Almanzor

Already a winner of the G1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) in June, Gezora (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}) unleashed a devastating late kick to down stretch leader She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) in the dying strides and claim the $2-million GI Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf by half-length. The final time for the 1 3/8 miles was 2:12.54. The bay gave her trainer Francis-Henri Graffard his first Breeders' Cup victory. He is champion trainer elect in France this year. Bred by Haras d'Etreham where her sire used to...

The boy-made-good story of Wootton Bassett is as time-honoured as life itself. To a degree, it is a rags-to-riches tale, particularly when it comes to the phenomenal trajectory of his stallion career. And it is a story which is ending far too soon. The 17-year-old stallion died on Tuesday at Coolmore Australia in the Hunter Valley after developing acute pneumonia from a bout of choke, a condition in which food blocks the oesophagus, often leading to complications. His passing comes at a time when Wootton Bassett was in his pomp;...

Marco Botti and Marco Ghiani enjoyed a glorious homecoming at Capannelle on Monday when teaming up to win the 142nd running of the G2 Derby Italiano with Molveno (Almanzor). Both trainer and jockey were winning the most prestigious race that their home country has to offer for the first time. Former Joseph O'Brien trainee Heldtoransom (Churchill) raced at the head of affairs through the first part of the 2,200-metre contest, with April's G3 Italian 1,000 Guineas winner Klaynn (Make Believe) for company as Ghiani settled his mount towards the rear...

Almanzor (Fr), the European champion three-year-old of 2016 and the star of the first crop of Wootton Bassett (GB), will continue his stallion career solely at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand. Bred by Haras d'Etreham, where he has served his northern hemisphere stud career for the past seven seasons, Almanzor has proved more successful in Australasia, where he is the sire of nine Group 1 performers including the Victoria Derby winner Manzoice (Aus). He was also New Zealand's leading sire of juveniles and leading first-season-sire in 2021 and 2022. "We...

The G1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) has been retired to Haras d'Etreham, where he will be introduced at a fee of €12,500. From the Juddmonte family which includes Hasili (GB) and her stallion sons Dansili (GB), Cacique (GB) and Champs Elysees (GB), Onesto was named a TDN Rising Star at two and was also placed in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and Irish Champion S. He is in the process of being syndicated. Next season, the Etreham sires Persian King (Ire) and Hello Youmzain...

Is it just me or should France be known as the bloodstock land of opportunity? This is the country that saw Wootton Bassett (GB) and Walk In The Park (Ire) pull themselves up by the bootstraps after entering the stud book at relatively modest sums. There are few serious racing nations that provide as much of a chance for a stallion to flourish than France does. Take Kauto Star (Fr), the greatest staying chaser of the modern era, as an example. He hailed from the largely unheralded Village Star (Fr)...

Four wildcards have been added to the Tattersalls November Online Sale, which begins Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 12 p.m. and closes 24 hours later. The newest entries are headed by the 4-year-old Apollo One (GB) (Equiano {Fr}), who is being offered by Peter Charalambous and James Clutterbuck's Pond House Racing. Already a four-time winner at the races, the chestnut most recently validated 100-30 favouritism in the Unibet London Sprint Series final at Kempton Nov. 9, earning a shade more than £41,000 for the victory. Rated on 96 following the effort,...

Almanzor (Fr), who was recently represented by his first Group 1 winner in Australia, will stand at the reduced fee of €25,000 for 2023. Among his potential top-class 3-year-olds for next season are the Aga Khan's unbeaten Rajapour (Fr), winner of the Listed Prix Isonomy at Deauville last month, and Ecurie Billon's Around Midnight (Fr), who was beaten a short-head for second in the G3 Prix des Reservoirs. Also commanding a fee of €25,000 for next season is the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Persian King (Ire), who has...

American bloodstock agent Liz Crow, best known for sourcing GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winners Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) for 280,000gns and British Idiom (Flashback) for $40,000, Jack Christopher (Munnings) for $135,000 and the mighty Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) for $100,000, says that her first trip to Arqana October was a success after picking up four well-bred fillies this week. Crow bought Aunt Pearl at Book 1 at Tattersalls in 2019 for 280,000gns but, in anticipation of a buoyant trade at Park Paddocks this year, opted to sidestep...

Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}--Darkova, by Maria's Mon), who serves mares at Haras d'Etreham in France and at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand during the Southern Hemisphere breeding season, achieved a remarkable multi-national double Aug. 20, with winners minutes apart in Japan and in Australia. Over a rain-affected course at Niigata, the well-related first-starter Via Luce (Ire) defied an awkward draw in gate 15 of 17 to validate $1.90 (9-10) favouritism and become the first Japanese winner for her sire. Beaten for pace despite being asked by jockey Yasunari Iwata,...

6.15 Newmarket, Mdn, £8,000, 2yo, 8fT CASTLE WAY (GB) (Almanzor {Fr}) makes his debut for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby and is a 425,000gns Book 1 graduate and half-brother to the high-class multiple group 1-winning Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}). The stable's Lenormand (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is the mount of William Buick, but the 600,000gns Tattersalls December Foals graduate has to progress from his initial outing when sixth at Newbury last month.

A stallion share in Almanzor (Fr) topped Fasig-Tipton's inaugural March Digital Selected Sale when selling for $250,000 to Riviera Equine SARL/Haras d'Etreham when online bidding concluded Tuesday afternoon. The 9-year-old stallion, who stands in France at Haras d'Etreham, will be represented by his first crop of 3-year-olds this year. A Group 1 winner on the racetrack, he is the sire of Dynastic (NZ), who is Group 1-placed in New Zealand, as well as the group-placed Andalus (NZ) and Queen Trezy (Fr). Also bringing six figures at the auction was Bramble...