IT is unfortunate for those National Hunt stallions whose eldest offspring are four-year-olds and should be making their first appearances in point-to-points; those competitions are still off the schedule due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
Snow Sky is one of them and with his pedigree and race record you would expect him to have been notching up winners in that sector by now. Two members of his first crop have taken their first competitive steps in public in bumpers instead.
The Rebecca Menzies-trained Twoshotsoftequila showed promise when a four-length fifth at Newcastle on his debut in January and again when a five-length fourth at the venue last Saturday. Miranda Priestly is the other one. She was sixth at Naas in February and ran just behind the leading pair for much of the race before finishing fourth at Thurles, also last Saturday.
Snow Sky was trained by Sir Michael Stoute and the son of Nashwan (Blushing Groom) and Unfuwain’s (Northern Dancer) top-class half-brother Nayef (Gulch) was an 11-length winner of a one-mile maiden on heavy ground on his penultimate start at two. His first blacktype success came when he beat the subsequent multiple Group 1 star Hartnell in the Listed Derby Trial Stakes at Lingfield. That was just over two months before he landed the Group 3 Gordon Stakes at Goodwood.
Snow Sky then chased home future Group 1 star Postponed in the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes, finished third to Kingston Hill in the Group 1 St Leger and returned to action as a four-year-old, adding wins in the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup (from Brown Panther) and Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes.
Snow Sky is a full-brother to Ice Breeze, who won the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak, Group 2 Prix Chaudenay and Group 2 Prix Hocquart before taking up stallion duties at Woodlands Stud in Galway. That horse’s small first crop are now yearlings.
Winter Silence (Dansili), their stakes-placed dam, is a winning half-sister to the Group/Grade 1 winners Polish Summer (Polish Precedent; sire of the multiple NH Grade 3 scorer Toner D’Oudairies) and Meteor Storm (Bigstone), and she is a daughter of Hunt The Sun (Rainbow Quest). That mare is a full-sister to the triple Group 1 stars Raintrap and Sunshack, both of whom have sired winners under National Hunt rules in France, and like Ice Breeze, both won the Prix Royal-Oak.
Raintrap’s other top-level wins came at Woodbine and Santa Anita, whereas Sunshack’s other two were the Coronation Cup and Criterium de Saint-Cloud.
Snow Sky is a bright prospect and it shouldn’t be long before he has his first winners.
SNOW SKY (GB), Bay 2011. Won five races, £490,061, from 1 mile to 1 mile 6 furlongs, 2 to 4 years including, Betway Yorkshire Cup, York, Gr.2, Hardwicke Stakes, Ascot, Gr.2, Neptune Investment Gordon Stakes, Goodwood, Gr.3, betfred.com Derby Trial Stakes, Lingfield Park, L, also placed second in Neptune Great Voltigeur Stakes, York, Gr.2, and third in Ladbrokes St Leger Stakes, Doncaster, Gr.1.
Retired to Stud in 2016, first crop now 4 year olds.
Stands at: Ballycurragh Stud, Ballycurragh, Rathoe, Co Carlow, R93 K611, Ireland.
Contact: Willie or Joe Murphy
Telephone: +353 (0)59 9148621 or +353 (0)87 7707305 or +353 (0)87 2216994
Email: ballycurragh@gmail.com
Fee: on application