Awtaad’s rising star delivers

VICTORY at Leopardstown on Thursday evening for Create Belief provided a first group race winner for her sire, Derrinstown Stud’s Awtaad.

That son of Cape Cross (Green Desert) – also sire of Sea The Stars, Golden Horn and Ouija Board, the dam of Australia – beat Galileo Gold to win the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas, and he was a horse who improved markedly from two to three.

Now Awtaad’s first crop of three-year-olds have four stakes winners among their number, and almost 40% of that crop’s runners are winners. Last year he sired 14 juvenile winners, and they included the US stakes-winning two-year-old Ebeko. This year’s two-year-olds include Mark Johnston’s group-placed colt, Austrian Theory.

Create Belief has now won four of her six starts, taking the Sandringham Handicap at Royal Ascot before running out a comfortable winner of the Group 3 Invesco Pension Consultants Desmond Stakes on Thursday. Winning trainer Johnny Murtagh paid only €12,000 for the filly and she has won more than nine times that figure now in stakes.

First foal

The first foal of her dam Girl Of The Hour (Makfi), Create Belief was purchased in utero by her breeder Laurence Kennedy. Bred by Bobby Flay, Girl Of The Hour was retained for 90,000gns as a yearling. When she appeared on the racecourse, in the colours of June Judd, she was trained by Jim Bolger. She started five times, won a maiden at Tipperary over nine furlongs at three, and sold in foal to Awtaad for just 18,000gns.

Create Belief’s successes did not come in time to help with the sale of her two-year-old half-sister Star Girls Aalmal (Elzaam), but it will be a significant boost for the yearling half-brother that Laurence Kennedy, through Moyfinn Stud, offers as Lot 46 at the Goffs Orby Sale. He is a son of Holy Roman Emperor (Danehill).

Girl Of The Hour is one of five winners from the unraced American Spirit (Rock Of Gibraltar), and she is still a young mare, with a yearling filly by Camelot (Montjeu). American Spirit sold as a yearling for 435,000gns and this was a year after her half-brother Authorized (Montjeu) won the Derby and Juddmonte International, having annexed the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at two.

Vallee Dansante (Lyphard) is the fourth dam of Create Belief. She bred nine winners and is grandam of the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Solemia (Poliglote) and the Group 1 winning juvenile Okawango (Kingmambo). Also descending from her are the champions The Gurkha (Galileo) and Silasol (Monsun).