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Unlike his namesake, a notorious thief and highwayman, Dick Turpin has earned an excellent living through honest endeavor. However, since defeating his stable companion Canford Cliffs to take the Greenham Stakes (gr. III) at the start of the year, he had been continually thwarted in his attempts to gain the group I prize which his talents suggested he deserved.

Beaten 1½ lengths by Mafki in the 2,000 Guineas (gr. I), with Canford Cliffs third, he then went down by just a ½ length to Lope de Vega in the French 2,000 Guineas (gr. I). Completing a trio of seconds at the highest level, Dick Turpin led close home in the St. James’s Palace Stakes (gr. I) but was cut down by a withering finishing effort by Canford Cliffs who prevailed by a length. Little more than two weeks after that run, Dick Turpin travelled to France for the Prix Jean Prat (gr. I). Rather than feeling the effects of his earlier efforts, he produced the performance of his life, quickening clear of Siyouni (by Pivotal) to score by four lengths. Lope de Vega totally failed to fire here, and with Dick Turpin having gained revenge over Mafki in the St. James’s Palace, he has actually finished in front of all three major European Guineas winners this year.

Dick Turpin (TrueNicks A++) is a grandson of Nureyev, but is by one of that sire’s less well known sons – a horse called Arakan. Bred by the Niarchos family’s Flaxman Holdings, Arakan is out of Far Across, a daughter of Common Grounds (by Kris). Arakan is inbred 2 x 5 to Northern Dancer through Nureyev and The Minstrel, and his third dam, Rhythmique, is by The Minstrel out of Georgica (third dam Cosmah), so having Almahmoud 4 x 4. As a racehorse, Arakan was a useful runner who improved with age to take four black type events at six and seven furlongs, most notably the Criterion Stakes (gr. III) at four, and the Supreme Stakes (gr. III) at five. He retired to stud to stand at modest fee in Ireland (advertised at 3,000 Euros for 2009, when his first crop were about to run), and Dick Turpin is his only black type performer, although he has been represented by 22 first crop winners.

Dick Turpin’s broodmare sire, Sharrood, is a son of Caro. His dam is half sister to Deep Finesse, who won the Prix du Bois (gr. III), and to the dam of the Cornwallis Stakes (gr. III) winner Halmahera. The second dam, Babycham Sparkle, is half sister to the dam of a number of fast horses, including Monsieur Bond, who took the Duke of York Stakes (gr. II), and the Gimcrack Stakes (gr. II) scorer River Falls. The third dam, Effervescence, is a Charlottesville half sister to Zeddaan (by Grey Sovereign, the great-grandsire of Sharood). Dick Turpin’s pedigree is a compete outcross at five generations, and behind this there is a relative high concentration of the Mumtaz Mahal family through Nasrullah, Royal Charger, his brother Madara, and Mahmoud, but to attribute Dick Turpin’s ability to this background would be nothing more than a guess.

It’s hard to believe, but it is more than 40 years since trainer Henry Cecil saddled his first Eclipse Stakes (gr. I) winner (Wolver Hollow in 1969). Since then he had won it three more times (with Wolver Hollow’s son, Wollow, in 1976, and with Gunner B in 1978), but had drawn a blank since. However the long drought was ended at the weekend when Juddmonte homebred, Twice Over, made most of the running to capture the ten furlong group one event.

Twice Over is by the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (gr. I) and Prix d’Ispahan (gr. I) victor Observatory, a son of Distant View from the family of Storm Bird (his granddam is by Northern Dancer out of Solometeor, a three-parts-sister to the dam of Storm Bird). Twice Over is from his sire’s third crop, as is Observatory’s other group I winner, the Haydock Sprint Cup (gr. I) captress African Rose.

His dam, Double Crossed, a daughter of Caerleon (by Nijinsky II), won the Oaks Trial, and is half sister to Clepsydra, dam of the Criterium de Saint-Cloud (gr. I) victress Passage of Time, the King Edward VII Stakes (gr. II) winner Father Time, and Timepiece. The granddam, Quandry (by Blushing Groom), is a black type winner in England, and is half sister to the excellent filly All At Sea, who won the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (gr. I), and took second in the Oaks (gr. I); to the multiple group-winning miler Over The Ocean, to listed winner Full Virtue, and to Quack A Doodle Doo (granddam of U.S. Champion Three-Year-Old Filly Banshee Breeze). The fourth dam, Aunt Tilt, is a stakes placed half sister to the great U.S. runner Damascus.

