By Elaine Belval
Of all the classics run over the weekend of June 4th – 6th, the most impressive was the Epsom Derby won by Workforce, ridden by Ryan Moore. Workforce won the 12f Derby by 7 lengths, and he knocked almost one full second off the Epsom course record. He was rated 132 pounds by Timeform(eight pounds below top-weight Shergar and tied with Galileo and Authorized and four pounds higher than last years winner, Sea the Stars).
Trainer Michael Stoute told Racing Post, “He was seriously good today. That could be one of the great performances.” Workforce was bred and is owned by Juddmonte Farms, owned by Khalid Abdullah. Juddmonte Farms not only bred Workforce, but the farm bred his dam Soviet Moon and his granddam Eva Luna. This family came to Juddmonte through Workforce’s third dam, Media Luna, by Star Appeal.
Juddmonte has bred three classic winners from this family: Flute, winner of the 2001 Kentucky Oaks; Soviet Moon’s full brother Brian Boru,winner of the 2003 St. Leger; and now Workforce. Eva Luna, a GSW by Alleged, produced a GSW by Rainbow Quest as her first foal. As Sadler’s Wells had already produced several GSW with daughters of Alleged (including classic winner Dream Well), in 1999 Eva Luna visited him for the first time. She produced Brian Boru and the SW Kitty O’Shea along with Soviet Moon.
Workforce’s sire is the 2000 Guineas winner King’s Best. Bred by M3 Elevage, he is by champion Kingmambo and a half-sister to champion Urban Sea (the dam of Galileo and Sea the Stars, etc.), so great things were expected of him. King’s Best won four of six starts and defeated European Horse of the Year Giant’s Causeway in the 2000 Guineas. He retired to stud at Kildangan Stud in Ireland in 2001. With more than 100 foals in his first few crops, he proved very popular. By 2006, King’s Best had sired Proclamation, winner of the 2005 G1 Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood and Dubai Surprise, winner of the G1 Premio Lydia Tesio (the Italian Oaks). The mating of King’s Best with Soviet Moon represents the famed “Kingmambo/Sadler’s Wells” nick. This cross had already produced Japanese Champion El Condor Pasa, Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) winner Divine Proportions, and 1000 Guineas winner Virginia Waters, among many others. King’s Best has continued that success with Sadler’s Wells-line mares, with no fewer than 9 SWs from the cross including three G1 winners. King’s Best stood at Haras du Logis in France for a 2010 stud fee of €15,000. Dam Soviet Moon has a 2YO filly by Dalakhani and a 2009 colt by Halling. Workforce is a triumph of great breeding and a wonderful reward to one of the industry’s best owner/breeders.
(Elaine Belval is senior pedigree analyst for WTC.)
Hi Elaine,
Are there any examples of the Kingmambo/Sadler’s Well nick in the U.S.? I know Lemon Drop Kid is by Kingmambo, but I never see Sadler’s Well broodmares in U.S. pedigrees.
-Jameel
You are unlikely to see too many Sadler’s Wells line mares in USA pedigrees because he is predominately considered a turf sire so he is more suited as a rule of thumb to European / Australian racing as a rule of thumb.
As Nathan noted, none of the Kingmambo/Sadler’s Wells SWs are in the US.
There have been a handful of Sadler’s Wells SWs as a broodmare sire in the US. The best known include Musical Chimes and Music Note. But, most of the SWs out of Sadler’s Wells mares in the US were bred in Europe. Only a handful of farms in the US have Sadler’s Wells mares (Juddmonte, the Maktoum brothers) and most of those foals are likely sent to Europe.
Sadler’s Wells sires a very distinctive type that definitely prefers European turf.