Intriguing debut cover for Anapurna as Meon Valley lines up major mating plans

Classic success runs deep at Meon Valley Stud, tracing back to the likes of Colorspin, winner of the 1986 Irish Oaks, and Lady Carla, who landed the Epsom equivalent by no less than nine lengths in 1996.

And Meon Valley once again scaled the Classic summit in 2019, when Anapurna, the homebred daughter of Frankel, carried the famous black and white Helena Springfield silks to Oaks glory.

The sixth foal of Dash To The Top, a Listed-winning daughter of Montjeu who also ran second in the Yorkshire Oaks, went on to confirm herself among the very best of her generation when she added a second Group 1 win in the Prix de Royallieu.

The curtain has now come down on the filly's racing days, and she has returned home to the paddocks at Meon Valley, which sits on the south coast between Winchester and Southampton.

The four-year-old has been pencilled in to visit one of Europe's most exciting young stallions for her maiden covering, Lope De Vega. The son of Shamardal, who has sired nine Group/Grade 1 winners, will stand this season at a career-high fee of €100,000 at Ballylinch Stud.

Lope De Vega: rising star sire will stand for €100,000 in 2019Credit: Ballylinch Stud

"The important thing is to choose a stallion you think will physically suit the mare, and I've always been a big fan of Lope De Vega," says Meon Valley's managing partner Mark Weinfeld.

"Dash To The Front [half-sister to Dash To The Top] produced Speedy Boarding from her mating with Shamardal, and this mating is a very similar cross.

"Another close member of the family [Peppermint Green] produced Group 3 winner Four White Socks, who's by Lope De Vega too, so we felt he was the right way to go. Anapurna is a neat, attractive mare and hopefully Lope De Vega will suit her very well physically."

On the decision to add Anapurna to the Meon Valley broodmare band at the end of her three-year-old season, Weinfeld says: "She'd won an Oaks and another Group 1 and it's always a risk keeping horses in training so we thought we'd head to the paddocks with her.

"There is always a risk with horses in training, and having won an Oaks she had little more to prove."

While some of the bigger names such as Dash To The Front and Speedy Boarding are being rested in 2020, Anapurna is far from the only mare of interest among Meon Valley's blue-blooded band.

Dash To The Top

18yo b m Montjeu - Millennium Dash (Nashwan)
Covering sire Frankel

The Listed-winning descendant of One In A Million has produced five winners since her racing days drew to a close, including the Group 3-placed Dynasty and the Listed-placed Very Dashing. Although she has not produced a foal since Anapurna, she is in line for a repeat of the mating that produced last year's Oaks heroine.

"She's going back to Frankel," says Weinfeld. "We've had a lot of trouble getting her back in foal - she's been barren for the last three years - but she's undergone a small veterinary procedure and we're just hoping that we'll be able to get her back in foal again. Dash To The Top was a very talented mare herself and she almost won the Yorkshire Oaks, although we probably never saw the best of her as she was always a little bit tricky."

Deuce Again

9yo b m Dubawi - Match Point (Unfuwain)
Covering sire Lope De Vega

The talented daughter of Dubawi has already received some big coverings, having gone to Oasis Dream (produced the colt Stratacaster, now three), the Golden Horn filly Golden Ace (two) and a Kingman colt in 2019. She now joins Anapurna in heading to Ballylinch's flagship sire.

"She was a Listed winner and Group 3-placed so she was pretty talented," says Weinfeld. "I think she could be capable of producing something good as she comes from a very nice family."

Familliarity

10yo ch m Nayef - Millistar (Galileo)
Covering sire Blue Point

Meon Valley is throwing its considerable weight of support behind a number of new sires in 2020, with this dual winner due to visit Darley's Kildangan Stud newcomer Blue Point, whose own sire Shamardal has clicked with this family before to produce Speedy Boarding.

"She's a Listed-placed mare who's closely related to Speedy Boarding so we thought it looked like a good cross," says Weinfeld. "She's quite a light, delicate mare and he's quite a strong, good-looking horse so I think they suit physically.

"Blue Point was a very fast horse, but looking at him you'd think he might produce horses who can go a bit further than he did. I thought that this mating could produce more of a miler than a sprinter."

Mark Weinfeld: 'Kingman has almost outshone Frankel!'Credit: Laura Green

Hippy Hippy Shake

11yo b m Danehill Dancer - Hyperspectra (Rainbow Quest)
Covering sire Kingman

A Listed winner over an extended mile and a quarter during her racing days, Hippy Hippy Shake has got her broodmare career off to a fine start, with her first runner turning out to be the smart Kingman filly Twist 'N' Shake, who was trained by John Gosden. The dam returns to Banstead Manor Stud's rising star in 2020 in the hope of producing a full-sibling to Twist 'N' Shake.

"Kingman has almost outshone Frankel!" says Weinfeld. "The filly we had in training last year, Twist 'N' Shake, was by Kingman too and she was very good; she was fourth in a Group 1 at Royal Ascot and won a Listed race. We had hoped to run her in the Sun Chariot but unfortunately she went unsound just before the race.

"John Gosden always thought a lot of her. Hippy Hippy Shake is in foal to Roaring Lion, but we don't sex test ours so it'll be a pleasant surprise whether the foal is a filly or colt."

