Youmzain lands Diamond Jubilee for Cambridge Stud
Southern hemisphere-trained horses might not have been able to make the trip to Royal Ascot this year, but New Zealand was still well-represented in the winner’s enclosure at the royal meeting as Hello Youmzain (Kodiac), carrying the colours of Cambridge Stud, took out the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) yesterday.
Hello Youmzain led the main group down the grandstand side rail alongside Irish raider Sceptical (Exceed And Excel), and the pair were neck and neck with each other until the final strides of the race.
It was deja vu for the Sir Michael Stoute stable as Dream Of Dreams (Dream Ahead) flashed home to finish runner-up by a head in the race for the second year in a row, while Sceptical held on for third by a neck.
Winner of last year’s Haydock Sprint Cup (Gr 1, 6f), the Kevin Ryan-trained four-year-old was purchased by Cambridge Stud and French operation Haras d’Etreham in October last year with the intention of racing him this season and retiring him to stud in 2021.
“This is the most amazing thing ever for us,” Cambridge Stud owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay said from New Zealand. “We were so nervous, and we have been out for dinner tonight with some friends, and they are back home watching the race back home.
“I think it feels like half of New Zealand is up watching the race tonight the amount of phone calls and messages we have had! I don’t know if any New Zealander has won a Group 1 at Royal Ascot before, it is just amazing.
“Thanks to Hubie de Burgh (agent) and thanks very much to Nicolas de Chambure, our partner in France.
“He will go to France first when he goes to stud and he will probably be here in June, July and August next year.
“It is really emotional, not a bad training effort either from Kevin Ryan. My goodness they deserve congratulations too.”
Ryan’s son Adam credited the horse’s toughness for the win.
“He has done it the hard way,” he said. “He jumped well and Kevin (Stott, jockey) did the right thing, let him find his stride and where he was happy, and when it came to the business end, he battled on hard.
“He is a very game, very tough horse, and especially to do that on his first run of the season was very impressive.
“He did well over the winter; he strengthened up and matured again. We had him as well as we could have done at home – his work has been very good.
“We always thought this year he’d be more of the finished article, and he looked fantastic today. Credit to the team.”
As for the four-year-old’s next assignment, Ryan said it was likely to be in next month’s July Cup (Gr 1, 6f).
“We will see how he comes back from this, but he’s a Group 1 sprinter and he will be tackling all of them. The July Cup is an obvious choice for his next run.
“He has a lot of natural speed as well, so I don’t think we’ll rule out dropping him down to five. He’ll probably get an entry in the Nunthorpe as well.”
It was also the first Group 1 and Royal Ascot win for jockey Kevin Stott, who was visibly emotional after the race.
“Unbelievable,” he said. “Listen, fair play to the horse – he dug very deep when I needed him. All credit to him more than me.
“I am blessed to be put back on him with the change of ownership and I can’t describe in words how thankful I am that they put me back on him. It means everything
“Kevin gave me a lot of confidence going out riding him, I have ridden him a handful of times before and Kevin said ‘Ride him like the best horse in the race’.
“Like I say he dug deep when I needed him, I am very delighted.
“So much credit to the horse going into this without a run he is a very big horse, he has dug deep when I needed him, all credit to the horse.”
Hello Youmzain (4 c Kodiac – Spasha by Shamardal) has now had nine starts for five wins and two placings, earning a total of £528,692 in prize-money.
He is out of the unraced mare Spasha (Shamardal) who is also responsible for three-time Group winner Royal Youmzain (Youmzain). Spasha herself is out of Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) mare Spa, making her a half-sister to 2003 Hampton Court Stakes (Listed, 1m 2f) victor Persian Majesty (Grande Lodge).
Further back, this is the family of multiple Group 1 placegetter Shania Dane (Danehill), New Zealand elite-level scorer Summer Passage (Snitzel) and dual Group winner Man From Uncle (Uncle Mo).
Hello Youmzain is one of four Group 1 winners for Tally-Ho Stud resident Kodiac (Danehill), who stood for a fee of €65,000 in 2020.
Another feature for Gosden and Dettori as Pier emlualtes his sire in Palace
For the third day in a row, John Gosden and Frankie Detorri teamed up to take out a Royal Ascot feature, this time with Palace Pier (Kingman) in the St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr 1, 1m).
The race was set up for Pinatubo (Shamardal) to earn redemption after suffering his first defeat last start in the 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) and, as he came from last to hit the front, Palace Pier was relentless in chasing the down the champion colt, eventually scoring by a length.
