Coming of Age

Authorized has already shown himself to be a young sire of note and we can expect bigger and better things to come as his first crop head towards their Classic season.

Despite being a G1 winner at two, we didn’t see the best of Authorized until his dazzling Classic campaign, with victories in the Derby, the Juddmonte International and the Dante Stakes which saw him crowned European Champion Three-year-old.

It’s fair to expect that many of his offspring will also progress between the ages of two and three, and that’s what makes 2012, when we will see Authorized’s first-crop three-year-olds on the track, a year to look forward to.

With nine winners so far, Authorized has already made a highly promising start to his career. Those to have scored include the 95p-rated Witnessed, Estrela, who is rated 93p after her Newbury maiden win, and Toruk Macto, now a dual winner.

With Sheikh Mohammed’s best horses being trained by Godolphin, that stable naturally has a good selection of Authorized three-year-olds to run next year, including Tamarrud, who won on his only start back in August.

Godolphin’s racing manager Simon Crisford says: “We’ve had 12 two-year-olds in training by Authorized this year and we are really pleased with them. Although a little backward, they have done really well in the second half of the year and we’re really happy with their progress. Some of these should make up into very promising three-year-olds.”

Simon is not alone in looking forward to the new year. Trainer Roger Charlton, who sent out Estrela to win a competitive Newbury maiden over a mile on her second start, is equally encouraged.

He says: “Estrela is a nice filly who progressed a lot when winning her second start. If she stays beyond a mile she will be an exciting prospect next year,”

Like Roger, Ralph Beckett is a trainer who knows what it takes to win a British Classic, having trained Look Here to win the Oaks for her owner/breeder Julian Richmond-Watson. So that makes it very exciting to hear Ralph say that his winning Authorized filly Colima is “very nice and as promising a two-year-old as we have”. Ralph adds that Colima will be primed with a Classic campaign in mind and will go straight for an Oaks Trial in 2012.

Having been responsible for the career of one of the great horses of the modern era, Cape Cross’s son Sea The Stars, John Oxx knows all there is to know about nurturing young talent and he has taken the patient approach with a pair of Authorized juveniles under his care.

He trains a filly named Hay Point and a colt called Allowed and says of the duo: “Both have shown we a good deal of promise at home in their work and I’m looking forward to getting them on the track.”

James Fanshawe is another master conditioner with several of Authorized’s first crop ready to represent his Pegasus Stables next season. Of his trio of fillies, he says: “All have needed time and weren’t suited by the firm ground last year but they are athletic good-moving fillies with a good attitude.”

With such positive vibes about Authorized’s horses in training, it was also pleasing to see his 2011 yearlings fare so well at the sales, with 26 changing hands for an average of 43,321gns and top price of 180,000gns.

The buyers of those yearlings included John Ferguson Charlie Gordon-Watson, Crispin de Moubray, Blandford Bloodstock, Jonathan Pease, Australian agent John Foote, John Warren, Alan Decrion, Stephen Hillen and BBA Ireland.

All racing fans can remember how Authorized lit up Epsom with his devastating five-length Derby victory. Don’t be surprised to see some of his three-year-olds posting similarly head-turning performances at racecourses across Europe in 2012, and for many years to come.