TDN RISING STARS

September 7, 2023 - SALISBURY, Race 3, Msw, GBP £30,000, 6.9F, .0000

Skellet (Ire), F, 2, 2021 by Kingman (GB)

1st Dam: Dane Street, by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Daneleta (Ire), by Danehill
3rd Dam: Zavaleta (Ire), by Kahyasi (Ire)

Owner: Anthony Rogers & Sonia Rogers
Breeder: Airlie Stud & Mrs S Rogers (IRE)
Trainer: Ralph Beckett

Lining up for Thursday's Bob McCreery Memorial British EBF Quidhampton Maiden Fillies' S. at Salisbury off an unlucky debut fourth at Sandown last month, Anthony and Sonia Rogers' Skellet (Ire) (Kingman {GB}-Dane Street, by Street Cry {Ire}) made that experience count to register TDN Rising Star number 32 for her sire.

Settled in third early by Rossa Ryan, the half-sister to the G1 Moyglare Stud S., G2 Debutante S. and G3 Silver Flash S. winner Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy) had to work to get by the well-regarded Richard Hannon trainee Serene Seraph (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) but had her measure 100 yards out en route to a cosy 1 1/4-length success.

There was another 5 1/2 lengths back to the third-placed Times Edition (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a half-sister to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and GI Just a Game S. heroine Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Beckett is in no rush with the winner. "I was very pleased. She's a bit raw, she's a big, tall, gangly filly," he said. "Her sister, Skitter Skatter, was the size of a pony and she won a Moyglare for Patrick Prendergast-this filly is completely different. She was a bit antsy behind the gates, she's still looking around. She's a nice filly, one for next year. It's likely we'll take a more conservative view, I don't know what trip she'll end up getting, we hope a mile but we'll find out next year."

The win clearly meant a lot to Anthony Rogers who, similarly to Skitter Scatter, runs the homebred Skellet in partnership with his mother Sonia.

"I have been bouncing around the place and so has my mother [Sonia]," he told TDN Europe after the race. "Ralph has always been very keen on her and, to be fair, Patrick Prendergast broke her in for us and was pretty sweet on her. We were telling him to come out of retirement to train her and he said he'd almost think about it, he liked her that much. They have to go and do it on the track but she looked pretty impressive."

He added, "It's a proper, proper family. I bought the granddam about 25 years ago in partnership with Robert Clay. It's an old Jim Bolger family and there's a lot going on in it lately. Dane Street had a year off but is in foal to Too Darn Hot (GB) now. He seems to be going very well and I'm very pleased about that.

"We've cut back on the number mares we have on the farm in recent years because it's just very hard to make money on the lesser ones. You've got to be ruthless because it's tough out there. It really is. Skitter Scatter has a nice Invincible Spirit (Ire) colt going to Book 1 at Tattersalls and she has a beautiful Wootton Bassett (GB) filly at foot. It's nice to have these lovely families."

Skellet's dam Dane Street, whose full-sister to the winner topped the Goffs November Foal Sale when selling to Stauffenberg Bloodstock for EUR550,000 and is catalogued in this month's Goffs Orby Book 1, has two other stakes performers alongside Skitter Scatter. They are the G2 Superlative S. runner-up Victory Dance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the GIII Jimmy Durante S. third Data Dependent (More Than Ready), who is in turn the dam of the recent GI Belmont Oaks Invitational winner Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify).

Dane Street is a half to the G1 Dewhurst S.-winning sire Intense Focus (Giant's Causeway), while the Listed 1000 Guineas Trial S.-winning third dam Zavaleta (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}) is kin to the G1 Gran Criterium-winning sire Sholokhov (Ire) and Soldier Of Fortune (Ire).