The Weekly Wrap: Virtual Reality

In ordinary times, this week would mark the revving up of the European bloodstock charabanc: standing room only, destination Deauville. As the threat of a second quarantine hangs over visitors or returnees from France to the UK like the Sword of Damocles, it's probably just as well that the traditional start to the yearling season has been delayed.

This coming weekend, there will be no short shuffle between racecourse and sales ground for the Prix Jacques Le Marois and other delights ahead of a frenetic evening of activity in the ring at Arqana. Instead, those of us in the UK will look on with envy as the permitted 5,000 racegoers in the Normandy seaside town enjoy a feast of action. Meanwhile the British government on one hand urges people back into offices and restaurants but bans an essentially outdoor Goodwood spectator test day at the eleventh hour.

Confused? Yep, that's pretty much the mindset of the British population right now. For our friends in Ireland, we can add frustration to that description. No bloodstock sale has been held on the island since February, and the 14-day mandatory quarantine for incomers from all countries bar those on the 'Green List' means that the store sales of the coming fortnight at Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland will be held without the usual melée of Irish, British and French participants. It is fair to expect that there will be further tinkering with the yearling sales programme ahead of its start at Doncaster on Sept. 1.

As it has been shown already through these strange times, it is of course perfectly feasible to conduct bloodstock auctions online and, for those forced to remain remote, to engage local agents to do their bidding. But, just as dreaded Zoom meetings are a poor substitute for talking to people face to face, so is it pretty unsatisfactory for the sales to be so limited in the number of attendees. Gone are those ringside conversations that end with one or more people agreeing to a leg in a previously unconsidered purchase, or that chance sighting of a horse not on the list who just happens to catch an owner's eye as he turns to go back in his stable.

It will work, up to a point, because it has to, and we have all had to adapt to change in life and routines. But, as we are seeing with crowdless racing, our sport as entertainment is so much more than just what happens on the track. It's also the raised glasses between races, the hubbub of banter at the pre-parade ring and, for this particular train nerd, that feeling of anticipation as the doors hiss closed at Ely station en route to York for a spotless summer's day on the Knavesmire. One can only hope that the yearning for those days is felt throughout racing's fan base and that we can return in our droves next year, all the more grateful for having missed out on so much in 2020.

In Doyle We Trust
This column makes no apologies for repeated mentions of Hollie Doyle this season because: a) we'd love nothing more than seeing a woman crowned champion jockey, and b) she's great.

In the three years from when Doyle first started race-riding in 2013 she rode just six winners. Now she notches almost double that number in a fortnight and, in the last month, she has been rewarded with her first two group winners. The second of those came on Saturday on the Roger Charlton-trained Extra Elusive (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in the G3 Rose of Lancaster S. It was the perfect start for her association with owner-breeder Imad Al Sagar, for whom she was named retained jockey on July 26.

The following day Doyle added the listed Prix Moonlight Cloud to her burgeoning tally of stakes wins when she guided Maystar (Ire) (Mayson {GB}) to his first black-type win.

Maystar's win prompted double celebrations for trainer Archie Watson and the Hambleton Racing syndicate, who also combined to win the G3 Rathasker Stud Phoenix Sprint S. at the Curragh with Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}).

Watson tends to work in tandem with Blandford Bloodstock's Tom Biggs at the sales and the pair picked up Maystar at last year's Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-up Sale for €35,000. The five-time winner is entered for the Tattersalls August Sale. Meanwhile, 6-year-old Glen Shiel, who is closely related to Godolphin's dual Group 1 winner Farhh (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), also joined Watson's stable last year from the Goffs UK Spring Sale. A treble winner at up to nine furlongs for Andre Fabre before being sold to Biggs and Watson for £45,000, Glen Shiel has looked more and more effective since sliding down the distance scale and his three wins this year have all come at six furlongs.

The past week was also tinged with sadness for another Godolphin graduate as James McAuley's bargain buy Sceptical (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) suffered a fatal injury on the gallops. The 4-year-old had been a revelation since joining Denis Hogan's stable as an unraced 3-year-old after his purchase for £2,800. He won four of his seven starts and finished in the first three in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. and G1 Darley July Cup.

A Regal Dynasty
Lagrion (Diesis {GB}) may have been only a moderate campaigner herself but she was an over-achiever at stud, her 12 foals including the Group 1 winners Dylan Thomas (Ire) (Danehill), Queen's Logic (Ire) (Grand Lodge) and Homecoming Queen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). Through one of her daughters, Lagrion's dynasty extends to this year's Derby winner Serpentine (Ire), a son of Galieo (Ire) and the Oaks runner-up Remember When (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), whose exclusive matings with the champion sire have resulted in five black-type winners.

