EXCITING three-year-old Calyx was expected to extend his unbeaten record with victory in the Group 2 Armstrong Aggregates Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock last Saturday but instead the 2/13 favourite put in a clearly below-par performance and had to settle for the runner-up spot.

It was the Kevin Ryan-trained Hello Youmzain who landed the spoils, taking his record to three wins from five starts.

He won the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte in October, was a beaten favourite in the Group 3 Greenham Stakes over seven furlongs at Newbury in April, and is now a leading contender for the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.

The colt was bred by Rabbah Bloodstock Ltd and is a half-brother to Saglawy (by Youmzain). That five-year-old gelding was listed-placed over nine furlongs on the flat in France before joining the Willie Mullins team to become a Grade 1-placed Grade 2-winning juvenile hurdler.

Their half-sister Zuhoor Baynoona (by Elnadim) won a listed contest over five furlongs at Bath as a three-year-old and her first foal is a Richard Fahey-trained two-year-old named Custodian (by Muhaarar) who made 260,000gns in Newmarket as a foal.

They are all out of Spasha (by Shamardal), who is a half-sister to the 10-furlong listed scorer and Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes third Persian Majesty (by Grand Lodge), the next dam is a half-sister to Group 2 scorer and successful National Hunt stallion Sandmason (by Grand Lodge), and this is, of course, the family of Slip Anchor (by Shirley Heights), the colt and subsequent classic sire who ran away with the Derby at Epsom in 1985.

Hello Youmzain, on the other hand, appears to be a six-furlong specialist who promises to do well in all-aged company before going on to what will no doubt be a busy stallion career of his own.

Classic prospect for Sea The Moon

LANWADES Stud’s runaway Group 1 Deutsches Derby hero Sea The Moon (by Sea The Stars) is among the leading second-crop sires of 2019 and, in addition to recent Leopardstown Group 3 scorer and Irish Oaks entrant Hamariyna, he has also been represented this year by Quest The Moon.

That colt easily won the Group 3 Prix du Lys over 12 furlongs at ParisLongchamp on Sunday and looks set to bid for glory in the classic that his sire won in such unforgettable style five years ago.

He was bred by Gestut Gorlsdorf – the owner-breeders of Sea The Moon during his racing days – and is trained in Munich by Sarah Steinberg. He was a Group 3 scorer over seven furlongs at Baden-Baden and a neck runner-up in the Group 2 Gran Criterium at two, and placed in the Group 3 Bavarian Classic first time out this year.

Quest The Moon is the second foal of Questabella (by Rock Of Gibraltar), his grandam Questabelle (by Rainbow Quest) is a half-sister to the Group 1-placed Group 2 scorer Stagecraft (by Sadler’s Wells), and his third dam is the classic-placed Group 2 winner and regally-related mare Bella Colora (by Bellypha).

In addition to being a racehorse and producer of note, that half-sister to Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes winner Cezanne (by Ajdal) was out of Reprocolor (by Jimmy Reppin), which also made her a half-sister to the Group 1 Irish Oaks heroine Colorspin (by High Top). That classic star is, of course, the dam of the Group 1 standouts Kayf Tara (by Sadler’s Wells), Opera House (by Sadler’s Wells) and Zee Zee Top (by Zafonic), the grandam of classic-placed Group 1 winner Izzi Top (by Pivotal), and an ancestor of many other horses of note.

Quest The Moon, one of three pattern winners so far from his sire’s first crop, is bred to achieve anything on the track and potentially at stud some day, and it would be no surprise if he becomes a Group 1 performer before long.

Goodwood double for Frankel

FRANKEL notched up a blacktype double at Goodwood last Saturday with a pair of sons who look set to make winning returns to pattern action.

Juvenile Group 3 scorer Elarqam, a son of the classic-winning miler Attraction (by Efisio), was fourth in last year’s Group 1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, only beaten by a total of half a length when third to Thundering Blue in the Group 2 Sky Bet York Stakes over the extended 10 and a half furlongs at York in July, and had wind surgery in November.

He finished fourth to subsequent Group 1 star Zabeel Prince in the Group 3 Earl of Sefton Stakes first time out this season before his eye-catching two-and-a-half-length success in the Listed Betfair Best Odds On ITV Races Festival Stakes over 10 furlongs at Goodwood.

Elarqam could soon be seen in action in either the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes or Group 1 Coral-Eclipse. It would not be a surprise to see the Mark Johnston-trained four-year-old make the frame at the highest level.

The half-brother to pattern-winning sprinter and Bearstone Stud freshman sire Fountain Of Youth (by Oasis Dream) is also a brother of the dual Grade 3-placed filly Cushion (by Galileo), whereas his five-time Group 1-winning dam has the dam of Group 2-placed stakes winner Tiki Makfi (by Makfi) among her siblings.

Grandam Flirtation (by Pursuit Of Love) is an unraced half-sister to the middle-distance Group 2-placed listed scorer Carmita (by Caerleon), and those of note under branches of the fourth generation of the pedigree include juvenile Group 1 winner Lord Of Men (by Groom Dancer) and Japanese champion Major Emblem (by Daiwa Major).

Mirage Dancer justified odds-on in the Listed Bet Your Way On The Betfair Exchange Tapster Stakes over 12 furlongs at the same venue. Khalid Abdullah’s homebred entire is trained by Sir Michael Stoute, this was his third blacktype success over that course and distance.

The five-year-old is out of the US Grade 1 star Heat Haze (by Green Desert), one of the record-equalling string of five top-level winners out of Juddmonte’s blue hen mare Hasili (by Kahyasi).

In addition to Heat Haze, her famous five include Banks Hill, Cacique, Champs Elysees, and Intercontinental and that latter quartet are all full-siblings to the multiple Group 1-placed Group 2 scorer and now-retired leading sire Dansili.

Of course, Cacique has sired top-level winners of his own, and Champs Elysees’ flat stars include last year’s 1000 Guineas heroine Billesdon Brook.

Mirage Dancer holds an entry in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot.