Royal Ascot Preview: Australian connections Day 4

Written by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

3-year-old sprinters kick off card in Palace of Holyroodhouse

Race1, Palace of Holyroodhouse H. 10.15pm AEST

The first race on the second-to-last day of Royal Ascot showcases 3-year-old sprinters with a 1000 metre dash that sees 22 horses line up.

German-bred Illusionist (Hot Streak {Ire}) is a half-brother to Toronado’s (Ire) Listed-winning Stone Tornado (GB) and hails from the family of multiple Group 2-winning Australian Whispering Brook (Hinchinbrook). A family with stakes winners around the world, the gelding’s other Australasian relatives include Listed Morning Cup winner Aktau (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) and the stakes winning half-siblings Born To Rock (Fastnet Rock) and Prettyhappyaboutit (Magnus).

Cable Bay’s (Ire) Electric Landlady (Ire) lines up here after winning a race on Sunday. The winner of four of 13 starts for trainer Archie Watson and owners Christopher Wright and Emily Asprey, Electric Landlady is a half-sister to stakes-placed Simmy’s Copshop (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}). The well-raced 3-year-old filly is from a family that knows something about winning with her seven-time winning relative Rednav (Henrythenavigator {USA}) including the Listed Grafton Cup among his wins. That gelding is out of Redoute’s Choice’s daughter Redouteski, the first foal out of her US imported dam Russian Flair (USA) (Nureyev {USA}), whose final live foal was a Duporth filly born in 2017.

In this race, Starspangledbanner also kicks off the day with two-time winner Golden Dragon (Ire), alongside Showcasing (GB) with Show Me Show Me (GB), Triple Spear (GB) and Will To Win (Ger), and Night Of Thunder’s (Ire) Listed winner Keep Busy (Ire) makes her third start of the month. Also in the group of Australasian-connected sired runners are Charm Spirit’s (Ire) Lambeth Walk (GB), who continues a busy week for her sire, No Nay Never’s (USA) Never Dark (GB), and the Godolphin-owned Brazen Beau colt City Walk (Ire).

Prestigious granddaughter leads Albany S.

Race 2, G3 Albany S. 10.50pm AEST

The 2-year-olds get their chance to shine in Group class on Friday with the G3 Albany S. at 1200 metres the first group race for 2-year-olds at the meeting.

Starspangledbanner’s Cirrus (GB) comes into this race after finishing second on debut by 0.75l. That effort came 15 days before this race, giving her an edge over some of the 2-year-olds who made their debut last week.

Adaay (Ire) daughter Mariance (GB) is from a family familiar to Australians with her granddam Prestigious (USA) (Rainbow Quest {USA}) spending much of her breeding career in Australia. A year after foaling Mariance’s dam in Japan, Prestigious was imported to Australia where she produced four Australian winners – led by Premardal (Shamardal {USA}) and Fallacy (Commands). Completing the Australia connection Prestigious is a three-quarter sister to former Australian stallion Arazi (USA), who is pensioned at Stockwell Thoroughbreds.

Freshman sire Kodi Bear (Ire) sends out Follow Suit (Ire), who won last Tuesday by a determined nose at Wolverhampton. The Cleve Cox-trained and Cleve Cox Racing-owned 8000 gns (AU$15,960) purchase looks to up her price here if she can stay undefeated and add another Royal Ascot victory to her family’s page. Another who won at Royal Ascot is (then) G2 Prince Of Wales’s winner Faithful Son (USA) (Zilzal {USA}), who finished fourth in the 1998 G1 Caulfield Cup. That result in Australian likely helped encourage owners to send his half-sister Duelling Girl (USA) (Dayjur {USA}) to the country with the mare going on to produce a pair of Australian stakes winners.

Hanui Farm resident Belardo (Ire) has a runner from his first crop in this race with Golden Melody (Ire) looking to stay undefeated. The William Haggas-trained filly won by 2.5l on debut June 7 over this distance and again has James Doyle aboard. The €14,000 ($AU22,941) foal purchase sold for 52,000 gns (AU$103,740) as a yearling to Haggas for Ian and Christine Beard and their family hails from the extended family of G3 Queen’s Cup and G1 Caulfield Cup runner-up Dandino (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who stands at Bombora Downs in Victoria.

Setarhe (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) comes here off a June 4 maiden victory for Roger Varian and Amo Racing Limited.

