Charles Dickens advises trainer Candice Bass-Robinson of his well-being at Summerveld this morning (Chase Liebenberg).

Bass-Robinson Stars In A Very Good Place

Candice Bass-Robinson said Charles Dickens and Trip Of Fortune were both exceptionally good work horses at home and can not be separated on their homework.

She added, “Trip Of Fortune has improved no end this season and it will be interesting to see them clash for the first time.”

However, she then edged towards Charles Dickens and said, “Charles Dickens might be a bit better. He is obviously a younger horse and he probably has a better turn of foot, certainly a quicker turn of foot.”

The pair recently galloped together around the turn at Summerveld in the build up to Saturday’s Gr 1 wfa Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville.

They both did their final piece of hard work at Summerveld on Tuesday.

Candice was asked what she thought about the sponsor’s price for Charles Dickens of 4/10.

She said, “It is short. Al Muthana beat him in the L’Ormarins King’s Plate and he also won this race last year. Al Muthana also ran very well in his last start in the Drill Hall. So, there are horses to beat. It is not going to just be a walk in the park. But obviously I am hoping Charles is good enough to win it and I certainly believe he is good enough. He has come on from his win in the WSB Guineas.”

Charles Dickens displayed his devastating turn of foot in the latter race and won easily, despite needing it.

On the same day Trip Of Fortune, coming off a win in the Gr 1 wfa HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m, won the Gr 2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m, beating third-placed Al Muthana by 0,90 lengths.

Asked whether Charles Dickens might be supplemented for the Hollywoodbets Durban July after Saturday’s race Candice answered emphatically, “No.”

She was also not sure whether the superstar Drakenstein Stud-homebred Trippi colt would even go for the Gr 1 Hong Kong World Pool Champions Cup on Gold Cup day.

With no news yet about any export protocol changes, Candice said Charles Dickens’ long term aim would be the big races in the next Cape Summer Season.

She concluded, “Both horses (Charles Dickens and Trip Of Fortune) are in a very good place.”

She also commented on their “perfect draws.”

They are next to each other with Trip Of Fortune in three under Gareth Wright and Charles Dickens in four under Aldo Domeyer.

On Saturday Bass-Robinson also runs the Listed WSB Ladies Mile winner Going Up in the Gr 2 Tibouchina over 1400m. She said she had been doing well for the short time she had been at Summerveld. She does have to overcome the widest draw of all. However, the Hollywood Syndicate-owned Gimmthegreenlight filly did show a fair turn of foot in the Ladies Mile and won it by 2,25 lengths. She looks to be on the up and Aldo Domeyer knows her well.

Winter Games can prove how good he is in the Listed The Sharks Gatecrasher Stakes on Saturday at Hollywoodbets Greyville.

Miller Pair Winter Games And Epic View Held In High Regard

Mike Miller’s assistant trainer Craig Eudey said stable jockey Tristan Godden had the choice of ride for both the Listed The Sharks Gatecrasher Stakes and the Listed Hollywoodbets Super League Devon Air Stakes and he had opted for Winter Games and Epic View respectively.

Eudey revealed that the yard had been “very disappointed” when What A Winter colt Winter Games had been beaten on debut.

The fact he finished five lengths that day behind another Gatecrasher contestant Zoombomber in the 1200m contest might have prompted the bookmakers to have Winter Games at a longer price in the Gatecrasher than his twice-winning stablemate Romance In Rome.

However, Winter Games confirmed his promise next time out by beating a Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained raider around the turn over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville with the rest of the field 4,20 lengths and more behind him.

The form of that race has not worked out well, but Godden’s choice tells the story of who the stable elect is seen to be.

It does not always work out to plan though and Romance In Rome did impress last time out when winning by three lengths at Hollywoodbets Greyville over 1400m, his second win in succession.

Furthermore, he is by the promising new stallion Danon Platina, whose progeny look to be of a progressive make up.

Lastly, on formlines there looks to be little between Winter Games and Romance In Rome, and the latter might in fact come out marginally ahead.

However, Winter Games is held in high regard and being out of an Ideal World mare who won over 1600m and who has produced a winner by Duke Of Marmalade over 2000m, he should relish the step up in trip.

