Kimari (green silks) was flew from the USA to Britain and was only touched out in the G2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot at only her second career run.
In the end it was a head that denied the opening of a new chapter in the China Horse Club’s international breeding operations. But there was a great deal of upside to take out of such a narrow defeat.
Kimari, a strapping filly bred and trained in the USA under the astute care of Wesley Ward, was only claimed in the final strides of the G2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot last night – one of the world’s biggest racing stages.
Kimari’s emergence as an elite performer comes ahead of expectations for CHC’s international breeding operation which, subsequent to her conception, has scaled considerably. At the time of Kimari’s mating the club’s US broodmare band would have contained no more than 10 to 12 mares. Today the pipeline of talent from this one arm includes 14 yearlings, 26 foals and a broodmare band of 37 elite mares.
“Our US breeding operation is a very exciting component of our international operations. Kimari is an indication of this,” said Michael Wallace, Head of Bloodstock and Racing for the China Horse Club.
“Kimari was a standout as a yearling last year. She had a real presence about her. She was knocked by some of the vets during the inspections at Fasig Tipton July Sale before Dr Mike Hore passed her and Ben McElroy secured her on behalf of Eaton Sales. They have certainly been rewarded for their belief in her.”
Kimari is not the only talent to emerge from the current crop of two-year-olds bred in the US. Valiance, a regally bred daughter of Tapit out of the G1 winning mare Last Full Measure, has won each of her two starts to date and is giving every indication that she is a stakes class performer.
“Kimari and Valiance hint at what we are trying to achieve at the China Horse Club. We want to buy and race elite racehorses and we want to breed and sell elite racehorses,” Wallace added.
“We are immensely proud of how well Kimari ran at Royal Ascot. While races at Royal Ascot are never easy to win, we believe in the programmes we are running and have every faith that graduates of our US and European programmes will win on this stage in the future.”
Kimari’s dam, Cozze Up Lady, has an athletic Quality Road colt at foot and, based off Kimari’s Royal Ascot result, may be sent to Britain for a 2020 mating to exceptional young sire Kingman.”
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