‘Follow The Foals’ homebred Criollo wins

Qatar Racing homebred Criollo, out of La Rioja, delighted those who have followed her progress via the ‘Follow The Foals’ series in conjunction with Ascot Racecourse by winning at Lingfield on just her second start.

Grey filly Criollo, by Dark Angel and out of Qatar Racing’s two-year-old Gr.3 winner La Rioja, had showed plenty of promise on her debut on Jan 7 and made no mistake in justifying favouritism at Lingfield on January 26.

Sent off at 10/11 favourite against seven rivals, Criollo made all the running under Tom Marquand and held off newcomer Native Angel over seven furlongs. Congratulations to trainer William Haggas and his team who have had to be patient with Criollo.

Criollo is the first foal out of La Rioja, who won the Gr.3 Dick Poole Stakes for Henry Candy and Andrea Atzeni in 2015 and was fourth in the second running of the Gr.1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot the following year.

Criollo represents a real Gloucestershire success story as she was born at Tweenhills in Hartpury; her dam’s sire Hellvelyn stood at Bucklands Farm and Stud near Tweenhills when he produced La Rioja; and Hellvelyn’s sire Ishiguru stood at Tweenhills for seven seasons until his death aged 11 in 2009.

Taking inspiration from her dam, Criollo was named by paul.campbell0817 (Instagram) as part of a social media competition after ‘a person from Spanish South or Central America, especially one of pure Spanish descent’. Well done Paul!