Can well-related Narnia prove the King of Wolverhampton on his debut for the Gosdens?

Our resident bloodstock experts profile the well-bred eyecatchers and expensive purchases set to grace the track.

KING OF NARNIA

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What's the story?

King Of Narnia, who makes his debut in the opener at Wolverhampton on Friday (4.30), a maiden over an extended mile, is a Cayton Park Stud homebred whose main claim to fame on the pedigree front is being a half-brother to four-time Group 1 winner Oh Susanna.

The two-year-old is trained by John and Thady Gosden, and the mount of Kieran Shoemark for his first day of school, and is quite cleverly named for those of you who know your CS Lewis, being by Kingman and out of Sharp Susan.

How's he bred?

So yes, Sharp Susan was the producer of Oh Susanna, a daughter of Street Cry who won two editions of the Paddock Stakes at Kenilworth, the Sun Met at the same track and the Woolavington 2000 at Greyville.

The multiple top-level winner is not the only quality relative of today’s debutant, however, as the mare also threw the eight-time winner, including of a Group 3, Signore Fox, to Exceed And Excel.

Sharp Susan’s brood also includes the Grade 2-placed Indiana Jones (A.P. Indy), the recently Grade 3-placed Marksman Queen (Dubawi) – previously with the Gosdens but now trained by Graham Motion – and another winner in Artemisia Lomi (Galileo).

Sharp Susan, by Touch Gold, was herself a Grade 2 winner, and she commanded a cool $2 million at Fasig-Tipton in November 2008, when bought by Freyer Bloodstock.

Kingman, sire of 13 top-level winners and counting, needs less introduction in these parts. In fact, none really!

Who does he face?

Only one of King Of Narnia’s half-dozen rivals has raced, namely Earthlight's son Perfect Life, trained by Marco Botti, who did run well on his debut at Southwell in October, being labelled an ‘eyecatcher’ by the Racing Post’s in-running comment person.

A personal opinion, branching off here, is that in-running comments should really be just that, rather than infused with subjective words like eyecatcher – these can lead one down a garden path that is definitely not always paved with gold.

The runner-up at Southwell has since finished third at Wolverhampton and been gelded, while the winner has not run again since. We’ll know about whether this particular head-turning comment has some justification shortly after 4,30 on Friday.

The only filly in the contest, and therefore receiving 5lb all round, is Phoenix Of Spain’s daughter Grey Phoenix, a relation to three winners. She is with the astute pair of Richard Newland and Jamie Insole, and owned by Foxtrot Racing, who also do well.

Interestingly, this one’s Kodiac half-brother Centurion Dream runs on the same card for Joe Ponting, so it could be quite the couple of hours for their dam Syann.

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