2008

WHEN you have used every superlative in the dictionary, what is the next option? Keep it simple perhaps. Let’s just say that he was great.

Now it is time to remind oneself not to write in the past tense. Sadler’s Wells may be retired, embarking on a well-earned rest in Coolmore, his home for some 24 years. However, he is very much part of the landscape that is world racing and breeding. Few horses have ever made the impact that he has on the breed. Some have tried and even come close. None have been better though.

A multiple champion, his influence on the world of thoroughbred breeding and racing is incalculable. The good news is that the story is still unfolding, and for the next couple of decades we can expect to talk about him and his sons, grandsons and great-grandsons and their successes.

His record as a broodmare sire is also making for impressive reading, and his emergence in recent times as a multiple champion in that sphere is also set to grow in stature and frequency.

Who could have imagined in 1984, watching the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby), that they were witnessing a piece of racing history - and a foretaste of things to come? Darshaan won the race from Sadler’s Wells, with no less a luminary than Rainbow Quest back in third. How that trio have helped to shape the world of breeding in the near quarter of a century since.

Not only has Sadler’s Wells been a kingpin down in Tipperary, but his contribution to Ireland’s development as a major breeding centre of excellence should not be underestimated. His success fuelled the growth of Coolmore, while bringing the crème de la crème of the world’s broodmares to this country to be covered and to reside.

It is ironic that within hours of the announcement of Sadler’s Wells’ retirement, came the news that Storm Cat too had followed him and been pensioned off. He too has been a sire phenomenon and our US correspondent will write more about him next week. Meanwhile, let’s hope that Sadler’s Wells has a long and healthy retirement.

Thankfully we have an opportunity to honour him in life, rather than in an obituary.

[Sadler’s Wells died peacefully on April 26th, 2011 due to natural causes, at the age of 30, at Coolmore Stud]

Aga Khan filly is simply the best

2008

ZARKAVA again displayed superiority over her rivals when she won the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches- French 1000 Guineas at Longchamp last Sunday.

Nearly 11,500 enthusiasts were at a sun-drenched Longchamp where Aidan O’Brien’s runners did not quite live up to expectation, although the brave Halfway To Heaven did take third place in the fillies classic. Once again Zarkava totally outclassed her rivals.

Slowly away with Christophe Soumillon, she raced in ninth place in the early part of the mile race before moving up to seventh place at the entrance to the straight. A gap opened up and she was unleashed for her final run.

By the furlong marker it was all over and she was eased before the post. The daughter of Zamindar covered the course in 1m 35.2secs, which was a record for the race.

Zarkava is yet to be extended in four outings, and her average winning distance is over two lengths. At the post she was two lengths clear of Goldikova, with Halfway To Heaven a length and a half away in third place. Owner and breeder, His Highness the Aga Khan, admitted in the winner’s enclosure: ‘‘I was a little worried as she was a little far back early on. She has been trained to go further, so it is now logical for the filly to run in the Prix de Diane.’’

Alain de Royer-Dupre said: ‘‘She was a little lethargic coming out of the stalls and not very quick into her stride. We have been preparing her with the Diane in mind, and we better let her sleep less in the future. The filly was always travelling well and did not have a hard race. That was just what the doctor ordered. We will probably run a pacemaker when she goes in the Diane.’’

No pressure

Christophe Soumillon said: ‘‘I just let her jump off as she liked and put her under no pressure. If we’d made a forward move too early, we’d have got into a fight and could have been burned off. This was just a prep for the Diane and we went a good pace. She was easily the best horse in the race.’’

He added: ‘‘I knew what I had in my hands and was never worried about the others. For me Zarkava is like a female Dalakhani, but more nervous. Happily, she is trained by Monsieur Royer-Dupre.’’

Goldikova pecked a little coming out of the stalls but it made no difference to the result. She came to join the leaders halfway up the straight but could not cope with Zarkava’s final burst. Freddie Head commented: ‘‘There’s not really much to say but she never gave up and was beaten by a better filly.’’

The Wertheimer ’s racing manager Pierre-Yves Bureau commented: ‘‘She has come out of the race in good shape. We will now run the filly in the Prix de Sandringham or the Coronation Stakes at Ascot.’’

David McCabe conjured up a good run out of Halfway To Heaven. She was always up with the pace and battled on to the line. ‘‘She ran a good race and is a tough lady. In the future we will be looking at a race like the Irish Oaks. That filly [Zarkava] is certainly very good,’’ commented O’Brien.

[What an incredible edition of this French classic, with the first three home all being exceptional runners and now broodmares.

Zarkava, a champion at two and three, was unbeaten in seven starts, and she won five times at Group 1 level. She later added victories in the Prix de Diane-French Oaks, Prix Vermeille and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe to her first classic success, and her win at two in the Prix Marcel Boussac. She is the dam of three stakes winners, notably Group 1 winner and leading young sire Zarak (Dubawi).

Goldikova won the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes and Queen Anne Stakes in England, while her 15 wins in France and the USA included the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile three times, the Group 1 Prix Rothschild on four occasions and the Prix d’Ispahan twice. In all she won 14 times at the highest level. She is the dam of two stakes winners, both of them Group 1-placed.

Halfway To Heaven won the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas, Nassau Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes, and her three stakes winners include Magical (Galileo), a seven-time Group 1 winner, and Rhododendron (Galileo), twice successful at Group 1 level]

Guineas glory for Hard Ridden

1958

‘ONE home and one away’ was the tally at the conclusion of the Guineas fixture staged at the Curragh on Wednesday and Thursday last.

On the first afternoon Hard Ridden, trained by J.M. Rogers, repelled the English and French challengers in the Irish 2000 Guineas to win impressively in the hands of Charlie Smirke, but on Thursday Butiaba, trained in France for the Aly Khan by Alec Head, proved too good for the opposition in the fillies’ classic.

The conditions on both afternoons were atrocious, and on Wednesday the crowd was far below a classic day’s proportions. On Thursday, a general holiday in country parts, there was a much larger crowd present, but I am sure many of them probably wished they had stayed at home, so miserable was the weather.

Prospect

Hard Ridden, owned by Sir Victor Sassoon, who heard of the result in Nassau, had never won any sort of race before Wednesday, but now becomes a live prospect for the Epsom Derby. He mastered Wednesday’s conditions in highly pleasing fashion and appears to be endowed with fine stamina.

His jockey, Charlie Smirke, told me that the colt gave him a grand ride and that he never had an uneasy moment, even when Hard Tack was a good 10 lengths clear at half-way. For a fleeting moment Sindon held out hopes, but Hard Ridden had only to be hand ridden by Smirke to draw right away to win by four lengths from Sindon. Paddy’s Point was three lengths away third.