BECAUSE blanc de blanc is made with a single varietal, it can be more expensive than many other sparkling wines.
I am not sure if this phrase was behind the naming of the three-year-old filly Blanc De Blanc, a daughter of Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway) who carried Amo Racing’s silks to a debut win in a mile maiden at Dundalk.
Winning by a neck would not automatically suggest that this could be a filly to keep on the right side of, but the runner-up was making her third start, and had run well on both her prior outings. Blanc De Blanc cost connections $575,000 at the Keeneland September Sale in 2024, suggesting strongly that she is not lacking when it comes to looks or conformation. The further back you go in her family, the stronger it gets.
Blanc De Blanc is the fifth winner out of Wonderful (Galileo), and how sad it was to see her sell at the Keeneland January Sale last year for just $12,000, in foal to Up To The Mark (Not This Time). Denali Stud also sold her first offspring, In Front (War Front), at the same sale for $5,000. In Front won twice, and again was sold as an in foal mare, albeit with a late cover date.
When Blanc De Blanc sold as a yearling, it was the most that an offspring of Wonderful had realised. Wonderful’s daughter Khayyaal (Speightstown) sold to Shadwell as a foal for $500,000, and White Birch Farm paid $400,000 for Naval Battle (War Front), another filly, as a yearling.
Khayyaal won while Naval Battle was placed, but the latter is now dam of the useful Jutland (Raging Bull), a winner at two last year and stakes-placed a couple of times.
Wonderful has not quite lived up to her name, though she did win a Killarney maiden at three for Ballydoyle, and was bred in the purple. She was one of seven foals produced by Absolutelyfabulous (Mozart), an Irish stakes-winning sprinter. All but one of the offspring of Absolutelyfabulous raced, and five won. All were sired by Galileo (Sadler’s Wells), and three became stakes winners.
Heading the roll of honour was Magician who won the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas and went on to enjoy success in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf. He later made no impact as a sire.
Magician’s own-sister Apple Betty was a listed winner in France and a Grade 3 winner in the USA, while another, Outstanding, placed in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks and won a listed race at Naas. She is doing well at stud, producing Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed Masteroffoxhounds (War Front), and Grade 2 runner-up and US listed winner Totally Justified (Justify). The last-named filly sold at Keeneland in November for $775,000 to Payson Stud.
BRED and raced by the Wertheimer brothers, Sober (Camelot) did well when trained by André Fabre. He posted six wins for them, notably a pair of Group 2 races at four over 15 furlongs, and at the age of five he was sent to the Arqana Sale held on the eve of the Prix de l’Arc. There he sold to Narvick International for €115,000.
When Sober reappeared nine months later, it was to justify odds-on favouritism is a two-and-a-half-mile novice hurdle at Killarney. It was revealed at the time that he held an entry in the Group 1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, but instead his trainer Willie Mullins saddled him to win the Queen Alexandra Stakes over two miles and six furlongs. Sober remained out of sight until this past weekend when he took the honours in the three-runner Grade 2 Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.
This was the fifth time in a row that Willie Mullins has won this race. Dysart Dynamo started the sequence, and he later ran second in a Grade 1. He was followed by Impaire Et Passe, Mystical Power and Salvator Mundi, all of whom have won at the highest level. It will be interesting to see where Sober will go next.
Stays well
While Sober stays well, his siblings were better at up to a mile. He is one of four winners out of the stakes-placed French winner Burma Sea (Lope De Vega), and her other blacktype winner was the sprinter Devil (Siyouni) who lost out by a head in the six-furlong Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte at two. There is lots to look forward to in the immediate family. Sober has a two-year-old full-sister Exemplaire (Camelot), while Burma Sea’s yearling is a filly named Maudalai (Dubawi).
Further evidence of stamina in the pedigree is supplied by one of Burma Sea’s seven winning siblings, Burma Gold (Java Gold). He won the Group 3 Italian St Leger and placed in the German equivalent, beaten half a length.
ONE aspect of the profiles of many horses that Willie Mullins trains, and who have run for other trainers, is the number of them who are purchased at public auction. They are there for anyone to buy, and sometimes their sale ring price looks value in hindsight.
Sober, a dual Group 2 winner reviewed on this page, cost €115,000, while yet another of Mullins’ Punchestown feature race winners, Kappa Jy Pyke (Masked Marvel) cost a little more, realising €140,000. This was following his win over 12 furlongs at the little-known Paray-Le-Monial at three. Bred by Eric Becq, it is hats off to J.D. Moore who first spotted Kappa Jy Pyke’s potential when he gave €4,000 for him as a foal. Two years later he sold as a store for €30,000.
Kappa Jy Pyke won at the second time of asking over hurdles for Willie Mullins, but disappointed in Grade 1 company at both Cheltenham and Aintree. The second choice of the Closutton runners on both his starts over fences, he emerged best on each occasion, and plans are not yet set in stone for the six-year-old.
He follows such as Bob Olinger, Envoi Allen and Spillane’s Tower with his victory in the Grade 3 Killiney Novice Chase at Punchestown.
Only runner
The first foal and only runner to date for his dam, Kappa Jy Pyke is out of Callie Tueuse (Irish Wells). She was a moderate runner, starting three times each on the flat and over jumps in France and managing to finish fourth under both codes. While no great shakes herself, her six winning half-brothers and sisters included the Auteuil listed chase winner Vol De Brion (Day Flight).
A very familiar name appears under Kappa Jy Pyke’s third dam, Union Jack III (Mister Jack). She bred Djeddah (Shafoun) who was sent by trainer Francois Doumen to England to win the Grade 1 Feltham Novices’ Chase at Kempton just over 29 years ago. He was beaten when making a mistake at the last in Cheltenham where he was third to Hanakham in the Grade 1 Royal Sunalliance Chase.