Cheltenham 2009 by numbers

Cheltenham is almost overwhelming.  Four days, twenty four races, twelve Grade 1 races and remarkable individual achievements such as Ruby Walsh’s record breaking 7 winners or Tony McCoy’s astonishing never-say-die ride on Wichita Lineman.  21 stallions got on the roll of honour and only 3 stallions managed to sire more than one winner. So what did we learn from the week?

 

1. Stallion of the week was Presenting. He sired two Grade 1 winners in Weapons Amnesty who battled to win the Albert Bartlett hurdle and Dunguib who was an ultra impressive winner of the bumper. For good measure he sired Some Present who was runner up in the bumper and Denman showed he has retained most of his  ability with a fine second in the Gold Cup. Presenting is still only 17 and has bigger and better crops coming through and he will hopefully be around for a few years yet.  It is also interesting that Weapons Amnesty is out of an Old Vic mare and this is a cross or reverse cross we are likely to see tried a great deal over the coming years. Old Vic and Presenting are the two outstanding National Hunt stallions of our era and it will be interesting to see if this proves to be a potent nick.

 

2. Well done to Nikos who sired two winners in Master Minded and Oh Crick. Nikos was retired some years ago so his success will have little practical impact on breeders. Nikos won the Prix Edmond Blanc and was twice runner up in the Prix de la Foret. On the flat his best runner was Nononito who won a Prix du Cadran and over jumps he also left Cenkos who won a Victor Chandler Chase and finished third in a Queen Mother. Nikos was a son of Nonoalco the 1974 2000 Guineas winner who also won a Prix Jacques le Marois and at two he won the Prix Morny and Prix de la Salamandre. He was exported to Japan but left behind the great Katies. Trivia fans will be interested to note that Nonoalco was by Nearctic (sire of Northern Dancer) and was bred by Forest E Mars of chocolate bar fame.

 

3. Old Vic also got two winners in Ninetieth Minute (in the Coral Cup) and Andytown (Martin Pipe hurdle) as well as being broodmare sire of the previously mentioned Weapons Amnesty.

 

3. Sons of Sadler’s Wells are everywhere. Amazingly 7 different sons of the Coolmore legend sired winners. They were Kings Theatre sire of Wichita Lineman,  Oscar sire of Tricky Trickster,  Old Vic sire of Ninetieth Minute and Andytown, Barathea sire of Silk Affair, Kayf Tara sire of Kayf Aramis, Dolpour sire of Something Wells and Accordion sire of Character Building.  Interestingly none of the wins came in Grade 1 races, however Galileo came close to adding a Champion Hurdle to his role of honour through Celestial Halo who was a close second.  Funnily enough the hurdler who’s reputation was most enhanced after Cheltenham was Hurricane Fly (by Montjeu and subject of a previous article) who had previously hammered the Supreme Novice winner Go Native at Leopardstown.

 

 4. The diminutive Mill Reef pops up with surprising frequency. It is well recorded that Kauto Star is bred 4*4 to Mill Reef through Moulin and Port Etienne.  Mill Reef’s son Garde Royale is sire of Garde Champetre winner of the cross country chase and is broodmare sire of Master Minded.  Garde Royale is also sire of Robin des Champs the sire of Quevega the easy winner of the David Nicholson hurdle for mares. Finally the Triumph hurdle winner Zaynar is by Daylami who is by Doyoun who is by Mill Reef. 

 

5. Two sons of Top Ville sired winners. Beneficial sired Cooldine the impressive winner of the RSA chase and Pistolet Bleu sired Cappa Bleu the winner of the Foxhunters.

 

6.  Nijinsky obviously didn’t want to be upstaged by Mill Reef and crops up with some regularity.  His son Moscow Society sired his second Arkle winner in Forpaddytheplasterer who followed in the hoofprints of Moscow Society.  Champion Hurdle winner Punjabi was out of a Hernando mare and thus has Nijinsky in the fourth generation and he also appears in the fourth generation of Mikael D’Haguenet. World Hurdle winner Big Bucks is by Cadoudal a grandson of Nijinsky through Green Dancer and Triumph hurdle winner Zaynar is out of French Oaks winner Zainta a daughter of Kahyasi who is by Nijinsky’s son Ile de Bourbon.

 

7. The other sires to get on the scoresheet are Double Eclipse who gave his career a nice fillip as sire of Supreme Novice winner Go Native.  Komaite sired Punjabi the winner of the Champion Hurdle, Lavirco sired Mikael D’Haguenet and it will be interesting to see if we are about to witness German breds make an impact on the National Hunt scene in the same way that Monsun has led their assault on the flat. Turgeon sired Chapoturgeon and Sendawar sired American Trilogy. Finally Flemensfirth sired Ryanair chase winner Imperial Commander.  Considering he stood for €10000 and is hyped by Coolmore as one of the hottest jumps sires around it was important he sired a winner. However it is interesting that he is the same age as Presenting and to me he still has a long way to go to match the achievements of his Rathbarry rival.

