International News: Group 1 double for Wootton Bassett in France

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Cover image courtesy of Zuzanna Lupa

Japan

Do Deuce becomes first Japanese male to win Group 1 in four successive seasons

Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) became the first Japanese male to win a Group 1 at two, three, four, and five when he flew home to win Sunday’s G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn). Already an elite-level winner at 1600, 2400 and 2500 metres, he jumped out of the ground in the Tokyo straight and rattled home down the outside to win. Fellow G1 Tokyo Yushun hero Tastiera (Jpn) (Satono Crown {Jpn}) could not resist the winner's flying finish and settled for second, while pacesetting Ho O Biscuits (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) was a valiant third.

“I wanted to show the true ability and strength of Do Deuce today, so I was really happy when he was able to display his usual powerful kick in the last stretch and crossed the wire first,” said legendary jockey Yutaka Take, winning the Autumn Tenno Sho for the seventh time overall and for the first time since piloting Kitasan Black (Jpn) in 2017. “The pace was not very fast and I was relying on his strong finishing speed, so I didn't want to make any unnecessary moves in the first half of the race and settled him second from last.”

Do Deuce is one of a dozen Group 1 winners for Heart's Cry (Jpn), who was lost to the Japanese breeding industry in March 2023. Two of the stallion's sons–Suave Richard (Jpn) and Cheval Grand (Jpn)–count the Japan Cup among their top-level conquests, a race that figures the next landing spot for Do Deuce.

The seventh horse to win Group 1 contests in four consecutive seasons, he is the first male to do so. It was a 20th JRA Group 1 for trainer Yasuo Tomomichi and an 82nd for Take.

A Grade 3 winner for Satish Sanan's Padua Stable in September 2012, Dust and Diamonds (USA) (Vindication {USA}) was runner-up in that year's G1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint and was acquired days after for US$900,000 (AU$1.36 million) by Borges Torrealba Holdings at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale. For her new owner, she added the G3 Sugar Swirl S. prior to her retirement.

The mare was subsequently sold to Katsumi Yoshida for US$1 million (AU$1.5 million) in foal to the late Pioneerof the Nile (USA) at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale and her stock increased when her foal of 2016, Much Better (USA) (Pioneerof the Nile {USA}), was placed twice at Grade 3 level as a 3-year-old in 2019.

Dust and Diamonds is also the dam of a 2-year-old colt by Real Steel (Jpn) that was purchased by Do Deuce's owner for a sales-topping ¥94.6 million (AU$930,000) as a foal at the 2022 Northern Farm Mixed Sale. She produced a filly by Silver State (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in 2023 and her colt by Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn) fetched ¥286 million (AU$2.82 million) from owner Ozora Kikaku at the Northern Farm Sale on October 22.

France

Guaranteed black type in G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud

Just three lined up for Sunday's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud and it went to form as Coolmore and Westerberg's G2 Beresford S. runner-up Tennessee Stud (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) upstaged Ahmad Al Shaikh's G3 Zetland S. runner-up Green Storm (Ire) (Circus Maximus {Ire}) in the match it looked on paper. In a renewal marred by the dismal lack of appetite for competition among the country's trainers, the Joseph O'Brien-trained 3-5 favourite only had to follow around the British raider and wear him down 100 metres from the line for a 1.5l success. Harvey (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) enjoyed the easiest piece of Group 1 black-type conceivable nine lengths away in third in a race that is surely asking to be stripped of its status by the EPC.

“He's a really tough colt,” Joseph O'Brien said of the winner, who was beaten by Saturday's G1 Futurity Trophy winner Hotazhell (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) in the Beresford having won his maiden at Tipperary last month. “Dylan (Browne McMonagle) said he was really labouring in conditions most of the race and it is a testament to his attitude he was able to fight all the way to the line and win the race. He's a very exciting horse for the future. He is probably a middle-distance horse and I imagine he will be trained with Derbys in mind next summer.”

This race was sorely missing Ballydoyle's G1 Fillies' Mile third Ballet Slippers (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who was revealed by Aidan O'Brien to have suffered a fracture during her last piece of work.

Winner of two of his four starts, 2-year-old colt Tennessee Stud's dam In My Dreams (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells {USA}), who is also responsible for the Listed-placed Jumellea (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), is a half to the seven-time Group 1-winning Ballydoyle legend and leading sire Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire). Also connected to the G1 Moyglare Stud S. heroine Intricately (Ire) (Fastnet Rock) and the G2 Mooresbridge S. scorer Visualisation (Ire) (No Nay Never).

