Things just keep getting better and better for Juddmonte. Even if Prince Khalid Abdullah didn’t own any other winners this year, the feats of the mighty Frankel alone would be enough to fill him with pride and joy.
However, Frankel’s Juddmonte-owned stablemates in Sir Henry Cecil’s stable include the splendid troupers Twice Over and Midday (aged six and five respectively) and their quinella in the Group One Juddmonte International at York was a feat which must surely have eclipsed even the wildest dreams of their owner/breeder.
Their joint-achievement though, was merely the first Group One quinella within a five-day period for Prince Khalid Abdullah as owner and breeder, with Announce and Timepiece passing the post first and second in the Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville on Sunday.
This result owes much to the influence of Midday’s third dam Mofida, bought by Juddmonte after her successful racing career as a Barry Hills-trained sprinter. Mofida is the fourth dam of Announce, while she is the grand-dam of Timepiece’s sire Zamindar.
While the majority of Juddmonte’s good horses are by its own stallions, Announce is the 13th individual Group/Grade One winner sired by the Lanwades-based Selkirk, whom Juddmonte had previously used to breed the admirable performers Tranquil Tiger and Cityscape.
Further joy for Juddmonte last weekend came in America, albeit courtesy of someone else’s horse. The wide-margin victory of the Bill Mott-trained filly Royal Delta in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga was a big result for Juddmonte’s US division. Bred and raced by Palides Investments N.V., Inc (the bloodstock company owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah’s friend HH Prince Saud bin Khalid, who sadly died earlier this year) Royal Delta is a daughter of Empire Maker, who stands at Juddmonte’s American farm in Kentucky.
Bred by Juddmonte from its outstanding broodmare Toussaud, Empire Maker carried Prince Khalid Abdullah’s colours to victory in three Grade 1 races as a three-year-old in 2003 including the Belmont Stakes. By winning the Alabama Stakes, Royal Delta has become Empire Maker’s fifth individual Grade One winner, which represents a very good achievement for a stallion whose oldest offspring are still only aged six.