He jumps from draw four out of nine and Romance In Rome, who has Robert Khathi up, jumps from gate five.

Winter Games led from start to finish in his win and wasn’t stopping at the line so might try and dominate again on Saturday.

Godden has chosen the one-time winning Red Ray filly Epic View ahead of the twice-winner African Folklore in the Devon Air Stakes.

Epic View stayed on resolutely when winning going away over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville second time out and gave the impression she was looking for further.

Last time out in the Gr 3 Strelitzia Stakes over 1100m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville she had to run on palpably the unfavourable side on the day being drawn ten out of ten. She might have been beaten 8,65 lengths, but the winner was the exceptional Winter Cloud. Furthermore, the two horses who beat Epic View narrowly in that race, Bomber Girl and Secret Identity, have both come out and won comfortably since.

Epic View has a fair draw of six out of 14 on Saturday.

African Folklore by Querari won her second and third starts at Hollywoodbets Scottsville over 1000m and 1200m respectively.

In the last of those runs she beat two horses, Captain’s Christy and Lady Lacewing, who went on to beat Epic View in the Strelitzia. In fact she even gave weight to her stablemate Lady Lacewing that day.

Nevertheless, the bookmakers agree with Godden’s choice and have Epic View ahead of African Folklore in the betting.

The Miller yard give both Winter Games and Epic View winning chances on Saturday, although they are in ultra competitive fields.

These two races are always full of intrigue as they often unearth new stars and can put put dampeners on the credentials of the early bloomers.

Last year the two races were respectively won by Canadian Summer and Cousin Casey, who both went on to be named Equus Champion two-year-olds of their gender.

Kommetdieding looking in fine shape at Klawervlei Stud ahead of his first season as a stallion.

Kommetdieding Looking In Fine Shape At First AGM

Kommetdieding was shown off at the first AGM of his shareholders at Klawervlei Stud earlier this week.

He is looking full of well-being as cab be seen in the picture above.

The Raceform analysis of Kommetdieding’s stallion credentials can be read below:

Kommetdieding hails from a strong sire-producing female line, tracing to Queen Of Light. This mare is by Borealis out of Picture Play, making her very close kin to sires Alycidon and Acropolis. The notable lines here are grandsire Donatello and grandam Aurora.

The bottom female line extends further to the mare Absurdity, full sister to Doxa. The latter is grandam of Helene de Troie, dam of famous mare La Troienne. The pedigree make-up of Helene de Troie makes her close kin to Amuse, grandam of Queen Of Light, which in turn leads to a close kinship between La Troienne and Queen Of Light. This gives an expectation that descendants of La Troienne and of Queen Of Light might combine well.

Four of Queen Of Light’s daughters established sire-producing families: Chandelier, Crystal Palace, Picture Light and Lovely Light. Of these, Chandelier was the most prolific one. We follow the legacy of her daughter Crystal Light. Her two highest achieving descendants are Kommetdieding and Captain America., both multiple Gr1 winners.

Kommetdieding is by Elusive Fort (Fort Wood) out of a mare by Captain Al, while Captain America is by Captain Al out of a daughter of Fort Wood.

Captain Al’s influence appears to follow one of two routes: either his sire Al Mufti, or his bottom female line. Al Mufti is a son of influential mare Lassie Dear. She is by Buckpasser, possibly La Troienne’s most influential descendant. Captain Al carries a double of Buckpasser’s dam Busanda, and thus a double of La Troienne. This provides the link to Queen Of Light.

Kommetdieding’s sire Elusive Fort brings more of the same. His dam Ever Seeking is by Secret Prospector. The latter’s grandam Numbered Account is by Buckpasser out of Intriguing, herself a descendant of La Troienne, and so giving a double La T. Interestingly, Numbered Account is close kin to Lassie Dear.

Secret Prospector is kinbred through the bottom female line of his sire Mr Prospector (Miss Dogwood) to La Troienne and daughter Baby League. Miss Dogwood is also close kin to Businesslike, dam of Busanda. Secret Prospector, in other words, looks to be a notable influence.

