Crowning glory

WE WILL NOT KNOW for sure for a couple of months, but it looks as though the 2022 Classic generation in Europe is an excellent one.

It is rare to have brilliant, decisive winners of both the Derby at Epsom and the Prix du Jockey-Club at Chantilly in the same year.

You have to go back to Golden Horn and New Bay in 2015 or Workforce and Lope De Vega in 2010 to find a pair of winners as impressive as Desert Crown and Vadeni were this year. Perhaps it was an advantage growing up as yearlings during the quiet COVID year of 2020 when there were no visitors to studs in Britain, Ireland and France, or inspections to worry about and be prepared for.

And, as was also the case in 2010 and 2015, many of the other European Classics in 2022 look to have been well above average too, with the 2,000 Guineas winners Coroebus and Native Trial, the Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Homeless Songs, as well as the first two in the Oaks, Tuesday and Emily Upjohn, all giving the impression of belonging to an exceptional generation.

Desert Crown’s superiority in the Derby was obvious from start to finish. Not only did Saeed Suhail’s colt travel smoothly throughout the race, which is nearly always the case for Derby winners as those who don’t act on the course are usually beaten long before they reach the home straight. He was still going so easily as they passed the 3f marker and began the race to the winning post that his jockey Richard Kingscote had to restrain the son of Nathaniel, while all around were hard at work.

Once Kingscote asked Desert Crown to go, the race was won and he quickened away from his rivals with the greatest of ease.

There were some behind him who had trouble getting a clear run, but Desert Crown was in a different class altogether from his rivals at Epsom and the only question was how far Kingscote would let him win by.

The answer was two and a half lengths over the staying-on Hoo Ya Mal with the unlucky Westover a head behind in third and Masekela a further five and a half lengths away in fourth.

This was only the third career start for the Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt. He won his only start at two at Nottingham in a similar fashion – after a brief moment when he had looked unbalanced Desert Crown understood what Kingscote was asking him to do and raced five and a half lengths clear within a few strides.

On his seasonal reappearance at York he was an impressive winner of the Group 2 Dante Stakes, but showed some inexperience hanging to his right for a moment.

Reading between the lines of his trainer’s statements this may well have been due to an interrupted preparation rather than anything else.

Desert Crown has yet to be challenged significantly and won the Derby very easily. He clearly has an unlimited potential, particularly as the son of Nathaniel appears to have a perfect racing temperament, unfazed by the preliminaries and even the fireworks at Epsom, and to be a balanced athletic individual with no obvious physical weaknesses.

There will be those to argue that the horses who followed Desert Crown home had yet to show top class form, but then that has long been the nature of the Derby, which is more often than not the first time young horses are tested over 1m4f.

The Andrew Balding-trained runners, who finished second and fourth Hoo Ya Mal and Masekela, had both shown high-class form at a mile at two and three and their pedigrees suggest they could improve significantly over the longer trip. The third Westover has two full-brothers who were at their best over 1m4f and 1m2f and is a son of Frankel, who has proved to be a top middle-distance stallion.

This looks to me like a quality Derby, with an exceptional winner.

It should not be a surprise that Nathaniel can produce such a Derby winner as he had already produced an exceptional Oaks winner in Enable, as well as four other Group 1 winners from his first five crops to race.

Desert Crown comes from Nathaniel’s sixth crop when he was standing at £20,000 and the first after Enable had proved herself to be a great champion.

Nathaniel’s results have been consistently way above average from the moment his first crop turned three in 2017, and he has always returned an excellent percentage of black-type performers and highly-rated horses to foals, crop after crop.

If Nathaniel has yet to become a popular commercial sire or a very expensive one, it is not so much that his progeny have too much stamina, after all three of his six Group 1 winners were at their best over 1m2f, it is because his progeny are not so precocious.

Some of Nathaniel’s best progeny Enable, Lady Bowthorpe and Mutamakina were all probably at their very peak as five-year-olds.

He has produced a handful of Group-placed two-year-olds, but they were not the ones who progressed to be top-class three-year-olds. There have been other top-class international sires with a similar production profile, Monsun being the best recent example.

