FRANKEL DUE TO GRADUATE WITH HONOURS
The way that young stallions are ranked as first-season, second-season and third-season sires can be thought of as being their apprenticeship or student days, those early years in which their long-term potential is being assessed based on actual racecourse results and before they join their seniors who get listed only on the overall general sires' championship tables.
Frankel has almost completed that apprenticeship period, as it is mid-October of his initial crop's four-year-old season, and it is fair to say that he is about to graduate with honours.
His first two crops have thus far yielded 32 stakes winners (up to Wednesday night), five of them successful at least once at the highest level.
One son has achieved a Timeform rating of 136, one daughter has been a classic winner and champion in Japan, he has had progeny placed in the Derby, Irish Derby (twice), and various other top-level events, he is the third-placed sire (to Wednesday night) in the overall UK and Ireland sires' championship title race – behind Galileo and Dubawi – and number five overall in Europe.
It is still quite early in his career, of course, but he is clearly a successful young stallion who has the potential to continue supplying Group 1 winners in the coming years, to get European classic horses, and to continue taking high rank among his peers.
Yes, he has covered the cream of the broodmare crop, and yes, like every young stallion, he has work to do if he's going to unseat his sire as the overall championship leader some day, but it is also true that some get hailed as the second coming having achieved far less than he has done.
Frankel's third crop of two-year-olds have not shown the precocity of his initial batch and it was only last week that one of them added their name to his blacktype tally, stakes winner number 33.
That was the Kevin Ryan-trained East who topped the Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale in March, when sold for €315,000, and she maintained her unbeaten record with a two-and-a-half-length score in the Group 3 Prix Thomas Bryon over seven furlongs at Saint-Cloud last Friday.
A Frankel juvenile blacktype double was expected that evening, but €1,600,000 Goffs Orby Sale graduate Old Glory lost his unbeaten record at Dundalk when runner-up in the Listed iCopy Irish EBF Star Appeal Stakes, also over seven.
He holds an entry in the Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster, and in next year's Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas and Group 1 Investec Derby, whereas East is engaged in May's Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas.
She was bred by Mitaab Abdullah, she is a full-sister to French mile winner Golden Hooves, and out of the speedy Vital Statistics (by Indian Ridge).
That pattern-placed, six-furlong stakes winner is, in turn, the best of a string of winners out of Emerald Peace (by Green Desert), a listed winner and Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes runner-up whose dam is a half-sister to two horses of note and is the daughter of a classic-placed Group 1 star.
Those siblings are Group 2 Pretty Polly Stakes winner Tarfshi (by Mtoto) and Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Embassy (by Cadeaux Genereux), and their dam is Pass The Peace (by Alzao), the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes star who chased home Pearl Bracelet in the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) 29 years ago.
All of this suggests that East could become another of her sire's talented milers, with 10 furlongs possible, and it will be interesting to see where she ranks among his long and growing list of stakes winners by the time her track career comes to an end.
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NO NAY NEVER ADDS TO HIS TALLY
It is odds-on that Coolmore Stud's sprinter No Nay Never (by Scat Daddy) will be crowned champion freshman sire of 2018, and with the amounts being paid for his second crop at Goffs and in Newmarket recently, there are clearly expectations that unbeaten Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes winner Ten Sovereigns will not remain his only Group 1 star for long.
The young stallion has also supplied Group 2 Richmond Stakes scorer Land Force, US listed-race winner Mae Never No, and two Irish stakes winners, plus the Group 1-placed The Irish Rover and three other blacktype horses (up to Wednesday night), along with a double-digit tally of those who have won at lower levels.
This promising start was advertised at Dundalk last Friday when his offspring won three races on the card, including the Listed iCopy Irish EBF Star Appeal Stakes.
That seven-furlong feature went to the Joseph O'Brien-trained No Needs Never, who beat odds-on Old Glory by one and three-quarter lengths, taking his record to two wins from five starts.
The colt was fourth in a valuable sales race at Doncaster on his previous start and he holds an entry in next year's Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas.
He was a €65,000 private purchase by O'Brien at last year's Goffs Orby Sale, he was bred by Summerhill and Lynn Lodge, and he is the first foal of Opera Fan (by Cape Cross) who was a six-length winner over 12 furlongs at Ripon.
The mare is a half-sister to Group 3 scorer and Group 1 Sheema Classic third Calvados Blues (by Lando), and to Group 2-winning miler and Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) third Volta (by Siyouni), whereas his grandam's siblings feature 10-furlong Group 1 scorer and young German stallion Neatico (by Medicean).
That one's half-sister Beautyandthebeast (by Machiavellian) was a Grade 2 winner over a mile in California, his dam is a full-sister to Group 1 Irish Oaks third Sister Bella (by Sadler's Wells), and this is a branch of the successful Group 1-producing family of Vin De France (by Foolish Pleasure), Victoire Bleue (by Legend Of France), Vallee Enchantee (by Peintre Celebre), Maids Causeway (by Giant's Causeway), and others.
How far No Needs Never stays will likely depend on what his dam passed on to him. A mile next season looks likely, but whether or not he could stretch that to, say, the 10 and a half furlongs of races such as the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) or Juddmonte International Stakes, remains to be seen.
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ACCLAMATION DOUBLE
Rathbarry Stud veteran Acclamation (by Royal Applause) has been having another good year and his three-year-olds include recent Group 3 scorer My Sister Nat as well as the dual Group 1-placed multiple pattern scorer Expert Eye, who is among the ante-post market leaders for next weekend's Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.
