ONE of the heartwarming success stories of Royal Ascot 2023 was the Group 1 victory of Shaquille in the Commonwealth Cup.

The three-year-old colt won his sixth race in just seven outings, adding one of the meeting’s centrepieces to a listed race success in the Carnarvon Stakes at Newbury, He is just the second Group 1 winner to appear in four generations of his female line, and the other is Hooray, victorious 13 years ago in the Cheveley Park Stakes.

Hooray is a daughter of Invincible Spirit (Green Desert), and that sire is also responsible for Charm Spirit, the sire of Shaquille.

Now based in France at a fee of €5,000, Charm Spirit is the latest son of Invincible Spirit to join the ranks of a Group 1 sire, though it would be fair to say that the Haras du Logis Saint Germain has not lived up to the expectations many had for him when he went to stud at Tweenhills at a fee of £25,000.

He stood alternate years initially between England and France, and also shuttled to New Zealand, and until now his best winners have been those born in the southern hemisphere.

They include all three of his Group 2 winners, three of his five Group 3 winners, and four of his seven listed winners. All but one of his 10 southern hemisphere stakes winners carry the New Zealand suffix.

Magic

Shaquille is the sole winner from the first three foals of the unraced Magic (Galileo), and her fourth offspring is a yearling colt by Cable Bay. Bred by Martin Hughes and Michael Kerr-Dineen, Shaquille is raced by Hughes and partners. Magic is the daughter of a mare who was runner-up in the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, and she was something of a traveller.

Danehurst (Danehill) won 10 races in Ireland, England, France and Italy, and won at group level in each of those countries. Her biggest success was in the Group 2 (now Group 1) Flying Five at the Curragh, and at two she won Newbury’s Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes.

She was placed just twice, but they were running second at Royal Ascot and third in the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket. She raced for owner-breeders Cheveley Park Stud, but she was culled in 2012 for just 30,000gns.

After that she visited Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) a few times, producing Magic and her own-sister Birch Grove. The latter was one of Danehurst’s six winners, and as a three-year-old she sold at Newmarket for 70,000gns. She had won once for Fitri Hay, trained by David Simcock, and after returning to the same yard, she raced on for another year, won a listed race in Clairefontaine, and resold that December for 700,000gns.

Tahiyra again

Frankel and Siyouni (Pivotal) had a great week at Royal Ascot, the former siring three Group 1 winners, while the Haras de Bonneval sire got both Paddingtona and Tahiyra to add to their recent Irish classic triumphs.

In my editorial last week, I wrote: “The homebred daughter of Siyouni credited His Highness the Aga Khan with his 35th European classic victory when she won the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas, and she descends from a family acquired as part of the Dupré dispersal in 1977. That purchase consisted of 82 horses, and represented some very successful families.

“Tahiyra is still a filly that it is possible to believe we have not seen the best of yet. Due a rest now before an autumn campaign, I have no doubt that there will already be thoughts of next year, and the possibility of keeping her in training. After all, her half-sister Tarnawa was at her best at four, when she won three Group/Grade 1 races, a feat that her younger sibling has already matched. One is only left to wonder what she could yet achieve.”

While Tahiyra, whose sole defeat in five starts came when runner-up in the Group 1 1000 Guineas, has gained her three wins in Ireland and England, her sibling Tarnawa (Shamardal) travelled further afield to earn hers. Between them they have annexed the Coronation Stakes, Irish 1000 Guineas and Moyglare Stud Stakes (Tahiyra), and the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Prix Vermeille and Prix de l’Opera. They are two of the three winners out of Tarana (Cape Cross), a listed winner at Galway and Limerick.