Pedigree analysis of Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Alpinista

24 hours after Sandown's Coral-Eclipse was won by the French colt Vadeni, another successful cross-channel raid on a Group 1 contest took place in the opposite direction.

Five of the runners in this year's Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud were trained in Britain or Ireland, headed by last season’s St Leger and Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane. But he proved a disappointment along with fellow visitors Lone Eagle, High Definition and Third Realm.

Instead, victory went to Alpinista, trained by Sir Mark Prescott for Kirsten Rausing, with the five-year-old daughter of Frankel making her first appearance of the season. That extended Alpinista’s winning sequence to six races, with the last four of those now being Group 1 contests on the continent.

Placed with typical skill by her trainer, Alpinista enjoyed an unbeaten campaign in 2021, starting off at home by winning a listed race at Goodwood and then the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock, before completing a hat-trick in three of Germany’s top mile and a half contests at Hoppegarten, Cologne and Munich.

Some might have questioned what Alpinista’s German form amounted to, even after she’d had the German Derby winner Sisfahan back in third at Cologne. But it suddenly looked a lot more substantial when Torquator Tasso, the colt Alpinista had prevented from winning his second Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten, caused a huge upset when beating Hurricane Lane and others in the Arc.

The result certainly gave Alpinista’s connections food for thought and she’s had this year’s Arc on her own agenda ever since. Torquator Tasso has the same objective again, and he too confirmed his current well-being when winning a Group 2 contest at Hamburg last Saturday.

Alpinista’s Group 1 hat-trick in Germany last year was all the more noteworthy because her trainer had pulled off the same feat with Alpinista’s grandam Albanova 18 years earlier. The German calendar has changed a bit since, but Albanova’s hat-trick, gained as a five-year-old, essentially consisted of the same three races and, in her case, was completed by the Preis von Europa at Cologne.

Albanova achieved a Timeform rating of 119 while her granddaughter has bettered that, running to 121 when winning in Berlin last summer. Alpinista’s dam Alwilda, rated 101, had a few unsuccessful ventures into pattern company but Prescott managed to find her an opportunity to win some ‘black type’ in a listed contest at Cologne on the Preis von Europa card in 2015. By Hernando, Alwilda was more of a stayer than either her dam or her daughter, with that win coming over two miles and three furlongs.

Alpinista is Alwida’s first foal and is followed by her French-trained three-year-old half-sister Alpenblume (by Kendargent) whose career has begun promisingly, winning both her starts to date.

Albanova has been an excellent broodmare for Ms Rausing’s Lanwades Stud, with Alpinista’s dam of one six of her foals to earn a Timeform rating of 100 or more. The rest include her smart sons Algometer (119) and Alignak (118). Algometer was deemed good enough to contest the 2016 Derby before winning the Arc Trial at Newbury later that season, while six-year-old entire Alignak, a former Listed winner with Sir Michael Stoute, showed smart form in Dubai for Jamie Osborne earlier this year and ran in last month’s Gold Cup.

While Alignak failed to make much impression at Royal Ascot, there was success for the family elsewhere at the meeting. Another of Albanova’s smart offspring was All At Sea who carried the Rausing colours to success in three listed races in France when trained by Andre Fabre. She is now the dam of Eldar Eldarov (by Dubawi), a £480,000 breeze-up purchase who kept his unbeaten record when winning the Queen’s Vase at the Royal meeting.

Eldar Eladarov has been given a Goodwood Cup entry later this month (as has Alignak) but later in the season he has put himself in the reckoning for the St Leger. Were Eldar Eldarov to be successful at Doncaster, he would become the family’s second St Leger winner in only a few years after 2020 winner Galileo Chrome.

Both trace back to Alruccaba, a two-year-old winner at Brighton for her breeder the Aga Khan. Bought for just 19,000 guineas by Ms Rausing in partnership with Airlie Stud’s Sonia Rogers, Alruccaba proved an excellent broodmare, most of whose foals turned out to be fillies. Sir Mark Prescott trained a couple of the best of them, Alleluia (117), winner of the Doncaster Cup for Mrs Rogers, and Last Second (121) – Galileo Chrome’s great grandam - who won the Nassau Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes for Faisal Salman in the days before those races became Group 1 contests. Three years before Alpinista won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, Last Second’s granddaughter Coronet won the same race, she too doing so at the age of five.

Something which many of the female descendants of Alruccaba have inherited – Alpinista, Albanova and Coronet included – is her grey coat, something also shared by the family’s best filly who hasn’t been mentioned yet. Galway listed winner Alouette proved the most influential of Alruccaba’s daughters for Ms Rausing as her nine winners included not only Alpinista’s grandam Albanova, but also Albanova’s full sister Alborada.

Rated 122, the game and reliable Albanova had a bit more speed than her sister and never raced over as far as a mile and a half. A mile and a quarter was her trip as she proved with wins at three in the Pretty Polly Stakes and Nassau Stakes (both Group 2 contests then) before finishing runner-up to the top-class Godolphin horse Swain in the Irish Champion Stakes and then going one better in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket. A year later, Alborada gained a repeat win in the Champion Stakes despite being restricted to just one run in the preceding twelve months when fifth in the Nassau.

Like her sister, Alborada has passed on much of her own ability to her offspring. Among her descendants are great granddaughter Alyssa, winner of the 2017 Park Hill Stakes in Ms Rausing’s colours, and Shine So Bright, much less typical of the family in being a smart performer over seven furlongs; he’s won both his starts in handicaps at Newmarket this season.

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