Pedigree Pointers: Book One Toppers from Tattersalls

DAY ONE

167 - Dubawi x Ring The Bell (by Galileo) 1.5m

The magic of the Dubawi – Galileo cross is the worst kept secret in bloodstock. Galileo’s first crop Classic winner Nightime produced World Champion and Horse Of The Year Ghaiyyath by Dubawi. Night Of Thunder was Dubawi’s second 2000 Guineas winner and first out of a Galileo mare. With Galileo’s best daughters just beginning to hit their stride at stud, the once perennial and apparently unsurmountable former Champion Sire is unsurprisingly taking a similar stranglehold on his new title as Champion Broodmare sire. A strike rate of 5% stakes winners to foals of racing age in this new role is up there with the greats of years gone by and in mating said daughters to the current leading sire in GB & Ireland, that strike rate increases to 8%. Is it any surprise that after Day One of Europe’s sales circuit highlight, a striking colt bred on that exact fruitful cross sat at the top of the leader board?

Given the cost the stallions in question require(d), it’s no surprise the pedigree of a session topper like this is teetering near the top of the list of elite active European families. Ring The Bell made the track just once, but her siblings have done more than enough to enhance her credentials. A full sister to no less than three Group One winners, Ring The Bell’s dam Beauty Is Truth has benefited gloriously from ten matings with the former Champion sire. Hermosa was a dual Classic winner in both the English and Irish 1000 Guineas whilst full sister Hydrangea’s achievements are headed by a pair of Group 1 wins. Both fillies are retained by their owner breeder Coolmore meaning the pedigree has immeasurable potential to improve, hard as that may seem to fathom. Ring The Bell is the oldest of the trio and has already proven her mettle through her black type earning first foal Voice Of Angels (Dark Angel).

The addition of Galileo to this family led to an embarrassment of riches. In adding the Champion Sire elect, who knows how far this colt could go? The ingredients are all there notwithstanding the fact he is presumably set to join the trainer of two separate Classic winners by Dubawi in 2022 alone. Only when talking about prized bloodstock could we possibly say, 1.5 million Guineas may prove a real bargain in due course.

DAY TWO

Frankel x So Mi Dar – 2.8 mil

Whispers around Park Paddocks suggested that fireworks were going to fly on day two of Tattersalls’ flagship yearling sale, and said whispers duly blossomed into animated hushed tones of the senior Tattersalls auctioneers. No less than eight yearlings broke the 1 million guineas barrier with a pair of Frankels going one better and making over two million. Frankel was the name on everyone’s lips and so he should be. Alpinista’s Arc was another major string to his bow along with two additional Classic wins in 2022 thanks to Westover and Homeless Songs. The latter was the second Classic winner bred on the lucrative Frankel x Dubawi mare cross following Adayar’s unforgettable romp at Epsom in 2021. Lot 221 is a son of Frankel out of the G3 Musidora winner So Mi Dar (Dubawi), and undoubtedly it will be Classics on the minds of his new connections when he carries the Royal Blue of Godolphin worn by the aforementioned Adayar. From the extended family of Darshaan, there are Group Ones littered throughout the page but quite unbelievably there is no Classic winner amongst six Group One winners in the first three dams.

Frankel will have to succeed where Galileo and Sea The Stars have failed as this is the dam’s third foal with neither of her first two making the racecourse to date. The strength and depth on this page is hard to fathom, but there is no such thing as perfection and it has an Achilles heel. So Mi Dar galloped to the forefront of the Epsom Oaks betting in taking the Musidora Stakes by four lengths. Like her full sister Lah Ti Dar who followed, as well as Champion Two Year Old full brother Too Darn Hot, setbacks have scuppered the chances of this family landing a Classic with all three stakes winners missing their intended targets. They say ‘bad’ things come in threes and given the rate at which everything Frankel touches turns to gold; the odds are surely in this colt’s favour to buck such a sorry trend.

