MONDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2020 TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT ALMOND EYE CLAIMS SECOND JAPAN CUP IN TRIPLE CROWN TRIFECTA by Heather Anderson THE DIOMED DRAFT The 2020 G1 Japan Cup delivered on its billing as primarily a three-way battle between 2018 Fillies= Triple Crown Winner Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) and this year=s undefeated pair of Triple Crown hero Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and 2020 Fillies= Triple Crown victress Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}). The 2400-metre contest went to Silk Racing=s 2018 Horse of the Year duly saluting as the 6-5 favourite over second choice Contrail at 9-5. Daring Tact narrowly secured third place as the 5-2 third pick. When the gates opened, Almond Eye was away in good order from stall two and pilot Christophe Lemaire positioned the star mare near the rails in a stalking fourth as 2017 G1 Japanese St Leger hero Kiseki (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) took up his preferred position on the engine. Cont. p8 Breathtaking Look is part of the Diomed Stables consignment at Tattersalls December | Racingfotos.com IN TDN AMERICA TODAY By Emma Berry FOR PLESA, A BITTERSWEET ENDING TO CALDER SAGA It has been quite the year for Bated Breath (GB), the Calder/Gulfstream Park West closed its doors on Saturday. Bill Juddmonte stallion who could be all too easily overlooked Finley examines the impact of the South Florida track. Click or against some of his more in-vogue stud mates but who tap here to go straight to TDN America. nevertheless continues to provide a decent ratio of stakes winners. One of his most reliable performers in this regard is Breathtaking Look (GB), who heads to the Tattersalls December Mare Sale (lot 1662) from Diomed Stables. Her combination of speed, class and consistency gives the 5-year-old a profile with a commercial outlook. Of her six victories for trainer Stuart Williams and his brother-in-law Jonathan Parry, two have been Group 3 contests, at Doncaster last year and in Deauville in August, where she beat Air De Valse (Fr) in the Prix de Meautry. Her form this season has a particularly solid look to it with two runner-up finishes behind subsequent Group 1 winners Oxted (GB) and Dream Of Dreams (Ire). "I'd be surprised if there are many mares in the catalogue whose first three dams are all black-type performers and producers," says Williams, who selected Breathtaking Look at Tattersalls as a yearling from October Book 3. "We're excited to take her to the sale and would like to see her do well. I'm selling her as 'in training' as she is still here with me in training.@ Cont. p2 TDN EUROPE • PAGE 2 OF 10 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • 30 NOVEMBER 2020 Breathtaking Look Cont. from p1 be stallions are few and far between, so the plan was to buy He added, AI'd like to see her sell as a broodmare but she is something that would hopefully do well and then we could sound, she has never taken a lame step, and if someone wanted either breed from her or sell her. With Breathtaking Look, we to race her on they could do." knew she would want a bit of time but I just loved her outlook Breathtaking Look started her and, even though she was big, racing career at three with two she was athletic." wins from her three starts that Parry's red and pink silks have year. Her racing tally now stands made numerous appearances on at 18 starts, with those six wins the racecourse aboard backed up a string of placed Williams-trained fillies, including efforts. the stakes-placed Oakley Girl Recalling what he saw in her (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}), who sold when he first viewed her in the for 925,000gns in 2017. He has Mickley Stud draft at Park retained the listed-placed Holley Paddocks, Williams adds, "I just Shiftwell (GB) (Bahamian Bounty really liked her presence. She {GB}) and another four-time was quite big, and my winner Stellar Surprise (GB) brother-in-law, who we call (Notnowcato {GB}), who is out Ralph though his name is of a half-sister to Crystal Ocean actually Jonathan, always likes to (GB) and Crystal Capella (GB). Stuart Williams | racingfotos.com have a filly. He breeds one or "He is retiring this year from two horses himself and we've had a few over the years that his job so he is going to cut down on the horses a bit," says have done well. We've always been of the opinion that you=ve Williams of his brother-in-law, who boards mares with James got more of a chance if