The Weekly Wrap

When it comes to keeping the racing dream alive for smaller owners and breeders, there's nothing better than a bargain buy who turns out to be a champion. However, when you spend plenty of days sitting in sales rings watching vast sums of money being spent on regally-bred yearlings, it's always good to see one of those sales-toppers add performance to pedigree and turn into something special. And it looks very much like that's exactly what we saw on Sunday with the debut of Tocco d'Amore (Ire) (Raven's Pass).

Any sales hack worth their salt should know better than to overlook Kilcarn Stud's draft at Goffs, and Pat O'Kelly's grand old matron Spirit Of Tara (Ire) (Sadlers Wells) duly gave us plenty to write about when her Raven's Pass filly was offered at the 2015 Orby Sale. At €2 million she brought the hammer down, with Fiona Craig doggedly outbidding Tony Nerses to claim ownership of the top lot for Moyglare Stud. We didn't see the filly again for 18 months but, boy, was it worth the wait.

“Pedigree, pedigree, pedigree. What else can I say?” That was Craig's verdict as she signed the sheet for the half-sister to Echo Of Light (GB) whose close family includes her dam's outstanding sister Salsabil (GB) and half-brother Marju (Ire). To that, she can now add performance.

Tocco d'Amore translates from Italian to 'touch of love'. If she continues her career in the manner in which she shed her maiden tag, she could just as well be named touch of brilliance.

This Too Shall Pass
Tocco d'Amore wasn't the only talented daughter of Raven's Pass to step onto the racecourse this week. Yesterday's Classic trials at Maisons-Laffitte saw the second start for the Haras de Saint Pair homebred Via Ravenna (Ire), who added the G3 Prix Imprudence to her first-up win in the Prix de la Haute just over a month ago. Her victory brought to four the number of Group winners from the Andre Fabre stable in just over 24 hours, with Ultra (GB) (Manduro {Ger}) contributing a Listed victory just for good measure.

Via Ravenna's success continued a real purple patch for Andreas Putsch's operation as both owner and breeder and was the second winner of the day bred at the farm after Kitcarma (Fr) (Turtle Bowl {Ire}) won the opening tierce handicap at Maisons-Laffitte. On Sunday, the Godolphin-owned Graphite (Fr) (Shamardal), who was sold by Saint Pair at the 2015 Arqana October Sale for €250,000, won the G3 Prix La Force at Chantilly, following the victory last week of Jimmy Two Times (Fr) in the G3 Prix Edmond Blanc. The son of Kendargent (Fr) was bought for Putsch by Crispin de Moubray for €85,000 at the previous year's October Sale at Arqana.

Life In The Fast Lane
It's not uncommon at this time of year for the name Galileo (Ire) to be dominant in the results, just as he was on Saturday when Orderofthegarter (Ire) and Hydrangea (Ire)––both the offspring of Pivotal (GB) mares––won the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas trials at Leopardstown. But the weekend also gave a chance for the champion's lesser-heralded stablemate Fastnet Rock (Aus) to shine.

The solid son of Danehill has actually always been highly regarded in his native Australia, where his top-class runners have included Mosheen (Aus), Foxwedge (Aus), First Seal (Aus) and Atlantic Jewel (Aus). It's only in Europe where he wasn't perhaps initially given the respect that he deserves, and that is surely changing.

Stakes results from both hemispheres over the weekend continue to attest to Fastnet Rock's ability. His juvenile daughters Shoals (Aus) and Formality (Aus) were locked together at the line when finishing first and second in the G2 Sir Percy Sykes S. at Randwick on Saturday.

The following day, Diamond Fields (Ire) gave South African owner Mary Slack her first European Group win when coming with a well-timed run to deny the free-sweating favourite Alice Springs (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G3 Gladness S. at Naas to continue a flying start to the training career of Fozzy Stack. Meanwhile at Chantilly, Fas (Ire) demonstrated that there's a letter missing from the end of his name when rocketing to a 3½-length victory in the G3 Prix Sigy.

What perhaps foxed breeders in Fastnet Rock's early years in Ireland is that he didn't appear to be siring runners with his own tendency towards the sprint division. When one considers that his Northern Hemisphere Group winners Qualify (Ire), Cover Song (Ire), Rivet (Ire), Intricately (Ire), Zhukova (Ire) and Turret Rocks (Ire) are all out of Galileo mares and that another two, Diamondsandrubies (Ire) and Somehow (Ire), are from daughters of Sadler's Wells, that's not really a surprise.

In Fas, we have a colt out of the five-furlong winner Sotka (GB), whose sire Dutch Art (GB) (Medicean {GB}) and half-brother Sole Power (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) certainly didn't lack a turn of foot.

Fastnet Rock's two juvenile Group 1 winners in Britain and Ireland last season––Intricately and Rivet––are both naturally on the Classic trail, with the former being far from disgraced when fourth to Hydrangea on Saturday, while Rivet could be seen in action for this first time this year on Friday at Newcastle.

Further reflected glory for their sire can be gleaned from the first Group 1 winner at the weekend for Foxwedge, whose daughter Foxplay (Aus) was the very taking victrix of the Coolmore Legacy S. at Randwick's The Championships.

Classic Dream Alive
As a breeder, Ballylinch Stud played a big part in the great start to the career of resident stallion Lope De Vega (Ire) and the stud has also bred arguably the best horse to date by Dream Ahead, who spent the first five years of his stallion career at Ballylinch and is currently on a one-year lease to Haras de Grandcamp in Normandy.

Grandcamp principal Eric L'Hermite could hardly have wished for a better advertisement for his new boy than to have a highly exciting 3-year-old colt in the hands of the maestro Andre Fabre, and that is exactly what he's been given in Al Wukair (Ire). The Al Shaqab Racing colour-bearer is now unbeaten in three starts following his last-to-first strike in yesterday's G3 Prix Djebel and can be considered a serious Classic contender.

Though essentially made in Ireland, Al Wukair's family has a fondness for France. His dam Macheera (Ire) (Machiavellian) won on debut over a mile at Saint-Cloud for Ballylinch's former owner Tim Mahony and is one of two daughters of the 1991 G1 Prix de Diane winner Caerlina (Ire) (Caerleon) still among the Ballyinch broodmare band. Caerlina died last year at the age of 28 but Macheera is kept company by her unraced half-sister Seascapes (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who foaled a Dream Ahead colt in February and is now in foal to first-season sire New Bay (GB), while Macheera will visit Siyouni (Fr).

Spirited Start By The Freshmen
You can try to resist but inevitably it's impossible not to be interested in which young sires are doing well with their first runners, even at this nascent stage of the season.

In Britain we've been treated to early winners from Swiss Spirit (GB), the sire of debutant Leicester winner Kick On Kick On (GB), and the late Society Rock (Ire), whose son Rock Of Estonia (Ire) struck at Windsor yesterday.

Meanwhile, Henrythenavigator's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf-winning son George Vancouver (Ire) has made a swift start in France, where he stands at Pascal Noue's dual-purpose Haras de la Hetraie.

Sky Radojka (Fr), a €10,000 Arqana October yearling, became his first winner at Marseille-Vivaux on Saturday, while Espaldinha (Fr), who was her sire's first runner on April 6, will attempt to put her Saint-Cloud experience to good use when lining up at Fontainebleau tomorrow.