HAPPY days in Tipperary where Reddy and Linda Coffey stand Unfortunately, and at Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket, owners of the stallion. This week the son of Society Rock (Rock Of Gibraltar) sired a stakes winner in his first crop, Perdika landing the spoils in the five and a half-furlong Listed Prix Ronde de Nuit at Chantilly by a head, with the third-placed horse some eight lengths adrift.

Last year Perdika won four times as a juvenile in England from five starts, and she then headed to Meydan where, this year, she ran four times and earned more than £16,500 from one second-place finish. That was as much as she amassed from all her juvenile successes in England.

Connections then took the bold decision to travel her again, to France, and now they have been rewarded for their gamble with a blacktype victory.

Trained by George Boughey in Newmarket, surely one of the most exciting young trainers in Europe, Perdika races for Sally Nicholls who bred the three-year-filly in partnership with Bumble Bloodstock. The latter entity, the trading name of Bumble Mitchell, purchased the filly’s Rabbah Bloodstock-bred dam Golden Dirham (Kheleyf) as an unraced two-year-old out of William Haggas’ stable for just 3,200gns.

Sadly, Golden Dirham died at the age of 12, Perdika being her last produce, and she is a fitting legacy to a mare who had seven foals, all of whom raced, and five winners and two placed horses.

Golden Dirham matched her own dam’s record of breeding five winners, but Danidh Dubai (Noverre) was a smart racemare, winning and being placed in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot as a two-year-old, and in addition to breeding the 29-time winner Gamgoom (Exceed And Excel), a stakes winner in Italy, two more of her offspring were stakes placed.

The story gets better with Perdika’s third dam, Dani Ridge (Indian Ridge). She won three times, taking until she was four to win her first race, but she had a perfect 10 when it came to breeding, all of her foals being winners. Half of them earned some blacktype, three being group-placed, while two were group winners. Ridge Ranger (Bushranger) was first, but she was overshadowed by the achievements of her year younger half-brother, Profitable.

High-class

Now sire of seven stakes winners, four at group level including the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes winner Quick Suzy, under the Darley banner, this Kildangan-based sire was a high-class sprinter, and he displayed this prowess best when, at four, he beat Cotai Glory and Goken to land the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. Only Lady Aurelia prevented him from adding a second edition of the race 12 months later.

Back for a moment to Unfortunately. He has done very well with his first runners, with eight individual winners to date from just 19 runners in his first crop.

They also include the Karl Burke-trained Looking For Lynda who was fourth in both the Listed Roses Stakes at York, and the Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes at Newbury. Burke also trains another of last year’s juvenile winners, Sweet Fortune.

Richard Fahey, Edward Bethell, Ollie Pears and James Tate are others to have saddled juvenile winners by Unfortunately.

Society Rock was an eye-catching new sire when he went to stud at Tally-Ho, where Unfortunately was bred. He won the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes and Group 1 Sprint Cup and was multiple Group 1-placed, but was only nine when he died. Another of his sons, the prolific Group 2-scorer A’Ali, is at stud in England.

Race record

At two, Unfortunately won easily in May and was short-headed in a listed contest at Maisons-Laffitte in June, before making a return trip to that venue to win the Group 2 Prix Robert-Papin. That was a month before he beat future Group 1-victor and now successful young stallion Havana Grey by a length and a half when winning the six-furlong Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville.

The following autumn he added the Group 3 Renaissance Stakes over the same trip at Naas, before joining the stallion team at Cheveley Park Stud. Unfortunately’s second and subsequent crops are Irish-conceived.

Unfortunately is out of the dual six-furlong winner Unfortunate (Komaite), and that granddaughter of Nureyev (Northern Dancer) also supplied the prolific fillies Busy Bimbo (Red Clubs), Red Roar (Chineur), The City Kid (Danetime) and Look Busy (Danetime), the winners of 29 races between them.

Look Busy stands out of course, her dozen wins including the Group 2 Temple Stakes and Group 3 Flying Five, now a Group 1 race.

Off the mark quickly in France

THE first three two-year-old races of 2023 in Europe have taken place this week in France, and there was delight in Coolmore when Magna Grecia (Invincible Spirit) got off the mark on Thursday with his first runner.

The Amy Murphy-trained Myconian won the 13-runner, four and a half furlong Prix de Debut at Saint-Cloud, giving his stakes-winning Choisir (Danehill Dancer) dam Sirici her first winner. He is just the second living produce of that mare, the first having been placed a number of times. Sirici was trained by Fozzy Stack and at two she won the Listed Tipperary Stakes, and was group-placed. She sold last November to Bronsan Racing for €50,000, in foal to Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact), and this came days after her colt foal by Circus Maximus (Galileo) was purchased by Sandra Maye for just €10,000.

While you have to go back a few generations to find more blacktype in the family, there is no shortage of speed and precocity. Sirici’s third dam, Amazed (Clantime) bred the Listed Dubai Creek Mile winner Stunned (Shamardal) and dual listed five-furlong winner Dazed And Amazed (Averti), and she is grandam of Yulong Gold Fairy (Mount Nelson), twice successful at Group 3 level.

Amazed was an own-sister to Group 3 winner and Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes-placed Bishops Court (Clantime), and the multiple listed wining sprinter Astonished (Weldnaas).

With more than 100 two-year-olds on the ground to represent him, and as a Group 1 two-year-old winner who went on to add the Group 1 2000 Guineas the following year, much will be expected of Magna Grecia. Having this perfect start with Myconian, a €27,000 Tattersalls Ireland Yearling Sale graduate, will give hope that he faces a fine season of success ahead.

Castlehyde Stud resident Footstepsinthesand (Giant’s Causeway) stands for €10,000 this year, two-thirds of the fee for Magna Grecia, and while he is at the other end of his stallion career, having turned 21 in January, you are getting access to a stallion with 37 group winners and another 30 stakes winners. His seven Group 1 winners include Marianafoot, Steinbeck, Shamalgan and Chachamaidee.

Teehan buys

Footstepsinthesand has also made a speedy start to 2023 and his daughter Marie Mancini, bred in partnership by Vanessa Teehan, made a winning debut this week. Sold as a yearling last October for €20,000 at Arqana, she is the first foal out of the unraced Le Havre (Noverre) mare Sees.

Teehan purchased her for €13,000 as a two-year-old, and has a yearling filly out of her by Starspangledbanner (Choisir). She was quite a bargain, given what two of her full-sister had achieved.

At the same sale where Sees sold, so too did her dam, Sandsnow (Verglas). She cost the Cantillon’s Tinnakill Bloodstock €50,000, but she was the dam of listed winner and Group 2-placed Sotteville (Le Havre), and the Group 2 runner-up and €720,000 Arc Sale graduate Crisolles (Le Havre). The latter mare is dam of the promising Gold As Glass (Australia), winner on her debut at two last October in Newmarket for Marco Botti.

Bow Creek

After six seasons at Haras du Logis, Bow Creek (Shamardal) has moved to Spain for this covering season, and new connections will be thrilled that he sired the first juvenile winner of 2023 in Europe. Kaleocreek.

This €15,000 Osarus Sale graduate is yet another first winner for his dam, and she is the dual winner Bamiyane, a daughter of Kouroun (Kaldoun).

Bamiyane is one of three winners by Kouroun out of Baenia (Verglas), the others being 10-time winner Bamiyan, successful in the Group 3 Prix du Pin, and 15-time winner Bayoun, runner-up in a couple of listed races.

Bow Creek was a Group 2 winner in Ireland, England and Australia, sired the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains-French 2000 Guineas third Breizh Eagle in his first crop, but with limited opportunities has failed to build on that early promise.