Nathaniel, himself, was not top class at two and among his many excellent siblings the only one to win Group races at two was Playful Act, who was the only one who was not far better as a three-year-old.

Nathaniel will surely get the support over the coming years to solidify his record.

He will always be popular with long-term breeders as it looks as though he is going to be a top broodmare sire, too – two unraced mares from his first crop have already produced the Group 1 winner Zellie and Classic-placed Tribalist.

Desert Crown is by far the best horse produced from his immediate female family, his dam and second won one race each and both on the All-Weather, but there were several reasons to think Strawberry Fields Stud’s mare Desert Berry was a suitable mate for Nathaniel.

Her first four foals by Archipenko were all winners, and had proved to be tough – they have run a total of 90 races between them to date. Her dam Foreign Language was only ordinary, but she is a half-sister to the non-winner Binche, who has produced the Group 1 winners Provisio and Byword and top-class Finche and Baratti for Juddmonte

All four are by top middle-distance sires – Peintre Celebre, Frankel and Dansili. Juddmonte sold Foreign Language as an unraced two-year-old for 18,000gns at the Newmarket July sale.

Desert Crown’s fourth mare Balabina was a full-sister to the Coronation Cup winner Quiet Fling and the Group winner Peacetime and a daughter of Peace, one of the first mares purchased by Juddmonte from John H Whitney in the early 1980s.

All on Tuesday

The Oaks marked an important milestone for trainer Aidan O’Brien as Tuesday’s narrow victory over Emily Upjohn gave him his 41st and record British Classic win.

The race was run very differently from the Derby, the final time was about a second and a half, or 8l, slower than Desert Crown’s Classic. But, whereas the Derby was run at a strong even pace from the beginning, the Oaks was slowly run and developed into a sprint.

At the top of the straight, Tuesday and Emily Upjohn were alongside each other at the rear of the field and both showed real acceleration to pass the rest of the field, and then get to the line together.

If there was a decisive move in the race it was Ryan Moore’s decision to take the shortest route to the line, whereas Dettori switched to the stands’ rail on the Gosdentrained filly.

Emily Upjohn gave away several lengths when slipping leaving the stalls, but the slow early pace allowed her to make up this ground without too much trouble.

They are two high-class fillies and both will probably be suited to a more strongly run 1m4f; which of the two will come out on top if they meet again soon is hard to say particularly as Tuesday won the Oaks on her just third birthday. Like Desert Crown and Vadeni both Tuesday and Emily Upjohn come from very successful female families.

Tuesday is a full-sister to the Classic winners Minding and Empress Josephine. Emily Upjohn is by far the best of her dam’s

foals to date – she is out of a half-sister to the dam of the Derby winner Harzand from a family developed by the Aga Khan Studs. A quirk of this family is how the best mares were produced when their dams were very old.

Hazaradjat, Emily Upjohn and Harzand’s second dam, was born when her dam Hazy Idea was 22, while Hidden Brief, the dam of Emily Upjohn, is the penultimate foal of Hazaradjat born when her dam was 17.

Va Va Vomm

The Aga Khan’s Vadeni spread-eagled the field for the Prix du Jockey-Club leaving his 14 rivals 5l and more behind him.His jockey Christophe Soumillon still had time to look up and wave at the crowd while easing down the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained colt in the final stages.

Soumillon, as is often the case, gave Vadeni a confident and poised ride.

The son of Churchill broke well and was placed in fourth or fifth place close behind the leaders, who, from the word go included the Godolphin-owned favourite Modern Games and El Bodegon.

As the field came into the straight it was soon obvious that Soumillon and Vadeni were travelling far better than any of their rivals and, when switched to the outside, Vadeni quickly ran away to win unchallenged.

Modern Games had set a strong, even pace from the start and looked to run out of stamina in the final 50m when he was passed by the hard-ridden El Bodegon.

Modern Games had made all the running to win the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (G1), while the James Ferguson trained El Bodegon had shown high-class form in France at two, beating Vadeni in a Group 3 at Chantilly and Stone Age to win a Group 1 at Saint-Cloud.

