‘Breeding the best to the best’ sounds a simple enough formula for producing top racehorses, though few breeders have the means to put the theory into practice.
Coolmore are an exception, of course, and the following six of their broodmares have become top producers thanks in no small part to repeat matings with the stud’s late great stallion Galileo.
DIALAFARA was a cast-off from the Aga Khan for whom she won one of her four starts in France, a maiden at Le Croise-Laroche over an extended mile and a half. Although she was by top-class sprinter Anabaa, Dialafara did all her racing over middle distances and stamina has been the main theme among her offspring. Of her nine runners, five have achieved a Timeform rating of 100 or more.
They’re headed by Capri (rated 124), winner of the Irish Derby and the St Leger at Doncaster in 2017, while Passion and Cypress Creek (both 113) are Group 3 winners in Ireland over a mile and three quarters and two miles respectively. Dialafara’s current four-year-old Brazil won the Fred Winter at Cheltenham and while her three-year-old daughter Engagement Ring hasn’t shown much in a couple of Curragh maidens this year, her two-year-old colt Tower of London made a winning debut over a mile at Leopardstown earlier this week (log-in to watch replay below).
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HALFWAY TO HEAVEN was a smart filly (118) for Ballydoyle, winning the Irish 1000 Guineas, Nassau Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes, and therefore showed more stamina than her parents Pivotal and Cassandra Go who were both King’s Stand winners. Her repeat matings with Galileo yielded a couple of fillies who achieved even higher ratings than she did herself.
Rhododendron (120) ended her two-year-old season by winning the Fillies’ Mile, finished runner-up in the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks the following season when winning the Prix de l’Opera and dropped back to a mile to win the Lockinge at four.
Better still was Halfway To Heaven’s next foal Magical (128). She only began to reach her peak late in her three-year-old season when winning the Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot before winning six more Group 1 contests aged four and five, including the Champion Stakes and two editions of the Irish Champion Stakes. Halfway To Heaven’s current three-year-old colt Denver is yet to race.
LILLIE LANGTRY, a daughter of Danehill Dancer, is another Group 1 winner for Ballydoyle who has passed on plenty of her own ability to her offspring. She developed into a very smart miler (120) at three, winning the Coronation Stakes and Matron Stakes.
Her broodmare record is remarkable for the fact that all eight of her foals to date have been fillies. Four of those have achieved Timeform ratings of 100 or more, notably Minding (127), a Moyglare Stud Stakes and Fillies’ Mile winner at two who went on to win the 1000 Guineas, Oaks, Pretty Polly Stakes, Nassau Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at three. Empress Josephine (114) became Lillie Langtry’s second classic winner when successful in last year’s Irish 1000 Guineas and three-year-old Tuesday (118) became her third when emulating Minding at Epsom last month (log-in to watch replay below). Lillie Langtry’s two-year-old Delightful, who holds a Moyglare entry, could make her debut at Galway next week.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsMEOW, by Storm Cat out of the Cheveley Park winner Airwave, raced only over five furlongs as a two-year-old, showing useful form (108) when finishing second in the Queen Mary and winning a Listed race at the Curragh. Her standout foal is Churchill (126) who ended his two-year-old season by winning the National Stakes and Dewhurst and completed the 2000 Guineas double at Newmarket and the Curragh in 2017.
That same year, Meow’s daughter Clemmie (118) was the leading two-year-old filly, emulating her grandam by winning the Cheveley Park, while Meow’s third performer of note is Blenheim Palace (114), winner of the Group 3 Diamond Stakes at Dundalk. Two-year-old filly Dower House made a promising debut when sixth in a maiden at the Curragh last month and holds an entry in a similar event at Galway next week, as well as in the Moyglare Stud Stakes.
RED EVIE was another smart racemare (117), purchased privately by Coolmore after a career for Michael Bell that included Group 1 wins in the Matron Stakes and Lockinge. She too has produced five foals with Timeform ratings of 100 or more, notably Found (129), a big, strong mare in the mould of her dam and winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac at two, the Breeders’ Cup Turf at three and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at four.
Another daughter, Best In The World (110), winner of the Group 3 Give Thanks Stakes, has made a fine start at stud herself, producing last season’s triple Oaks winner Snowfall and the well-regarded Alfred Munnings who started favourite for last month’s Chesham Stakes.
Red Evie’s own daughter Divinely (104) was placed behind Snowfall in the Oaks and Irish Oaks. Her current three-year-old filly Champagne hasn’t run again since finishing in mid-division on her debut at Naas in April.
YOU’RESOTHRILLING was a smart filly (117) and winner of the Cherry Hinton Stakes for Ballydoyle, though always ran the risk of living in the shadow of her brother Giant’s Causeway. But her achievements at stud have made her very much a star in her own right.
When her current three-year-old Toy finished runner-up in the Irish Oaks recently, earning a Timeform rating of 112, it meant that all eight of her foals to have raced have now earned black type and achieved ratings in excess of 110. Pick of those is 2000 Guineas, Irish 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace winner Gleneagles (128), though the fillies Marvellous (116) and Joan of Arc (114) are also classic winners, in the Irish 1000 Guineas and Prix de Diane respectively.
Another daughter, Happily (120), winner of the Moyglare Stud Stakes and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, is You’resothrilling’s fourth Group 1 winner, while Group 3 winner Coolmore (111), Australian Group 2 winner The Taj Mahal (119) and Irish 2000 Guineas runner-up Vatican City (114) complete their dam’s outstanding broodmare record.
