FOLLOWING the death of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells), the team at Coolmore turned their attention to the sire’s son, Frankel, as a mate for their champion sprinter, Mecca’s Angel (Dark Angel).

Visits to Galileo resulted in one unnamed produce, the winning juvenile Hudson River who only ran once more, the unraced four-year-old filly Sweetest Thing, and last year’s Group 2 Silken Glider Stakes winner Content.

The first offspring for Mecca’s Angel by the Juddmonte stallion Frankel is Bedtime Story, and her nine and a half length victory in the Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot was arguably the most visually stunning of the five days. This year Mecca’s Angel foaled a full-sister to Bedtime Story.

Dual Group 3 winner Markaz (Dark Angel) and his full-sister Mecca’s Angel are the first two foals, and two of three winners, from the listed-placed Atraf (Clantime) mare Folga. They were bred in partnership by father and son, Gay and David O’Callaghan. Mecca’s Angel was sold as a yearling for just 16.000gns and was a revelation as a racemare. European champion older sprinter in 2015, she won the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes twice and eight other races, and she was acquired privately by Coolmore at the end of her racing career.

Certainly tested

Folga was certainly tested when it came to racing, starting 35 times. She won six of them and was placed on 10 occasions. These efforts included a second-place finish in a listed race at Bath behind the smart Enticing.

Folga is one of two stakes-performers among the 10 winners for her dam Desert Dawn (Belfort), the best of them being the filly Desert Kaya (Bikala). She won a listed race at Deauville, was placed in a similar event at Saint-Cloud, and became a successful winner producer.

Desert Dawn was certainly no slouch and she won the Group 3 Prix d’Arenberg at Longchamp and a listed sprint at Sandown Park. She was stakes-placed as a juvenile, finishing second in the Group 3 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot when trained by Lord John Fitzgerald. The next two generations of the family contain just a pair of minor stakes-placed runners in the USA.

Bedtime Story was, somewhat surprisingly, the only stakes winner for Frankel at Royal Ascot. He sired a second winner in Wild Tiger, while Lmay and Strutting were both runners-up in handicaps. The day after Ascot ended, Frankel was back on track with a Group 3 winner in Germany. He is now two winners away from 100 group or graded stakes winners.

Aidan O’Brien

On Friday at Royal Ascot, the meeting’s leading trainer, Aidan O’Brien, sired the only juvenile winner on the card, another two-year-old filly. This was Fairy Godmother, a daughter of Night Of Thunder (Dubawi) with no inbreeding for five generations, and she landed the Group 3 Albany Stakes. This was her second win in three starts, and her second at pattern level.

After her victory, Michael Tabor was at pains to mention the breeders of Fairy Godmother, praising them for their continuing success. Paul and Marie McCartan’s Ballyphilip Stud is quite simply a byword for quality. Last year M.V. Magnier spent 425,000gns in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale for this daughter of Night Of Thunder out of a two-year-old winner by Siyouni (Pivotal). She was from a successful female line, though its only Group 1 winner in four generations was the John Dunlop-trained Hello (Lycius), and he earned that honour as a two-year-old in Italy in 1996.

The filly’s year older half-brother Sketch (Showcasing), successful on his debut, placed in the Listed Roses Stakes at York, though he was no match for Vandeek when an outsider in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes days before the sale. Sketch is now in training with Conor Murphy in the USA after his 220,000gns sale last October.

Fairy Godmother made her second start a winning one when she landed the Group 3 Juvenile Sprint Stakes, turning the tables on Sparkling Sea. The last three winners of this Naas race have won the Albany, and two years ago it was the Aidan O’Brien-trained Mediate. Paul and Marie McCartan have a yearling half-sister to Fairy Godmother by Mehmas (Acclamation).

Scintilating

Fairy Godmother and Sketch are out of Scintilating (Siyouni), who ran four times after her purchase for 150,000gns as a yearling. She won on her debut over six furlongs for Highclere Thoroughbreds, trained by Ralph Beckett, but she failed to add to this, and at three was sent to the Jule Sale where she recouped a large part of her yearling cost, selling for 130,000gns.

Scintilating is one of five winners from Photo Flash (Bahamian Bounty), a mile winner at three who was beaten a neck and half a length when twice runner-up. Her winning offspring are headed by the Group 2 Richmond Stakes winner Prolific (Compton Place) and the US stakes winner Deal Breaker (Night Shift). Good juvenile form is a constant in this family, and Photo Flash’s eight winning siblings include Atlantic Prince (Tagula), successful almost a quarter of a century ago in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes.

Fairy Godmother is one of 48 stakes winners for Night Of Thunder, who stands for €100,000 at Kildangan Stud. His son Chicago Critic defied odds of 80/1 to finish a length behind the winner, Haatem, in the Group 3 Jersey Stakes at the royal meeting.