Not a summer goes by when Halling doesn’t have some first-class representatives in the middle-distance and staying events and this year is no different.
The eyes of the racing world focus on Royal Ascot and will thus have witnessed the extremely impressive performance of Holberg in the G3 Queen’s Vase. It was a run that typifies the stock of his sire: brave, tough and genuine. From winning a seven-furlong maiden as a juvenile in November, the Darley-bred colt posted three consecutive victories, once more as a two-year-old when stepping up to a mile on the all-weather before bouncing back in April on his first start at three, demonstrating that a mile and a half was easily within his compass with a win on the Leicester turf.
Trained by Mark Johnston, who has made the Queen’s Vase his own in recent years with five successful raids in a decade, Holberg then ran third to his stable-mate Parthenon (Dubai Destination) in a Listed event at Hamilton on his first outing in Stakes company but this proved to be merely a warm-up for greater things to come when he strode away from his rivals in suitably imperious fashion up the famous Ascot straight to land his biggest contest to date by four lengths from Yankee Doodle. The Derby Italiano winner Mastery (Sulamani) was another three-quarters of a length back in third. Holberg’s dominant performance has understandably left his connections considering a crack at the final Classic of the year, the St Leger.
His has not been the only impressive victory for his sire this year who looks to have a very promising collection of three-year-olds in 2009. Cutlass Bay led home his paternal half-brother Cavalryman in the G2 Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud in May, with the runner-up bouncing back next start to land the Listed Prix Matchem by six lengths. Like Holberg, Cutlass Bay and Cavalryman are both Darley homebreds, conceived when Halling was standing at stud in Dubai and thus carrying the UAE suffix. Out of Dunnes River (Danzig), Cutlass Bay is a full-brother to the G2 King Edward VII Stakes winner Boscobel, who won five races in total , including the Listed Glasgow Stakes. Cutlass Bay is himself unbeaten in three starts, all at ten furlongs, and, hailing from the highly successful stable of Andre Fabre, looks to be a highly progressive individual of whom we shall doubtless see more in France’s middle-distance Group races in the second half of the season. Exactly the same can be said of Cavalryman, who won over a mile at two in France, before stepping up to ten furlongs as a three-year-old with three creditable outings in Stakes company.
Renowing, from the Darshaan mare Renowned, has flown the flag for Halling in Italy, winning the Listed Premio Botticelli at Cappanelle in in April while Sabotage, six-length winner of a Leicester maiden in June, is another three-year-old who looks certain to gain black type in the very near future.
Layali Al Andalus, another to hail from the Mark Johnston stable and a juvenile whom the trainer holds in high regard, demonstrated just how exciting a prospect he is by taking a seven-furlong maiden at Doncaster by seven lengths on only his second racecourse start. Allotted a rating of 98P by Timeform, he is currently the highest-rated juvenile with a large 'P'. Bred by Wood Hall Stud, the young colt is out of the Robellino mare Lafite.
Of the older horses, four-year-old Age Of Reason, who is also from a Danzig mare, the Listed winner Time Changes, came close to landing a Group One for Halling this season when finishing a length second in the Gran Premio di Milano earlier this month. Now four, he made just one start at two, winning over a mile at Lingfield, and has subsequently added three victories to this tally. His three-year-old full-brother Norwegian Dancer broke his maiden over ten furlongs at Chester on 28 June.
Juddmonte’s G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier winner Coastal Path, who was unbeaten in his first six racecourse starts before finishing third to Yeats in last year’s Gold Cup, has only run twice this season to date. The five-year-old, who is a half-brother to Reefscape and Martaline, finished second in the G3 Prix d’Hedouville in May.
The exploits of Norse Dancer, Vanderlin and Hattan, to name but a few, highlight the merits of keeping Halling’s offspring in training as older horses but, as his current crop of three-year-olds are proving, he should not be overlooked as a consistent producer of Group-class horses from the Classic generation and beyond.