Modern Games will presumably return to mile races, while El Bodegon, like his fullbrother the multiple Group 1 winner Best Solution, will enjoy going further still and will be one of the leading contenders for the 1m4f Grand Prix de Paris (G1) in July.

The first three were followed home by Al Hakeem, Onesto and Vagalame, who came from wide draws and who made ground in the straight after being held up in the rear.

There were those who felt this trio had been unlucky and had lost their winning chances due to their wide draw, but this seems to me to be an exaggeration and, if anything, they lost their chances of being placed due to misjudged rides.

If you look at the statistics when there are only 15 runners over 2,100 metres at Chantilly a wide draw is only a minor disadvantage, the best draws are those in the middle of the field. If Al Hakeem and Onesto, who were among the favourites for the race after impressive trial wins, never got into the race it was because they were held up so far off the pace and then didn’t have the tactical speed required to make up that ground at the top of the straight.

When New Bay won the Jockey-Club he was drawn 13 of 14 coming with a brilliant run in the straight from last to first place, Persian King ran an excellent second to Sottsass in the 2019 Jockey Club when drawn 14 of 15. Pierre-Charles Boudot chose to make his ground on the outside during the first part of the race to take up a position behind the leaders on the home turn.

Persian King may have run out of stamina and was beaten by the top colt Sottsass but his chances were not impaired by the draw.

For the Aga Khan Studs this was a second Jockey-Club win over 2,100 metres and it has also had two placed horses during this time, including the very promising young stallion Zarak.

As an aside, Zarak was second to Almanzor in 2016 from stall 16 of 16 and was given another top ride from Soumillon. Last going into the turn, Soumillon and Zarak had reached mid-field at the top of the straight on the rail and then managed to glide to the outside to get a clear run in final 200m and were only beaten by a champion.

Vadeni is going to be another very attractive stallion whether or not he joins Siyouni and Zarak at the Haras de Bonneval.

He is from the first crop of the Coolmore sire Churchill, a son of Galileo who was a champion two-year-old and dual Classic winner at a mile.

Vadeni is the sixth foal of his dam Vaderana, a Monsun mare who was a minor winner over 1m3f. Her first five foals include four winners and two stakes performers and she comes from about the best family the Aga Khan acquired when he purchased Jean Luc Lagardère’s bloodstock nearly 20 years ago.

As the package also included the dam of Siyouni, born a year before Lagardère’s sudden death in 2003, it is fair to say this was the bloodstock deal of the century.

Lagardère bought Vadeni’s sixth dam Vadsa, a daughter of Halo bred by E.P.Taylor of Windfields Farm and Northern Dancer fame, as a yearling in 1980.

Vadsa was trained by François Boutin to be Listed placed over a mile and went to be the foundation mare of a dynasty of Group 1 and Classic winners.

The Vadsa family did take some time to get going, but at the beginning Lagardère’s principle stallion was the less-than-brilliant Bikala. When the switch was made to Linamix the breeding operation ,and Vadsa’s family, took off.

For Lagardère and the Aga Khan this family has produced the Classic winners Vadeni, Valyra and Vahorimix, as well as the major Group 1 winners Vazira, Valixir, Val Royal and Vadawina, while for others it has produced the top miler Vadamos, last year’s Saint Alary winner Incarville and Voleuse De Coeurs.

With the exception of Voleuse De Coeurs all of these were fast horses, milers or at the most 1m2f winners, and in many cases like Vadamos, Valixir or Val Royal, they were far faster than their pedigree suggested they would be.

Vadeni may be able to stay 1m4f, but if he takes after the rest of his female family it is unlikely, and given the speed he displayed at Chantilly, he would have no trouble winning Group 1 races over a mile.

Vadeni arrived at Chantilly as the winner of three of his five starts, including a Group 3 win on his latest and a Group 3 place as a two-year-old.

Even if Vadeni started third favourite behind Modern Games and his stable companion Al Hakeem, many seemed surprised he should have improved quite so significantly in only a few weeks.

However, a close look at his trainer’s Classic horses shows that this is just how Rouget has become by far the most successful Classic trainer in France.

Rouget, whose stable is now split between Deauville and Pau, has won nine of the last 27 French Classic races.

