many winners I would ride, I would have taken any amount!”
He continues: “I started at Zabeel five seasons ago and this is my second as first jockey. I’m in here five mornings a week, the other two I’m with Ernst at Al Quoz, so I’m pretty busy!
“It definitely meant more to get the 700 up on Switzerland, my only thoroughbred Group 1 winner to date.
“On the first night of this year’s Carnival, I rode my two favourite thoroughbreds, Switzerland and Secret Ambition, they are a combined age of 19 between them. Bhupat deserves a lot of credit for Secret Ambition, he’s 10 now but he ran well and will come forward for the race.”
CLEARLY O’SHEA enjoys being part of the team that operates in a very relaxed environment.
“It’s an amazing facility here. We’re blessed that it’s a private track and we can take our time with the horses, we can do our own thing. They really enjoy their routine and it’s not rush, rush, rush, which unfortunately a lot of trainers have to do with time slots on shared tracks. I believe it’s the oldest stable, designed by Sheikh Mohammed. It’s a little bit of paradise.”
Its location poses one ever-present problem, as Seemar explains: “It covers around 200 acres and this real estate is so valuable. I think it’s one of the most beautiful stables in the world, but one day we may have to leave. It is what it is, but hopefully we’ll get something similar, probably at Meydan.”
Reviewing his present set up he says: “We’ve 135 stables and we’re full. We’ve got more than we could ask for with a treadmill, a horsewalker, a 100m straight pool, paddocks, equine spa and one of the first equine cryotherapy chambers in the world.
“If you can’t train winners here, you couldn’t train them anywhere!
“When our season ends, the European season starts, so jockeys leave and some of the horses leave, I think it works for horses as well, so they get time off.
“It’s a busy five-to-six-month period
for them, especially those racing on Dirt, for the Turf horses the recovery is probably easier. The short season works perfectly for us.”
In the summer most of the horses stay at Zabeel. They get turned out, but are not completely let down, and though he understands that they need a mental holiday, Seemar’s team keeps them ticking over with the pool and the treadmill.
“They get a nice spot of R and R,” he says smiling. “That’s how we have ten-year-old and nine-year-old horses still successfully racing at the top level.”
The summer break also ensures that he has time to replenish stock for his owners through the
I think it’s one of the most beautiful stables in the world, but one day we may have to leaveRight: Seemar chats to his riders via intercom as they ride work Left: Georgia King and Tadgh O’Shea upsides
major sales in Europe and America, and, as yet, Seemar has had no need to buy on spec.
He says of last year’s purchasing trip: “I did six countries in five weeks, it was quite intense, but we hope that it will now be a regular thing. Two-year-old racing is improving here, so that obviously requires more investment.
“Years ago, there was less of a race programme for juveniles, but the authorities at DRC and the ERA are doing a great job encouraging more two-year-old racing and people are catching on to it. There’s also more three-year-old races than ever before, and we could probably do with more!
“We’re mostly looking for a Dirt pedigree or a Dirt physical. We do look for some American-bred horses, even in Europe, but we also have Turf racing here, so we would like a bit of both.”
Last year’s buying spree started at home with the inaugural Goffs Meydan Breeze-Up Sale, held as part of Dubai World Cup week.
“We bought four or five there, I think the consignors and the sale company brought some good pedigrees over.
“It was a great initiative to have the first Middle Eastern two-year-old sale, it was quite a forward-thinking move, and as it continues it can only improve.
“We also bought about 20 horses in the Godolphin Horse in Training Sale here, there’s plenty of owners locally who want to be in racing. To be honest, it’s a great position to be in – I’ve got more owners than I can fill! More people want to get involved and they all have different budgets, but a horse doesn’t know his price, does he?
“Royal Dubai, I think he was 35,000gns from the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up, and Morning, who we have running in the Guineas Trial, was about $80,000 from the Ocala Breeze Ups.
“Then there were others who cost a lot more, it was a big range. When they come to Dubai, they get some time off and turned out in the paddock. With two-year-olds, some are going to need time, you can’t rush everything, so some will be good three-yearolds instead, but I’m very happy with the way it’s going.”
Of his owners, he adds: “We have the most variety owners of any of the stables here. It’s a very good mix of ex-pats and locals, as well
O’Shea, who rode his 700th UAE winner in January, appreciates the relaxed atmosphere at Zabeel’s private training facility
as from the wider GCC area, such as Saudi and also America, which tells you racing is in a very healthy state in this country.
“I think the hardest part is communication, my phone doesn’t stop ringing until 10pm – its constant. It’s one area that we as a stable need to figure out how can improve. It’s great that owners are coming to us, and there’s always room for one more! We’ve got a great team, so we’re in a very privileged place.”
He feels that racing for young horses is on the upgrade, and uses the Fawzi Nass-
It’s great that owners are coming to us, and there’s always room for one more!
trained filly Shahama as an example.
“After Dubai she went to America and won well, winning a Grade 3 and she was also placed in a Grade 2, so I think we’re getting some quality young horses over here,” he explains. “This year there are three or four fillies who have been bought for half a million, or close to it, so it’s improving, we’re getting better horses.”
He believes the ERA has been very proactive with the programme adapting to the type of horses arriving.
“The authorities have been very good at listening to the trainers and the owners, wanting to make it better which is great.”
ACROSS THE GULF RACING NATIONS, he feels more could be done to co-ordinate and strengthen the region’s appeal.
“I think the region has the potential to be one of the best racing areas. With Dubai, Saudi, Bahrain and Qatar there is so much prize-money and enthusiasm to do well, in such a short time those other countries have come on leaps and bounds, and international owners and trainers want to go and compete.
“Dubai has been doing it for a long time and now the others are following suit, I think we’ve set a great example, Dubai was the pioneer. The infrastructure here is so good, you get used to that standard and you don’t want to go backwards.”
He also sees the potential to race further afield outside of the UAE season, though considers the prize-money in Europe a bit low in comparison to Dubai.
