Star sires and brilliant breeders: five things we learned at Royal Ascot

Hamdan Al Maktoum was the leading owner at Royal Ascot with his illustrious royal blue silks with white epaulettes being carried to victory in six races.

It was a fine meeting for his breeding programme too, as three of those winners were Shadwell homebreds – Nazeef in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes, Hukum in the King George V Handicap and Khaloosy in the Britannia Handicap.

The Maktoum family and their associates enjoyed a productive week generally, as they are entitled to with the deep well of resources they have at their disposal.

Godolphin bred Prince of Wales's Stakes hero Lord North and Hardwicke Stakes winner Fanny Logan as well as five other place-getters, including Cross Counter, Pinatubo and Sceptical at Group 1 level.

Meanwhile Rabbah Bloodstock notched a double through Diamond Jubilee victor Hello Youmzain and Copper Horse Handicap scorer Fujaira Prince. Prince of Wales's Stakes runner-up Addeybb is another Rabbah-bred.

Other leading studs in the ribbons on multiple occasions at Royal Ascot were Cheveley Park Stud, with Jersey Stakes winner Molatham, Queen Mary Stakes second Sacred and Wolferton Stakes third Regal Reality, and Triermore Stud, breeders of Sandringham Handicap scorer Onassis and Copper Horse Handicap third Almania.

Tactical: Windsor Castle Stakes winner capped a good week for the QueenCredit: Edward Whitaker

The Queen also enjoyed a fine meeting as a breeder, with the Royal Studs having turned out Windsor Castle Stakes winner Tactical and narrowly beaten Hampton Court Stakes second First Receiver.

Kodiac was the leading sire at Royal Ascot this year with three winners, all on Saturday – Campanelle in the Queen Mary, Nando Parrado in the Coventry and Hello Youmzain in the Diamond Jubilee – plus a second courtesy of Yazaman in the Windsor Castle Stakes.

That was an exceptional feat for the Tally-Ho Stud stallion who, don't forget, did not manage to win a stakes race himself and stood his first seven seasons at fees ranging from €4,000 to €7,500.

Sea The Stars also supplied three winners and a runner-up at the meeting – Stradivarius in the Gold Cup, Fanny Logan, and Hukum in the King George V Handicap - and his son Sea The Moon enjoyed a breakthrough meeting with a first top-flight winner coming with Alpine Star in the Coronation Stakes.

A trio of royal meeting winners was also achieved this year by Dubawi (Lord North, Khaloosy and Onassis) and Dark Angel (Battaash, Mountain Angel and Art Power), while the incomparable Galileo got two on the board – Circus Maximus and Russian Emperor.

Those were the breeding headlines from Royal Ascot 2020, but there were other less obvious news lines to emerge from the meeting that deserve more exposure.

Thunder rumbles on

Night Of Thunder compiled some quite astonishing statistics with his first two-year-old runners last season, achieving not only an excellent winners-to-runners strike-rate but also a high ratio of representatives with Racing Post Ratings of 80 or higher that put him on a par with the likes of Galileo and Sea The Stars.

So soaring were some of those figures that there was a slight suspicion among some – myself included – that they might be somewhat anomalous, or that the only way was down.

But Royal Ascot showed that Night Of Thunder is the real deal. From ten runners he delivered a winner – Molatham in the Jersey Stakes – and four other place-getters in Qaader (second in the Coventry Stakes), Keep Busy (second in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap), Global Storm (third in the Golden Gates Handicap) and Dubai Love (third in the Sandringham Handicap).

Remarkably, the only other sires to field five horses to hit the board at the meeting were the superpowers Galileo and Dubawi, who of course had more opportunity with many more crops on the ground.

Night Of Thunder: looks a very special sire indeedCredit: Darley

Furthermore, Night Of Thunder on Saturday registered a 13th stakes winner from his first crop when Lady Penelope struck in the Listed Polonia Stakes at Naas, while his two-year-old daughter Risk Of Thunder scored by four and a quarter lengths in a Ripon maiden.

The three-year-old gelding Al Mutathar also signalled significant promise with victory on his debut in a Newmarket novice stakes.

Then on Sunday his daughter No Limit Credit ran second in the German 1,000 Guineas at Dusseldorf.

Many of Night Of Thunder's runners over the past week appear to possess the same admirable traits: strong travellers with willing attitudes, who put their heads down and battle.

Those qualities were demonstrated most clearly by Molatham as he wore down Monarch Of Egypt. But go back and look at Keep Busy for further proof: the doughty filly had no answer to the easy winner Art Power but she kept pulling out more to repel stronger finishers and maintain her second place.

Night Of Thunder may just be a very special sire indeed.

The marvellous McCartans

Paul and Marie McCartan's mastery in breeding and rearing stock at their Ballyphilip Stud in County Limerick and their expert eye for identifying future stars at the sales were showcased to excellent effect in the past week.

The McCartans are best known in recent years for having bred the multiple Group 1-winning sprinters Battaash and Harry Angel by sending inexpensively purchased mares to Dark Angel when he stood at a fee of just €12,500 in 2013.

Battaash – out of Anna Law, a daughter of Lawman who was well beaten on all four starts and was bought by the McCartans for just 14,000gns – showed his trademark blistering speed to record his third Group 1 victory in the King's Stand Stakes on Tuesday.

Paul McCartan: has enjoyed a good working relationship with Clive CoxCredit: Laura Green

And Ballyphilip Stud look as though they might have achieved another fine feat of budget breeding with Norfolk Stakes third Imperial Force.

