The Weekly Wrap: The A Team

Following consecutive weekends of Classics, a quieter Sunday with just two European Group races once again brought the family of former champion German racemare Anna Paola (Ger) (Prince Ippi {Ger}) to the fore.

The previous weekend had seen Anna Nerium (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) win the G3 Princess Elizabeth S. at Epsom and eights days later in the country of the family's origin, Gestut Rottgen's homebred Akribie (Ger) (Reliable Man {GB}) jumped to the head of the market for the G1 Preis der Diana when posting her third victory in the G2 Diana Trial at Hoppegarten. The first two fillies home in the race were both out of daughters of Haafhd (GB), the winner's dam being Aussicht (Ger), a grand-daughter of Anna Paola's half-sister Anstandige (Ger) (Star Appeal (Ire).

In Italy, one of the family's male representatives, Helmet (Aus), out of Anna Paola's unraced grand-daughter Accessories (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), supplied the winner of the G3 Premio Carlo Vittadini, the Thomas Hassett-bred Anda Muchacho (Ire). The 5-year-old took his tally of victories to nine from 12 starts and, along with Thunder Snow (Ire), who ran a fine third in the G1 Runhappy Metropolitan H. on Saturday night at Belmont Park on his first run back since winning the Dubai World Cup, he has been a consistent and durable member of Helmet's first European crop.

The stallion, a brother to Group 2 winner Pearls (Aus) and half-brother to dual Group 1 winner Epaulette (Aus) (Commands {Aus}), as well as Group 3 winner Bullbars (Aus) (Elusive Quality), is just about to conclude his first season in Germany at Gestut Fahrhof, where his dam's excellent family will surely have been appreciated.

Anda Muchacho's win added to a growing list of successes for Shamardal's daughters. Sold at the Goresbridge breeze-up by Tom Whitehead's Powerstown Stud to Marco Bozzi for €26,000, he is out of Montefino (Ire) who was herself bought for just 4,500gns from Darley as an unraced 3-year-old. Her grandam Mezzogiorno (GB) (Unfuwain) was third to Lady Carla (GB) in the Oaks in 1996.

Shamardal also features as the broodmare sire of G2 Sandy Lane S. winner Hello Youmzain (Fr) (Kodiac {GB}), Irish Derby winner Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and his sister, the Oaks runner-up Pink Dogwood (Ire), as well as G1 Prix Morny winner Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB})

Moon Continues To Rise
In consecutive weekends, two Preis der Diana trials have been won by the offspring of young stallions with German links. The aforementioned Akribie's sire Reliable Man stood fourb seasons at Gestut Rottgen before being transferred to France last year. Meanwhile Preciosa (Ger), winner of the Kronimus Diana-Trial at Baden-Baden on June 1 is by Sea The Moon (Ger), Gestut Gorlsdorf's runaway winner of the Desutsches Derby in 2014, who has stood his entire career to date at Lanwades Stud in Newmarket, where he has been kept busy this covering season.

The son of Sea The Stars (Ire) is also the sire of current Deutsches Derby favourite, the Gorlsdorf-bred Quest The Moon (Ger), who was the impressive winner of the G3 Prix du Lys for Sarah Steinberg and Stall Salzburg. Another of his runners to have caught the eye in England is Pondus (GB), who runs in the colours of Hubert Strecker and was bred by Kirsten Rausing from Diablarette (GB) (Green Desert), a three-parts sister to German Group 1 winner Lady Jane Digby (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). The James Fanshawe-trained 3-year-old, who was bought from October Book 3 for 80,000gns by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock, has won two of his three starts this season and holds an entry for the G2 King Edward VII S. at Royal Ascot.

Quinn Hoping For Ascot Beach Party
With Royal Ascot fast approaching, those stallion masters with first-crop sires will be hoping for the kind of dream results posted by New Approach (Ire) and Zoffany (Ire), each of whom notched a trio of whom notched a trio of royal meeting winners with their debut crop of runners.

Sons of Invincible Spirit (Ire) sit atop the tables for the first-crop and second-crop sires, with Juddmonte's Kingman (GB) out in front on the latter and Highclere Stud's Cable Bay (Ire) currently heading the freshman sires' table with seven winners. His leading juvenile to date, Liberty Beach (GB), was led out unsold from the Tattersalls Ascot Yearling Sale at £16,000 when offered by Mickley Stud, where she was bred. But it's likely that her owner-breeder Philip Wilkins will field the odd enquiring phone call or two now that the filly out of sprint winner Flirtinaskirt (GB) (Avonbridge {GB}) is unbeaten in her two starts, including Saturday's Hilary Needler Trophy. Her trainer John Quinn has indicated that she will be given entries for the G2 Queen Mary S., which he won last year with the smart Signora Cabello (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), and the Windsor Castle S.

If you're lucky enough to take a stroll around the paddocks of Richard Kent's Mickley Stud you'll come across fields of stores alongside those bred for the Flat and the versatility of the stock raised there was also evident over the weekend by the hurdles victory of Mr Adjudicator in the G2 Prix La Barka at Auteuil. Now trained by Willie Mullins, the 5-year-old was bred by William Harmes in the single season that his sire Camacho (GB) stood at Mickley before returning to Yeomanstown Stud. The gelding has now won four times over hurdles, including the G1 Tattersalls Ireland Spring Juvenile Hurdle, and twice on the Flat.

Another of this year's first-season sires to have made progress in the last week is the Tweenhills resident Hot Streak (Ire). He secured his first winner, the appropriately named Between Hills (Ire), at Listowel on June 2 and that was followed by wins for the Cool Silk Partnership's Flaming Princess (GB) at Nottingham three days later and Qatar Racing's Illusionist (GB) at Bath on Friday.

