Charm Spirit 2 YO's in Top Yards
First-season sire Charm Spirit has 116 two-year-olds in Europe, including 10 owned by Qatar Racing...
Qatar Racing's Charm Spirit with former champion trainer Richard Hannon is a filly out of Salse mare Mill Guineas, dam of five winners including black-type performers Mill Marin and Olvia.
Charm Spirit beat three different Hannon-trained horses into second when winning his Gr. 1s - the Prix Jean Prat, Prix du Moulin and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes - but the trainer clearly harbours no grudges.
He said: "We are extremely happy with the Charm Spirits we've got. They are big, active movers with very good temperaments. I can't wait to race them."
John Gosden, champion trainer in 2012 and 2015, has Qatar Racing-owned colts out of Marju mare Marika and Zamindar mare No Song. Marika's colt was bought by David Redvers for 135,000gns - the third highest price for a Charm Spirit yearling in Europe in 2017 - and is a half-brother to six winners including Stakes scorers Sabratah and Raw Impulse.
William Haggas also has two Charm Spirits for Qatar Racing, namely a colt out of Camacho mare Beldale Memory - a Listed winner and one-time Queen Mary favourite - and a filly out of Kyllachy mare Columella. Both two-year-olds are Tweenhills homebreds.
Andrew Balding has a filly out of Listed-winning Three Valleys mare Valonia, while Ralph Beckett has a filly out of Royal Applause mare Millisecond. David Simcock has a colt out of Orpen mare Ysper - a full sister to Gr. 1 winner Vorda - while Johnny Murtagh has a colt out of Sadler's Wells mare Shuttle Mission.
Also back on the Qatar Racing roster is Charlie Hills who has a filly out of Galileo mare Air Biscuit.
The most expensive Charm Spirit yearling in 2017 was the first to come under the hammer, a colt out of Rainbow Quest mare Kartica. The half-brother to dual Gr. 1 winner Qemah was bought by Shadwell France SNC for €500,000 and has joined Jean-Claude Rouget.
The second highest-priced Charm Spirit yearling was a colt out Diesis mare Thankful purchased by M. V. Magnier for 210,000gns. He's a half-brother to Listed-placed two-year-old Morning Post and has joined Joseph O'Brien.
Other trainers with Charm Spirits include Roger Varian, Karl Burke, Mark Johnston, Brian Meehan, Ed Walker, Ger Lyons, Andre Fabre, Mikel Delzangles, Christophe Ferland, Freddy Head and Henri-Alex Pantall.