Queen's Logic was crowned the champion 2-year-old filly of 2001 and her exploits for Jaber Abdullah and Mick Channon led to the move of Lagrion from the ownership of her breeder Kip McCreery to the Coolmore team. Queen's Logic has exerted quite an influence on York's G2 Lowther S., a race won by herself, her daughter Lady Of The Desert (Rahy) and grand-daughter Queen Kindly (GB) (Frankel {GB}), all of whom raced for Abduallah.

In the last week, however, it was the turn of the tiny 1000 Guineas winner Homecoming Queen to increase the family's standing when her daughter Shale (Ire) won the G3 Frank Conroy Silver Flash S. with apparent ease on just her third start. Like her three-parts-sister Remember When, Homecoming Queen has also been wedded to Galileo since retiring to stud and all four of her foals of racing age are winners, including the group 2-placed Berkeley Square (Ire). It would be no surprise to see Shale enhancing the family's Classic record next year.

Family Matters
There's nothing like starting the year with a promising run from a 3-year-old. Back on Jan. 23, 2012, Bernard Benaych and Jocelyn Targett almost certainly left Cagnes-Sur Mer delighted—the latter perhaps slightly over-refreshed by a pale rosé—after their representatives Keira (Fr) (Turtle Bowl {Ire}) and Bunny Lebowski (Fr) (Echo Of Light {GB}) ran first and second in the 3-year-old maiden.

Fast-forward eight years and the refreshment is still flowing freely for Targett, who indulged in some Paul Gascoigne-style celebrations following the victory of Bunny Lebowski's daughter Velma Valento (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) in the listed Prix du Pays d'Auge at Clairefontaine.

The following day, there was cause for further celebration for Benaych who co-owns Keira's son Port Guillaume (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) with Claudio Marzocco and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. The 3-year-old colt, who started his career winning the same newcomers' race, the Prix du Suquet, as his mother on Jan. 23 of this year, has since progressed into a worthy Arc contender. His sole defeat came when fifth in the Prix du Jockey Club and his latest victory was Saturday's strike in the G2 Prix Hocquart Longines.

The continuity of these two families will be similarly pleasing to the trainers of Velma Valento and Port Guillaume, Christophe Ferland and Rouget, who in each case also trained the sire and dam of the winner.

Cup Runs Dry For Europeans
Opinions are divided as to whether the increasing international allure of the Melbourne Cup is a good thing for Australia's iconic staying contest. Those who believe that the high number of overseas participants in a field limited to 24 runners has irreparably changed the profile of the race for “battlers” may find some consolation in this woeful year that there will be reduced competition from European stables.

With heightened coronavirus restrictions now in place in Melbourne, it was confirmed last week that Godolphin's Newmarket stables of Saeed Bin Suroor and Charlie Appleby will not be sending runners to the Spring Carnival. Lloyd Williams, who has won the Melbourne Cup six times, most recently with the Joseph O'Brien-trained Rekindling (GB), has also stated that “health is paramount” when it comes to considering which, if any, of his horses currently in training with O'Brien will travel this year.

While the OTI Racing-owned San Huberto (Ire) (Speightstown), winner of the G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier in June, looks set to make the journey from Fabrice Chappet's stable, plans are still uncertain for his fellow resident Skyward (Fr) (Camelot {GB}). The 4-year-old won Sunday's G3 Prix de Reux and has now triumphed in four of his six starts, including last season's listed Prix Turenne. He is owned in the majority by Arrowfield Stud's John Messara.

“He's only lightly raced and has a lot of upside,” Messara's son Paul told our sister publication TDN AusNZ. “We bought him for the Melbourne Cup, so we'd like to go down that direction if at all possible. We will have a discussion this week. We need to work out what we can do with him and what options we have in the current environment.”

When Rekindling won the Cup in 2017, he led home an Irish-trained trifecta filled by Aidan O'Brien's Johannes Vermeer (Ire) and the Willie Mullins-trained Max Dynamite (Fr). The following year it was won by another 3-year-old, Cross Counter (Ire), trained by Charlie Appleby. The Hughie Morrison-trained Marmelo (GB) was second and Prince Of Arran (Ire), representing Charlie Fellowes, was third, delivering a clean sweep for Britain.

In 2019, Flemington-based trainer Danny O'Brien scored a massively popular home win with Vow And Declare (Aus) (Declaration Of War), who narrowly held off runners trained by Aidan and Joseph O'Brien as well as Prince Of Arran again. While Danny O'Brien will set Vow And Declare for a return mission on the first Tuesday of November, he also has the exciting northern hemisphere 3-year-old Russian Camelot (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) as a potential Cup runner. The stable-mates are due to have a jump-out at Flemington on Tuesday and could take each other on over a mile in the G1 Makybe Diva S. on Sept. 12.