The filly’s unraced dam is a half-sister to late New Zealand resident Stella Livia (GB) (Titus Livius {Fr}), who produced Group 3 winner Star Of The Seas (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}) and Listed winner and Group 1-placed Aquis resident Spieth (NZ). Another half-sister, Uliana, followed by mare’s lead by producing Australian Listed placed Take It Intern (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), who was recently retired. The family also includes Windsor Park resident Charm Spirit (Ire) and recent G1 French 1000 Guineas winner Dream And Do (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}).

Debut winner Undertake (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) is another Varian-trained runner, this one a homebred for Cheveley Park. As to be expected from that program, Undertake has a strong worldwide pedigree with the stakes winners under her third dam including Australian Listed winner Abdon (GB) (Cacique {Ire}) with Listed-winning Highland Beat (Exceed And Excel) back one more generation.

Former Coolmore Australia stallion Zoffany (Ire) has Mother Earth (Ire) in this race and current Coolmore resident No Nay Never (USA) sends out Ventura Vision (Fr).

Irish Lights son leads Norfolk S.

Race 3, G2 Norfolk S. 11.25pm AEST

One race after the fillies take their turn on the track, they’re joined by the boys in the G2 Norfolk S.

Two days after Atlantic Jewel (Fastnet Rock) registered her Royal Ascot winner with Russian Emperor (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), G1 Thousand Guineas winner Irish Lights (Fastnet Rock) tries to do the same with Lipizzaner (USA) (Uncle Mo {USA}) racing here after a pair of seconds. The dam of two winners from three to race, including Group 2-winning Omei Sword (High Chaparral {Ire}), Irish Lights was exported to the United States in 2017 and bred to Uncle Mo (USA), producing this runner. She also had a full brother to that stallion in 2019 and visited Triple Crown winner Justify (USA) in the US last year.

Also among the 14 runners is the Exceed And Excel colt Eye Of Heaven (GB). A grandson of a half-sister to Champion Desert King (Ire) (Danehill {USA}), his granddam’s half-siblings also include the granddam of G2 Dane Ripper winner Hazard and his three Australian Group-winning siblings.

Only a week after his untimely passing, G1 George Ryder winner Gordon Lord Byron’s (Ire) (Byron {GB}) family is out in force at Royal Ascot with Macho Pride (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) the latest to run at the meet. The debut-winning colt’s granddam Foot Of Pride (Ire) (Footstepsintheesand {Ire}) is a half-sister to Gordon Lord Byron’s dam while another half-sister is the granddam of Barney Roy (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}), who finished third in Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s S.

Anthony Van Dyck leads Hardwicke S.

Race 4, G2 Hardwicke S. 12am AEST

A race that has numerous Australian connections in past editions, including current Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young-trainee Mirage Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}) finishing third in it last year, the G2 Hardwicke S. is posed to provide another big day for Australia on Friday.

G1 Epsom Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is another runner from a powerful Australian mare with the 4-year-old one of two Group 1 winners for Believe’N’Succeed (Exceed And Excel), who is also the dam of New Zealand Champion Bounding. A family that also includes her Group 2-winning full brother Kuroshio, Believe’N’Succeed had a full sister to Anthony Van Dyck last year. Anthony Van Dyck has struggled to find the winner’s enclosure since his Derby victory but looked promising closing on Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 Coronation Cup two weeks ago and should come on from that run.

Bred 3 x 4 to Sadler’s Wells (USA), Motivator’s (GB) Hamish (GB) is out of a half-sister to G1 Doomben Cup winner Beaten Up (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}), who spent most of his career in Australia under the tutelage of Chris Waller. The winner of three of his six career starts, the 4-year-old William Haggas-trained gelding is making a jump to stakes level for the first time while also making his 4-year-old debut.

Racing over 2400 metres, Camelot’s (GB) Alounak (Fr) is making his second start for trainer Andrew Balding after being purchased by King Power Racing earlier this year. The 5-year-old intact horse was a Group 3 winner in Germany last year and looks to get back to his winning ways after racing in three different countries in his last three starts. The horse is out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Emulous and from the family of Australian Group winner Platinum Kingdom (Magnus), whose US-bred dam Miss Rangoon (Giant’s Causeway {USA}) had a full brother to that stakes winner last year and returned to Magnus for a 2020 foal.

Out of a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Hunter’s Light, Fanny Logan (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is the only filly taking on the males here. A Group 3 winner, the John Gosden-trainee has only made two attempts at a level higher than that and finished fourth to Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}) in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Fanny Logan has black type throughout her page with her fourth dam Delsy (Fr) (Abdos {Fr}) the granddam of G1 Ranvet winner Darazari (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells {USA}) and great-granddam of Darley’s new stallion Too Darn Hot (GB).

