On Tuesday, the G1 Queen Anne S. produced an obvious winner in Palace Pier (GB), the very smart, four-time Group 1-winning son of Kingman (GB) trained by John and Thady Gosden.
It was an excellent effort, the 4-year-old looking every bit the winner on paper and in the betting market, and he pulled away by 1.5l to land the race from Ballydoyle’s Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and third-placed Sir Busker (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}).
Palace Pier is owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum and, as such, he’ll be an interesting future stallion.
However, he's just one horse, potentially, amid a marvellous set of sires that has emerged from the G1 Queen Anne S., a race that has influenced Australasian breeding since as far back as 1994.
Barathea beginnings
The Queen Anne was a Group 2 in 1994, and it was won by the grand, Breeders’ Cup Mile-winning son of Sadler’s Wells (USA) in Barathea (Ire).
Trained by Luca Cumani, Barathea kicked off his 4-year-old season with the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, and his yomp through racing that season earned him European Horse of the Year honours, as well as European Champion Older Horse.
As a stallion, Barathea stood exclusively at Rathbarry Stud in North Cork, Ireland. However, for four years he shuttled to Widden Stud, from seasons 1995/96 to 1998/99.
He got the very good Easy Rocking, who won the G1 Salinger S. at Flemington in 2000, along with four other Group races. In turn, Easy Rocking, bred by the prominent Sydney owner Catherine Remond, was a sire son, getting 12 stakes winners before his death recently at Wattle Brae Stud aged 24.
Porto Roca won the G1 Coolmore Classic for Barathea in 2001, while Shirazamatazz won the G1 West Australian Derby. And, as a broodmare sire, Barathea is worth a mention. He features in the pedigrees of Australian Listed winners Georgette Silk (Flying Silk), Jerezana (Lonhro) and Canali (Exceed And Excel), while his broodmare influence in Europe is widely acknowledged.
Shuttlers emerge
Barathea was, perhaps, the first significant Queen Anne winner to throw his weight around Australasian breeding. His timing was incidental, with shuttling becoming a more common practice between farms later on, so that by the time Cape Cross (Ire) won the Queen Anne in 1999, it was more likely he would head south.
Godolphin’s Cape Cross stood eight seasons in the Southern Hemisphere, first at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand, then in the Hunter Valley.
During this time he got triple Group 1-winning Hong Kong horse Able One (NZ), and multiple Group winners Capecover (NZ) and Crossthestart (NZ). Kindacross (NZ) was a G1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce S. winner for the stallion.
The late Cape Cross (Ire)
From 2002 to 2004, the Queen Anne produced No Excuse Needed (GB), who shuttled to Waikato Stud from 2003, Dubai Destination (USA), who went through the Hunter Valley for five seasons, and Refuse To Bend (Ire), who was a Darley Australia stallion for three seasons.
These three winners were the beginning of a heavy presence in Australia by Queen Anne-winning stallions.
"These three winners (No Excuse Needed, Dubai Destination and Refuse To Bend) were the beginning of a heavy presence in Australia by Queen Anne-winning stallions."
In 2006, Ad Valorem (USA) won the race for Ballydoyle, and the son of Danzig (USA) began shuttling to Woodlands Stud in 2006. Later absorbed into the Darley banner, he got the smart juvenile Group 1 winner Capital Gain, who won the 2017 G1 JJ Atkins S., as well as stakes winners Detours, Free Wheeling, Morton’s Fork and Pied A Terre.
Ad Valorem is one of those stallions that pops up significantly in broodmare circles, and the stallion passed away last month at Cangon Stud Farm in the Hunter Valley, aged 19.
The late Ad Valorem (USA)
The Haradasun years
From 2008, when Haradasun won the Queen Anne, the race was a significant stallion feature for Australia.
Haradasun was scooped up by Coolmore as a sire prospect and, after his success at Royal Ascot, the horse was retired to stud. He stood six seasons in Australia before heading to New Zealand in 2014, and he has sired five stakes winners, including Respondent in Western Australia, the winner of four stakes races.
In quick succession, the Queen Anne produced the stallion winners Canford Cliffs (Ire), Frankel (GB) and Declaration Of War (USA). While Frankel’s recent influence is heavy in Australia, notably with last weekend’s G1 JJ Atkins S. winner Converge, Declaration Of War is an interesting story.
The horse stood just two shuttle seasons at Coolmore Australia (2014 and 2015) before his export to Japan’s Shizunai Stallion Station in 2018. However, in those two brief years he got eight stakes winners in Australia.
They included Vow And Declare, who won the G1 Melbourne Cup, Warning, who won the G1 Victoria Derby, and Winning Ways, who won the G1 Queensland Oaks.
