Galileo – 300 and counting
Clairefontaine is not a venue at which one would expect to see racing history made but it was there that Birch Grove won a 12-furlong listed contest on Monday.
This was the best performance of her life – and picking up a blacktype prize while rated just 77 represents a combination of luck and great placing by trainer David Simcock – but it was her status as the 300th individual flat stakes winner by Galileo that made it one for the record books.
Before this week, only Coolmore Stud's late dynasty-maker Danehill (by Danzig) had ever reached that mark, his final tally standing at 348, including a record 83 Group 1 winners.
Birch Grove was bred in Ireland by Glenvale Stud, she has won three of her 10 starts, and the four-year-old is a daughter of the high-class sprinter Danehurst (by Danehill) who won the Group 2 Flying Five Stakes, three Group 3 contests and a trio of listed races in the Cheveley Park Stud colours.
That half-sister to Group 3 Prix Penelope winner Humouresque (by Pivotal) is out of Miswaki Belle (by Miswaki), a mare whose siblings feature the speedy classic-placed Group 2 scorer Dazzle (by Gone West) and also Hypnotize (by Machiavellian), the stakes-winning dam of Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Hooray (by Invincible Spirit).
Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) added another one to his tally at Goodwood on Thursday when the Mark Johnston-trained three-year-old Nayef Road came out on top in a three-way finish in the Group 3 Qatar Gordon Stakes.
This 100,000gns Tattersalls Book 1 graduate was bred by B V Sangster, has won four from 12, was pattern-placed at Royal Ascot and the July meeting at Newmarket, and holds an entry in next month's Group 1 William Hill St Leger Stakes at Doncaster.
His half-sister Middle East (by Frankel) was a stakes-placed dual winner for the Jean-Claude Rouget stable and they are out of the former Kevin Prendergast trainee Rose Bonheur (by Danehill Dancer) who won listed contests over six furlongs at Fairyhouse and seven furlongs at Naas.
Her dam, Red Feather (by Marju), won the Group 3 International Stakes over a mile at the Curragh, trained by Eddie Lynam.
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First for Lethal Force
Cheveley Park Stud was expected to win Thursday's Group 2 Qatar Richmond Stakes with their pattern-placed Threat (by Footstepsinthesand), but although that chesnut had to settle for second, the race provided their young stallion Lethal Force with his first pattern winner.
Indeed, they owned Golden Horde's dam when she was covered by the son of Dark Angel (by Acclamation) but then sold her for just 14,000gns, with the colt in utero, at the Tattersalls July Sale.
It is hard to believe that the dual Group 1-winning sprinter did not have a stakes winner before this week – he has had several pattern-placed runners and horses with triple-digit ratings.
With such a promising juvenile in his third crop, there is every reason to hope that the Clive Cox trainee will be the first of many for him.
Golden Horde was bred by Cn Farm Ltd, he is a £65,000 graduate of the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale and has won two of his four starts. He was fourth first time out at Newbury in mid-May and ran a cracker when a two-length fifth to Arizona in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.
His half-sister Exhort (by Dutch Art) beat last year's 1000 Guineas heroine Billesdon Brook by three-parts of a length to take the one-mile Listed Pipalong Stakes at Pontefract last month, and that Richard Fahey-trained four-year-old is among four winners from the first five foals of Entreat (by Pivotal).
That mare was a wide-margin winner over nine and a half furlongs at Folkestone and her siblings include Producer (by Dutch Art). He won the Group 2 Veliefendi Trophy over a mile in Turkey, plus the Group 3 Supreme Stakes and Group 3 Criterion Stakes over seven furlongs in England, and, according to US Jockey Club data, covered a dozen mares at Calumet Farm in Kentucky last year.
River Saint (by Irish River), the dam of Entreat, is a half-sister to the prolific US Grade 1 star Serena's Song (by Rahy), which makes Golden Horde the latest pattern scorer from a famous family whose standouts include the top-level stars Sophisticat (by Storm Cat), Honor Code (by A.P. Indy), Rizeena (by Iffraaj) and Zabeel Prince (by Lope De Vega), plus successful Redmondstown Stud stallion Vocalised (by Vindication).
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English Group 1 win for Harbinger
Dansili (by Danehill) had a long and very successful career at Banstead Manor Stud – his tally stands at 21 Group stars among 136 stakes winners – and his legacy looks secure given the success being enjoyed by his sons and daughters.
The latter include Love Magic, whose daughter Channel (by Nathaniel) won the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly in June, whereas his sons Zoffany and Bated Breath have also been having a good year.
Harbinger, who achieved a Timeform rating of 140 when running away with the King George at Ascot, is his most notable stallion son, to date, with five top-level winners in Japan.
They include the classic-placed Group 1 stars Mozu Katchan and Persian Knight, four-year-old filly Normcore who won the Group 1 Victoria Mile at Tokyo in May, and classic heroine Deirdre.
Her top win came in the 10-furlong Shuka Sho at Kyoto – the third of leg of the Fillies' Triple Crown and a classic that has no European equivalent – she has been placed at the highest level in Dubai and Hong Kong, and she posted a fast time when beating the front-running three-year-old Mehdaayih in the Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood on Thursday.
This was a fifth pattern win for the Mitsuru Hashida-trained five-year-old and it pushed her career earnings past the £3.5 million mark.
Deirdre was bred by the famous Northern Farm in Japan, she is out of a placed mare called Reizend (by Special Week) and her unraced grandam Soninke (by Machiavellian) is a daughter of the Timeform 129-rated miler Sonic Lady (by Nureyev) – the Breeders' Cup-placed winner of the Group 1 Sussex Stakes, Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp and Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas.
Deirdre holds an entry in next month's Group 1 Qipco Irish Champion Stakes, and she will be a fascinating prospect when she goes to stud.