Observatory’s dam is by Roberto and is a Hail to Reason/Northern Dancer cross, and reverse sex-strains of these two horses appear in Twice Over’s broodmare sire, Caerleon, a grandson of Northern Dancer, with a second dam by Hail to Reason. Twice Over’s dam is a Nijinsky II/Blushing Groom cross, and she is a reverse to the dam of Observatory’s other group I scorer, African Rose, who is out of a mare by Quest For Fame, both the mare and Quest For Fame being Blushing Groom/Nijinsky II crosses. Of course, bringing in Nijinsky II with Observatory gives a variation on the Storm Bird/Nijinsky II combination.

We’ve mentioned that the Prix Jean Prat (gr. I) went to a grandson of Nureyev, and the male lines of Nureyev and his three-parts-brother Sadler’s Wells bagged a significant proportion of Europe’s other good contests this weekend. The pair come together in Godolphin’s three-year-old Emerald Commander, who gained a first group triumph in the Prix Daphnis (gr. III). He’s by Pivotal (grandson of Nureyev) out of a mare by Sadler’s Wells. This is one spot where the Nureyev/Sadler’s Wells combination hasn’t previously worked much magic: Pivotal is one for 15 with stakes winners to runners out of Sadler’s Wells mares, and 0-for-10 with mares by sons of that horse.

Barshiba, a six-year-old daughter of Sadler’s Wells’ veteran sire son Barathea, gained a second consecutive win in the Lancashire Oaks (gr. III). Rated TrueNicks A+, she is out of a mare by Dashing Blade (by Elegant Air, by Shirley Heights), so bred on a version of the Sadler’s Wells/Shirley Heights cross. She is also inbred to the excellent mare Little Hut, who appears as dam of Habitat (broodmare sire of Barathea) and Northfields (sire of Barshiba’s second dam). The duplication is in five of Barathea’s stakes winners, including group I winner Tante Rose.

A much younger son of Sadler’s Wells, the resurgent High Chaparral, was represented by Joanna, a three-year-old filly who took the Prix de la Porte Maillot (gr. III) over older males, her second group win since she suffered her only defeat of the season when third in the French 1,000 Guineas (gr. I). She is rated A++ by TrueNicks, and is out of a mare by Mujadil, a son of Storm Bird out of a Secretariat mare, so bred like Storm Cat and Summer Squall. The second dam is by Riverman (so giving the genetic relatives Mill Reef and Riverman, Mill Reef appearing through High Chaparral’s maternal grandsire, Darshaan). Riverman also gives a second cross of Never Bend, the strain so frequently found with Sadler’s Wells.

The Prix Chloe (gr. III) saw three-year-old filly Lily of the Valley (TrueNicks A++) gain her fourth straight win. She is by Galileo (who also had a winner and a second in grade I’s in South Africa at the weekend), out of a mare by Pennekamp (by Bering, Sea-Bird II line), and so bred on a similar cross to group I winner, Jan Vermeer, also third in last week’s Irish Derby (gr.I), and who is by Montjeu out of Pennekamp mare. The granddam is by Last Tycoon, who is an excellent foil for Sadler’s Wells.

There was also quite a bit of two-year-old action in Europe last week. The Prix Yacowlef, a listed race for debutants went to the Whipper filly, Whiz Kid. Whipper is by Miesque’s Son (brother to Kingmambo (TrueNicks,SRO)) out of a Sadler’s Wells mare, so having Nureyev/Sadler’s Wells 3 x 2. Whizz Kid’s dam is by Soviet Star, a son of Nureyev, so she has Nureyev/Sadler’s Wells 4 x 3 x 3.

The other juvenile events went to the Danzig line. Zebedee (TrueNicks B+), beaten for the first time in three starts last out in the Norfolk Stakes (gr. III) at Royal Ascot, bounced back (bad pun here for older European readers) to win the Dragon Stakes. He is by Invincible Spirit out of a mare by Cozzene (who seems very good under Danzig) from the family of ‘Arc’ victress Miss Alleged. Similarly, Zoffany, who had won two before being defeated in the Coventry Stakes (gr. II) at Royal Ascot, came good in the Golden Fleet Stakes at Leopardstown. By Dansili, out of a mare by Machiavellian, he is another good winner for the Danehill/Machiavellian cross, which has Northern Dancer through Danzig, along with two half sisters to Northern Dancer, and a third cross of his granddam, Almahmoud. Zoffany’s second dam is by Suave Dancer, and he’s another of those good Dansili’s with more Nijinsky II/Blushing Groom (found in Dansili’s broodmare sire, Kahyasi). On Sunday, the Aga Khan’s Keratiya, won the Prix du Bois (gr. III). She is by Dayjur’s three-parts-brother Iron Mask, out of a mare by Daylami, and has the genetic relatives Alydar and Mr. Prospector 3 x 5.

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