NEWS
Freshman Sire Blog: Royal Ascot, Part 1
Posted: Friday, June 10, 2011 1:31 PM
John Egan's Freshman Sire Blog appears weekly as part of the 2011 Freshman Sire Contest presented by Markel and Thoroughbred Times
by John Egan
The five-day Royal Ascot meeting gets underway on June 14. The opening race will hopefully set the tone for what should be a fantastic festival of racing. The Queen Anne Stakes (Eng-G1) run over a mile will see the head-to-head battle of Goldikova (Ire) and Canford Cliffs.
Goldikova enters the race off the back of three straight Group or Grade 1 wins, which includes her third straight TVG Breeders Cup Mile (G1) score back in November at Churchill Downs. Canford Cliffs has won four straight Group 1 races in England and Ireland over the mile distance. This race promises to be a classic.
This blog is part one of two that will highlight some juveniles by freshman sires that may have an impact on the earnings of your Freshman Sire Contest Stallion Barn. As a number of entries have not been determined for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Part 1 of this Royal Ascot blog will focus on the two-year-old races on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Coventry Stakes (Eng-G2) to be run over six furlongs was won in 2009 by the aforementioned Canford Cliffs. It was also a race won by Henrythenavigator in 2007, the year before his second-place finish in the Breeders Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita Park.
The most highly regarded entrant by a freshman sire in the Coventry Stakes is Mezmaar, a colt by Teofilo. Mezmaar was successful in his only start to date and had clearly built himself a good reputation on the gallops as he won at odds of 7-to-4.
From a personal standpoint I would love for Mezmaar to win as I have an attachment to the female side of the family from my time working in Ireland. Mezmaar’s second dam is My Branch, who was a stakes winner and Group 1 placed for owner Wafic Said. In my first year working at Kiltinan Castle Stud in Tipperary, Ireland, we had My Branch board with us and in 2001 she had a filly foal who would go on to be Bay Tree, who is the dam of Mezmaar.
I now feel that little bit older!
The Windsor Castle Stakes, run over five furlongs, is a listed Race and concludes racing at Royal Ascot on opening day. This race will likely be where Wesley Ward’s Gentlemans Code poses a big threat.
I think this race is a good spot for Jack Who’s He. The son of Red Clubs featured in an earlier blog and his form of two wins in two starts over the distance of five furlongs would at least put him in with a good chance here. His sire, Red Clubs, won the Coventry Stakes as a two-year-old and his dam’s sire, Desert King, was a Group 1 winner over seven furlongs as a two-year-old, so his pedigree suggests speed and precociousness.
The Queen Mary Stakes (Eng-G2) run over five furlongs and restricted to fillies is the only two-year-old race on Wednesday. The Eoghan O’Neill trained Ruby’s Day would have a very good chance in this race from freshman sire Vital Equine.
A good yardstick to judge this filly by is the Ward trained Judy The Beauty. On her debut, Ruby’s Day was a neck second at Chantilly to Judy The Beauty who had the benefit of already visiting the racetrack and that was winning in impressive fashion at Keeneland Race Course. Ruby’s Day then beat two-time winner Family One in her second start.
I was delighted that my last blog drove a number of new members to The Freshman Facebook page. I hope that more of you will join this page before Royal Ascot on Tuesday. I will post previews, reviews, and results and I hope you will be watching this wonderful spectacle of racing.
Next week I will look to post a blog that will take a look at the Norfolk Stakes (Eng-G2), run on Thursday, the Albany Stakes, run on Friday, and the Chesham Stakes run on Saturday.
Previous Freshman sire blog posts:
Spring at last
It's a marathon, not a sprint
Alright son, you're nicked!
Remembering Rags to Riches
Is 2011 a safe bet for a Darley double?
What is your name? What is your favorite color?
A change of pace
Small victories
Spin around
The passing of a legend
Zen proves to be good karma
Let's Sheikh on it
I saw him first
About John Egan
A native Londoner, John Egan has been a racing enthusiast from a very young age and even owned interests in Thoroughbred racehorses with his parents. After graduating from University with a business degree in 1997, John spent three years working in the London insurance market before pursuing his desire to work in the racing industry. He began work as an assistant to a trainer and was predominately based at Wolverhampton racecourse in England. After a spell in training, John then went to work for Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber's farms of Watership Down in England and Ireland before relocating to Kentucky and Lane's End Farm in 2002. After two years at Lane's End, John decided to combine his experience in the horse and insurance industries and became an equine insurance agent, which he did for three years, before making the transition to underwriter for a large multi-national insurance company. In 2008, he became underwriting manager of the Lexington office of Markel Insurance Company, which was opened in October of that year with the primarily focus of writing Thoroughbred equine mortality insurance.
With the launch of the Lexington office, John has become actively involved in Thoroughbred media to help promote Markel. He appeared on the Horse Racing Radio Network's Saturday morning show in 2009 and 2010 to discuss horses on the Kentucky Derby trail. In 2009, John also began a freshman sire competition and created a newsletter with that competition called The Freshman. That contest caught the eye of THOROUGHBRED TIMES and a partnership was formed to present the Freshman Sire Contest together in 2010. The partnership continues with the 2011 competition also being presented by Markel and THOROUGHBRED TIMES.
John lives in Lexington and is married to Melissa, who is a small animal veterinarian.
Follow the conversation at The Freshman Facebook page.
