THURSDAY, 29 DECEMBER, 2016 PRELUDE TO A DOHA DERBY IMPRESSIVE USA FIGHTBACK by DaithR Harvey When the opportunity arose for a TDN writer to travel to Doha IN EUROPE IN 2016 to cover the Qatar International Derby Festival, there wasn=t much ruminating from this correspondent=s quarters to put his hand up for the task. Ok, so I was breaking a 20-plus year tradition of attending Leopardstown=s Christmas four-day jump racing extravaganza, but one should never spurn a chance to broaden one=s horizons, so I packed my bag for a whistle-stop maiden voyage to Doha. Al Rayyan Racecourse is part of a large equestrian complex that also plays host to other disciplines such as show-jumping, dressage and Arabian racing. The grandstand enclosure is compact and like most things in Qatar, it radiates a shiny, new feel. The sun was setting by the time the second race was under orders at 5 p.m. local time and as the flood lights kicked in, the crowd amused themselves without the all too familiar distractions of gambling and alcohol. Cont. p5 Tepin | Horsephotos by John Berry The Thoroughbred is a hybrid breed of horse created, if that is IN TDN AMERICA TODAY the right word, in England, albeit partly from various breeds ‘BISCUITS’ A TRUE OVERACHIEVER whose roots lie around the eastern and south-eastern edges of Alan Carasso speaks with Chad Summers, part-owner of Monday’s the Mediterranean. For much of racing history, therefore, the GI Malibu S. hero Mind Your Biscuits (Posse), about the future plans for >new-world' countries have drawn from the British Isles for their the New York-bred. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN America. stock. However, that changed during the 20th century after so many high-class and influential stallions and mares had been sold from Europe to North America that Europeans had to bring American-bred horses to Europe if they were to win the best races. In 1929, after the horse had been at stud in England for just one season, Lord Derby leased Hyperion's G1 2000 Guineas-placed half-brother Sickle (GB) (Phalaris {GB}) to Joseph E. Widener of Elmendorf Stud in Kentucky (with an option to buy in three years' time for $100,000, an option which naturally was taken up when the time came). That deal eventually led to the production of Sickle's great-grandson Native Dancer, thence to Raise a Native and Mr. Prospector. In 1949, Nasrullah (Ire) (Nearco {Ity}) was sold from Brownstown Stud in Ireland to Bull Hancock of Claiborne Farm in Kentucky for $370,000, a deal which massively upgraded the American thoroughbred, thanks largely to his sons Bold Ruler and Never Bend. At the Tattersalls December Sale in Newmarket in 1952, E. P. Taylor of Windfields Farm in Canada bought Pretty Polly's great-great-granddaughter Lady Angela (GB) (Hyperion {GB}), in foal to Nearco (Ity) (Pharos {GB}). Cont. p2 TDN EUROPE/INTERNATIONAL • PAGE 2 OF 9 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • 29 DECEMBER, 2016 Impressive USA Fightback in Europe in 2016 Cont. from p1 The foal which she was carrying, Empire Day (GB) was born in England in 1953, after which she was bred back to Nearco and brought to Canada in-foal. Thus was bred the GB-conceived but Canadian-foaled Nearctic who in turn sired Northern Dancer and thus turned the bloodstock world on its head. A consequence of these and many other similar deals was that through the 1970s and '80s American horses were dominating Europe. However, a crucial decision was taken at the end of the 1984 racing season. During that campaign Vincent O'Brien had trained two top-class 3-year-old colts for Robert Sangster and the Coolmore team, both US-bred sons of Northern Dancer: El Gran Senor and Sadler's Wells. There was more money to be made in the USA, so the more talented of the pair was dispatched to stud in Kentucky at a fee of $200,000, while Sadler's Wells took up residence at Coolmore in Ireland, covering for 125,000 Irish guineas. (Another pertinent factor in the plans might have been that El Gran Senor already had a full-brother standing at Coolmore at the time, Try My Best). El Gran Senor turned out to be a very good stallion, but a subfertile one, only siring small crops. Sadler's Wells, of course, turned out to be an all-time great, almost single-handedly raising the standard of horses bred in the British Isles so much that eventually European horsemen felt that they hardly needed to go to the States to buy horses at all. In 2016, though, the USA has been fighting back. This season in Lady Aurelia ended the season voted Cartier's Champion Europe has been notable for the extent of US-bred success in big 2-Year-Old Filly of Europe, notwithstanding that by that time she races. had lost her unbeaten record when favourite for her final start At Royal Ascot in June, arguably