Secret Gesture: put herself firmly in the Oaks picture at Lingfield

  PICTURE: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)  

Lingfield: Betfred “The Bonus King” Oaks Trial Stakes (Listed, 1m3½f)

Winner: Secret Gesture

b f Galileo-Shastye (Danehill)

Bred by Newsells Park Stud

Almost 12 months on from victory in the Epsom Oaks by Was, champion sire Galileo looks to have another scintillating Classic prospect lined up after Secret Gesture lived up to her regal pedigree when sauntering to an easy ten length win.

The week has been a notable one, even by Galileo’s standards, with Saturday’s Listed victory in addition to three Group wins over three days, two of which came in Derby trials.

Lingfield scorer Secret Gesture is out of Listed runner-up Shastye, a half-sister to Arc hero and sire Sagamix. However, a more eye-catching trait in the pedigree is that Shastye is a daughter of Danehill, the crossing of whom with Galileo has now yielded 18 stakes winners, spearheaded by dual world champion Frankel.

Newsells Park acquired Shastye – also a half-sister to the dam of Prix d’Ispahan winner Sageburg – for 625,000gns from Tattersalls at the conclusion of her racing career, an outlay that has already born fruit through the €320,000 sale of her Medicean yearling to Waratah Thoroughbred last year, and the 2009 sale of her Sadler’s Wells filly for 350,000gns at the Tattersalls October Book 1 sale.

Ascot: Buckhounds Stakes (Listed, 1m4f)

Winner: Ektihaam

b g Invincible Spirit-Liscune (King’s Best)

Bred by Bernard Cooke

Last year’s Dante runner-up Ektihaam earned his sire Invincible Spirit a second win in 24 hours after securing his first black-type win at Ascot.

Though Invincible Spirit – and many of his progeny – thrived over sprint trips, at stud he has proven capable of throwing offspring capable of getting further. However, few have excelled over 1m4f, a step up in trip to which Ektihaam clearly relished.

It was over the same trip that his dam Liscune scored the second of her two wins, and a shade under that which her half-brother Lycitus won the Group 3 Prix du Lys. Interestingly, both were by milers in King’s Best and Lycius respectively, with a preference for the same trip also exhibited by their dam Royal Lorna, winner of Group 3 Premio Bagutta (now known as the Premio Sergio Cumani) by Val De L’Orne.

Bought by Shadwell for 250,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, Ektihaam hails from the blue-blooded family of Oaks winner Snow Bride, her Derby-winning son Lammtarra, and outstanding broodmare Korveya, the dam of Hector Protector, Shanghai and Bosra Sham.

Lingfield: Betfred Derby Trial Stakes (Listed Race, 1m3½f )

Winner: Nevis

b c Dansili-Moonstone (Dalakhani)

Bred by Orpendale, Chelston Wynatt

A near hands and heels ride was all it took for Nevis to score decisively in this latest Derby Trial, making it three out of three so far this week for the Coolmore partners.

Although his odds-on favouritism came only at the expense of late withdrawal Greatwood, Nevis certainly boasts a pedigree worthy of a top-class contender being out of the Irish Oaks winner Moonstone, one of three Classic winners for her sire Dalakhani.

Moonstone, also trained by O’Brien, is a half-sister to Prix Saint-Alary heroine Cerulean Sky, the dam of Doncaster Cup winner Honolulu and the second dam of Group scorers Royal Bench and Memphis Tennessee.

Dansili, the sire of Nevis, plied his trade on the track as a miler of note, twice just missing out on a Group 1 title of his own by less than a length. However at stud he has proved a versatile sire of the highest calibre, last year alone siring the Group 1 winners Fallen For You, Giofra and The Fugue. While none of this trio scored over the Derby trip, their elder paternal siblings Harbinger and Rail Link did so in style, landing the King George VI Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe respectively.

Saturday’s win certainly suggested Nevis should have no issue staying the distance, but as one of 33 entries in the Epsom showpiece for O’Brien, the first test may be lining up at all.

Nottingham: E B F Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance Kilvington Fillies’ Stakes (Listed Race, 6f)

Winner: Scream Blue Murder

b f Oratorio-Holly Blue (Bluebird)

Bred by Annalee Bloodstock Rockhart Trading Ltd

Former Coolmore resident Oratorio has been on flying form so far this year, notching up 21 winners in Britain and Ireland alone and landing a Listed double on Saturday afternoon.

Three-year-old filly Scream Blue Murder landed the first leg when battling on gamely to deny Hoyam by a neck in the Kilvington Fillies’ Stakes, her first win over a 6f trip.

Out of Listed winner Holly Blue, at her best over a mile, Scream Blue Murder is a half-sister to Gibraltar Blue, a four-time Group winner in South Africa, Oratorio’s new country of residence. Holly Blue has proved to be a versatile broodmare, with Gibraltar Blue thriving over 7-8f, while her brother Pilgrims Rest won at 1m2f and 1m3f.

By former Castle Hyde Stud sire Bluebird, Holly Blue was the best of seven winners for her dam Nettle, herself a Listed winner and the most notable of six winners for Sans Blague.

Lingfield: betfred.com Chartwell Fillies’ Stakes (Group 3, 7f)

Winner: Lily’s Angel

b f Dark Angel-Noyelles (Docksider)

Lily’s Angel, one half of a Listed double for Dark Angel last month, added a third Group win to her sire’s tally when landing yesterday’s Chartwell Fillies’ Stakes. A member of Dark Angel’s first crop, she has performed with credit for Ger Lyons over three seasons, winning ten of 21 starts and also placing in both the Sweet Solera Stakes and Nell Gwyn Stakes.

Demonstrating a shade more stamina than her sire, Lily’s Angel has notched up three wins at a mile, the trip over which her Cape Cross half-sister Zurigha will be competing in today’s Poule d’Essai des Pouliches. The pair, both bred by the Nugent family, are out of Docksider mare Noyelles.

Though unraced herself, she is a half-sister to several notable middle-distance performers, including Bellona and Bayourida, both winners of 1m2f Listed events, while Inchinor half-sister In Clover scored over the same trip in Saint-Cloud’s Group 3 Prix de Flore. At stud, a meeting with Oasis Dream resulted in Listed-winning miler Dream Clover.

It will be interesting to see which trip the versatile Lily’s Angel tackles next, with an entry in the 6f Ballycorus Stakes sandwiched between engagements at the Curragh and Royal Ascot over a mile.

Haydock: Pertemps Network Spring Trophy Stakes (Listed Race, 7f)

Winner: Eton Forever

b g Oratorio-True Joy (Zilzal)

Bred by Mrs Brid Cosgrove

Beating home the fast-finishing Gregorian by a head, Eton Forever doubled Oratorio’s Listed tally for the afternoon – also adding a second black-type win to his own record.

That win puts Eton Forever ahead of his In The Wings half-sister Nans Joy as their dam True Joy’s top performer, the latter also a Listed winner over a mile in Germany.

Though failing to trouble the judge during her own time on the track, True Joy commanded the six-figure sum of 200,000gns when offered at the Tattersalls December Sale in 2001, no doubt in part due to the accomplishments of her Danzig half-brother, the influential sire Green Desert.

Their dam Foreign Courier, a daughter of Sir Ivor, is the ancestor of many a top-class performer, as is her own dam Courtly Dee. Grade 1 winners Althea, Balletto, Acoma, Aldiza and Ali Oop are just some of the top-class performers to descend from the daughter of Never Bend, alongside exciting young sire Arch, and Bertolini.

 

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