THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING

Aisling Crowe reviews the big-race action at Doncaster and over Irish Champions Weekend, which saw yet more landmark success for Frankel

The passing of Galileo in July left a void in the global bloodstock industry, but in the manner of all monarchical dynasties, the king’s heir apparent is now awaiting coronation as Europe’s champion sire.

Frankel currently enjoys a significant monetary lead over his own sire in the race to be crowned 2021 champion sire, a victory by the son would bring an end to the 11-year reign of Galileo as Europe’s champion stallion.

However, in ending that streak he is extending another as he follows in the hoofprints of Galileo and his grandsire Sadler’s Wells, whose own record of champion sire crowns in Britain and Ireland is 14.

Doncaster’s St Leger Festival provided Juddmonte’s world champion with a number of significant milestones – Group winner number 50 in the northern-hemisphere, his first St Leger winner and his first stakes winner as a broodmare sire.

That half century of Group winners was brought up by Cheveley Park Stud’s unbeaten two-year-old filly Inspiral in the Group 2 May Hill Stakes.

Her imperious victory in the hands of Frankie Dettori for the Gosden father and son team consolidated her position as one of the leading contenders for next year’s fillies’ Classics. The Group 1 Fillies’ Mile is being touted as Inspiral’s end-of-season target when she could become Frankel’s 19th individual Group 1 winner.

Inspiral is one of two Group winners from just three runners by Frankel out of Selkirk mares with the other, Senator, also bred by Cheveley Park Stud.

Frankel has the same number of runners out of Shirocco mares, but Hurricane Lane, who added the St Leger to his Irish Derby and Grand Prix de Paris victories, is by far the best horse bred on the cross and the only black-type winner.

Frankel’s current worldwide rate of black-type winners to runners is an excellent 15.6 per cent and Hurricane Lane has contributed significantly to that, along with his stablemate, the Derby and King George hero, Adayar.

“It was actually quite emotional for me as the breeder,” said Normandie Stud’s Philippa Cooper to GBRI after the season’s final Classic. “I just love the St Leger, it’s just a wonderful race. I think he gave it a bit of pizzazz. I was very worried about him today,

"I think he’s so much better at a mile and half, but he relaxes so well in the race. It’s just incredible how well he relaxes. I think his class got him through.”

Cooper no longer owns Hurricane Lane’s dam, the Shirocco mare Gale Force – she was one of the mares sold when Cooper sold Normandie Stud in 2017 having dispersed previously some of her broodmare band.

Watership Down Stud bought Gale Force in-foal to Australia for 300,000gns at the 2019 Tattersalls December Mare Sale, and Chasemore Farm last year bought her Listedplaced Frankel daughter Frankel’s Storm on behalf of Chris Stedman for 160,000gns at Tattersalls last December.

Godolphin purchased Hurricane Lane as a yearling in the same ring, where he was consigned by John Troy, for 200,000gns and Cooper expressed her pleasure at his success for Sheikh Mohammed’s operation.

Noble Truth (William Buick) wins the Listed Flying Scotsman Stakes

“It’s wonderful when you can sell horses to Godolphin and they do so well for them, because nobody wants to sell horses and for them to do badly for other people,” she said. “To breed Classic winners is what we all aspire to, and doing it for others is something special, isn’t it?”

Frankel’s other significant achievement on Town Moor also came in the royal blue of Godolphin whose two-year-old Kingman colt Noble Truth became Frankel’s first stakes winner as a broodmare sire with victory in the Listed Flying Scotsman’s Stakes.

Bred by Jean-Pierre Dubois, the colt was consigned by Haras des Capucines at the 2020 Arqana Select Sale, where he was the third-most expensive yearling, bought by Godolphin for €1.1m.

Noble Truth is out of the unraced Speralita and related to Frankel’s first Group 1 winner, the Japanese Oaks and Hanshin Juvenile Stakes winner Soul Stirring, who is out of Group 1 winner Stacelita, a Monsun halfsister to Noble Truth’s dam.

