THE world-famous Sangster colours were carried to victory once before in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes, by Stonehatch in 1993, but they were back in the winner’s circle this year when the maiden Rashabar (Holy Roman Emperor) landed the spoils on the opening day of the Royal Ascot meeting.

Robert Sangster’s son Sam runs Manton Thoroughbreds, and he bought Rashabar as a yearling at Arqana for €120,000 from the colt’s breeders, Haras de Beaufay. He is the first foal out of the unraced Amazonka (Camelot), and the third stakes winner in the immediate family sired by the Coolmore stallion.

Rashabar has a yearling half-sister by Acclamation (Royal Applause).

Amazonka’s three winning siblings are made up of two stakes winners and a stakes-placed horse. River Of Stars (Sea The Stars), a 400,000gns purchase at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale in 2019, won the Group 3 Bronte Cup Stakes at York last year and ran third in the same race in May. She was also twice runner-up in Group 2 contests in Britain and France.

Apadanah, a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor (Danehill), was a €180,000 yearling purchase at Baden-Baden before going on to win the Listed Dortmunder St. Leger Trial. She sold to Haras d’Etreham at the end of her racing career for €150,000.

Their dam Amazone (Adlerflug) is an unraced daughter of Amarette (Monsun), a classic winner of the Group 1 Preis der Diana Deutsches Stuten Derby (Oaks) at Hamburg. She is the dam of a Group 3 winner in Amazona (Dubawi), while her grandsons include Alson (Areion), successful in the Group 1 Criterium International at ParisLongchamp, Ancient Spirit (Invincible Spirit), winner of the Group 2 Mehl-Mulhens Rennen (2000 Guineas), and their half-brother Aemilianus (Holy Roman Emperor), a Group 3 winner in Germany.

Wathnan Racing

What a week it is proving to be for the Emir of Qatar’s Wathnan Racing, and his two-year-old filly Leovanni (Kodi Bear) retained her unbeaten record in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes.

Bred by KCS Bloodstock, this 20,000gns yearling buy in Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Sale turned into a £190,000 breezer, on both occasions being knocked down to Blandford Bloodstock. Leovanni is stakes winner number nine, and the second Group 2 winner, for Rathbarry Stud’s Kodi Bear (Kodiac), Go Bears Go is the other to win at that grade.

This is winner number two for Kassandra (Dandy Man), a placed own-sister to Parbold (Dandy Man) who was runner-up 11 years ago in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes. Their half-brother Majestic Myles (Majestic Missile) twice won the Listed Totepool City Plate at Chester, while a half-sister to these stakes performers bred Power Under Me (Mehmas). Four of his five wins have been made up of victories in the Group 3 Amethyst Stakes and Listed Knockaire Stakes at Leopardstown, the Listed Waterford Testimonial Stakes at the Curragh, and the Listed Cork Stakes.

This is a branch of one of the most successful Moyglare Stud families, as Leovanni’s fourth dam is Talking Picture (Speak John). This is a story that has its roots in a purchase made by Walter Haefner in 1978 of that seven-year-old. She was the champion filly at two in the USA when she won the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes, while at three she added the Grade 1 Matron Stakes. The long list of Group and Grade 1 winners that descend from here includes the classic winner Trusted Partner (Affirmed), Dress To Thrill (Danehill), leading stayer Kyprios (Galileo). Classic winner Search For A Song (Galileo), Free Eagle (High Chaparral) and Thunder Moon (Zoffany).

Super start

You cannot make a much better start with your first runners than Sands Of Mali (Panis) did on Wednesday, siring the first and third in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes. Ain’t Nobody, bred by Joe Foley at Ballyhane Stud and sold by him for £30,000 as a yearling at Goffs UK to Stephen Hillen and Kevin Ryan, is unbeaten in two starts.

Ain’t Nobody is the first foal out of Burmeze Waltz (Showcasing). She won twice, having been purchased as a yearling by Joe Foley. Waiting in the wings at Ballyhane is a yearling half-brother by Dandy Man (Mozart).

Burmeze Waltz is one of three multiple winners from Heho, a winning daughter of Dansili (Danehill). The third dam of Ain’t Nobody is a full-sister to Domedriver (Indian Ridge).

A six-time winner, Domedriver was successful in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile when it was staged at Arlington International, and in France he landed the Group 2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein. He came close to adding a Group 1 win in France, but twice had to settle for second spot in the Prix Jacques Le Marois. This is also the immediate family of Albigna (Zoffany). She sold last November for €3,700,000 at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale to M.V. Magnier, having won the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac and the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes.

In terms of bloodlines, Sands Of Mali is free of Danehill (Danzig), Green Desert (Danzig), Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) and Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) blood. He is a great-grandson of Mr Prospector (Raise A Native) and of Indian Ridge (Ahonoora), and is an actual outcross pedigree. Sands Of Mali is the best son of Panis (Miswaki), successful from six to nine furlongs and who has mostly sired sprinters.

Sands Of Mali was Timeform-rated 116 at two after he beat Invincible Army easily in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes, and that figure rose to 125 at three. He won a Group 3 sprint in France, beat Invincible Army again in the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes, was a half-length runner-up to Eqtidaar in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, and crowned a great season when he defeated the brilliant Harry Angel by a length in the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock.

Shareholder rewards

Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway) stands for $150,000 in the USA, and has six Group/Grade 1 winners to his credit already. Could the unbeaten Group 2 Norfolk Stakes winner Shareholder, bred by Skyfall Thoroughbreds, become the next? He gave Wathnan Racing a second juvenile Royal Ascot winner when landing the opener on Thursday.

Bloodstock agent Federico Barberini provided Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown with plenty of competition for a son of the leading US sire Not This time from Jim McCartan’s Gaybrook Lodge at the Arqana Breeze Up Sale last month. Purchased for only $62,000 as a yearling, the colt’s value soared to €460,000 on this occasion, and now he is one of the season’s leading juveniles.

Shareholder is the first foal and winner for the unraced Cloudy Dancer (Invisible Spirit), a half-sister to Gale Force Ten (Oasis Dream). He gained the best of his three wins at Royal Ascot too, in the Group 3 Jersey Stakes, and he placed second in Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas, and third in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes. At two he was also placed in the Norfolk Stakes, won by his nephew on Thursday.

Gale Force Ten’s dam Ronaldsay (by Kirkwall) won the Listed Warwickshire Oaks, and one of her half-sisters is the dam of the dual US Grade 3 scorer Pickle (by Piccolo). The Group 1 stars who appear under his third dam include Postponed (Dubawi), God Given (Nathaniel) and Simply Perfect (Danehill), in addition to Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes winner Bianca Nera (Salse).