The Right Result For Lope De Vega

Although the Dubai World Cup rightly stole most of the headlines at Meydan on Saturday, it was merely one of five Group 1 races on a race-day which never disappoints. Among the heroes whom Dubai World Cup Night threw up was The Right Man (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). His thrilling victory in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint wrote the latest chapter in the story of his excellent young sire, who has already produced an impressively wide selection of high-class horses.

Lope De Vega only began having runners in 2014. He made an immediate impact when his son Belardo (Ire) won Britain's top juvenile race, the G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket. That was a very good start, but obviously not a guarantee that he would make further progress. However, that is exactly what Lope De Vega has done, just as his own sire Shamardal (Giant's Causeway) had done before him. In Shamardal's case he came up with some very good horses in his first crop and has been doing so on an annual basis ever since. In addition to Lope De Vega, Shamardal's first-crop offspring around the world included the G1 winners Faint Perfume (Aus), Captain Sonador (Aus) and Zazou (Ger). However, Lope De Vega was his best first-crop son, as he showed by winning two Classics in France as a 3-year-old in the spring and early summer of 2010.

Shamardal was a strong and ultra-genuine racehorse, and he comes not just from one of the best Ballymacoll Stud families, but from the same branch of it as the outstanding Street Cry (Ire) (Machiavellian). He was a top-class juvenile (winning the G1 Dewhurst S. in 2004) before thriving at three, his victories in his second season including both the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club. Lope De Vega, an imposing horse in the mould of his sire even if a different colour, followed in his father's footsteps as a high-class juvenile who progressed to win those same two races.

Trained by Andre Fabre for his breeder Dietrich von Boetticher of Gestut Ammerland, Lope De Vega raced three times as a juvenile in 2009. His first two appearances brought victories in the Prix de Montaigu over 1500m at Deauville and in the Prix Al Khor over 1400m at Longchamp. He was then upped in class straight to the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere over 1400m at Longchamp on 'Arc Day'. As previously, he again started favourite, but this time could only finish fourth, albeit beaten by three very good horses: Siyouni (Fr) (Pivotal {GB}), Pounced (Rahy) and Buzzword (GB) (Pivotal {GB}). Siyouni is now a household name thanks to the superb start which he has made to his stud career; while Pounced won the G2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf S. on his next start, and Buzzword took the G1 Deutsches Derby the following year.

Lope De Vega continued to progress the following spring. Although beaten first-up in a confusing renewal of the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau, when he and Siyouni filled the minor placings behind the latter's pace-maker Rajsaman (Fr) (Linamix), Lope De Vega quickly became a dual Classic winner. Over 1600m at Longchamp he won the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains, beating subsequent dual G1 winner Dick Turpin (Ire) (Arakan) by half a length, with Siyouni, Buzzword, Rajsaman, Zazou and Poet's Voice (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) among the 13 colts who followed the pair home. Over 2100m at Chantilly he took the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club, shattering any doubts about his ability to handle the extra distance by slamming his 21 rivals, headed by subsequent G1 Prix Ganay winner Planteur (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}).

It was disappointing that Lope De Vega did not win again after that glorious afternoon at Chantilly. He cut little ice in his final three races, ultimately finishing midfield behind G1 Derby S. winner Workforce (GB) (King's Best) in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe over 2400m at Longchamp in the autumn. However, he clearly ranked as one of the most appealing stallion prospects to come off the track in Europe in the autumn of 2010, and duly found his way to a good stud. The 2011 breeding season thus saw him taking up stud duties in Ireland at Ballylinch in February 2011 at a fee of €15,000.

Now, six years later, Lope De Vega is even more appealing.   His already good pedigree looks even better as his Group 3-winning, Group 1-placed dam Lady Vettori (GB) (Vettori {Ire}) now ranks as producer of three stakes winners, as well as French Classic entrant and recent impressive debutante winner Lady Frankel (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Shamardal's status is rock-solid and, more importantly, Lope De Vega has proved his own ability to sire winners.