“Europe is amazing, the only thing is, you come here and think why should you go anywhere else? The only problem with Royal Ascot for us is that it’s the wrong time of year, as it’s getting too warm here to prepare. I think you’ve probably got to travel a month earlier, and train over there.
“Satish took a couple of thoroughbreds and Arabians to Europe, staying in Newmarket for three months and Chantilly for two months. I think we will do it as well.
“I just need to establish myself and my routine first and have some good people around me so that we can travel.”
Closer to home, he has already been to the Saudi Cup meeting with Switzerland and Secret Ambition, noting: “If you want to be running an international stable you’ve got to go and raid all these good races in the Middle East, it’s the plan to continue, with the prizemoney so good, you’ve got to go.”
Fulfilling a childhood dream, Seemar has also been to the Kentucky Derby with Summer Is Tomorrow, who was the first UAE-trained horse to run in the race.
“It was just unbelievable. We have some very sporting owners as it’s expensive to go to America, they don’t give you much financial assistance for the Kentucky Derby, so they were brave to fork out all that money. It cost them a lot to have that experience.”
Seemar cites the lack of training facilities in quarantine as a major obstacle to preparing for the race, saying: “You land in Chicago and, of course, Arlington Park’s closed, so your horse just walks for seven days, you can’t even come out of the barn.
“But there’s only one Kentucky Derby and the owners loved it, having a runner in front of 165,000 people and we got plenty of attention. Of course, I’ve been there before with Bob Baffert, but to go through it in my own name was incredible.”
By the time you read this Seemar may have won the Saudi Cup with last year’s Dubai World Cup sixth-placed Remorse (Dubawi).
Victory in the Dubai World Cup is an obvious aim, as he says, “This is my home ground, I’ve seen the race for 20 years, I’d love to win it one day – once you do that, then the world is your oyster.”
Importantly, he feels the business is heading in the right direction to try and achieve that goal: “Everybody always follows success, you’ve got be successful for them to be with you and hopefully we’ll maintain that.”
Seemar won’t be giving up Dubai anytime soon concluding: “Dubai is one of those places that’s just very hard to leave.
“We’ve got some great prize-money, the lifestyle is good, you just can’t fault it, it’s probably one of the best places in the world to live and train.”
HORSES HAVE LONG BEEN TRAVELLED around the globe as connections search for valuable winning opportunities, but the previous one-off trips are now becoming more of a continual strategy and plan for many international training operations, with the Gulf region seeing the development of many dedicated satellite yards operated by trainers from all around the globe.
Arguably, the development of today’s global racing scene originated in the Emirates in 1993 with the Dubai
International Jockeys Challenge, which came about due to restrictions on the travelling of horses to the region.
Established jockeys rode and represented differing countries, the US, Australia and Japan, and the UAE, with Lester Piggott and Willie Carson riding for Europe.
Once international shipping restrictions in and out of the country had been lifted the inaugural Dubai World Cup was held in 1996 and got itself off to the best possible global launch with the win of Cigar.
The Dubai International Racing Carnival arrived in 2004 offering a $21 million prize-money fund for connections to race for
throughout February and March, with the intention that it would act as a springboard to progress horses to World Cup night itself.
For 2006 the prize money was increased as was the elevation in status for a number of the races.
Since then the Carnival has continued to improve, not least when Meydan superseded the previous racecourse Nad Al Sheba. Dubai’s racing is now a well-established goal for connections around the world.
Now in it’s 20th year this year’s Carnival kicked off as usual in January and will have encompassed nine meetings by the time the season culminates with the 27th Dubai
The Dubai Carnival has really helped develop the modern day concept of international racing and now, with recent growth of the sport in the whole Gulf region, trainers from all around the world are going a step further and have established, or are planning to set up, satellite yards in the Middle East
Debbie Burt chats with Turkish trainer Onur Özelcanat, British trainer Ian Williams, and Uruguay’s Julio Olascoaga
World Cup night on March 25.
With prize-money totalling almost $9 million, the 61 races on offer have been divided between 36 on Turf and 25 on Dirt, to include 22 Group races, plus a further seven Listed races. The remainder is made up of conditions and handicaps run over a range from 1000m to 2810m.
From an original list of 147 horses that were accepted, nearly 90 arrived from 11 different countries (the US, UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark, Uruguay, Turkey, South Korea) for the start of the Carnival, which got underway on Friday, January 6 at Meydan.
Numbers [as we go to press] are also likely to be boosted with further arrivals for Super Saturday on March 4.
Commenting on the 2023 Carnival, Stephanie Cooley, responsible for international liaison on behalf of Dubai Racing Club, said: “We are delighted with the representation and quality of runners so far from across the world. Connections are happy to be in Dubai, as there’s a lot to offer here, as well as great racing for nine weeks of the Carnival.
welcome back many familiar equine stars as well as some new faces. To get new trainers such as George Boughey and Johnny Murtagh, along with the return of USA trainer Doug O’Neill, and long-time Carnival supporters such as David O’Meara and David Simcock is always a positive.”
One of the lesser known trainers making the return journey to Dubai is Onur
Turkey in the best way in the international arena with Turkish horses.”
Unfortunately, Final Dance has not been in quite the same form as on his previous trip and, after some enforced changes in the colt’s programme, Özelcanat made a realistic decision and as we write is taking the horse back home.
“It takes great dedication to keep the horse in the same form and level all the time,” he explains, “and since we were not able to stick to the programme we originally planned, we didn’t get the results we were hoping for.
“Final Dance is loved by the Turkish racing fans and we are now preparing him to return to Turkey for when racing resumes there.”
Özelcanat has also been dealing with the horrific news emanating from Turkey after February’s tragic earthquake that claimed the lives of so many of his countrymen, and is understandably keen to get home.
“Of course, I have been worried for my family and friends in the current situation, but we stay in touch by phone. We look forward to coming back to the Carnival next year.”