Secret Prospector’s pedigree elements make him close kin to several lines which appear in Elusive Fort’s best offspring. They include Gone West (Western Winter/Argonaut, West Man), Seeking The Gold (Windrush), Parade Leader.

Fort Wood might be of interest, as his dam Fall Aspen is close kin to Elusive Fort’s bottom line ancestor Empress.

Empress is also close kin to La Troienne and to Flower Bowl (dam of His Majesty, and Graustark – in Secret Prospector)

Suitable Lines

mares with multiples of La Troienne, which are widespread, and include Secret Prospector, Lassie Dear (Al Mufti, Captain Al, Duke Of Marmalade, Tiger Ridge, Jay Peg, etc), Northern Guest (Capetown Noir, Pomodoro), National Assembly (National Emblem, Rafeef, Vercingetorix), Complete Warrior, etc., etc.;
mares with Mr Prospector, which are widespread, notably including Secret Prospector, etc., etc., (and generally hard to avoid);
mares with kin-links to Secret Prospector, notably Gone West (Western Winter (Argonaut, What A Winter, Capetown Noir), West Man, Visionaire), Parade Leader, Seeking The Gold (Windrush, Lecture, Dubawi (Erupt, Willow Magic)), Forty Niner (Trippi, Distorted Humor (Flower Alley, Pathfork), Rich Man’s Gold (Kildonan));
mares with sires from Queen Of Light’s female line, including Crystal de Roche, Welsh Pageant (Canford Cliffs, Saumarez, Second Empire, Kildonan), etc;
mares with close kin-links to Queen Of Light, notably Alycidon (What A Winter (!), etc.), Acropolis (Kahal, Horse Chestnut, etc.); the dam of Queen Of Light is half sister to South African sire Royal Pardon (Goldmark, Vercingetorix
mares with Fort Wood (Dynasty, Horse Chestnut, Capetown Noir, William Longsword, etc).

First crop 2024

To see all of the stallion information about Kommetdieding CLICK HERE

Mike de Kock runs Union Square in the Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cup Trial on Saturday with the hope of qualifying him for the Hollywoodbets Durban July (JC Photos).

HWB Dolphins Cup Trial Trainer Comments

Michele Wing and the Gold Circle team put together this informative package ahead of Saturday’s important Hollywoodbets Durban July qualifying event, the Gr 3 Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cup Trial over 1800m

CLICK HERE TO WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE TRAINERS’ VIEWS

Pyromaniac runs in the Gr 3 Jubilee Stakes at Turffontein Standside on Sundayand will be out to qualify for the Hollywoodbets Durban July (JC Photos).

Tarry Has To Settle For Back To Front July Qualifiers

High-flying Sean Tarry sent Hollywoodbets Durban July entry Litigation back to Randjesfontein after his unplaced run from a wide draw in the Gr 2 WSB 1900 with the hope he would land a good draw for the Gr 3 Jubilee Stakes, which is to be run over 1800m at Turffontein Standside on Sunday.

In the meantime another of his July entries, Pyromaniac, was up in Johannesburg and he fancied his chances in the Gr 3 Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cup Trial over 1800m at Hollywoodbets Greyville … provided he drew well.

Alas, Litigation drew wide in the Jubilee and drew well in the Cup Trial, while Pyromaniac drew wide in the Cup Trial and drew well in the Jubilee.

Such are the frustrations of trying to qualify borderline horses for the big race.

Nevertheless, Pyromaniac should have a big chance in the Cup Trial.

He was unlucky last time out over that same course and distance when suddenly jumping over something, either a shadow or a patch, whilst running on strongly.

That incident must have cost him at least the length that he lost the race by (too Diesel And Dust).

Pyromaniac is a horse who needs cover in order to reserve himself for his good turn of foot and strong finish.

From draw three he will have a good chance of finding cover under Calvin Habib.

The horse he might have to beat could be the smart three-year-old Jimmy Don, who showed his class when running on strongly for second in the Gr 1 WSB SA Classic over this course and distance.

This Pathfork three-year-old does have to give Pyromaniac 4kg but he is drawn in pole as opposed to draw 16 in the SA Classic.

