MONTEROSSO LANDS DUBAI WORLD CUP FOR GODOLPHIN

Click above to watch Monterosso winning the Dubai World Cup (G1)…
(Image : Virendra Saklani/Gulf News - Footage : Dubai Racing Meydan)

US$10,000,000 DUBAI WORLD CUP (Group 1)
Meydan, All-Weather, 2000m
31 March 2012

Master of Hounds (Kingmambo) won the World Cup break from the inside stall, but was quickly passed by Transcend (Jpn) (Wild Rush), the 2011 runner-up, as Capponi (Ire) (Medicean) loomed up to make the Japanese raider work on the engine. So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral) slotted in perfectly and enjoyed the run of the race from third, as Monterosso (GB) (Dubawi) was three wide in fifth, but in touch. Game On Dude (USA) (Awesome Again), expected to be a pace presence, was a touch slow to begin and was given rein from jockey Chantal Sutherland to run up into contention outside Monterosso midway up the backstretch. Capponi wrested command from a spent Transcend as they reached the second turn and it was soon clear that Godolphin blue would dominate, as Monterosso crept a bit closer going ominously well. The two 5-year-olds raced on even terms approaching the final furlong, but Monterosso was always doing the better and won comfortably from Capponi, Planteur (Ire) (Danehill Dancer) and So You THink (NZ) (High Chaparral), with the recently retained jockey Mickael Barzalona standing up straight in the irons to salute the crowd. “I couldn’t believe when no one was coming after me. This is a dream,” the 19-year-old Barzalona commented. “I have no words to describe what I feel right now.” And how about his celebratory pose, similar to the one following his Epsom Derby score last year? “I just had to. I had no choice.”

Home-bred but raced by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed al Maktoum and trainer Mark Johnston at two and three, Monterosso landed the G2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2010 before a fourth to Cape Blanco (Ire) (Galileo) in that year’s G1 Irish Derby. Unplaced in two subsequent runs, he was transferred to Godolphin last season and made two starts at the Carnival, defeating stablemate Cavaldos Blues (Fr) (Lando) in the G2 Dubai City of Gold Stakes. That event serves as a prep for the Sheema Classic, but Monterosso was re-routed for the World Cup and took third, beaten 3/4 of a length for the whole pot. He went missing the balance of 2011 and resumed in the G1 Maktoum Challenge Round 3, coming home fourth to Capponi in a race he was certain to need.

Some 11 years ago, Sheikh Mohammed watched as Dubai Millennium (GB) (Seeking the Gold) spread-eagled the World Cup field at Nad al Sheba. Yesterday, he shared a robust embrace with bloodstock advisor John Ferguson and wasn’t immune to a few fist pumps of his own following the win. “We’re absolutely delighted,” Ferguson offered. “You couldn’t get much better than that, could you? It’s wonderful for everybody. The trainer’s a rising star and the jockey, and the owner’s good too. This horse was third in the DWC last year so he was legitimate. Personally, it was a question of whether he needed another race to be ready.” The parentage of the winner is also not lost on connections. Admitted Racing Manager Simon Crisford, “Being a grandson of Dubai Millennium is massively important. Our greatest moments in horse racing with Godolphin were with Dubai Millennium so it’s fantastic.”

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

LAMMTARRA : OF LEGENDS AND WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN...

Click above to watch Lammtarra winning the 1995 Epsom Derby
(Image : Jockeysite - Footage : Sewageable)

LAMMTARRA (USA)
Nijinsky (CAN) - Snow Bride (USA)

Nicola HaywardAs I drove up the High Street in Newmarket the week before Christmas past, I tried to imagine how it might have looked early in 1904. It was difficult given the tarred road, beautiful Christmas lights and decorated storefronts - Marks & Spencer, Sainsburys, and French Connection filled with eager shoppers. Yet it was to 1904 that my mind returned, for that was when Signorina was booked to be covered by the Champion Isinglass. For a decade, the Oaks runner-up had failed to produce a foal and her owner, the Italian trainer Ginistrelli, followed on foot as she was led down the High Street for her planned assignation with Isinglass. On the way Chaleureux, a lowly stallion that was being used as a teaser, passed the aging mare. The two called to one another and refused to move apart and so, on a whim, Ginistrelli allowed his mare her ‘love match’. The result was the filly Signorinetta who in 1908 won the Epsom Derby and two days later the Oaks, a feat not accomplished since.

Myth or legend, it is one of the stories that Newmarket holds and was worthy of consideration. Of course, for one who loves the Thoroughbred, to be in the same country as Frankel, let alone to drive past the yard where he is stabled and trained, was very special. That an entire town can be dedicated to the horses that have for centuries made it their home, is quite remarkable. Bridleways crisscross the suburban roads allowing every animal to reach the gallops safely and the public happily accept that it should be so, as it always has.

