Photo Call, a twice-Gr1 winning three parts sister to Flying The Flag has produced her first foal by War Front, a filly.

Her dam Theann is a half-sister to Flying The Flag’s triple Gr1 winning dam, Halfway To Heaven, sharing the speedy third dam of Cassandra Go who raced under Michael Roberts. Both Photo Call and Flying The Flag share super sire Galileo.

Flying The Flag, resident stallion at Warwick and Karin Render’s Bush Hill Stud, is an international Group winner himself and has a dual Gr1 winning full sister in Rhododendron and Gr2 winner, Magical.

Rhododendron is a winner of the Gr1 Fillies Mile and won on Arc day at Chantilly, taking the Prix De L’Opera. She has also placed second in the Gr1 1000 Guineas, Gr1 Epsom Oaks and Gr1 Breeders Cup Fillies And Mares.  In training with maestro Aiden O’Brien, she has earned £1,064,515 in stakes.

Her full sister Magical finished second in the Gr1 Moyglare by a whisker.

Photo Call sold for $3-million at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale as a broodmare prospect and raced on before retirement.

She had six wins, including three Gr3’s and earned $827,447 in stakes.

Flying The Flag’s first foals will be yearlings in August 2018. He is producing foals with plenty of substance and quality, and has attracted support countrywide.

He stands for a fee of R20 000.

Our KZN sires have strong connections with the Breeders Cup this year, amongst them stallions Crusade (Seventh Heaven), Noble Tune (Made You Look) and Flying The Flag (Photo Call).

Gr1 Middle Park Stakes winner Crusade’s half-sister by Galileo, Seventh Heaven – captured both the Grade 1 Darley Irish Oaks at The Curragh in Ireland and the Grade1 Darley Yorksire Oaks at York in Great Britain. She is just one in the mighty arsenal of grass fillies and mares from trainer Aidan O’Brien’s operation.

The top Irish trainer is looking for a repeat in a Breeders’ Cup turf event with this 3-year-old Galileo filly, after sending out Found — a 3-year-old at the time — to defeat a stellar field of mostly males in last year’s Turf at Keeneland. Seventh Heaven is pointing for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita.

The Yorkshire Oaks, at a mile and a half, was Seventh Heaven’s first attempt against older mares. She unleashed a furious rally late to put away her stablemate Found in the stretch to prevail by two and three-quarter lengths.

Seventh Heaven now has four wins, three of them black type, in seven outings this season.

Her only poor showing was in the Epsom Oaks, where she was beaten over 30 lengths when she didn’t like the track surface. She should benefit from a firm course at Santa Anita.

Crusade’s first crop turned two in August. The son of Mr Greeley saw his progeny enthusiastically received at sales this year, with a powerful stamp of Crusade’s colour, conformation and good looks.

Rathmor Stud’s Noble Tune, who finished second in this race – the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf – will have his close relative Made You Look running on the day. Made You Look is out of Night And Day, a three parts sister to Noble Tune by Unbridled’s Song out of the great Serena’s Song, Noble Tune’s fourth dam.

Two-year-old colt Made You Look will make you look twice. Not only for his mature win in his third lifetime start in the Grade 2 With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga, but because he looks so much like his Hall of Fame grand-dam Serena’s Song.

Serena’s Song won 18 races, including 10 grade one stakes, and was voted champion 3-year-old filly in 1995. She was voted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2002. Serena’s Song was the all-time leading distaff earner with $3,283,388 in winnings when she was retired in late 1996.

While she was a beast on the racetrack, Serena’s Song was a delicate-looking bay filly with a small white star. Made You Look is built much the same way, and shares his grandmother’s colouring and white star.

A $360,000 yearling purchase at the 2015 Keeneland September Sale, the More Than Ready colt ran second in his debut this spring at Belmont. He won next time out going six furlongs June 18.

His stakes debut was the With Anticipation Stakes July 31 at Saratoga, and he ran like a seasoned veteran, diving through an opening on the rail at in the stretch to take the mile test in 1:37.34. It was trainer Todd Pletcher’s fifth win in that stake in the last nine years. Pletcher also trained Made You Look’s sire More Than Ready.

