Shamardal

If you look at Progeny PP Counts for the last 90 days on the TDN website (click here), you'll see that the top 10 North American and European sires during this period each had 30 or more 'unique progeny' register 36 or more total listings. Regular readers of this column will not be surprised to hear that four of the top 10 are the North American 'fearsome foursome' whose first foals all arrived in 2006 (designated as F2006). These include the one-three by total listings (Darley's Medaglia D'Oro, 54, Gainesway's Tapit, 52); #7 (by total listings), Lane's End's Candy Ride (43); and 10th, WinStar's Speightstown (36). There are only three 'older' sires among this top 10: Coolmore's Galileo (F2003, 49 total listings); WinStar's Distorted Humor (F2000, 44); and Coolmore Ashford's Giant's Causeway (F2002, 42).

The other three sires all had their first foals in 2007. Ramsey Farm's Kitten's Joy (38) ranks ninth by this gauge, while the other two are two Darley sires who were one-two on the 2009 European Freshman Sire List and clearly just kept on going: Dalham Hall resident Dubawi, who is currently runaway leader on the TDN Year-to-Date General Sire List (click here), and ranks second by total listings, with 53; and Darley Kildangan's Shamardal, who ranks sixth, with 44 total listings in the last 90 days.

Notable also, when we look at this list, are that five of these sires each have 15 or more Black-Type Horses in the last 90 days, and nine or more Graded/Group Stakes Horses. Dubawi has 24 BTH and Tapit 22 in the last 90 days; Galileo has 20, Shamardal 18, and Shamardal's sire, Giant's Causeway, has 15. Galileo is the leader by Graded Stakes Horses, with 15; Dubawi has 14, Tapit 13, Giant's Causeway 11, and Shamardal nine.

I wouldn't call Shamardal a forgotten man, exactly, among these five, or these 10–and neither would Darley, considering his €70,000 stud fee–but it does seem like every time you turn around these days, there's a Shamardal winning something. Just last Sunday, within the space of half an hour, the 7-year-old Hong Kong-based gelding Dan Excel (known as Dunboyne Express when he raced in Ireland) won his second straight G1 Singapore Airlines International Cup, followed by the 3-year-old colt Toscanini, who had been second to Gleneagles in the G1 National S. in his previous start, winning a good six-furlong conditions race at Navan, reportedly on his way to Royal Ascot's G3 Jersey S.

The 3-year-old Shamardal fiily Lucida was second to Legatissimo (Danehill Dancer) in the G1 English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, and will be among the favorites to go one better in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas this weekend; and his 3-year-old colts also include Zawraq, second favorite for the June 6 G1 Epsom Derby off an impressive win in Leopardstown's 2000 Guineas Trial (Listed) at a mile last month. The three aforementioned 3-year-olds are all trained in Ireland for Maktoum interests: Toscanini is trained by Mick Halford, and Lucida by Jim Bolger, for Godolphin; Zawraq is trained by Dermot Weld for Sheikh Hamdan.

Then, of course, there's Able Friend, a 5-year-old Australian-bred gelding by Shamardal, also based in Hong Kong, who has won six in a row since November, including four Group 1's, and is pointing for the G1 Queen Anne S., the opening race at Royal Ascot. When you also factor in that he already also has a successful sire son in Lope de Vega, the top European Freshman Sire of 2014, there's every likelihood that Shamardal's stature and influence haven't peaked yet. To read Andrew Caulfield's column on Able Friend and Shamardal from last December (since which time Able Friend has won three more Group 1's), click here.

The Classic Picture

Once they found out in Hot Springs that he could handle an off track, whatever rain dance the Zayat connections did for Baltimore last Saturday paid off; that squall couldn't have come at a more opportune time if they had called it down from the heavens. American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) absolutely reveled in the slop and powered away, while GI Kentucky Derby second Firing Line (Line of David) looked unhappy from the minute he stepped on to the racetrack, and Derby third Dortmund (Big Brown) was left floundering too. The horse who did run a big race was GIII Lexington S. winner Divining Rod (Tapit), who came out of the pack to chase American Pharoah and briefly gave him a scare, then eventually ran out of gas and was tagged by longshot Tale of Verve, from the first crop by Tale of Ekati, for second.

Divining Rod is a homebred for Roy and Gretchen Jackson's Lael Stables and trained by Arnaud Delacour. Team Delacour, Arnaud and wife Leigh, are based at Fair Hill; Arnaud arrived via fellow Frenchman Christophe Clement, Leigh via Graham Motion. The Lael team had won The Very One S., two races before the Preakness, for the second year running, with the 6-year-old mare Ageless (Successful Appeal), but there's nothing for getting yourself known by having not just a Preakness runner, but the Preakness third. The Jacksons' confidence in them, and their ability to deliver a Preakness-placed horse for them, is helping put the Delacours on the map.

