M.V. MAGNIER was among the big spenders this week at Arqana, as he was at last year’s Tattersalls December Sale. He bought three lots in his own name then, Porta Fortuna for 4,500,000gns, Tamfana at 2,600,000gns, and Survie was the least expensive at 1,900,000gns! They were three of the top six lots at the sale.
The first two went to stud, but Survie (Churchill) was sent to George Boughey and carries the colours of Michael and Doreen Tabor. Previously in training with Nicolas Clement and Frauke Hermens, she won the Group 2 Prix de Malleret and placed at Group 1 level, beaten a short head in the Prix de Diane-French Oaks, second in the Prix Jean Romanet and placed in the Pretty Polly Stakes. The hope was that she would win at the highest level, and that has now been achieved.
Winning back her purchase price was always going to be a challenge, but in seven starts this year she has made a dent in it, with more than €750,000 earned with three victories and two places. Two runs within a fortnight at Saratoga has seen Survie annex both the Grade 2 Glen Falls Stakes, and now the Grade 1 Christophe Clement Turf Stakes, formerly the Sword Dancer Stakes. The Breeders’ Cup is her end of season target.
Augustin-Normand
Bred by Gérard Augustin-Normand through his Franklin Finance SA, Survie is one of three winners for Sotteville (Le Havre). She carried Augustin-Normand’s silks to a listed victory at Toulouse and was twice placed in pattern company. This is a family that is connected, at least to the 1970s, with Chryss O’Reilly. Some of the family’s biggest winners appear in the fourth remove, notably the champion miler in Australia, Contributor (High Chaparral), and Group 1 Champion Stakes winner King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett).
This win on the turf against colts and geldings resulted from Survie turning into the home straight in last place. Brought to the outside with a furlong to run, she showed great acceleration and cleared away to score by three-parts of a length. Afterwards, Adrian Wallace said: “What a great filly she is to win two important races at Saratoga in the space of 13 days. She’s got a great turn of foot and she’s very close to our heart here at Coolmore. She’s at the peak of her powers right now.”
Survie is a fourth top-level winner for Churchill (Galileo), and these wins have come in England, the USA, France and Australia. The sire of 41 stakes winners stood for just €15,000 this year.
CHARLIE Appleby will no doubt be the beneficiary of many of the big-price lots purchased at Arqana this past week by Anthony Stroud for Godolphin. He saddled two Group 3 winners at the weekend, both were homebreds for Sheikh Mohammed’s organisation and carry an Irish suffix.
Romantic Symphony (Dubawi) started this month in style with victory in the Listed Chalice Stakes at Newmarket, and now she has stepped up a grade and won the Group 3 The Aga Khan Studs Prix Lady O’Reilly, the former Prix Minerve. In so doing she beat another homebred, the Aga Khan Studs’ Calasita (Zarak). Can Romantic Symphony go on to match the achievements of her full-brother and sister, Yibir (Dubawi) and Will Illusion? The former won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf, while Wild Illusion won three Group 1s, the Prix Marcel Boussac, Prix de l’Opera and Nassau Stakes.
The trio, with listed winner Really Special (Shamardal), are four of the nine winners out of Rumh (Monsun). She was acquired by Sheikh Mohammed for 300,000gns 17 years ago, and has a listed win among her four racecourse victories.
Rumh has been outstanding at stud, her nine winners coming from her first nine foals, and all her runners. Her tenth foal is a two-year-old daughter of Sea The Stars (Cape Cross), and it is maybe ominous that she has not been named. There are a yearling full-brother and a 2026 full-sister to Romantic Symphony in the wings.
Rumh is a daughter of Royal Dubai (Dashing Blade), a Group 3 two-year-old winner in Germany and the dam of seven winners, two of them at stakes level. The Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes winner Royal Highness (Monsun), who is a half-sister to Royal Dubai, went on to produce the Group 2 Prix Dollar and Prix Hocquart winner Free Port Lux (Oasis Dream), and is grandam of the Hong Kong Classic Cup winner and Group 1 second Rubylot (Rubick).
Electrocutionist
Romantic Symphony’s fourth dam Gesedeh (Ela-Mana-Mou) was a Group 3 winner in France and placed in both the Group 2 Sun Chariot Stakes and Prince of Wales’s Stakes. She is grandam of three-time Group 1 winner Electrocutionist (Red Ransom), whose eight wins included the Dubai World Cup, Juddmonte International and Gran Premio di Milano, and Robertico (Robellino), winner of the Group 1 Deutsches Derby.
Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) has sired 19 blacktype winners this year, including Notable Speech who won the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in May. He is one of 64 top-level winners for his sire, headed by leading stallions Night Of Thunder, Ghaiyyath and Too Darn Hot. Romantic Symphony is the 207th group winner for her sire.
Dubawi’s son Night Of Thunder, the champion sire of 2025, is having another spectacular season, and now has sired 16 pattern winners in 2026, more than any other sire in the world. They are headed by Group 1 winners Ombudsman and the brilliant Bow Echo, the top two horses trained in Europe, in addition to Ten Bob Tony, Estrange and Portfolio Duration. The stallion had another good weekend, getting his 16th pattern winner of the year and then a stakes winner in the USA on Sunday.
Pattern win
Hassaleh, a three-year-old daughter of Night Of Thunder, landed her first pattern win on Saturday when she captured the Group 3 Prix de Lieurey over a mile at Deauville. She swept past the field on the home turn, battling gamely to win by a length with Fortuna Diamond, another daughter of Night Of Thunder, back in third. Trained by Charlie Appleby, the lightly raced Hassaleh has now won three of her five starts, including the Listed Prix Amandine last month at Deauville.
This win was no doubt welcomed by Sam Sangster who bought Hassaleh’s dam Lucida (Shamardal) at Goffs last November for €135,000. She was not in foal, having been covered by both Dubawi and his son Ghaiyyath, and was the best of the Godolphin draft at the sale. Lucida won the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes at two and finished second in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes and the 1000 Guineas when trained by Jim Bolger.
Sangster said at the time: “She’s been bought to go to Diego Velazquez (Frankel). I spoke to Charlie Appleby and he really believes in [her son] Bedouin Prince, who’s rated 114, and he has every chance of picking up blacktype [later second in a listed race]. There are two more to run for us, a Night Of Thunder [Hassaleh] and a Ghaiyyath. She’s a lovely mare, was a quality racehorse, and has a lot going for her.” How right he was.