A red hot summer for Camelot continues as Athena amazes at Belmont

A sizzling summer for Coolmore's second-season sire Camelot continued on Saturday as daughter Athena, trained by Aidan O'Brien for the organisation, landed the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks at Belmont Park by two and a half lengths under Ryan Moore.

Like her Ballydoyle stablemate Saxon Warrior, who was just touched off in the Coral-Eclipse earlier in the day only a week after finishing third in the Irish Derby, Athena was making a quick reappearance, having taken third behind Urban Fox in the Pretty Polly Stakes last Sunday.

Indeed, the filly's apparent iron constitution could be construed as a fine advertisement for her sire.

View full race result

She has now run seven times since the start of May, and came fourth in the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot only ten days before her run in the Pretty Polly at the Curragh.

She becomes Camelot's second top-level winner as a sire only a week after the first arrived, when Latrobe defeated Rostropovich and Saxon Warrior to take the Irish Derby.

As temperatures have soared in Europe in recent weeks, so has Camelot's form as a sire.

Besides Athena and Latrobe he also notched a double at Royal Ascot through Arthur Kitt in the Chesham Stakes and Hunting Horn in the Hampton Court Stakes. Hunting Horn was third in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby an hour after Athena's victory.

Furthermore, Wait Forever won the Group 3 Premio del Giubileo in Italy last Sunday and Pollara scored in the Group 3 Prix de Royaumont last month.

A son of Montjeu who won the Racing Post Trophy at two and the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and Irish Derby at three, Camelot stood at Coolmore at a fee of €30,000 this year.

Although Athena pays a compliment to her sire, her talent must also be attributed to her female family – which is the very best in the stud book.

She is out of Cherry Hinton, a daughter of Green Desert and Arc heroine turned legendary broodmare Urban Sea, thus making her a half-sister to outstanding racecourse talents and sires Galileo and Sea The Stars and to fellow Group/Grade 1 winners Black Sam Bellamy and My Typhoon.

Another of Urban Sea's daughters, Oaks runner-up All Too Beautiful, is dam of a further Oaks second in Wonder Of Wonders and granddam of Oaks third Alluringly.

Yet another Oaks place-getter out of Urban Sea, Melikah, produced stakes winners Hidden Gold, Masterstroke and Moonlight Magic and features as granddam of UAE Oaks and Derby winner Khawlah – the dam of this year's Derby hero Masar.

Cherry Hinton, who did her bit for family honour by finishing second in the Blue Wind Stakes and fifth in the Oaks, has already produced Irish Oaks heroine Bracelet and Rockfel Stakes winner Wading, both by Camelot's sire Montjeu.

Goddess, the two-year-old full-sister to Athena, looks a sure-fire winner of the future after finishing ninth, not beaten far after repeatedly meeting interference, on her debut for O'Brien at the Curragh last month.

Goddess features among the six-day entries for a 7f fillies' maiden at Leopardstown on Thursday and could extend Camelot's hot spell.

If you enjoyed reading this, you might also like...

Five absorbing angles behind the breeding and buying of Latrobe

Five times Urban Sea and Miesque combined in pedigrees to great effect

Only six Epsom Classic entrants of 2018 not descended from Urban Sea