The colt, sold for 72,000gns as a yearling at Tattersalls October Book 2, is the result of Cafetiere, a winning Iffraaj mare purchased for 27,000gns, being sent to Camacho when he stood at Yeomanstown Stud at a fee of €7,500.

It was not as breeders that the McCartans featured in their most stunning success at Royal Ascot last week, though.

Surprise Coventry Stakes winner Nando Parrado carried Marie McCartan's silks, the son of Kodiac having been pinhooked by Ballyphilip Stud as a foal for 165,000gns but bought back by the operation at 200,000gns at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale.

Nando Parrado was sent out by Clive Cox, a trainer with whom the McCartans have enjoyed a productive relationship over the years.

He not only oversaw the career of Harry Angel but also Vintage Stakes winner Xtension, who was bred by Ballyphilip, and Celebration Mile scorer Kodi Bear, another horse traded by the stud.

Crossfields Bloodstock crackers

Another entity that deserves praise for consistently producing smart horses without recourse to premier league stallions is Crossfields Bloodstock.

The operation bred Buckingham Palace Handicap winner Motakhayyel by sending their placed Elusive Quality mare Virtuality to Heeraat when he stood at just £4,000 in his first season at Mickley Stud.

Motakhayyel: bred by Crossfields Bloodstock from budget sire HeeraatCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Virtuality also happens to be the dam of Adaay Dream, a colt from the first crop of Adaay (opening fee £7,000) who scored impressively on his debut at Newcastle this month.

Crossfields Bloodstock also bred Commonwealth Cup third Ventura Rebel, who was conceived when his sire Pastoral Pursuits stood at £4,000. His dam Finalize, a daughter of the inexpensive and perhaps underrated Firebreak, contrived to fall in a Hamilton maiden on her only start.

The Crossfields-bred Tis Marvellous (by Harbour Watch) and Well Done Fox (by Acclamation) finished fourth and ninth behind Battaash in the King's Stand Stakes. It is some achievement for a smaller operation to be the source of two runners in a field of 11 for a Royal Ascot Group 1 race, regardless of how they run.

Miesque clan makes its mark

The Niarchos family's magnificent Miesque dynasty continues to produce top-class horses year after year and it yielded two Royal Ascot winners last week.

First and foremost, Alpine Star emulated her half-sister Alpha Centauri by running out a wide-margin winner of the Coronation Stakes.

The siblings, both trained by Jessica Harrington for the Niarchos family, are out of Alpha Lupi, an unraced daughter of Rahy and Miesque's dual Classic-winning daughter East Of The Moon.

Sheikh Hamdan's Jersey Stakes winner Molatham also descends from East Of The Moon. He was bred by Cheveley Park Stud out of Cantal, a winning daughter of the operation's totemic sire Pivotal and Prix Yacowlef second Canda.

Alpine Star: emulated half-sister Alpha Centauri in the Coronation StakesCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Canda, the product of a mating between Storm Cat and East Of The Moon, entered the Cheveley Park Stud fold when bought for $2.4 million at the Keeneland November Breeding-Stock Sale in 2005, showing that access to this pedigree – one of the first families of thoroughbred breeding – doesn't come cheaply.

With that in mind, John McCormack might just be thinking he got even more of a bargain when he bought Etoile Filante, the unraced So You Think half-sister to Alpine Star and Alpha Centauri, for €300,000 at Goffs last November.

Not just that, but the mare was in foal to Alpha Centauri's sire Mastercraftsman and so her new owners Healthy Wood Co, whose silks were carried to fourth in the Irish 1,000 Guineas by New York Girl, welcomed a filly closely related to the brilliant miler in January.

Miesque also made her presence felt at the royal meeting through her influential son Kingmambo, who appeared as damsire of King George V Handicap winner Hukum, Prince of Wales's Stakes runner-up Addeybb and Gold Cup third Cross Counter.

Global commerce continues

Royal Ascot prides itself on attracting international runners and although the nature of global competition was constrained this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, some of the pedigrees of the winners showed how the world is getting smaller and smaller.

Two European-bred winners were out of dams sourced from different parts of the southern hemisphere.

Hampton Court Stakes scorer Russian Emperor was bred by Coolmore and partners by pairing Galileo with multiple Australian Group 1 winner Atlantic Jewel, a daughter of Fastnet Rock.

He is not the first star the operation has bred by sending Australasian-bred mares by Danehill or his sons to Galileo, of course. Another Royal Ascot winner in Highland Reel as well as last year's Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck are other exponents of the method, being out of Hveger and Believe'N'Succeed respectively.

The import of sharply bred Australian mares to be covered by top European stallions is hardly a recent phenomenon but Anita Wigan was a little more adventurous in breeding Coventry Stakes winner Nando Parrado by sending the Argentinian Grade 3 winner Chibola to Kodiac.

South American bloodlines are far from unheard of in Europe – the likes of Brazilian-breds Gloria De Campeao and Energia Davos enjoyed big-race success after being brought to Europe – but it is naturally more common to see them mingle with stock based closer to home in the US.

Full credit to those entrepreneurial breeders willing to experiment with introducing hybrid vigour to European pedigrees that feature ever more inbreeding to the usual suspects in the stallion ranks.

It is not just one-way traffic in the global commerce of bloodlines, either, and more evidence of the internationalisation of breeding was provided by Queen Mary Stakes heroine Campanelle – the tenth individual Royal Ascot winner for Keeneland-based trainer Wesley Ward but the first bred in Europe.

The filly was bred in Ireland by Tally-Ho Stud and was sold to Ben McElroy on behalf of owners Stonestreet Stables for 190,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

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