Tale of Verve, meanwhile, is the third Graded Stakes Horse this year (including also the Grade II-winning filly Ekati's Phaeton) from the first crop by Tale of Ekati, a seriously well-bred son of Tale of the Cat out of a Sunday Silence half-sister to Sky Beauty, herself out of Dayjur's half-sister by Nijinsky, Maplejinsky (so his third dam is champion sprinter Gold Beauty). Bred and owned by Charles Fipke, Tale of Ekati won the 2008 GI Wood Memorial and GI Cigar Mile (by disqualification, having been beaten a nose by Harlem Rocker, who impeded him), and stands at Darby Dan Farm. Tale of Verve's Preakness second moves Tale of Ekati into fifth spot on the TDN Year-to-Date Second-Crop Sire List (click here).

So what did we learn for the GI Belmont; what stands in the way of American Pharaoh and Triple Crown glory? Well, on paper,at least, it's no cakewalk. On the other hand, he's beaten almost all of them. Kentucky Derby fourth Frosted (Tapit), winner of the GI Wood Memorial; sixth Materiality (Afleet Alex), winner of the GI Florida Derby; seventh Keen Ice (Curlin); eighth Mubtaahij (Dubawi), winner of the G2 UAE Derby; 10th Carpe Diem (Giant's Causeway), winner of the GI Blue Grass; 11th Frammento (first crop by Midshipman); and 16th-placed War Story (Northern Afleet), all skipped the Preakness and could re-oppose. Materiality and Carpe Diem are trained by Todd Pletcher, who could also send out Madefromlucky (first crop by Lookin At Lucky), who won the GII Peter Pan, but had previously been beaten twice by American Pharoah in Arkansas. Preakness second Tale of Verve is also a likely runner, as is Peter Pan second Conquest Curlinate. American Pharoah is the clear form choice; if he gets the trip and is still moving forward, he'll be tough to beat. Frosted was the horse who came out of the pack against a slow pace in the Derby, and Materiality ran with credit having had a bad start; they are the two you could make the best case for to spring the upset.

People say this is a rich person's game, and I guess one of the ways we know that is when you see horses bought back for a lot of money at the sales. American Pharoah, as is commonly known, was bought back for $300,000 at Saratoga as a yearling, though he was signed for by Ingordo Bloodstock.
?
Preakness second Tale of Verve was bred by Charles Fipke, and races for Charles Fipke, yet went through two sales: his current trainer, Dallas Stewart, signed for him for $150,000 at the same Saratoga sale as American Pharoah, then he was signed for at Keeneland's April 2-year-old sale, for $440,000, by Six Friends Syndicate. The same with the new favorite for the June 6 G1 Epsom Derby, Anthony Oppenheimer's (sadly, no relation) Golden Horn (Cape Cross), winner of the G2 Dante S. last week at York; he was a declared buy-back, at 190,000 guineas, in Tattersalls's 2013 October 1 Yearling Sale. Yet all these sales companies can quite correctly say these horses all 'went through the ring', and, in several cases, 'sold'. I don't propose to do anything about it, but it's interesting these breeders were all correct about those future Classic prospects.

After they bought him back, the Oppenheimers (sadly, no relation; did I mention that?) sent the Cape Cross colt to John Gosden to train. He won his only start at two, at the 'back-end' of October over 8 1/2 furlongs, but was ready early and won the 9-furlong Fielden S. at the Newmarket Craven meeting in April.

Frankie Dettori has been riding a lot for Gosden this year–and what a combination that is–since Gosden's former stable jockey, William Buick, went to Godolphin, along with James Doyle, at the beginning of the year. Frankie chose to ride Jack Hobbs (Halling), who had won a Sandown handicap by 12 lengths, in the Dante, so Buick, who was free, rode Golden Horn. It was a Gosden one-two but in the 'wrong' order, as Golden Horn surged clear of Jack Hobbs, with last year's G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Elm Park, by the obscure Phoenix Reach, a good third. Golden Horn is now the Derby favorite, as short as 2-1 on Betfair, with the aformentioned Zawraq and the aforementioned Elm Park, at around 6-1 and 8-1 respectively, the current second and third choices. The Ballydoyle camp of Aidan O'Brien has supplied the last three Derby winners–Camelot, Ruler of the World, and Australia. The Coolmore triumvirate has won the last four, Andre Fabre having trained the 2011 winner, Pour Moi, for 'the lads'. At this writing it seems Coolmore's best chance to extend their string to five in a row lies with Giovanni Canaletto, named after an 18th-century Venetian painter and printmaker. A full-brother to Ruler of the World and half-brother to Duke of Marmalade, Giovanni Canaletto won his second and final start at two impressively, missed a run at Chester last week with a bad scope, but is likely for this weekend's G3 Gallinule S. at the Curragh as his Epsom trial. Word that he would run this weekend resulted in him becoming the new fourth favorite, at around 11-1 on Betfair yesterday.

The featured races at The Curragh this coming weekend will be the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas on Saturday and the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas on Sunday. Unless the ground is soft (which it has been a lot this month), G1 English 2000 Guineas winner Gleneagles (Galileo) will go for the double, in which one of his main opponents will be the English Guineas third, Ivawood (from the first crop by Zebedee). The Irish 1000 on Sunday looks a very hot contest, with Lucida (Shamardal), the Coolmore legions, and the Big Bad Bob filly, Bocca Baciata, who will be attempting to do a Legatissimo–backing up from a 10-furlong Listed win to a mile Classic.