Siskin Toughs It Out to Win Phoenix Stakes

The long wait for Ger Lyons to saddle his first Irish group 1 winner came to an end in grand style as Siskin defied the elements and the unwanted attention of a loose horse in the Aug. 9 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (G1) at the Curragh, confirming his status as the top 2-year-old in Ireland and opening the possibility of a clash with top British juvenile Pinatubo down the line.

The drama started early when one of the Ballydoyle trio, Mount Fuji, unseated Seamie Heffernan on the way to the start, and the loose horse decided Siskin was the horse he wanted to stay close to, much to the annoyance of Colin Keane, who tried and mostly failed to see off the limpet-like attention until the loose horse was caught and reunited with Heffernan.

In the race itself, Siskin was relaxed, settling just off the pace and showed no obvious dislike for the soft ground as he quickened to the front in the last furlong to hold off the stern challenges of Monarch of Egypt and Royal Lytham to score by three-quarters of a length. Paddy Power have cut him into 10-1 from 14-1 for the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1).

Lyons, whose only previous group 1 success came with Lightening Pearl in the 2011 Cheveley Park Stakes, made it clear afterwards that the Two Thousand Guineas is not in his thinking at the moment.

"Talk of the Guineas at this stage is very premature," he said. "Today was to tell us if we could step up to the Dewhurst (G1) or National Stakes (G1) or go the Middle Park (G1) route. At this moment, the Guineas is the furthest thing from my mind. I don't know if we learned anything trip-wise, but we learned that this is one good, tough horse.

"My confidence was shot all week with the rain, purely because we knew he was better on a fast gallop than a dead one, and his forte is that burst of speed, which he still showed there. Ryan Moore said to Colin afterwards that he did well to win but I think he's just a very smart horse.

"There's a horse over in England that we're all very impressed with in Pinatubo. That clash would be something to witness if that came about."

Siskin Shows the Depth and Quality of Juddmonte Farms Breeding

Siskin is just the latest in a long line of stars owned and bred by Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms.

The colt, now unbeaten in four starts, demonstrates the depth and quality of Juddmonte bloodlines. He is by a Juddmonte homebred in First Defence and out of another in Bird Flown. The dam also has two Juddmonte homebred parents in Oasis Dream and Silver Star, while Silver Star is by the Juddmonte icon Zafonic out of one of the operation's foundation mares, Monroe.

Siskin is the third group/grade 1 winner by First Defence, after his near relation Close Hatches and another Juddmonte color bearer in Antonoe. The sire—by Unbridled's Song out of Honest Lady, a grade 1-winning half sister to celebrities Chester House and Empire Maker —was sent out by Bobby Frankel to a wide-margin win in the Forego Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course in 2008.

First Defence formerly stood at Juddmonte Farm in Kentucky but was sold to Saudi Arabia at the end of 2016, so Siskin hails from his last Kentucky-bred crop.

Siskin is the second foal out of Bird Flown, who won over seven furlongs on soft ground at Clairefontaine as a 2-year-old for Andre Fabre. The dam is a half sister to listed Carey Group Buckhounds Stakes winner and Hardwicke Stakes (G2) runner-up Barsanti and to Rising Tornado, who produced Close Hatches, a five-time grade 1 winner in the US, as well as grade 2 winner and grade 1-placed Lockdown.

Close Hatches in turn got her broodmare career off to an almost perfect start as her first foal is this year's Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) and Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2) winner Tacitus, who also placed in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1).

Bird Flown is out of Silver Star, a listed-placed sister to champion 2-year-old Xaar and fellow stakes winners Diese and Masterclass; Diese is the dam of dual grade 1 scorer Senure.

Silver Star, meanwhile, is out of Monroe, a group 3-winning daughter of Sir Ivor and blue hen Best In Show.

Best In Show features as ancestress of numerous top-class runners. Her Kentucky Oaks (G1)-winning daughter Blush With Pride founded a fruitful family that includes the Belmont Stakes-winning siblings Jazil and Rags To Riches, as well as Peeping Fawn and her half brother Thewayyouare.

Best In Show's daughter Minnie Hauk is the taproot of a family that includes group/grade 1 winners Aldebaran, Aviance, Chief Contender, Chimes of Freedom, Denon, Good Journey, Lizzie L'Amour, Pathfork, Saddex, Spinning World, and War of Will.

Another of Best In Show's daughters, Sex Appeal, produced champions El Gran Senor and Try My Best and is ancestress of Almond Eye, Chinchon, and Domedriver.

Best In Show's daughter Show Lady has proved highly influential in Australasia thanks to her daughter Dancing Show, who the likes of Al Maher, Hurricane Sky, Manhattan Rain, Redoute's Choice, Shoals, and Umatilla all trace back to.

Besides Siskin, Close Hatches, and Xaar, the Monroe tribe also includes the high-class half brothers Bated Breath and Cityscape and grade 1-placed Requete.

Behind Siskin in the Phoenix Stakes were two Aidan O'Brien-trained colts who become first group 1 podium finishers for their Coolmore-owned first-season sires: second-placed Monarch of Egypt, by American Pharoah , and third home Royal Lytham, by Gleneagles.