Twain gives Wootton Bassett at Group 1 double

In the kind of fascinating Group 1 encounter that the preceding Criterium de Saint-Cloud definitely was not, Ballydoyle and Wootton Bassett (GB) were the main stories again at the culmination of Sunday's Criterium International. Ryan Moore had picked last Saturday's impressive Leopardstown maiden-winning 2-year-old colt Twain (Ire) over the stable's Arqana Series Criterium d'Automne winner Mount Kilimanjaro (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and his judgement proved spot-on once more as the son of Wading (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) emerged with the Rosegreen bragging rights to stamp himself as a genuine Classic candidate for 2025.

As expected, the unbeaten 3-5 favourite Maranoa Charlie (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) set off in isolation as he had previously when winning the course-and-distance G3 Prix Thomas Bryon but it was soon evident that he was tanking in the hands of Aurelien Lemaitre and merely setting it up for the closers. With the leader's goose cooked two out, it was left to the Irish colts to come to the fore and the 53-10 shot Twain had more gears than his stablemate from 300 metres out.

At the line, Twain held a 1.25length margin over Mount Kilimanjaro, with the Joseph O'Brien-trained Goffs Million scorer Apples And Bananas (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) 4.5 lengths away in third and a tired Maranoa Charlie a further five lengths back in fourth. “He must be very good horse and must have a lot of pace, as he broke from the stalls fast and could have gone forward but we wanted to take our time with him,” Moore said of the descendant of Urban Sea (Miswaki), linking him to some of the Turf's recent greats. Twain is unbeaten in two starts.

Aidan O'Brien added, “This probably wasn't fair to him, as he only ran a few days ago so he's obviously a very good horse. We always rated him highly and thought we were running him too early at Leopardstown, but we decided to run him with this in mind just in case he was as good as we thought he was and there was only one group 1 left this season. Ryan had to teach him and give him a chance there and he thinks he ended up getting there too soon.”

“He's a very good mover who points his toe and has a low action, so he'd have to be better on better ground and he obviously has a big engine,” he said. “He is a big baby, as he was ducking at the cones on the way down to the start. We think he's very special. He's a legitimate Guineas horse.”

The dam Wading was one of Moore's earlier winning rides for Aidan O'Brien and it is notable how blown away he was by her impressive G2 Rockfel S. win which unfortunately proved to be her last. She is now responsible for seven winners including the fellow Rockfel scorer Just Wonderful (USA) (Dansili {GB}), who also took the G3 Flame of Tara S. and was third in the G1 Matron S. and second in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational, and the G3 Mercury S.-placed Lost Treasure (Ire) (War Front {USA}).

Wootton Bassett (GB) | Standing at Coolmore

The second dam is the G3 Blue Wind S.-placed dam Cherry Hinton (GB) (Green Desert {USA}), one of the aforementioned legend Urban Sea's quartet of fillies who did more than her fair share for the family by producing Wading's sisters G1 Irish Oaks heroine Bracelet (Ire) and the G1 Belmont Oaks heroine Athena (Ire) and G3 Snow Fairy S.winner Goddess (USA) both by Montjeu's son Camelot (GB). Athena has since produced the G3 Ballylinch Stud 1000 Guineas Trial S. and G3 Silver Flash S. winner and G1 Prix de Diane runner-up Never Ending Story (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Urban Sea's remarkable story does not need re-telling here, but the fact that Twain has Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire) and a third Derby hero in Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) in his pedigree will excite talk of the Blue Riband despite the speed he has shown on his two starts and the fact that he is by Wootton Bassett. Sea The Stars had the pace to win a 2000 Guineas and Masar was third in the Newmarket Classic, so it could be that Ballydoyle have saved the best of their 2-year-old colts until last.

Double Major doubles up in G1 Prix Royal-Oak

Relishing the Heavy ground at Saint-Cloud on Sunday, the Wertheimers' 4-year-old gelding Double Major (Ire) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) successfully defended his crown in the feature G1 Prix Royal-Oak. Tracking the leader Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) from the break, the 13-2 shot was committed by Maxime Guyon with 300 metres remaining and stayed on strongly to deny the 23-10 favourite Sevenna's Knight (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) by 1.25l, with Trueshan a head away in third.

Winner of this race in 2023 and 2024, Double Major now has seven wins from 15 starts. “I am very proud of him,” trainer Christophe Ferland said. “Last year, we made the mistake of returning him to the stud for winter and he enjoyed his holiday too much. He lost all his muscle and it was hard to bring him back to form.”

Double Major's dam Dancequest (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), who is also responsible for the G3 Prix de Guiche winner Flop Shot (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) and the listed-placed Veritas (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), is kin to the classy Plumania (GB) (Anabaa) who enjoyed her finest hour here when taking the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, and to the G2 Prix de Royllieu winner Balladeuse (Fr) (Singspiel {Ire}). The latter is in turn the dam of the G1 Prix Vermeille winner Left Hand (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and one of the best of the current crop of 3-year-old fillies in 2024 in Aventure (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Second in this month's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the G Prix Vermeille, she was successful in the summer's G2 Prix de Pomone and G3 Prix de Royaumont.

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