Romanised may be a surprise Classic winner but he has a solid pedigree

Romanised might have been a surprise winner of the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh on Saturday, but he did not have the pedigree of a no-hoper.

On the contrary, he is by a sire with a proven track record in Classics and hails from a blueblooded Moyglare Stud family.

The Ken Condon-trained colt, who took the scalp of two better fancied rivals trained by Aidan O'Brien in second and third, US Navy Flag (by War Front) and Gustav Klimt (Galileo), is the 11th Group/Grade 1 winner for Coolmore resident Holy Roman Emperor.

The sire was notoriously whisked off to Coolmore to replace the infertile George Washington at the end of a two-year-old season in which he had won four races including the Phoenix Stakes and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at the highest level.

Holy Roman Emperor's roll of honour at stud is headed by Homecoming Queen, a shock winner of the 1,000 Guineas, and Mongolian Khan, who landed the Australian and New Zealand Derby and also took the prestigious Caulfield Cup.

The 14-year-old son of Danehill has also compiled a particularly good record in Hong Kong, where he has supplied the Irish-bred superstars Beauty Only and Designs On Rome.

It is likely Designs On Rome and his many top-flight triumphs at Sha Tin that inspired the breeding of Romanised.

That is because Romanised was bred by Monica Aherne out of Romantic Venture, a winner over an extended mile at Galway for Dermot Weld and her breeder and original owner Moyglare Stud – and an Indian Ridge half-sister to Designs On Rome.

Moyglare Stud bred three foals out of Romantic Venture, including the dual Listed-winning stayer Fictional Account (Stravinsky) and the 1m4f handicap scorer Samarkand (Sadler's Wells).

However, at the Goffs November Mares Sale in 2008 the operation sold the then 11-year-old mare to Brendan Corbett for €40,000.

Corbett bred two foals out of Romantic Venture – including Rock Of Romance (Rock Of Gibraltar), who won the Group 3 St Leger Italiano over 1m6f and the Listed Langer Hamburger in Germany over 2m.

The dam produced no offspring between 2011 and 2014 and Romanised, foaled in February 2015 for Aherne, was her first foal after a five-year hiatus.

Romantic Venture has a two-year-old sister to Romanised named Roman Venture but her foal by Holy Roman Emperor last year died. She is recorded by Weatherbys as having passed away herself this year aged 21.

The breeding of Classic winners so far in 2018

2,000 Guineas
SAXON WARRIOR
b c Deep Impact-Maybe (Galileo)

1,000 Guineas
BILLESDON BROOK
ch f Champs Elysees-Coplow (Manduro)

Poule d'Essai des Poulains
OLMEDO
b c Declaration Of War-Super Pie (Pivotal)

Poule d'Essai des Pouliches
TEPPAL
b f Camacho-Jummana (Cadeaux Genereux)

Irish 2,000 Guineas
ROMANISED
b c Holy Roman Emperor-Romantic Venture (Indian Ridge)

Roman Venture can now be considered a valuable commodity as the only female sibling to Romanised in Europe, with Fictional Account having been exported to Australia after her sale to Blandford Bloodstock for 90,000gns in 2011.

Romantic Venture and Designs On Rome were bred by Moyglare Stud out of the placed Alleged mare Summer Trysting, and were among ten winners produced by the mare along with Grade 2 American Derby winner Simple Exchange (Danehill) and dual Group 3 scorer Sights On Gold (Indian Ridge) – another who performed well in Hong Kong, having finished second in the Hong Kong Vase.

Summer Trysting was out of the Listed-winning The Minstrel mare Seasonal Pickup, and she in turn was out of the Group 3-winning Nashua mare Bubinka, also ancestress of Irish Oaks and Derby winners Covert Love and Grey Swallow.

Judging by the way the Robert Ng-owned Romanised bounded clear in the final furlongs of the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and the fact he has so many proficient stayers close up in his family, he ought to be able to cope with a step up in trip in time.

He is also a precious entity as that rare thing, a truly top-class colt in independent ownership, so he will no doubt be the subject of many studs seeking to claim the right to stand him at the conclusion of his racing career.

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