POLIGLOTE SON IS TOP NOTCH
Top Notch showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the best chases when coming home a five-length winner of the Grade 1 Betfred TV Scilly Isles Novices' Chase over two and a half miles at Sandown on Saturday.
A winner of six of his 11 starts over hurdles, the Nicky Henderson-trained six-year-old has now won four of his five outings over fences and he holds several entries at next month's Cheltenham Festival.
He was bred in France by the partnership of Haras Des Sablonnets and Benoit Gabeur and he is a son of leading dual-purpose sire Poliglote (by Sadler's Wells), the Haras d'Etreham stallion whose flat Group/Grade 1 stars include Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Solemia.
Top Notch is the best of several successful runners out of the middle-distance flat winner Topira (by Pistolet Bleu) and his siblings include Never Forget (by Westerner), who won the Group 2 Prix de Mallaret over 12 furlongs at Saint-Cloud.
His dam is a half-sister to the Group 3 Prix Edmond Blanc scorer Golani (by Nikos) and also to Carla (by Cardoun), who won listed contests over seven and eight furlongs in France before going on to success at stud.
Carla's best son is the Group 2-placed, Group 3 Prix Edmond Blanc winner Svedov (by Exit To Nowhere) and her top daughter is Zain Al Boldan (by Poliglote), a close relation to Top Notch and winner of the Listed Lingfield Oaks Trial in 2011.
Despite his flat connections, Top Notch has never run on the level.
He only beaten by a neck when runner-up to Peace And Co in the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle two years ago, finished fifth behind Annie Power in the Grade 1 Champion Hurdle last year, and now heads to his third Cheltenham Festival with Grade 1 success to his name.
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VALUABLE DOUBLE FOR HERON ISLAND
Late Arctic Tack Stud stallion Heron Island (by Shirley Heights) notched up a valuable double at Sandown on Saturday, with the first leg provided by Lord Of The Island in the Grade 3 Betfred Mobile Heroes Handicap Hurdle over two miles, seven and a half furlongs.
The Fergal O'Brien-trained nine-year-old was bred by Noel Collins, this was just his tenth appearance under National Hunt rules and it came just a few weeks after his third-place finish in the Listed Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle at Kempton.
He is the third foal out of an unraced mare called Miss Morose (by Arctic Lord) and that half-sister to the multiple winning staying hurdler Bygones Sovereign (by Old Vic) is, in turn, out of a half-sister to several horses of note.
Mister Morose (by King's Ride), a full-brother to Miss Hollygrove (grandam of Lord Of The Island), won the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle, Grade 2 Elite Hurdle at Wincanton and the Grade 2 Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr, in addition to a Grade 2 success over fences.
Their half-brother Southolt (by Deep Run) was placed in several good races, notably when third to Nakir in the Grade 1 Arkle Challenge Trophy at Cheltenham, while The Proms (by Orchestra) was Grade 2 placed, and Fine By Me (by Accordion) won seven times – five of them over fences - at up to three miles, five furlongs.
The second leg of Heron Island's double was provided just over half an hour later when Otago Trail won the three-mile Betfred Masters Handicap Chase at the same venue, picking up a larger cheque than the one earned by Lord Of The Island.
That Venetia Williams-trained nine-year-old was bred by Dan O'Brien, he won the Listed Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle in November, and he holds an entry in the Grade 3 Randox Health Grand National at Aintree in April.
He is out of Cool Chic (by Roselier), which makes him a half-brother to the Grade 2 bumper-placed hurdle and point-to-point winner Lisrenny Lady (by Oscar) and a full-brother to Clarkey, who won twice over hurdles, three times over fences and once between the flags.
Cool Chic is out of Cool Blue (by Deep Run) and she is a full-sister to Forever Bubbles, dam of the multiple Grade 1 star Champagne Fever (by Stowaway).
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SHAMARDAL MARCHES ON
Only the elite stallions will ever reach the century of stakes winners, a target that Kildangan Stud's outstanding Shamardal (by Giant's Causeway) hit and passed last year.
The 15-year-old brought his tally to 108 on Saturday when the Italian-born Lancelot Du Lac won the Listed Betway Best Odds Guaranteed Plus Cleves Stakes over six furlongs at Lingfield.
His sire, Giant's Causeway, and grandside, Storm Cat, are on 168 and 177 respectively, and although the latter's sire, Storm Bird, got just 63, he was a son of the multiple champion sire Northern Dancer whose tally, in the days of smaller books, was 142.