Noble Truth is one of three stakes performers out of Frankel’s daughters this

year; the others being the Group 3 Silver Flash Stakes runner-up Juncture, who is by Dark Angel, and the Australian Listed Wizard Of Oz by Exceed And Excel.

First Group 1 winner for Shalaa

Shalaa’s stud career has been lived so far in the shadow of Mehmas, the colt who succeeded him carrying the Al Shaqab silver silks to victory in the Group 2 July and Richmond Stakes. Their racing careers diverged after with Mehmas retiring to Tally-Ho Stud, in partnership with Al Shaqab, at the end of his juvenile career and Shalaa racing on at three, with injury preventing him from running until the end of the season.

Shalaa, who was bred by Mogeely Stud, was superior to Mehmas on the track, and was Europe’s champion two-year-old of 2015 after an unbeaten juvenile season that included Group 1 victories in the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes.

He retired to Al Shaqab’s French farm, Haras de Boquetot, and like Mehmas, his first crop are three-year-olds of 2021.

Unlike Mehmas, who has made such a blistering start to his stud career, Shalaa has been more of a slow-burner but he ignited on Irish Champions Weekend with the thrilling triumph of No Speak Alexander in the Group 1 Matron Stakes, a first win for the sire at the highest level.

Third in the Irish 1,000 Guineas earlier in the season, No Speak Alexander won the Group 3 Athasi Stakes in May for trainer Jessica Harrington to become Shalaa’s first northern-hemisphere Group winner.

Bred by Noel O’Callaghan’s Mountarmstrong Stud, No Speak Alexander is also the first Group 1 winner as a broodmare sire for Dandy Man.

She is the first foal out of Rapacity Alexander, who won Chantilly’s Listed Prix le Fleche for O’Callaghan and trainer David Evans and is a full-sister to the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint winner Peniaphobia.

“Everything was right for her today,” said Harrington. “She got no run in France [the Group 1 Prix Rothschild] where she got knocked over a furlong down, and we trained her for this day.

“We rode her today the same way we did in the Guineas, up at the sharp end, and she has probably got a bit stronger. It’s absolutely massive to win this race, she likes a bit of nice ground and today was the plan for her. We’ll see about where she goes next.”

Shalaa off the Group 1 winning mark with his daughter No Speak Alexander

Shalaa is the sire of three stakes winners worldwide from his first crop with two of them in Europe and one in his first Australian crop.

His other European black-type winner is King Shalaa, who was successful in the Listed Prix de la Californie at Cagnes-Sur- Mer for his breeder and trainer François Rohaut and owner Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani.

The son of Invincible Spirit shuttles to Arrowfield Stud for the southern-hemisphere season where he is the sire of Group 3 Randwick Breeders’ Plate and Group 3 Pago Pago Stakes winner Shaquero.

Discoveries makes it three for superstar mare Alpha Lupi

Shalaa’s first Group 1 winner was also the first of two Irish Champions Weekend Group 1 winners for Harrington – on Sunday at The Curragh she trained Discoveries (Mastercraftsman) to win the Moyglare Stud Stakes.

The filly further burnished the reputation of her dam Alpha Lupi for whom she is the third Group 1 winner from six runners.

Owned and bred by the Niarchos family, Discoveries is a full-sister to Alpha Centauri, who was Europe’s champion three-yearold miler in 2018, and a half-sister to the recently retired Alpine Star, who won the Group 1 Coronation Stakes last season.

All three fillies have been trained by Harrington as was their Dansili half-brother Tenth Star, who is also a black-type winner with victory in the Listed Golden Fleece Stakes at Leopardstown as a two-year-old.

Discoveries: Alpha Lupi's third Group 1 winner

A thrilled Harrington outlined the similarities and differences between the three fillies after Discoveries’ triumph.

“To win two Group 1 races this weekend is something else, it really is,” said the delighted trainer. “She is a lovely, lovely filly, who is completely different to her full-sister who was a big grey filly, and when she arrived in to the yard she was quite different and not as big.