Italian Connection

14yo b m Cadeaux Genereux - Bianca Nera (Salse)
Covering sire Advertise

Another new sire receiving support from Meon Valley is triple Group 1 winner Advertise, who begins life at the National Stud at £25,000. As a daughter of Cadeaux Genereux, a foal out of Italian Connection by Advertise will be bred on an extension of the cross that produced Tasleet.

Advertise strikes a pose at the National StudCredit: Edward Whitaker

"I was very taken by Advertise when I saw him at the National Stud, he's very impressive and well worth using," says Weinfeld. "He's a lovely horse, again though, he's another that I don't think will just produce sprinters.

"Italian Connection is from the family of horses like Postponed so we thought it was worth spending the money to send her to Advertise. She's in foal to Nathaniel, who's worked well with the family to produce God Given."

Izzi Top

12yo b m Pivotal - Zee Zee Top (Zafonic)
Covering sire Invincible Spirit

One of Meon Valley's most promising young producers, the Pretty Polly Stakes and Prix Jean Romanet heroine has supplied the smart Prince Eiji, a 2,600,000gns yearling, the Listed-placed Willie John, a 1,900,000gns Tattersalls February Sale record-breaker, and
Godolphin's high-class sprinter Dreamfield, a 1,100,000gns Book 1 yearling.

"Several good horses have been bred on the cross of Invincible Spirit over a Pivotal mare," says Weinfeld. "We lost a nice Invincible Spirit filly out of Zee Zee Top a couple of years ago, so we thought we'd try a similar cross again. Izzi Top was rested last year and Zee Zee Top has now been retired."

Dubawi: set to cover Meon Valley mares Jazzi Top and Shirocco StarCredit: Edward Whitaker

Jazzi Top

8yo b m Danehill Dancer - Zee Zee Top (Zafonic)
Covering sire Dubawi

A Group 2 winner who went down by just a head to Covert Love in the Prix de l'Opera, Jazzi Top, a half-sister to Izzi Top, is set for her biggest cover to date when she visits Darley's linchpin Dubawi. The son of Dubai Millennium will stand at £250,000 in 2020.

"Dubawi has worked well with Zafonic and Danehill lines, and Jazzi Top is a half-sister to Izzi Top, who produced the useful Prince Eiji when she was bred to Dubawi," says Weinfeld.

Monzza

10yo b m Montjeu - Zee Zee Top (Zafonic)
Covering sire Too Darn Hot

This unraced half-sister to Izzi Top and Jazzi Top will form part of the debut book of champion juvenile Too Darn Hot, who begins his stallion career at Darley's Dalham Hall Stud at a fee of £50,000. Her third foal, the Invincible Spirit colt Mumtaaz, fetched 900,000gns from Shadwell, and she is due to foal a full-sibling to the now three-year-old this year.

"She's related to some of our better mares - she's a half-sister to Izzi Top and Jazzi Top - and we liked the mating of Dubawi with those horses, so we're sending her to a son of Dubawi, and one who's beautifully bred," says Weinfeld.

"She's quite a big mare, whereas he's quite a neat stallion, so I felt that size-wise it's a good mating too."

Too Darn Hot after his Sussex Stakes triumphCredit: Edward Whitaker

Shirocco Star

11yo b m Shirocco - Spectral Star (Unfuwain)
Covering sire Dubawi

After a racing career that included finishing a neck second to Was in the 2012 Oaks, Shirocco Star has quickly developed into a producer of considerable merit, with three winners from three runners, including Dante Stakes scorer Telecaster and Al Suhail, who, having cost Godolphin 1,100,000gns, rounded out his juvenile campaign with a fine second to Military March in the Group 3 Autumn Stakes.

"Shirocco Star is returning to Dubawi because she produced Al Suhail by him, and he looked like a useful two-year-old and hopefully he can improve this year," says Weinfeld.

"If we got a filly we probably wouldn't be selling her, though. We haven't had many Dubawi fillies so it would be quite nice to get one or two more to keep."

Strictly Lambada

13yo b m Red Ransom - Bella Lambada (Lammtara)
Covering sire Oasis Dream

The descendant of Meon Valley foundation mare Reprocolor has produced five winners from her time at paddocks, the best of whom is the Listed-placed Last Tango Inparis, a daughter of Aqlaam. Strictly Lambada is now due to visit Aqlaam's sire Oasis Dream, who is standing his 17th season at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud at £25,000.

"I'm a big fan of Oasis Dream and I think he's very good value," says Weinfeld.

"The Reprocolor family has repeatedly worked well with Green Desert line horses before. Again, physically Oasis Dream should suit the mare too."

Night Of Thunder at Kildangan StudCredit: Hannah Marks

Twist 'N' Shake

4yo b f Kingman - Hippy Hippy Shake (Danehill Dancer)
Covering sire Night Of Thunder

Another exciting addition to the Meon Valley broodmare band, the well-related daughter of Kingman retires to the paddocks having registered two victories, including a wide-margin success in the Listed Prix de Bagatelle.

She is now set to visit one of the stallion ranks' rising stars, Night Of Thunder, who has been heavily oversubscribed following a blistering start by his debut crop of juveniles.

"Night Of Thunder has set the world alight with his first two-year-olds," says Weinfeld. "He seems to throw quite correct horses, and she's a very correct little horse, so we thought Night Of Thunder might be able to add a bit of size and substance."

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