The King & The Royal Stud 2024

A second winner for the King and for the Gosdens too. Rainbow's Edge keeps the family record up with a debut win over 8f on the all-weather. Could possibly get further. Her half-brother Call to Mind started his 3yo carrer with an 8f win but went on to win over 14f as a 3yo and 16f as a 4yo. Should get 10f really.
There's a Kingman half-sister called Royal Equerry in training with Beckett and a Palace Pier yearling filly. Memory, the dam, was put in foal to Baeed last year.

 

Another 3yo maiden, Anglepoise, makes her racecourse debut tomorrow. Have discussed her above. I'm sure they'd love this daughter of Zoustar to be good enough to join other mares at the Royal Stud and she starts in a very competitive maiden at Lingfield. Beckett seems in reasonable form and Rossa Ryan is on board.

Calculate looks a dead loss and he's already entered for the sales.

Slipofthepen has been entered to make his handicap debut on 2000 Guineas day at Newmarket. Will be informative to see how he returns after a near 11 months layoff.

5 foals reported as born so far, 4 of them colts.

 

Sorry Crouch is on Anglepoise (Ryan was to ride him at Lingfield).

Now 8 foals born (5 colts [2xKingman, Night of Thunder, Australia, Sea the Moon], 3 fillies [Too Darn Hot, Land Force, Wootton Bassett])

 

Anglepoise walked out of the stalls and was soon lengths adrift. She then ran very green the whole way round against what looked a useful field of maidens. She eventually beat one home and she has a lot to learn.

Beckett's Treasure is entered for the Oaks and currently available at prices between 33-1 and 50-1 (which don't look generous).

 

Was that intentional?

 

Can't find the pedigree for this one

 

Treasure (GB) grey filly by Mastercraftsman out of Shimmering Light by Dubawi, from the family of Golden Fleece. Mare now sold out of Royal Stud (got 60,000gns for her in foal to Masar).

Desert Hero is entered for the Coronation Cup. Looks to be his early season target. Will he have a preparatory run?

 

Nice one

 

I looked up Beckett's Treasure

 

I thought you might have.

 

King's Lynn, now owned by Andrew Balding, finished down the field at Bath today. I'd reckon that's an unsuitable course for him and with a welterweight had little chance.

Funny goings on in the Royal corner.
Value Added, who this time last year was being given some fancy entries, is now in training with Jamie Snowden. I'd presumed that she had gone to the Royal Stud to be covered this Spring. Last week she was transferred to Snowden. Not sure there's any strong reason why this 8-9f filly (she won once) should turn out to be any good over hurdles and why now, and not in November when she left Hughes? Did she go to stud and for some physical reason they decided to send her hurdling for a year, or is she a long term prospect? Your guess is as good as mine.
Two of the non-fully registered 2yo fillies have been named. De La Treble (Magna Grecia out of Shimmering Light) and Birdie Time (Sea the Moon out of Good Hope) appeared on the GBB website last week but with no indication as to whether the King still owns them: terrible names anyway.

Everyone must be waiting for the 16th April when the Flat season, proper, starts. Balding is already saying Works of Art may appear in the Nell Gwynn and there must be very chance Crown Estate may be seen again, along with others.

 

While the layman may think that the older a flat horse is the more mature it will be and hence the better racehorse it can be, facts don't bear that out. I believe most Derby winners are likely to have been born in March and April, rather than earlier. Sure, a 2yo race run in April with contestants born between January and May/June may favour the earlier born horses but the advantage is not as great as people might think and if there is any advantage it has probably disappeared totally by the September/October of their 2yo season.. Factors such as breeding and conformation seem to trump age.

I review the Royal Stud and so far they've had 9 foals reported as being born this year. That's out of the 24 mares covered by stallions last year. While there have been some choice stallions of those foals born so far (Dubawi, Kingman, Wootton Bassett and Night of Thunder for example) none of the foals' pedigrees have really grabbed me. So there could be a further 15 foals born (unlikely I know) and maybe some of them will be born in the sweet spot of March/April. I personally find the expectant produce of Memory, Light Music, Light Refrain, Daphne, Magnetic Charm and Desert Breeze to excite me much more.