Fathers And Sons
Through Hermosa (Ire) and Anthony Van Dyck (Ire), champion sire Galileo (Ire) may again be ruling the roost but it has been good to see a variety of stallions represented by European Classic winners so far this season. Frankel (GB) reinforced the Galileo sireline and claimed his first British Classic winner via Anapurna (GB) in the Oaks. Shamardal and his son Lope De Vega (Ire) have one apiece with Castle Lady (Ire) and Phoenix Of Spain (Ire), as do another father-and-son team Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kingman (GB) through Magna Grecia (Ire) and Persian King (Ire). Siyouni (Fr) has had a breakthrough male Classic winner in Sottsass (Fr) and his sire Pivotal (GB) has featured as broodmare sire of Hermosa.

The Danehill line has had a good run in Germany and Italy, with Main Edition (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) winning the German 1000 Guineas and Fox Champion (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) landing the equivalent colts' Classic, while Fullness Of Life (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) won the G3 Premio Regina Elena, otherwise known as the Italian 1000 Guineas.

Another son of Galileo, Rip Van Winkle (Ire), sired the Botti-bred and -trained G2 Derby Italiano winner Keep On Fly (Ire) and, last but not least, another product of the Botti family's breeding empire, Out Of Time (Ity), became the second winner of an Italian Classic for his dam Calma Apparente (GB) (Rainbow Quest) when taking the G3 Premio Parioli (2000 Guineas) and the first for his sire Sakhee's Secret (GB), who has stood the last four seasons in Italy.

Father And Daughter Not Bad Either
Soffia (GB) (Kyllachy{GB}) won her second stakes race in three weeks on Friday when holding off Dan's Dream (GB) (Cityscape {GB}) by a neck in the G3 Ballyogan S. at the Curragh, once again showing the mastery of her trainer 'Fast Eddie' Lynam in the sprint division. However, it is the trainer's daughter and TDN contributor Amy Lynam who can claim some of the early credit for the filly, having pinhooked her as a foal for 16,000gns from breeder Newsells Park Stud.

Lynam said that she was attracted to the filly because of her similarity to her father's former stable star Sole Power (GB), another Kyllachy speedball. By the time it came to the yearling sales, Lynam senior had clearly also been taken by the filly and bought her with Lady O'Reilly, who already had a strong connection to the filly having bred her dam, the listed-placed Rime A Rien (GB) (Amadeus Wolf {GB}).

“She was my first ever pinhook and Lady O'Reilly had actually sold her dam when she was carrying her,” Amy Lynam said. “The family was doing well and at the time and [Rime A Rien's half-brother] Al Jazi (Ire) had just won a Group 3 at Goodwood, but at the same time Lady O'Reilly had lost the foal out of that mare so she decided to buy Soffia with dad and I'm delighted it has worked out so well.”

After an easy few weeks, Soffia may be seen next in the Sapphire S. during the Irish Oaks meeting, with a longer-term aim being a tilt at the G1 Flying Five on Irish Champions Weekend.

Lynam really should be drafted in for spotting duties by her partner, the bloodstock agent Matt Houldsworth, who, with Geoffrey Howson, was responsible for buying Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain as a yearling. She added, “Of course he had to go and outdo me with a Classic winner!”

Amade's International Appeal
We've become accustomed to the globetrotting antics of Marco Botti, whose international strikes have included Grade 1 victories in North America with Capla Temptress (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Gitano Hernando (GB) (Hernando {FR}), Joshua Tree (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and Euro Charline (GB) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) as well as some near-misses in the Dubai World Cup, Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup with Planteur (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), Jakkalberry (Ire) (Storming Home {GB}) and Dandino (GB) (Dansili {GB}). Now it looks as if another member of the clan, the trainer's Chantilly-based cousin Alessandro Botti, will be on the Melbourne Cup trail following the victory of Amade (Ire) (Casamento {Ire}) in the GII Belmont Gold Cup on Saturday.

A five-time winner in France, the 5-year-old also struck twice in England over the winter, winning at Kempton and Chelmsford to qualify for the All Weather Championships at Lingfield on Good Friday. That first start for the partnership of OTI Racing with his original owner Laurent Dassault saw him finish a good second to Watersmeet (GB) in the All-Weather Marathon, thus sparking wider international ambitions.

A tweet from OTI Racing perfectly summed up the global outlook of the Australian-based syndicate. It read, “Belmont Gold Cup winner Amade epitomises all that is global racing—bred in Ireland, a winner in USA, trained by Italian based in France, ridden by Frenchman based in USA and owned by team from UK, Italy, NZ and Australia.”

Amade wasn't the only winner for OTI over the weekend, which also struck with imports Attorney (Fr) (Makfi {GB}) and Inverloch (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), each making their first start in Australia, while Grey Lion (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was second in the G2 Brisbane Cup.

OTI has also recently bought the unbeaten 3-year-old Montabot (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), who will remain in training with Pascal Bary in France.

Constanzia's Win A Welcome Boost
There will have been no more welcome a victory last week than that posted by Constanzia (GB) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who won on her third start for Jamie Osborne at Chelmsford on Saturday. Less than 12 hours earlier, the 2-year-old filly had been in one of the stables closest to the fire which broke out at the trainer's Lambourn yard, destroying a bungalow and tack room. Thankfully the fire was thwarted before reaching neighbouring stables and no horses or people were injured in the blaze.