Of course, one does not turn down a visit to Dalham Hall Stud. Even though a number of the stallions were on stud duty in Australia and South America, there was the chance to see the mighty Dubawi. A son of Dubai Millenium out of the Deploy mare Zomaradah, he has risen to star status. He won 5 of 8 starts and is a compact bull of a horse. Dubawi is all power and he knows it. His son Poet’s Voice, out of Bright Tiara (Chief’s Crown) was victorious in the 2011 G1 QEII Stakes and is a taller, more elegant horse than his sire. He is bay without white markings and has a beautiful head. He had let down very well and has a good book of mares waiting for his attention once the season begins. Both horses live in roomy stalls in the stallion block that overlooks the graveyard where the memorial to the great Dubai Millennium dwarfs all those around it. It takes one into the past - Singspiel, Machiavellian, Reference Point, Great Nephew…

Then, a woolly, muddy liver chestnut danced toward his stall and the world stopped turning.

Lammtarra.

By Nijinsky (Northern Dancer), out of Snow Bride (Blushing Groom), Lammtarra won his only outing as a two-year-old in 1994. His trainer Alex Scott was certain of classic success but then in a cruel twist of fate, an employee with a grievance shot and killed Scott. The colt was transferred to Godolphin, to Saeed Bin Suroor. Under Walter Swinburn, Lammtarra won The Derby in a time only bettered in 2010 by Workforce. Then under Frankie Detorri he took the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe before being retired to stud unbeaten in four starts. His pedigree was impeccable - by a Derby winner out of an Oaks winner - and his record faultless. Yet at stud he was a failure. He covered one season at Dalham Hall before being sold to Japan for $30,000,000. Eventually, in 2006, Sheikh Mohammed bought him back and he returned to Dalham Hall to live out his days in retirement.

Do yourself a favour and watch his Derby win above courtesy of YouTube and you will see why it was he more than any other that made my heart soar. It was an old, sprightly gentleman who danced and squealed as his groom led him in who made me smile. It was a Champion now past his prime that made me wonder what if? Why not? And ask the question what might have been…

GODOLPHIN GET ONE BACK – AT LAST

Frankie Dettori celebrates Blue Bunting’s Irish Oaks victory
(Photo : The Guardian)

BLUE BUNTING
Irish Oaks

It’s been a tough year for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation, with Coolmore and their associates sweeping all before them. Sunday things turned around for Sheikh Mohammed though, as Blue Bunting got up in the dying strides to take the Irish Oaks (Gr1) and grab the laurels by a nose. It doesn’t get much closer than that, though Coolmore-sired horses filled the next two places with Banimpire and Wonder Of Wonders.

The extent of the Irish domination of the European classic season thus far is apparent in the accompanying table, which reflects victory in 8 of the 10 classics in 2011.

Race	Cheque Earners	Sire
Epsom Derby (Gr.1)	1st Pour Moi	Montjeu
	2nd Treasure Beach	Galileo
	4th Memphis Tennessee	Hurricane Run
Irish Derby (Gr.1)	1st Treasure Beach	Galileo
	2nd Seville	Galileo
	3rd Memphis Tennessee	Hurricane Run
Epsom Oaks (Gr.1)	1st Dancing Rain	Danehill Dancer
	2nd Wonder Of Wonders	Kingmambo
Irish Oaks (Gr.1)	1st Blue Bunting	Dynaformer
	2nd Banimpire	Holy Roman Emperor
	3rd Wonder Of Wonders	Kingmambo
English 2000 Guineas (Gr.1)	1st Frankel	Galileo
	2nd Dubawi Gold	Dubawi
Irish 2000 Guineas (Gr.1)	1st Roderic O’Connor	Galileo
	2nd Dubawi Gold	Dubawi
	3rd Oracle	Danehill Dancer
English 1000 Guineas (Gr.1)	1st Blue Bunting	Dynaformer
	2nd Together	Galileo
Irish 1000 Guineas (Gr.1)	1st Misty For Me	Galileo
	2nd Together	Galileo

Bold denotes Coolmore Sires

Time was when Godolphin enjoyed their own dominance of the classic scene, but it was in the days when they still patronised the progeny of the Coolmore stallions in the sales ring. The “stand-off” has altered things somewhat, and while Dubawi and Shamardal put in an ominous run last year, they are notable by their absence this year. This can only be a temporary “blip” though, as they’re as decent a pair as there is, and we’re bound to see more of them and their runners in years to come.

COOLMORE VS DARLEY : BATTLE OF THE TITANS

Click above to watch the Coolmore Stud Documentary 2011
(Image and Footage : Coolmore)

“Who’s Who in the Zoo?”

The battle for international supremacy in the thoroughbred world has developed a real “one-round-to-you, one-round-to-me” look to it. Ever since the official declaration of war by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, on their arch opponents, the Coolmore operation in 2006, some heavy punches have been traded.