“We were getting a beautiful trip; it was just a matter of whether he was able to find a spot to go through,” said Pletcher. “I thought for a young horse to shoot through there was pretty brave on his part. He’s been training really well, we were looking forward to a good effort, he got a good trip, and he delivered. He’s got a fantastic pedigree.”

Noble Tune’s first yearlings will be on sale in 2017. The Gr2 and Gr3 winning half-brother to Honor Code is truly a very lucky acquisition to South Africa and Noble Tune is the first son of Unbridled’s Song to retire to stud on the African continent. Dual Gr1 winner Honor Code stood his first season for a fee of $40 000, whilst Noble Tune stands for an accessible R25 000 and enjoyed support from stud farms nationwide.

Photo Call, who sold for $3million at Keeneland and is a three parts sister to Bush Hill Stud’s Flying The Flag, her recent form is picture perfect for a horse coming into the big dance. The 4-year-old daughter of Galileo (IRE) notched the first Grade 1 victory of her career when she captured the Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita in late September in her last start.

She showed her grit in the Rodeo Drive, when she had to bull her way between rivals in the stretch to win the mile and a quarter turf test.

“The stretch was a bit hairy,” said her rider Drayden Van Dyke. “Not a lot of fillies are brave enough to go through a hole like that but she just rocketed through there.”

The Rodeo Drive was a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Her race just prior, the Violet Stakes at Monmouth Park, likewise resulted in a photo op in the winner’s circle.

The Irish-bred lass has four wins in 13 starts, and the Rodeo Drive victory accounts for more than half of her $339,562 in lifetime earnings.

Her dam is a half-sister to Flying The Flag’s triple Gr1 winning dam, Halfway To Heaven, sharing the speedy third dam of Cassandra Go. Flying The Flag, an international Group winner himself has a Gr1 winning full sister in Rhododendrum.

Flying The Flag stands for R20 000 at Bush Hill Stud.

– extract breederscup.com

After the news filtered through of Flying The Flag’s full sister Rhododendron’s Gr1 win in the Dubai Fillies Mile, Photo Call (also by Galileo out of Theann – a daughter of Flying The Flag’s second dam Cassandra Go) won the Gr1 First Lady in the United States from Tepin by almost three lengths.

Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux doesn’t get many calls from trainer Todd Pletcher, but when he does, he takes the mount.
And so it was that Desormeaux found himself speeding out to the early lead in the $400,000 First Lady Gr1 at Keeneland aboard Photo Call, opening a 10-length margin, and leaving champion Tepin with too much work to do in her title defense.

“Todd told me to cover her up, but that was not going to happen,” Desormeaux said, and the audible worked out.
On a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 28,101, Photo Call stole the one-mile First Lady by 2 3/4 lengths and left 2-5 favourite Tepin in her wake.

It was the first time since August of 2015 that the Mark Casse-trained Tepin was beaten, snapping an eight-race win streak for the mare who trounced males in her past two starts and concluded her 2015 season with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Mile Gr1.

“We didn’t want her to run her ‘A’ race today,” assistant trainer Norm Casse said. “The goal is the Breeders’ Cup Mile. I haven’t lost any confidence in her. I think this will set her up and she’ll move forward from this race.”

Photo Call took the lead shortly after the break and set uncontested fractions of :24.10 and :47.29 as Tepin raced in the clear in tandem with grade I winner Celestine. The eventual winner was 10 lengths on top at the quarter pole, with Tepin’s rally too little too late as Photo Call completed the mile on a firm turf course in 1:35.62.

Turned back to a mile for the first time since July of 2015, Photo Call returned to victory for Teresa Viola Racing Stables with a look four starts back to April, when she won the Gr3 Orchid Stakes at Gulfstream Park. As a 4-year-old trained by Graham Motion for Mrs. P. K. Cooper, the daughter of Galileo took the Rodeo Drive Gr1 at Santa Anita Park. She was a $3 million purchase from Keeneland’s 2015 November breeding stock sale days after running fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf Gr1.

The victory increased Photo Call’s bankroll to $827,102 with a record of 6-3-4 from 21 starts.