Juvenile Races Standing Test Of Time

At the end of a year, it's good to look both back and forward simultaneously. One way we can do both is by pondering the annual question as to which of England's two most historically prestigious 2-year-old races – the G1 Middle Park S. and the G1 Dewhurst S., both run at Newmarket – will turn out to have thrown up the better winner. Occasionally the same horse takes both races (most recently in 1982, when Diesis {GB} {Sharpen Up} completed the double) but more often each produces a different Classic aspirant – as they did most notably in 1970 when one all-time great Brigadier Gerard won the Middle Park while another Mill Reef took the Dewhurst. Another year when the pair of races produced a pair of champions was 2010 when Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) took the Dewhurst two weeks after the subsequent champion sprinter Dream Ahead (Diktat {GB}) had won the Middle Park. We may now have another brace of stars on our hands. Aidan O'Brien has reportedly described Dewhurst winner Air Force Blue (War Front) as the best juvenile he has trained, but the form of Middle Park winner Shalaa (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) is equally strong. If Shalaa could be as successful at three as he was at two, he would continue the revival of the status of the Middle Park. Furthermore, he would be perfectly placed to add to this special race's rich history of producing successful stallions.

The Middle Park S. was first run in 1866 (as the Middle Park Plate) when it became the world's first sponsored race. It was inaugurated and funded by commercial breeder William Blenkiron, who wanted to give something back to the sport which he loved and to promote his Middle Park Stud, near Eltham in Kent. By funding the Middle Park Plate, Mr Blenkiron started a noble tradition of sponsorship by the sport's major players, often via their studs. This tradition flourishes to this day. The Middle Park (currently sponsored by Juddmonte) and Dewhurst (now carrying the prefix 'Dubai' after bearing the 'Darley' brand for many years) remain perfect reminders of this largesse. The Middle Park soon established itself as a source of Classic 3-year-olds, its 19th-century winners including Melton, Minting, Signorina, Isinglass, Ladas, St Frusquin and Galtee More. Its winners early in the 20th century included the champions Pretty Polly, Bayardo and his half-brother Lemburg, as well as Absurd and Craganour. By siring two Triple Crown winners including Hyperion's sire Gainsborough, Bayardo (winner of 22 races including the St Leger in 1909 and the Ascot Gold Cup in 1910) emphasized the race's role in throwing up breed-shaping stallions; and Absurd added to its reputation by topping the General Sires' Table in New Zealand for three consecutive years in the early 1920s.

The 1927 Middle Park winner Pharamond did particularly well. Admittedly he couldn't match his full-brother Sickle (twice champion sire in the USA) or his half-brother Hyperion (five times champion sire of Great Britain and Ireland) but he still enjoyed a great stud career in the States, siring three champions: Apogee, Menow and By Jimminy. His influence blossomed via Menow, sire of two US Horses of the Year (Capot and Tom Fool, the latter the sire of Buckpasser). Similarly influential were Djebel and Dante (winners of the race in 1939 and '44) while the 1945 winner Khaled still ranks as one of the best stallions ever to stand in California, where his offspring included Swaps, winner of the Kentucky Derby in 1955 before being voted Horse of the Year in '56. Pipe Of Peace and Showdown (the Middle Park winners of 1956 and '63 respectively) enjoyed successful stud careers in Australia, where the latter was champion sire in twice in the '70s. Petingo, winner of the Middle Park in 1967, posthumously topped the General Sires' table of Great Britain and Ireland in 1979; while Sharpen Up, the 1971 winner, enjoyed a stellar stud career on both sides of the Atlantic. His aforementioned son Diesis then proved nearly as successful, while Known Fact (In Reality) also proved very influential.

For no obvious reason, many of the Middle Park winners in the final years of the 20th century did not turn out to be particularly special, although the 1992 G1 2000 Guineas winner Rodrigo De Triano (El Gran Senor) was a notable exception. Happily, though, 2001 and 2002 saw two outstanding horses take the race, Johannesburg (Hennessy) and Oasis Dream (GB) (Green Desert). Both have done very well at stud, even if the legacy of the former has recently received a setback as a result of the early death of his distinguished son Scat Daddy. More recently, Dutch Art (GB) (Medicean {GB}) and Dark Angel (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) have bolstered the race's reputation, while 2010 winner Dream Ahead has made a promising start with his first juveniles in 2015. Shalaa, whose dam Ghurra (War Chant) is a three-parts-sister to 1997 Middle Park winner Hayil (Dayjur), has been an outstanding juvenile, with G1 victories in the Prix Morny and the Middle Park S. and G2 triumphs in the July S. and the Richmond S. We can spend the next few months anticipating how he and Air Force Blue will fare in 2016 – and quietly dreaming that we might have another Brigadier Gerard / Mill Reef situation on our hands. That's unlikely, admittedly – but the joy is that one couldn't rule it out.