Pyromaniac will have to win to get into the July, but Jimmy Don will also want to win because he was precariously placed in position 18 on the final July log.

Puerto Manzano has already qualified for the July. he has to give lumps of weight away and this race will put him spot on for the July. However, he can’t be ignored such is his liking for middle distance races on this galloping course.

The long-striding Electric Gold is also out to qualify for the July and he is 6kg better off with Jimmy Don for a 6,25 length beating in the SA Classic. He beat Jimmy Don in the Gr 2 WSB Gauteng Guineas but has to prove he enjoys this trip because he was also unplaced in the Gr 2 WSB 1900.

Whafeef, who is not a July entry, also has a chance in this race.

Meanwhile, Litigation has to carry joint topweight in the Cup Trial but from draw three he will have a chance to show how good he is. He has struck as one who has come into his own as a four-year-old and the son of Greys Inn will be ready to put his best foot forward.

CLICK HERE TO SEE JUBILEE FIELD

CLICK HERE TO SEE CUP TRIAL FIELD

Lyle Hewitson’s winning ride at Happy Valley on Wednesday (hkjc.com).

Hewitson Adds Another After Sunday’s Treble

Lyle Hewitson rode a treble at Sha Tin on Sunday and added another winner to his tally when scoring for the Douglas Whyte yard at Happy Valley yesterday (Wednesday).

On Sunday he rode one winner for Whyte and two for Francis Lui.

He is now on 44 wins for the season and his mounts have earned HK$58,713,950 in stakes.

He is firmly in fifth place on the championship table.

A milestone 50 winners for the season is within grasping distance.

He had 27 wins last season for earnings of $31,547,780.

Considering his first stint in Hong Kong in the 2019/2020 season yielded just three wins from 225 rides, his perseverance has paid dividends and he is now firmly established in the racing jurisdiction where most jockeys would like to be.

Dunkel (Dundeel) made it 20 Gr 1 wins for New Zealand-breds in Australia this season when winning the South Australian Derby.

Kiwi Breeding’s Awesome Autumn In Australia

(This article was written on May 15, but is still worthy of publishing as it highlights how strong New Zealand thoroughbred breeding is.)

Bren O’Brien (anzbloodstocknews.com)

Kiwis’ Awesome Autumn Keeps Delivering

By The Numbers examines a once-in-a-generation season for New Zealand-bred horses in Australia and highlights Australia’s two most recent champion sires reaching the same milestone

The dominance of New Zealand-bred horses in Australian Group 1 races is a theme this column keeps coming back to – and that record was enhanced further by Dunkel’s (Dundeel) victory in the South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) on Saturday, May 13.

Since the start of The Championships on April 1, there have been 14 Group 1 races staged in Australia and Kiwi-breds have won 11 of them, including all three of the top-flight races held at Morphettville.

To give some historical context to the success that horses with the (NZ) suffix are having, By The Numbers dug into the Group 1 results of recent seasons and found that 2022/23 has witnessed their most successful Australian plunder since 2010/11.

New Zealand-bred horses have won 20 of Australia’s 67 Group 1 races this season, just short of the 21 achieved across the entire season 12 years ago. Given there are still seven Group 1 races remaining on the calendar, there will be ample opportunity to match and surpass that high.

Number of Australian Group 1 wins by NZ-bred horses per season

Season G1 wins

2022/23 20

2021/22 16

2020/21 18

2019/20 10

2018/19 10

2017/18 8

2016/17 7

2015/16 18

2014/15 9

2013/14 12

2012/13 14

2011/12 12

2010/11 21

Last season, New Zealand-bred horses won 16 Australian Group 1s, while in 2020/21 it was 18, boosted by a contribution of six in a season from wonder-mare Verry Elleegant (Zed).

A couple of stars also featured in that 21 Group 1-race-haul in Australia from Kiwi-breds in 2010/11, with So You Think (High Chaparral) winning four elite races during a spectacular 2010 Melbourne spring, while More Joyous (More Than Ready) also won four Group 1 races over that season.

The 2022/23 season is very different in that there have been 19 individual Australian Group 1 winners bred in New Zealand, with two-year-old Militarize (Dundeel) the only one with multiple successes.