Binocular-difficult to forsee?

 Binocular is a very short priced favourite for the Champion Hurdle, especially for a horse who was beaten on his only previous visit to Prestbury Park. That aside his pedigree is interesting and serves as a reminder of some stars of yester-year who had disappeared from the public eye.  His sire Enrique ran 8 times for three wins, three seconds and two unplaced runs. At two he won his maiden, the listed Tattesalls Sommerville Stakes before being sent off as joint favourite for the Dewhurst along with Stravinsky. He seemed to be going very well with a furlong to go but found little to finish a disappointing fourth. At three he returned with a win in the Group 3 Greenham, before finishing a close second to Island Sands. It was a substandard Guineas and probably not Kieran Fallons finest hour. He gained his revenge on Island Sands in the Irish Guineas but this time he was convincingly beaten by Aidan O’Briens Saffron Walden.  Enrique was dropped back to 7 furlongs at Royal Ascot for the Jersey Stakes but unfortunately for him he was again beaten into second by outsider Lots of Magic who never before or after showed such a level of form. It was a good renewal of the Jersey as the third was Bertolini and fourth was Stravinsky with fifth going to Industrialist who subsequently did well in Hong Kong.  Back to a mile and Group one company Enriques next and final start was in the Sussex Stakes where he made no impression behind Aljabr. Whether injured or not Enrique’s next public appearance was in the August 1997 Deauville Sales where he fetched a paltry 350000 French francs. Fate is fickle, had the Guineas gone his way he would have been an attractive stallion prospect instead the length of Island Sands neck meant he retired as only a Group 3 winner. His dam Gwydion was a speed machine winning the Queen Mary finishing second in the Diadem and third in a July Cup. In hindsight it would have been interesting to see Enrique dropped back to sprint distances. There was no major demand for Enrique at stud but the fact that he now stands for €4000 at Haras de Hoguenot indicates that some success has come his way and he was certainly a shrewd purchase at 350000 Ffr. His best flat runner is Obrigado (Enrique-Banakill by Funambule by who won a Grade 2 in the States and was narrowly beaten in the Hollywood Turf Cup. He also sired Group 2 placed Baby First (Enrique-First Turn by Alleged). Binocular was useful on the flat winning his only two starts at two, before being listed place at three. However once he switched to the UK and started hurdling he really blossomed and his only defeat from 6 starts was in last years Supreme Novice Hurdle when beaten by the older Captain Cee Bee who is also owned by JP McManus. The dam of Binocular, Blue Ciel et Blanc (literally blue sky and white) is by Pistolet Blue who covered huge books when moved to Coolmores National Hunt division later in his career. He left behind the likes of Sizing Europe, Geos and Katarino with large numbers of runners still to come. Blue Ciel et Blanc bred another winner in Assassino (by Kabool) but Binocular is by far the star of the family. It was difficult to see the union of Enrique of Blue Ciel et Blanc producing a top runner but such fairytales keep the sport from becoming too predictable. The real winner in all this is the slightly unlucky racehorse Enrique who is now lucky enough to be guaranteed decent books as a dual purpose stallion.

BINOCULAR (FR) 2004 c b

Enrique
(GB) 1996
Barathea
(IRE) 1990
Sadler’s
Wells (USA) 1981
Northern
Dancer (CAN) 1961
Fairy
Bridge (USA) 1975
Brocade
(GB) 1981
Habitat
(USA) 1966
Canton
Silk (GB) 1970
Gwydion
(USA) 1983
Raise
A Cup (USA) 1971
Raise
A Native (USA) 1961
Spring
Sunshine (USA) 1966
Papamiento
(USA) 1973
Blade
(USA) 1946
Commemoration
2nd (USA) 1953
Bleu
Ciel Et Blanc (FR) 1995
Pistolet
Bleu (IRE) 1988
Top
Ville (IRE) 1976
High
Top (IRE) 1969
Sega
Ville (USA) 1968
Pampa
Bella (FR) 1981
Armos
(IRE) 1967
Kendie
(FR) 1963
Bouge
De La (USA) 1990
Trempolino
(USA) 1984
Sharpen
Up (GB) 1969
Trephine
(FR) 1977
Syndaar
(FR) 1978
Lyphard
(USA) 1969
Sweet
And Lovely (FR) 1963