Pinatubo held on for second with Aidan O’Brien’s 2,000 Guineas runner-up Wichita (No Nay Never) a head away in third.
In landing the St James’s Palace, the last-start Newcastle handicap winner emulated his sire Kingman (Invincible Spirit), who was also trained by Gosden and took out the race in 2014.
“The race panned out well,” Gosden said. “Frankie said he wanted to ride him a little cold. He settled him off the pace. He knew there would be a searching pace and I think Ryan Moore was happy with how the race turned out on Wichita.
“It got a little rough and Frankie avoided all of that. He swept round the outside and I think that he demonstrated superior stamina, which he also showed at Newcastle, when he was really strong in the last furlong.
“It is no fluke. He is a really talented horse and he will go for the Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville, which his father Kingman won.”
Dettori added: “We always thought a lot of Palace Pier, but he got a bit sleepy on us in the mornings and we were scratching our heads.
“John did a great job, and he thought, let’s start him off in a handicap at Newcastle to see whether he would wake up, and he did.
“We threw him in at the deep end today, but in the back of our minds we knew that there was a good horse in that big body, and we just were not sure how much of a good horse he was. Today was no fluke.
“I went wide, he went round the field, he galloped out good, and the Guineas form stood up. I am pleased he showed me today what I thought potentially he was going to be.”
Meanwhile, Charlie Appleby was disappointed to see Pinatubo suffer another defeat.
“I am disappointed to get beaten again, but we saw the Pinatubo we saw last year, for sure,” the trainer said. “From the three (furlongs) to the two there I thought, it’s just a matter of pressing the button again. Will (Buick, jockey) just said that on that ground, in the last 100 yards the tank was emptying out, but he is so courageous, he has held on for second still.
“Like always, we will get him back, speak to the connections. The Sussex Stakes is an easy mile, we have seen what he can do round Goodwood, he is able to handle the track, so that is always an option.
“He is still a class animal – we are not going to write him off just yet. When he walks in you can see that he has given it everything.
“When he turned into today, I thought we were back in the days of old. It is sticky and testing out there – it’s not bad ground, just a bit sticky.”
Palace Pier (3 c Kingman – Beach Frolic by Nayef) was bred by Highclere Stud and Floors Farming and was purchased by Gosden for 600,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
He is one of two winners from three to race out of the unraced mare Beach Frolic (Nayef) who herself is a half-sister to Group 2 scoring, elite-level placegetters Bonfire (Manduro) and Joviality (Cape Cross).
Palace Pier’s third dam, Miss D’ouilly (Bikala), is also responsible for Grade 3 winner Miss Caerleona (Caerleon), the dam of Grade 1 performers Miss Coronado (Coronado’s Quest) and Arethusa (A.P. Indy), as well as dual elite-level runner-up Karen’s Caper (War Chant).
The colt is the second Group 1 winner for Juddmonte sire Kingman with the first being last year’s Poule d’Essai des Poulains (Gr 1, 1600m) victor Persian King.
The son of Invincible Spirit (Green Desert) stood at Juddmonte’s Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket for a fee of £150,000 in 2020.
Alpine Star emulates half-sister in Coronation
In 2018, Irish trainer Jessica Harrington prepared Alpha Centauri (Mastercraftsman) to win the Coronation Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) at Royal Ascot and yesterday, she did the same with the champion filly’s half-sister Alpine Star (Sea The Moon).
First-up since winning the Debutante Stakes (Gr 2, 7f) at The Curragh in August last year, Alpine Star settled on the rails under Frankie Dettori and the champion jockey bided his time until a gap opened with two furlongs to go, and the filly burst through to score by four and a quarter lengths.
American raider Sharing (Speightstown) was second with race favourite Quadrilateral (Frankel) coming home a further length and three-quarters away in third.
“I could not believe it because she was the only horse in the field that hadn’t had a run this year, but she is amazing,” Harrington said from her base in County Kildare. “She is a half-sister to a complete superstar, Alpha Centauri, who gave me my first Royal Ascot winner. She was just amazing today, she did it so easy.
“She is very laid back and nothing like Alpha Centauri, who was a great big, very imposing filly.
“This filly is not very big, she is not a great colour – a little bit of a mealy chestnut. If you saw her trotting around in the string, you wouldn’t pick her out, but she has the most wonderful attitude.
“Frankie was probably squeezing her along before she turned in but every time you give her a squeeze, she will come for you. You are definitely very nervous when you are watching it the whole way from Ireland and it’s unbelievable.”