A further showcase of that diversity is that those 19 horses are by 15 individual sires, with Waikato Stud’s Savabeel (Zabeel) – three; Rich Hill Stud’s Proisir (Choisir) – two; and Arrowfield’s Dundeel (High Chaparral) – two, the only three with multiple representatives.

Dundeel may have been based in Australia since beginning his breeding career at Arrowfield in 2014, but he continues to do his bit for his ‘home’ of New Zealand and its breeding industry. Dunkel is the third of his seven Group 1 winners with an (NZ) suffix, having been bred by Sir Peter Vela’s Pencarrow Thoroughbreds.

Dunkel delivered Patrick Payne a famous first Group 1 as a trainer at his 22nd attempt, 29 years after he won the SA Derby as a jockey on Bullwinkle (Belotto), joining a very select group to have won a Group 1 in both roles.

Saturday’s racing also proved another successful stage for Australia’s Champion Stallion, I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), who celebrated four winners across the country.

Friday saw the Yarraman Park legend notch his 800th individual winner, with the maiden victory of Afterlight at Scone, and 24 hours later the win of Heman at Kembla Grange ticked that over to 801.

Our research indicates that I Am Invincible is the third fastest Australian stallion to 800 winners, trailing only Coolmore’s Fastnet Rock (Danehill) and Darley’s Exceed And Excel (Danehill). By the same point of his career, Fastnet Rock had produced 1,082 winners from both hemispheres, with 839 from his Australian crops.

Exceed And Excel, also a successful shuttler, had 1,109 winners at the same point of his career. Of those, 808 were bred from his Australian crops. That second number is the fairer comparison with I Am Invincible as he has never shuttled.

‘Vinnie’ is the seventh active Australasian stallion to achieve the 800 mark, following on from the two listed above, Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) (1,116), Savabeel (881), Street Boss (Street Cry) (854) and another recent addition to the ‘800 club’, Written Tycoon (Iglesia) (801). The now Yulong resident brought up the milestone with the win of King’s Taj at Seymour in late April.

Active Australasian sires with more than 800 winners

Sire Winners

Exceed And Excel 1,742

Fastnet Rock 1,497

Snitzel 1,116

Savabeel 881

Street Boss 854

Written Tycoon 801

I Am Invincible 801

* As of May 13

I Am Invincible remains on track for back-to-back titles as Australian Champion Sire, building his lead to nearly $2.2 million over Savabeel. He is also on track to claim a fifth straight success as Australia’s top sire by winners – currently 165 – and is also the leading sire by stakes winners with 21. The last time a sire claimed all three honours in the same season was in 2017/18, when Snitzel claimed the sires’ hat-trick.

The incredibly consistent Snitzel is third on the Australian Sires table and on Saturday celebrated a 15th stakes winner for the season when Hip Hip Hurrah won the Woodlands Stakes (Listed, 1100m) at Scone.

The Michael Freedman-trained filly became the third of Snitzel’s progeny to win the Scone juvenile feature, joining Macroura and Debonairly, and delivered her sire a 52nd two-year-old stakes winner.

Snitzel’s 50th juvenile stakes winner was Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Shinzo, who has helped propel him to the top of the list of two-year-old sires by earnings. He looks destined to claim that honour at the end of the season for the fourth time.

At the other end of the scale, Eureka Stud’s Encryption (Lonhro) marked his first stakes winner with the victory of the Rex Lipp-trained two-year-old Cifrado in the Spirit Of Boom Classic (Gr 2, 1200m) at Doomben on Saturday.

Encryption is the tenth son of Lonhro (Octagonal) to become a stakes-winning stallion in his own right, joining a list led by Pierro (34 stakes winners) and Denman (18). Another of Lonhro’s boys, Novara Park’s Sweynesse, marked his sixth stakes winner, and just his second in Australia, with the victory of Special Swey for Chris Waller in the Rough Habit Plate (Gr 3, 2000m) at Doomben on Saturday.

Including Encryption, there are now eight freshman sires with stakes winners in Australia this season. That’s twice as many as there were for the entirety of last season.

