15 minute read
Cheltenham Bloodstock Review
French & Horn: the Festival double act
Former Darley stallions French Navy and Golden Horn sired three Grade 1 winners between them at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, writes Amy Bennett
Photography by Debbie Burt
IT IS TEN years since Golden Horn powered his way through his own golden season as a racehorse, collecting top-level victories including the Derby, the Eclipse, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. He retired the winner of seven of his nine starts to stand at Dalham Hall Stud for a free of £60,000, and spearheaded a huge team of ten young sires, including Night Of Thunder, who joined Darley’s European roster in the closing months of 2015, standing their first seasons in 2016.
Also among the ten was French Navy, a dual Group 3 scorer and at stud as part of the first Darley Club, standing for €4,000 at Kildangan Stud.
Fast-forward nine years from the start of their stud careers and both Golden Horn and French Navy celebrated top-level wins with their progeny at this year’s Cheltenham Festival.
Perhaps not the arena where it was hoped their top-level winners would occur, but cause for celebration nonetheless.
For French Navy, who departed Kildangan for warmer climes in India after the 2020 covering season, it was a second Festival success when his superstar son Marine Nationale followed up victory in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (G1) in 2023 with a superb triumph in the Champion Chase (G1) this year.
The eight-year-old cruised home by 18l from Jonbon (Walk In The Park) to record a hugely emotional victory coming so soon after the death of his jockey Michael O’Sullivan, for whom this year’s Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle was named.
Golden Horn has proved himself a good source of classy winners under both codes, with a quartet of Group 2 scorers on the Flat but, given the focus on sources of pure speed, it was no great surprise when he departed Dalham Hall Stud for Overbury Stud and a dual-purpose career in 2023.
Any jumps breeders who have subsequently supported him at his Gloucestershire base will be punching the air after Golden Horn registered his breakthrough top-level winner in the Champion Hurdle and then followed up with the Triumph Hurdle winner on the final day of a roller-coaster meeting.
The 2025 Champion Hurdle will go down in the record books as one of the most memorable of all time, albeit not for the reason most people were hoping.
Hot favourite Constitution Hill, the son of Blue Bresil, crashed out of the race four flights from home, Brighterdaysahead (Kapgarde) never seemed to get going, and last year’s winner State Man (Doctor Dino) took a crunching fall at the last, leaving Golden Ace to skip home by 9l from Burdett Road (Muhaarar).
The seven-year-old mare, trained by Jeremy Scott, defeated Brighterdaysahead in last year’s Grade 2 Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle and was last seen winning the Kingwell Hurdle (G2) in February.
She has never been a slouch, but beforehand with questions to answer in the rarified air of the Champion Hurdle.
Bred by Meon Valley Stud, the mare was snapped up by owner Ian Gosden for just 12,000gns at the 2021 Tattersalls July Sale as an unraced three-year-old.
A half-sister to minor winners by Kingman and Lope De Vega, she is out of the Dubawi mare Deuce Again, successful in the Listed Further Flight Stakes in 2015, and from the further family of the Prix du Cadran (G1) winner San Sebatian and the Group 1 Oaks runner-up Noushkey.
AFTER GOLDEN ACE’S win, Golden Horn’s owner Jayne McGivern rightly said: “He has come of age now! He really deserves that, and he is going to get some extra carrots in his tea tonight!
“His book is pretty full but we are happy to still take calls from breeders!”
If Golden Ace’s victory was a shock, the victory of her paternal half-brother Poniros in the Triumph Hurdle (G1) was seismic.
One of 11 runners in the race saddled by Willie Mullins, the gelding had not jumped a hurdle in public prior to the first flight of the Triumph Hurdle but belied 100-1 odds to score by a neck over the hitherto unbeaten Lulamba (Nirvana Du Berlais), with paternal half-brother East India Dock in third.
A winner on debut at two in a Nottingham maiden for Ralph Beckett, Poniros was runner-up at three in the London Gold Cup Handicap, but it was no great surprise when Amo Racing offered him at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale.
A 20,000gns foal and a €95,000 yearling, he was purchased for 200,000gns by Harold Kirk for Mullins and Tony Bloom as a dual-purpose prospect, the Cheltenham a race planned by Mullins as a prep for a Flat campaign.
Bred by Wilgerbosdrift, Poniros is out of the Lope De Vega mare Rue Renan, a half-sister to the US Grade 3 winner Chattahoochee War (War Chant).
Golden Horn’s first progeny conceived at Overbury Stud are still only yearlings, making the success of his Flat-bred jumpers all the more worth of note.
The sire is also well endorsed by Mullins, who noted in the aftermath of Poniros’s success: “[Poniros] is by Golden Horn, who I think is going to make a good sire over jumps.”
Mullins added: “We bought him in October, schooled him and gave him a break.
“We said we’d better drag him in from the field and get him ready for Cheltenham and that’s what we did".
