Territories' Group 1 winner did not go unnoticed amid Arc and Book 1 madness

Good Morning Bloodstockis Martin Stevens' daily morning email and presented here online as a sample.

Here he reflects on Territories' first Group 1 success and the ongoing fallout over the Arc victory the same day for Germany's Torquator Tasso - subscribers can get more great insight from Martin every Monday to Friday.

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I thought it was about time I caught up with my correspondence, so today’s Good Morning Bloodstock will be reminiscent of the viewers’ letters section of That’s Life – just with fewer pictures of rude vegetables and local newspaper misprints, more’s the pity.

One reader wrote in to say he is “very disappointed that there has still been no mention of Territories gaining his first Group 1 winner from his first crop last Sunday,” and asks why this is.

The simple answer is that I was busy writing about the fallout from the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the action at Book 1, but that's certainly not to say that Territories’ feat of siring the Prix de l’Opera winner Rougir went unnoticed by me.

Territories seems to be establishing himself as quite a dependable stallion. He’s operating at a very respectable 48 per cent winners-to-runners ratio in Europe this year, a figure second only to New Bay among the sophomore sires with more than ten runners.

A third of his runners in Britain and Ireland have run to a Racing Post Rating of 80 or higher, which puts him on a par with the likes of Kodi Bear, Mastercraftsman and Oasis Dream, and he has supplied some likable performers such as Aldaary and Rhoscolyn.

But, it has to be said, that as admirable as Rougir is – and she really is, having consistently run well in a string of big races since April – she did become her sire’s first stakes winner of any kind this year when she struck at Longchamp on Sunday.

So that Group success for Territories was overdue, to say the least, although I wouldn’t want to appear to be churlish in my view of him as he’s proving a reliable source of winners and he has plenty of other black type-placed runners besides Rougir.

He’s the sort of sire whose stock should be in demand from up-and-coming trainers and syndicate managers, in my view.

Torquator Tasso’s victory in the Arc, which thrusted German breeding back into the spotlight, encouraged many of you to take to your keyboards.

“German thoroughbred breeding, like sport horse breeding, has always put soundness foremost and I think breeding in Britain and Ireland could learn from it,” wrote one reader.

Another correspondent based in Britain said: “It was notable that the German horse barely got a mention in the run-up to the Arc and I don’t think he was mentioned at all on ITV, despite his previous achievements.

“We are, first, so insular, and secondly so blinded by fashion that our own industry has reached the state it has.”

Few arguments here. Indeed, it’s notable how a few of the other leading players in this year’s Arc also have at least a drop of German blood that has no doubt helped fortify their pedigree with stamina and soundness.

Torquator Tasso's Arc victory and coverage of it before and after had many GMB readers reaching for their keyboardsCredit: Edward Whitaker

The Irish Derby, Grand Prix de Paris and St Leger winner Hurricane Lane, who finished third, is out of a mare by Shirocco, while Derby and King George hero Adayar is a descendant of Anna Paola, a winner of the Preis der Diana who became one of Sheikh Mohammed’s foundation mares.

The result came only one year after the German-bred In Swoop finished a neck second to Sottsass in the Arc, and two years after the British-bred but effectively half-German Waldgeist triumphed over Enable in Paris.

In actual fact, Germany can claim a small portion of the credit every time Galileo and Sea The Stars or their descendants are represented by a big winner, as their dam Urban Sea hailed from a German maternal line.

Urban Sea was, like Torquator Tasso, a surprise winner of the Arc in heavy ground, her victory also dismissed as a fluke in some quarters; and yet look how she has managed to exert such a profound influence on the breed.

So, will many British and Irish Flat breeders give Torquator Tasso the chance to be represented by a few top-class horses on these shores when he eventually retires to stud? I won’t get my hopes up.

My favourite recent correspondence of all came from the several readers who responded to Tuesday’s Good Morning Bloodstock email to say that they were also proud ‘nerds’ who found trivia like Torquator Tasso’s change of name interesting.

Keep the emails coming. More nerdy observations like that are always especially welcome.

Get involved!

What do you think? Share your thoughts with other Good Morning Bloodstock readers by emailing gmb@racingpost.com

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Pedigree pick

The 7f fillies’ maiden at Newmarket (1.15) today has attracted a host of well-bred newcomers, including progeny of Dubawi, Kingman and Lope De Vega, and so narrowing the group down to just one or two to make a small investment in is difficult.

That said, only one is a sibling to a Group 1 winner and that filly, Amanzoe, a Fastnet Rock full-sister to Vertem Futurity scorer Rivet, in the care of Rivet’s trainer William Haggas, could be a little overlooked by punters.

Another beautifully bred filly set to make her debut today is Ching Shih, a daughter of Lope De Vega and British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes heroine Madame Chiang, and thus a half-sister to Listed winner and Group 2-placed Oriental Mystique. She has been declared for the mile fillies’ maiden at Newcastle (5.20).

The David Simcock-trained filly faces a stiff task against Peripatetic, a daughter of Ulysses and US Grade 1 winner Dublino who finished a neck second at Newmarket for Roger Varian on debut, but she looks to hold a solid each-way chance.

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