Lancelot Du Lac is trained by Dean Ivory, he was bred by Elektra Di Fausto Martellozzo and C Sas, and his overall record now stands at 10 wins from 43 starts. He has held a triple-digit rating for over two years, hitting a peak of 110, and so it is a little surprising that this was the seven-year-old's first blacktype success.
The gelding is a half-brother to Grade 3 Railbird Stakes runner-up M.A. Fox (by Gone West) and also to the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes third Watching You (by Coronado's Quest), both of whom have produced winners.
He is out of Dodie Mae (by Capote), who is a stakes-placed half-sister to dual Grade 1 star and notably successful sire Grand Slam (by Gone West) and also to Leestown (by Seattle Slew), a Grade 3-placed stakes winner and blacktype stallion who was a leading sire in Louisiana.
The grandam of Lancelot Du Lac is, therefore, Bright Candles, a second-crop daughter of the brilliant El Gran Senor (by Northern Dancer) and who won the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes and was placed in each of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks and Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes.
Her blacktype-winning dam, Christmas Bonus (by Key To The Mint), was also responsible for the pattern-placed Jebel Ali Mile winner Shebl (by Green Desert) and his dual Grade 3-winning full-sister Christmas Gift, a mare whose offspring feature the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes heroine Christmas Kid (by Lemon Drop Kid).
There are plenty of other blacktype winners in the various branches of the family, including last year's Aidan O'Brien-trained Listed Leopardstown 2000 Guineas Trial Stakes winner Black Sea (by Galileo), who is out of that last-named Grade 1 star.
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LE HAVRE BREAKS NEW GROUND
Haras de la Cauviniere's Group 1 Prix du Jockey-Club winner and exciting young classic sire Le Havre (by Noverre) broke new ground on Saturday when his daughter Rymska won the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant Stakes over a mile on turf at Gulfstream Park.
The three-year-old, who won a listed contest at Craon in September when trained by Pia Brandt, is now in the Chad Brown stable and she is her sire's first stakes winner in the USA.
She was bred by Eric Feurtet, she made €35,000 as a foal at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale and she is out of Foreign Raider (by Lend A Hand), an Irish-bred mare who won four times in Europe.
Chania (by In The Wings), grandam of Rymska, was trained by John Oxx and chased home Dance Design in the Group 2 Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh in 1997, talented but a long way behind her outstanding half-brother Creator (by Mill Reef), who won both the Group 1 Prix Ganay and Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan for the Andre Fabre stable seven years before.
This means that Rymska is a great-granddaughter of Chalon (by Habitat), the Group 2 Coronation Stakes-winning daughter of Phoenix Stakes heroine Areola (by Kythnos) and half-sister to the high-class performer and successful National Hunt sire Executive Perk (by Lord Gayle).
She was also a full-sister to Elegance In Design (by Habitat), the stakes-winning dam of the aforementioned classic star Dance Design (by Sadler's Wells).
Le Havre's tally of 17 stakes winners includes the dual classic-winning fillies Avenir Certain and La Cressonniere.
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SMART SON FOR BALLINGARRY
Group 1 scorer and Haras du Grand Chesnaie stallion Ballingarry (by Sadler's Wells) was among the winners last weekend thanks to his talented son Diego Du Charmil, who took the Listed bet365 Scottish County Hurdle by five lengths at Musselburgh on Saturday.
It is a second blacktype success for the Paul Nicholls-trained gelding as he won the Grade 3 Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at last year's Cheltenham Festival before being among those trounced by Apple's Jade at Aintree: he finished fourth.
He was bred by Mme Guilhaine Le Borgne and he is the second foal out of Daramour (by Anabaa Blue), which makes him a half-brother to 2015's Grade 2 Dovecote Novices' Hurdle winner Days Of Heaven (by Saint Des Saints).
His dam's siblings include Klassical Way (by Septieme Ciel), a Grade 2-placed listed chase winner in France, while his grandam, Negligente (by Quest For Fame), is a half-sister to Group 3 Select Stakes winner Triarius (by Trempolino) and also to pattern-placed Listed Fred Archer Stakes scorer Sharp Noble (by Sharpen Up).
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BERNARDINI GELDING HAS CLASSIC CONNECTION
The dynasty forged by US Horse of the Year A.P. Indy (by Seattle Slew) has had a massive impact on US flat racing and breeding, although is not seen so often in Europe.
His classic-winning son Bernardini, who commands a fee of $100,000 at Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, had a blacktype winner on this continent on Saturday, but a race of the calibre of the Listed bet365 Scottish Triumph Hurdle Trial Juvenile Hurdle, at Musselburgh, would be some way removed from hopes or expectations when the winner was conceived.
