SINCE Remarquee won the Group 3 Fred Darling Stakes in April, and until Grey’s Monument (Territories) was successful in the Listed Hyde Stakes at Kempton Park this week, trainer Ralph Beckett has won 21 stakes races, with Westover giving him a Group 1 victory in the Grand Prix de Paris.

His latest win was with the three-year-old colt Grey’s Monument, a 65,000gns yearling buy along with bloodstock agent Alex Elliott. A smart juvenile when runner-up in the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes, the bay was beaten a nose in the Listed Heron Stakes this season, and a blacktype win was well deserved. Grey’s Monument has run 11 times, and only twice been out of the first four. He could be a horse to keep on the right side of next season.

Territories (Invincible Spirit) is a sire who I feel is a little under the radar, and his fourth crop are juveniles this year. He sired his second winner at Group/Grade 1 level when Regional won the Haydock Sprint Cup, while previously Rougir won the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera and the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes. Grey’s Monument’s win in the Listed Hyde Stakes means that Territories now has 15 stakes winners.

Casamento

Grey’s Monument is the second foal and first winner out of the unraced Matron Of Honour (Teofilo), a €190,000 yearling purchase at Goffs. Her sale price was helped by the fact that she is a half-sister to the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy winner Casamento (Shamardal), while her winning sibling, Wana Doo (Grand Slam), bred Toronado (High Chaparral), successful in both the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes and Sussex Stakes.

Dermot Cantillon bought the dam of Casamento, the French listed winner and group-placed Wedding Gift (Always Fair) for just $42,000 almost two decades ago. She had a truly international pedigree, being the best of eight winners out of Such Style (Sassafras). That mare was grandam of stakes winners in Italy, Australia and New Zealand, notably of the Group 1 Goodwood Handicap winner French Clock (Rancho Ruler).

French Clock was the best of three stakes winners out of Black Tokk (Blakeney), and she established her own successful line, with many pattern winners in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia descending from her. One of these was Heart Of Dreams (Show A Heart), winner of both the Group 1 Underwood Stakes and Australian Guineas.

Kingman filly bred for stardom

TWO-YEAR-OLD winners at this time of the year can sometimes go somewhat unnoticed, but shrewd trainers such as John Gosden and his son Thady know when to unleash one, and they chose a mile fillies’ novice stakes at Lingfield to saddle Kaleidoscope for a winning debut.

The Gosdens have used the all-weather for many years now to introduce some of their best runners to the public, and Kaleidoscope beat her stable companion with something in hand, and must rate as a nice prospect. She is a daughter of Kingman (Invincible Spirit) and the sixth foal and winner for her dam. Lightening Pearl (Marju).

The first Group 1 winner trained by Ger Lyons, Lightening Pearl was a €125,000 yearling purchase who raced just seven times. She won the Group 3 Round Tower Stakes at the Curragh before travelling to Newmarket where she won the Cheveley Park Stakes.

As befits a mare of her quality, she has visited some of the best stallions in the world, producing the Group 3 Athasi Stakes winner Lightening Quick (Frankel), and the stakes-placed Matenro Diva (Deep Impact).

Satono Crown

Lightening Pearl is an own-sister to Satono Crown (Marju) and in addition to winning the Group 1 Takarazuka Kinen in his native Japan, his seven career victories also included a defeat of Highland Reel in the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Vase. Earlier this year he sired his first Group 1 winner when Tastiera won the Japanese Derby.

Satono Crown is from a family that is very well known in Ireland. His sire Marju (Last Tycoon) was a stalwart at Derrinstown Stud throughout his stud career, while he is one of seven winners and two Group 1 winners by Marju produced by Jioconda (Rossini). She raced successfully for Lady O’Reilly, winning the Listed Silken Glider Stakes and being group-placed.

In addition to producing Satono Crown and Lightening Pearl, Jioconda also bred the Japanese stakes winner Pont Des Arts (Heart’s Cry), the Group 2-placed Figlio Allegro (Deep Impact) and the group-placed Marju filly Jolie Jioconde.

Revitalised

Jioconda revitalised a branch of a family that had been very successful both on the racecourse and in the sales ring. Her grandam Lust (Pursuit Of Love) was a half-sister to the St Leger and Ascot Gold Cup winner Classic Cliché (Salse) and the Group 1 Prix Vermeille and Yorkshire Oaks winner My Emma.

The latter is also a daughter of Marju and she once sold for 1,300,000gns, while her own daughter Moments Of Joy (Darshaan), bettered that and sold for 1,650,000gns.

Moments Of Joy won a listed race at Goodwood and her stakes-performing offspring include the dual Group 3 Sagaro Stakes winner Mizzou (Galileo) who was runner-up in the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup.

Finsceal finally gets her head in front

ON what was her 17th career start, the three-year-old Finsceal Go Deo (Kingman) finally got her head in front for the first time. Bred by Michael Ryan, she was listed as having been sold for €500,000 as a yearling, though she still races for the Ryan family.

Getting a winning bracket is valuable for the filly when she embarks on a stud career, and this was only her second run on the all-weather at Dundalk. She is a daughter of a hugely successful sire, and now one of six winners out of the champion Finsceal Beo (Mr Greeley). Like her mother was before her, Finsceal Go Deo is trained by Jim Bolger.

When Final Treat (Acclamation) won at Ballinrobe five years ago, the last offspring of the stakes-placed Musical Treat (Royal Academy) became her dam’s eighth winner. Musical Treat was owned and bred by Robert Sangster. At the time of her sale to join the broodmare band at Rathbarry Stud, Musical Treat was carrying a filly by Mr Greeley (Gone West). That progeny was sent to the Goffs Orby Sale in 2005 and sold for €340,000 to Al Eile Stud.

What an investment the yearling’s purchase proved to be when, trained by Jim Bolger, the subsequently named Finsceal Beo came within inches of landing the Group 1 1000 Guineas in three countries, narrowly failing in France after annexing both the England and Irish versions. She was also a Group 1 winner at two when she captured the Prix Marcel Boussac, a victory that ensured she was named the champion juvenile filly in Europe. Having made her mark on the racecourse, Finsceal Beo also did so in the sales ring, with her Group 2 winning son Ol’ Man River (Montjeu) and her 2018 winning daughter La Figlia (Frankel) selling for €2,850,000 and €1.8 million respectively.

Musical Treat

While Finsceal Beo heads a list of eight winners, from 10 foals, for Musical Treat, she is not the only classic winner among them.

Frozen Power (Oasis Dream) was born three years after Finsceal Beo and his greatest racing moment came at Cologne in Germany where he won the Group 2 Mehl-Mulhens Rennen, the German 2000 Guineas. Final Treat and Finsceal Beo are two of only four fillies out of Musical Treat, and both of the others were stakes-placed.

This is a very smart female line and Musical Treat’s first three dams have the distinction of being stakes winners on the racecourse. Her dam Mountain Ash (Dominion) won 10 times in Italy, the best of her four stakes wins coming in the Group 3 Premio Royal Mares. Her dam Red Berry (Great Nephew) was a very smart two-year-old who won four times at that age, including the Listed St Catherine’s Stakes at Newbury, and she was runner-up in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes.

Red Berry, in turn, was a daughter of Big Berry (Big Game) and, in addition to being a listed winner, she was second in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.