Pedigree Insights
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Andrew Caulfield, November 17, 2009-Passion For Gold Freedman went on to suggest that the Board of the P EDIGREE INSIGHTS Breeders= Cup should award the fixture only to tracks BY ANDREW CAULFIELD with synthetic surfaces, in Aa step that would show U.S. racing to be both internationalist in outlook and aware of CRITERIUM DE SAINT-CLOUD-G1, i250,000, Saint- the need to restore its image with the wider public.@ Cloud, 11-14, 2yo, c/f, 1 1/4mT, 2:19.10, hy. I would have to agree that it is no longer easy for #@sPASSION FOR GOLD, 126, c, 2, by Medaglia d’Oro Europeans to buy or breed in America with a view to 1st Dam: C’Est L’ Amour (GSW & GISP, $265,137), by Thunder Gulch racing on turf in Europe. Remember, British and Irish 2nd Dam: L=Amour Toujours, by Blushing Groom (Fr) stallion farms now have stallions of the calibre of 3rd Dam: Paint the Town, by Vaguely Noble (Ire) Galileo, Montjeu, Danehill Dancer, Pivotal, Dansili and ($125,000 yrl >08 KEESEP; 260,000gns 2yo >09 Oasis Dream, plus some highly qualified younger TATAPR). O-Godolphin; B-Mr & Mrs M Roy Jackson; stallions, such as New Approach, Raven=s Pass, Duke T-Saeed bin Suroor; J-Frankie Dettori; 142,850. i of Marmalade, Dylan Thomas and Sea The Stars. So Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-1, i159,959. *Third why should Europeans wish to gamble substantial sums G1/GISW for sire (by El Prado {Ire}). Click for the of money on horses whose prospects of siring top turf eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+. There has been much recent discussion in the British horses are unclear, largely because their immediate media about the health--or otherwise--of the American ancestors established their reputations on dirt and-- racing and breeding industries. For example, Philip most likely--on medication? Freedman, writing in Racing Post last Friday, said: Of course, the likes of Northern Dancer, Mr. Prospector, AAlthough a substantial number of the top lots Never Bend and Hail to Reason were all major winners on purchased at Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton this week dirt, but even they needed intrepid pioneers to follow the might have been for export, there is a growing unknown path of racing their progeny in Europe. In perception that the American breed is becoming today=s more commercial industry, such intrepidity is a somewhat isolated from the rest of the world, not least luxury affordable to fewer and fewer owners. because of the continuing domination of traditional dirt Click for the Racing Post chart or the free brisnet.com racing, and the reliance that creates on medications catalogue-style pedigree. banned in other racing jurisdictions.@ www.coolmore.com Caulfield Cont. Frankie Dettori certainly sounded delighted at the Fortunately, Sheikh Mohammed and his Godolphin prospect of partnering him in next year=s Derby. Dettori team have been prepared to take a chance on buying attributed Passion for Gold=s improved display to the the progeny of the dirt specialist Medaglia d=Oro, largely extra quarter mile the colt was tackling for the first time. at the two-year-old sales. Stamina wasn=t the forte of the colt=s dam C=Est Al Marmoom, a 200,000gns colt from the 2008 l=Amour, a first-crop daughter of Thunder Gulch. Quick Craven Breeze-Up Sale, carried the Godolphin colors to enough to finish first or second in five of her juvenile victory in a maiden race at Yarmouth last year, to starts, she progressed to win the GII Nassau County S. become one of the first British winners for Medaglia over seven furlongs prior to finishing second to Finder=s d=Oro. Then, in the months prior to Medaglia d=Oro=s Fee in the GI Acorn S. over a mile. purchase by Darley, John Ferguson paid $1.6 million for However, C=Est l=Amour was bred to be suited by at a colt out of Bayou Plans at Fasig-Tipton in February, least a mile and a quarter. You won=t need reminding and Dick O=Gorman paid 260,000gns for a colt out of that Thunder Gulch triumphed in both the Kentucky C=Est L=Amour at the 2009 Craven Breeze