The aforementioned Belardo was a wonderful ambassador for Lope De Vega's first crop, taking the G1 Dewhurst S. over 1400m at Newmarket as a 2-year-old in 2014 before developing into a top weight-for-age miler at four, winning the G1 Lockinge S. over a mile at Newbury before finishing an excellent half-length second to Tepin (Bernstein) in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot. Belardo, though, was merely one of four Group-winning 2-year-olds among Lope De Vega's first crop.   Also scoring in Pattern company at two were the English Group 3 winners Burnt Sugar (Ire) and Royal Razalma (Ire), as well as Hero Look (Ire), successful in 2014 in Italy's top juvenile race, the G2 Gran Criterium at San Siro. The latter augmented that triumph the following spring when taking Italy's equivalent of the 2,000 Guineas, the G3 Premio Parioli in Rome.

Further good horses emerged once Lope De Vega's first crop had turned three. In the spring of 2015 Ride Like The Wind (Ire) became his sire's fifth Group winner by taking the G3 Prix Djebel over 1400m at Maisons-Laffitte, beating two very good horses. Runner-up Make Believe (GB) (Makfi) won the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains next time out; while third-placed Sir Andrew (Fr) (Polan {Fr}) now ranks as a dual Group One winner in Hong Kong, where he races as Helene Paragon. The total later rose firstly to six courtesy of Very Special (Ire) who has been a Group winner at each of the past two the Dubai International Carnivals at Meydan; and then to seven thanks to the Anita Wigan-bred The Right Man, a Group 3-winning sprinter in France as a 4-year-old in 2016 and now a Group 1 winner at five thanks to his ultra-determined victory in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan last Saturday.

Some horses have sired a top-class juvenile or two in their first crop only for time to show that this initial success was merely flash in the pan. That, though, has not been the case with Lope De Vega. Since that great start, Lope De Vega has continued to come up with good horses in each subsequent crop. The best juvenile in his second crop was the excellent Blue De Vega (Ger). Bred, like his sire, by Gestut Ammerland, Blue De Vega landed the G3 Killavullan S. over seven furlongs at Leopardstown at two before finishing third in the following year's G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas. That excellent Classic placing, though, was not the best performance by a Lope De Vega second-crop three-year-old in the spring of 2016: Jemayel (Ire) became her sire's second Group 1 winner by taking the G1 Prix Saint-Alary over 2000m at Chantilly last May.

Lope De Vega duly had some good juveniles in his third crop last year, most notably South Seas (Ire) and Navara King (Ire). The former became his sire's second winner of the G3 Sirenia S. when winning at Kempton last August; while the latter, another Gestut Ammerland-bred, landed the G3 Zukunfts-Rennen over 1400m at Baden-Baden in September. Past form suggests that is likely that several more good horses will emerge from this crop now that its members have turned three; and that we can expect some good Lope De Vega fourth-crop juveniles to thrive during the forthcoming European season.

During the early days of his stud career Lope De Vega shuttled to the ill-fated Patinack Farm in Australia. Inevitably he left some good horses behind him there, most notably French Fern (Aus), Vega Magic (Aus) and Santa Ana Lane (Aus). French Fern, winner of the G2 Riesling S. over 1200m at Randwick, was one of the best 2-year-old fillies in Sydney last season; Vega Magic was one of the stars of the most recent Perth Summer Carnival, winning two Group 3 sprints; and the Lee Freedman-trained Santa Ana Lane was the first member of Lope De Vega's first Australian crop to strike at Group level thanks to his victory in last season's G3 Zeditave S. over 1200m at Caulfield. Arguably the best son of Lope De Vega racing at present in Australia, however, is the imported Endless Drama (Ire). This super-tough sprinter/miler has been one of the stars of Lope De Vega's first crop. He finished second to Gleneagles (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas; third to his paternal half-brother Belardo in the G1 Lockinge S. as a 4-year-old; and, aged five, he has now finished third behind Australia's reigning Horse of the Year Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) in the G2 Apollo S. over 1400m at Randwick and then sixth behind her in the G1 Chipping Norton S. over 1600m.

Lope De Vega's fee at Ballylinch Stud has risen from a first-season fee of €15,000 in 2011 to €50,000 this year. This large fee, though, seems justified as the evidence continues to accumulate that he is a high-class stallion who can churn out a solid stream of good horses, capable of showing high-class form from sprints to middle distances under varying racing conditions. It would be a major surprise if his list of accomplishments does not continue to expand during 2017 and well beyond.