Joy for Cooper as Hurricane Lane and Glorious Journey complete Group double

Hurricane Lane's success in the Cazoo St Leger topped an excellent afternoon for Philippa Cooper at Doncaster, as Normandie Stud's matriarch also bred Glorious Journey, winner of the Park Stakes just 40 minutes beforehand.

Glorious Journey - who was notching up an eighth career win and sixth Group-race success for Charlie Appleby and Sheikh Mohammed's daughter, Sheikha Al Jalila - was picked up by John Ferguson for 2,600,000gns from Tattersalls Book 1 in 2016.

The six-year-old gelding hails from a prolific Normandie Stud family that has also been represented in recent weeks at Saratoga by Listed John's Call Stakes winner Serve The King, who is out of a half-sister to Glorious Journey's dam Fallen For You.

Fallen For You, the winner of the Coronation Stakes for Cooper and John Gosden in 2012, is also responsible for Radley Stakes winner and Nell Gywn third Love Is You, a daughter of Kingman.

Cooper told GBRI: "Glorious Journey's family is probably one of my best families. I've still got grandma. Grandma [Fallen Star] has retired, I retire all my mares at 20, and I've got a two-year-old Postponed filly that's still to run out of her.

Glorious Journey lives up to his name in the Park Stakes at Doncaster, providing the first leg of a Group-race double for breeder Philippa CooperCredit: Alan Crowhurst

"Fallen For You won the Coronation Stakes for us at Royal Ascot, and I've got her, and she's had the Listed winner and Group 3-placed Love Is You, who ran but unfortunately got injured this year."

She continued: "I've got a Kingman yearling, who will probably go to John Gosden, and a Saxon Warrior filly foal, and the mare's in foal to Lope De Vega.

"The half-sister, Fallen In Love, who's the dam of Serve The King, has got an Expert Eye filly foal. Loving Things, she's got a Sea The Stars yearling. There's lots happening in that family."

Hurricane Lane's own dam, the Listed-winning Shirocco mare Gale Force, is no longer with Cooper, having been sold as part of a partial dispersal at the 2019 Tattersalls December Mare Sale.

A half-sister to British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes winner Seal Of Approval and the dam of the stakes-placed Frankel filly Frankel's Storm, the ten-year-old made 300,000gns to Charlie Gordon-Watson and Watership Down Stud.

Cooper explained: "The reason I don't have Gale Force, the mother of Hurricane Lane, is when I cut right back, I cut back to my three core families, which were Dolores' family, Foodbroker Fancy's family and Fallen Star's family."

Hurricane Lane storms home in the St LegerCredit: Edward Whitaker

On watching Godolphin's Irish Derby and Grand Prix de Paris hero storm home on Town Moore, Cooper added: "It was actually quite emotional for me as the breeder. I just love the St Leger, it's just a wonderful race.

"I think he gave it a bit of pizzazz. I was very worried about him, I think he's so much better at a mile and half, but he relaxes so well in the race. It’s just incredible how well he relaxes. I think his class got him through.

"It's wonderful when you can sell horses to Godolphin and they do so well for them, because nobody wants to sell horses and for them to do badly for other people. To breed Classic winners is what we all aspire to, and doing it for others is something special, isn't it?"

Hurricane Lane was capping an excellent two days for Frankel, who was responsible for Thursday's impressive Park Hill Stakes winner Inspiral, while Godolphin's Noble Truth provided the Banstead Manor Stud resident with his first stakes winner as a broodmare sire in the Listed Flying Scotsman Stakes on Friday.

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