His juvenile crop has also done well, headed so far by the Group 2-placed dual listed-race winner Well Done Fox, but it was a pair of his five-year-olds who gave him a blacktype double in England last Saturday.
The Roger Charlton-trained Projection won the Group 3 John Guest Racing Bengough Stakes over six furlongs at Ascot an hour before the Richard Hannon-trained Tabarrak landed the Listed Racing UK EBF Stallions Guisborough Stakes over a furlong farther at Redcar.
Projection, who was bred by Highclere Stud, was a head runner-up in the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury in July, was beaten by only two and a quarter lengths when fifth to Merchant Navy in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Ascot the month before, and his other pattern performances include last year's Bengough Stakes, when he was only beaten half a length by Blue Point.
He is a half-brother to several winners out of US nine-furlong Grade 2 scorer Spotlight (by Dr Fong), and his dam's siblings include Tyranny (by Machiavellian), the winning dam of Zoffany (by Dansili), Wilshire Boulevard (by Holy Roman Emperor), and Rostropovich (by Frankel).
The first-named is, of course, the Group 1 scorer and young Coolmore Stud stallion whose tally of over 20 stakes winners includes the classic-placed Group 1 winner Ventura Storm and Tuesday's juvenile listed scorer Hot Team.
Wilshire Boulevard won the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes and was runner-up in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes before taking up stallion duties abroad, whereas Group 2 winner and Group 1 Irish Derby runner-up Rostropovich is a current member of the Aidan O'Brien team.
Like Projection, Tabarrak is a gelding with some narrow pattern-race losses to his name, but his latest success – a seventh from 18 starts – was his fourth one in blacktype company.
He was bred by the partnership of Rathbarry Stud with Franny and Niamh Woods, and he is a full-brother to the dual stakes-placed triple sprint-winning filly The Wagon Wheel.
He is the first foal of his stakes-placed dam Bahati (by Intikhab), and that half-sister to Hong Kong blacktype scorer Supreme Rabbit (by Definite Article) – who won here under the name Solid Approach – is a half-sister to Devious Diva (by Dr Devious).
What makes that one-time winner significant is the record of her prolific daughter Realtra, whose eight wins include the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes, Group 3 Fairy Bridge Stakes, Group 3 Sceptre Stakes, and two listed races.
That filly's sire is, of course, Acclamation's star son Dark Angel.
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INTENSE ROMANCE STRIKES AGAIN
Michael Dods-trained four-year-old Intense Romance gave her future paddocks value another boost last week when she beat Mr Lupton by a neck in the Listed Duke of Edinburgh's Awards Rous Stakes over the minimum trip at Ascot, a second blacktype success for the now nine-time scorer.
She was bred by John O'Connor, is a daughter of Intense Focus (by Giant's Causeway) – who spent seven years on the Ballylinch Stud roster – and she is the best of three blacktype horses for her dam, Hedera (by Woodman).
Indeed, her speed is striking and surely due to her sire's influence as those two siblings, and most of her other winning ones, have been middle-distance horses, and, of them, Ivy League's (by Doyoun) listed success came over 11 and a half furlongs.
Hedera got her blacktype with a third-place finish in a mile listed handicap at Ascot, her siblings were stayers, and her dam is Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes runner-up Ivrea (by Sadler's Wells), a half-sister to Group 1 Oaks d'Italia scorer Ivyanna (by Reference Point).
There are other blacktype horses and useful handicappers to be found in the branches of these first few generations of the pedigree, but middle-distance and staying talent is what you will find there.
This makes Intense Romance's ability to win a pair of listed sprints particularly eye-catching and it will make her a fascinating broodmare prospect.
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BIG PRIZE FOR BARGAIN FOOTSTEPS FILLY
Coolmore Stud's unbeaten classic hero Footstepsinthesand (by Giant's Causeway) – whose six top-level winners include Matron Stakes heroine Chachamaidee – is well-established as a source of smart sprinters and milers.
He is also capable of getting talented juveniles, and his current crop includes both Group 3 Anglesey Stakes scorer Marie's Diamond and Saturday's Listed Racing UK Two Year Old Trophy winner Summer Daydream, a €6,500 Goffs Sportsman's Yearling Sale graduate who has earned over £105,000 from just three starts.
The Keith Dalgleish-trained bay was bred by the partnership of Flaxman Stables Ire and Scuderia Vittadini, she is the second foal of the five-time placed mare Summer Dream (by Oasis Dream), and her dam can be described as being a three-parts sister to Field Of Dream (by Oasis Dream).
That prolific gelding won the Royal Hunt Cup and two listed races, he is a half-brother to Group 3 scorer Dormello (by Dansili), to dual stakes winner Ransom Hope (by Red Ransom) and also to classic-placed Olympian Odyssey (by Sadler's Wells).
Star On Stage, the grandam of Saturday's young blacktype scorer, is a full-sister to the latter and she is out of Field Of Hope (by Selkirk), who won both the Group 1 Prix de la Foret and Group 2 Prix d'Astarte in 1999.
Summer Daydream clearly has ability over six furlongs – which could potentially see her line-up in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup next year – but with so many horses on the distaff side of her family effective at around the mile, it is possible that she too might find that longer trip within her compass.