Sunday, Thoroughbred Daily News June 23, 2002 TDN For information, call (732) 747-8060. HEADLINE NEWS NO JUBILATION FOR JOHANNESBURG GERALD LEIGH DIES “It’s very possible he won’t run again.” Those were Gerald Leigh, one of the most prominent British part of the post-race comments from Ballydoyle trainer owner/breeders, died yesterday morning after a long Aidan O’Brien after Johannesburg (Hennessy) finished a battle with cancer. Famed for having bred 1994 GI well-beaten ninth in yesterday’s G1 Golden Jubilee S. Breeders’ Cup Mile hero Barathea (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) on the closing program of the Royal Ascot meeting. and his sister Gossamer (GB) (Sadler’s Wells), winner of Sheikh Hamdan’s Malhub this year’s G1 Irish 1000 Guineas, Leigh built a formida- (Kingmambo), a huge 16-1 ble broodmare band at his 600-acre Eydon Hall Farm shot, caused the upset be- Stud over the last two decades. He began as a breeder neath jockey Kevin Darley to at Cayton Park Stud 30 years ago before moving to beat Danehurst (GB) (Danehill) Eydon in Northamptonshire. From that base he bred by 1½ lengths, but clearly all Brocade (GB) (Habitat), a Group 1 winner in France who eyes were on last year’s would go on to produce Barathea and Gossamer. Oth- superhorse and his inability to ers to carry Leigh’s brown and beige silks to success discover his past glory. The included Infamy (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}), who took Malhub scores the upset champ was making his first Julian Herbert/Getty Images start since finishing an up-the- the GI Rothmans International at Woodbine in 1988; track eighth in the Kentucky and Markofdistinction (GB) (Known Fact), winner of the Derby, but disappointed yesterday as the 3-1 favorite. G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. in 1990. That pair was trained “The reality of it is that at the moment the horse has no by Luca Cumani, with whom Leigh enjoyed a close and more to give,” O’Brien continued. “We’ll take him home successful relationship over the last two decades. and see how he is and if he ever has a chance of mak- Cumani also handled two of Brocade’s progeny in Bro- ing it back to where he used to be.” (cont p2) catelle (GB) (Green Desert) and Zibilene (GB) (Rainbow Quest), who proved a marker of their breeder’s reputa- Saturday, Royal Ascot, Britain tion when reaching 1.7 million guineas and 1.3 million GOLDEN JUBILEE S. (FORMERLY THE CORK AND guineas, respectively, at the Tattersalls December Sales ORRERY S.)-G1, £270,000, Royal Ascot, 6-22, 3yo/up, in 2000 and 2001. He also bred multiple Group 1 6fT, 1:14.34, gd/fm. scorer Bosra Sham (Woodman), who sold for 530,000 1--@sMALHUB, 130, c, 4, by Kingmambo guineas at the Tattersalls Houghton Sales in 1994. 1st Dam: Arjuzah (Ire) (SW & MGSP-GB), by Ahonoora (GB) Leigh also campaigned Act One (GB) (In The Wings 2nd Dam: Saving Mercy (GB), by Lord Gayle {GB}), winner last year of the G1 Criterium International 3rd Dam: Fair Darling (GB), by Darling Boy (GB) at Saint-Cloud in November and runner-up to Sulamani O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum; (Ire) in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) at B-Shadwell Farm Inc; T-John Gosden; J-Kevin Darley; Chantilly June 2 for trainer Jonathan Pease. Leigh, who £156,600. Lifetime Record: 7-4-0-0, £182,818. was awarded the honour of flat breeder of the year by 2--Danehurst (GB), 127, f, 4, Danehill--Miswaki Belle, the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association at the end of by Miswaki. O/B-Cheveley Park Stud; £59,400. 3--Three Points (GB), 130, h, 5, Bering (GB)--Trazl (Ire), last season, donated all prizemoney from those horses by Zalazl. O-Godolphin; B-Hesmonds Stud Ltd; and others to the charity CancerBACUP, a support £29,700. organisation for sufferers of the disease. “It’s terribly Margins: 1HF, HF, 1 3/4. Odds: 16-1, 13-2, 4-1. sad,” Cumani told PA Sport. “He was a very, very close Also ran: Indian Country (GB), Continent (GB), Invinci- friend, and a great and loyal supporter for many years. ble Spirit (Ire), Vision Of Night (GB), Misraah (Ire), Jo- He was a great man in every walk of life. My thoughts hannesburg, Mugharreb, Miss Beabea (Ire), Ellens Acad- go out to his wife and children, and his manager Terry emy (Ire). Scratched: Bahamian Pirate, Caller One, [Campbell] too, for whom Gerald was a father figure. Orientor (GB), Feet So Fast (GB). We’ll all miss him terribly.” TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 6/23/02 • PAGE 2 of 7 Saturday, Royal Ascot, Britain R O Y A L A S C O T RESULTS P P HARDWICKE S.