In with the New

First-crop two-year-olds by New Approach and Raven’s Pass are being prepared for their racing debuts in the top stables all over Europe

Throughout the 2007 Flat season, two chestnut colts, one trained in Ireland and the other in England, proved themselves to be outstanding juveniles.

New Approach emulated Teofilo in remaining unbeaten that season and being crowned Champion two-year-old, while Raven’s Pass tore up the juvenile record for Sandown’s seven-furlong course when running away with the Solario Stakes and came very close to taking the all-age record too.

Both would go on to be at the head of their generation at three, of course, but now it is the turn of their first crops to demonstrate that the precocious talent of their sires has been passed on.

Two men guaranteed to have more than a passing interest in the progeny of New Approach and Raven’s Pass are their former trainers Jim Bolger and John Gosden. It comes as no surprise to find that Jim Bolger trains ten sons and daughters of New Approach among his two-year-olds for 2012, while John Gosden’s stable can boast four juveniles by Raven’s Pass, including a three-parts sister to the French Classic-winning filly Elusive Wave.

They are by no means the only leading trainers in Britain and Ireland with youngsters by these two exciting young sires. John Oxx trains Flashy Approach, a colt by New Approach out of the top-class two-year-old Flashy Wings, and a filly by the same stallion out of Street Cry’s Sun Chariot Stakes winner Majestic Roi, named Majestic Jasmine. The former trainer of Sea The Stars also has a Raven’s Pass half-brother to St James’s Palace Stakes winner Zafeen for owner/breeder Jaber Abdullah.

Roger Varian, who was assistant trainer to Michael Jarvis in the days of Ameerat’s 1,000 Guineas victory, will be delighted to welcome her New Approach daughter to his stable, and she is one of just four two-year-olds by him at Kremlin House Stables, along with a half-brother to the great Hong Kong champion Viva Pataca. Roger also trains three colts by Raven’s Pass, including a half-brother to crack sprinter Captain Gerrard.
Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Mohammed have entrusted a New Approach filly and a Raven’s Pass colt respectively to the master trainer Dermot Weld, while Mark Johnston also has three New Approach two-year-olds and a colt by Raven’s Pass in training for the Maktoum family.

Independence has already produced two top-class colts for Philip Freedman’s Cliveden Stud in Mount Nelson and Monitor Closely and her latest two-year-old, a filly by New Approach, has been named Singersongwriter and has been sent into training with Ed Dunlop.

Other leading owner/breeders to have patronised the 2008 Derby winner are Robert Barnett, whose New Approach filly out of Musidora winner Time Away joins Andrew Balding’s stable, and the Niarchos Family, whose filly out of Raisonnable is with Pascal Bary.

Also in France, Alain de Royer Dupre trains a daughter of New Approach out of Bal De La Rose, a Group Three-winning half-sister to Shamardal’s dual Classic winner Lope De Vega.
Mysterial has already produced two Group One winners for Godolphin in Dubai Destination and Librettist, and Sheikh Mohammed’s team will be hoping that lightning can strike for a third time via her March-foaled Raven’s Pass colt, who is with Saeed bin Suroor’s stable.

And for those buyers who weren’t fortunate enough to have secured a yearling by New Approach or Raven’s Pass at last year’s sales, there’s still time to buy members of their first crops as both are represented at Europe’s elite breeze-up auction, Tattersalls’ Craven Sale, which starts on 18 April.