ONE OF THE MORE SEASONED UK trainers who returned for more this year is Ian Williams, whose team got off to a flyer with Enemy (Muhaarar) winning the Carnival’s opening race, the Dubai Racing Club Classic on January 6, netting some $60,000 in prize-money.
Williams first sent Sir Maximilian to run in Dubai in 2015 when the Royal Applause gelding won the Group 3 Meydan Sprint on Super Saturday before picking up place prize-money in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint on World Cup night behind Sole Power.
Speaking of that first Carnival trip Williams recalls: “We’d done lots of overseas travelling closer to home, but it was only our second foray outside of Europe.
“We’d been lucky to have a runner in the Melbourne Cup, which was a long trip and a tough one on everybody, both work wise and financially because there’s no subsidies, whereas Dubai is obviously pretty much fully subsidised.
Our wish is to represent our country and the Jockey Club of Turkey in the best way in the international arena with Turkish horsesTurkish trainer Onur Özelcanat
“It was quite an amazing experience all the way through, as it was something very different, something very new to us. The facilities in Dubai and the prize-money even then were exceptional and we were looked after very well. The horses, the staff, the owners, myself – we all had a great time being involved in that period of learning.”
Since then he feels that the Carnival consistently provides a worthwhile and engaging option for owners.
“The level of racing is always very good, and prize-money is very rewarding,” he says, but notes: “You still have to have the horses who are good enough and capable enough to compete at that level.”
Considering the type of horse required to be competitive, he explains: “You’ve got a broad spectrum of race distances through
the meeting but ideally a horse wouldn’t want to be rated much less than 100, unless it’s well handicapped.
“There is a nice wide range of handicaps, and if you are good enough to progress there are a number of Listed and Group races over varying distances that are very attractive for the prize-money.”
But sounding a note of caution, he says:
“I think that horses who are suitable for the Carnival are becoming increasingly difficult to buy unless you have huge pots of money.
“It’s a very competitive market now because of the new options
I’d love to have a satellite yard in the Middle East, but it’s reliant on having the clients and having enough high-quality horses
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to race in Saudi, Qatar and Bahrain. You’re not just trying to buy for one place and, with Saudi looking to build more racecourses and house more horses, the market is only going to become stronger.”
Considering the development of racing across the Gulf States and what that might mean for international racing in the future and for his own team, he says: “I think the success of Dubai has led to other Middle Eastern countries seeing the advantages of horseracing as a national event and when you see the finance that Qatar, Bahrain and, particularly, Saudi are putting into horseracing, it’s going to open opportunities for horses from all over the world to race in these places.
“Dubai has shown the way, but it’s quite feasible that these other countries could take it to another level.
“I’d love to have a satellite yard in the Middle East during the winter months, probably in Dubai, but it’s reliant on having the clients and having enough high-quality horses capable of running in valuable and high-quality races.
“We’re very lucky to have very capable and reliable staff and again the Dubai Racing Club offer very good facilities and look after them well, so it’s always very easy.
“It’s definitely something that I’d love to do and will look forward to learning more on our visit to Saudi, as there are obviously opportunities opening up in there, and in Qatar and Bahrain as well.
“It would also depend on how these countries opened their lesser races up to the international runners as much as anything. Dubai has a domestic programme that, speaking to a lot of the local owners, needs expanding, and also needs an injection of prize-money at the domestic level.”
Enemy’s success provided the Williams team with the opportunity to head over the border to the Saudi Cup.
“We were very happy to enter him in Saudi’s Red Sea Handicap,” he says, adding: “It is a race that is probably the equivalent of the Ebor without the numbers, but the prize-money is five times as great. It’s a good incentive!
“All things being equal, he’ll then run in the Dubai Gold Cup on World Cup night. He could go to the Sheema Classic, but that’s
Julio Olascoaga: has found most success in Dubai with South American-bred three-yearolds, who although have to carry a weight penalty, they are six months’ older than their northern hemisphere counterparts
always a stronger race.”
As for his other Carnival horses, he says, “Green Team has run three times and had a great time in Dubai and we’ve enjoyed his experience there.
“He ran well last time out in February over a trip that was the bare minimum for him. There was not another race suitable for him so he’ll come home.
“Spirit Of Light ran very well in a handicap finishing a potentially unlucky second and just found the Listed company last time a little strong for him. There is another handicap in two weeks’ time [end of February], which will really suit him and he’ll stay in Dubai for that.”
THE IDEA OF OPERATING a UAE satellite yard has also appealed to the horsemen of South America and Uruguayan trainer Julio Olascoaga is in charge of a team of 13 horses based at Meydan’s Green Stables as residents, rather than international runners. His first taste of Dubai was in 2019 when assistant to Antonio Cintra as he explains: “I am vet, though my family have always had horses. This is my third season here, but it is my first representing owner Antonio Cintra on my own.”
Discussing what he has learned so far about coming to Dubai to compete he says: “The most difficult thing is to bring the horses here and knowing which horses adapt better to flying and to the conditions here in the UAE.
“What we learned is we have to bring good quality horses, bring the best ones that we have, and horses who are sound and fit for the races here, no point in bringing horses that are not suitable.
“The bloodlines in South America are mostly US bloodlines, which suit the Dirt racing in Dubai. The best results that we have had have been with three-year-olds, they have the six months ‘life’ advantage but they carry a penalty in weight.”
Like Williams, Olascoaga enjoyed a win on the opening night of the Carnival in the Jumeriah Classic Trial with Long Kiss a colt by Adriano and out of a Bernstein mare.
“It was an impressive run from Long Kiss
and an amazing ride from Jose da Silva,” he smiles. “That was the plan, to come from behind because that’s the style of his racing.
“We breezed the horse 15 days before the race on the Turf track and he changed completely; it was a completely different horse so we knew that he was going to be a good on the Turf.
