IF I told you that I had a filly by Canford Cliffs (Tagula) out of a winning Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) mare, out of a listed-winning Darshaan (Shirley Heights) mare, for sale, you would consider I had a potential runner on the flat, or a flat breeding prospect. Not so.
Bred by John Adams with his wife Marjery, Panic Attack was offered for sale three times at Tattersalls Ireland in the space of 12 months, and failed to find a buyer. As a foal, she was retained at €8,500, and was unsold a few months later at the February Sale at €8,000. She was offered again as a yearling and, even with a reduced reserve, could not find a buyer.
Put in training with Willie Mullins, in the ownership of Leinster Partnership, Panic Attack made one start from Closutton, and was sent to contest a listed bumper at Market Rasen which she won easily. Her next start was at Cheltenham in the Grade 1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper, but this time she raced for Bryan Drew and from David Pipe’s yard.
Panic Attack went on to win four times for Pipe, three of them over hurdles, and the best of these was a listed success at Cheltenham. When she reappeared last season, Panic Attack was racing from Dan Skelton’s yard. She raced four times, won once and placed on the other occasions. Now she has made a valuable contribution to Skelton’s bid to deny Willie Mullins a third British trainers’ title with her £90,000 prize for winning the Grade 3 Paddy Power Gold Cup in memory of Edward O’Grady at Cheltenham.
John Adams, the breeder of Panic Attack, is listed as T J Adams, and they happen to be the initials of the breeder of the mare’s dam, Toto Corde Meo (Galileo), the late T J Pabst.
Tim Pabst was a long-time friend of the Grassick family, and sold Toto Corde Meo at the 2008 Goffs Million Sale for €52,000. Little could he have imagined that she would make her debut in a point-to-point at the age of four, readily beating 10 opponents in an open maiden at Upcott Cross in Devon.
Tim Vaughan
Toto Corde Meo moved to trainer Tim Vaughan, and made three more starts. She won a Towcester bumper by a head, sent off favourite, and placed on both her starts over hurdles. Unusually, she was catalogued in the Tattersalls December Sale, where BBA Ireland signed for her at 2,500gns.
The disappointment of failing to sell Panic Attack after three trips to the sales has been long forgotten, and in more recent times John Adams has enjoyed better fortune.
Toto Corde Meo’s more recent offspring are a three-year-old Vadamos (Monsun) who sold as a foal for €26,000, a two-year-old son of Poet’s Word (Poet’s Voice), a €34,000 foal, and a yearling colt by Blue Bresil (Smadoun) who sold for €24,000 last year.
SHANTOU (Alleged) died in 2021 at Burgage Stud, where he stood for most of his stallion career. His final crop are four-year-olds, and it is certain you will be hearing about his stock for some years to come, while his daughters will continue to contribute to his legacy.
He sired his 53rd blacktype jumps winner at Cheltenham when Wade Out won a listed chase, and at the weekend was also responsible for the French Grade 1 chase winner Toscana Du Berlais.
A look at his list of other Grade 1 winners over jumps –he sired a Group 1 flat winner in France – is impressive, and they are, in alphabetical order, Airlie Beach, Briar Hill, Death Duty, Morning Assembly, Shan Blue, Stay Away Fay, Stellar Story, and The Storyteller.
Wade Out, a €32,000 Tattersalls Ireland foal, was a loss-making store, selling at the Goffs Land Rover Sale to Tom Keating for just €20,000. He won a point-to-point on his only outing between the flags, beating Diagon Alley who sold afterwards for £140,000. We don’t know what Tom Keating got for his Lisronagh winner, but the next time we saw the gelding he was carrying the colours of Alex Ferguson, Ged Mason, John Hales and Fred Done, and racing from Olly Murphy’s yard. His small store price, and subsequent sale and performances, entitle him to being considered a bargain.
He won his only bumper, three of his six starts over hurdles, and now Wade Out has a perfect record over fences from two outings. He is a hard horse to access, given his propensity to run lazily, but he keeps finding more, and will likely tackle the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham in March. Wade Out is one of a pair of winners out of Whats Up Britta (Milan), and that mare failed to reach the first three in six runs over hurdles, but then struck on her last run at the age of seven, winning a handicap hurdle at Thurles.
Both winners out of Whats Up Britta are by Shantou, and come from three runners among the first six foals of racing age for their dam. At this year’s Derby Sale, Whats Up Britta’s three-year-old Maxios (Monsun) gelding sold to bloodstock agent Ed Bailey and Tom Scudamore for €60,000.
Whats Up Britta is one of three winning siblings, the others being Grade 1 Punchestown Festival winner Dedigout (Bob Back), and to the dam of Grade 3 Cheltenham Chase winner Springwell Bay (Kayf Tara).
TRAINER Tom Cooper won the two listed bumpers at Cheltenham last weekend. Both four-year-olds, the French-bred Saint Clovis (Clovis Du Berlais) recorded his maiden success in the Listed Cheltenham NH Flat Race on his third start, while the Irish-bred Celestial Tune (Maxios) gained her second win in the Listed Evesham Mares’ NH Flat Race.
The gelding was well bought at the Goffs Arkle Sale for €22,000, while Bryan Cooper then paid €80,000 for Celestial Tune at the Derby Sale, and she had been purchased in the same ring by Joey Logan for €25,000 as a foal. Both bumper winners trace back to French families.
Second winner
Celestial Tune is the second winner for Sylvertune (Green Tune) who gained her sole success in a listed hurdle race for three-year-old fillies at Auteuil. She had two blacktype-placed siblings who won seven and six races each, and they are all out of Syvanie (Sicyos) who was group-placed in Germany. Syvanie’s half-brother Bedava (Double Bed) was a prolific winner, scoring nine times on the flat and seven times over jumps. He won listed races in both codes.
Saint Clovis is one of a pair of winning offspring of La Ribaudiere (Poliglote), and she was also one of two winners for Every Chance (Leading Counsel). That mare was a winner over jumps in France. Every Chance was among 13 winners for Tchela (La Nain Jaune).
Incredibly, Tchela never won a race, but placed 16 times over jumps, and they included in a listed hurdle race and a listed chase.
Lack of a win while racing did not impede Tchela as a broodmare, and her 13 winners included Grade 1 hurdle and chase winner Saint Du Chenet (Poliglote), Grade 1 three-year-old hurdle winner Tanais Du Chenet (Poliglote), English Grade 2 chase and hurdle winner Galant Moss (Tip Moss), and Grade 2 Ascot chase winner Irish Royal (Garde Royale).