Exciting year for Tweenhills as Kameko foals arrive and key mares set for dates

This year holds the promise of both great excitement and poignancy for Tweenhills and the Qatar Racing team, with the first and only crop of Roaring Lion hitting the track and the first runners for young stallions Lightning Spear and Zoustar.

Zoustar is already off to an excellent start with his progeny in the southern hemisphere, where he is the highest-earning champion first-season sire in history and the sire of three individual Group 1 winners.

The first foals by 2,000 Guineas and Vertem Futurity Stakes winner Kameko are on the ground, and their likeness to their imposing sire was evident on a recent media day at the Gloucestershire farm.

Among them are a filly out of the stakes-winning Holy Roman Emperor mare An Ghalanta and therefore a half-sister to Listed Empress Stakes winner Time Scale; a filly out of the globetrotting Group 1 heroine and Royal Ascot winner Con Te Partiro; a colt out of a winning sister to Mekong River and from the family of Fillies' Mile and Falmouth Stakes heroine Simply Perfect; and a half-sister to Japanese Group 2 winner Mikki Charm.

Kameko foals line up at Tweenhills with David Redvers and Oisin MurphyCredit: Edward Whitaker

Kameko is again set to receive some of the cream of the broodmare band after a quality full book of mares in 2021.

Bloodstock manager Hannah Wall revealed that among the mares due a date with the five-year-old are Albany Stakes winner and dual Group 1-placed Kiyoshi, Musidora Stakes victress Rose Of Kildare and American Listed winner Cat's Claw, a daughter of Dynaformer and Chili Cat, a Storm Cat half-sister to multiple top-level winner Point Of Entry and another Grade 1 winner in Pine Island.

Wall said: "Rose Of Kildare is still in training with the Johnstons and is likely to have one more run before returning to be covered.

"Cat Claw's really beautiful Kameko foal has been born and she's going back to him."

Other Qatar Racing mares visiting Kameko include Dick Poole Fillies' Stakes winner and Commonwealth Cup fourth La Rioja, May Hill Stakes winner Rich Legacy and Cheshire Oaks winner Diamonds Pour Moi,

Likewise booked in are Granny Franny, already the dam of three individual stakes winners, all by Kitten’s Joy, and Potent Embrace, the dam of Glorious Stakes winner and Group 1-placed Passion And Glory.

Distorted Humor mare Wind Fire, a dual Listed winner and a multiple Group-placed performer for David Brown, is one of a classy home broodmare team who will be supporting Zoustar.

Wall said: "Wind Fire has a two-year-old colt by Zoustar who is in training with Wesley Ward in America. She'll go back to him this year."

Zoustar taking in the surroundings at Tweenhills StudCredit: Edward Whitaker

Other Qatar Racing mares visiting the fully booked Zoustar include Now Or Later, a Group 2-winning half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Fairyland; Queen Mary Stakes third Out Of The Flames, who has a two-year-old filly by him in training with Wesley Ward; Beach Belle, a two-year-old stakes-winning daughter of Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes runner-up Beach Bunny; and Koneko, a three-parts sister to Kameko.

Key mares owned by Tweenhills and various partners who will also visit Zoustar this season include Ruby Love, a Group 1-winning daughter of Scat Daddy; Farmah, the Group 3-winning daughter of a French Guineas heroine; Italian champion two-year-old filly Festive Star; Sleek Gold, the dam of three stakes performers including recent Grade 3 winner Ouraika; and Bewitchment, dam of last year’s Listed Marygate Fillies' Stakes winner Nymphadora.

Qatar Racing's St Leger and British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes heroine Simple Verse is due to foal to Kameko's sire Kitten's Joy.

The daughter of the late Duke Of Marmalade has a three-year-old colt by Frankel in training with John and Thady Gosden called Royal Verse, while she also has a two-year-old filly by Roaring Lion who has just gone into training with Ralph Beckett.

Wall added: "Simple Verse went to Kitten's Joy the year before as she was barren and we shipped her to America, which we wouldn't have done with a foal. She'll visit Too Darn Hot this year."

A foal by Kameko poses for the cameraCredit: Edward Whitaker

Another classy performer pencilled in for Darley's European champion two-year-old and son of Dubawi is Sparkle Roll, a Group 2-placed and winning half-sister to four black-type performers including Derby hero Wings Of Eagles.

A dual winner for John Gosden, the daughter of Kingman was third to Star Catcher in the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot and also placed behind Dame Malliot in the Aphrodite Fillies' Stakes at Newmarket.

Two flagship mares in Con Te Partiro and Lightening Pearl, the former a dual Group 1 winner in Australia and picked up by connections at Keeneland, are both booked in for a visit to Banstead Manor Stud.

Wall said of Con Te Partiro: "She's visiting Frankel. We wanted to send her to Kameko for her first foal and are very happy with the filly she has produced. Lightening Pearl is also going to Frankel."

Lightening Pearl, winner of the Cheveley Park Stakes and Tower Stakes, is the dam of Frankel's Group 3-winning daughter Lightening Quick, who has a very promising youngster stateside.

Wall said: "She has a very exciting Zoustar two-year-old in training with [Wesley] Ward, who we had all loved on the farm. She's in foal to Kingman and will go to Wootton Bassett."

Other notable names among the Qatar Racing broodmare band include Molly Malone and Wekeela.

Lightning Spear and Kameko on watch dutyCredit: Edward Whitaker

Molly Malone won the Prix du Cadran and is the dam of high-class French stayer Morgan Le Faye, as well as the winning Magnet from two foals to have reached the track so far. She will visit Dubawi.

Wekeela, winner of a Group 3 in France and Grade 3 in the United States, is another visiting Dubawi.

"Wekeela's full-sister Matauri Pearl bred Grade 1 winner Aunt Pearl, so we decided to send her to Lope De Vega last year," said Wall. "She's due to foal later this season and will then visit Dubawi."

The daughter of Hurricane Run has three-year-old Dubawi colt Millennial Moon to fly her flag this year; he has switched from the Gosdens to Brendan Walsh in the US.

Stallions and foals will be available to view during the Cheltenham Festival, Wall saying: “We'll be opening Tweenhills to breeders before racing during Cheltenham Festival week, with a stallion parade at 9am followed by a look at some of Kameko’s first foals. We'd ask if people could contact us if they're planning on attending.”

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