The Weekly Wrap

At the JHRA Select Sale of 2014, Qatar Racing spent ¥870 million, which equates to a little over £6 million, on a yearling and eight foals, seven of which were by Deep Impact (Jpn).

These included the top-priced yearling of the sale, by Deep Impact out of the G1 Fillies' Mile winner Listen (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), at ¥260 million (approximately £1.8 million). Now named New World Power (Jpn), he had three placed runs for Roger Varian last season and, having subsequently been moved to David Simcock, has entries to make his seasonal reappearance this weekend at either Doncaster or Hamilton.

Among the foals was a colt by the 2011 G1 Dubai World Cup winner Victoire Pisa (Jpn), whose first crop included the G1 Japanese 1000 Guineas winner Jeweler (Jpn). Bought for the equivalent of roughly £320,000, the half-brother to Group 2 winner Hakusan Moon (Jpn) (Admire Moon {Jpn}) was named Warring States (Jpn) and sent to be trained by Andreas Wohler in Germany, where he became the first stakes winner for his sire outside Japan when winning yesterday's G3 Bavarian Classic in Munich.

Another foal from the same batch was Love Conquers (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), a sister to G1 Japanese Derby winner Deep Brillante (Jpn), who made her debut in the Qatar Racing silks last week for Ralph Beckett. They also have an unraced 3-year-old filly named, Deep Sea (Jpn), by Deep Impact out of the G1 Australian Derby and G1 Australian Guineas heroine Shamrocker (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}).

Also at Sandown last Friday, the Simcock-trained Derby entry Fierce Impact (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), a debutant winner last season, ran last of five but not beaten far in a competitive field for the G3 Classic Trial. Meanwhile, Lethal Impact (Jpn), by the same sire and a full-brother to G1 Japanese Oaks winner Mikki Queen (Jpn), is declared to run at Yarmouth on Wednesday.

Fortune Favours the Brave…

Though Flat and National Hunt racing are two very distinct codes, there can sometimes be a fine line between the two, with perhaps only eight flights of hurdles separating a top-class stayer and a champion hurdler.

As someone with a foot planted firmly in both camps, there have been few horses I've enjoyed supporting more in recent years than Overturn (GB) (Barathea {Ire}), a winner over seven furlongs at two and later over 1m6f for the late Walter Swinburn before being bought as a hurdling prospect for £75,000 by Donald McCain for Tim Leslie. That transpired to be money extremely well spent as Overturn added the Chester Cup and Northumberland Plate to his list of Flat achievements while also becoming one of the most consistent jumpers in training. In 19 starts over hurdles, he won seven times, including the G1 Fighting Fifth, and was placed in another eight, most notable when second to Rock On Ruby (Ire) in the G1 Champion Hurdle. He also won three of four steeplechases contested and was second in another.

In short, he was the perfect all-rounder, but he now has a strong rival for my affection in Wicklow Brave (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}), whose victory in Friday's G1 Punchestown Champion Hurdle helped to secure a last-gasp 10th champion trainer title for Willie Mullins. This of course came just seven months after he became a Classic winner on the Flat when beating Order Of St George (Ire) in the G1 Irish St Leger. Wicklow Brave was slower to come to hand than Overturn and didn't make his debut–in a bumper–until he was four but, now eight, he has accrued earnings of £392,772 in 10 victories from his 32 starts.

When trainers and agents are selling the dream to owners, perhaps having a 2-year-old winner at Royal Ascot who attracts lucrative offers from overseas is one appealing element, but far more of a lure, surely, is the dream of horse that can take you places, literally, just as Wicklow Brave has done for Nick Peacock of Wicklow Bloodstock.

I don't know too many owners who wouldn't relish spending five seasons and counting with a competitive runner at such occasions as the festivals of Cheltenham, Galway and Punchestown, Royal Ascot, Irish Champions Weekend and the Melbourne Cup. Those have all been destinations on Wicklow Brave's itinerary and, to paraphrase Neil Young, long may he run.

All's Wells…

Continuing the dual-purpose theme, as the jumps season has drawn to a close and the first of this season's Classics are upon us, it would be remiss not to mention the extraordinary influence of Sadler's Wells across both codes.

We now take for granted the fact that Sadler's Wells's own extraordinary run as champion sire has been continued by his son Galileo (Ire), but he has also provided the champion National Hunt sire in Britain and Ireland for five of the last six seasons in King's Theatre (Ire). Furthermore, four of the top five stallions in the jump table for the 2016-17 season were sons of Sadler's Wells, with Kayf Tara (GB) having been the British champion for eight seasons and now very much a viable contender to take the crown of King's Theatre in the coming years.

King's Theatre's stud career was well managed by Ballylinch Stud, which takes pride in standing a top-class dual-purpose stallion and was also once home to Bob Back (Roberto). On King's Theatre's death in 2011, Ballylinch bought from Juddmonte another son of Sadler's Wells, Beat Hollow, who can have no finer flagbearer for the job he was recruited to do than the aforementioned Wicklow Brave.

Beat Hollow's future jumping prospects are still young, but his allure was enough to be able to attract the outstanding hurdler Quevega (Fr) (Robin Des Champs {Fr}) in her first year at stud. Another Willie Mullins-trained top-class jumps mare, Annie Power (Ire) (Shirocco {Ger}), has this past week been confirmed in foal to Camelot (Ire). Though the treble Classic winner's sire Montjeu (Ire) has a growing influence in the National Hunt sphere through his sons such as Walk In The Park (Ire), Scorpion (Ire) and Montmartre (Fr), the resultant foal from this particular mating should be considered a decent Flat prospect in the making. Out of a Group 3 winner in Germany and English listed winner, Annie Power, who started her career in training with Jim Bolger, is a granddaughter of German champion filly Anna Paola (Ger). That G1 Preis der Diana winner's dynasty contains numerous stakes performers, including Darley sire Helmet (Aus), whose first-crop son Thunder Snow (GB) lines up for Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

Larceny in the Black…

The Black Princess (Fr) continued the excellent recent run globally of her sire Iffraaj (GB) when making all to win the G3 Prix Allez France at Chantilly on Sunday. She also provided another reason to rue the recent death of Cape Cross (Ire), as she is out of his once-raced daughter Larceny (Ire)–a half-sister to the French Classic-winning duo of Latice (Ire) (Inchinor {GB}) and Lawman (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire})–and thus inbred 3×3 to Park Appeal (GB), whose influence has been profound for Sheikh Mohammed's breeding operation.

Though Larceny didn't cover herself in glory on the racecourse, the family has served her connections well. Like her illustrious siblings and her stakes-winning daughter, Larceny was bred under the Petra Bloodstock Agency banner and raced for Lady O'Reilly, through whose Haras de la Louviere four of Larceny's yearlings have been sold at consecutive Arqana August Sales, for €85,000, €170,000, €210,000 and €600,000.

Charlie Liverton, an advisor to Robin Geffen and chief executive of Britain's Racehorse Owners Association, bought The Black Princess for €170,000 and clearly liked the family so much that he returned the following year to buy her half-brother Oxford Thinking (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). The latter also started his career with John Gosden, but has returned to France since being sold on in February and is now trained by John Hammond.

Larceny's 2-year-old filly, Gabrielle (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}), the most expensive of the clan to date, is now in training with Andre Fabre for John Camilleri's Fairway Sas.