Andrew Caulfield, September 25, 2007–Dark Angel (Ire) P EDIGREE INSIGHTS Another link between Royal Applause and Acclamation is that they owed a substantial part of BY ANDREW CAULFIELD their lead to successes in richly endowed sales-linked races. Acclamation himself easily defeated a large field DUBAI DUTY FREE MILL REEF S.-G2, ,65,000, to take the ,200,000 St Leger Yearling S. on his final Newbury, 9-22, 2yo, 6f 8ydsT, 1:11.68, gd/fm. juvenile appearance, and the wheel turned full circle 1--#@DARK ANGEL (IRE), 127, c, 2, by Acclamation (GB) this summer when his son Dark Angel took the 1st Dam: Midnight Angel (GB), by Machiavellian ,300,000 St Leger Yearling S. 2nd Dam: Night at Sea (GB), by Night Shift 3rd Dam: Into Harbour (GB), by Right Tack (GB) (61,000gns yrl >06 DONSEP). O-The Hon Mrs J M DARK ANGEL (IRE), c, 2005 Try My Best Corbett & C Wright; B-Yeomanstown Stud; T-Barry Waajib (Ire) Hills; J-Michael Hills; ,36,907. Lifetime Record: Royal Applause Coryana (Ire) (GB) Auction Ring 7-3-1-0, ,238,704. *4th SW & 1st GSW for Flying Melody (Ire) freshman sire (by Royal Applause {GB}). Whispering Star Acclamation (GB) *Lorenzaccio Click for Racing Post chart or brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. Ahonoora (GB) Helen Nichols (GB) Princess Athena History, once again, is busily repeating itself, this (Ire) Floribunda (GB) time on the first-crop sire front. By some weird Shopping Wise (GB) coincidence, America's table of first-crop sires is being Sea Melody (GB) Raise a Native led by a comfortable margin by Posse, whose sire Silver Mr. Prospector Gold Digger Deputy was the champion freshman sire of 1992, Machiavellian Halo ahead of Gulch and Forty Niner. It's a similar story over Midnight Angel Coup de Folie in Britain and Ireland, where Acclamation holds a (GB) Raise the Standard Unraced Night At Sea (GB) Northern Dancer seemingly unassailable lead of over ,400,000 over 6Fls, 1GSW Night Shift Oasis Dream and Choisir. Acclamation is also a son of a SW, 11-3-1-1, Ciboulette $54,734 Into Harbour (GB) Right Tack (GB) champion first-crop sire, as his sire Royal Applause 13Fls, 1SP defeated Choisir's sire Danehill Dancer to take the title 14Fls, 1SW Headland (GB) in 2001. www.coolmore.com I must admit to having mixed feelings about the rich Put another way, Acclamation's background is one of sales-related races which are proliferating in Britain and speed, speed and more speed, mixed with a degree of Ireland. While they are a useful marketing tool, and help durability. support the commercial sector of the market, they run Acclamation's progeny wasted absolutely no time in the risk of giving an unbalanced view of the demonstrating that they had inherited ample measures two-year-old scene. For example, Dark Angel collected of their sire's speed and precociousness. Even before a first prize of ,187,000 while achieving a Racing Post the Royal Ascot meeting in June, he had notched up 12 rating of 99+ in the St Leger Yearling S. Compare that individual winners from a crop of 85 and the winners to the amounts earned--and the ratings achieved--by have continued to flow, to the extent that his total now the winners of the same meeting's three juvenile group stands at 20. No fewer than nine of his runners have races. Fast Company, Sir Gerry and Nahoodh earned black-type, with Dark Angel leading a team of respectively received ,23,000, ,76,000 and ,50,000 in four stakes winners. achieving ratings of 107, 112 and 106. Acclamation's Speed has been the dominant feature of his progeny, impressive prize-money total also includes a sum of to the extent that 27 of their 30 victories in Britain or nearly ,200,000 collected by his son Hitchens in Ireland have been gained over five or six furlongs. The finishing second in the Goffs Million for colts and exceptions have been the useful Newly Elected, whose geldings. dam raced at up to 1 1/2 miles, and the mile winner I'm delighted to say, though, that Dark Angel has Tamara Moon, who is out of a mare by the Arc winner now shown that he, too, is worthy of group success, Peintre Celebre. as he led throughout to defeat Group 2 winner Strike In view of the parallels between Acclamation and the Deal by a neck in the G2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Royal Applause, there is a fair chance that Acclamation S. (with Berbice, another son of Acclamation, in third). will sire the occasional good winner beyond a mile. In the process, he again emulated his sire Acclamation, Royal Applause's stakes winners include Take A Bow, a who also achieved a Group 2 success (at the age of Group 3 winner over 1 1/4 miles this year, and Ticker four, in the Diadem S.). Tape, winner of the GI American Oaks. Acclamation represents another considerable success Six furlongs already suits Dark Angel better than five, for the Cashman family's Rathbarry Stud, previously but there's no guarantee that he will stay much further, home to several other high-ranked new stallions, such as his second dam Night At Sea--another who as Alzao, Barathea and Tagula. His lack of a Group 1 contested the King George S.--gained her only stakes success meant that Acclamation started his stallion success over five furlongs. Incidentally, his third dam, career at only i10,000 in 2004, but it quickly became Into Harbour, was a daughter of Right Tack, a dual apparent that the Rathbarry team had a potential hit on Guineas winner whose sire, Hard Tack, was produced its hands. Acclamation's first weanlings were in solid by Acclamation's fourth dam, Cowes. Hard Tack's best demand at the sales, and it was a similar story at the effort was a second--you've guessed it--in the King 2006 yearling sales, even though none of his George S. youngsters sold for more than 90,000gns. As a 61,000-guineas purchase at Doncaster, Dark Angel was one of Acclamation's most popular sons, and he has proved an excellent buy. Acclamation was bred to mature very quickly, as both his parents--Royal Applause and the Ahonoora mare Princess Athena--gained their first group success as two-year-olds at Royal Ascot in June. Royal Applause took the Coventry S., whereas Princess Athena landed the Queen Mary S., and Acclamation's second dam, Shopping Wise, was by Floribunda, another impressive winner of one of Royal Ascot's main juvenile prizes. There's a temptation to think that horses which mature quickly will ultimately pay the price for possessing precocious speed. However, Acclamation's immediate ancestors--far from burning themselves out-- trained on very well. Royal Applause proceeded to win the G2 Gimcrack S. and G1 Middle Park S. during an unbeaten juvenile campaign and returned to his best at four, when he was Europe's champion sprinter. Princess Athena went on to be placed at three and four in the G3 King George S. over Goodwood's fast five furlongs. In this tale of coincidences, Princess Athena's sire Ahonoora and broodmare sire Floribunda also contested the King George, winning in 1961 and 1979, respectively. .