There is plenty to look forward to with Golden Horn, as he bids to follow in the hoofprints of illustrious former Overbury resident Kayf Tara.
That stalwart died three years ago, but his legacy was continued at the Festival by the awesome The New Lion, who maintained his unbeaten record in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle (G1).
During a meeting marked by emotional highs and lows, the six-year-old was a poignant success for his breeders, the late Robert Chugg and his wife Jackie who has continued operations at Little Lodge Farm and was on hand to see the success of the son of Raitera (Astarabad).
But the link goes further – Raitera, who failed to conceive to Golden Horn last year, was covered by him again the weekend before the Festival.
Doctor at the double
Golden Horn was one of two sires to register a double at the Festival, along with Doctor Dino.
The Haras du Mesnil resident, who commands an advertised fee of €24,000 this year, was denied a second Champion Hurdle victory with State Man, but his daughter Dinoblue put in an impressive performance to win the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase (G2) by over 8l.
Runner-up in the same contest last year, the Grade 1 winner was bred by Vincent Barrett’s ML Bloodstock (also responsible for State Man, among many other stars), and is a half-sister to Blue Sari (Saddex), runner-up in the 2019 Weatherbys’ Champion Bumper, and successful in bumper, hurdle and chase company.
They are out of the Asatarbad mare Blue Aster, a half-sister to the useful French jumper April Blue (Sleeping Car).
Doctor Dino was also responsible for Jazzy Matty, who stayed on well up the hill to score in the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup.
Successful in the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (G3) in 2023, the six-yearold is a full-brother to the Grade 3-placed Inneston.
More notably, Jazzy Matty is also a halfbrother to Delta Work (Network), who won three times at the Cheltenham Festival and was placed in two Grand Nationals, as well as the Grade 2-placed Elwood (Martaline).
Dreams really do come true
Connections of Golden Ace may not have had much hope that the gamble of sending their mare to the Champion Hurdle would pay off in such style, but she proved that dreams really can come true.
As did J.P. McManus and his team, who stumped up £25,000 to supplement Inothewayurthinkin for the Cheltenham
Gold Cup (G1), and got to see their son of Walk In The Park power home from defending dual champion Galopin Des Champs (Timos).
The seven-year-old winner is clearly no slouch, as he proved when winning last year’s Grade 1 Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree, a month after landing the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup. Since then however, the gelding had been defeated on each of his starts this season, including when fourth to Galopin Des Champs in the Irish Gold Cup (G1).
But racing is built on dreams and gambles, and Inothewayurthinkin put in a good round of jumping and stormed up the hill to be crowned champion.
Bred by Noreen McManus, he is a fullbrother to last year’s Grade 2 Cheltenham Festival Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase winner Limerick Lace, out of the Califet mare Sway, an AQPS winner on the Flat and also successful over jumps.
Limerick Lace finished fifth in the same mares race this year, just an hour and a half ahead of her full-brother’s big race victory.
Mrs McManus was the only breeder of the week to register two successes with Puturhandstogether having got the ball rolling in her husband’s famed colours in the Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle.
By Caravaggio, out of the Galileo mare Round Of Applause, the four-year-old unsurprisingly started his career on the Flat, scoring his only success from six starts last July. Winner of a three-year-old hurdle at Cork in December, he showed plenty of pace to score by 6l at Cheltenham.
Bloodless Grade 1 win for Lossiemouth
The proximity of the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (G1) to the Champion Hurdle again put the spotlight on the connections of Lossiemouth, who opted to send their mare into battle against her own sex, rather than take on Constitution Hill and State Man half an hour later in the main event of the day.
The decision resulted in a third consecutive Cheltenham Festival victory for the daughter of Great Pretender and let nothing be taken from her – her defeat of Jade De Grugy (Doctor Dino) by seven and a half lengths was bloodless but flawless.
The six-year-old is a daughter of Great Pretender, who spent the 2014 covering season in Britain at Yorton Farm Stud but has been based at Haras de la Hetraie ever since. Bred by Elevage des Vallons and Ian Kellit, the mare is out of the Gentlewave mare Mariner’s Light, and hails from the family of the Grade 1 winner Lord Glitters.
The mares’ hurdle has every right be included in the Festival, but maybe it should not be held on the same day as the Champion Hurdle nor hold Grade 1 status – connections with good mares would then find it harder to walk away from running in the Champion Hurdle.
Valirann is enjoying a breakout season with his Grade 1-winning hurdler Potters Charm and Welsh Grand National (G3) victor Val Dancer, but it was a new Grade 1 winner Lecky Watson in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase who put the sire onto the scorecard at Prestbury Park.
The seven-year-old, unbeaten in three starts now this season, was bred by the late Ronnie O’Neill, who previously stood Valirann at his Whytemount Stud, and bred the gelding out of his homebred mare Anno Whyte.
