Future looks Hotazhell for Dubawi line with thrilling finish to Doncaster Group 1

Hotazhell provided sire Too Darn Hot with the first Group 1 winner from his second crop when coming out the right side of a photo-finish thriller with Delacroix in the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster on Saturday.

It was double delight for Darley who stand Too Darn Hot and his brilliant sire Dubawi, with another son of the Dalham Hall kingpin – Delacroix – narrowly defeated into second.

The pair pulled clear of Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes winner Wimbledon Hawkeye, from the first crop of Futurity winner Kameko, in third.

Hotazhell won the Group 2 Beresford Stakes at the Curragh last time out for Jessica Harrington and the Silverton Hill Partnership and the trainer told Sky Sports Racing of an important link between this, her most recent Flat Group 1 winner, and her very first.

"It's fantastic for the owners, my first Group 1 winner was Pathfork [National Stakes in 2010] for the same owners so it is wonderful to train another Group 1 winner for them," smiled a delighted Harrington. 

The trainer was quick to point to the resilience and character shown by Hotzahell, who was bred by Blue Diamond Stud out of the Danehill Dancer mare Azenzar.

"He's a very, very tough horse and he dug in there deep. He's a tough horse and he gave everything," she reiterated. "He will deserve a big rest after that and there is no reason to believe he won't train on next season."

The result was a pinhooking triumph for Eddie Linehan's Lackendarra Stables, who bought the colt for 70,000gns from his breeder at Book 2 last year and sold him for 200,000gns at the Craven Breeze-Up. The Cork man sold him to his owners Bonnie and Tommy Hamilton, who are based in Kentucky.

There was a further connection between Pathfork and Hotzahell because Foley, who was claiming three pounds at the time, was on board the son of Visions Of Clarity when he made a winning debut in a Curragh maiden. By Distorted Humor, Pathfork stands at Sandown Stud in South Africa and is a half-brother to Preakness Stakes winner War Of Will.

Hotazhell is the second European Group 1 winner for Too Darn HotCredit: GROSSICK RACING

Foley told Sky Sports Racing that he never lost faith in the horse, who is now the winner of four of his six starts including the Group 3 Tyros Stakes, and was second to Henri Matisse in the Group 2 Futurity Stakes at the Curragh in August. He was also fourth to subsequent Group 1 National Stakes winner Scorthy Champ on debut.

"We've always held him in high regard, he's a good, tough horse," Foley commented. "I couldn't believe his price, when I saw he was drifting I was thinking, 'are we getting something wrong here?'"

"He has determination in bundles and he loves a fight."

Foley was also in the saddle when Harrington's Wootton Bassett colt Green Impact defeated Delacroix - who is a half-brother to Group 1 Prix de Royallieu winner Grateful out of the ill-fated Tepin - in the Group 2 Champions Juvenile Stakes.

When asked to compare Hotazhell with Green Impact, the jockey said: "This horse is more of a sharp mile type and Green Impact is more of a mile-and-a-half horse but they are two to look forward to for next year."

Hotazhell is the best of the four winners from six runners so far produced by Azenzar who made a winning debut as a three-year-old for Roger Varian, Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar.

A homebred by Al Sagar, she was sold for just 16,000gns to KGS at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale last December in foal to Blackbeard.

She has a yearling No Nay Never colt who made 380,000gns to MV Magnier and White Birch Farm from Blue Diamond Stud at Book 2. Azenzar's unraced dam Dashing is a Sadler's Wells half-sister to champion Alexander Goldrun, whose Group 1 triumphs included the Hong Kong Cup, Nassau Stakes, Prix de l'Opera and two runnings of the Pretty Polly Stakes.

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