IN Swoop was a top-class middle-distance racehorse who could have achieved an even higher profile had his career not been cut short, due to an injury picked up while finishing a close fourth to Broome in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
This was the only time he was ever out of the frame, and the classic star went into the race as favourite following a pair of recent pattern successes. He was unraced as a two-year-old, kicking off his career with a winning debut over 11 furlongs on soft ground at Lyon Parilly just two months before his classic victory. The high regard in which In Swoop was held was evident when he went straight from that maiden to the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe three weeks later, and he did well in finishing a close third to Gold Trip.
In Swoop’s classic was the 12-furlong Group 1 Deutsches Derby at Hamburg and it came at the immediate expense of another lightly-raced and promising colt who would go on to greater fame, the Arc winner Torquator Tasso.
Both are sons of the Gestüt Schlenderhan standout Adlerflug (In The Wings), a middle-distance Group 1 star and grandson of Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) who came from a branch of the famous family of Urban Sea (Miswaki) and her celebrity sons, Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) and Sea The Stars (Cape Cross).
In Swoop chased home Mogul in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud two months later and then failed by only a neck to beat Sottsass in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, handling the heavy underfoot conditions. This was a debut season full of promise for the future. He was an odds-on winner of the Group 3 Prix d’Hedouville and Group 2 Grand Prix de Chantilly, both over 12 furlongs on soft ground, in the weeks leading up to his career finale.
In Swoop, who earned over £1.2 million in prize money, is an Irish-born son of his sire. His dam is the four-length Group 1 Preis der Diana-German Oaks heroine Iota (Tiger Hill). Her trio of earlier blacktype offspring features Ito (Adlerflug), a four-length Group 1 Grosser Preis von Bayern winner who is now standing at Yorton Stud in England.
Iota’s siblings include Illo (Tertullian), who was a multiple middle-distance blacktype scorer before moving to Australia where he was runner-up in the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes over nine furlongs at Caulfield. However, perhaps more notable with regard to In Swoop’s future is that Iota’s Group 1-placed, stakes-winning half-sister Ioannina (Rainbow Quest) is the dam of Izzo (Tertullian) who was a Grade 2-placed Grade 3 and listed winner over hurdles in France.
In Swoop’s half-brother Inciar (Galileo) was stakes-placed on the flat but also won over hurdles, further evidence of jumping ability in the family. In Swoop covered some 400 mares in his first two seasons at stud.
Race record
IN SWOOP (IRE), Bay 2017. Jt Champion 3yr old in Europe in 2020 (11-13f.). Top rated 3yr old in France and Germany in 2020 (11-13f.). Won four races, £1,211,325, from 1 mile 3 furlongs to 1½ miles, at 3 and 4 years including, Deutsches Derby, Hamburg, Gr.1, Grand Prix de Chantilly, Chantilly, Gr.2, Prix d’Hedouville, ParisLongchamp, Gr.3, also placed second in Grand Prix de Paris, ParisLongchamp, Gr.1, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, ParisLongchamp, Gr.1, Prix Lord Seymour, ParisLongchamp, L, and third in Prix Greffulhe, Lyon-Parilly, Gr.2.
At stud
Retired to Stud in 2022; first crop are yearlings.
Information
Stands at: The Beeches Stud, Lismore, Co. Waterford, P51 H70H, Ireland
Contact: Robert McCarthy, Bobby McCarthy, or Peter Kenneally
Telephone: +353 58 56254
Email: thebeechesstud@outlook.com
Web: www.coolmore.com
Fee: €3,500