“He came here as a maiden so we are starting to build up his rating, so that’s a little different – he was not a Group winner that we brought to race in Dubai. We’ve been planning this since maybe April or May last year, to bring a maiden to Dubai. He won first time out here, then got beaten on Dirt at Meydan second time out, and now he’s proved that he is a Turf horse.”
He adds that the racing in Dubai has offered an outlet after some options were missed for the horse at home.
“He was a standout in Uruguay, but he had some small issues that caused us to miss the Triple Crown in Uruguay, so we decide to ship him early, to have more time here and then get him ready for the beginning of the season.”
Of the rest of his team, Olascoaga explains that it is a continual rotation.
“The other horses have all come over at different times. We had some horses who we left here at the end of last season, spending the summer here, that was a new experience for us, while we had another group of horses who came in mid-September and then some horses that came late for the Carnival at the end of December.”
Of the experience of leaving horses to rest in Dubai, he explains: “It really made a difference to leave horses here over the summer, though it was tough.
“It was not easy to summer the horses here, also it is difficult for an owner as they have to understand that its nearly seven months without racing..
“It was better for us and it was the way to keep the horses here and ready to run, and they have been running well.”
Regarding the broader development of racing in the region, he says: “It is good to see and the good prize-money is hugely positive.
“It was the plan to set up a satellite stable here so we could compete in the whole region. At the beginning we couldn’t do much because of the pandemic, but now with everything back to normal we are ready to get established here.
“Our owners will start coming over to Dubai for the Carnival, but they are always on the phone and watching the races.”
Olascoaga is hoping to develop the operation to 20 to 25 horses and had been hoping to source horses from the Racing in Dubai Sale but found purchasing out of his range financially.
He has wider goals and hopes that his growing business can support his own nation’s bloodstock industry.
“The most important thing for us would be to source horses from South America – to support our breeding,” he says rationally.
Dubai has positioned itself in the big wide world as a financial and travel hub due to its location between the two sides of the globe. Its unique geographical location is now being used by trainers to advantage, too.
...we couldn’t do much because of the pandemic but now we are ready to get established hereLong Kiss: won over 7f at the start of the Carnival
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IN 1954, NATIVE DANCER achieved honours as Horse of the Year in North America having had just three starts. Now, almost 70 years later, Flightline has topped the World Racehorse Rankings off a three-race season.
Such dominance based on a limited number of starts is not totally unique. For example, in essence, Arrogate topped the ratings in 2017 on the basis of victories in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) and Dubai World Cup (G1) given that his three subsequent starts never approached that level of form.
If recognising Flightline as the best horse in the world in 2022 is not that controversial, the same can’t be said of his actual rating of 140, which is equal to the historic figure achieved by Frankel in 2012, a season in which his dominance brought about a complete re-evaluation of the previous rankings.
To compare Flightline and Frankel must have been an extremely difficult task. Frankel was a thoroughly proven entity with 14 wins in 14 starts, from two to four years over 7f to 1m2f and over three seasons in training. Of those races 12 were in Group races, and he captured five Group 1 events in five starts in 2012.
By comparison, Flightline retires to stud as something of an enigma. Prevented from racing at two after hitting his right hip on a stall latch, Flightline’s career was limited by a hoof crack that interrupted his three-yearold season, and a strained hock that delayed the start of his 2022 campaign.
All of that ended up producing a racing career of just six starts. The first of those came over 6f in April 2021, and saw him win by 13l.
That was followed by a 121 romp in a Del Mar allowance/optional claiming race in September and, on December 26, an 11l victory in the 7f Malibu Stakes (G1) on his black-type debut.
Then sidelined until early summer Flightline reappeared in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1).
After breaking slowly, he was cut off as he attempted to establish himself on the lead. But it made little difference as, after stalking, Flightline swept to the front, to score by 6l with the Grade 1 winners Happy
By Alan PorterFlightline was clearly the best horse in the world last year, but was he really the equal of Frankel?
Saver, Speaker’s Corner and Aloha West (the previous year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) winner) in the next three places.
Proven as a sprinter/miler, Flightline then stretched to 1m2f for the Pacific Classic (G1), and the result was, on figures at least, his best-ever performance.
Putting away an early challenge, Flightline remained on cruise control as he continued to extended his lead. Despite just coasting home he hit the wire in a time just 0.17secs off the track-record, and an astonishing 19l clear of the runner-up Country Grammer, himself winner of the Dubai World Cup (G1) earlier in the year and rated 121 on the classifications.
Flightline didn’t quite run back to that level in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), but that was not without reason. Then the excellent sprinter/miler Life Is Good –officially rated the fourth-best older horse in the world in 2022 – set out to give Flightline a true test.
Effectively turning the 1m2f event into a
two-horse duel, Life Is Good went straight to the front, with Flightline stalking a couple of lengths back with the rest well in arrears, as far back as 12l at one stage. The 6f clocking for Life Is Good was close to the winning time in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), and his mile split was faster than the winning
time in the Dirt Mile (G1).
The searing pace had little apparent impact on Flightline, who simply sailed past Life Is Good at the head of the stretch.
At that point the only question was whether he could be caught by any of those who had rationed their speed more prudently, and the answer was a resounding “No” – despite being eased in the last 100yds, Flightline still had over 8l to spare over runner-up Olympiad (joint-fifth rated older horse at 124).
Flightline retired to stud at Lane’s End Farm, Lexington as a sound horse, and in theory could have remained in training.
In practice though, with a line of mares waiting to be bred at a fee of $200,000, and a potentially astronomical insurance value (the single 1/40th share of Flightline offered at public auction fetched $4,600,000 in a genuine transaction) made that practically virtually impossible.
The near unique factor of Flightline’s career, and the one that made him such an
The near unique factor of Flightline’s career, and the one that made him such an enigma, is that he was never fully extended at the finish of any of his races
Highest price EVER achieved at Tattersalls Ireland €520,000
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25 - 26 MAY 2023
enigma, is that he was never fully extended at the finish of any of his races – something in our experience that is unique for a horse at this level.
