October 2022

LEADING LIGHTS AT BANSTEAD MANOR STUD SHINE BRIGHT ON ARC DAY

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The leading lights of the late Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms stallion roster at Banstead Manor Stud shone bright at ParisLongchamp on Sunday afternoon, as ALPINISTA (GB) and KINROSS (GB) delivered a sensational Group 1 double for sires FRANKEL (GB) and KINGMAN (GB), respectively.

Frankel, who is the fastest sire to reach 50 Group winners in history and was Champion Sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 2021, has been admirably represented by daughter Alpinista in six consecutive Group 1 races across three European countries over the last two seasons.

The grey mare, owned and bred by Miss Kirsten Rausing and trained by Sir Mark Prescott, has prevailed on all six occasions, with Sunday’s win in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe counting as a significant first for Frankel in the French showpiece.

A Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe victory for Alpinista, a fifth generation Lanwades Stud homebred, also represents a richly deserved first in the race for Rausing.

In a ‘British Racing: Invest in the Bestvideo feature released earlier this week, Rausing said:

“Frankel was unbeaten in all his races and voted a great champion, correctly so. He has since, if anything, possibly exceeded expectations as a sire. He’s a fantastic sire with worldwide success having sired Classic winners on various continents, including in Japan.

“It’s a tremendous asset for the British thoroughbred industry to see Frankel standing here, all thanks to Juddmonte Farms and the late Prince Khalid Abdullah, who bred and raced the horse, to let the horse remain in Britain, where he is unquestionably the best stallion in the world alive at present. Possibly others would dispute that, but that’s my personal opinion.”

Alpinista’s dam, ALWILDA (GB), is currently back in foal to Frankel.

Frankel has sired eight individual Group 1 winners so far in 2022, a total that exceeds that of any other stallion worldwide. Alongside Alpinista in this list are Irish Derby winner WESTOVER (GB), who was far from disgraced in 6th place behind Alpinista in today’s ParisLongchamp feature, and two-time Group 1 winner NASHWA (GB), who was narrowly denied on unfavourable underfoot conditions in the Group 1 Prix de l'Opéra.

Frankel’s global footprint in 2022 also extends to the US, courtesy of Grade 1 Belmont Oaks winner MCKULICK (GB), and Australia, thanks to Group 1 Randwick Guineas winner CONVERGE.

Trainer of Westover, Ralph Beckett, did not have to wait long before celebrating another Group 1 success in what has been a memorable season for the Andover-based trainer as, less than two hours later, Kingman gelding KINROSS (GB) had landed a first top-flight win in the Group 1 Prix de la Forêt.

Bred at Lawn Stud by Julian Richmond-Watson, in whose silks the gelding initially raced before transferring to Marc Chan’s ownership, Kinross was registering his third consecutive win on Sunday, having scored at Group 2 level on his last two starts.

A five-time Stakes winner prior to the Prix de la Forêt, Kinross is one of Kingman’s 14 individual Stakes winners in 2022 and 33 Group winners so far in his career. He has now joined PALACE PIER (GB), PERSIAN KING, DOMESTIC SPENDING (GB) and SCHNELL MEISTER – a list with considerable international flavour – as a Group 1 winning son of Kingman.

Elsewhere on the card, the British breeding industry had cause to cheer when BELBEK won the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère, as he became the latest Group 1 winner sired by Whitsbury Manor Stud stallion SHOWCASING (GB), who was himself owned and bred by the late Prince Khalid Abdullah.

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