Heading that list is Justify (Scat Daddy), who now has three Australian-bred stakes winners after the victory of Air Assault in the SA Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m) at Morphettville on Saturday.

First season sires with Australian stakes winners

Sire Stakes winners

Justify 3

Harry Angel 3

Written By 2

Brave Smash 1

Encryption 1

Grunt 1

Showtime 1

The Autumn Sun 1

The Coolmore-based Triple Crown winner now has five first-crop winners in Australia, putting him equal second on winners with Harry Angel (Dark Angel) and Trapeze Artist (Snitzel) in the race to be leading first season sire by winners.

Brave Smash (Tosen Phantom), the former Aquis-based stallion set to take up residence at Yarraman Park this season, leads the way on eight, with his latest winner coming at Tuncurry on Saturday via the Kris Lees-trained Yamabushi.

Another Japanese-bred freshman sire with a significant winner on Saturday was Real Steel (Deep Impact). He may have only spent one season at Arrowfield, but the Dubai Turf (Gr 1, 1800m) winner is making a mark with his progeny.

The Ken and Kasey Keys-trained Scheelite was his second Australian winner and his first Saturday winner with an impressive success in the opening race at Flemington.

Real Steel already has 39 winners from his first crop in Japan, among them Daily Hai Nisai Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) winner All Parfait.

Craig Zackey (Time Thief) gets up on the Roy Magner-trained Stormy Seas (nearest) to clinch individual doubles for both jockey and trainer. (JC Photos).

Khumalo, Zackey, Houdalakis and Magner Doubles

S’Manga Khumalo and Craig Zackey both rode doubles at the Vaal Classic track today.

Lucky Houdalakis and Roy Magner both saddled doubles.

Khumalo goes to 148 wins for the season achieved at a strike rate of 16.35%.

Zackey goes to 41 wins at 9.74%.

Houdalakis goes to 40 wins at 14.04%.

Magner goes to 31 wins at 9.81%

The subject of the question is pictured.

Today’s Question

Who was the first horse to win the Ascot Gold Cup three times?

Question answer at the bottom of the newsletter

Fairview Turf Fields, Friday

Owner and breeder Gerald Oldham with Sagaro after the colt’s triumph in the 1975 Gold Cup.

ANSWER TO TODAY’S QUESTION

Ascot Legends: Sagaro

“One of the most brilliant stayers to have ever graced Ascot’s turf, Sagaro was the first horse to win the Gold Cup three times. He was an outstanding stayer who possessed a potent turn of foot.” – Rory Delargy (At The Race) profiles the career of the great French racehorse who lends his name to Ascot’s Gold Cup trial.

Sagaro, one of the most brilliant stayers to have ever graced Ascot’s turf, was the first horse to win the Gold Cup three times. He was an outstanding stayer who possessed a potent turn of foot.

Owned and bred by financier Gerry Oldham, both his sire Espresso and dam Zambara were successful on the track carrying Oldham’s familiar chocolate and white hoops in the 1960s. Espresso was a tough and consistent handicapper, and although the records will state that he won the Craven Stakes, it was a handicap at Goodwood by that name and not the Newmarket contest in which he proved successful.

He did, however, gain black type by winning consecutive runnings of the Grosser Preis Von Baden to earn his stripes as a potential sire. Zambara was lightly raced, but was successful in the Wood Ditton Stakes at Newmarket on her racecourse debut which proved her only success. Both horses were trained for Oldham by Harry Wragg at Abingdon Place in Newmarket.

THE EMERGING STAR

A winner over an extended mile as a juvenile for the great Lamorlaye trainer Francois Boutin, Sagaro was a revelation as a three-year-old when tackling trips beyond a mile and a half, and while he was well beaten in the Arc behind Allez France, his defeat of Derby fourth and subsequent St Leger winner Bustino in the Grand Prix de Paris (then run over almost two miles) saw him awarded a Timeform rating of 131, 1lb higher than Bustino and Champion Stakes winner Giacometti, and 6lb higher than Derby hero Snow Knight.

