Big-money Group 2 winner gives Charm Spirit a welcome boost

Kirwan's Lane staked his claim on Saturday to be the best horse sired by Haras du Logis Saint-Germain stallion Charm Spirit, with a second Group victory at Randwick.

The six-year-old gelding, out of Savabeel's daughter Galway, capped a memorable day for John O'Shea, leading home a stable one-two in The Ingham, a Group 2 handicap worth a cool A$2 million (£1.11m/€1.29m), the trainer having earlier also won a A$500,000 nursery.

Kirwan's Lane had previously struck at Group 3 and Listed level, and becomes his Normandy-based 11-year-old sire's third Group 2 winner, alongside fellow Australian winner Fascino and New Zealand scorer Aretha.

Kirwan's Lane's Ingham victory earns him a ballot exemption from the Group 1 Doncaster Mile and O'Shea confirmed that race would be his autumn goal.

He was purchased by O’Shea as a yearling for NZ$170,000 (£89,000/€103,000) from the Little Avondale draft at the 2018 NZB Premier Sale.

Charm Spirit, by Invincible Spirit, shuttled to Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand and now stands permanently in France.

He excelled as a three-year-old on the track for Freddy Head and Sheikh Fahad Al Thani, winning five of his six races, his only defeat coming when fifth behind Night Of Thunder in the 2,000 Guineas.

He won the Prix Djebel and Prix Paul de Moussac - both Group 3s - and rattled off a hat-trick of Group 1 victories to bring the curtain down on his career in the Prix Jean Prat, Prix du Moulin and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, in which he beat Night Of Thunder by half a length.

He initially stood at Tweenhills for £25,000. After mixing and matching with the Gloucestershire stud and Haras de Bonneval, he will be standing his third season at Haras du Logis Saint-Germain in 2023 at €5,000.

Another familiar name was also on the scoresheet down under on Saturday, with Darley shuttler Harry Angel's juvenile daughter Angelique providing him with a second individual southern hemisphere winner at Morphettville.

Out of the winning Exceed And Excel mare Tinjirarni, Angelique is a half-sister to winners Stock Broker and Two Hearts.

Harry Angel, who will stand the upcoming northern hemisphere breeding season at Dalham Hall Stud for £10,000, shuttled to Kelvinside this season for A$16,500.

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