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Breaking: Beyond Headlines!

Rocking all over the world
aecifo

Rocking all over the world

Some of us may be trying to look away, but with the Breeders’ Cup behind us and the November Handicap just days away, we’re going to have to admit that it is indeed jumping season.

Flat excitement is still in store on the international calendar with the potential appearance of Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Goliath (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) and Fantastic Moon (Ger) ( Sea The Moon {Ger}) in the Japan Cup at the end of this month, but if National Hunt isn’t your thing, it’s surely never too early to start looking ahead to the next Flat season.

One of the most interesting things in this regard will be to see how successful this first crop of Irish-designed plants turned out. Wooton Bassett (GB) at the age of three. There’s no denying that they looked quite spectacular as juveniles. There’s that old adage that behind every great man is an even greater woman (or something like that) and the quality of Wooton BassettThe mares, already on the rise thanks to the successes of her first years at Haras d’Etreham, took another step forward upon her arrival at Coolmore. His Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner, Henri Matisse (Ire) – who followed another of his sons, Unquestionable (Fr), in winning that race – is out of the brilliant racemare Immortal Verse (Ire) (Pivotal {GB} ), who is also proving to be a gem of a broodmare producing the Group 1 and Group 2 winners Tenebrism and Statuette to Caravaggio and Justify.


Henri Matisse, already winner of the G2 Futurity Stakes, follows a rush of Group/Grade 1 winners to Wooton Bassett for about a month, starting with Camille Pissaro (Ire) in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère and followed by Tennessee Stud (Ire) and Twain (Ire) on the same day at Saint-Cloud the penultimate weekend.

Wooton Bassett now has a record 10 juvenile Group winners from its 2022 generation of 213 foals. Hopefully there are a Classic winner or two among them.

It should be noted by mentioning Wooton Bassett that he came from the same small Hertfordshire breeders as last weekend’s G1 Cox Plate winner, Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}, who is currently the highest rated horse in the world. Congratulations to Colin and Melba Bryce of Laundry Cottage Stud for producing two such outstanding thoroughbreds.

Passionate about Keane

The influence of British and Irish horses around the world undoubtedly remains strong, as this weekend’s results and the action at the Tattersalls Horses in Training Sale last week underline. Five winners in the Breeders’ Cup meeting between Ger Lyons, Ralph Beckett, Charlie Appleby and Aidan O’Brien attest to this.

It was also pleasing to see a major international victory beyond Europe for 24-year-old jockey Rossa Ryan, and another Breeders’ Cup success, from just five races at the meeting, for Colin Keane. For the sixth time, Keane is now the champion jockey of Ireland.

Ger Lyons, for whom he rode Magnum Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint to get the meeting off to a good start from a European perspective, lamented the lack of recognition of Keane at international level. This will surely be about to change.

On Saturday, my friend and colleague from Argentina Jose Nelson came into the press box at Del Mar and said, “Emma, ​​I have to tell you, I have watched this race over and over and I LOVE COLIN KEANE!

There you go, Ger. The word is out.

The Ralph and Rossa show

Ralph Beckett and Rossa Ryan have barely left the winner’s enclosure this year and they can surely look forward to more big days next spring with a formidable two-year-old team on the rise this year. From two to three, Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Starlust (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) has emerged as a top performer and represents the second Group/Grade 1 winner for Steve Parkin’s stud this season after Fallen. Angel (GB) (Too damn hot {GB}).

Too Darn Hot also helped Beckett, who won Stakes on both sides of the Atlantic on Saturday, including Listed Montrose Fillies’ Stakes scorer Smoken (GB), who remained unbeaten in her second start for Andrew Rosen, Marc Chan and Sonia. Rogers.

After a season which notably saw the winner of the Irish Oaks You Got To Me (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), the heroine of the Arc Bluestocking (GB) (Camelot {GB}) and seven stakes winners in October alone, Beckett was asked after Starlust’s victory how he would maintain his stable’s form next year.

“With difficulty,” he replied with a smile.

With some talented youngsters in the stable, and no doubt some decent yearlings on the way, including Book 1 leader Amo Racing. Wooton Bassett foal, he may just be modest.

Golden day for Haggas

And let’s not forget the success of Lake Forest (Ire) (No, no, never) at the Golden Eagle in Rosehill on Saturday for the William Haggas team, which enjoyed notable success with the finalists.

For those of us who enjoy the excellent Derby Day card at Flemington on the Saturday before the Melbourne Cup, the introduction of the upstart Golden Eagle, with its $10 million purse, was a bit like Racing NSW parking its tanks on the pitch of Racing Victoria.

However, in six years it has quickly caught on and last year it was won by the Keiji Yoshimura-trained Obamburumai (Jpn) for Japan. This time, Lake Forest and Lazzat (Fr) (Territoires {Ire}) occupy the first two places for England and France, not without some controversy. Jockeys Cieren Fallon and Antonio Orani were each given a one-month ban and heavy fines for interference.

Goodbye then…

The Breeders’ Cup marked the end of the journey for many top horses that we have been fortunate to be able to follow over the past few seasons.

City Of Troy is set to become the first son of Justify in Europe and at least one major breeder riding at Del Mar this weekend already has mares lined up for him. “I’m just waiting to see how much it’s going to cost,” he said. Aren’t we all?

Bradsell (GB) and Big Evs (Ire), each having won horror draws in the Turf Sprint, are bound for National Stud and Tally-Ho Stud respectively, having earned their places through remarkable earlier efforts.

We also saw the latest from Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea the stars {Ire}), who came close to winning the Oaks and was victorious in the British Champion Fillies and Mares Stakes and Coronation Cup. This season has undoubtedly been frustrating for her relationships, including her swansong in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, in which she seemed full of racing on the rail and with nowhere to go.

Ramatuelle (Justify) should be one of the highlights of the Night of the Stars sale at Fasig-Tipton on Monday. In theory, she could still race, despite her vet’s scrapes at the Breeders’ Cup. And that has indeed been a feature of the last week, this added tension and stress for owners and trainers brought about by the increased veterinary inspections at both the Breeders’ Cup and major meetings in Australia.

It is perfectly understandable that increased monitoring would be seen as a requirement, but there will nonetheless be unfortunate stories of excluded horses who could have or will win more races and still remain sound.

The current situation will surely mean that some smaller operators who fall on a big horse will be less inclined to take the risk of traveling to some of these international meetings, for fear of being excluded after expensive trips. The welfare of the horses must always come before financial considerations – that much is a given – but this will almost certainly lead to a situation where only those with the deepest pockets will be able to perform on the international stage.