THE all-weather tracks are well-established as being a valuable part of the racing industry, here and in Britain, and it was the availability of Chelmsford that enabled two classic trials and a early season event for older middle-distance horses to go ahead last Saturday.

Temporarily transferred from their usual home at Newbury, the three-year-old events were over their regular distance, but the Group 3 Follow Betfred On Twitter John Porter Stakes was run over an extended 13 furlongs, rather than the mile and a half, and it will be interesting to see how the winner gets on when tackling stronger opposition back on turf.

Dartmouth was bred by Darley and this was his fifth win from 10 starts.

Successful on the second of two runs as a juvenile, he won valuable 12-furlong handicaps at Ascot and Goodwood last summer and rounded off that season with a close third place finish in a listed contest on the polytrack at Kempton.

Saturday’s four and a half-length pattern success represents a step up in form for the four-year-old, and although he is entered in next week’s Group 2 Dunaden At Overbury Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket, his trainer indicated, in post-race comments, that the colt may step up to a mile and six, while avoiding soft ground.

POPULAR CROSS

Dartmouth is a son of Dalham Hall Stud’s outstanding stallion Dubawi (by Dubai Millennium) and he is out of the Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes winner Galatee (by Galileo), which makes him another successful representative of a cross that is becoming both popular and talked about.

As with any supposed ‘nicks’, however, the sample size is very small, the successes may represent nothing more than chance or they could be just an artifact of breeding the best bloodlines to the best bloodlines and getting a good result, as you might expect would happen, rather than any special affinity that one line has for the other.

What is not in doubt, however, is that Dartmouth has a pedigree that would not look out of place on a Group 1 star, and although he clearly has a very long way to go, he is talented, improving and in a yard that has a long established history of excellence with its older horses.

He is the third blacktype winner from his dam’s first four foals, which represents an outstanding start to Galatee’s stud career, and the odd one out among his siblings is the eldest of them, non-winning filly Galleria (by Dalakhani).

Stakes-winning stayer Gaterie (by Dubai Destination) is the mare’s second produce, and her third is Manatee (by Monsun), the Group 2 Prix du Conseil de Paris and Group 2 Grand Prix de Chantilly winner who was fourth last year behind the mighty Treve in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

DANSILI

Galatee’s three-year-old is a filly named Halay (by Dansili), her two-year-old son is Demophon (by Oasis Dream), and she had a full-sister to Dartmouth last May.

It is not really a surprise that Galatee is a proven blacktype producer as she is a daughter of one of the world’s greatest stallions and she represents a family whose prolific record features classic winners, Group/Grade 1 stars and even a Breeders’ Cup hero.

She is out of Altana (by Mountain Cat), her classic-entered full-brother London was placed in maidens at Naas and Gowran Park from three starts last year, her dam is a half-sister to 10 winners and has several siblings who made an impact at stud.

Altana’s half-brother Alamo Bay (by Nureyev) was a multiple stakes winner, but the best of the sons of Group 2 Prix de l’Opera third Albertine (by Irish River) was Arcangues (by Sagace), the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan scorer who sprang a 133/1 shock in 1993s edition of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

Neither colt achieved fame at stud but three of their half-sisters became the dams of Group/Grade 1 winners.

Agathe (by Manila) was best of them on the track, winning the Group 3 Prix de Psyche at Deauville, chasing home East Of The Moon in the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) and taking third behind that same rival in the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks).

She has also been the biggest success at stud as, in addition to dual US 10-furlong Grade 1 winner Artiste Royal (by Danehill), Group 1-placed stakes winner Annenkov (by Danehill) and stakes-placed Arme Ancienne (by Sillery), she is responsible for the outstanding filly Aquarelliste (by Danehill).

The bay won the Group 1 Prix de Diane, Group 1 Prix Vermeille and Group 1 Prix Ganay, she chased home Sakhee in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and was placed in both the Grade 1 Hong Kong Vase and Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

Her daughters Artiste Divine (by Peintre Celebre) and Ame Bleue (by Dubawi) have been Group 3-placed, and their older half-sister Amerique (by Galileo) was twice listed-placed in France.

The others of Altana’s sisters of note are Anna Karenina (by Atticus), Ange Bleu (by Alleged) and Afrique Bleu Azur (by Sagace).

The first named is responsible for Anna’s Rock (by Rock Of Gibraltar), the stakes-winning dam of Group 2 Hungerford Stakes scorer Breton Rock (by Bahamian Bounty), while Ange Bleu is the dam of dual US Grade 1 star Angara (by Alzao), Group 2 Prix Corrida winner Actrice (by Danehill), and pattern-placed stakes winner Arlesienne (by Alzao).

Dual winner Afrique Bleu Azur, a full-sister to Arcangues, is the dam of Cape Verdi (by Caerleon), the Group 1 1000 Guineas heroine who went off favourite for the Derby at Epsom in 1998 and whose progeny include the multiple blacktype scorer Nabucco (by Dansili).

There are plenty of other blacktype horses in this famous family, including Group 3 scorers Forgotten Voice (by Danehill Dancer) and Australie (by Sadler’s Wells) who are, respectively, the son and daughter of Altana’s winning half-sister Asnieres (by Spend A Buck).

With family connections like these, further pattern success for Dartmouth could attract interest in him as a prospective stallion.