you buy a filly. The colts that turn out to Thom of Galloway Stud, which is based at Woburn. Cont. p3 PERSIAN KING Triple Gr.1 winner Smart 2YO 1st Prix Filiberto, by 3 lengths World Champion 3YO 1st Prix du Jockey Club-Gr.1, defeating triple Gr.1 winner Persian King ❝the Arc was more about speed than stamina and Sottsass 1st Prix Niel-Gr.2 st L.R. had the best turn of foot David Jennings, RACING POST 1 Prix de Suresnes- , by 6 ½ lengths ❞ rd Gr.1 3 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe- Sottsass’ owner Peter Brant of White Birch Farm is sending Brilliant 4YO him 10 to 15 mares including the dams of: 1st Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-Gr.1, defeating Gr.1 UNI Champion Filly who sold for winners In Swoop, Persian King, Enable, $4,100,000 Stradivarius, Deirdre and Way To Paris at Fasig-Tipton in November 1st Prix Ganay-Gr.1 1st Breeders’ Cup Mile-Gr.1 1st First Lady Stakes-Gr.1 (twice) 1st Matriarch Stakes-Gr.1 RAGING BULL 1st Shoemaker Mile-Gr.1 1st Hollywood Derby-Gr.1 SOTTSASS FLEETING st Gr.2 1 May Hill Stakes- The best son of SIYOUNI. Out of a daughter of GALILEO. nd Gr.1 2 Irish Oaks- SISTERCHARLIE. 2nd Prix de l’Opera-Gr.1 Half-brother to 7-time Gr.1 winner Fee: €30,000 Christy Grassick, David O’Loughlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Maurice Moloney, Gerry Aherne, Hermine Bastide, Jason Walsh, Tom Miller, Neil Magee or Mark Byrne. Tel: +353-52-6131298. David Magnier, Tom Gaffney, Joe Hernon, Paddy Fleming, Cathal Murphy or David Walsh. Tel: 353-25-31966/31689. New for Kevin Buckley (UK Rep.) T: +44-7827-795156. E: [email protected] W: www.coolmore.com 2021 TDN EUROPE • PAGE 3 OF 10 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • 30 NOVEMBER 2020 Breathtaking Look Cont. Added Williams, "He's a great guy and he has supported me well, buying two or three every year." While Breathtaking Look has been the star of Diomed Stables this year, some of the yard's former residents have also been making names for themselves from the paddocks in 2020, including the dams of two Classic winners Love (Ire) (Galileo Senior Vice President Gary King {Ire}) and Dream And Do (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). Twitter: @garykingTDN Venetias Dream (Ire) (Librettist) produced the latter, who won [email protected] the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches in June before being sold to + 1.732.320.0975 Katsumi Yoshida of Northern Farm. Williams recalls, "Barry Root bought an old mare and had her International Editor at Old Mill Stud with my stepfather David. She was carrying an Kelsey Riley Oasis Dream (GB) foal at the time and we trained her Twitter: @kelseynrileyTDN [Dreamacha (GB)] for Barry. She won quite a few races, was [email protected] rated 90, and we took her to Germany and just missed out on European Editor some black type with her. Then he sent the mare to Librettist Emma Berry and she produced Venetias Dream. I couldn't keep her sound Twitter: @collingsberry but I managed to get her to the track about four or five times [email protected] and she ended up being rated about 52. She was sold for minimum bid at one of the sales to go to Libya, but her dam had Associate International Editor quite a good back page and her sister then produced [treble Heather Anderson Group 1-winning miler] Charm Spirit (Ire), so one of the agents Twitter: @HLAndersonTDN went and bought Venetias Dream back from Libya, put her in Marketing Manager foal to Siyouni, and sold her on. And her first foal is now a Classic Alayna Cullen winner." Twitter: @AlaynaCullen In the case of Pikaboo (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), the dam of Love, she [email protected] was bought by David Redvers for 20,000gns after making two starts for John Gosden. Contributing Editors "David and I have been friends for years and he would always Alan Carasso have a leg of something with me and I'd have something with Christina Bossinakis him. When he bought Pikaboo, he handed me the ticket and Cafe Racing said 'have a leg and win a race with her and we'll breed from Sean Cronin her.' I completely failed to win a race with her. Third at Tom Frary Southwell was the best I could do. So we retired her and [email protected] covered her with Ishiguru. That filly made 40,000gns at the breeze-ups and won a couple of races. Then the mare went to Irish Correspondent Sleeping Indian (GB). The next one was by Lucky Story, all Daithi Harvey David's stallions obviously, and she was quite a nice filly, turned out a touch in front but a good-bodied filly.