Force to be reckoned with
We’re in the final countdown to taking our yearlings to Tattersalls for the October Sale and we couldn’t have had a better boost to morale than that provided by Desert Force (pictured above as a yearling here at Clairemont Stud), who made all to win a competitive Newbury maiden on Friday. William and I bought the son of Equiano as a foal at Goffs for €90,000 and we then resold him at Book 1 last year through Clairemont Stud for 140,000gns. He was always a really eye-catching colt – strong and well made – and as he’s out of the Group 1-winning mare Mail The Desert we had high hopes that he’d be every bit as good as he looked. Richard Hannon and his team have done a great job with him and I imagine his owner Malih Al Basti must be pretty chuffed as his company Equiworld sponsosored the race won by Desert Force. It’s great to see him off the mark and we’ll continue to follow his career with great interest. Desert Force is entered for the Tattersalls Millions 2YO Trophy at Newmarket on Saturday, 4 October, and if he lines up for that he could be facing an old friend as Musaaid, a colt by Lawman out of Fonda who we sold last year for 280,000gns to Tony Nerses, is also entered. We’re also pleased to see he holds entries for the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy and next year’s Irish 2,000 Guineas. He’s in training with Roger Varian for Classic-winning owners Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar and we wish them all lots of luck with him. Two other Clairemont graduates who could be lining up against each other next week are our two-year-old homebreds Heavenlyfriendship and El Campeon, both of whom are entered in the same race at Kempton next Wednesday. If both are declared it’s going to be tough to know who to shout for but we’d happily settle for a one-two! They both have half-siblings in the forthcoming October Sale. El Campeon’s half-brother is in Book 2 (Lot 672) and he’s by Equiano, the same sire as Desert Force, so it’s been great to see him having plenty of first-crop winners of late. Heavenlyfriendship’s full-sister sells as Lot 1613 in Book 3.
