TIMEFORM GLOBAL TOP 30 RACEHORSES : NOVEMBER 2009

Sea The Stars : Timeform 140
(Photo : ThisLondon/Timeform)

TIMEFORM GLOBAL RANKINGS

#	HORSE	TRAINER	COUNTRY	RANK
1	SEA THE STARS	John Oxx	Ireland	140
2	RIP VAN WINKLE	Aidan O’Brien	Ireland	134
3	FAME AND GLORY	Aidan O’Brien	Ireland	133
4	GOLDIKOVA	Freddy Head	France	132
5	ZENYATTA	John Sherriffs	USA	131
6	CAVALRYMAN	Andre Fabre	France	130
6	CONDUIT	Sir Michael Stoute	Great Britain	130
6	GIO PONTI	Christophe Clement	USA	130
6	SACRED KINGDOM	Ricky Yiu	Hong Kong	130
6	YOUMZAIN	Mick Channon	Great Britain	130
11	MASTERCRAFTSMAN	Aidan O’Brien	Ireland	129
11	PACO BOY	Richard Hannon	Great Britain	129
11	RACHEL ALEXANDRA	Steve Asmussen	USA	129
14	DELEGATOR	Saeed bin Suroor	Great Britain	128
14	SCENIC BLAST	Danny Morton	Australia	128
14	TAKEOVER TARGET	Joe Janiak	Australia	128
17	AQLAAM	William Haggas	Great Britain	127
17	BIG CITY MAN	Jeff Mullins	USA	127
17	GETAWAY	Jens Hirschberger	Germany	127
17	HEART OF DREAMS	Mick Price	Australia	127
17	PREDATORY PRICER	Paul Murray	Australia	127
17	PRESVIS	Luca Cumani	Great Britain	127
17	TWICE OVER	Henry Cecil	Great Britain	127
17	VISION D’ETAT	Eric Libaud	France	127
17	WHOBEGOTYOU	Mark Kavanagh	Australia	127
17	ZACINTO	Sir Michael Stoute	Great Britain	127
27	ST NICHOLAS ABBEY	Aidan O’Brien	Ireland	126
28	APACHE CAT	Greg Eurell	Australia	126
28	ARCHIPENKO	Mike de Kock	South Africa	126
28	ASK	Sir Michael Stoute	Great Britain	126
28	OVERDOSE	Sandor Ribarski	Hungary	126
28	SUMMER BIRD	Tim Ice	USA	126
28	TARTAN BEARER	Sir Michael Stoute	Great Britain	126
28	YEATS	Aidan O’Brien	Ireland	126

CORRECT AS AT 17 NOVEMBER 2009

SEA THE STARS CROWNED AT CARTIER AWARDS

Sea The Stars - Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
(Photo : ABC)

CARTIER RACING AWARDS 2009

The debate as to who will be named the top performer at the Eclipse Awards will continue into the new year, but there’s no controversy on the other side of the Atlantic. Christopher Tsui’s Sea the Stars was yesterday handed the accolade he had long since made a formality when named the Horse of the Year at the 2009 Cartier Awards.

At the latest ceremony, staged at Claridge’s Hotel in Mayfair, London, the historical feats achieved by the John Oxx-trained homebred were celebrated as he scooped the title of champion three-year-old colt alongside the main honor.

As he had on the racecourse, the bay son of the legendary Urban Sea left his title rivals in his wake in the points-and-vote system, sweeping the G1 2000 Guineas, G1 Epsom Derby, G1 Eclipse, G1 Juddmonte International, G1 Irish Champion and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Among those shortlisted for the top prize were Ballymacoll’s G1 King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Conduit and Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor’s G1 Irish 2000 Guineas and G1 St James’s Palace Stakes hero Mastercraftsman, the latter received the two-year-old colt award in 2008.

The Wertheimer brothers’ dual G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile heroine Goldikova was also in line for the Horse of the Year award and, although unlucky to come up against Sea the Stars in that category, was justly handed the champion older horse award. The Freddy Head-trained four-year-old also won the G1 Falmouth Stakes, G1 Prix Rothschild and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois prior to her dazzling display at Santa Anita.

Lady Bamford’s homebred Sariska gained the reward for completing the G1 English-Irish Oaks double by being named champion three-year-old filly ahead of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Coronation Stakes heroine Ghanaati - also in the shortlist for the Horse of the Year title - and Prince Khalid Abdullah’s G1 Nassau Stakes and G1 Breeders’ Cup F/M Turf victress Midday.

St Nicholas Abbey, who burst to prominence late on with a highly impressive success in the G1 Racing Post Trophy, headed the two-year-old colt division, providing Aidan O’Brien with a seventh such title since 1999. Prior to his Doncaster triumph, the bay captured the G2 Beresford Stakes, a race collected by Sea the Stars the previous year.

Prince Khalid Abdullah’s G1 Cheveley Park Stakes winner Special Duty was crowned champion two-year-old filly. Solskjaer’s brother Yeats, who retired this year after a sensational fourth G1 Gold Cup success, was named champion stayer and, in so doing, became the first to win a Cartier Award four times. The Searchers Syndicate’s G1 July Cup heroine Fleeting Spirit picked up the champion sprinter award. John Oxx, trainer of Sea the Stars, received the 2009 Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit. He joins previous honorees Queen Elizabeth II, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prince Khalid Abdullah, John Magnier, His Highness The Aga Khan and Lester Piggott.

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

OF BALLYMACOLL, CONDUIT, THE BREEDERS CUP AND THE ARC

Conduit and Tartan Bearer
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes
(Photo : Bloodhorse)

“IT’S NEVER TOO LATE”

We all know that the racehorse breeding game is a long one, and there are those who would believe that the senior years are an inappropriate time to kick off a breeding operation. Yet you only have to look at some of South Africa’s most celebrated breeders, Graham Beck and Bridget Oppenheimer, and what they’re up to right now in expanding their breeding holdings well into their 80’s, to know that the bug that drives mankind is a closer relative of emotion than it is a matter of cold logic.

