The moon is often contrasted with the sun: see St Francis' Canticle of the Creatures (“Brother Sun, Sister Moon”), Greek mythology (siblings Selene and Helios), innumerable popular songs (like Paul Revere and the Raiders' “Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon”). And now, the pedigree of Exomoon (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), a fighting 3-year-old winner of a competitive maiden at Clairefontaine last Monday. An “exomoon” is a natural satellite that orbits an exoplanet, that is: a planet outside the solar system. This tenacious colt's dam (who also has a 2-year-old filly called New Moon Rising {Ire} {Muhaarar {GB}}) has the sunny name of Heliosphere (Medaglia d'Oro), after the region surrounding the sun and the solar system. The heliosphere can also be defined as a protective bubble-like field, shaped like a long windsock as it moves through interstellar space. We are all in this bubble. We are all in the heliosphere, while an exomoon is a distant rock out of it. Let's hope that our equine Exomoon matures into a luminous star.
3rd-Clairefontaine, €20,000, Mdn, 8-10, 3yo, 9fT, 1:52, sf.
EXOMOON (GB) (f, 3, Invincible Spirit {Ire}–Heliosphere, by Medaglia d'Oro) Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, €14,000. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. O/B-Flaxman Stables Ireland Ltd (GB); T-Francis Henri Graffard.
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