He has won at least one of the four in each of the last eight years with the exception of 2020 when everything was turned upside down by COVID.

While some trainers seem to be playing snap and looking for the best card in their hand at every turn, Rouget has learnt to play chess with his best horses.

From the moment they have been selected everything is geared towards the day which counts – what happens in the mean time is not important, as long as they are ready on the day the King is in play.

Vadeni won his first two starts in the style of a top horse at La Teste in July and Deauville in August; the Deauville win looks particularly good in retrospect as the subsequent Group 1 filly Times Square finished third.

Vadeni ran in a Group 3 at two but was beaten by El Bodegon – Rouget has long since given up trying to win Group 1 races with his two-year-olds – and then was given a gentle seasonal reappearance finishing fifth in a Group 3 over a mile.

An easy win in the 1m1f Group 3 Prix de Guiche hinted at what was to come, and then when Vadeni went back to Chantilly some three and a half weeks later he was ready to reveal his full potential.

Nashwa makes history in France

It is some achievement for a breeder to produce one Classic winner, but to get two such winners is quite remarkable.

In 2004, Imad Al Sagar with partner Saleh Al Homaizi produced Authorized out of the Montjeu mare Funsie. The colt went on to enjoy Classic success when winning the Epsom Derby of 2007. He also collected the International Stakes (G1) and finish second in the Eclipse Stakes (G1).

This year, without his breeding partner Al Homaizi after the restructuring of Blue Diamond Stud (established between the pair as the bloodstock interests grew) Al Sagar, now the sole properitor of the stud, has produced his second Classic winner Nashwa galloping to a history-making success in the Prix de Diane.

“I’m on the moon!” Imad Al Sagar told Jour de Galop. “It is an indescribable feeling. I’m so proud of this filly and Hollie Doyle.

“We knew, since last year, that she was a filly of great talent. We had no idea how out-of-the-ordinary she would be, but in early September she showed us something. John and Thady Gosden were very patient. “In the spring, she began to flower and grow physically. In my opinion, she is still growing. I think she will be even better next year and she will stay in training as a four-year-old.

“I left the whole decision to John whether to come here or not. He is the trainer, he knows better than me!

“And he decided to try the adventure. She is incredibly relaxed, she puts herself in her bubble and relaxes.”

Doyle said to Jour de Galop: “If you had told me a few years ago that I would ride such horses in the Classics, I would have laughed!

“Today is a great day, which will remain in my heart. I thank everyone. Before the race, I had great confidence in my filly.”

The daughter of Frankel, who had finished third at Epsom in the Oaks, enjoyed the 2f shorter trip and was always to the fore under the brilliant Doyle with a perfect position to move coming off the home bend.

Nashwa and Vadeni won their Classics in almost same time – Vadeni won the Jockey- Club in 2:06.63sec, while Nashwa was successful in 2:06.65sec.

Vadeni did run his last 600m some 0.65sec faster than filly but he wasn’t as close to the early pace. Vadeni, Nashwa and La Parisienne are all top three-year-old’s and, as Chantilly is a stiff track, none of trio accelerated in final 400m

Nashwa is out of Princess Loulou (Pivotal), who was bred by David Brown of Furnace Mill Stud.

She was bought by Tony Nerses as a yearling for 310,000gns at the Tattersalls October Book 1 Sale in 2011 and went on to be a Listed winner and finish second in the Prix Jean Romanet (G1).

She was bought back by Nerses for 300,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale 2018 when she was offered as part of the Blue Diamond Stud dispersal.

The three-year-old filly is the fifth Group 1 winner bred on the Frankel-Pivotal cross, a list that includes the champion Cracksman.

He was rounding off his career in 2018, a year in which he won the Coronation Stakes,the Prix Ganay and the Champion Stakes – it was also the year in which Nashwa was conceived.

Lord Grimthorpe, racing manager to Imad Al Sagar, spoke to GBRI after the race and said: “She’s versatile, she’s got a really good turn of foot.

“We’ll have to get her back and see how she is and map out a campaign now for her, probably along the 1m2froute, but I don’t know.

Princess Loulou had a 2021 filly by Decorated Knight and a 2022 colt by Dubawi.