NEW Bay had a day to remember on Saturday at Ascot, siring a pair of Group 1 winners.

The two colts, Bayside Boy and Bay Bridge, are examples of the faith of Ballylinch too, as the farm owns both of them in partnership.

The steady, unrelenting climb of their sire has been a feature of this year, which has also seen New Bay (Dubawi) represented by the Group 1 Prix Rothschild winner Saffron Beach, Group 2 Hungerford Stakes winner Jumby, Group 3 Royal Ascot scorer Claymore, stakes winners Cresta and New Mandate, and the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas runner-up New Energy.

It was to be expected that New Bay would get stock that were likely to improve with age, he himself not winning until the age of three. Like Ballylinch’s world-class sire Lope De Vega, New Bay won the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby. The son of Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) defeated Highland Reel in the 2015 running of that classic.

Trained by Andre Fabré, New Bay was crowned the champion three-year-old in France after his season-ending third in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, to Golden Horn and Flintshire and with Treve in fourth. He won four of his six starts at three, his only other defeat saw him run second to his now stud mate Make Believe in the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains-French 2000 Guineas, Highland Reel two lengths behind in third that day.

Classic success

Runner-up on his only outing at two, New Bay New Bay went on to add the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville in August and then the Group 2 Prix Niel at Longchamp by two and a half lengths to his tally of wins after his classic success, and he was also a group winner at Deauville as a four-year-old.

New Bay made an excellent start to his stud career in 2020, ending that season as one of the top first-crop sires in Europe with 14 winners of 21 races. They included New Mandate, who won the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes, and the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes victress Saffron Beach.

Last year saw New Bay get his breakthrough Group 1 winner with Saffron Beach winning the Sun Chariot Stakes and finishing runner-up in the 1000 Guineas. Bayside Boy won the Group 2 Champagne Stakes and was placed twice at Group 1 level, while two-year-old Sea Bay won a Group 3. Bay Bridge showed that he was an improving sort, winning all his four outings, culminating with a listed win at Newmarket.

Improvement

That improvement has continued for the James Wigan-bred, and still part-owned, Bay Bridge. He opened this season with success in the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes, finished a length second to State Of Rest in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, before he was fifth of six in a vintage Eclipse Stakes.

With Baaeed all the rage for his career-closing run in the Champion Stakes, Bay Bridge was perhaps overlooked by some, but he showed class and bravery to repel Adayar, My Prospero and Baaeed and win his first Group 1.

Bay Bridge was catalogued for sale as a foal at Tattersalls, but did not make his date with the auctioneers. He raced for Wigan alone in his first two seasons, Ballylinch being added to the ownership before he made his seasonal debut this year.

Wigan, who trades as London Thoroughbred Services, bought the dam of Bay Bridge, Hayyona, for just 18,000gns as a three-year-old. A 130,000gns foal and 145,000gns yearling, Hayyona is a daughter of Multiplex (Danehill), and she was placed a few times. Wigan tried to sell Hayyona the year after Bay Bridge was born, but he fortunately retained her for 20,000gns. At the time just one of her first three foals had run, and she was a winner.

Hayyona is a half-sister to Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam winner Shimraan (Rainbow Quest), and they come from an Aga Khan family. Hayyona’s third dam is the Group 1 Prix de Diane-French Oaks winner Shemaka (Nishapour).

Added pleasure

While Ballylinch co-own Bay Bridge, they have the added pleasure of having bred Bayside Boy, winner of the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes over a mile at Ascot. He races in the colours of Teme Valley, having been sold in the ring to Richard Ryan as a yearling for 200,000gns.

A few weeks ago I wrote about Bayside Boy’s two-year-old half-brother Lord Of Biscay (Lope De Vega). He is also trained by Roger Varian, and I suggested that he is a horse to watch in the future. At the time of writing, he holds an engagement in this weekend’s Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes.

That victory came in time for the sale of his Waldgeist (Galileo) half-sister at the recent Goffs Orby Sale, where she realised €200,000 to Leason Bloodstock. Their dam, Alava (Anabaa), has a filly foal ay Ballylinch by Lope De Vega (Shamardal).

Lord Of Biscay is the sixth winner from eight runners for Alava. Lord Of Biscay won on the same day that Bayside Boy won the Listed Fortune Stakes, his prep for Ascot last Saturday.

Bayside Boy is the second group winner out of his dam. He was preceded by Forest Ranger (Lawman), and that 26,000gns yearling won in excess of £350,000. His six wins included four pattern races, the Group 2 Huxley Stakes at Chester twice and a pair of Group 3 races at Newmarket, the Earl of Sefton Stakes and the Darley Stakes.

Shrewd team

Alava had more colts than fillies, until recently, and the shrewd team at Tally-Ho Stud bought Bayside Boy’s stakes-placed, four-time winning half-sister Home Cummins for 100,000gns in 2018, while back in February they picked up his unplaced half-sister Duchess Rose (Dream Ahead) for 52,000gns. Home Cummins’ winning three-year-old daughter Soi Dao (Twilight Son) is due to be sold at the Tattersalls Horses-In-Training Sale at the end of this month.

This is a prolific winner-producing female line. Alava, as mentioned earlier, is the dam of six winners. She herself was the best of eight winners from the stakes-placed Cerita (Wolfhound), her grandam Tanapa (Luthier) was a Group 1-placed dam of 11 winners, while her third dam, the unraced Trelex (Exbury), bred 10 winners.

Among the best sons of Dubawi, now a sire of sires, notably Night Of Thunder, New Bay is out of Cinnamon Bay (Zamindar), a listed winner at Chantilly and the dam of four winners. She is a half-sister to Bellamy Cay (Kris), who won the Group 2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil and was runner-up in the Group 1 Prix Royal Oaks, while their dam is a stakes-placed half-sister to Hope (Dancing Brave), the dam of Oasis Dream (Green Desert) and the grandam of Kingman (Invincible Spirit). Kingman sired Kinross, winner of the weekend’s Group 1 Champions Sprint Stakes.