Pulled up in a bumper on her sole racecourse appearance, Anno Whyte is a full-sister to the Grade 2 hurdles winner Giantofaman, and is out of the placed Anno Mundi (Red Ransom), who was purchased 21 years ago by O’Neill for just €9,500 out of the Darley draft at the Goffs February Sale. Valirann now stands at Tullaghansleek Stud in County Westmeath for a private fee.
Stowaway registered a second Grade 1 broodmare success at this year’s Festival courtesy of Bambino Fever in the Grade 1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper, also giving jockey Jody Townend, sister of Paul, her first Festival winner.
Winner of a Stowlin point-to-point for handler Nick Stokes in May 2024 after failing to find a buyer at the 2023 Goffs Arkle Sale, Bambino Fever is now unbeaten in three bumpers, including her Grade 2 success at the Dublin Racing Festival.
She was bred by Geoffrey Thompson who sent his unraced mare Midnight Way to Jukebox Jury. The dam is a half-sister to the Listed-placed Midnight Gift, dam of the Grade 1-winning jumper Death Duty (Shantou).
Robcour enjoys a red-letter day
A day later, Stowaway was at it again when his granddaughter Air Of Entitlement landed the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (G2).
Not seen since winning a maiden hurdle at Down Royal on St Stephen’s Day, the six-year-old mare took the lead on the run-in to win by half a length.
Bred by Anne Lalor, also breeder of such luminaries as Cheltenham Gold Cup victor Minella Indo, the daughter of Westerner was a €90,000 purchase by Mags O’Toole from the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale in 2022.
She is the first foal out of Stowaway’s daughter Carrigeen Karaka, who is a halfsister to the Grade 3-placed multiple jumps winner Rogue Angel (Presenting).
Air Of Entitlement kicked off a great day for Brian Acheson’s Robcour with the black, white and pink colours also carried to a battling 1-2 in the Stayers’ Hurdle (G1).
Victory went the way of Bob Olinger (Sholokhov), a third victory at the Cheltenham Festival for the 10-year-old, who was bred by Ken Parkhill out of the Zaffran mare Zenaide.
Bob Olinger saw off his better-fancied rival Teahupoo (Masked Marvel).
Robcour registered a second runner-up spot on Thursday’s card when Heart Wood followed home the impressive Fact To File by a respectful 9l in the Ryanair Chase (G1).
Also a Grade 1 winner at last year’s Festival, Fact To File continued his top-level winning ways when taking the John Durkan Memorial Chase (G1) in November, but was twice beaten subsequently in Grade 1 races.
Bred by Michel Pehu, the eight-year-old is a son of Poliglote, out of a daughter of Trempolino, and was purchased for €40,000 from Arqana’s Autumn Sale in 2018.
Rathmore’s first mare purchase for Kenneth Alexander a Festival charity success
The Grade 3 Pertemps Network Final victory for Doddiethegreat, a son of Fame And Glory trained by Nicky Henderson, provided a great charity result with the success adding over £60,000 in to the MND Foundation set up by the late rugby union star Doddie Weir. It was also a memorable victory for owner Kenneth Alexander and Peter Molony – the gelding’s dam Asturienne (Sleeping Car), the first mare bought for Alexander by Molony.
“She had been a good runner,” recalled Molony, “and had won five races, trainer Alan King had thought she’s be she would be a black-type horse, but a few training problems intervened. She was bred by Anthony Bromley’s family at Wood Hall Stud.
“She is a fabulous mare and this horse was always a real good-looking sort – we thought he’d be a real ‘Nicky Henderson sort’ as he was so good looking, you can only send Nicky good lookers!
black-type horse, but a few training problems intervened. She was bred by Anthony Bromley’s family at Wood Hall Stud.
“Ken had met Doddie and then decided to donate all this horse’s winnings to the charity. He won his first three races, but then had a severe injury and was off the track for a long time.”
Of the mare, Molony added: “She is retired now, but has a host of Walk In The Parks to come.”
Karaktar gets on the Festival winners’ sheet
Before the meeting, it was expected that Karaktar might get on the scoreboard courtesy of Il Est Francais in the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase.
That was not to be when the seven-yearold failed to gallop up the hill, but the sire, a son of High Chaparral, did get himself a winner, courtesy of Jagwar, successful in the Grade 3 Trustatrader Handicap Chase over 2m4f.
Jagwar is a sizeable horse, reportedly 18hh, and the six-year-old was bred by Jacques Cypres and Laurent Couetil.
He is trained by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriro and is a half-brother to the Grade 3 winner D’Jango, his dam is a Video Rock Listed winner and he is from the family of The Fellow.
Karaktar earned his placed at stud with victory in the Group 3 Prix Noailles over 1m2f. He is from the Aga Khan’s family of the Group 3 May Hill winner and Group 1 placed Karasta.
