A MONTH after smashing the five-furlong track record at Meydan when winning the Group 2 Blue Point Stakes, the three-year-old gelding West Acre added a further pattern win to his record for owner Michael Blencowe and trainer George Scott with a brave victory over his elders in the Group 3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint on Super Saturday.

Settled out the back as others set a scorching pace up front, West Acre showed true grit to run down the leader Ponntos and win a shade cosily under Callum Shepherd. “He dug deep, he was gritty, and he still galloped out well after the line, so I fancy him even better over six furlongs for the [Group 1] Al Quoz,” said Shepherd. The Al Quoz is one of the feature races on Dubai World Cup night on April 5th.

One of 39 stakes winners for Mehmas (Acclamation) who stands this year for €70,000, West Acre was bred by the O’Callaghan’s Tally-Ho Stud out of Lady Aria, a daughter of Kodiac (Danehill) who was Group 3-placed when second in the Dick Poole Stakes at Salisbury. West Acre was bought by Alex Elliott and Billy Jackson-Stops for £95,000 at the 2023 Goffs UK Premier Sale in Doncaster, and with two juvenile wins in England, he has now netted some £290,000.

West Acre joins Clarendon House as stakes winners within a week for Mehmas, and are among five stakes horses the Group 2 Richmond Stakes and Group 2 July Stakes winner has sired this year. Mehmas was runner-up to Churchill in the Group 1 National Stakes and to Caravaggio in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes. He went to stud as a three-year-old and his sixth crop are two-year-olds.

Not only is West Acre another talented performer for Mehmas, but he also continues a productive run for Kodiac as a broodmare sire. The Mehmas - Kodiac cross is also responsible for top sprinter Believing, a Group 2 winner, runner-up in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes and sold to M.V. Magnier in December for 3,000,000gns, and last season’s talented juvenile Diego Ventura.

West Acre is the second foal and winner for Lady Aria, who campaigned for Amo Racing and Michael Bell. A 125,000gns yearling purchase by Alex Elliott, she was group-placed when still a maiden, won on her final run at two, but didn’t train on. She was sold to Tally-Ho at the end of her second season for 160,000gns, and was covered at Whitsbury Manor Stud in her first year at stud by Showcasing (Oasis Dream).

Six-figure lots

The result was a colt, Succession, and he won at two. West Acre is Lady Aria’s second produce, while her third progeny is a two-year-old daughter of Starman (Dutch Art), and she sold as a yearling last year for £185,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale.

Some 25 yearlings by Starman sold over the two days of that sale, averaging €52,360, and included a trio of six-figure lots, all of which were sold by Tally-Ho. On the second day, his daughter out of Lady Aria sold to Dan Creighton of Creighton Schwartz Bloodstock.

The filly will be trained by Karl Burke for Fenerbahce footballer Ryan Kent. Creighton said: “We came here to try to buy a horse for Royal Ascot next year. She ticked a lot of boxes on pedigree, it’s a very fast family with a load of two-year-olds. I’ve been impressed by the Starman’s that I’ve seen here and she stood out.”

Lady Aria has a yearling colt by Persian Force (Mehmas) and last year she was again covered by West Acre’s sire.

Lady Aria and the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes runner-up Union Rose (Stimulation) are among five two-year-old winners out of the unraced Dot Hill (Refuse To Bend), the most recent of which was Telford (Mohaather) last year. Dot Hill has six winning siblings, the best of these being the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes second Taajub (Exceed And Excel).

Well-deserved

While West Acre has given the family a well-deserved major stakes winner, a half-sister to Dot Hill has also played an important role in upgrading the pedigree pages in the last two years. The unraced Purplest (Iffraaj) in 2023 was responsible for the listed sprint winner Iconic Moment (Harry Angel), and last year her then three-year-old daughter Bright Thunder (Night Of Thunder) became her dam’s second stakes winner when she won the Listed Prix de Bagatelle at Chantilly.

Noble Rose (Caerleon) is the fourth dam of West Acre and she raced for Sheikh Mohammed and was trained by Luca Cumani. She won a single race in each of the three seasons in which she raced, from two to four, and gained her biggest win in the Group 3 Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster. At three she landed the Listed Galtres Stakes at York before going down by less than a length to Dalara in the Group 2 Prix de Royallieu.

At stud, Noble Rose was a success, with seven winning offspring. Her son Notability (King’s Best) was a Group 2 winner in Germany and Group 1 runner-up in the Premio Vittorio di Capua in Milan. His own-brother Simon De Montfort (King’s Best) was a more prolific winner, his six successes including the Group 3 Prix La Force.

Illustria (Seeking The Gold), their winning half-sister, made her contribution to the family when she bred a stakes winner in South Africa, Ocean Of Time (Refuse To Bend).

Australian star

Mehmas played a starring role in Australia on Monday when supplying one of the highlights of the second day of the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, and from just two lots in the catalogue by the Tally-Ho Stud stallion.

The colt in question sold for A$420,000 to Sutton Racing, McKeever Bloodstock and Byron Rogers. Offered by Penfold Thoroughbreds, he was bred by Al Shaqab out of Salmah, a placed daughter of Shalaa (Invincible Spirit) and the American turf champion Zagora (Green Tune).

“Al Shaqab brought a couple of mares out here in foal to Mehmas. He’s a fantastic stallion up there [in Europe],” said Sam Mathews representing the breeder. “We’ve got this result and it’s amazing. We actually put a A$50,000 reserve on this colt and he opened at A$100,000. Great for Al Shaqab.”

“In shock, it’s been amazing,” added Hannah Penfold of Penfold Thoroughbreds. “Unbelievable, just over the moon.” Zagora won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf and the Grade 1 Diana Stakes after racing in France where she was a dual Group 3 winner. Her best progeny is the US stakes winner Tuned (Toronado).

Byron Rogers, one of the buyers of the Mehmas colt this week, knows the merits of Mehmas well. He bought the sire’s daughter Malavath from Tally-Ho as a yearling. Winner of the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte, she was beaten half a length in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at two, The following season she was second to Kinross in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret before selling for €3.2 million to Moyglare Stud.

“A$420,000 - it sounds a lot,” said Rogers, “but obviously we bought Malavath as a yearling and she turned out to be a really good horse. We knew the stallion and we knew what we were looking for. Loved the colt; he was well raised.”