A tale of two brothers – day three preview
Day three at Royal Ascot offers the rare feat of two brothers contesting different races on the same card at the illustrious meeting.
Even rarer when you consider that they are out of a mare by champion Australian sire Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) and rarer still that she has already produced a superstar breed-shaping champion in Australia.
Both out of Zouzou (Redoute’s Choice), Emperor Of The Sun (Galileo) and Kondo Isami will each bid for royal success today, with the brothers a half-sibling to Widden Stud stallion and multiple Group 1 winner Zoustar (Northern Meteor).
First up, is the Coolmore-owned four-year-old Emperor Of The Sun, who will bid to lower the colours of perennial champion Stradivarius (Sea The Stars) in the Gold Cup (Gr 1, 2m 4f), sent off at 1.15am (AEST), while just over an hour later, his year-younger brother Kondo Isami has his turn to put his dam’s name up in lights, too, as the three-year-old takes on the mile-and-a-half King George V Stakes.
Zoustar was all speed, winning four times at stakes level to 1400 metres, including in the Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) and Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) yet his half-siblings, with an injection of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) staying prowess have shown an aptitude for the longer trips, with Kondo Isami racing up to the St Leger (Gr 1, 1m 6.5f) trip at Doncaster, while his brother races over the gruelling two-and-a-half-mile staying test.
Perhaps the most remarkable feat of all would be that victory for Emperor Of The Sun would see his dam having produced Group 1 winners over seven furlongs and two and a half miles.
The Mark Johnston-trained Kondo Isami possesses Japanese ownership through prominent breeder Toshihiro Matsumoto. Again, bred by Coolmore, the colt arrives off a second place at Doncaster, but is building a nice record with two wins from five starts with three placings.
Zouzou, a maiden winner at Gosford over 1200 metres, was purchased by Coolmore for $775,000 from the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in 2014, the year the Widden Stud-bound Zoustar retired from racing with six wins from nine starts and was exported to Ireland.
It’s over to No Nay Never (Scat Daddy) to carry the baton, who has a yearling colt by the stallion and a colt foal born earlier this year.
Stradivarius the champion drawcard
The John and Thady Gosden-trained star will bid for a fourth consecutive win in the Gold Cup and will likely be sent off an odds-on favourite, but among his challengers aside from Emperor Of The Sun feature a few Australian relatables.
Most notably last year’s Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Twilight Payment (Teofilo), who makes his third start this season, with Tom Marquand in the plate. An outsider in the field at 33-1, his targets may come later in the year.
Fastnet Rock with strong chances
Fastnet Rock (Danehill) has left an indomitable print on Royal Ascot through the exploits of Merchant Navy, among others, and he has a well-backed daughter of his in the Ribblesdale Stakes (Gr 2, 1m 4f) as well as a strong fancy for the Hampton Court Stakes (Gr 3, 1m 2f) today.
Out of the stakes placed Lady Dragon (Galileo), Twisted Reality is from the family of Belle Famille (Linamix), who was imported to Australia and produced her last foal, a Churchill (Galileo) colt, that sold for $225,000 to Lindsay Park from the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale this year.
Twisted Reality will make her third start after running fourth in the Fillies’ Trial Stakes (Listed, 1m 2f) at Newbury.
The race prior and Movin Time will be hoping to give owner Mohammed Obaid a second win of the week in his inconspicuous yellow and black silks after the win of Juan Elcano (Frankel) in the Wolferton Stakes (Listed, 1m 2f) on Tuesday.
The son of Fastnet Rock is on the second line of betting behind Mohaafeth (Frankel) for the Hampton Court Stakes.
Starspangledbanner (Choisir) is also represented in both the Ribblesdale and Hampton Court.
Aristia with Hollie Doyle in the saddle goes in the Ribblesdale Stakes, while The Rosstafarian is not without a chance for Hugo Palmer in the race prior.
Elsewhere in the Ribblesdale Stakes, American Pharoah’s (Pioneerof The Nile) Nicest, who is out of Irish Oaks (Gr 1, 1m 4f) winner Chiquita (Montjeu), in turn a half-sister to Mackinnon Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) winner Magic Wand (Galileo), will bid for Ascot success in the Coolmore silks, while Loving Dream (Gleneagles), racing in the silks of Lordship Stud, is from the family of Herbert Power Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) winner Sea Moon (Beat Hollow), as well as Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Best Solution (Kodiac).
Matchless, one of two representatives for Coolmore in the Hampton Court Stakes, is a brother to recent Australian import Delphi, with the Group 3 winner having made his stable debut for Anthony and Sam Freedman in the Wayne Wilson Stakes (Listed, 1600m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Caravaggio runner in Norfolk
The two-year-old Norfolk Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) will see Coolmore shuttler Caravaggio (Scat Daddy) have his first royal runner.
The stallion has made a slashing start with his first juveniles having sired seven winners, including the stakes-winning Dizzy Bizu.
He has Andreas Vesalius for Joseph O’Brien in the Group 2, whose fourth dam is VATC Dalgety Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) and Birthday Card Stakes (Listed, 1400m) winner Deira (Sir Tristram).
The market is headed by the Wesley Ward-trained Lucci (Not This Time), while Cadamosto for No Nay Never features prominently for Coolmore.