Dettori added: “I really fancied Alpine Star. I didn’t want to jinx it, so I kept quiet. Jessie approached me about ten days ago when she knew that Shane (Foley, jockey) couldn’t fly here. I kept it quiet and knew she was an exciting ride. I asked John Gosden for permission to ride the filly and he said yes.
“Everything went to plan in the race. I had a decent draw. I hit a flat spot and I got the split on the fence and then the rest was history.
As for where we will see Alpine Star next, Harrington said: “This was the plan and I don’t know about the next plan.”
Bred and raced by the Niarchos Family, Alpine Star (2 f Sea The Moon – Alpha Lupi by Rahy) has raced four times for three wins and a third, earning a total of £222,209 in prize-money.
Out of the unraced mare Alpha Lupi (Rahy), she is a half-sister to four-time Group 1 winner Alpha Centauri as well as Listed scorer Tenth Star (Dansili). Her second dam is French triple elite-level victor East Of The Moon (Private Account) who herself is a half-sister to the late sire Kingmambo (Mr. Prospector).
Alpine Star is the first Group 1 winner for Lanwades Stud resident Sea The Moon (Sea The Stars), who stood for a fee of £15,000 in 2020. He is also the first son of Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) to sire an elite-level winner.
Kodiac dominates juvenile features
Tally-Ho Stud’s Kodiac (Danehill) proved his class as a sire of two-year-olds with both the Queen Mary Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) and Coventry Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) won by his progeny at Royal Ascot yesterday.
American raider Campanelle was the first leg of the double for the son of Danehill (Danzig), with the Wesley Ward-trained filly taking out the Queen Mary by three-quarters of a length.
William Haggas’ Sacred (Exceed And Excel) was second with Caroline Dale, who is by a son of Kodiac in Rathbarry Stud first-crop sire Kodi Bear, coming home two and a half lengths away in third.
“The first day the horses didn’t perform in the Windsor Castle and I was scratching my head thinking this could be a rough year,” Ward said. “Then we had two seconds yesterday (Kimari in the Commonwealth Cup and Golden Pal in the Norfolk Stakes) where I knew at least they were going to run well.
“I had such high expectations for Campanelle and she came through. She won on a tropical climate in Gulfstream down on the grass there, which was the first maiden race on turf.
“She then shipped from Miami through to Amsterdam and all the way to Newmarket. To run right back in the biggest two-year-old filly race at Ascot and for her to come through proves what a really good filly she is.”
The Clive Cox-trained Nando Parrado brought up the double in the Coventry and became the longest-priced winner ever at Royal Ascot, scoring at odds of 150/1. Qaader (Night Of Thunder) was a length away in second with Saeiqa (Shalaa) coming home a further length and a quarter back in third.
“The price was a shock,” Cox said. “Nando Parrado is a proper horse and we loved him from the start.
“I always thought he would be a horse for the autumn rather than the height of summer, to be honest with you, so that is what I’d be aiming for.
“We will plan our way from here but we won’t be rushing him. I would say he will be a miler next year. I would say he would be more of a Dewhurst horse than a Middle Park horse later in the season.”
Purchased by Ben McElroy for 190,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Campanelle (2 f Kodiac – Janina by Namid) is one of four winners from five to race out of Listed scorer Janina (Namid).
Her second dam is the Group 3 scorer Lady Dominatrix (Danehill Dancer) while she is also related to Cheveley Park Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) third Royal Shyness (Royal Academy).
Nando Parrado (2 c Kodiac – Chibola by Roy) was bought by Ballyphilip Stud for 165,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale before being pinhooked at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale, after missing the trip to the October Yearling Sale, and purchased back by Ballyphilip for 200,000gns.
He is out of Argentinian Group 3 winner Chibola (Roy), making him a half-brother to Listed placegetters Dubai Horizon (Poet’s Voice) and Muntadad (Invincible Spirit). Chibola herself is a sister to Argentinian elite level scorer Chollo (Roy).
Kodiac is the sire of 33 individual juvenile stakes winners, including Cheveley Park Stakes-scoring duo Fairyland and Tiggy Wiggy, who was second in the Queen Mary in 2014.
His best result as a racehorse was when finishing second in the Hackwood Stakes (Gr 3, 6f) which saw him stand at Tally-Ho for an introductory fee of €5,000 in 2007. In 2020, he stood at a career-high €65,000 for a second year.