-G2, £146,000, Royal Ascot, 6-22, 4yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:31.18, gd/fm. MALHUB MAKES THE GRADE Winner of the 1--ZINDABAD (FR), 124, h, 6, by Shirley Heights (GB) Listed King Charles II S. over seven furlongs at 1st Dam: Miznah (Ire) (SW-Ire), by Sadler’s Wells Newmarket last June, Malhub (Kingmambo) was ninth 2nd Dam: La Dame du Lac, by Round Table in the G1 St James’s Palace S. at this meeting before 3rd Dam: Cosmah, by Cosmic Bomb getting a break. Not spotted again until the fall, he was O-Abdulla Buhaleeba; B-Gainsborough Stud Manage- fifth in the Listed Joel S. and seventh in the G2 Chal- ment; T-Mark Johnston; J-Kevin Darley; £84,680. lenge S. at Newmarket in October, but showed that he Lifetime Record: G1SP-GB & Ity, 23-9-3-3, had overcome a well-documented wind problem when £369,578. returning to break the Yarmouth track record in a condi- 2--Storming Home (GB), 121, c, 4, Machiavellian--Try tions event nine days ago. Malhub had things practi- To Catch Me, by Shareef Dancer. O-Sheikh Maktoum cally his own way up front as he raced alone in the bin Rashid Al Maktoum; B-Gainsborough Stud Man- centre of the track in the early stages before passing agement Ltd; £32,120. Three Points (Ire) (Bering {GB}) at the halfway maker. 3--Millenary (GB), 121, h, 5, Rainbow Quest--Ballerina Asserting from there, he always had the call over that (Ire), by Dancing Brave. O-L Neil Jones; B-Abergwaun rival and kept quickening all the way to the line to hold Farms; £16,060. off the staying-on Danehurst (GB) (Danehill). “I felt the Margins: 1, SHD, NK. Odds: 4-1, 11-4, 11-4. mile was too far so decided to drop him in trip and give Also ran: High Pitched (GB), Potemkin (Ire), Yavana’s him one really smart entry over six, and last time he Pace (Ire), The Mask (Fr). broke the track record at Yarmouth,” said winning Scratched: Asian Heights (GB), Boreas (GB). trainer John Gosden. “He’s had two wind operations so Zindabad made all under jockey Kevin Darley to pro- he’s a testament to Sheikh Hamdan whose faith has vide trainer Mark Johnston with his third renewal after been rewarded. The G1 July Cup [at Newmarket July Fruits of Love’s dual successes in 1999 and 2000, 11] would be an obvious place to go as he wants six respectively. A game and tough campaigner from the and fast ground--that’s got to be his target. You would- front, he beat St Expedit (GB) in the G3 John Porter S. n’t see him in the G1 Nunthorpe S. [at York Aug. 22] at Newbury Apr. 20 and Boreas (GB) in the G2 York- as that’s for specialist sprinters and one place you shire Cup at York May 16. Most recently, he was a won’t see him is in the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye [at creditable third in the G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom Longchamp Oct. 6] in a bog. He could go to Arlington June 7 on soft ground, after Johnston had considered [for the BC Sprint] and personally I think he’ll go on the withdrawing him on the morning due to the state of the dirt, but we might want to leave that one as it’s a long ground. Obviously relishing the fast ground this time, way off.” Should he line up in the Newmarket sprint, he he was taken over to the rail from his wide draw to is likely to face the runner-up and third, but one who head Potemkin (Ire) (Ashkalani {Ire}) and travelled well may miss that race now is Johannesburg (Hennessy), who looks on the brink of retirement. That colt broke until Darley upped the tempo with five furlongs remain- well and raced prominently in third overall until the ing. That move proved decisive as Zindabad reached halfway at which point he came under pressure to top gear in the straight, asserting as Storming Home close. Jockey Michael Kinane was not hard on him moved wide to challenge. Sticking to his guns, he when he failed to respond with his customary dash and warded off that pressure and was firmly on top at the he soon faded from contention. “We gave him a break line. “He’s so uncomplicated that you can make the after Kentucky, but when he came back ready to start running on him and if they are going quicker than him, working again, our ground was so bad I was afraid to they are going too fast,” said Darley. Johnston added, risk working him,” trainer Aidan O’Brien said.