Six Tweenhills-born winners in five days

It has been an excellent spell for horses born, raised and grazed at Tweenhills with six of them winning in five days, including Brotherly Love in a Listed race at Meydan, a possible stepping stone en route to the Gr.1 Kentucky Derby. 

It started last Tuesday when Qatar Racing homebred Frankel filly Oscar Nominee came from last to first to make an impressive winning debut at Wolverhampton. The 3yo is trained by James Ferguson and was given an excellent educational ride by Jonny Peate. 

Oscar Nominee is out of Listed-winning and Gr.1-placed mare Danza Cavallo, who was bought by David Redvers for €300,000 in 2019. She is also the dam Gr.3 winner Cheshire Academy. Oscar Nominee looks a name to follow. 

Switching codes, Wednesday saw Blue Run successfully carry the colours of David Howden in a novice hurdle at Southwell. He is out of Mary Eleanor, a winning daughter of David Redvers’ first success story as a buyer: £400-buy-turned-three-time-Cleeve Hurdle-winner Lady Rebecca. 

Blue Run was born and raised at Tweenhills before his appearances at sales – he sold for €170,000 in 2023 – and will hopefully become another star for Nicky Henderson.

Now switching countries as 3yo filly Grande Baigneuse was an eye-catching winner of a newcomers’ race at Chantilly on Thursday for Francis-Henri Graffard and Gosserie Racing. The well-backed favourite won snugly and holds a Gr.1 Prix de Diane entry. 

Grande Baigneuse is by Kingman out of Honorina, who was herself bred by Qatar Racing at Tweenhills and is also the dam of Qatar Racing winners Counsel and Cocktail Dress. 

Friday saw the most high-profile results as Brotherly Love won the Listed Dubai Road To The Kentucky Derby at Meydan and Sir Les Patterson easily won a handicap off 99 at Dundalk. Brotherly Love is a Zoustar half-brother to Heart of Honor and could follow in his hoofprints to the Gr.2 UAE Derby and then, hopefully, to a US Classic. 

Sir Les Patterson won three times for his original owners – which included our own David Redvers and Hannah Wall – before selling for 155,000gns at last year’s Tattersalls July Sale. His new connections of trainer Stephen Thorne and Shamrock Thoroughbreds have done extremely well him already and he now looks a Stakes prospect, particularly on an artificial surface. 

The sextet was completed when Charlie’s Choice won a staying handicap at Lingfield on Saturday on the undercard to the Gr.3 Winter Derby (which was also won by a mare by Zoustar and thus conceived at Tweenhills). Charlie’s Choice was bred by his trainer David Simcock and is a son of his Gr.1 Sussex Stakes winner Lightning Spear.