By Tom Frary
Saturday's card at Leopardstown offered many clues to the 2025 Classics and it may have saved the best until last as Ballydoyle's Twain (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}–Wading {Ire}, by Montjeu {Ire}) became his sire's 10th TDN Rising Star in the closing seven-furlong maiden. Sent straight to the front by Mark Crehan, the son of the G2 Rockfel Stakes winner stayed on the rail as all others opted to race wide and surrender ground for a better racing surface.
Turning for home with a sizeable advantage, the 28-1 shot kept galloping powerfully through the testing ground to register a six-length defeat of stablemate Mississippi River (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) who denied the third Rosegreen runner and 15-8 favourite Serengeti (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) by a head.
Ballydoyle representative Chris Armstrong said of the descendant of Urban Sea (Miswaki), “He jumped smart, landed out in front and made every post a winning one. He gave him a very positive ride and Mark felt he was doing it easy, within himself, which is a good sign. It looked like a pretty good maiden. I'm not sure if we'll get him out again before the end of the year. He's a lovely horse to look forward to for next year, to bring him back for a Guineas trial.”
Adding his name to a list of the sire's TDN Rising Stars which include the exciting juvenile Maranoa Charlie (Fr) and the accomplished Unquestionable (Fr) and River Tiber (Ire), Twain becomes the seventh winner for the aforementioned Wading whose daughter Just Wonderful (Dansili {GB}) emulated her by capturing the Rockfel. She also took the G3 Flame of Tara Stakes and was third in the G1 Matron Stakes and second in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational, while the dam's other stakes performer was the G3 Mercury Stakes-placed Lost Treasure (Ire) (War Front).
Wading's dam Cherry Hinton (GB) (Green Desert) is also responsible for Montjeu's G1 Irish Oaks heroine Bracelet (Ire) and the GI Belmont Oaks heroine Athena (Ire) and G3 Snow Fairy Stakes winner Goddess both by Montjeu's son Camelot (GB). Athena has produced the G3 Ballylinch Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial Stakes and G3 Silver Flash Stakes winner and G1 Prix de Diane runner-up Never Ending Story (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).
Twain's third dam is the Arc-winning great matriarch Urban Sea, linking him to Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire) and a third Derby hero in Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}). Wading's colt foal is by Frankel (GB).
6th-Leopardstown, €18,000, Mdn, 10-19, 2yo, 7f 30yT, 1:35.75, sf.
TWAIN (IRE), c, 2, Wootton Bassett (GB)
1st Dam: Wading (Ire) (GSW-Eng), by Montjeu (Ire)
2nd Dam: Cherry Hinton (GB), by Green Desert
3rd Dam: Urban Sea, by Miswaki
Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $11,690. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien.
Remember the name! 🟦🟧
Twain, a colt by Wootton Bassett, defies market weakness on debut to score in the style of a horse with a huge future.
He led home a 1-2-3 for @Ballydoyle 👊@LeopardstownRC pic.twitter.com/DCwNOc5hF8
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) October 19, 2024
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