By Emma Berry
In a rare diversion from the domination of the breeding superpowers this season, the Dante Stakes was a triumph for David and Lavinia Aykroyd, English owner-breeders with four broodmares at their disposal. And for the second year in a row, Yorkshire's key Derby trial went to a colt raised in the county at Copgrove Hall Stud.
The Ralph Beckett-trained Pride Of Arras is out of the Oasis Dream mare Parnell's Dream, who is also an Aykroyd homebred and a boarder at the Harrogate farm formerly owned by Guy Reed, which is now managed by Brian O'Rourke.
“It's very thrilling. He was bred at Copgrove Hall and was broken in for us by Mark Dwyer,” said Lavinia Aykroyd, whose bloodstock interests are managed by BBA Ireland's Patrick Cooper.
On a memorable day on the Knavesmire, Aykroyd also won the second race, the Oakmere Homes Hambleton Stakes, with Old Cock (Calyx).
“There are no tears in my eyes,” said a beaming Patrick Cooper, the nephew of David Aykroyd. “This is what it's all about – good old-fashioned owner-breeders. They only have four mares.”
Pride Of Arras certainly has every right to be at the forefront of the reckoning for the Derby, not just for his performance at York but also for his solid middle-distance pedigree. His dam was also trained by Beckett to win twice over 1m4f and is herself out of Kitty O'Shea (Sadler's Wells), a sister to the St Leger winner Brian Boru and also to Soviet Moon, the dam of 2010 Derby and Arc winner Workforce.
Cooper added, “We bought the granddam Kitty O'Shea privately from Coolmore and it's taken a while for this to all come together. You have to stick it with it though. Now they've got a Derby horse.”
Brian O'Rourke, who also boards La Pomme d'Amour (Peintre Celebre), the dam of last year's Dante winner Economics (Night Of Thunder) at Copgrove Hall Stud, said, “This is just fantastic. I'm so pleased for them. Owner-breeders like this are almost non-existent these days. It's great to see.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
