NH racing review

A GLANCE AT THE NH stallion tables last autumn looked pretty similar to the last few years – leading the way were the usual crew of Flemensfirth, King’s Theatre, Presenting, Beneficial and Stowaway. Stallions that were either unfortunately already dead or nearing the pensioner ranks.

Through the mid-winter period of this NH season, however there has been a change of guard and two young names have made their way to the top of the tables. Both are, perhaps unsurprisingly, Coolmore-based sires – Milan and Yeats.

Both have made their way to the leader ranks on the NH prize-money tables without the benefit of Grade 1 Christmas winners.

In a way, the upward moves by both Milan and Yeats are not a shock – the two stallions have been putting in consistently improving performances on the sires’ table for the last few years with Milan achieving a top five sires’ status since the 2015-17 season, while younger Yeats steadily moving his way up the ladder.

In fact, in a NH piece we helped produce in the autumn for Weatherbys, we identified even at the early stages of the 2019-2020 season Yeats was on target for his best-ever result.

His first three-year-old jumps crop appeared in 2014 and, while he has been steadily improving on the sires’ table, his fee has actually been heading in the opposite direction. He retired to stud at €10,000 and his covering price has steadily dropped down to €5,000, which he has been available at since 2018.

Conversely, his table position has improved from 75th in 2015-16 to 26th in 2016-17, 13th in 2017-18 and 15th last season.

With 55 winners this season at the time of writing, Yeats’ leading 2019-20 earner is the Galway Plate winner Tudor City, but his leading runner by official rating and performance is the De Rasher Counter, winner of Newbury’s Ladbrokes Trophy Chase (G3).

The rating for the Emma Lavelle-trained gelding has now improved to 160 and De Rasher Counter is his sire’s best-rated horse.

His efforts should help ensure that the quality of mares visiting the eight-time Group 1 winners remains on the upgrade.

Milan retired to stud for the 2003 spring covering season, the son of Sadler’s Wells having run once as a juvenile (a maiden victory at The Curragh in October), eight times at three, performances which resulted in a third in the Prix Lupin (G1), a close-up fifth place in the Prix du Jockey-Club (G1) and a fourth in the King Edward VII Stakes behind Storming Home. He then collected two victories – the Great Voltigeur Stakes (G2), in which he reversed form with his Royal Ascot conqueror, and then his standout Classic success in the St Leger.

His final runs of the year came in the Arc de Triomphe (fifth) and the Breeders’ Cup Turf in which he was beaten just threequarters of a length by Fantastic Light.

He was injured on his only four-year-old start and retired to the Coolmore NH ranks.

With form in the book and a fine pedigree to be taking to the NH sphere (he is by Sadler’s Wells and out of Kithanga, a daughter of Darshaan who finished third in the Irish St Leger) he were always expected to be an important NH sire.

Judges were perhaps a little disappointed that his early-produced crops did not immediately create the biggest impact, but his best horse to date, the Jessica Harrington-trained Jezki, arrived in his 2008 crop.

With Jezki’s first Grade 1 hurdle wins coming in 2012, it helped to created some forward momentum for the sire which is beginning to be realised on the track. Since 2009 Milan’s fee has crept up from €5,000 to this year’s €10,000.

The sire’s best store horse sale came in 2018 when Aiden Murphy for MV Magnier paid €365,000 for Ballyreddin Stud’s half-brother to the three-time Cheltenham Festival winner Alitor.

In 2019, his sale ring offerings were topped by Mags O’Toole’s €180,000 purchase of a gelding out of Toledana from Roxborough Stud. He is a half-brother to a French Listed placed hurdle winner and his dam is a Protector half-sister to the Grand Annual (G3) winner Oiseau De Nuit.

At the time of writing, this winter Milan has bagged 55 winners from 230 runners, a winners-to-runners strike rate of 23 per cent.

His leading performer by earnings is Roaring Bull, who has won over £100,000 courtesy primarily of his success in the valuable 3m Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown on December 27. Out of a Presenting mare and trained by Gordon Elliot, if Roaring Bull remains in the good heart through the spring, he could be a contender for major staying handicaps.

Milan’s major graded race performer over Christmas was the admirable Monalee, who after a good front-running performance in the Savills Chase (G1), finished second to Delta Work. Monalee, a nine-year-old bred by Aidan Ahern, is due to be freshened up and will head straight to the Gold Cup.

Monalee was continuing the strong run of form for trainer Henry De Bromhead and jockey Racheal Blackmore, the combination’s highest point from a number of good results over the Festive period came in the Racing Post Novices Chase (G1) with Notebook and in the 2m1f Grade 1 Chase at Leopardstown on December 27 with A Plus Tard.

There was also the Grade 2 victory with Aspire Tower in the Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle (G2).

The 150-rated Notebook is an improving seven-year-old son of Samum, out of the Winged Love mare Nova. It is essentially a staying Flat pedigree – Notebook’s halfbrother Nebukadnezar (Lomitas) was a Listed winner over 1m6f in Italy.

Bred by Gestüt Am Schlossgarten, Notebook was bought as a foal for €27,000 by JD Leahy from Corrin Stud at the Goffs December Sale in 2013. After winning his third start in a point-to-point he was offered at the Cheltenham May Sale where he was purchased by Mags O’Toole for £70,000 from John Nallen.

