Singspiel sired Pattern winners on both sides of the Atlantic on Saturday when his daughters Folk Opera and Balladeuse took the G1 E P Taylor Stakes at Woodbine and the G2 Prix de Royallieu at Longchamp resepectively.
In Canada, Folk Opera bounced from the gate and never saw another rival under an astute Frankie Dettori ride, to land the Group One contest by one-and-three-quarter lengths. She was recording her fourth victory from eight starts this season, which already included success in the G2 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville.
This victory now guarantees her a place in the Breeders' Cup Filliy & Mare Turf, should connections wish to supplement her, where she would bid to emulate her paternal half-sister Lahudood, who took the corresponding race in 2007. Bred by Abbeville And Meadow Court Partners, Folk Opera cost 105,000gns as a yearling and is the first foal out of Halling mare Skiphall, who is from the family of Muhtarram.
In France, the Andre Fabre-trained Balladeuse swept down the outside to record a comfortable victory in the G2 Prix de Royallieu Unraced as a juvenile, Balladeuse broke her maiden at the first attempt at Longchamp in April and has since never failed to hit the board in three subsequent attempts at Stakes level. Owned and bred by the Wertheimer Brothers, she is one of four winners from four runners for her dam, Featherquest, herself a half-sister to Groom Dancer. She has also produced a full-sister to Balladeuse in 2007 which has already been named, Singuliere.
Dar Re Mi, another daughter of Singspiel, took third in the race. She too has been a model of consistency this season with a win in the G3 Prix Minerve to her name as well as finishing runner-up in the G1 Prix Vermeille and Yorkshire Oaks.
Another Darley stallion in the money on Saturday was Cadeaux Genereux, when his son Donativum took the inaugural running of the Tattersalls Timeform Million, a race open to graduates of Tattersalls October Yearling Book One sales in 2007.
With £492,400 to the winner, it was a very well contested race with 24 runners heading to post. Despite a few traffic problems just before the dip, Martin Dwyer managed to galvanise a late run up the near side rail to take home the money by half-a-length.
Bought for 120,000gns, Donativum was bred by Stratford Place Stud and is out of the G3-placed mare, Miss Universe. He is a half-brother to 2007 US G2 scorer Worldly.
At Redcar, the offspring of two freshman stallions fought out a close finish in the Listed Two-Year-Old Trophy. A photograph revealed that Favourite Girl (Refuse To Bend) was narrowly beaten for second while a head back in third was Wave Aside (Reset) and a further head back in fourth, Khor Dubai (Kheleyf). In total, Darley-sired runners filled seven of the first eight places in the 22-strong field.
