Golden Horde Retired From Racing
Golden Horde | Scoop Dyga
This year’s G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Golden Horde (Ire) (Lethal Force {Ire}-Entreat {GB}, by Pivotal {GB}) has been retired from racing after suffering a tendon injury. Stud plans have not yet been decided.
“He suffered a tendon issue that proved to be longer term than first realised, so rather than miss a complete season it was with reluctance that it was decided to retire him to stud,” said trainer Clive Cox. “He was the best horse owned so far by HH Sheikh Sultan Al Deen bin Mohammed bin Salman Al Khalifa, who has been deeply involved with all decisions regarding what is best for the horse. We had hoped to finish this season on a high in the Champions Sprint at Ascot last Saturday, but it wasn’t possible.”
A £65,000 Goffs UK Premier sale yearling, Golden Horde won the G2 Richmond S. at two before finishing third in the G1 Prix Morny and second in the G1 Middle Park S. He opened his 3-year-old campaign with a victory in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot before finishing third while facing elders in the G1 July Cup. After finishing fifth, beaten just 1 1/2 lengths, in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, Golden Horde was third in the G1 Sprint Cup.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to train some top-class sprinters, most recently Harry Angel, but Golden Horde had all the physical attributes to maintain his progress, plus a wonderful temperament,” Cox added. “He danced every dance, no matter what the course or ground, and was a model of consistency at the highest level. We will all miss having him around, and I hope he will be of interest for the next chapter in his life but greatly look forward to handling his progeny.”
G1SW Wooded Retired to Haras de Bouquetot
Wooded winning the l’Abbaye | Scoop Dyga
Group 1 winner Wooded (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}-Frida La Blonde {Fr}, by Elusive City) has been retired and will stand at Haras de Bouquetot in France next year. A fee for the winner of the 2020 G1 Prix de l’Abbaye will be announced later.
“Wooded stood out from the day he arrived for his good looks and ability and he was very sound, never missing a day’s work,” said trainer Francis-Henri Graffard. “In the G3 Prix Texanita he announced himself as a potential superstar and we were confident he would go close in the Commonwealth Cup. The difficulties of travelling this year made it impossible for him to run. As a racehorse he had so many qualities, class, courage and speed and he fully deserved his Group 1 win this year.”
A winner and placed in both the G3 Prix la Rochette and G3 Prix Thomas Bryon as a juvenile in the Al Shaqab colours, the bay did his best running at three. Successful in the G3 Prix Texanita, he was second in the G3 Prix du Petit Couvert three starts later in September prior to his Group 1 win facing elders on Arc Day. The Gestut Zur Kuste-bred €90,000 Arqana October yearling retires with a mark of 9-3-3-1 and $250,081 in earnings.
“Wooded has been a very special racehorse to us at Al Shaqab, winning such a prestigious sprint race as the Prix de l’Abbaye on Arc day, at 3-years-old and against much more experienced horses,” said Al Shaqab General Manager Khalifa Al Attiya. “He will now be starting a new exciting career at Haras de Bouquetot, and we feel confident that such a standout sprinter who performed at the highest level with such consistency at 2- and 3-years’-old will be very well received by the breeders.”
Out of a full-sister to SW & MGSP Fred Lalloupet (GB) (Elusive City) and a half-sister to SW & GSP Mon Pote Le Gitan (Thunder Gulch), Wooded is a full-brother to G3 Sovereign S. bridesmaid Beat Le Bon (Fr). His second dam, Firm Friend (Ire) (Affirmed), won at the listed level in France, and was also second in the G2 Italian 1000 Guineas and third in a further two French Group 3s.
Added Haras de Bouquetot Stud Manager Benoit Jeffroy, “We’re delighted to welcome a Group 1-winning son of Wootton Bassett to join the roster at Haras de Bouquetot for 2021. An athletic mover of 1m67 (16.2 hh), Wooded has outstanding looks, is a very balanced and correct horse with great depth. He’s always shown plenty of speed and we are confident he’ll be an attractive sort to the European market.”
Ghaiyyath Retired To Kildangan
Ghaiyyath | George Selwyn
Four-time Group 1 winner Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}-Nightime {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) has been retired from racing after exhibiting muscle soreness. He will stand at Darley’s Kildangan Stud next year.
Bred by the Weld family’s Springbank Way Stud, Ghaiyyath was a standout from the start being out of the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Nightime. He cost Godolphin €1.1-million at the 2015 Goffs November Foal Sale and showed promise soon after joining trainer Charlie Appleby, breaking his maiden at second asking at two before taking the G3 Autumn S. Ghaiyyath ran just once at three, winning the G3 Prix du Prince d’Orange, and after taking the G2 Prix d’Harcourt to kick off his 4-year-old campaign he made waves when winning the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden by 14 lengths. That performance prompted a 2019 G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe bid, but after making the running over the very soft going Ghaiyyath faded to tenth.
The bay put that blip-his only off-the-board finish in 13 starts-firmly behind him this year as a 5-year-old, however. After kicking off proceedings with an 8 1/2-length score in the G3 Dubai Millennium S. in February, he returned to Europe to best last year’s G1 Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Coronation Cup and none other than Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the G1 Coral-Eclipse and Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Juddmonte International. Ghaiyyath was last seen finishing second to Magical in the G1 Irish Champion S. on Sept. 12, and had been set for a bid at the Breeders’ Cup before his setback.
“Ghaiyyath has had a fantastic career winning nine of his 13 races,” said Appleby. “His high-class cruising speed and relentless style of galloping was a joy to watch and as I have said before, this year he came together both physically and mentally and looked the finished article. It is obviously disappointing not to be taking him to the Breeders’ Cup but the exertions of a long season, which started in Dubai in January, were starting to show and the decision has been made to retire him. He was an outstanding part of the Moulton Paddocks team and I know that his numerous top-level successes gave our principal, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, a great deal of pleasure.”
Ghaiyyath is bred on the same Dubawi over Galileo cross that has produced Darley’s exciting young sire Night Of Thunder (Ire). Ghaiyyath’s page was enhanced after his purchase as a foal when his half-sister Zhukova (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) won a pair of Group 3s in Ireland for Dermot Weld and the GI Man O’ War S. in the U.S. before being bought by Godolphin for 3.7-million gns at Tattersalls December in 2017. Zhukova has yearling and colt foals by Dubawi, while Nightime has a yearling full-brother to Ghaiyyath bought by Godolphin for €1.2-million from Goffs November last year and a colt foal by Kingman (GB) slated to sell at the same sale next month.
Joe Osborne, managing director of Godolphin in Ireland, said, “Ghaiyyath is a great addition to our roster: his superior ability as a racehorse combined with his looks and his pedigree will make him a sought-after option for breeders. We are delighted he will be standing at Kildangan Stud next season.”
by TDN