Millisle looks to rebound in Commonwealth Cup

Race 5, G1 Commonwealth Cup, 12.35am AEST

Running an uncharacteristic seventh in the G1 Qipco 1000 Guineas two weeks ago, Starspangledbanner’s Millisle (Ire) returns to 1200 metres here in the G1 Commonwealth Cup. The Stonethorn Stud Farms-homebred trained by Jessica Harrington gets the services of Tom Marquand for the first time here. The filly is a half-sister to two stakes horses with 14 stakes performers under her first two dams.

Pierre Lapin (Ire) (Cappella Sansevero {GB}) tries to stay undefeated and become the second Group 1 winner for his dam after Darley stallion Harry Angel (Ire). While there are no Australian stakes performers on the Group 2 winner’s page, he has plenty of connections to the country with his half-brother about to enter his second season in Australia and dam Beatrix Potter (Ire) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) foaling a filly by Coolmore Australia stallion Justify (USA) earlier this year.

Shamardal (USA) son Royal Crusade (GB) runs here for Godolphin after two second place finishes in Group company last year. The colt’s second dam is a half-sister to Carlton House (USA) (Street Cry {Ire}), a European group winner who also finished second or third in two Australian Group 1 events.

Last year’s Listed Windsor Castle S. winner Southern Hills (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) makes his first start since that victory back at the scene of the crime in this year’s G1 Commonwealth Cup. Highly regarded by his connections, Southern Hills also has the pedigree to take a trip south in the future if he can add a few Group 1s to his resume. Southern Hills shares a family with New Zealand Group 1 winner Sword Of Osman (NZ) (Savabeel) and G1 Queensland Oaks winner Zagalia (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}), who had a No Nay Never (USA) filly last year and returned to Fastnet Rock.

Footstepsinthesand’s (GB) Mum’s Tipple steps up to Group 1 company for the third straight time in the G1 Commonwealth Cup during the second half of Friday’s card for trainer Richard Hannon and owners Marian Lyons and Patricia Zanelli. The highly regarded colt closes from the family of New Zealand Group 2 winner Platinum Princess (NZ) (Keeper) among a useful stakes family.

One of two runners for No Nay Never (USA) alongside Royal Commando (Ire), Katsumi Yoshida’s Group 2 winner Shadn (Ire) makes her first start of the year here for Andrew Balding. The mare has stakes winners from both Europe and Australia on her page with Redoute’s Choice’s Listed winner Rare Diamond and King Of Danes’ Oridane representing Australia.

Brazen Beau also sends out his Group 3 winner Dubai Station (GB) here alongside Lope De Vega’s (Ire) G1 Irish 2000 Guineas third Lope Y Fernandez (Ire).

Australasian connections abound in Queen’s Vase

Race 6, G2 Queen's Vase, 1.10am AEST

Won by Hartnell (GB) (Authorized {Ire}) in 2014 months before he transferred to Australia and now-Eric Musgrove-trained Aloft (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) the following year, the 2800 metre G2 Queen’s Vase can give a good preview of some future Australian runners.

The Irish-bred Born With Pride (Born To Sea {Ire}) scratched out of a race on the first day of racing to come here instead. The filly has a strong connection to Australia as a three-quarter sister to G1 Sydney Cup winner Shraaoh (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and G2 Chairman’s H. winner Raheen House (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). The filly is one of three stakes winners for her dam Jumooh (GB) (Monsun {Ger}) after earning her Listed win on debut last November.

In a day where Australian mares are in the spotlight, Noble Prize (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) hopes to shine it bright on blueblooded G1 Australasian Oaks third Hveger (Danehill {USA}). A longtime Irish resident, Hveger has been represented by her Galileo sons in her homeland with G1 Cox Plate third Highland Reel (Ire) now standing at Swettenham Stud, G1 Caulfield S. winner Cape Of Good Hope (Ire) in training with Lindsay Park, and her Encosta De Lago daughter from her time in Australia a dual-Group 1 runner-up. Noble Prize broke his maiden in his third start last season and makes his 2020 debut here on Friday.

Fastnet Rock sends out London Arch (GB) with that colt one of three winners out of his Montjeu (Ire) dam, Mount Crystal (Ire). That mare is a half-sister to the dam of the late Libran (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), who won more than $1.3 million in an Australian career headlined by the G2 Chairman’s H. London Arch has finished first or second three times in his four race career but will be looking to bounce back from a last-place finish last out.