We often have this conversation with one of our more “senior” clients at Summerhill, and we’re quick to remind him and ourselves of the story behind the Ballymacoll Stud in Ireland. Founded by the late Lord Albert Weinstock in his 69^th year, here was one of England’s leading businessmen embarking on what some saw as a “madman’s folly”, at his County Meath farm in Ireland, yet by the time he passed away on July 23^rd 2002, His Lordship had left behind a stream of world-class racehorses.

A man of humble beginnings, the success of Lord Weinstock’s breeding operation, largely conducted under the leadership of Peter Reynolds, has resulted in fifty Group One victories from twenty eight individual Group winners stretching back to 1966, following a founding investment in 1960.

From a scant twenty three mares, yielding on average 17 foals a year, this is a staggering success story by any standards. His legacy was never more evident than in the outcome of this year’s renewal of one of England’s greatest races, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr.1), staged at Ascot at the backend of July, in which graduates of the farm, Conduit and Tartan Bearer, finished first and second.

“We’ve kept it going, and we need days like these. Lord Weinstock was nearly here for the last one (King George) when Golan won this race; he’d only been dead a week, God bless him” opined Reynolds.

“Conduit’s won a Classic, a Breeder’s Cup and now a King George, he can run at top speed for a very long time. He’s got great stamina, and when he kicks into gear, he keeps stepping up and up and finds plenty”.

“Obviously the Breeders Cup will be in consideration again. Conduit was supplemented last year, and is an automatic qualifier this year. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr1) is the one race the team still has to crack, and personally, I wouldn’t mind if we had the two runners in it. It’s a race Lord Weinstock wanted to win really badly, and before the show goes off the road, we have to win the “Arc”. Conduit could go for both (the Arc and Breeders Cup); the timing is fine this year”.

Long live Ballymacoll, just as His Lordship did.

THE PARISIAN SHOWPIECE : PRIX DE L'ARC DE TRIOMPHE

Sea The Stars
(Photo : Northfields Bloodstock)

WARM NUMBER FOR EUROPE’S BIGGEST RACE

There can be no bigger compliment in the sport of horseracing than Lester Piggott saying you’re one of the all time greats. As arguably the world’s most famous jockey, Piggott this week told the media that he counted this year’s standout European three-year-old, Sea The Stars, as one of those rare thoroughbreds you could mention in the same breath as Brigadier Gerard, Seabird and Mill Reef.

Already a five-time Group One winner this season, Sea The Stars faces what is arguably his sternest test on Sunday in the Parisian showpiece, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr.1) over the testing 2400m of the Boisdebollinge’s Longchamps circuit. “Toughest” not only because he takes on the best mile and a half horses in Europe of all ages, but because he’s been on the boil since March, and he’s already beaten the pride of Britain and Ireland.

The only thing that might stop him taking his place is soft ground, as his connections have made it known that they will not test him in heavy conditions, but the horse you really have to feel for in the field is Youmzain. Trained by the ex-English international footballer, Mick Channon, Youmzain must be counted among the unluckiest horses history has had cause to judge.

The last two runnings of the Arc have been won by two extraordinary performers, Dylan Thomas and Zarkava, the best horse in the world last year, and arguably the best filly of the last decade or two. Youmzain was runner up to both of them, so you might’ve thought the gods would allow him his break in 2009, without having to contend with a superstar on his way to the start.

That’s not the way it’s going to be though, and it’s not the way you’d expect to find the line-up for Europe’s finest contest, which includes the lofty likes of Conduit, Fame And Glory, Vision d’Etat, Sariska, Dar Re Mi etc.

HORSE	SIRE	RATING	BETTING
SEA THE STARS	(Cape Cross)	140	4/6
FAME AND GLORY	(Montjeu)	133	5/1
CONDUIT	(Dalakhan)	130	7/1
VISION D’ETAT	(Chichicastenango)	128	12/1
GETAWAY	(Monsun)	127	20/1
STACELITA	(f. Monsun)&n	123	12/1
SPANISH MOON	(El Prado)	123	25/1
SARISKA	(f. Pivotal	123	20/1
YOUMZAIN	(Sinndar)	121	20/1
DAR RE MI	(f.Singspiel)	119	20/1
CAVALRYMAN	(Halling)	119	10/1
BEHESHTAM	(Peintre Celebre)	115	25/1

TIMEFORM’S TOP RATED EUROPEAN OLDER HORSES

Yeats
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

Please click photo to enlarge… 

TIMEFORM OLDER HORSES
Up to and including Sunday 30 August 2009 

HORSE	SIRE	RATING
GOLDIKOVA (IRE)	Anabaa	132
CONDUIT (Ire)	Dalakhani	130
PACO BOY (Ire)	Desert Style	129
SEPTIMUS (Ire)	Sadler’s Wells	129
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE (Ire)	Galileo	129
VISION D’ETAT (Fr)	Chichicastenango	128
YEATS (Ire)	Sadler’s Wells	128
FLEETING SPIRIT (Ire)	Invincible Spirit	127
PRESVIS (GB)	Sakhee	127
ASK (GB)	Sadler’s Wells	126
CASUAL CONQUEST (Ire)	Hernando	126
FAMOUS NAME (GB)	Dansili	126
MAIN AIM (GB)	Oasis Dream	126
NEVER ON SUNDAY (Fr)	Sunday Break	126
OVERDOSE (GB)	Starborough	126
TARTAN BEARER (Ire)	Spectrum	126