What his limit truly was remains a mystery.
Measured on what he actually achieved, there is no doubt that Flightline was at least as good as he looked.
Beyer, the most authoritative of the US figure-makers gave him a 126 for the Pacific Classic, the joint second-highest since the figures began being published
in the Daily Racing Form in 1991 behind only the 128 award to Ghostzapper for his victory in the 2004 Philip H. Iselin Handicap (G3), although well below that calculated retrospectively for Secretariat’s Belmont Stakes (G1).
Timeform rates Flightline on 143, the highest North American runner since the company started publishing ratings for the region, and superior to all bar Frankel (147), Sea-Bird (145), Brigadier Gerard and Tudor Minstrel (both 144) in their year-end figures, which stretch back to 1948.
“Great” is a rather subjective term, which depends on what attributes one most
Timeform rates Flightline on 143, the highest North American runner since the company started publishing ratings for the regionAlpinista: the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner was the highest-rated female horse in the world in 2022
values but, even with his limited body of work, at the very least Flightline stands with Ghostzapper, American Pharoah and Arrogate as the outstanding North American runners of the 21st century. It’s certainly not inconceivable that in raw talent he may belong alongside Colin, Man O’ War, Citation and Secretariat, who are generally considered the at all-time pinnacle of North American racing.
As far as this year’s ratings are concerned, one does get the feeling that with his true limitations never established, the compilers have just said “Flightline’s the best in the US since we’ve started the ratings, we’d
better rate him equal with the best that’s run in Europe [Frankel]”, and that is despite Frankel’s busier career.
This does engender a couple of final thoughts.
One is, if Flightline is weighted on what he actually achieved, as it appears, then given that he could have found at least a couple more lengths – just two fifths of a second – in the Pacific Classic, it suggests that a “maxed out” Flightline could be worth a rating of around 144 or 145, against Frankel’s historic mark of 140.
Or, if Flightline has been over-rated on what he actually achieved, which elevates
the horses that finished behind him, will this make the start of another round of creeping inflation that brought about the 2012 recalibrating of the ratings?
We looked at Flightline’s pedigree in detail after the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but we can note that he comes from a male-line that has been in the US since the Aga Khan-bred Nasrullah, who was imported to cover at Claiborne Farm in 1951.
The direct sire line which comes down through Nasrullah, Bold Ruler, Boldnesian, Bold Reasoning, Seattle Slew, A.P. Indy and Tapit, has earned 19 individual leading sires’ titles in North America since 1955.
Flightline’s graded stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed dam Feathered is also from the Nasrullah line through Nasrullah’s greatgrandson, Caro – imported from France in the 1970s – and via the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (G1) winner Siberian Express, to the Irish-bred In Excess, who was a top runner and dominant force in the California stallion ranks.
His best son Indian Charlie was an extremely successful sire, and left a top stallion son in Uncle Mo.
The female line came to the US with the importation of the Rothschild-bred filly Filante in 1917. She became a notable producer, including as dam of Fenelon, whose successes included the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Travers Stakes, and that horse’s stakes-winning sister Flying Gal, dam of the St. Leger and Eclipse Stakes scorer, Boswell.
She also appears in the tail female line of War Emblem, who took the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) in 2002.
In the case of Flightline, he is from a branch that stems from Lady Pitt, a champion three-year-old filly, and a major foundation mare for the Phipps family.
The family extends through Lady Pitt’s graded stakes-winning daughter Blitely, through Grade 1 winner Fantastic Find, and Feathered’s granddam, the multiple Grade 1-winning Finder’s Fee.
The F-word – Frankel that is – was also at times whispered in connection with second highweighted horse on this year’s WBRR, Baaeed.
To be fair, that was generally in terms of “could he be” than any serious attempt to equate the two, and ultimately Baaeed’s rating of 135 (in the Intermediate Category – he also headed all Turf milers on 130) fell short of that standard, but was enough to see him well clear as outstanding European and top Turf horse, and the highest-rated of any horse other than Flightline, since Frankel.
Baaeed also fell just short of Frankel in his attempt to retire undefeated. Having won ten straight races, six consecutive Group 1s, four in 2022, Baaeed stumbled at the final hurdle,
apparently failing to handle the yielding ground when fourth in the Champion Stakes (G1).
That race was won by Bay Bridge, who along with the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) winner Bayside Boy, thrust their young sire New Bay, a son of Dubawi, in to the limelight.
Baaeed, now standing at Nunnery Stud at a fee of £80,000, does have a connection to Frankel – his sire Sea The Stars is a halfbrother to Frankel’s sire Galileo.
Himself a world champion, Sea The Stars (by Cape Cross, a son of Green Desert) has gone from strength to strength as a sire and in 2022 was represented by 25 stakes winners, 11 Group or Graded, including in addition to Baaeed, the other Group 1 winners Sea La Rosa, Hukum (a brother to Baaeed) and Emily Upjohn.
Sea The Stars is also a fast-emerging broodmare sire, and in 2022 his daughters were represented by 16 stakes winners, including the St. Leger (G1) scorer Eldar Eldarov (116 and joint-leading three-year-old over extended distances) and Onesto. He is rated 122, is by Frankel and is the first Group 1 winner inbred to Urban Sea through her outstanding sons.
Baaeed and Hukum are out of the French black-type winner Aghareed, a daughter of Kingmambo, who is an excellent foil for Sea The Stars.
The second dam Lahudood (Singspiel) won the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), earning a divisional Eclipse Award in the US.
This is a branch of a family descending from the great matron Height Of Fashion, Baaeed’s fifth dam.
Sea The Stars is also a fast-emerging broodmare sire, and in 2022 his daughters were represented by 16 stakes winners
THE ICE PHOENIX - ‘This colt really reminds me of his Dad, he is a good solid horse, with good scope and a great temperament. He is a cracker.’
