Chris Hill of Weatherbys provides a bumper Bloodstock Bites with Zoffany’s progeny starring at Royal Ascot.

Waterloo Bridge: Another Royal Ascot winner for Zoffany

The opening race of Royal Ascot 2015 saw the Freddy Head-trained Solow (Singspiel) record a third consecutive Group One victory when running out a length winner of the Queen Anne Stakes under Maxime Guyon.

The five-year-old Wertheimer et Frere homebred gelding is the first winner produced by High Maintenance (Highest Honor), a three-time winner in France for Andre Fabre and runner-up in the 2008 Listed Grand Prix de Lyon and Prix La Moskowa and third in that year’s Group Three Prix Gladiateur.  A half-sister to the 1998 Listed Prix de la Seine winner Hostessante (Pleasant Colony) out of the Group Two Prix de Royallieu winner Fabulous Hostess (Fabulous Dancer), High Maintenance produced a filly foal by Shamardal this year, subsequently named Lunch Lady, with the further family being that of last year’s Group One Pretty Polly Stakes winner Thistle Bird and the 2010 Irish Guineas heroine Bethrah.

Aidan O’Brien’s dual Guineas winner Gleneagles (Galileo) continued his perfect record in 2015 with a comfortable two-and-a-half length victory in the Group One St James’s Palace Stakes in the hands of Ryan Moore, the first of a remarkable nine victories for the three-time champion jockey.

Bred by the You’resothrilling Syndicate out of the 2007 Group Two Cherry Hinton Stakes and Group Three Swordlestown Stud Sprint Stakes winner You’resothrilling (Storm Cat), a full sister to O’Brien’s six-time Group One winner Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat) and half-sister to the unraced dam of William Haggas’ 2015 Listed Cocked Hat Stakes winner, Irish Derby runner-up and Derby third Storm The Stars (Sea The Stars), Gleneagles is a full brother to last year’s Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Marvellous (Galileo).

Also on the opening day of Royal Ascot, trainer Robert Cowell landed a second Group One King’s Stand Stakes when his six year-old gelding Goldream (Oasis Dream) emulated his 2011 winner Prohibit when running out a short-head winner of the five furlong sprint under Martin Harley for owners J Sargeant and Mrs J Morley.

The first winner produced by the unraced mare Clizia (Machiavellian), a half-sister to the five-time Listed winner Mont Rocher (Caerleon), Goldream is bred along the same lines as the 2008 Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagadere winner Arcano and 2009 Group One Prix Morny winner Arcano and hails from the further family of the six-time Group One winner and champion sire Montjeu as well as the 2009 Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Again.

Free Eagle (High Chaparral) gained his first success at Group One level on Wednesday when guided by Pat Smullen to a narrow success over The Grey Gatsby (Mastercraftsman) in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes for trainer Dermot Weld.

A Moyglare Stud homebred, the four-year-old colt is a half-brother to three other winners including David O’Meara’s dual Group Two winner Custom Cut (Notnowcato) and Weld’s 2012 Group Two British Champions Fillies’ and Mares’ Stakes winner Sapphire (Medicean) out of the winning juvenile Polished Gem (Danehill), meaning Free Eagle is bred along the same lines as the Australian Group Two winner Forever Loved as well as the English Group Three winner Above Average.

The headline event of the entire Royal Ascot meeting, the Group One Gold Cup, saw Ed Dunlop’s four-year-old gelding Trip To Paris (Champs Elysees) run out a length-and-a-quarter winner under Graham Lee to handsomely reward owners La Grange Partnership’s decision to supplement the horse for the two mile four furlong contest and become the first winner at the top level to be sired by Juddmonte’s two-time Grade One winner Champs Elysees.

Having entered the Tattersalls sales ring on three occasions, on the final occasion when purchased by agent Federico Barberini for 20,000 guineas at the 2013 Guineas Breeze Up Sale, Trip To Paris is the first winner and only runner to date produced by the three-times raced broodmare La Grande Zoa (Fantastic Light) from the family of the two-time Juddmonte International Stakes and Eclipse Stakes winner Ezzoud and the dual Group One winner Distant Relative.

On Friday, the inaugural running of the Group One Commonwealth Cup saw Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum’s homebred colt Muhaarar (Oasis Dream) run out a taking three-and-three-quarter length winner of the contest restricted to three-year-olds in the hands of Dane O’Neill for trainer Charlie Hills.

Out of the two-time winner and 2005 Listed Wentworth Stakes runner-up Tahrir (Linamix), a full sister to the dual French Listed winner Mister Charm (Linamix) and half-sister to the Group Three Prix de Guiche winner Mister Sacha (Tiger Hill), Muhaarar is a half-brother to the 2011 Listed Dick Poole Stakes winner Sajwah (Exceed And Excel), the Group Three Firebreak Stakes second Tamaathul (Tiger Hill) and the Listed Conqueror Stakes third Raasekha (Pivotal).

Friday also saw Jean-Claude Rouget’s Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) heroine Ervedya (Siyouni) maintain her perfect record in 2015 when overhauling last year’s Joint Champion European two-year-old filly Found (Galileo) close to the line to claim the Coronation Stakes in the hands of Christophe Soumillon.