“She has grown a lot and is a filly with a lovely temperament, she is not as feisty as Alpha, and then Alpine Star, her half-sister looked completely different again.

“She is long and low and not very big, and not a great colour and this one is just a beautiful filly. How can I be so lucky to have three fillies out of the one mare that have all won Group 1s?”

Harrington also expanded on the siblings’ ground preferences, saying: “We hoped she would win the Alpha Centauri Debutante Stakes, but the ground came up soft that day and whereas Alpine Star wanted soft ground, Discoveries and Alpha Centauri go on top of the ground.”

Alpha Lupi by Rahy has a yearling full-brother to Alpha Centauri and Discoveries, and a colt foal from the first crop of Coolmore’s 2,000 Guineas (G1) and Vertem Trophy (G1) winner Magna Grecia.

This year the 17-year-old daughter of the dual French Classic winner East Of The Moon visited Sea The Stars, who sired his 16th individual Group 1 winner around the same time that Discoveries was becoming her dam’s third.

Alpha Centauri’s first foal is a 2020 colt by Galileo and in March she produced a full-sister, who has been named Earth.

This spring, Alpha Centauri was covered by the Niarchos family’s homebred Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, Prix Morny and St James’s Palace Stakes winner Circus Maximus, a son of Galileo who retired to Coolmore this year.

Discoveries was the 17th individual Group 1 winner for Mastercraftsman, who in August died at the age of 15 at Coolmore’s Castlehyde Stud.

The winner of four Group 1 races including the National Stakes, he was possibly under-appreciated by some as a stallion but is the sire of 82 stakes winners at a rate of 6.5 per cent stakes winners-to-runners.

His son The Grey Gatsby, whose Group 1 victories included the Irish Champion Stakes, sired a Listed winner from his first crop on the same afternoon as Discoveries’ success – his daughter Mylady winning the Listed Junior Preissen at Dusseldorf for owner-breeder Gestüet Karlshof and trainer Markus Klug.

She is the first stakes winner for her sire, who stands at Haras du Petit Tellier.

A weekend for Oasis Dream and sons

The exploits of Juddmonte’s new kids in town, Frankel and Kingman, tend to overshadow those of Oasis Dream but the elder statesman of Banstead Manor is not regarded as one of the best stallions in Europe for nothing and his influence was keenly felt at The Curragh on the second day of Irish Champions’ Weekend.

His unbeaten son Native Trail, somewhat like his sire, was overlooked by many ahead of the Group 1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes with much of the focus in the buildup on the unbeaten Point Lonsdale and the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner Ebro River.

After the race all anybody could speak of was Native Trail, who swept past the son of Galileo Gold and Coolmore’s hitherto unbeaten Group 2, Group 3 and Listedwinning son of Australia with a thrilling turn of foot, going clear by three and a half lengths.

He and jockey William Buick were emulating Pinatubo and Quorto, who both turned in scintillating performances for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby on their way to victory in the Curragh juvenile Group 1.

“He is an interesting horse to be around, like a lot of the good ones when you get to know their characteristics!,” revealed a delighted Charlie Appleby.

“I took him to Newmarket a couple of weeks ago and if you asked me then would we be winning the National Stakes I would have been on the fence but the team at home deserve full credit – Noel Kavanagh, who rides him, and Maria and Alex. who are all heavily involved. We definitely felt that the horse would come forward for that gallop and we changed a bit of the equipment on him there.

“William said he’s still really green and that going down to the start he still felt like a maiden. You saw him give the horse a bit of a shove to get him up on the revs early doors, but two down I knew that one thing this horse would do is gallop out strong. I’d say we will go straight to the Dewhurst; it’s the natural route to go with him.”

Unlike those previous winners Quorto and Pinatubo who were homebreds, Native Trail is a product of Juddmonte Farms breeding through and through and will ensure that demand for the outfit’s drafts at the breeding stock sales, where they are always highly sought after, will remain insatiable.

