TDN RISING STARS

August 10, 2024 - CURRAGH, Msw, EUR €20,000, 7.0F, .0000

Delacroix (IRE), C, 2, 2022 by Dubawi (Ire)

1st Dam: Tepin, by Bernstein
2nd Dam: Life Happened, by Stravinsky
3rd Dam: Round It Off, by Apalachee

Owner: Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor
Breeder: Tepin Syndicate (IRE)
Trainer: Aidan O'Brien

   Like many Ballydoyle juveniles, Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}–Tepin, by Bernstein) is very much a work in progress but everybody had a glimpse of what was to come in The Curragh's opener on Saturday as the son of the US legend overcame adversity to win his maiden with comfort. In doing so, the heavily-supported 2-5 favourite was become the stable's latest TDN Rising Star and his sire's 42nd in that category.

Showing distinct promise when second on his Leopardstown debut last month, the half-brother to the yard's G3 Stanerra Stakes-winning 3-year-old Grateful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) provided some anxious moments when rearing in the stalls before the start but was quickly able to get on the lead after they had opened.

Looking lazy and green for Ryan Moore throughout the early stages, he was there to be shot at during the last three furlongs but threw in a final two-furlong split of :22 seconds to seal the result. At the line, he had 1 3/4 lengths to spare over his eye-catching stablemate Acapulco Bay (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), the first foal out of a full-sister to Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) whose daughter Ecstatic (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) had become a TDN Rising Star at Tipperary on Friday. Joseph O'Brien, who had won this maiden with his subsequent G1 Vincent O'Brien National Stakes winners Thunder Moon (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) and Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), was third and fourth with Dante's Lad (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Hostility (Ire) (No Nay Never).

“He was very green the first day and he's still very green. Ryan said there was a bit of a delay loading and he thought they were ready to jump so let him go and he just went up–it was playful and he didn't panic,” O'Brien explained. “He'll probably come forward plenty. We'd like to get another run into him before a group race, as he is a big baby but he's probably going to be a lovely middle-distance horse and has the makings of a very nice colt. The second horse [Acapulco Bay] had a lovely run–Wayne [Lordan] said he was flying home.”

Delacroix is currently the last known foal out of the remarkable Tepin, who achieved what very few can by winning the G1 Queen Anne Stakes on top of five American domestic Grade I victories which saw her become champion grass mare twice. The aforementioned Grateful is her first runner and has shown ample stamina, which is the Galileo factor and this colt should be more pacey in general.