KZN Sire Sisters By Galileo Place In Breeders Cup; Nominated For Cartier Award
Crusade’s dual Gr1 winning Galileo half-sister, Seventh Heaven, placed fourth in the Gr1 Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf, whilst Flying The Flag’s full sister by Galileo, Rhododendron has been nominated for a Cartier Award in the Champion 2YO Filly category.
Under Ryan Moore, Seventh Heaven finished one and a quarter lengths in fourth place at Santa Anita over 2000m in the exclusive Gr1 Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The filly has now had four firsts, including two Gr1’s – the Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks, and placed twice from nine starts. The winner of the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf had previously finished third behind Seventh Heaven in her winning Yorkshire Oaks victory, where the now retired Found (winner of the Gr1 Prix De l’Arc de Triomphe) finished second.
A son of Mr Greeley standing at Scott Bros, the handsome black stallion with no white markings to be found – Crusade – covered full books each year and his first juvenile runners should hit the South African tracks very soon. A Gr1 Middle Park Stakes winner, Crusade stands for R20 000 and was the second leading freshman sire at the National Yearling Sale in April.
Flying The Flag’s full sister has been nominated amongst three of Aiden O’ Brien’s charges for the Cartier Awards. Rhododendron is up against Lady Aurelia, Brave Anna and Roly Poly.
Out of triple Gr1 winning Pivotal mare Halfway To Heaven and a three parts sister to Photo Call (sharing the speedy Cassandra Go in the female line), Rhododendron won the Gr1 Fillies Mile and Gr2 Debutante Stakes, as well as a third in the Gr1 Moyglare. She has yet to be out of the money from all five of her starts.
Flying The Flag, standing at Bush Hill Stud, has received an impressive book of mares – amongst them Look Sharp – the dam of The Mouseketeer and Aramouse, sisters to sires Biarritz and Vercingetorix, as well as Plutonium – the dam of the speedy Trippi horse Orion Quest and King Neptune.
The Flying The Flag syndicate are offering an incentive of R100 000 to the breeder that produces the first Graded Stakes winner by Flying The Flag. He stands for a fee of R20 000.
Galileo has featured prominently this year, not only with his own progeny but his brilliant son Frankel is performing brilliantly at stud as well has he did on the racetrack, with 18 individual winners, three of them Group Winners.
With South African mares Val De Ra and Chocolicious both covered by Frankel in his first season, Val De Ra’s daughter Miss Frankel has gone into training with Dennis Drier, whilst Backworth’s brilliant Gr1 Kahal mare Chocolicious, has seen her Frankel daughter come full circle after being exported from Australia back to Mike De Kock’s stable in South Africa.
She was the top selling Frankel filly in the Southern Hemisphere at the time, knocked down for $610 000 to Shadwell.
KZN stands two sons of Galileo – the handsome grey Gr1 placed horse at Yellow Star Stud was the first at stud in South Africa – The Assayer, out of a Danehill mare like Frankel, is covering his second season this year and Bush Hill Stud’s international Group winning Flying The Flag is the second son of Galileo to join the KZN sire ranks.
Another of Scott Bros’s stallions – French Gr3 winner Eightfold Path has had his half-brother by Galileo place in a Listed race last week, named Diodorus.
The dam’s of Crusade (La Traviata) Flying The Flag (Halfway To Heaven) and Eightfold Path (Divine Proportions) have all been returned to Galileo since which should see further good racing news in the future.
KZN has a lot be excited about in the future with a very exciting band of young stallions in the province.
