Swettenham Stud

Danse Greque Obscured in the Blue Silks

The stallion produced a stakes winner and two stakes seconds to round out the weekend. While not the ultimately successful weekend these runners importantly showed that they will graduate to further black type success and enhance an already impressive percentage of stakes horses to runners for the Group 1 winning son of Storm Cat.

On Saturday the Hold That Tiger 4YO mare Danse Grecque got the ball rolling. She was coming back in distance and managed to sit handily in third place in the Group 2 1600m Daniel Wildenstein Stakes at Longchamp. After drawing a good barrier and importantly beginning well she just popped in behind the pace.

The big field ensured the tempo of the race was fair throughout. However, she was held up turning and took 200m to extricate herself around the tiring leader. When she finally squeezed through a narrow opening she closed quickly along the rail for a gallant second placing.

These races are all about momentum and the favourite with a clear run from the top of the straight and down the middle of the track had a “full head of steam up” and was able to hold her off to win by a length. What made Danse Grecque’s run all the more encouraging was that the track showed all day that the best going was at least 5 horses off the rails in the straight.

The trend followed the next day (early races on Arc Day) until they moved the rail back in 5 metres before their spate of Group 1 races.

The 4YO Hold That Tiger USA bred mare is a daughter of Distorted Humor matron Distorted Blaze. This season Danse Grecque has a Group 1 fourth at her last start in the Deauville Prix Jean Romanet plus her two very unlucky second placings in the Group 2 Saint-Cloud Prix Corrida (see earlier story) and this latest race. She resumed with a win in the Longchamp Prix de la Tournelle; so her four starts this season have been very productive.

Her connections were obviously hoping for a win in the race named after their late father Daniel Wildenstein and it would not surprise to see her target the same races again next season.

Across the Atlantic, Hungry Tigress a 4YO chestnut mare from Baldski’s Finesse a Clever Trick mare was fresh off her maiden stakes win. She would chalked up yet another stakes runner up position in the US.

Hungry Tigress produced a courageous run in the Indian Maid Stakes US$113k race over 1700m on the dirt at Hawthorne. Sitting 3 wide the entire trip with the odds on favourite enjoying the rails spot, she kept trying relentlessly.

This was Hungry Tigress’ fourth top two finish, in her last four starts, all in Stakes races. Incredibly the mare has never been out of the top four in her 13 career starts, boasting 3 wins, 7 seconds, 1 third and two fourth places and earnings over $200k.

The winner Abby’s Angel proved too good on this occasion winning comfortably from Hungry Tigress. The margin to 3rd was 3 lengths and the rest of the field including the other on pace runner and well fancied mare Ciao were over 15 lengths adrift of Hungry Tigress at the wire.

Labar a daughter of Bianconi a stable mate of Hold That Tiger on the Swettenham Stud stallion roster is the winner of over $300k and she made minimal impression coming from last place to 5th.

So in the end Hold That Tiger was rewarded by his unbeaten son That’s A Heckofacat a 2YO chestnut gelding from the unraced mare Queenie’s Revenge a daughter of Native Uproar (by Raise A Native) who won his third race from three starts.

The Thistledown Juvenile Stakes a US$75k 2YO race was his second stakes win in succession. Importantly, while not as dominant in this event, he went on to win by a nose; he showed incredible tenacity and has extended his winning distance range from 1100m out to 1700m.\

The battle between That’s A Heckofacat and runnerup Busha’ was a war of attrition. They finished 8 lengths clear of third. It will be interesting to see where he heads next start. (IR)