ON the only occasion that Romantic Warrior was beaten, the race was won by the Irish-bred California Spangle.

Guess what? One of the four Group 1 winners at the Hong Kong International Races on Sunday was the same California Spangle, and he was winning at the highest level for the first time.

Last time out he was only narrowly beaten by the top-class Golden Sixty, and this time that multiple Group 1 winner had to settle for second place as he chased a third straight win in the race. Back in third was the Nicky Hartery-bred Laws Of Indices.

This was the ninth win in 14 starts for California Spangle, taking his earnings to just short of £4.5 million. Bred in Ireland by Michael Enright, he is a four-year-old son of Starspangledbanner (Choisir). A €150,000 Goffs Orby Sale graduate, the Tony Cruz-trained gelding has also won the Group 2 Sha Tin Trophy, Group 3 Celebration Cup, and the Listed Hong Kong Classic Cup. He was beaten two lengths by Golden Sixty in the Group 1 Champions Mile in May.

Cruz attributes some of California Spangle’s great versatility trip-wise (he has won from five to nine furlongs) to the gelding’s exceptional quality, and the staying influence of High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells) through the bay’s dam Pearlitas Passion. Following an earlier stakes win, Cruz said: “We always had confidence this horse would run the distance because his dam is by High Chaparral, a stayer who won the Irish Derby. I’m sure he’s got that sort of pedigree in him, even though he’s a real sprinter.”

Pearlitas Passion raced at three for Enright and showed little in five starts, running over trips from a mile to 10 furlongs. He tried to sell her as a four-year-old but she didn’t reach her reserve of €30,000, and instead she has gone on to breed five winners.

California Spangle is her first stakes winner, while her son Wychwood Warrior (Lope De Vega) was placed in listed races at Cork, Dundalk and in Meydan.

A half-sister to five winning siblings, Pearlitas Passion’s is a daughter of Paimpolaise (Priolo), and that mare’s best runner was the Group 2 Hungerford Stakes winner Shakespearean (Shamardal). He actually won more than £1 million and this was largely due to landing the hugely valuable sales race, the Goffs Million Mile.

Solid line

This is a really solid female line, but one of those families that produces Group 2 and 3 winners in large numbers, and California Spangle is the third in the first four generations of his female line to win at the highest level. He has the Canadian racemare Gay Apparel (Up Spirits) as his fourth dam, and by way of a different branch of this family, she is the third dam of the siblings Lily Of The Valley (Galileo), successful in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera, and Mubtaahij (Dubawi), winner at Grade 1 level in the USA.

The stud career of Starspangledbanner is well documented, and in 2023 you will need to stump up €50,000 to use his services. Rising 17, he has gone from being subfertile to become an important sire, and next year his son State Of Rest will command €25,000 in his first year at stud. California Spangle is his fifth Group 1 winner, Aristia being one of three at that level in 2022, while Millisle won the Cheveley Park Stakes and The Wow Signal landed the Prix Morny.

Wellington cements his champion status

“TO me, he has looked the best sprinter in Hong Kong for some time,” commented winning rider Ryan Moore in the aftermath of victory in the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint.

Success went to the Australian-bred Wellington, a six-year-old son of All Too Hard (Cairo Prince) and the More Than Ready (Southern Halo) mare Mihiri. There is a theme to the four Group 1 winners sired by All Too Hard, a half-brother to the great Black Caviar.

His son Alligator Blood has won four Group 1 races, a daughter Forbidden Love has done so three times, another son Behemoth also won three, while Sunday’s success was Wellington’s fourth. Interestingly, Forbidden Love is also out of a More Than Ready mare.

Ranked the champion sprinter last season in Hong Kong, Wellington was landing a 12th career win in 18 starts, and he was only placed once. He sold as a yearling for A$70,000 at Magic Millions, and that is just a fraction now of the £5.2 million he has amassed since he went to Hong Kong.

His other wins at the highest level are victories in The Chairman’s Sprint Prize and The Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup.

Champion

Back for a minute to All Too Hard. He was the Australian champion three-year-old colt of 2012/13, and was runner-up to his half-sister Black Caviar in Horse Of The Year honours that year. He had made headlines even before he raced and was a good-looking, Easter sale-topping yearling, selling for A$1,025,000.

All Too Hard won seven times, four Group 1 races, a pair of Group 2s and a listed contest. He was runner-up in the Group 1 Cox Plate. His progeny hit the ground running, and he was joint leading first season sire by winners, the leading second season sire by winners, and the youngest sire to reach a century of winners in Australia.

Given that his leading performers are all multiple Group 1 winners, it is easy to see why trainers rate his stock as being tough, trainable and having excellent temperaments. The Vinery Stud stallion has also just reached a landmark with his 50th stakes performer, and they include 22 stakes winners.

Appeal

Wellington is the best of three winners from the Group 2-placed Mihiri. She and her son were bred by Kia Ora Stud who had purchased Mihiri’s dam Danoise at the Tattersalls December Sale in 2006 for 240,000gns. Her appeal was the fact that she was a daughter of Danehill (Danzig) and her seven winning siblings included the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Cerulean Sky (Darshaan) and L’Ancresse (Darshaan), a listed winner who was second in the Group 1 Irish Oaks and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Well, two years later another half-sister Moonstone (Dalakhani) won the Group 1 Irish Oaks after being runner-up at Epsom, and since she went to stud she has had five stakes winners. Cerulean Sky went on to breed the Group 2 winner Honolulu (Montjeu) and is grandam of Group 2 winner Royal Bench (Whipper) who just came up short in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile.

L’Ancresse has produced three stakes winners, including this year’s Group 2 Prix du Muguet winner Sibila Spain (Frankel) and the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup third, Master Of Reality (Frankel). At least three other siblings are also successful stakes producers. This is a family that continues to thrive.