Wednesday 15 June 2022
On Sunday, SIYOUNI filly Txope became her sire’s sixth Classic winner when taking the Gr.2 German 1000 Guineas at Düsseldorf. The filly, bred by Haras Voltaire and sold for €310,000 as a yearling at Arqana, was a Listed winner and Group-placed at two. She is owned by Atlético Madrid and French international striker Antoine Griezmann.
Laurent Benoit, who was responsible for securing Txope for Ecurie Griezmann, said: “To be honest, she was very easy to pick at the sales for them because she was a very good-looking filly. She was a bit on the small side but that came from the female line. Being by SIYOUNI, we thought it was a very safe bet and so far so good. She won the German 1000 Guineas in good style and it was a great result.”
Dam Power Of The Moon has a yearling full brother to Txope set to sell this August at Arqana, and a two-year-old full sister in training with André Fabre named Percussion.
Also on Sunday, ZARAK posted yet another new Stakes winner when the progressive Haya Zark took the Listed Prix Ridgway at ParisLongchamp in easy fashion. It was only his second run over 10 furlongs, his first coming when fourth in the Gr.2 Prix Greffulhe last month.
On the other side of the Channel, SEA THE STARS colt Baaeed got Royal Ascot off to a flying start on Tuesday with a victory in the Gr.1 Queen Anne Stakes – the fourth Group 1 win for the unbeaten four-year-old. In doing so he confirmed his position as the world’s top-rated racehorse of 2022.
Winning jockey Jim Crowley said: “It doesn’t get any easier than that. I just let him stretch out for the last furlong of the race, it was like clockwork. It was just the perfect race, really.
“Baaeed will have sterner tests ahead, we know that. He is just doing everything perfectly at the moment. He gallops out very well over a mile and has a serious turn of foot over a mile – it’s unnatural really [and] I don’t see 10 furlongs being a problem.
“I’m sure we’ll keep testing him, but I’m pretty sure he’ll keep finding. You wait a lifetime for a horse to come along like this. The only way I can explain the feeling is when you go to the funfair and you’re waiting in the queue for a fast ride, that’s the feeling before you get on him.”
The Shadwell homebred, whose full brother Hukum won the Gr.1 Coronation Cup at Epsom recently, could head next to the Sussex Stakes before a possible run in the International at York.
