Images courtesy of Coolmore Australia
June is often an exciting month to be in Newmarket. In any ordinary year, the early Classic questions have been answered, precocious juveniles have hit the ground running and it’s all systems go ahead of Royal Ascot.
The Warren Hill gallops become a melting pot of mutterings ahead of the five-day racing extravaganza and in June 2018, a young horse named Calyx was talk of the town.
Progeny of Kingman were hotly anticipated. The Champion son of Invincible Spirit (Ire) had already delivered in the sales ring with the top price among his first crop of yearlings a cool 1.7 million gns (AU$3,391,500), but would they live up to expectations on the racecourse?
Enter Calyx. Making his debut in early June on Newmarket’s July course and exuding much of the same brilliance as his sire, the Juddmonte homebred scooted to victory by an easy 5l. An early signal that the hype surrounding Kingman was fully justified and a catalyst for his stream of classy winners to come.
Achieving a rare Timeform rating in excess of 100 for a juvenile maiden winner, Calyx was firmly penned into many a punter’s notepad; very few having missed him as he lined up the short-priced favourite in a 23-runner G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot just 10 days later.
The Coventry S. is run over six furlongs on the opening day of Royal Ascot; a stallion-making contest that is widely regarded as the UK’s answer to the G1 Golden Slipper. The unusual events of 2020 mean that a quick back-up shall be the norm for 2-year-olds hoping to get a run at this year’s Royal meeting – with racing kicking off in Britain only two weeks prior. In any ordinary year, however, a 10-day turnaround from debut to a date at Royal Ascot would be considered very impressive indeed.
Of course, in any ordinary year, there would also be crowds. Fit to burst with all the excitement of a young child before Christmas and quite a spectacle for a raw 2-year-old seeing a racecourse for only the second time in his career.
Calyx (GB) | Image courtesy of Coolmore
Large fields at Ascot often tend to split and, as with any barrier draw, it can be down to luck on which side of the track the race develops best. Drawn on the stand-side, Calyx made his own race in 2018. Under the guidance of Frankie Dettori, he began to draw clear at the three furlong (600 metres) pole and, with only the crowds for company, he put a good 10l between himself and the rest of his pack by the time he crossed the line the winner, still a healthy length clear of the runners on the other side of the track.
Performance of the week
For many, it was the performance of the week and Calyx was touted as the second coming of his sire Kingman in displaying the same explosive turn of foot. Confirming what plenty had witnessed, trainer John Gosden said after the race;
“Calyx is very talented. His father was exceptionally talented, and he has all of these attributes. I think for a horse second time up to be left on his own with a huge crowd screaming is a big ordeal. It could easily have seen him getting distracted and if he had horses to race with him, I think that would have been better. It was a big achievement and he is worth more than the winning margin of 1l to say the least.”
“I think for a horse second time up to be left on his own with a huge crowd screaming is a big ordeal." - John Gosden
Clearly buoyed by the exciting 2-year-old on his hands, Gosden continued;
"We've won this race before but he does make you get up in the morning. He’s a lovely horse to be around and, like his jockey, can be a bit full of himself.”
Frankie Dettori
The jockey, one Frankie Dettori, seemed equally impressed after the race when he said;
“He’s pretty special. He’s still a bit green, a bit quirky, but he has a real natural talent. My two lead horses kind of ran out of petrol and Calyx was going so easily that I had to make my own way home because it is very hard to judge how close the other side were. To be able to put the race to bed between the three and the one [furlong pole] is pretty spectacular. To do that second time out in the Coventry, you've got to be very special indeed. He's a horse with a great cruising speed and a good kick.”
"To do that second time out in the Coventry, you've got to be very special indeed. He's a horse with a great cruising speed and a good kick.” - Frankie Dettori
When prompted to answer where Calyx would stand in the great pantheon of juveniles he has ridden, Dettori continued;
“Lady Aurelia over five furlongs (1000 metres) was sensational, but over six furlongs (1200 metres) [Calyx] is right up there.”
Calyx certainly left the crowd wanting more on the opening day of Royal Ascot in 2018, but it was an expression he took rather too literally when a training setback later in the summer ruled him out for the rest of the season.
His return
His return, the following May, in the G3 Pavilion S. at Ascot over six furlongs (1200 metres) was more than worth the wait, showing all the same class we had seen before and picking apart his rivals by an effortless 4l. In fact, Calyx was so rapid that day that Dettori’s pink cap flew right off; a metaphorical confirmation of the speed machine beneath him.
“He was amazing,” said Dettori afterwards. “He’s blessed with so much speed, I think sprinting is his thing. He’s a serious horse and there’s a lot to look forward to.”
There was unlikely to be a better man to train Calyx than John Gosden who trained not only his sire Kingman, but also his damsire Observatory (USA). He is so familiar with the family he could be forgiven for believing that Calyx wasn’t bred to be a sprinter – with both paternal sides of his pedigree winning their Group 1s over a mile or, in Observatory’s case, further.
Calyx’s emphatic victory in the G3 Pavilion S. was obviously a game-changer though and afterwards Gosden confirmed;
“I have been training him diligently to be a miler, but when he goes out there he wants to be a sprinter which is great. I haven’t encouraged him to do that, that’s just him. It’s what he wants to do so we’ll put him in the G1 Commonwealth Cup.”
Calyx (GB)
While his electric turn of foot was surely inherited from his sire, a deeper dive into Calyx’s pedigree throws up a hint as to where his sprinting tendencies might have stemmed from. His dam Helleborine (GB) (Observatory {USA}), like Kingman, also performed best over a mile and won a Group race at two, but her full sister is top-rated sprinter African Rose (GB) (Observatory {USA}) who won the G1 Doncaster Sprint Cup over six furlongs (1200 metres) as a 3-year-old.
Calyx’s speed was surely going to light up the Group 1 sprint program over the summer ahead, but it was a career cut agonisingly short after he pulled up with a pastern injury after his Royal Ascot prep race in the G2 Sandy Lane S. at Sandown. It was a terrible blow to the horse who had so much more to offer; the form from his Coventry run now firmly franked by the runner-up Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), a treble Group 1 winner over six furlongs (1200 metres) suggesting that the best was very much still to come.
The silver lining
Gosden put it best when he said;
“Calyx has always had that rare brilliance you see only in champions. His performances at Ascot at both two and three were of the highest standard.”
Calyx (GB) | Standing at Coolmore Australia
With every cloud comes a silver lining though and on retirement from racing Calyx was able to add to his tally of firsts by becoming the first son of Kingman to stand at stud. Purchased by Coolmore to stand in Ireland, Calyx is set to shuttle to Australia in just a few weeks time.
Helped along by the exploits of Calyx, Kingman’s success as a stallion has been strongly stamped in just his first two years with runners. Taking a yearling to the sales by the son of Invincible Spirit in 2019 was almost a license to print money, with an average price from the 59 sold of £317,933 (AU$317,933). The market demand was subsequently reflected in his doubling stud fee which leapt to £150,000 (AU$243,617) for the 2020 season.
Standing in Australia for $17,600 (inc GST), Calyx offers a more affordable alternative to his non-shuttling sire. He might not have achieved the same tally of Group 1 wins but undoubtedly had the potential to do so and with the benefit of a deep Juddmonte family behind him, Calyx also represents the red-hot Invincible Spirit sire line; completely Danehill (USA) free.
So, while you can’t have Kingman, why not have his speediest son. Calyx is the full package and he’s coming in hot.
