Horse Racing: Court Masterpiece a model of reliability; Pedigree analysis Polish Precedent offspring looks booked for more Group glory.
Byline: TONY MORRISFOR those present on the downs above Chichester last week, the most abiding memory of the meeting will be the Nassau Stakes and the marvellous display of supreme class and courage by two outstanding racemares. What Ouija Board and Alexander Goldrun provided was a duel of epic quality, fit to rank alongside the Grundy-Bustino clash at Ascot in 1975.
But the 2006 Glorious Goodwood meeting will be remembered for more than that one exceptional contest, not least by Ed Dunlop, who also saddled the other Group 1 winner, Court Masterpiece, in Wednesday's Sussex Stakes.
There was no titanic struggle in that instance, and though it might be said that the race was set up for him by the tearaway tactics adopted on Echo Of Light (which in turn induced Araafa to go too fast), the enduring image of the race was the decisive turn of foot that the six-year-old delivered on demand, enabling him to put daylight between him and Soviet Song in a matter of strides.
We have perhaps been slow to appreciate the merits of Court Masterpiece, a horse who has been running with admirable consistency over five seasons. He has been a premier-league performer for a while, having opened his Group 1 account in the Prix de la Foret last autumn and suffered wretched luck in running when bidding to double his tally in Ad Valorem's Queen Anne Stakes. He is a hardy, honest competitor who will surely hold his own at the top level in the months to come.
Court Masterpiece comes from the tenth crop of his sire, Polish Precedent, who was himself a superior miler as a three-year-old in 1989, when he notched seven consecutive victories, five of them in Pattern company, the last two - the Prix Jacques le Marois and the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp - at the highest level. He finally met his match in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, when his close relation Zilzal (who had the same grand-dam) beat him entirely on merit, but he truly earned his exalted Timeform mark of 131.
It was no surprise that he was able to command a fee of pounds 35,000 on his retirement to Dalham Hall the following spring. He was the best son of Danzig to have raced in Europe up to that time, rated 4lb higher than Green Desert, who was already popular at pounds 25,000. In addition, he was the most highly esteemed of the three contemporary Group 1-winning colts by Danzig, rated 5lb above Danehill and Shaadi.
They were to compile contrasting records at stud. Shaadi, originally priced at Irpounds 20,000, became pretty much a non-achiever, with no winner above Group 2 to his name, while Danehill, who set out at Ir25,000gns, was to exceed all expectations, securing numerous championships in Australia before taking the title at home.
Polish Precedent's record, while comfortably exceeding Shaadi's, has been one of inconsistency, and his best products have not conformed to the pattern generally associated with the Danzig tribe. Precocity has not been their thing and many have been more notable for stamina than speed.
Polish Precedent ran only once - unplaced - as a two-year-old, so it is perhaps not so surprising that his second-crop daughter Pure Grain, who took the Group 3 Prestige Stakes at Goodwood, is his sole juvenile Pattern winner. That filly was to gain rather higher distinction at three, and she did so at middle distances, earning Group 1 honours in the Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks.
Pure Grain set a trend, promptly followed by such as Riyadian, Pilsudski and Predappio, who all required distances in excess of 1m to register their best performances.
Moreover, some were quite late developers, Pilsudski coming into his own only at four, when he achieved top-level successes in the Grosser Preis von Baden and Breeders' Cup Turf, and proving better still at five, when he added the Eclipse Stakes, the Irish Champion Stakes, the Champion Stakes and the Japan Cup.
Polish Precedent had no Pattern winners from his crops of 1995 and 1998, and there was no Group 1 success between second-crop products Pure Grain and Pilsudski and the Derby Italiano winner Rakti. The emergence of Rakti - out of a Rainbow Quest mare, like Riyadian and another middle-distance Group 2 winner Polish Summer - seemed to confirm that Polish Precedent couldn't help but get stayers, but in time we were to learn that here was a colt who conformed only in developing his best form late. Anything but one-dimensional, Rakti collected three Group wins over 1m2f before establishing himself as a miler pretty much on a par with his sire, notching victories in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at five and the Lockinge at six.
NOW, from the tenth crop, comes Court Masterpiece, a horse who has never ventured beyond 1m, and in aptitudinal terms is the type most would have expected Polish Precedent to deliver all along. If he cannot yet be rated in Rakti's class, he is a more sober individual - a model of reliability, in fact.
We must not forget that there is another half to Court Masterpiece's pedigree, because it would surely be a mistake to neglect the input of his dam, Easy Option, an accomplished sprinter herself and a broodmare with a record of five winners from as many live foals. Her liaison with Zafonic in her second season at stud resulted in Maybe Forever, successful in the Group 3 Prix de Saint-Georges, and a son of Zafonic and daughters of Indian Ridge and Cadeaux Genereux have also registered victories.
Easy Option was smart at two, when her more important win came in the Listed St Hugh's Stakes, prompting her acquisition by Godolphin. She scored only once for her new connections over the following two seasons, but twice finished fourth in the Prix de l'Abbaye and had a Group 2 second to her credit in the Prix du Gros-Chene. Although also Listed-placed over 6f, she was all speed, most effective at the minimum distance.
Easy Option was acknowledged as the best daughter of Prince Sabo and he was probably the source of her speed and precocity, although her half-sister by Kris, Wanton, was runner-up in a Flying Childers Stakes.
Easy Option and Wanton were the class acts among nine winners produced by the Bold And Free mare Brazen Faced, and they are also the pair who have most distinguished themselves at stud. Wanton's brood include the Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Classic Park and Rumpipumpy, a US Grade 2 winner.
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Court Masterpiece: Ed Dunlop's six-year-old adds a second Group 1 win to his portfolio in the Sussex Stakes
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| Publication: | The Racing Post (London, England) |
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| Date: | Aug 8, 2006 |
| Words: | 1105 |
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