Forth Bridge is owned and bred by Queen Elizabeth II, he is trained by Charlie Longsdon, and he has now won two from three under National Hunt rules.
The gelding is out of Sally Forth (by Dubai Destination), who is a winning half-sister to 12-furlong listed scorer Darkara (by Halling) and also to Darinska (by Zilzal), the pattern-placed dam of classic heroine Darjina (by Zamindar).
That star was bred by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, she was trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, and won the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas), Group 1 Prix d'Astarte and Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp in 2007.
She stayed in training as a four-year-old and was runner-up in all six outings that season, all in Group 1 company and five of them losses by half a length or less, including two defeats by Goldikova.
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NATIONAL HERO FOR CRAIGSTEEL
Dancing Shadow advertised his chances in next month's Grade 2 JT McNamara National Hunt Challenge Cup Amateur Rider's Novice Chase over almost four miles at the Cheltenham Festival when winning the bet365 Edinburgh National Handicap Chase.
The Musselburgh event is over four miles, one furlong, it was his second win from 10 starts over fences, and it followed a 10-length score over three and a quarter miles at Doncaster in early December.
The Victor Dartnell-trained eight-year-old is a son of Group 2 Princess of Wales's Stakes winner Craigsteel (by Suave Dancer), the long-time Garryrichard Stud stallion who is now at Gortnamona Stud.
Saturday's winner was bred by Patrick Kennedy, who sold him for €3,000 as a just-turned yearling at the 2010 Tattersalls Ireland February National Hunt Sale, and he is out of Be My Shadow (by Torus), an unraced half-sister to two winners.
One of that pair is Leith Walk (by Posidonas), who won over hurdles at Musselburgh and Ayr – the latter by 25 lengths over two miles, five and a half furlongs on heavy ground – and her Flemensfirth (by Alleged) colt foal made €23,000 in Goffs in December.
Gothic Shadow (by Mandalus), the grandam of Dancing Shadow, is responsible for the multiple winners Antrim County (by Deep Run) and Bitacrack (by Le Bavard), both of whom were effective at around three miles, and she is out of the prolific Gothic Arch (by Gail Star), a dual hurdles winner who won eight times over fences.
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NEW GRADED WINNER FOR WINGED LOVE
Baywing sprang a 33/1 surprise when taking the Grade 2 totepool Towton Novices' Chase over three miles at Wetherby on Saturday, a race that one of his distant relations also won some years ago.
The Nicky Richards-trained eight-year-old, who was bred by Hugh Suffern Bloodstock, is a son of Group 1 Irish Derby winner and late Tullyraine Stud stallion Winged Love (by In The Wings), making him yet another big-race winner for the Sadler's Wells (by Northern Dancer) sire line.
He is among several winners out of Cerise De Totes (by Champ Libre), a lightly-raced former member of the Paul Nicholls team who was a one-length third in the Listed Badger Ales Trophy over three miles, one furlong at Wincanton but died young.
His unraced dam is a daughter of the triple flat and five-time French jumps winner Ma Nonantaise (by Bamako III) and that mare is, in turn, a half-sister to nine-time scorer Belle Nonantaise (by Charonville), dam of 1999's Grade 2 Towton Novices' Chase winner Kadou Nonantais (by Cadoudal).
She was also responsible for the notable French jumper As Des Carres (by Le Pontet) and her descendants include Galant Nuit (by Comte Du Bourg), who beat subsequent Grand National hero Don't Push It (gave 27lbs) by half a length in a Grade 3 handicap chase over three miles, three and a half furlongs at Cheltenham just over seven years ago.
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BARATHEA GRAND-DAUGHTER HAS NATIONAL POTENTIAL
Baie Des Iles won the Grade B racinguk.com/freetrial Grand National Trial Handicap Chase over three and a half miles at Punchestown on Sunday, going one place better than when runner-up to Bonny Kate in the same event 12 months before.
This exciting young stayer is only six years old and yet she finished sixth behind Rogue Angel in last year's Grade A Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse.
The Ross O'Sullivan-trained grey was bred by Haras de Sablonnets and she is a first-crop daughter of their pattern-winning stallion Barastraight (by Barathea).
She is his standout performer, so far, and also the best for her Selle Français dam, Malownia (by Smadoun), a multiple flat-winning full-sister to some multiple National Hunt scorers.
This AQPS (autre que pur sang) family is a branch of that of Camitrov (by Sharken), who won a Grade 3 novice chase over two and a half miles at Punchestown many years ago and later added the three-mile Grand Military Gold Cup at Sandown.