Frankel – Sweepstake – 2.4m

As a massive fan of the grossly underrated Derby winner Australia, far be it from me to suggest that Frankel can improve on what he has achieved from two matings with Sweepstake. However, Frankel is rapidly crowning himself Galileo’s leading son at stud and if that is the case, it’s exciting to imagine what this colt might do. Imaginations or rather predictions must have been running high as lot 238 entered the ring with the two superpowers of the European racing scene going head to head to secure him. In the end, it was the farm that ably assisted in making Sweepstake the crowned jewel she is through the exploits of G1 winner Broome and G2 winning juvenile Point Lonsdale who prevailed. Most likely set to join an elite string of blue blooded homebreds in Ballydoyle, this colt will no doubt have the Classics on his agenda. A daughter of Acclamation, Sweepstake was as precocious as she was fast in winning the National Stakes run in May over five furlongs as a juvenile. The records indicate that Frankel throws to the mare and with Sweepstake flashing speedy brilliance as a juvenile but staying a mile when sent to America at three, there’s every reason to hope the Dewhurst is the first major test on this colt’s agenda with the 2000 Guineas the ultimate goal.

Lope de Vega x Anna Law (Lawman) – 1.8m

One of the hottest families around, it’s not hard to see why this filly was in such high demand. Anna Law was a 14,000gns purchase from Tattersalls October HIT sale in 2012 by the McCartans of Ballyphilip Stud and has repaid that initial outlay in life changing and probably incalculable amounts. Promising young sire Tasleet was born the following year whilst the McCartans of Ballyphilip Stud recognised their commodity’s potential and wasted no time in sending her to Group 1 winning juvenile Dark Angel just as his career was beginning to take off. The resulting offspring was none other than Shadwell’s decorated Champion Sprinter Battaash whilst his six year younger brother The Antarctic has proven it was no fluke in taking the G3 Prix de Cabourg was well as finishing second to his stablemate in the G1 Middle Park this year. Considering Battaash took until July of his three year old season to score at G3 level, dare we even dream The Antarctic might be as good? Regardless, this Lope de Vega filly commanding 1.8 million guineas dare I say it should not come as a surprise. Lawman mares bred to Lope de Vega have a 17% stakes winning success rate (3 stakes winners from just 18 foals), whilst she also possesses a vital skill her illustrious brother does not. With Battaash gelded, this filly will be a valuable breeding prospect whatever she does on the track. This is Lope de Vega’s first six figure bred crop so the pressure is on to perform. If the rest of his book looks anything like this, stallion masters at Ballylinch Stud will be counting down the dark winter days faster than most in anticipation of the 2023 season.

DAY THREE

Frankel x Bold Lass

Bred on the same cross as Grand Prix de Paris winner Onesto, this colt is inbred 3 x 3 to the matriarch of broodmares Urban Sea. Breed the best to the best and hope for the best is the overused phrase, but sending a useful daughter of the sire of Baaeed to the hottest sire around is one way of maximising your chances of a sales session topper. There is speed and class through this pedigree with second dam My Branch placing in both the Cheveley Park Stakes at two and the 1000 Guineas at three. Bold Lass was one of Sea The Stars quicker offspring, she showed her best form over a mile. That said, her daughter by American sprinter Speightstown was best over a mile too so whether this colt will need at least the Guineas trip to show his best remains to be seen. One thing is for certain, at a cost of two million guineas the Classics will be at the forefront of his new undisclosed connections’ minds. Anything less would have to be considered a disappointment.

Frankel x Blue Waltz

The Frankel x Pivotal mare is on a fast track to becoming as desirable as his much-missed sire Galileo when mixed with the durable sprinter’s daughters. Cracksman, Nashwa, Veracious and Wild Beauty are just four top flight household names bred on the cross. Cracksman remains Frankel’s highest rated runner which only adds to the appeal of this colt. The dam Blue Waltz was useful and her 2019 colt Blue Boat who is a full brother to this yearling has done everything right in his career so far for Francis Graffard in France. Frankel aside, the real appeal here comes under the second dam. Blue Waltz’s sisters have already exceeded their own achievements on the track with their progeny. Fantasia is a hardy daughter of Sadler’s Wells and Pink Symphony is a Listed winner by his son Montjeu. Both have started their breeding careers in style most notably the latter as the dam of G1 Man o’ War Stakes winner Highland Chief – a son of Gleneagles who is of course a grandson of Sadler’s Wells. Another winning half-sister Blue Rhapsody is responsible for G2 winner Western Hymn (High Chaparral) who is by another descendant of Sadler’s Wells. That makes four graded stakes winners descending from Sadler’s Wells in the first two dams, is this the fifth? The price tag suggests he is, and his pedigree certainly doesn’t disagree.

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