“We are fortunate enough to be training three juveniles by Phoenix Of Spain and I have been very impressed with them so far. They show a good action, and they seem to be blessed with very good minds. I am a fan at this very early stage.”
Roger Varian
● Top-class sprinter with a sire’s pedigree
● Group 1 placed in 3 countries
● Successful first crop sire including Washington Heights (earnings of over £75,000 and hd 2nd in valuable sales race to a Listed winner and 3rd in Listed Redcar 2yo Trophy).
● By Zoffany sire of 89 black type horses and 5 Group 1 winners from his European crops.
Fee: £3,000 Oct 1st SLF
Timeform rated 121: “well-made horse: smart performer”
£20,000
Timeform Rated 113 at 2 years
Fee: £2,000 Oct 1st SLF
The highest-rated female on 123 was Alpinista. They grey five-year-old put together a sequence of seven consecutive wins over two years, and went three-forthree in 2022 taking the Grand Prix de SaintCloud (G1), the Yorkshire Oaks (G1) and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1).
She’s by Frankel out of Alwilda, a daughter of Hernando, who like Frankel’s sire Galileo, is a Northern Dancer/Miswaki cross.
Alwilda was an extreme stayer gaining her black-type success in the Silbernes Band at Cologne, a race run at just over 2m3f. A half-sister to three other black-type winners, including All At Sea (by Galileo’s half-brother Sea The Stars), the dam of Eldar Eldarov, Alwilda is out of the Alzao mare Albanova, winner of three Group 1 events in Germany and a sister to Alborada, twice successful in the Champion Stakes (G1).
In tail-female the family goes back to that most famous of all grey distaffers, Mumtaz Mahal.
The top three-year-old on 126 was Equinox, which is the first time that a Japanese-bred horse has achieved the honour.
Two for two, including the Hai Nisai Stakes (G2) as a juvenile, Equinox started the season with seconds in the Satsuki Sho (G1) and Tokyo Yushun (G1), but went on to defeat his elders in the Autumn Tenno Sho (G1) and the Arima Kinen (G1).
Equinox is from the first crop of Kitasan Black, the 2016 and 2017 Japanese Horse of the Year.
Kitasan Black is a grandson of Sunday Silence, but not via one of that horse’s betterknown sons – he was by far and away the best runner by Black Tide, a much inferior brother to the mighty Deep Impact.
Equinox is out of the graded winning Chateau Blanche, who, in turn, is by Dancing Brave’s son King Halo. This gives a rather interesting pattern as Black Tide is a Halo/ Lyphard and King Halo is Lyphard/Halo.
On top of that the two Lyphard sources –Alzao and Dancing Brave – are out of mares by the similarly-bred Sir Ivor and Drone, and those two horses also have a very similar
background to Halo.
We should note in the wake of the passing of Deep Impact, who’s last crop are threeyear-olds of 2023, that we’re seeing some new names rise in the Japanese stallion ranks with the relatively established Lord Kanaloa and Kizuna joined by such as Duramente (King Kamehameha), Orfevre (Stay Gold), Rulership (King Kamehameha), Maurice (by Screen Hero, from the Silver Hawk branch of Roberto) and Epiphaneia (by Symboli Kris S., from the Kris S. branch of Roberto).
Epicenter and Vadeni joint on 125 Equinox was rated just above the North American runner Epicenter and the European Vadeni, who were tied on 125.
A Dirt runner, Epicenter won four graded stakes, including when impressive in the
Travers Stakes (G1), and took second in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1), and was very possibly the best horse in both.
He is from the second crop of Not This Time, a Giant’s Causeway half-brother to Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) winner and successful sire Liam’s Map, who has rapidly established himself as one of the best young stallions in North America.
Vadeni scored consecutive victories in the Prix de Guiche (G3), the Prix du Jockey-Club (G1) and the Eclipse Stakes (G1), then took third in the Irish Champion Stakes (G1), and second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1), where he was the first home from his age group.
He is from the first crop of Churchill, a son of Galileo who also has Blue Rose Cen, the leading French two-year-old of 2022, in his second crop.
Vadeni is out of Vaderna, by Monsun out of the Group 1 winner Vadawina, from an Aga Khan/Jean-Luc Lagardère family that has produced such horses as Vazira, Vadamos and Valixir.
On 123 come Desert Crown, Luxembourg and Taiba. Desert Crown is three from three career starts, the third of which was the Epsom Derby (G1). He was sidelined afterwards, but is due to race on again in 2023.
Desert Crown is a son of the Galileo horse Nathaniel – sire of the previous Classic winners Enable and Channel – out of a Green Desert mare from what had been a Juddmonte family that traces back to the “Jock” Whitney foundation mare Peace.
She is also ancestress of such horses as Proviso, Wandesta, Continent, Midships, Byword and Zambezi Sun.
The winner of last year’s Vertem Futurity (G1), Luxembourg kicked off with a third to the ill-fated Coroebus in the 2,000 Guineas (G1) and was then sidelined until August when he took a Group 3 at The Curragh followed by a victory over Onesto and Vadeni in the Irish Champion Stakes (G1).
He pulled a muscle in his back when only seventh in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
(G1), but should again be a contender of major middle-distance events in 2023.
Luxembourg is a son of the consistent Camelot, out of a Danehill Dancer sister to the Group winner Forgotten Voice from the Wildenstein family of Arcangues, Agathe, Aquarelliste, Artiste Royal and Cape Verdi among others.
Taiba was a strong contender for a yearend Eclipse Award for champion North American three-year-old, but that went Epicenter’s way.
Taiba won three Grade 1s – the Santa Anita Derby, the Pennsylvania Derby and the Malibu Stakes – to Epicenter’s one, and was third as the first three-year-old in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but was unplaced in the Kentucky Derby, which was only his third start.