It was an inspired purchase – Notebook has only once in nine subsequent starts finished out of the first two places (when down the field in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle (G1)). He has gone through the ranks nicely now he has switched to fences, his Grade 1 Christmas success represents strong novice form and he is now a 5/1 shot for the Arkle.

The Bromhead-trained A Plus Tard is already a Festival winner having taken the Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase under Blackmore last spring.

He continued to build on that performance at Punchestown last April when third in the Group 1 novice chase and then again this season when second in the Fortrina Chase (G1) before gaining his deserved top level win.

He will have a Festival entry in the Champion Chase, but De Bromhead is leaning toward the longer Ryanair Chase for the Mme Henri Devin-bred and Cheveley Park Stud-owned six-year-old.

Boosting a French suffix A Plus Tard is out of the country’s leading NH sire Kapgarde and it was a strong Grade 1 Christmas period for the son of Garde Royale – Fakir D’Oudairies finished second to Notebook, Dolos won early December’s Tingle Creek (G1) for trainer Paul Nicholls, while his highlight came on Boxing Day with Clan Des

Obeaux’s storming 21l King George VI Chase victory. The disappointing performance of Lostintranslation (subsequently given a wind operation) meant that French-breds filled the first three places in the Kempton Boxing Day feature.

At the Cheltenham December Sale, Betrand Le Metayer spent £210,000 (third top price) on the three-year-old gelding Kalkas, placed on his sole outing over hurdles in France, at the Arqana Autumn Mixed Sale Saubouas Bloodstock went to a yearling top-price of €150,000 for the colt out of No News (Gentlewave).

Flash De Touzaine cost Tom Malone/ Paul Nicholls £125,000 at Cheltenham last May, while at the same venue’s November Sale, Kate Harrington went to £120,000 for Monbeg Stables’s point-to-point graduate Lifetime Ambition. At the 2019 Derby Sale, Highflyer Bloodstock/Ben Pauling Racing bought Gentleman Valley for €130,000. He is out of a Lando halfsister to the French Grade 2 winner Pindare. Although Irish-born and originally retired to stand in the Emerald Isle, Born To Sea, the Invincible Spirit half-brother to Sea The Stars, moved to stand in France at Haras des Faunes in 2019 at a fee of €4,000, a price that has been held for 2020.

The stallion has been a disappointing producer of high-grade Flat horses, but as he seemingly produces stock with a preference for a softer surface (hence the move to France), Born To Sea is beginning to get some traction as a sire of jumps’ horses.

The De Bromhead-trained Aspire Tower, who is out of the Pivotal mare Red Planet, was the impressive 18l winner of the Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle (G2). The gelding was a useful enough campaigner on the Flat (rated 86), but really has found his feet over timber. He is currently heading to The Festival as a market leader for the Triumph Hurdle (G1).

De Bromhead stated after the gelding’s Christmas victory that there may be an option to take in a Grade 1 en route to Cheltenham and that good jumping ground at the big meeting would not hold any fears.

Aspire Tower has something of a mixed pedigree – his unraced dam is by the speed influence Pivotal and she is a half-sister to the stakes race 5f sprinter Pivotal Flame, however the pair are out of the Cheveley Park Studbred 2m Southwell Turf winner Reddening (Blushing Flame).

The family stretches back to the smart sprinter/Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up Dancing Goddess.

Wave Of The Sea, another by the transferred sire, is trained by Joseph O’Brien for JP McManus. Rated 132, he finished third in that same Leopardstown juvenile race behind Apire Tower, while the sire’s 121-rated Broughtons Admiral won a handicap hurdle at Hereford for trainer Dr Richard Newland. Born To Sea also got a December handicap hurdle winner Snookered, who is now rated 140.

Sea The Moon, a son of Sea The Stars, is developing into a pretty decent Flat Stallion as evidenced by his Group 2 winner Alpine Star, but his early NH performers have not wasted time in making a strong impression.

ALLMANKIND, bred and owned by the Gredley family, was transferred to the winter game and the yard of Dan Skelton after proving difficult to anchor on the Flat and without a set of hurdles to break his stride.

Even in the winter ground at Chepstow in the Corale Finale Juvenile Hurdle (G1) he set off at a pace deemed by many to be too fast, but he maintained his momentum despite the heavy conditions and proved the class that as a 89-rated Flat performer he has up his sleeve.

He is now unbeaten over hurdles, is officially rated 140 and connections have the Triumph Hurdle firmly on the horizon. He was bred by Stetchworth and Middle Park Studs, but hails from a deep Juddmonte pedigree – he is out of Wemyss Bay, an unraced sister to Juddmonte’s Group 1 winner and Derby third Beat Hollow. The pair are out of Wemyss Bight (Dancing Brave), winner of the Irish Oaks.

Three Comets, rated 93 on the Flat for trainer Roger Varian and now trained by Luke Comer, who paid 35,000gns for the gelding at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale last October, fell when in contention behind Gealach.

The one-time winner Sea Ducor, trained by Arthur Moore, was the only one to give Aspire Tower a race of it when second in to the subsequent Grade 1 winner in a November

maiden hurdle. The form looks good on two counts – Sea Ducor then finished ahead of Wolf Prince, second to the Aspire Tower at Leopardstown.

Bred by Eric Cantillion, Sea Ducor was bought as a yearling by the trainer’s son JD Moore at Tattersalls October Book 3 Sale in 2018 for 10,000gns from Whitwell Bloodstock.