John Ingles looks at the the pedigrees of Ruling Court and Desert Flower whose stamina will be tested in the Derby and Oaks.
Having completed a Guineas double for Godolphin, Charlie Appleby and William Buick last weekend, thoughts now turn to Epsom for both Ruling Court and Desert Flower. Ruling Court has been promoted to second favourite for the Derby behind The Lion In Winter, absent at Newmarket but winner of last year’s Acomb Stakes in which he had Ruling Court back in third, while Desert Flower is a clear favourite for the Oaks.
In winning the 2000 Guineas, Ruling Court was succeeding where another son of US Triple Crown winner Justify, City of Troy, had failed twelve months earlier only to bounce back from that very disappointing display with a high-class effort in the Derby where he relished the extra half-mile.
That’s clearly a good precedent as far as Ruling Court’s own Derby bid is concerned, and there’s some encouragement too from the dam’s side of his pedigree. Like City of Troy, who is out of a Galileo mare, Ruling Court is out of a mare by a Derby-winning son of Sadler’s Wells, namely High Chaparral who won at Epsom a year after Galileo.
Although Ruling Court has a USA suffix, his family is a British one developed by the Oppenheimer family, though his dam Inchargeofme did all her racing in the States. Inchargeofme won three of her 13 starts, being successful from a mile to nine furlongs, though she fared less well on her sole try at a mile and a half, finishing only fourth of five in the Grade 3 Bewitch Stakes at Keeneland as a four-year-old. She ran her best race when tried in Grade 3 company again on her final outing at five, finishing third over an extended mile.
Interestingly, Inchargeofme’s smart brother Johann Strauss didn’t show much of their sire’s stamina either. Johann Strauss was still a maiden for Aidan O’Brien when finishing runner-up to future St Leger winner Kingston Hill in the Racing Post Trophy at two, while he gained his only win when dropped back to seven furlongs for a maiden at Dundalk the following year ahead of a rather remote fourth to Kingman in the Irish 2000 Guineas. Johann Strauss raced in Dubai for the rest of his career where his third place in the Jebel Hatta showed he stayed nine furlongs.
More stamina was shown by Inchargeofme’s half-brother Mythical who is by the last sire to complete the 2000 Guineas-Derby double, Camelot. Mythical was a useful performer on the Flat in his younger days, finishing third in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud on his final start at two, though was a big outsider when finishing down the field in both the Derby and St Leger. Just modest in handicaps these days, Mythical has at least shown he stays a mile and three quarters.
Ruling Court’s grandam Inchina was unraced, but she was out of Incheni who was by another 2000 Guineas and Derby winner Nashwan. Incheni finished down the field in the 1000 Guineas after finishing second in the Nell Gwyn and confirmed herself a useful filly when later winning a listed race at Newbury over a mile and a quarter. Incheni’s full brother Inchlonaig ran in the Derby for Godolphin and Saeed bin Suroor but didn’t seem to handle the track, though he later had some smart form in Dubai over a mile and a half. The best of Incheni’s siblings was the smart colt Inchinor, a game and genuine seven-furlong and mile performer.
They were among eight winners out of the smart filly Inchmurrin who gained her biggest win in the then Group 2 Child Stakes, nowadays the Falmouth. Among Inchmurrin’s notable descendants are grandson Harbour Law, the 2016 St Leger winner who finished third in the following season’s Gold Cup, and great grandson Poet’s Word, the 2018 King George winner. Coincidentally, this is also the family of potentially Ruling Court’s arch Epsom rival The Lion In Winter who is another of Inchmurrin’s great grandsons.
Focus on the fillies
Despite her place at the head of the Oaks betting, Desert Flower looks to have less stamina to call on in her pedigree, at least close up. Her sire Night of Thunder won the 2000 Guineas and proved best at a mile thereafter, failing to get home in the Eclipse on his only try over further. Night of Thunder’s best colt Economics has no trouble with a mile and a quarter himself, but he has stamina on his dam’s side and on the whole Night of Thunder isn’t known for his mile and a half performers.
That rather shifts the burden to the dam’s side of Desert Flower’s pedigree, but there’s not a great deal of stamina to be found without going back a bit. Her smart dam Promising Run, by the Kentucky Derby runner-up (and later Grade 1 seven-furlong winner) Hard Spun, did well for Godolphin and Saeed bin Suroor, winning pattern races in all four seasons that she raced, starting with the Rockfel before finishing only seventh in the Fillies’ Mile which her daughter was to win so impressively.
Promising Run’s 1000 Guineas bid came at Meydan (where she was a remote second) rather than Newmarket and she went on to win four more times in Turkey and Dubai at up to nine furlongs but didn’t give her running in face of a stiff task on her sole try at a mile and a half in the Fillies & Mares Stakes. Her previous foal Aablan (by Night of Thunder’s sire Dubawi) won a substandard Solario Stakes but offers few clues stamina-wise as he hasn’t raced since the age of two.
Desert Flower’s grandam Aviacion raced in Brazil where she won four races, including a Grade 1 contest over a mile and a quarter. A granddaughter of Derby winner Shirley Heights, she’s by smart French/US middle-distance performer Know Heights and among her eight winners are some who have stayed much longer trips than Promising Run. They include useful filly Arabian Comet (another by Dubawi) who was runner-up in the Lillie Langtry Stakes, the bumper winner King of Unicorns who is of note for also being by Night of Thunder, and the smart staying hurdler Aqalim who was by Raven’s Pass.
Falakeyah staked her own claims for the Oaks on Newmarket’s Sunday card when making all the running to win the Pretty Polly Stakes. The way she races might put a cap on her stamina for the time being but judged strictly on pedigree she makes more appeal for a mile and a half than the 1000 Guineas winner.
Falakeyah is by another son of Dubawi, the Prix du Jockey Club winner New Bay, who was proven over a mile and a half, also winning the Prix Niel before a good third in the Arc. Dubawi is the sire of her dam’s previous foal Rowayeh who has won twice at around a mile but wasn’t at her best when tried a couple of times over further.
Their unraced dam Alaflaak is a daughter of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Lahudood which makes her a half-sister to the excellent Shadwell broodmare Aghareed, the dam of top-class brothers Hukum and Baaeed, by Sea The Stars.
While Baaeed was never tried over a mile and a half, his brother Hukum gained his two biggest wins at the trip in the Coronation Cup and King George, and he won over further still. Their Nathaniel half-brother Naqeeb is even more of a staying type, putting up a smart effort in defeat over two miles last year. Another stayer in the family is Lahudood’s son Mahrajaan who has done well in New Zealand, winning the Group 2 Auckland Cup.
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