Taiba is a member of the sensational first crop of former Horse of the Year, Gun Runner (by Candy Ride, from the Cryptoclearance branch of Fappiano), which now totals ten graded winners with six at
Grade 1 level, including the champion twoyear-old filly Echo Zulu, and Early Voting, who was successful in the Preakness Stakes (G1).
Taiba’s dam Needmore Flattery, by the A.P. Indy horse Flatter, won 17 races, nine black-type events, almost all in Ohio-bred company, and from a family that was imported from Argentina (as was Candy Ride).
The top three-year-old filly was Inspiral rated 120. Undefeated in four races as a juvenile, Inspiral won two out of four in 2022 taking the Coronation Stakes (G1) on her reappearance, and after a surprise defeat behind Prosperous Voyage (Zoffany) in the Falmouth Stakes (G1), she rebounded to beat the colts, including older horses in the Prix Jacques Le Marois (G1).
Inspiral is another by Frankel who enjoyed a standout year in 2022 – what Frankel achieved in the 12 months would make a career for a very solid stallion.
He was represented by 33 stakes winners,
24 Group, and no less than nine Group 1 winners (at that, however, he was still only runner-up on the leading sires’ list to Dubawi, who had a staggering 45 individual stakes winners, 28 Group winners, and seven Group 1 winners.
Inspiral is out of the 1,000 Guineas (G1) runner-up Starscope (Selkirk) from a Cheveley Park Stud family. The grand-dam is a half-sister to Medicean, and the female line goes back to a half-sister to Caro.
At the top in the sprint division was the Australian gelding Nature Strip on 126.
Now eight, he was a joint leader in this category on 124 in 2021, has also twice been Horse of the Year in Australia, has been a champion sprinter in Australia three times, and was the champion Turf horse and older male in 2019-2020.
He had a purple patch from April to September winning three straight Group
races, including the King’s Stand Stakes (G1) when he powered home by 4l.
He’s by Nicconi, a son of the Danzig horse Bianconi, and who was multiple Group 1-winning sprinter in Australia and a solid sire.
The top Dirt sprinter on 122 was Speaker’s Corner, who vainly pursued Flightline in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1), but prior to that he’d taken the Grade 1 Carter Handicap (G1).
By Street Sense, he’s out of a Bernardini daughter of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) heroine Round Pond.
The top three-year-old sprinter, also a Dirt horse, was Jack Christopher (121).
A son of Munnings (Speightstown) out of a half-sister to the reliable sire Street Boss, Jack Christopher was never beaten in five starts at distances up to a mile.
He won three times in 2022, including the Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) which he won by 10l and the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1).
The top European sprinter on 121 was the Haydock Sprint Cup (G1) winner Minzaal, a four-year-old from the first crop of Mehmas out of a Clodovil mare.
The versatile Alcohol Free, who is by No Nay Never and is out of a Hard Spun mare, was the leading three-year-old Mile filly last year, but was also the joint-top sprint female alongside Highfield Princess (a Night of Thunder half-sister to the speedy Group winner Cardsharp).
They are both rated 119, just one point over the leading Dirt Sprint female Goodnight Olive. She is by the veteran Ghostzapper and out of the multiple Group-winning Salty Strike (Smart Strike), successful in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1).
The Mile division is dominated by the previously mentioned Flightline and Baaeed, both rated 130 in this category.
Third on 125 is Life Is Good, who when not facing Flightline, won four graded stakes, three of them Grade 1.
A son of the all-conquering Into Mischief, he has retired to Winstar for 2023 at a fee of $100,000.
Just behind comes Hong Kong’s Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro), who was rated 124 in 2020 and 125 in 2021.
The top three-year-old miler is the previously mentioned Dirt horse Taiba (123) with top spot among the Turf three-yearold milers going to Japan’s Serifos (122), who came good at the end of the year in the Hanshin Mile Championship (G1).
He’s by the Sunday Silence horse Daiwa Major and is out of the Listed-winning and Group-placed Le Havre mare Sea Front.
Top older female miler equal on 120 with three-year-old Inspiral is Dreamloper. This five-year-old daughter of Lope De Vega defeated males to win the Prix d’Ispahan (G1) and the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (G1), which she took by over 5l.
She is out of Livia’s Dream, a black-typewinning mare by emerging broodmare sire Teofilo. The second dam, the black-type scorer Brindisi, is out of a half-sister to the dam of Epsom Oaks (G1) winner Talent.
Top Dirt females on 118 are the ex-Mexican Letruska, who is by Super Saver out of a Successful Appeal mare and the champion North American older mare of 2021, and Malathaat (by Curlin out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia), last year’s champion three-year-old filly and Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) winner.
Best females in the intermediate category rated 118
Flightline and Baaeed also topped the Intermediate category above Epicenter, the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) runner-up Olympiad (Speightstown) and the Hong Kong-based Romantic Warrior (Irish-bred, by Acclamation).
One has to go all the way down to 118 to find the top females here who are Nest and Tuesday.
The top European sprinter on 121 was the Haydock Sprint Cup (G1) winner Minzaal, a four-yearold from the first crop of Mehmas out of a Clodovil mareJack Christopher by Munnings was 2022’s top three-year-old sprinter and WBRR rated 121
Nest, a Dirt performer had a busy season making eight starts, all in stakes company, of which she won five, including the Ashland Stakes (G1), the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), the Alabama Stakes (G1) and the Beldame Stakes (G1). She also took second in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and the Belmont Stakes (G1), despite a stumbling start.
Nest is by the two-time Horse of the Year, Curlin, who after a somewhat sticky start to his stud career, is the leading source of Classic stamina on Dirt in the US.
Last year, he was represented by six Grade 1 winners, three at the Breeders’ Cup, and more than any other North American sire.
Nest is a sister to the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner Idol, out of the stakeswinning A.P. Indy mare Marion Ravenwood.