Sagaro first graced Ascot as a four-year-old in the 1975 Gold Cup having been beaten by Le Bavard in the Prix du Cadran at Longchamp – the race then run in May as opposed to the current October slot – on his previous outing, but any doubt as to his status was snuffed out when he coasted to a facile success, the race over as soon as Lester Piggott pulled him to the outer and asked him to quicken. The margin between him and Mistigri was four lengths, but could have been doubled had his rider asked for more.

After an enquiry, the runner-up was disqualified, and Le Bavard, almost a length further back in third, was promoted. Given the ease of his Gold Cup win, it’s surprising that Sagaro failed to win another race in 1975, but in his moment of glory he showed his key attribute, which was the ability to produce a sharp turn of foot at the end of a staying race.

In 1976, Sagaro had a shorter but more successful campaign, losing only one of his four races. After another easy win in the Prix du Cadran, Sagaro proved too strong for Crash Course and Sea Anchor in the Gold Cup, the margin just a length this time, but the form-book adding the word “cleverly” to demonstrate that Lester was again holding the nut hand. He never ran again that year, and it was reported that Gerry Oldham was keen to syndicate him as a sire, but received little interest, and reasoning that winning the Cadran and Gold Cup again would win him as much as he could be likely to earn as a stallion in the covering season, kept him in training for another year. What an auspicious decision that proved to be.

BATTLES AGAINST BUCKSKIN

As in the previous year, the main targets for Sagaro were the Gold Cup and its French equivalent, the Prix du Cadran, both Group 1 contests over two and a half miles, and the Ascot race was earmarked as his final run before retirement. Once again, his pre-Ascot schedule saw him take in the Prix Bde Barbeville and the Prix Jean Prat at Longchamp in April, and on both occasions he was slammed by rising star Buckskin, a four-year-old who only made his racecourse debut the previous autumn. It was expected that a race-fit Buckskin would be too strong for Sagaro in the Barbeville, but the margin of 20 lengths was an eye-opener.

In the Jean Prat, Sagaro reduced the gap to four lengths, but Buckskin was again impressive, and the showdown in the Cadran was much anticipated. Unlike in his previous wins, Buckskin was no longer receiving weight from Sagaro, now fully fit, in the Cadran, and when Philippe Paquet moved him up to pass the young pretender with two furlongs to travel, it seemed that normal order was about to be restored. But Buckskin proved his own mettle by battling back to a narrow victory and to great acclaim, and he immediately assumed the mantle of Gold Cup favourite.

BID FOR A THIRD GOLD CUP

The Ascot race not only provided a third rematch between two outstanding stayers, but also featured Ryan Price’s brilliant but temperamental 1975 St Leger winner Bruni, an almost white grey who had a devoted following. The race was a memorable one, with Buckskin helping to set a strong pace throughout, and still in front turning into the home straight, with Lester on Sagaro and Brian Taylor on Bruni giving chase; the latter flattered to deceive, with his run petering out before the quarter-mile marker, but Piggott was clearly cruising on Sagaro and merely had to take him out of the leader’s slipstream and shake him up briefly to unleash that famous late thrust, with his winning margin being five lengths eased down.

Despite being humbled on his three previous runs that spring, Sagaro showed how well suited he was to the demands of Ascot by producing the greatest performance of his career (rated 133 by Timeform), and in doing so became the first horse to win the great race three times.

Neither his pedigree, being by an unfashionable sire, nor his profile as a thorough stayer at a time when stamina was shunned by commercial breeders, made Sagaro an obvious candidate as a stallion. He was bought by the National Stud for the knockdown price of £175,000, and predictably struggled to attract mares of any real calibre; the best of his progeny were Super Sunrise, who won the 1982 Chester Vase before competing successfully in North America, and 1983 Cambridgeshire winner Sagamore.

When Sagaro died in 1986, he was standing at the Emral Stud near Wrexham for a fee of just £400. A poor epitaph for a truly magnificent racehorse.

It’s probably best left to his regular Gold Cup partner, Lester Piggott, to sum him up: “He really was a magnificent stayer, as good as any I rode, and his turn of foot was – for a long-distance performer – phenomenal.”

Turf Talk Newsletter – 8 June, 2023