Dubawi’s (Ire) Al Dabaran (GB) is out of a half-sister to G1 St. Leger winner Masked Marvel (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). That horse spent two years in Australia, never finding a victory but running well enough to finish third in the 2013 G2 Hill S. and second in the G3 Craven Plate. Another of Masked Marvel’s half-siblings is the dam of last year’s G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}).

Group 3 placed Berkshire Rocco (Fr) (Sir Percy {GB}) is a half-brother to a Listed winner but he also hails from the family of past shuttle stallion Zoffany (Ire) and Lindsay Park’s Rostropovich (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who is currently working his way back from an injury sustained in the 2019 G1 Melbourne Cup. Berkshire Rocco comes in here after bumping heads with Camelot’s (Ire) English King (Fr) last out, finishing second to that rival.

3-year-old gelding On Guard (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) is out of a full sister to former Coolmore Australia stallion Footstepsinthesand (GB) and a half-sister to the dam of Irish classic winner and Oaklands Stud resident Power (GB). This is also the extended family of 2011 G1 Turnbull S. winner December Draw (Ire) (Medecis {GB}), giving the family plenty of connections to Australia. On Guard will be looking to give owner-breeder Anthony Oppenheimer and John Gosden another win on the card after Frankly Darling (GB) (Frankel {GB}) kicked off their week with a big win on Tuesday.

In a field filled with Australian connections, Punctuation (GB) (Dansili {GB}) is another who could provide updates to a few horses in the country with the colt from the family of G2 Queensland Guineas winner Saxon (Danehill {USA}), his three stakes-placed siblings, and their close relative, Listed Mornington Cup winner Instrumentalist.

Igugu son closes out card in Duke of Edinburgh

Race 7, Duke of Edinburgh S. 1.40am AEST

Legendary South African mare and Australian-bred Igugu’s (Galileo {Ire}) final foal lines up for his eighth career start in the Duke of Edinburgh S. for his 2020 debut. El Misk (GB) (Dansili {GB}) ended his 3-year-old season with a flashy 3.25l victory at Kempton, one of three wins for the 4-year-old colt. A four-time Group 1 winner and Horse of the Year in South Africa, Igugu was also a half-sister to Group 3 winner Honorius (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and the dam of G2 Stan Fox winner Tarka (All Too Hard).

Nathaniel’s (Ire) William Haggas-trained Dal Horrisgle (GB) looks to get back on track here after putting in two below-par performances in stakes company to end last season after three straight wins at lower levels. The 4-year-old gelding is a half-brother to multiple Australian Group-placed Dal Harraild (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}), who was imported to Australia in late 2018 and recently switched to Matt Cumani’s barn.

Out of a half-sister to the dam of Fastnet Rock’s G1 Epsom Oaks winner Qualify (Ire), Byron (GB) gelding Byron Flyer (GB) is the second of the week from this family to race at Royal Ascot. The gelding joins Dubawi’s (Ire) Dubawi Fifty (GB), who is out of a half-sister to G2 Herbert Power winner Sea Moon (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}). Both the aforementioned Sea Moon and G1 Caulfield Cup winner Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) are under Byron Flyer’s third dam.

Zoffany’s (Ire) dual stakes winning Dolphin Vista (Ire) had a barn change after a fourth in February and now races for Jim Boyle and The Beegeez. The 7-year-old gelding’s dam is a half-sister to Japanese stakes winner Bayreuth (Fr) (Singspiel {Ire}) and comes from the family of Group 2-winning Fasika (So You Think {NZ}) and stakes winning Absolut Excelencia (Excellent Art {GB}).

New Zealand Group 2 winner Endless Drama (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) sees his half-sister’s two-time winning son Johnny Drama (Ire) (Lilbourne Lad {Ire}) make his 2020 debut here. Running in the King Power Racing colors, the 5-year-old gelding is looking to get his first win since May 2019. Johnny Drama is already familiar with this race, finishing 13th in it last year.

Group 3-placed Scarlet Dragon (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}) is hitting a milestone in the Duke of Edinburgh with it being his 45th career start. The well-raced 7-year-old has seen plenty of his relatives race in Australia recently with Danny O’Brien-trained Nelson (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Aaron Peterson-trained US Army Ranger (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and multiple stakes winner Theanswermyfriend (High Chaparral {Ire}) among those in Australia on his page still in training or retired in the last two seasons.

Those with Australasian-connected sires helping close out the card are Protected Guest (GB) (Helmet) and Medal Winner (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}).