The Weekly Wrap

When horses finish as closely tied as Ulysses (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Barney Roy (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}) did in Saturday's G1 Coral Eclipse S., so often a dead-heat seems the fairest result. In this case, however, there were a number of factors that had me longing for the number four to be called when the judge gave his verdict.

Jim Crowley's not just a really decent man but an excellent jockey and when the reigning champion is jocked-off a horse for no apparent reason, as he was from Eminent (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), it's hard not to take umbrage on his part. As it transpired, riding Ulysses instead was clearly no hardship.

Rather more pertinently, there's always pleasure to be taken when the old 'breeding the best to the best' maxim is applied successfully, so a Group 1 winner by a Derby winner out of an Oaks winner is cause for celebration.

Ulysses may have been Galileo's 66th Group 1 winner, but he is Light Shift's first. The daughter of Kingmambo, from one of the best dynasties of the Niarchos family's breeding empire, played a significant part in the resurgence of Sir Henry Cecil's career long before Frankel (GB) came along. Her victory in the 2007 Oaks–the eighth win in the fillies' Classic for her trainer–had even the most flint-hearted of racing correspondents pretending to have a fly in their eye as three cheers rang out twice around Epsom for Cecil's return to the big time after several years in the wilderness.

Had he still been alive, Cecil would likely be training Ulysses, but four years after his death it is his former great friend and rival Sir Michael Stoute who has that honour.

There is further pleasing symmetry in the result in that Cecil sent out the first of his four Eclipse winners, Wolver Hollow (GB) (Sovereign Path {GB}), in 1969 from Freemason Lodge, once the bastion of Cecil's stepfather, the former champion trainer Captain Cecil Boyd Rochfort, and now for many years the base from which Stoute has primed numerous top-class horses, including six Eclipse winners of his own, starting with Opera House (GB) (Sadler's Wells) in 1993.

The Right Approach…

It's been a good spell for Galileo's first Derby winner, New Approach (Ire), who, after bursting onto the scene with three first-crop Royal Ascot juvenile winners and following up with an Oaks winner and a Derby second, had gone a little off the boil.

Strathspey (GB) produced a strong late run to take the G2 Prix de Malleret for Andre Fabre nine days ago, while Nearly Caught (Ire), one of a plethora of good stayers from the Hughie Morrison stable, also showed determination when running down long-time leader Alyssa (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}) in the Listed Coral Marathon at Sandown on Saturday. Dancing Breeze (GB), Mount Logan (GB) and the juvenile Masar (GB) have all gained listed places within the last month while the dual listed winner Glamorous Approach (Ire) continues to be a consistent campaigner for her breeder and New Approach's trainer, Jim Bolger.

Another Fabre trainee, Cascadian (GB), a 4 1/2-length winner on debut at Chantilly on Sunday, gained a coveted 'TDN Rising Star' for his exploits, and joined Hey Gaman (GB) and the Chesham S. third Masar on New Approach's list of juvenile winners this season. Given where New Approach stands, it is perhaps no surprise that all three are out of mares by Darley stallions. Cascadian is the first foal of G3 UAE Oaks winner Falls Of Lora (Ire) (Street Cry {Ire}), while the Rabbah-bred Hey Gaman is another first foal, of Dubawi's multiple stakes-placed daughter Arsaadi (Ire). Masar's dam Khawlah (Ire) is by Cape Cross and is a Group 2-winning great granddaughter of Urban Sea, who also of course appears in the top half of his pedigree. Meanwhile, Strathspey is a Darley-bred daughter of the Shamardal mare Perfect Note (GB), herself a winning daughter of the G1 Prix Vermeille winner Mezzo Soprano, who is out of a half-sister to another former Darley stallion, Singspiel (Ire).