His dam Needleleaf was sold as an unraced two-year-old at the 2015 Tattersalls December Mares Sale where she was bought for 60,000gns by Marc Antoine Bergracht on behalf of Haras d’Haspel, breeder of Native Trail.

Native Trail: the son of Oasis Dream winning the Group 1 National Stakes, reported by the Racing Post to be the “best two-year-old race of the year” so far

He is the first foal out of the mare, an Observatory full-sister to the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner and Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest runner-up African Rose, who is the dam of Frankel’s Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes winner Fair Eva. Needleleaf is also a full-sister to the Group 3 Prix d’Aumale winner and Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac second Helleborine, and she is the dam of Calyx, the Group 2 Coventry Stakes winner by Kingman.

His second dam New Orchid was second in the Listed Aphrodite Stakes and is a Quest For Fame half-sister to Distant Music, winner of the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy. It’s also the family of Group/Grade 1 winners Vanlandingham, Termagent and Funny Moon.

This year’s Arqana August Yearling Sale should have given some inkling as to the impression Native Trail had created at Godolphin –the team bought Needleleaf’s yearling filly by Oasis Dream’s “nephew” Kingman for €950,000.

The Group 1 Irish St Leger, which immediately followed the National Stakes, could not be a more different type of race to a juvenile Group 1, but Oasis Dream’s DNA was woven tightly into the result of that race, too, with both the winner and runner-up grandsons of the July Cup, Nunthorpe and Middle Park Stakes winner.

Johnny Murtagh celebrated his first Classic winner as a trainer, and young jockey Ben Coen was also winning his first Classic, when the Ebor winner Sonnyboyliston upset the field of bluebloods for owners Kildare Racing Club.

He finished three-parts of a length ahead of Joseph O’Brien’s 2020 Melbourne Cup winner Twilight Payment, whose broodmare sire is Oasis Dream.

Bred by Diane O’Neill the four-year-old gelding Sonnyboyliston is extraordinarily the third Group 1 winner this season for Power, an Irish 2,000 Guineas-winning son of Oasis Dream who was also his sire’s first winner of the Group 1 National Stakes.

He is a half-brother to the Group 1 winner Curvy and related to Group 1 winners and sires Footstepsinthesand and Pedro The Great.

Power was bred by Norelands Stud and Hugo Lascelles and raced in the silks of Michael Tabor before retiring to Coolmore Stud where he stood for five seasons until 2017.

He was sold to Cambridge Stud in New Zealand where he was champion first and second season sire before transferring to Oaklands Stud in Queensland. He stands this season for A$13,200.

Sonnyboyliston won the Listed Martin Molony Stakes at Limerick back in June and was third to Broome in the Listed Devoy Stakes and filled the same position behind Japan in Chester’s Group 3 Ormond Stakes.

Last season he beat Thundering Nights, who went on to win the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes this year and finish third to La Petite Coco and Love in the Group 2 Blandford Stakes, in a Curragh three-yearold handicap.

He was also fourth in the Group 3 International Stakes to Helvic Dream, who became Power’s first Group 1 winner with victory for Noel Meade in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh back in May.

The Group 1 Prix Jean Prat winner Laws Of Indices was Power’s second Group 1 winner and the three-year-old is from the stallion’s final Coolmore crop.

Sonnyboyliston is out of Miss MacNamara by Dylan Thomas, a five-time winner on the Flat and twice successful over hurdles.

She was bred by Airlie Stud and is a half-sister to Argentine Group 3 winner Karamala out of a Kingmambo half-sister to Bachelor Duke, winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas.

Intriguingly, Dylan Thomas had a good afternoon at The Curragh as a broodmare sire with the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes second Agartha (Caravaggio), also out of a daughter of the Arc and dual Irish Champion Stakes winner.

Dylan Thomas, at stud in Chile, is now the broodmare sire of two Group 1 winners in Europe, both of them by stallions who are closely related to each other as he is also the dam-sire of Kingman’s triple Group 1-winning son and young sire, Persian King.