Holy Roman Emperor son puts rivals to the sword at Saratoga

Holy Roman Emperor recorded a third top-level winner of the year, while Pivotal continued his outstanding run of form as broodmare sire with the victory of the Irish-bred seven-year-old gelding Glorious Empire in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday.

Trained by James Lawrence for owner Matthew Schera, Glorious Empire was originally a €20,000 Goffs foal purchase by Whatton Manor Stud and was resold to Sackville Donald at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale for 90,000gns.

He was trained at two and three by Ed Walker, for whom he won four of his six starts including a valuable handicap at Newmarket.

At four he raced in Hong Kong for Caspar Fownes, and in the following season he returned to Walker before shipping to America where he has been trained by Tom Morley, Carlos Martin and now Lawrence.

Glorious Empire was bred by Patrick Grogan from Holy Roman Emperor, who stands at Coolmore at a fee of €15,000 and has also been represented in 2018 by the Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Romanised and German Oaks winner Well Timed.

The son of Danehill has now supplied 13 Group/Grade 1 winners and has a particularly international profile, with those coming in Britain (Homecoming Queen), Ireland (Romanised), France (Morandi), Germany (Well Timed), the US (Glorious Empire and Rich Tapestry), Australia (Mongolian Khan and Sheidel), New Zealand (Rollout The Carpet), Hong Kong (Beauty Only and Designs On Rome) and Brazil (Maraton and Salto Olimpico).

Glorious Empire is one of two winners out of the unraced Pivotal mare Humble And Proud along with Gowran Park maiden winner Outside Inside, also by Holy Roman Emperor.

Humble And Proud is a half-sister to Delsarte, winner of the Listed Newmarket Stakes and runner-up in the King Edward VII Stakes, and the stakes-placed Regina Mundi and Veenwouden.

She is out of the Listed-placed Machiavellian mare Delauncy, a half-sister to Japanese Listed scorer Tenzan Seiza who in turn was out of Park Hill Stakes winner Casey. This is the family of Prix de l'Abbaye-winning half-brothers Avonbridge and Patavellian.

There is no stopping Pivotal as a broodmare sire of late.

Glorious Empire is the sixth elite winner out of one of his daughters this year alone, after Advertise, Cracksman, Mikki Rocket, Olmedo and Rhododendron, and the 14th overall, the list completed by Harbour Law, Hydrangea, Main Sequence, Mayson, Polarisation, Precieuse, The United States and Winsili.

Pivotal was also in fine form as a broodmare sire at the York Ebor Festival last week, with one maternal granddaughter, Fairyland, taking the Lowther Stakes and another, Mabs Cross, touched off by the narrowest of margins in the Nunthorpe.

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