The first three years undoubtedly belonged to Coolmore, and for as long as the dominance of their Emperor stallions, Sadler’s Wells and Danehill persisted, and for as long as this blood was denied to the Maktoums, it looked like one-way traffic (in Europe at any rate, the main theatre of battle). Nothing in the thoroughbred world though is forever, and with his strategies spanning both sides of the Atlantic, the emergence of Street Cry looked like pulling things back for “Sheik Mo”, though it has to be said, Coolmore still have on their hands, the champion sire of that realm, Giant’s Causeway. Enormous investment on the part of Dubai in the best prospects of their more recent generations in the United States, must have equipped Darley’s armoury in that part of the world with some real possibilities, but with the exception of Bernardini, who is an emerging force in his own right, the jury will have to wait. If we were in the tipping game, we’d have a few bob on Street Sense, the only horse in history to have won both the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby.

Back in Europe though, out of the blue came Dubawi and Shamardal for Darley, and they look like two of the best young sires around right now. Their supremacy with their first three year olds last year suggested an overwhelming dominance of the older division in 2011 Europe, but, we shall have to wait and see if that’s going to be the case. On the evidence alone, of this year’s three year old Classics, it seems the pendulum may have swung back Coolmore’s way, with four of the six “Guineas” contested in England, Ireland and France, falling to sons and daughters of Bill Oppenheim’s “best stallion in the world”, Galileo.

On Saturday, the Coolmore outfit’s dominance of this crop was as blantly evident as ever, in the renewal of the Investec Derby, in which Coolmore-connected horses landed first, second and fourth placings, though it should be noted the Queen’s third placed Carlton House is a son of Street Cry, gifted to her by Sheikh Mohammed. For the time being at least, the initiative lies in Ireland, though we suspect that Dubawi and Shamardal are that good, they won’t be lying down for long. Either way, it makes fascinating watching.

SHAMARDAL AND DUBAWI HEAD WORLD STALLION RANKS

Shamardal
(Photo : Stallions)

“FROM WHENCE THEY COME”

You may wonder why it is that we keep posting lists of the North American and European sires. The short answer is, they’re often the source of our own stallion stock, and the performance of their progeny informs our selections. In his latest review of the third crop sires of those two regions, the world’s greatest analyst, Bill Oppenheim, has ranked them by what he calls the Apex index, and by how prolific they are as producers of Stakes winners. There’s an earnings bias in favour of the North Americans, and so earnings alone is not a reliable guide. America holds a strong hand with its second and fourth season horses, but Europe certainly has the upper arm with those who have progeny just rising four. The outstanding leaders of that lot are Shamardal (by Giant’s Causeway) and Dubawi (by Dubai Destination), both Darley stallions standing in Europe. Here are the stats :

LEADING F2007 SIRES BY A RUNNER INDEX

Sire	Region	Rank 2011	Rank Cum	A Index	ABC Index
SHAMARDAL	EUR	27	1	2.66	1.93
DUBAWI	EUR	13	2	3.66	1.65
WILCAT HEIR	USA	3	3	1.31	2.36
AFLEET ALEX	USA	1	4	2.73	1.78
ROMAN RULER	USA	2	5	1.03	1.16
POLLARD’S VISION	USA	22	6	1.15	1.15
KITTEN’S JOY	USA	6	7	1.26	1.42
GHOSTZAPPER	USA	4	8	1.42	2.48
OFFLEE WILD	USA	25	9	2.27	1.48
SAINT LIAM	USA	23	10	2.61	1.63
CLOSING ARGUMENT	USA	10	11	1.30	0.97
LIMEHOUSE	USA	14	12	1.39	1.04
GRAND REWARD	USA	11	13	1.31	0.65
PURGE	USA	19	14	0.55	0.82
CONSOLIDATOR	USA	12	15	0.59	0.74
FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND	EUR	36	16	0.81	1.34
EUROSILVER	USA	9	17	0.31	0.78
VALUE PLUS	USA	15	18	0.74	0.83
ROCK HARD TEN	USA	21	19	2.55	1.79
LEROIDESANIMAUX	USA	7	20	3.33	1.50
ORATORIO	EUR	40	21	1.43	0.71
SOUTHERN IMAGE	USA	5	22	0.41	0.72
EDDINGTON	USA	8	27	0.00	0.46
ORATORY	USA	16	31	0.62	0.77

Statistics Thoroughbred Daily News

North America always has an earnings advantage though, so when European sires progeny have higher earnings than their American counterparts, that by itself is big news. The real measures of superiority in this case are the Black type comparisons : Dubawi has 11 group/graded stakes winners (North American crops) to date, Shamardal has 10. The leading North American sires are Afleet Alex and Rock Hard Ten, with four each. Dubawi has 18 Black-type winners, Shamardal 16; Afleet Alex (13) and Wildcat Heir (10) are tops in North America. Total Black type horses: Dubawi 28, Shamardal 26; Afleet Alex has 22, Wildcat Heir 18 as does Coolmore’s European sire Footstepsinthesand.