A DAY before Constitution River added another, the three-year-old Australian-bred Providence gave Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) his first Group 1 winner from his first southern hemisphere-foaled crop, and his victory in the Queensland Derby was the colt’s first stakes win. For years to come this writer and many others will be regretting the sire’s untimely death.

Coolmore’s Wootton Bassett died while shuttling last September. With the ownership he has, it is odds-on that Providence will be given a chance at stud, just as northern hemisphere stallion masters are eager to get Wootton Bassett’s sons for sire duty in Europe.

Chris Waller trains Providence for an ownership group comprising Newgate Bloodstock, China Horse Club and more, and this victory was extra sweet for the trainer, as it was his 200th Group 1 win in Australia. He also has a Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes win on his roll of honour. Bred by Jonathan Munz’s GSA Bloodstock, Providence cost his owners A$650,000 when he was sold from the Bhima Thoroughbreds draft at the 2024 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale., and is the 150th Group 1 winner sold by company since 2018.

Providence was only winning for the second time, in spite of making his 15th start in the Queensland Derby. He has placed many times, and is the first of two foals from six-furlong winner Southbank (Fastnet Rock). The other is a two-year-old son of Too Darn Hot (Dubawi). Southbank was runner-up in a Group 2 and ran third in the Group 1 Melbourne Thousand Guineas. She is the better of the two winners from Group 3 South Australia Fillies Classic winner Rezoned (Zabeel).

Immediate family

The other Group 1 winner in the immediate family appears under Providence’s third dam, dual winner Better Alternative (Flying Spur). He is Rezoned’s full-brother Preferment (Zabeel), an outstanding runner who was the champion stayer in Australia a decade ago. Also trained by Chris Waller, Preferment won four Group 1 races, though he was given one in the stewards’ room. He proved his mettle with wins in the Victoria Derby, Turnbull Stakes, Tancred Stakes and Australian Cup. He has been a moderate sire at stud with just two stakes winners.

It will come as no surprise if Wootton Bassett were to take his stakes winners tally to 100 in the year ahead. His present number is 86, with 60 of these being gained in pattern races.

Showcasing’s daughter lands a German classic

TIMEFORSHOWCASING won the Group 2 German 1000 Guineas four weeks after the English equivalent proved to be beyond her reach. This 15,000gns yearling purchase by Charlie Johnston has now won five of her eight starts, has banked close to £180,000 in winnings for Jaber Abdullah, and gave him his third classic winner in Germany. He has won their 2000 Guineas twice.

Bred by Hugo Lascelles’ Lofts Hall Stud, Timeforshowcasing is one of four winners from Gloryette (Raven’s Pass). She was trained by Ed Dunlop for Mrs Patino, and raced on 10 occasions. She never finished closer than four lengths off the winner, and her best finishing position was fifth. Even so, Lascelles gave 150,000gns for her carrying her first foal, three-time winner Eagle One (Gleneagles) who sold as a yearling for 85,000gns.

Gloryette quickly established a reputation for throwing goodlooking stock, and Paddy Twomey paid 100,000gns for her second offspring, the stakes-placed filly Show Of Stars (Showcasing). She sold on at three for 300,000gns. Four-time winner Enochdhu (Muhaarar) was next, followed by a 400,000gns yearling by Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) who was placed. Another placed runner preceded the weekend classic winner, while it could be back to big sale ring prices this year as Gloryette has a yearling colt by Too Darn Hot (Dubawi).

Birdman

This is a female family that got a mention last week too, thanks to a Group 1 win in Australia for Birdman (Free Eagle). He recently won the Doomben Cup, and is a grandson of Gloryette’s winning half-sister Miss Topsy Turvey (Mr Greeley). That mare is one of eight winners from Cara Fantasy (Sadler’s Wells), a dual winner herself. Three of her sons were stakes winners, including pattern winners Palavicini (Giant’s Causeway) and Elusive Pimpernel (Elusive Quality).

As you might expect, the star of this female line is Snow Fairy (Intikhab). Famously retained as a yearling for €1,800, she went on to win just short of £4 million with six Group 1 victories.

Showcasing (Oasis Dream) is finishing up his 16th season at Whitsbury Manor Stud, and more than 150 of his sons and daughters have earned blacktype. Seventy-five of them have won a stakes race, 37 in pattern company and 38 in listed races.

First graded chase victory for the son of Jeu St Eloi

THE feature event at the conclusion of the first half of the Auteuil season last weekend was the Grade 2 Prix des Drags Chase. This was for years the traditional consolation race for the Grade 1 Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, but now is very much a target race in its own right.

With a nice racing weight and coming off a convincing win in the Prix Andréa Chase at Auteuil, a son of Jeu St Eloi (Saint Des Saints), Lecoeurdeshommes (translates as the heart of men), recorded the biggest win of his career in the Prix des Drags. He accelerated in the straight to win by seven lengths from the fancied Le Philosophe, and gave trainer François Nicolle his first victory in the race.

Lecoeurdeshommes was bred by Philippe Thiriet, Michel Larobe, Vincent Le Roy, and the Artsam Stable, and the five-year-old was gaining his fourth win. He gave his Glenview Stud sire his 14th blacktype winner, and sixth in a graded race. Kargese is the best son of Jeu St Eloi to date, while his Grade 2 winners also include Nara and Blueking D’Oroux.

Maiden hurdle

The dam of Lecoeurdeshommes is Voix Du Mont (Voix Du Nord), and this winner on the flat at three failed to add to it over hurdles, though she finished second in the Listed Prix Wild Monarch. The Prix des Drags winner is one of two she has produced, the other being last year’s Sligo maiden hurdle winner Insouciant Dallier (Cokoriko).

The second dam, the unraced Mayla (Daylami), also bred two winners, and is a half-sister to the dam of the good sprinter Gammarth (Layman), winner of the Group 3 Prix de Seine-et-Oise twice and who was second in the Group 2 Goldene Peitsche.

Lecoeurdeshommes’ third dam Maya Cove (Caerleon) is one of 13 winners produced by the Group 3 Solario Stakes winner Shining Water (Kalaglow). Seven earned some blacktype, though only two won at stakes level. They included Maya Cove’s full-brother Tenby (Caerleon) who started as an odds-on favourite for the 1993 Derby. He was unbeaten up to that point, ending his juvenile season with a win in the Group 1 Grand Criterium at Longchamp (now the Prix Jean-Luc Laragdere).

Tenby went into the Derby on the back of a win in the Group 2 Dante Stakes, but having finished well beaten at Epsom, some 23 lengths behind Commander In Chief, also in the Khalid Abdullah silks, he was never the same again and finished third in the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes as his only glimmer of form afterwards.