BARADARI showed his appreciation for a step up in trip when taking the Grade 2 Keltbray Holloway’s Hurdle over two miles, three and a half furlongs at Ascot last Saturday.
He was receiving 5lb from the runner-up,10lb from the third, and 20lb from the fourth but it was a promising effort to beat Lyvius, Le Mercurey, and Garde La Victoire by a neck, six lengths, and one length.
The five-year-old was bred by the Aga Khan and he was stakes-placed over 12 furlongs on the flat in France before switching his attention to jumping.
He has now won two of his nine starts over obstacles, was listed placed over two miles at Ascot in early November and he is another talented son for the multiple Group 1 star and Haras du Logis stallion Manduro (by Monsun).
An increasing number of the Monsun (by Konigsstuhl) stallions are getting blacktype winners under National Hunt rules, although Manduro is a flat sire whose progeny include the Group 1 scorers Charity Line, Mandaean and last summer’s Prix Jean Romanet heroine Ribbons.
Baradari is out of the stakes-placed middle distance mare Behra (by Grand Lodge) and, as one might expect, he has plenty of relations who excelled on the flat, including his Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary winning grandam Behera (by Mill Reef), who was runner-up to Carroll House in the Arc.
Behra’s siblings include Behkara (by Kris), who won the Group 2 Prix Hubert de Chaudenay and two 12-furlong listed contests and whose blacktype placings included second and third in the two editions of the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak.
She is now a very successful broodmare, dam of the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Behkabad (by Cape Cross), the Group 2-placed stakes winner Beheshtam (by Peintre Celebre), and last year’s 12-furlong listed scorer Behesht (by Sea The Stars).
Behera is also responsible for the Listed Martin Molony Stakes winner Behkiyra (by Entrepreneur) and for Group 3 Prix Berteux winner Bayrika (by Kahyasi), who is the dam of the mile listed scorer Baylani De S’Ena (by Ashkalani).
Despite these strong flat connections, Baradari is not the only talented National Hunt horse in the family, and he has some way to go yet to match their exploits.
OVER FENCES
His half-brother Barizan (by Kalanisi) won once on the flat, but has also won two from four over fences, and his eight wins over the smaller obstacles include the Grade 1 Champion 4yo Hurdle at Punchestown and the Grade 3 Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle (registered as the Swinton Hurdle) at Haydock.
Their dam is not just a half-sister to the afore mentioned trio of flat blacktype scorers but also to the hugely talented yet tragically ill-fated Behrajan (by Arazi).
He was unplaced in his only two outings on the flat but won five times over hurdles, including the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown and the Grade 2 Long Distance Hurdle at Haydock, and then notched up six more over fences, notably the Grade 2 Pillar Property Chase at Cheltenham, the Listed Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase at Wetherby, and the Listed Silver Cup Chase at Ascot.
He was also Grade 1-placed several times, including third behind Bacchanal in the Stayers’ Hurdle (now World Hurdle) at Cheltenham and runner-up to Alexander Banquet in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup Chase at Leopardstown, and he was not disgraced when fifth behind Best Mate in the 2003 edition of the Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
Baradari was only rated 134 before Saturday’s Grade 2 success, but he is young and seemingly on the upgrade, which makes him an interesting horse to follow for the rest of this season.