By Andrea Branchini
Craon's June 16-winning filly Morgana is by supremely established sire Camelot, as she should be. Morgana (also known as Morgan Le Fay) is quite a presence in the legends of the Knights of the Round Table: sorcerer, enchantress, half-sister and rival to King Arthur, apprentice and maybe lover of Merlin, deadly enemy of Queen Guinevere while secretly in love with, of course, none other than Lancelot. Camelot was no convent finishing school: the court had more intrigues and betrayals than the palace of a late Roman emperor. The name of this 3-year-old filly is particularly fitting, as her dam is called Magic Mist. “Fata Morgana” is a form of mirage, well known to sailors looking at the horizon in open sea, probably caused by vapor and condensation: a magic mist indeed, which makes the name of the filly overflowing with sense and significance. Repeat 3-year-old winner Merlin The Wizard, also by Camelot, obviously, is a similarly straightforward case of Arthurian nostalgia. I believe that there is also a Camelot Lady of the Lake in National Hunt: the sire is clearly a good educator–Excalibur is in good hands.
Morgana (Fr), f, 3, Camelot (GB)–Magic Mist (Ire), by Invincible Spirit (Ire). Craon, 6-16, 8 1/4fT, 1:45.73. B-Ecurie Skymarc Farm (FR). *€85,000 RNA Ylg '21 ARQAUG.
Merlin The Wizard (GB), g, 3, Camelot (GB)–Sweet Gentle Kiss (Ire) (GSW-Ity, $212,150), by Henrythenavigator. Kempton, 6-7, 7f (AWT), 1:26.60. Lifetime Record: 3-1-1-0, $9,813. B-Blue Diamond Stud Farm (UK) Ltd (GB). *120,000gns RNA Ylg '21 TATOCT.
Robin Hood is the very model of the well-meaning Great Outlaw, secretly loved by the masses–for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, and maybe other reasons as well. There is much Sherwood Forest lore in the name of young Longchamp winner Will Scarlet: his namesake was one of Robin's Merry Men (along with Little John and Friar Tuck) and the dam is Lady Marian, the on-off girlfriend of the great man in green tights.
1st-ParisLongchamp, €34,000, Cond, 6-15, 2yo, 7fT, 1:26.60, gd. WILL SCARLET (GB) (c, 2, Masar {Ire}–Lady Marian {Ger} {G1SW-Fr, GSW & G1SP-Ger, $546,566}, by Nayef. O/B-Godolphin (GB); T-Andre Fabre.
There may be an intriguing connection between the names of multiple 2-year-old winner Bobsleigh and his dam Lady Rosebud, via Orson Welles's masterpiece film “Citizen Kane”, but to disclose it could be a spoiler for the people who have not seen the movie, so here I stop.
1st-Epsom, €75,000, Cond (Woodcote), 6-2, 2yo, 6f 3yT, 1:08.99, g/f. BOBSLEIGH (IRE) (g, 2, Elzaam {Aus}–Lady Rosebud {Ire}, by Sir Prancealot {Ire}), O-The Woodway 20; B-Ms P Walsh (IRE); T-Eve Johnson Houghton.
In the case of Clairefontaine 2-year-old winning filly, Shiffrin and Olympic Glory sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble: Olympian US skier Mikaela Shiffrin has two gold medals to her name and has dominated her sport for some time.
Shiffrin (Ire), f, 2, Olympic Glory (Ire)–Scruples, by Pioneerof the Nile. Clairefontaine, 7-7, 8fT, 1:38.40. B-Haras d'Etreham (IRE).
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