Castle Lady (Kingman): top class racefilly and first foal (Crown Estate) a winner; -colt (22-05).
Kinematic (Blue Point): fast filly and dam of Kings Lynn; - colt (10-05)
Memory (Baaeed): top class 2yo and dam of Recorder and Call to Mind, 3 other winners
Light Refrain (Zarak): Group 2 winner, first foal; -filly (reported 08/05)
Light Music (Baaeed): listed winner and dam of Light Refrain; -colt (reported 11/04)
Sweet Idea (Frankel or Saxon Warrior): top Australian racefilly, disappointing so far.
Estimate (Siyouni): Group 1 stayer, relatively disappointing so far as broodmare. -colt (07-06)
Make Fast (Cracksman): black type filly and dam of Tactical and Works of Art;- colt (22-05)
Daphne (Dubawi): Listed winner and dam of useful Perfect Alibi
Perfect Alibi (Night of Thunder): black type filly, first foal
Desert Flyer (Dubawi): won 2 of her 3 starts, first foal is a 2yo this season: - filly (reported 24/04)
Diploma (Frankel): listed winner and dam of useful Portfolio
Portfolio (Frankel): winner and black type filly, first foal is yearling
Magnetic Charm (Lope de Vega): listed winner and dam of useful 2023 2yo Hard to Resist;- filly (reported 11-04)
Desert Breeze (Camelot): unraced, first foal is Desert Hero;- filly (reported 09/05)

So I hope at least 12 of these produce foals this year and that they are not too late. Being late (in May) is not a problem in itself (Northern Dancer was a May foal) but it does make subsequent matings likely to be later and later, which is a problem and often one of the reasons that mares are rested.

On the racing front Stoute's 3yo Reaching High is entered for a maiden at Windsor on Monday. On Tues, as expected, Crown Estate reappears in a 3yo 8f handicap, while Slipofthepen is entered for a 4yo+ 8f handicap. Kieran Shoemark is already down as the rider of both. Looks very much as if he is Gosden's jockey of choice at the moment.

High Order (also Gosden's) got a mention on the gallops: by Frankel out of Diploma

 

Will annotate above list as foals are reported to have been born.

 

More Royal entries for next week. High Order runs for the second time in a race for once-raced 3yos over 10f at Newmarket on Thursday. This Frankel colt is very interesting: another Gosden/Shoemark combination.
Last year Gilded Water was in and out training with Haggas all the time and eventually was gelded. He's now entered for the Wood Ditton with Marquand booked. He's by Fastnet Rock out of Galileo mare Fiery Sunset (now sold). She was the dam of Circle of Fire who didn't quite fire last season. Last week Circle of Fire won a Group 2 over 13f in Australia.

 

Circle of Fire wins the Group 1 Sydney Cup at Randwick today. The first Royal Stud Group 1 winner for a very long time.

I hope Warren got a good price for him!!!!

Oh, and they sold the mare in foal to Land Force in December 2022. At that time Circle of Fire was a winning 2yo.

They do have a yearling filly by Time Test.

 

Reaching High (Estimate's latest 3yo) made his seasonal debut at Windsor today. He was well beaten in 6th bat ran on in the last 2f to pass a number of horses. By Sea the Stars you'd imagine 12f will probably suit him a lot better: next time?.

 

Two disappointing runs from the Royal runners at Newmarket. The awaited return of Slipofthepen after 320 days off was an uninspiring affair. In the van for the first 5-6 furlongs he found nothing in the finish. He's going to have to show a lot more to justify his presence on the racetrack.
Crown Estate had looked a different proposition on his 3yo debut win. Yesterday he was out on the wing of the field after 4f then made up several lengths so that 3f out was in front. He had a 2 length lead and was then swallowed up by just about the whole field. I'm sure Shoemark is probably thinking he should have held him up for another 2f. Needs to be watched next time out, could go either way.

Hopefully the two for tomorrow will do a bit better.

 

Two more losers but 2 much better runs. First up was Circle of Fire's younger brother Gilded Water. He looked too well before the race and Haggas has plenty of conditioning with this one ahead of him. He broke well, looked to have a chance 3 out but then was outpaced by fitter looking horses. However he ran on well in the last furlong and this horse should win races.
High Order looked very green throughout the preliminaries and the early part of the race. Again he broke well and was allowed to bowl along at military medium pace. He quickened 3f out and looked to be likely to be in the shake-up but then things started happening too fast for him. He eventually finished 3rd beaten nearly 3 lengths by two useful looking animals. This colt has a future.

 

Snowden runs Value Added at Stratford in a Novice hurdle tomorrow.

Desert Hero gets an entry in the Gordon Richards at Sandown on Friday.

No 2yos seen so far though Royal Equerry (Kingman brother to Recorder) has been entered.

 

Two Royal runners today in the shape of Desert Hero in the Gordon Richards and Serried Ranks in the opening 5f sprint.
Desert Hero made his 3yo debut in a10f race then won two 12f races.. The story from Marquand last season was that he raced better when there was a good pace and that his Leger 3rd was partly down to him not travelling so well at that races' slower pace. He has to find a bit to beat Israr but should give a good account of himself.
Serried Ranks looked a good colt on his debut and on his third start at Goodwood. His last start was disappointing but apparently he finished lame. Now gelded (as is Desert Hero) he may be more straightforward and on Goodwood form may have a chance.

Reappearances are planned for High Order and Gilded Water next week. Both should step up on their Newmarket runs. The first Royal 2yo, Royal Equerry may go to Nottingham on Tuesday. This filly is well bred being by Kingman out of fast 2yo Memory.