Pedigree Focus: Lingfield Derby and Oaks Trials preview
Lingfield’s Derby and Oaks Trials have lived up to their names on occasions over the years, notably just two years ago when their respective winners Anthony Van Dyck and Anapurna each went on to classic success at Epsom.
From a pedigree perspective, one of the most important runners to have contested the trials was the Sir Michael Stoute-trained filly who came second in the 1981 Oaks Trial before finishing tailed off as a 33/1 shot at Epsom. That second place at Lingfield for Allegretta secured some all-important black type for her to take to stud where her influence in the forty years since has been out of all proportion to her own racing record.
Not only did Allegretta produce 2000 Guineas winner King’s Best and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Urban Sea, through the latter mare she also became grandam of Galileo and Sea The Stars, while 2018 Derby winner Masar is another who traces back to Allegretta on his dam’s side.
Derby Trial
Allegretta appears in the pedigrees of six of the seven runners declared for the Derby Trial where both Galileo and Sea The Stars have runners, along with Galileo’s sons Frankel, Nathaniel and Teofilo. In the case of Carlisle Bay, one of the two Ballydoyle colts by Galileo in the line-up, Allegretta appears twice in his pedigree as his great grandam All Too Beautiful is a full sister to Galileo. All Too Beautiful herself finished second in the Oaks, as did one of her daughters Wonder of Wonders, while All Too Beautiful is also the grandam of Sir Dragonet who finished fifth when starting favourite for the 2019 Derby after winning the Chester Vase. Carlisle Bay is therefore bred to be suited by a mile and a half; even though his dam’s only win came at six furlongs (she raced only at two), she’s a half-sister to yet another filly in the family who was placed in the Oaks, Alluringly, who was third to Enable in 2017.
The step up in trip is also sure to suit Ballydoyle’s likely first string Kyprios whose dam Polished Gem, an outstanding broodmare for Moyglare Stud, could have as many as four of her foals in action in the space of a week, all of them by Galileo. Her four-year-old daughter Amma Grace ran in a listed race at Gowran earlier this week, her smart six-year-old gelding Falcon Eight is a leading contender for Friday’s Chester Cup, while her five-year-old daughter Search For A Song, the dual Irish St Leger winner, is entered in next week’s Yorkshire Cup. Kyprios is his dam’s eighth foal to have achieved a Timeform rating in excess of 100, the best of them being the Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner Free Eagle who was rated 128.
There’s Epsom Classic success in the family of Scope as he’s out of a half-sister to the same connections’ Look Here, winner of the 2008 Oaks for Julian Richmond-Watson and Ralph Beckett after finishing second in the Lingfield Oaks Trial. He should stay this trip, being by Teofilo, though his smart half-sister Regardez (by Champs Elysees) seemed to have her stamina stretched in her own Oaks bid.
Third Realm has the most to find on form but the trip is sure to suit the son of Sea The Stars. It’s true that his useful dam Reem Three has produced good winners at all sort of trips, including Cape Byron who won the Wokingham, but she’s also the dam of Ajman Princess and Naqshabban, both smart winners at up to a mile and a half.
The other three runners all met in the Classic Trial at Sandown last time where Frankel’s son Adayar fared best of them in second making him the pick on form here. While his dam Anna Salai was a smart miler who was second in the Irish 1000 Guineas, her brothers included Anglophile who was a smart stayer on the all-weather. Recovery Run is by Nathaniel out of a half-sister to the very smart performer up to a mile and a quarter Regal Reality whereas last year’s Solario Stakes winner Etonian looks to have the most to prove of these stamina-wise on pedigree. By top-class miler Olympic Glory, Etonian is the odd one out as the one without Allegretta in his pedigree, but he descends from another renowned mare, Personal Ensign, an unbeaten American champion who also proved a top broodmare.
Oaks Trial
Galileo and Frankel have prospects of winning both Classic trials as they also have daughters in a very well-bred field for the Oaks Trial. Galileo’s representative is Divinely, a daughter of Lockinge winner Red Evie who has produced several winners for Coolmore by Galileo, much the best of them being Arc and Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Found. Divinely ran much her best race last season when faced with her greatest test of stamina, winning the Flame of Tara Stakes over a mile on heavy ground, and she’s stepping up to a mile and a half a lot sooner in her career than Found whose first try at the trip came in her unsuccessful Arc bid as a three-year-old.
It was surprising that John Gosden ran Frankel’s daughter Regent over seven furlongs for her debut in February because her siblings include St Leger runner-up Midas Touch and her stable’s very smart middle-distance mare Coronet who gained Group 1 wins in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and Prix Jean Romanet. Regent has won since at a mile and a mile and a quarter, and while she doesn’t hold an Oaks entry she is in the Ribblesdale, another race which Coronet won.
As her million-euro price-tag as a foal would suggest, Godolphin’s Nash Nasha has an eye-catching pedigree, by Dubawi out of the Irish 1000 Guineas winner Just The Judge. While that might suggest she’ll be found wanting for stamina, her dam also won the E. P. Taylor Stakes over a mile and a quarter, while Nash Nasha’s full brother Swift Verdict won at a mile and a half earlier this year, albeit in a maiden at Dundalk.
Others related to Classic winners are Loving Dream, who’s by high-class miler Gleneagles from a family that includes St Leger winner Brian Boru and the Derby and Arc winner Workforce, and Sherbet Lemon who’s out of a useful half-sister to Irish 2000 Guineas winner Mastercraftsman. Sherbet Lemon is stoutly bred for an American-bred filly as she’s by the Belmont Stakes winner Lemon Drop Kid and a half-sister to Il Paradiso who was promoted to third in a very tight finish to the 2019 Melbourne Cup.
Mastercraftsman has a runner of his own with the Martyn Meade-trained Technique who doesn’t have the flashiest pedigree on offer but has shown the best form of these so far, finishing second in the Blue Riband Trial at Epsom last time. While her dam’s only win came in a handicap at Southwell, that was over a mile and a half, and she had a good pedigree herself, by Sea The Stars out of a sister to Holy Roman Emperor.
Invite’s dam Katiyra was third in Look Here’s Oaks while Ocean Road has more scope for improvement than most judged on pedigree given that she’s stepping up from a mile last season; she’s by Australia and a half-sister to the very smart performer up to a mile and a half Wigmore Hall.
Kingman filly Save A Forest completes the field and will have to show that she stays further than her smart brother Father of Jazz, third in the Winter Derby earlier this year and who has yet to race beyond a mile and a quarter. On the other hand, her unraced dam (by Galileo) is a sister to Beyond Conceit who was a useful stayer both on the Flat and over hurdles.
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