MUHAARAR had a good day at the races on August 10th, when his four winners included a pair of listed winners, both three-year-old daughters.

Rousay, a 25,000gns yearling buy, won the Listed Upavon Stakes at Salisbury, and what a valuable broodmare prospect she is now. Meanwhile, at Gowran Park, the Jessica Harrington-trained Paris Peacock finally broke her duck on her eighth start in the Listed Hurry Harriet Stakes.

The latter filly was bred at Barronstown Stud and Diane Nagle still owns a share in the filly, along with Sue Magnier and Linda Shanahan. The ladies must have been frustrated when Paris Peacock was placed on her first six outings, but now that she has come good she had the good fortune to do so in a blacktype race.

Paris Peacock is the second stakes winner from the winning Forest Wildcat (Storm Cat) mare Weekend Fling. Victory was timely as David and Diane Nagle consign the filly’s No Nay Never (Scat Daddy) half-brother to Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale, and this update is significant on a few fronts.

The win gave Weekend Fling her sixth winner, her fourth stakes horse and her second stakes winner. The first was the Group 3 winning juvenile Craftsman (Mastercraftsman), and he later added another win at stakes level in the USA. Two other daughters of Weekend Fling, Sleeping Single (Australia) and Royal Empress (Holy Roman Emperor) were group-placed.

Chris Wright bought Weekend Fling as a yearling at Keeneland for $120,000, sent her to Mark Johnston for whom she won a race, and she then sold to Denis Brosnan for 57,000gns at Tattersalls. He enjoyed success in the sale ring and on the racecourse with her progeny before reselling her for $425,000 in 2014 when she joined the broodmare band at Barronstown.

Hopes pinned

The Nagles have pinned their hopes on No Nay Never working well with Weekend Fling, and there is a two-year-old son, Portimao, in training in France, the sales-bound yearling, and a filly foal on the ground.

Weekend Fling has three stakes-winning siblings, the best of which is the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner Archarcharch (Arch). His graded stakes-placed dam Woodman’s Dancer (Woodman) is a daughter of the Grade 1 Hollywood Oaks winner Pattern Step (Nureyev).

Rousay is a three-parts sister to Gale Force Ten (Oasis Dream) whose finest hour was winning the Group 3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot. The siblings are the best of five winners out of the Listed Warwickshire Oaks winner Ronaldsay (Kirkwall), and once again there is a need to update the pedigree of Lot 1469 in Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Sale, as this is Rousay’s yearling half-sister by Time Test (Dubawi).

Champion sprinter Muhaarar (Oasis Dream) had an outstanding season at three, winning four Group 1 races – the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and the British Champions Sprint at the same course, the July Cup and the Prix Maurice de Gheest. Much was expected of him at stud, and the sales of his first foals were sensational.

However, apart from the Group 1 winning filly Eshaada, he has failed to sire other than five Group/Grade 3 winners and seven listed winners in his first three crops. This is a poor return given the high expectations breeders had for his runners. His fee at Nunnery Stud fell from £30,000 in the first four years to £10,000 in his sixth season, and this year he was available at €5,000 in France.

THE good week for Whitsbury Manor Stud continued when Showcasing (Oasis Dream) sired his third juvenile group winner of 2022 at York, his daughter Swingalong capturing the Group 2 Lowther Stakes, her second win in four starts.

Bred by Noel O’Callaghan’s Mountarmstrong Stud, the filly was a 120,000gns yearling purchase, and getting good sales horses is already one of the qualities of her dam Pilates (Shamardal), a two-time winner herself when trained by Mark Johnston. In addition to Swingalong, she is also dam of two winners by Kodiac (Danehill), Manaabit and Rhydwyn, and they sold for 130,000gns and 170,000gns respectively.

Pilates has a yearling colt by Profitable (Invincible Spirit) and a colt foal by New Bay (Dubawi), both of which seem to be retained. Pilates was purchased through Anthony Stroud for 52,000gns as a four-year-old, about a third of her yearling valuation. She has been a highly profitable investment for Mountarmstrong.

A half-sister to the Listed Hilary Needler Trophy winner Knavesmire (One Cool Cat), Pilates is also a half-sister to the dam of another stakes-winning juvenile, Sushi Tuna (Halling) in France. Ironically, back in the third generation of the family, there is another winner of the Group 2 Lowther Stakes, Soar (Danzero). She won the race in 2004.

Expensive

Two very expensive foal purchase have made their mark at stakes level, one of them being a horse who was highlighted in ‘For The Notebook’ in these columns.

He is Victory Dance (Dubawi), winner of the Listed Denford Stakes at Newbury on his third start. He was also runner-up in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket. This Airlie Stud-bred sold to Godolphin for a cool 700,000gns.

Victory Dance is the fourth winner from Dane Street (Street Cry), and that mare’s best is the champion Irish juvenile filly Skitter Skatter. She was bred in partnership by Airlie Stud and won the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes.

The first foal of the Jessica Harrington-trained dual winner Dane Street was Data Dependent (More Than Ready), and she was runner-up in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar. In fact, all four of Dane Street’s winners were successful at two, and she has a yearling filly and a colt foal, both by Kingman (Invincible Spirit).

Daneleta (Danehill), the grandam of Victory Dance, was third to Rock Of Gibraltar in the Group 3 Railway Stakes. The best of her seven winners was Intense Focus (Giant’s Causeway), the third of Jim Bolger’s Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes winners.

Juddmonte

At York, the Group 3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes was won, appropriately, by a graduate of the sales company. Bred by Whitsbury Manor Stud (yet another mention for the farm), this 550,000gns buy by Juddmonte is a son of Frankel (Galileo) and out of a mare, Suelita (Dutch Art), that Whitsbury Manor Stud bought privately for 21,500gns. Now her six winners include Chaldean, Alkumait (Showcasing), winner of the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes, and listed winner The Broghie Man (Cityscape).

The progeny of Suelita have also starred in the sales ring, bringing prices such as 150,000gns, 200,000gns and 425,000gns for Whitsbury Manor.