New Approach was the most famous bearer of Princess Haya's green and black silks, which weren't spotted on a racecourse during 2014 and 2015, but have been returned to action through a number of horses running in the princess's name from John Gosden's stable. On Sunday they were again carried to glory by 3-year-old Pouvoir Magique (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), who won at Ayr on only his second start following a promising debut back in June. The colt had provided a memorable pinhooking result for Mary Reynolds and Ambrose O'Mullane of Ardglas Stables when topping last year's Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up Sale at 300,000gns, having been bought as a yearling for only €15,000.

Oxx Boost Welcome…

We see plenty of the Godolphin blue silks across the world, but it will be extra pleasing to see them carried by runners from John Oxx's stable later this year and beyond.

Oxx is one of the most revered trainers in Europe and there were plenty within the racing world who felt aggrieved on his behalf when several major long-term patrons turned their backs on him in recent seasons. Whatever else Joe Osborne achieves through his tenure as the chief executive of Godolphin, returning a number of Sheikh Mohammed's horses to Oxx's stable is an extremely popular first public move in his new role.

Give Thunder A Clap…

Instead of being remembered as the horse who lost the plot breaking from the gates in the GI Kentucky Derby, Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) should be remembered for all the right reasons.

On Sunday, he added a second top-level victory to an admirable record that boasts four group wins and a consistent tally of placed efforts in the highest company. A winner on debut on May 31 last year, Thunder Snow went straight to Ascot for his only finish out of the first four, barring the unfortunate incident at Churchill Downs, when finishing sixth behind Caravaggio (Scat Daddy) in the G2 Coventry S. From there he posted two runner-up finishes in the G2 Qatar Vintage S. and G2 Champagne S.–beaten only a head by subsequent G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Rivet (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the latter–before graduating to the highest level. Finishing two lengths behind Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) when fourth in the G1 Dubai Dewhurst S., he then notched his own footnote in history as his sire's first Group 1 winner when pairing up with Christophe Soumillon for the first time in the Criterium International.

Kept busy through the winter, the colt headed to Dubai for two unbeaten runs, most notably in the G2 UAE Derby–an important victory for the home team on Dubai World Cup night–before travelling on to Kentucky. Since returning to Saeed bin Suroor's Stanley House Stables in Newmarket, he's made another trip to Ireland for the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, giving Churchill backers a scare with a bold front-running effort which eventually saw him overhauled by the favourite for second. Before his all-the-way win in Sunday's G1 Prix Jean Prat, Thunder Snow also finished just over a length behind Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) in the G1 St James's Palace S., and the form of that race was given a serious franking at Sandown on Saturday.

The blotting of his copybook in America must surely have been the result of his tack pinching him–something which is not helped by being ponied to the start, as horses in this scenario never actually get to stretch out in a canter to the post as European horses usually do. Thunder Snow's record before and after this incident clearly point to a colt with the mental and physical capabilities of racing frequently at the highest level, wherever in the world he is asked to do so.

Plenty of credit for Thunder Snow's talent must go to his dam Eastern Joy (GB) (Dubai Destination), a daughter of the Swettenham Stud-bred G2 Sun Chariot S. winner Red Slippers (Nureyev), who raced initially for Robert Sangster before being bought by Sheikh Mohammed. Bred to Machiavellian, Red Slippers gave her owner the G1 Prix de Diane winner West Wind (GB) and though Eastern Joy won just once, on debut at Vichy, she is quickly making up for a moderate racing record with an exemplary breeding record. Named TBA Broodmare of the Year for 2016, her first four foals, all by Darley stallions, are all stakes winners. Her first foal Ihtimal (Ire) (Shamardal) won four black-type races headed by the G2 May Hill S., while Always Smile (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) won the Listed Hambleton S. and was runner-up to Alice Springs (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in last year's G1 Sun Chariot S. First Victory (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) ran just four times but won twice, including the G3 Oh So Sharp S. Waiting in the wings, Eastern Joy has a 2-year-old filly by Shamardal named Winter Lightning (Ire) and a colt foal by Dubawi (Ire) born this March.