Up. Derby and the Belmont, having earlier won the Both these colts headed for Saeed bin Suroor=s nine-furlong Remsen S., arguably America=s nearest Newmarket yard, and both have developed into Group equivalent to the Criterium de Saint-Cloud. C=Est 1 performers. It is therefore going to be interesting to L=Amour, a graduate of Peggy Augustus= famous see how many of the numerous Medaglia d=Oro Keswick Stables, is out of L=Amour Toujours, a Blushing yearlings bought by John Ferguson at this year=s Groom filly who carried the Augustus colors to victory American yearling sales, headed by the $1.5-million filly at Listed level over a mile and a quarter in France. The out of Cat Dancer, are destined for Newmarket. next dam, Vaguely Noble=s daughter Paint The Town, Both of Godolphin=s Group 1 performers by Medaglia did even better, earning a Timeform rating of 121 at d=Oro have advertised the merits of Montjeu=s unbeaten three when she was a Group 3 winner over 1 9/16 son St Nicholas Abbey. Al Zir, the Fasig-Tipton miles. alumnus, looked extremely talented when he made There are therefore strong European connections in much of the running to win his first two starts, but C=Est l=Amour=s pedigree, which extend to Thunder couldn=t match strides with either St Nicholas Abbey or Gulch=s dam Line of Thunder. This mare was a daughter Elusive Pimpernel in the final stages of the G1 Racing of the Irish Oaks winner Shoot A Line, who stayed well Post Trophy. Passion for Gold, the 260,000-guineas enough to finish second in the Gold Cup at Royal colt from Tattersalls, suffered a similar fate when he Ascot. came up against St Nicholas Abbey in the G2 Of course, there are also some European turf Juddmonte Beresford S. He, too, finished third, beaten elements to be found in Medaglia d=Oro=s pedigree, more than two lengths, but Passion For Gold looked a because his sire El Prado was produced by a mating very different proposition on much softer ground three between winners of the Irish 2000 Guineas and Irish days ago, when he skipped through the mud to take 1000 Guineas. That Irish 2000 Guineas winner was the Sadler=s Wells, a sire of two Epsom Derby winners, and G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud by six lengths. In the the Irish 1000 Guineas winner was Lady Capulet, a process, he became Godolphin=s second Group 1 daughter of the Epsom Derby winner Sir Ivor. With this winner in the space of eight days to have been acquired in mind, the idea of a dirt performer like Medaglia d=Oro from the Craven Breeze-Up, his predecessor being the siring a leading contender for the Derby isn=t nearly so Breeders= Cup Juvenile winner Vale of York (Invincible incongruous. Spirit {Ire}). It shouldn=t be forgotten that Passion for Gold=s Passion for Gold, f, 2007 opposition in the Criterium included three of St Nicholas Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Abbey=s stable companions, with Mikhail Glinka (Galileo Fairy Bridge El Prado (Ire) {Ire}) finishing second and Don Carlos (Galileo {Ire}) Sir Ivor Lady Capulet fourth. Aidan O=Brien must hold these colts in high Cap and Bells regard, judging by the type of colt he usually sends for Medaglia d’Oro Damascus this mile-and-a- quarter Group 1 race. In recent years, Bailjumper Court Circuit he was represented by the likes of Ballingarry (the 2001 Cappucino Bay Silent Screen winner who went on to finish third in the Irish Derby Dubbed In Society Singer and to win the Canadian International), Black Sam Mr. Prospector Bellamy (later to become a dual G1 winner), Soldier of Gulch Jameela Fortune (the 2006 runner-up who went on to win the Thunder Gulch Storm Bird Irish Derby) and Fame And Glory (runner-up to Sea The Line of Thunder C’Est L’Amour Shoot a Line (GB) Stars in the Derby before impressively winning the Irish GSW & GISP Red God version). 5Fls, 1 GSW Blushing Groom (Fr) L’Amour Toujours Runaway Bride Perhaps Passion for Gold was the only one who MSW *Vaguely Noble relished the heavy conditions, but I wouldn=t rule out 11Fls, 1GSW Paint the Town Belle de Nuit the possibility that he is a rapidly improving performer..