Chris Hill of Weatherbys with the latest bloodstock news

Chris Hill of Weatherbys brings us a round-up of the latest news from the world of bloodstock.

With an emphatic three-and-a-half length victory in the Investec Derby, Anthony Oppenheimer’s three-year-old homebred colt Golden Horn (Cape Cross) proved he possessed the requisite stamina as well as class to maintain his unbeaten record and lead home a one-two for trainer John Gosden, for whom this was a second Derby victory, as it was for jockey Frankie Dettori.

Now unbeaten in four having landed the Group Two Dante Stakes on his previous start ahead of stablemate Jack Hobbs (Halling) who was his nearest pursuer again, Golden Horn was offered at the 2013 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale but ended up being bought back by Oppenheimer’s Hascombe and Valiant Studs for 190,000 guineas. Out of Fleche d’Or (Dubai Destination), an unraced half-sister to the 1997 Group One Coronation Stakes winner Rebecca Sharp (Machiavellian), the 1996 Group Three Lingfield Derby Trial winner Mystic Knight (Caerleon) and the 2004 Listed Cheshire Oaks winner Hidden Hope (Daylami), he is a half-brother to the 2014 Listed Lord Weinstock Memorial Ballymacoll Stud Stakes winner Eastern Belle (Champs Elysees) who was also in action last Saturday when runner-up in the Grade Two New York Stakes at Belmont Park.

For Cape Cross, the winner of the 1998 Group One Lockinge Stakes who stands for Darley at Kildangan Stud in Ireland, Golden Horn’s victory was a third Epsom Classic following the triumph of Ouija Board in the 2004 Oaks and Sea The Stars in the 2009 Derby and Golden Horn becomes individual Grade/Group One winner number eleven for the twenty-one-year-old stallion.

In the Oaks, the 50-1 outsider Qualify (Fastnet Rock), bred by trainer Aidan O’Brien and his wife Annemarie, stunned favourite backers when jockey Colm O’Donoghue managed to get the three-year-old filly up on the line to deny the 1,000 Guineas winner Legatissimo (Danehill Dancer) a second Classic victory.

Owned by Mrs Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez, Qualify is one of three winners produced by the twelve-and-a-half furlong winner and 2008 Group Two Park Hill Stakes runner-up Perihelion (Galileo), from the Juddmonte family of Classic winners Brian Boru and Workforce. Qualify’s victory was a first at the highest level in the Northern Hemisphere for Coolmore’s Australian Champion Sire Fastnet Rock, a two-time Group One winner in 2005 whose top class offspring include Atlantic Jewel and Mosheen, and less than twenty four hours later Magicool (Fastnet Rock), who is bred along the same lines as Qualify being by Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo mare, became his sire’s twentieth individual Grade/Group One winner when victorious in the Queensland Derby.

For Cape Cross, the winner of the 1998 Group One Lockinge Stakes who stands for Darley at Kildangan Stud in Ireland, Golden Horn’s victory was a third Epsom Classic following the triumph of Ouija Board in the 2004 Oaks and Sea The Stars in the 2009 Derby.

Ahead of the Derby on Saturday, the Richard Hannon-trained Pether’s Moon (Dylan Thomas) caused a shock when securing his first victory at the highest level by overhauling the odds-on French raider Dolniya (Azamour) in the Group One Coronation Cup under Pat Dobbs for owner John Manley to become his sire’s sixth individual Grade/Group One winner.

A €52,000 purchase by Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock at the 2011 Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, the five-year-old colt is a full brother to the three-time winner Mona Brown (Dylan Thomas) out of the triple winner and 2001 Group Three Gladness Stakes and 2000 Listed Tyros Stakes victor Softly Tread (Tirol).

Just over twenty four hours after the victory of Pether’s Moon, his sire Dylan Thomas, Coolmore’s six-time Group One winner and 2007 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero was responsible for his seventh individual Grade/Group One win when last year’s Gran Premio del Jockey Club e Coppa d’Oro and Group Two Italian Derby winner Dylan Mouth (Dylan Thomas) doubled his tally at the top level when successful in the Gran Premio di Milano in Italy.

The weekend prior to the Investec Derby, the French equivalent at Chantilly saw Prince Khalid Abdullah’s three-year-old colt New Bay (Dubawi) go one place better than on his previous start when runner-up in the French 2,000 Guineas and secure a fourth Prix du Jockey Club for trainer Andre Fabre in the hands of Vincent Cheminaud, last season’s French Champion Jumps jockey.

Littleprincessemma was bought by Summer Wind Farm for $2.1 million at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale whilst carrying a full brother to the future Triple Crown winner who since being foaled on February 13th has been named Irish Pharaoh.

A Juddmonte homebred foaled at Banstead Manor in Newmarket, New Bay is the second winner produced by Cinnamon Bay (Zamindar), who Fabre trained to three victories including in the 2007 Listed Prix d’Angerville and is a half-sister to the 2006 Group Two Prix Maurice de Nieuil winner Bellamy Cay (Kris). One of two winners produced by Cinnamon Bay, New Bay is himself a half-brother to the winning miler Margate (Mizzen Mast) with both hailing from the family of Bahamian that has produced multiple Grade/Group One winner Beat Hollow, Kingman, La Collina and Oasis Dream.

Late on Saturday evening UK time, Bob Baffert’s three-year-old colt American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) became the first horse in thirty-seven years to complete the famed U.S Triple Crown when a comfortable five-and-a-half length winner of the final leg, the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, New York, under Victor Espinoza.

Purchased by Ingordo Bloodstock for $300,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale, the Ahmed Zayat-owned American Pharoah is a half-brother to the two-time six furlong winner Xixixi (Maimonides) out of the unplaced mare Littleprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman), a half-sister to the Grade Two Lazaro Barrera Memorial Stakes winner Storm Wolf (Stormin Fever) and the Grade Three Old Hat Stakes winner Misty Rosette (Stormin Fever). Littleprincessemma was bought by Summer Wind Farm for $2.1 million at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale whilst carrying a full brother to the future Triple Crown winner who since being foaled on February 13th has been named Irish Pharaoh (Pioneerof The Nile).

Chris Hill

Chris is a Pedigree Researcher for Weatherbys Ltd, the company that provides the majority of pedigrees for thoroughbreds sold at public auction in Britain and Ireland and who offer a range of products and services to suit your Bloodstock needs.