An Aga Khan homebred out of the two-time French winner and 2007 Group Three Prix Vanteaux runner-up Elva (King’s Best), Ervedya is a half-sister to two winners, the three-time winner under both codes Elmal (Dalakhani) and the dual French winner Ennaya (Nayef), with the further family being that of the Group One Premio Jockey Club e Coppa d’Oro winner Erdelistan and the French Group Three winners Euliya and Imyar.

The final day of Royal Ascot 2015 saw U.S. trainer Wesley Ward’s five-year-old gelding Undrafted (Purim) piloted to victory in the Group One Diamond Jubilee Stakes by Frankie Dettori for owners Wes Welker and Sol Kumin.

A $50,000 purchase by the Hat Creek Racing Company at the 2011 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Undrafted joins 2015 Man O’War Stakes winner Twilight Eclipse as winners at the highest level by Purim, the winner of the 2007 Grade One Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes, who produced four crops of racing age during his time at Richland Hills in Kentucky until his death in 2012 at the age of ten. One of four winners produced by French Jeanette (French Deputy), a six-time winner in the U.S., Undrafted is a full brother to the three-time winner Play Hard To Get (Purim), with both hailing from the family of the 2013 Group One Golden Shaheen Stakes winner Reynaldothewizard and the two-time Grade One winner Seventh Street.

At the conclusion of the Royal meeting, Galileo was leading sire courtesy of the victories of the aforementioned Gleneagles in the St James’s Palace Stakes, Curvy in the Group Two Ribblesdale Stakes and Aloft in the Listed Queen’s Vase, as well as three of his offspring finishing runners-up, though special mention must go to first season sire Zoffany, Coolmore’s 2010 Group One Phoenix Stakes winner, who was himself responsible for three Royal Ascot winners with Washington DC successful in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes on the opening day, Waterloo Bridge the winner of the Group Two Norfolk Stakes on Thursday and the Richard Hannon-trained Illuminate a decisive winner of the Group Three Albany Stakes on the Friday.

Just over a week after their triumph in the Derby at Epsom, Frankie Dettori and John Gosden teamed up for more Classic glory when the Italian jockey steered Lady Bamford’s homebred three-year-old filly Star Of Seville (Duke Of Marmalade) to a length success in the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly, a victory that was a first at the highest level for offspring of the five-time Group One winner Duke Of Marmalade, who stood at Coolmore before moving to Drakenstein Stud in South Africa in 2014.

One of five winners produced by the two-time winner Stage Presence (Selkirk), a half-sister to the Group Three Ballycorus Stakes winner Rum Charger (Spectrum), herself the dam of the four-time U.S. Grade One winner Winchester (Theatrical), Star Of Seville is a half-sister to the 2006 Group Three Sweet Solera Stakes winner English Ballet (Danehill Dancer) and to the winning dam of the 2013 Listed Golden Rose Stakes winner Valbchek (Acclamation).

The Goffs Land Rover Sale recently took place over two days with €11,722,500 grossed, an increase of 1% on the 2014 renewal, and the average price of €26,825 and median price of €20,000 slight decreases of 2% and 9% respectively on the previous year’s sale.

Topping the sale when purchased by trainer Mouse Morris for €155,000 was an unnamed three-year-old gelding by Arcadio out of the bumper winner Hidden Reserve (Heron Island), a full sister to the Grade Two bumper winner Crocodiles Rock (Heron Island) and to the unraced dam of the Grade Three winning chaser Johns Spirit (Gold Well) and Grade C Handicap Hurdle winner The Game Changer (Arcadio), who is bred along the same lines as the sale topper being by the two-time German Group Two winner and 2005 German champion three-year-old colt, Arcadio.

The second priciest acquisition at the Land Rover Sale was a three-year-old gelding from the first crop of the two-time German Group One winner Getaway out of the placed hurdler Listening (King’s Theatre), a half-sister to the 1994 Triumph Hurdle runner-up Moorish (Dominion) from the family of the Grade One Finale Juvenile Hurdle winner Decent Fellow, who was purchased by M V Magnier for €150,000.

On the eve of Royal Ascot, Goffs also held the second renewal of their London Sale at The Orangery in Kensington Palace with the sale topper being the five-year-old mare Majestic Queen (Kheleyf), the winner of the Group Three Ballyogan Stakes and Chartwell Stakes for former trainer Tracey Collins, who was bought by John Ferguson on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley operation for £825,000.

At the conclusion of the afternoon’s trading, twenty-three lots had changed hands for a total of £3,784,000, a reduction of 44% on the previous year’s sale, with the average price of £164,522 and median price of £100,000 decreases of 15% and 17% respectively on 2014.

Chris Hill

Chris is a Pedigree Researcher for Weatherbys Ltd, the company that provides the majority of pedigrees for thoroughbreds sold at public auction in Britain and Ireland and who offer a range of products and services to suit your Bloodstock needs.

For further information please visit http://www.weatherbys.co.uk/bloodstock

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