Two big winners for the Master
Last Updated: 20/09/14 1:02pm
Our pedigree expert Chris Hill reviews last weekend and a triumphant few hours for rising star stallion Mastercraftsman.
The final Classic of the domestic Flat season, the St Leger, was won by Roger Varian’s Epsom Derby runner-up Kingston Hill (Mastercraftsman), who under Andrea Atzeni saw off the Derby third Romsdal (Halling) in an enthralling duel up the Doncaster straight to form the first leg of a memorable Group One double for his Coolmore sire.
Bought by Charlie Gordon-Watson on behalf of owner Paul Smith for 70,000 guineas at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Kingston Hill is the second winner out of the Group Three Prix de Flore and Listed Prix de Liancourt winner Audacieuse (Rainbow Quest), the first being the four-time winner Ramona Chase (High Chaparral). The 2011 Coventry Stakes third St Barths (Cadeaux Genereux) is a close relative being out of an unraced half-sister to both whilst the further family includes the 1991 French 1000 Guineas winner Danseuse du Soir, the 2007 Gran Criterium winner Scintillo and Nicky Henderson’s four-time Grade One winning jumper Captain Conan.
The Kevin Ryan-trained French Derby winner The Grey Gatsby (Mastercraftsman) completed the Group One double only hours later for Mastercraftsman with a stunning last-gasp victory over his Epsom contemporary Australia (Galileo) in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, the highlight of the inaugural two-day Irish Champions Weekend.
The defeat of Australia by the Ryan Moore-ridden grey means that he follows in the footsteps of both his sire Galileo (Sadler’s Wells), beaten a head by Fantastic Light (Rahy) in the 2001 renewal, and his dam Ouija Board (Cape Cross), trumped by Dylan Thomas (Danehill) by a neck in 2006, in being beaten in the Leopardstown Group One, albeit by very narrow margins.
A €120,000 purchase by Stephen Hillen Bloodstock at last year’s Arqana Saint-Cloud breeze-up sale, The Grey Gatsby is the second winner produced by the French six-and-a-half furlong winner and Listed Prix Solitude runner-up Marie Vision (Entrepreneur), following Dream Land (Oasis Dream), an eleven-time winner in France. Marie Vision (Entrepreneur) foaled a full-brother to The Grey Gatsby last year and is herself a half-sister to the French Group Three-placed Saint Thomas (Dansili) and the Italian Listed-placed Steady As A Rock (Rock of Gibraltar) being out of Metisse, a dual-winning half-sister to the Group One winners Septieme Ciel and Macoumba out of the Group One Prix de la Salamandre winner Maximova.
Unlucky to be from the same generation as the great Sea The Stars (Cape Cross), Mastercraftsman (Danehill Dancer) has made a fantastic start to his second career having been crowned last season’s champion first season sire and as well as the aforementioned Kingston Hill and The Grey Gatsby, who are now dual Group One winners, the eight year-old colt has been represented successfully at Group Three level this year by Master Carpenter and Vague Nouvelle.
Trainer Willie McCreery tasted Group One success for the first time when his six year-old mare Fiesolana (Aussie Rules) gutsily claimed the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown under Billy Lee to become her Lanwades Stud resident sire’s maiden winner at the highest level.
Originally purchased by Federico Barberini for €35,000 at the 2011 Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale and sent to Jean Claude-Rouget, Fiesolana was subsequently transferred to McCreery in 2013 and returned to the Irish trainer, for whom she has also been successful at Group Two and Three level, after being purchased at last year’s Tattersalls December Mares Sale by Flaxman Stables, a subsidiary of the Niarchos Family, for 960,000 guineas.
One of nine winners out of the winning mare Tidal Reach (Kris S), Fiesolana is a half-sister to the U.S. Grade Two winner Innit (Distinctly North) and the French Grade One winning hurdlers Tidal Fury (Night Shift) and Tidara Angel (Oratorio).
Under a fine ride by Richard Kingscote, Michael Owen’s six year-old homebred colt Brown Panther (Shirocco) recorded his first success at Group One level in the Irish St Leger Stakes, a victory that was all the more heart-warming as his dam Treble Heights (Unfuwain) sadly passed away in July whilst carrying a foal by Nathaniel.
Brown Panther is undoubtedly the standout of the four winners produced by Treble Heights (Unfuwain), the 2003 Listed Aphrodite Stakes winner, the other three being Holoko Heights (Pivotal), a six-time winner under both codes, Third Half (Haafhd), a five-time winner under both codes and the three-time hurdles winner Paddy Partridge (Pivotal), though she did produce a full-brother to Brown Panther in 2012 - subsequently named Cocker - who is in training like his four year older brother with Tom Dascombe.
Shirocco (Monsun) stands at Glenview Stud in County Cork as a jumps stallion for Rathbarry Stud alongside leading sires Presenting and Robin des Champs. Following Brown Panther’s maiden Group One success, he has been responsible for two winners at the highest level on the flat with the first coming in August when the Brazilian-bred Calendula triumphed in the Grande Premio Margarida Polak Lara at Gavea, equalling the number of top level jumps winners the four-time Group One winner has sired in Annie Power and Lac Fontana.
In breeding news, the unbeaten Australian fifteen-time Group One winning mare Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) produced her first foal, a bay filly by leading Australian stallion Exceed And Excel, last week whilst it has been announced by Al Shaqab that their three-time Group One winner Olympic Glory (Choisir) will stand at their Haras de Bouquetot stud in France next season.
On a sadder note, Garryrichard Stud’s useful dual-purpose stallion Jeremy (Danehill Dancer), best known as the sire of 2013 Triumph Hurdle hero Our Conor and this season’s dual-Group Two winning juvenile Kool Kompany has had to be euthanized due to injury, as has Street Cry (Machiavellian), Darley’s two-time Grade/Group One winner and the sire of fifteen individual Grade/Group One winners including Zenyatta and Street Sense.
Chris Hill
Chris is a Pedigree Researcher for Weatherbys Ltd, the company that provides the majority of pedigrees for thoroughbreds sold at public auction in Britain and Ireland and who offer a range of products and services to suit your Bloodstock needs.
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