The second dam Andujar was a Grade 2-winning daughter of Quiet American, and closely related to the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Real Quiet. This is also the family of such horses as Majestic Prince, Crowned Prince, Secreto, Caracolero, Graustark and His Majestic.
Tuesday has won just three of her 12 starts, but two of those were the Epsom Oaks (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1).
She also finished second in the Irish 1,000 Guineas (G1) and the Yorkshire Oaks (G1), and third in the 1,000 Guineas (G1).
She is by the late Galileo, out of Lillie Langtry, a Danehill Dancer mare who
included the Coronation Stakes (G1) and Matron Stakes (G1) among her successes, which makes Tuesday a sister to Minding.
She was a champion at two, three and four, and successful in eight Group events, seven Group 1 races, including the 1,000 Guineas and the Epsom Oaks
Tuesday is also a sister to the Irish 1,000 Guineas scorer Empress Josephine, and the Group winner Kissed By Angels.
The Long category is headed by three-year-
olds Equinox and Vadeni, but the top older horse in the division is Pyledriver.
He finished fourth in the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) beaten just a length. When back in England he took second, albeit wellbeaten, behind Hukum in the Coronation Cup (G1), and then produced an upset the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1).
Despite his excellence over 1m4f, Pyledriver is by the sprinter Harbour Watch (Acclamation), and is by far that horse’s most notable runner.
The stamina comes from Pyledriver’s dam La Pyle, a Le Havre half-sister to the Grand Prix de Paris (G1) winner Mont Ormel. Alpinista and Tuesday were the top older mare and three-year-old filly here.
In the Extended category, Kyprios led the way, his 124 being only a point lower than the highest achieved by Stradivarius, who as an eight-year-old, is joint fourth on 118, marking his sixth consecutive year among the elite.
Kyprios, who has won eight of his ten life time starts, and went six for six in 2022, including wins in the Ascot Gold Cup (G1), the Goodwood Cup (G1), in which he only just held off Stradivarius, Irish St. Leger (G1), and the Prix du Cadran (G1), where he romped by 20l.
By Galileo and out of the Danehill mare Polished Gem, Kyprios is one of 60 individual stakes winners, 18 at Group 1 level, bred on that crossPyledriver: last ran in July when he relegated Torquator Tasso and Mishriff to placed positions in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) By
Galileo and out of the Danehill mare Polished Gem, Kyprios is one of an astonishing 60 individual stakes winners, 18 at Group 1 level, bred on that cross.
Kyprios is a sister to Search For A Song, the leading female in the Extended category in 2019, and two other stakes winners, and he is half-brother to the Group 1 winner Free Eagle (Europe Highweight in the Intermediate Category), to the Group winner Custom Cut, a champion older miler in Ireland, to the Group winner Sapphire (highweighted older mare in Ireland in the Long category), and to Valac, a Group winner in Australia.
To give a flavour of the best of some other jurisdictions outside of North American, the principal European regions, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia, the top New Zealand-bred is the Australian-raced I’m Thunderstruck (by Street Cry’s son, Shocking out of a mare by Edenwold, a son of Southern Halo) on 120.
The German Group 1 winner Tunnes (by Guiliani, by Urban’s Sea’s three-quarters brother Terullian, and inbred 3x3 to Tertullian’s dam, Turbaine, a half-sister to Urban Sea) is also on 120, while rated 119 comes the top South African horse Jet Dark.
He is by Trippi, an ex-Northern American grandson of the Mr. Prospector horse Forty Niner, out of a mare by long-time South African stalwart Jet Master, and from the Wildenstein Peinture Bleue/Petroleuse family.
On 118 we find the top Argentine-bred, Malibu Spring (by Greenspring, a son of the Blushing Groom line horse, Orientate, out of a mare by Editor’s Note, a son of Forty Niner).
One point lower is the Chilean runner O’Connor, who is by the Wertheimer-bred Kingmambo stallion Boboman and out of a Touch Gold mare.
The US-raced Royal Ship, by the US sire Midshipman out of a mare by Val Royal, was the top horse bred in his country with a rating of 116, while the top horse from Brazil on 115 was Jorel, who is by Chronnos, a Brazilian-bred son of Elusive Quality, out of a mare by Tapit.
three-time winning 2YO in 2022, THE BLUE PANTHER, SNAPIUS, ROUND SIX, DEVASTE, AUTUMN TWILIGHT, etc.
Vadeni: leading European three-year-old colt
AT THE NEWBURY BETFAIR meeting trainer Philip Hobbs achieved the significant milestone of training his 3000th winner when Zanza (Arcadio) took the Betfair Denman Chase (G1).
The Somerset-based Hobbs quickly shrugged off any suggestions regarding retirement from TV pundit Matt Chapman and revealed that Johnson White, who has been his assistant for the last 30 years, is to become a joint license holder at the Sandhill yard where Hobbs has trained since 1985.
Hobbs has topped the £1 million in prize money earnings per season 17 times and has trained the winners of 30 Grade 1 races.
On leaving school Hobbs went to Reading University where he achieved a BSc honours degree.
He rode several point-to-point and NH winners as an amateur before turning his back on a “proper” career and becoming a professional jockey at the age of 21. He rode 160 winners in a ten-year career.
EUROPEAN CHAMPION 3YO from his first crop
CHAMPION 2YO IN FRANCE from his second crop
EUROPEAN CHAMPION 2YO & DUAL CLASSIC-WINNING MILER BY GALILEO
2022 Leading Second Crop Sires in Europe
8 sons of GALILEO sired Gr.1 winners in Europe and North America in 2022 (compared with 2 sons of Dubawi) including:
FRANKEL Champion Sire
AUSTRALIA 13 Group/Stakes winners in 2022 plus two 100 plus-rated 2YOs with Aidan & Donnacha O’Brien
GLENEAGLES 9 Group/Stakes winners in 2022, three of them 2YOs including exciting Guineas prospect
ROYAL SCOTSMAN