Declaration Of War was considered a significant loss to the Australian stamina ranks with his departure, because his short tenure south of the equator produced immense results.
Toronado storms through
By recency, the Queen Anne has unearthed for Australia the stallions Toronado (Ire), who shuttles to Swettenham Stud in Victoria, and Circus Maximus (Ire), who will cover his first Southern Hemisphere book at Windsor Park Stud this upcoming season.
Toronado won the Queen Anne in 2014 for Al Shaqab Racing, and the prolific son of High Chaparral (Ire) has visited Australia seasonally since 2015.
He has got speedster Masked Crusader, who won the G1 William Reid this year, as well as the G3 Southern Cross S. Toronado’s daughter, Affair To Remember, won the G2 Matriarch S., while Still A Star has been just that in Tasmania, a winner of five stakes races plus the Listed Anniversary Vase at Caulfield.
At Swettenham, studmaster Adam Sangster said that Toronado was a welcome addition to Australia off the back of High Chapparal.
“Sons of High Chaparral are not given the respect in Europe that they’re given down here,” he said. “It seems to be a line that is working very well through So You Think and Dundeel, and Redwood in New Zealand.”
"Sons of High Chaparral are not given the respect in Europe that they’re given down here." - Adam Sangster
Sangster said that Toronado’s win in the 2014 Queen Anne was impressive, irrespective of the horse’s other racetrack accomplishments (which included the G1 Sussex S. and G2 Champagne S.).
“His time in his Queen Anne was quicker than Frankel’s two years before,” Sangster said. “Richard Hughes, who rode for Al Shaqab, said he’d never gone so fast on a horse. It was a significant win because of the way he came to hand, and he did it again in the Sussex mile.”
Watch: Toronado (Ire) win the 2014 G1 Queen Anne S.
Toronado was introduced to Australia by Al Shaqab Racing in 2015. The group had no mares here, so they wanted the fee to be accessible, and the stallion stood at Swettenham for $22,000 (inc GST) until 2019, when he went to $27,500 (inc GST).
This upcoming season, he will serve a limited book at $49,500 (inc GST).
“In the beginning, he was priced to be attractive because Al Shaqab Racing didn’t have any mares down here,” Sangster said. “But he’s got enough numbers out there now, and there are recognisable lines that suit him, so we’re certainly advising clients of that. But knowing that he also shuttles, we don’t want to over-use him.”
On the point of the Queen Anne being a stallion’s race, and a popular addition to an Australian sire’s repertoire, Sangster chuckled.
“I think it helps that people, and Australians and New Zealanders in particular, are witnessing the race at that time of night,” he said. “It’s the first race of the Royal Meeting, so people are sober enough to remember it.”
Toronado (Ire) | Standing at Swettenham Stud
Circus comes to town
At Windsor Park Stud, Rodney Schick and his team are looking forward to September 1 when Circus Maximus will serve his first Southern Hemisphere book. He will stand at Windsor Park as part of the successful, ongoing partnership between the stud and Coolmore.
Circus Maximus won the Queen Anne last year for Ballydoyle, when the meeting was heavily affected by COVID-19, and the opening day occurred under heavy rain.
Overall, Circus Maximus, a son of Galileo (Ire), won two races at two Royal meetings, the other being the G1 St James’s Palace S. in 2019. He joined Frankel as the only other son of Galileo to win this pair of important mile races, and he is a proverbial heavyweight heading to Windsor Park Stud.
“The Queen Anne has been an amazing race over the years,” Schick said. “Any horse that can win a Group 1 at Royal Ascot has got to have a fair bit of ability. The St James’s Palace is one of the biggest stallion-making races as well, so they hold a lot of weight, those races.”
Schick has had plenty of support already for Circus Maximus, with the book looking pretty good already.
“He’s been very popular, and he’ll do his 150,” Schick said. “And that’s a very good book for a young stallion in New Zealand, but he’s got all the credentials. He’s by a Champion, with a good pedigree and obviously he was an exceptional racehorse. We are so excited to have him, and we’ve had great success shuttling horses with Coolmore.”
"He’s (Circus Maximus) by a Champion, with a good pedigree and obviously he was an exceptional racehorse. We are so excited to have him." - Rodney Schick
That past success has included Montjeu (Ire), High Chaparral, Mastercraftsman (Ire) and Tale Of The Cat (USA). These were high-end horses, with Circus Maximus just the latest on that list.
As far as the Queen Anne S. goes, Schick said any Royal Ascot victory was a feather in a stallion’s cap.
“Royal Ascot is the best of the best, it’s the home of racing,” the studmaster said. “Horses that win at Royal Ascot always end up with very high Timeform ratings, because there are no soft races there. I’m lucky enough to have been at the meeting a number of times, and it’s as good as it gets in racing terms.”