two performances stood out of the year, finishing third in the G1 Cheveley Park S. at among a plethora of Newmarket. No caste was lost for the American Thoroughbred superlative displays in that race, however, at it featured a US-bred trifecta, the two of galloping: the horses finishing ahead of Lady Aurelia being the Aidan victories of Tepin O'Brien-trained pair of War Front fillies Brave Anna and >TDN (Bernstein) in the G1 Rising Star= Roly Poly, previously winners, respectively, of the Queen Anne S. and G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot and the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. of >TDN Rising Star= at Newmarket. Lady Aurelia (Scat That race did not produce Aidan O'Brien's only US-bred Group Daddy) in the G2 1 quinella of the summer. In August, he had provided first and Lady Aurelia | Horsephotos Queen Mary S. One second in the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. at The Curragh, courtesy could not find two of the outstanding Caravaggio (Scat Daddy) leading home his better advertisements for the American Thoroughbred than compatriot and stablemate Courage Under Fire (War Front). these two utterly dominant performances: each winner was not This was the second year running that O'Brien had taken this only bred in the USA, but trained there too. Each kept a winning race with a US-bred colt, having landed it in 2015 with that streak going with her mighty triumph, and in Tepin's case that season's champion 2-year-old Air Force Blue (War Front). This meant winning for the seventh consecutive time in a sequence impressive triumph was the highlight of a stellar unbeaten which already included three Grade I races headed by the 2015 campaign for Caravaggio, who had previously played a starring Breeders' Cup Mile. Both then won in Group/Grade 1 company role at Royal Ascot when taking the G2 Coventry S. by 2 1/4 next time out, Lady Aurelia in France and Tepin in Canada. lengths, trouncing 17 rivals headed by the dual Group 2 winner Mehmas (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}). Cont. p3 TDN EUROPE/INTERNATIONAL • PAGE 3 OF 9 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • 29 DECEMBER, 2016 Royal Ascot in June had been Lady Aurelia and Caravaggio, while Newmarket's July Meeting had seen Roly Poly star among the fillies' ranks by taking the Duchess of Cambridge S. Equally impressive at the July Meeting had been the victory of Godolphin's US-bred colt Boynton (More Than Ready) in the G2 July S., a race in which he was chased home by his Ballydoyle-trained compatriot War Decree (War Front). At the end of the month War Decree went one better at Glorious Goodwood, taking the G2 Vintage S. in impressive style. Other good American-bred horses to take Pattern races in Europe during 2016 included Cannock Chase (Lemon Drop Kid), Royal Artillery (War Front), Syphax (Arch), Nemoralia (More Than Ready), Hathal (Speightstown), War Flag (War Front), Long Island Sound (War Front) and Intelligence Cross (War Front). Caravaggio | Racing Post The last-named was one of two US-bred colts whom Aidan Impressive USA Fightback in Europe in 2016 Cont. O'Brien dispatched to Santa Anita late in the season for the G1 Following Royal Ascot, another midsummer highlight in Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, along with last-start G1 Dewhurst S. England is the G1 Eclipse S. at Sandown in early July. In 2016 this runner-up Lancaster Bomber (War Front). Of the pair, race again produced one of the highpoints of the season when Intelligence Cross was seemingly the stable's first string but did Godolphin's US-bred 3-year-old Hawkbill (Kitten's Joy) not enjoy the run of the race, finishing only a never-nearer outgunned Aidan O'Brien's wide-margin G1 Poule d'Essai des ninth. Lancaster Bomber, though, ran a mighty race to finish Poulains winner The Gurkha (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in a thrilling second behind Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy), a performance finish. Hawkbill was not the only high-class son of Kitten's Joy which suggests that, like Caravaggio, War Decree, Brave Anna racing in Europe during the season: the Jean-Claude and Roly Poly, he and Intelligence Cross ought both to figure Rouget-trained colt Taareef enjoyed an excellent campaign in prominently in Aidan O'Brien's Classic plans for 2017. France, highlighted by his triumph in the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein at Chantilly on Arc Day. Furthermore, former G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Bobby's Kitten was trained in Ireland during 2016 (before retiring to Lanwades Stud) where his only outing saw him land an ultra-impressive 8 1/2-length triumph on what should have been unsuitable ground in the Cork S.