RUNNING Lion was alone among the five Group 2 winners at Royal Ascot, in that she has no Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) in her pedigree. The other four were Galileo’s son Illinois, and three who are by sons of the former Galileo great, Port Fairy (Australia), Calandagan (Gleneagles), and Isle Of Jura (New Approach).

From the sole crop by Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy), Running Lion is one of six winners by that four-time Group 1 winner who stood his sole season at David Redvers’ Tweenhills. Bred by The Bella Nouf Partnership, Running Lion added the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes to a win last year at three in the Listed Pretty Polly Stakes.

Running Lion’s half-sister Majestic Glory (Frankel) was a pattern winner at two. Their dam Bella Nouf (Dansili) is a sibling to the dam of Aljazzi (Shamardal), winner of the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot eight years ago.

Illinois was bred by Coolmore and races for the partnership of Smith, Tabor and Magnier. The Group 2 Queen’s Vase winner is the eighth winner from the first 13 foals out of the unraced Danedrop (Danehill), and he is from the penultimate crop of his multiple champion sire. Danedrop’s winners are led by the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Danedream (Lomitas), one of five Group 1 races she won.

Illinois’s full-brother Venice Beach (Galileo) won the Group 3 Chester Vase and was Group 1-placed in France, while their full-sister Broadway (Galileo) was also a Group 3 winner.

One of the most impressive winners of the week at Royal Ascot was the Graffard-trained Calandagan, He is a son of Gleneagles (Galileo) who is the sire of Grade 1 winner Highland Chief, Group 1 winner Loving Dream, and no fewer than 13 Group 2 winners. A dual pattern winner in France, the Aga Khan-bred three-year-old gelding Calandagan won the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes.

One of a pair of winners for his dam Calayana (Sinndar), runner-up in the Group 3 Prix Minerve, Calandagan’s third dam Clodora (Linamix) bred the Group 1 French classic winner Clodovil (Danehill).

Port Fairy

Runner-up in the Listed Cheshire Oaks, Port Fairy won her second race in four starts when successful in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes. The first winner for the unplaced Fabulae (Fastnet Rock), Port Fairy was bred by Annemarie and Aidan O’Brien’s Whisperview Trading.

Her dam was bought for only 11.000gns four years ago, and she is a half-sister to a pair of group-placed winners, Alder (Australia) and Radiantly (Aussie Rules). They are the best of nine winners from the placed Eccentricity (Kingmambo). Port Fairy’s third dam was the Japanese-foaled Shiva (Hector Protector), winner of the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup.

Bred by Godolphin but sold by them for £150,000, the four-year-old Isle Of Jura won the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes. He is also a listed winner in England and a dual stakes winner in Bahrain. The full-brother to four-time Australian Group 1 winner Cascadian (New Approach) is also a half-brother to the Canadian Grade 1 two-year-old winner Albahr.

They are all sons of the Group 3 UAE Oaks winner Falls Of Lora (Street Cry), and her half-brother is the international star Master Of The Seas (Dubawi), the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile hero.

HAATEM is responsible for a couple of firsts for his Irish National Stud sire, Phoenix Of Spain (Lope De Vega). He gave the sire his first stakes winner, and in the Group 2 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood at two.

This year he won the Group 3 Craven Stakes, put up great efforts when placed in two classics, going close to beating his stable companion Rosallion in the Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas, and he got back to winning way with victory in the Group 3 Jersey Stakes,

Last season, in his only run that saw him out of the frame, he finished a close fifth behind River Tiber, Army Ethos, Bucanero Fuerte and Givemethebeatboys in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Haatem was bred by John Bourke’s Hyde Park Stud and was offered for sale as a foal at Goffs, where he failed to sell in the ring for €28,000. In Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Sale, Haatem was in the consignment from Ger and Yvonne Kennedy’s Sherbourne Lodge in Tipperary, and this time he sold to Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock for 27,000gns.

His dam, the Cape Cross (Green Desert) mare Hard Walnut, sold for 11,000gns carrying Haatem.

Hard Walnut is one of four winners out of Yaria (Danehill), two of whom earned blacktype. Yaria’s dam was Yara (Sri Pekan) who failed to win, but she was placed 15 times, notably running second in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes. Two of Yara’s six winners at stud were successful in stakes races.

Jayarebe

Bred by Oliver Pawle in France, Jayarebe (Zoffany) won the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes, win number three in the three-year-old’s first five starts. He was a previous stakes winner of the Listed Fielden Stakes at Newmarket. One of three winners out of his dam, Alakhana (Dalakhani), Jayarebe was purchased by Sam Sangster as a yearling at Arqana for €180,000.

Alakhana was a stakes winner in France and her other winners include Malakahna (Manduro), a winner on France who went on to win a Grade 3 juvenile hurdle at Cheltenham. This is a strong German female family, though one of its standout winners has been Don Cossack (Sholokhov). His success in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Cheltenham was the highlight of a career that saw him win 16 races, and six of these were Grade 1s.

Already a Group 2 winner, Israr (Muhaarar) took his win tally to five with success in the only listed race run over the five days of Royal Ascot, the Wolferton Stakes. This was a special win for Sheikha Hissa, as Israr is the best runner from her father’s great Taghrooda.

Impressive

Few need to be reminded of Taghrooda’s impressive Group 1 wins in the Epsom Oaks and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the latter victory seeing her become the first three-year-old filly in 38 years to win the prestigious race. She went on to finish third in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, a performance made notable from a wide draw, and it saw her best of her age group.

Taghrooda is a daughter of the multiple stakes winner and Group 2 runner-up Ezima (Sadler’s Wells), and she was the best winner from her dam, Ebaziya’s full-sister Ezilla (Darshaan). A multiple stakes winner, Ebaziya (Darshaan) is one of just a handful of mares in the history of the thoroughbred to breed four Group 1 winners. In addition to Ebadiyla and Estimate, mentioned previously, she bred a second Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup winner in Enzeli (Kahyasi), and the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes winner Edabiya (Rainbow Quest).

This family has had a notable year in 2024, as among its members is the Group 1 Oaks winner Ezeliya (Dubawi).