Lucky Vega
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Lucky Vega (foaled 27 February 2018) is an Irish
Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
racehorse. As a two-year-old in 2020 he won the Phoenix Stakes as well as finishing second in the Railway Stakes and the
Middle Park Stakes The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it i ...
. In the following year he ran third in the
2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1.6 km) and scheduled to take place each yea ...
and third in the
St James's Palace Stakes The St James's Palace Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts. It is run at Ascot Racecourse, Ascot ...
before being retired to become a breeding stallion.


Background

Lucky Vega is a bay colt with a white
star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
bred in Ireland by the
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
-based Kilcarn Stud. As a foal in November 2018 he was consigned to the Goffs Sale where he was bought for €110,000 by Michael Roy. The colt was returned to the Goffs sales ring in 2019 for the Orby Sale and was sold for €175,000 to BBA Ireland and YuLong Investments. He entered the ownership of YuLong's founder Zhang Yuesheng and was sent into training with Jessica Harrington at
Moone Moone (; ) is a small village in the south of County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the former N9 road (Ireland), N9 road (now by-passed) about south of Dublin. It has only a few hundred inhabitants, a church, a National scho ...
,
County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...
. He was from the seventh crop of foals sired by the
Prix du Jockey Club The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly ov ...
winner Lope de Vega whose other foals have included Phoenix of Spain, Newspaperofrecord, Belardo, Vega Magic ( Memsie Stakes) The Right Man ( Al Quoz Sprint) and Santa Ana Lane ( Stradbroke Handicap). Lucky Vega's dam Queen of Carthage was an unraced daughter of the
Prix de l'Opéra The Prix de l'Opéra is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles) each ...
winner Satwa Queen.


Racing career


2020: two-year-old season

Lucky Vega made his racecourse debut in a
maiden race In horse racing, a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the s ...
over six
furlongs A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 feet, 220 yards, 40  rods, 10 chains, or approximately 201 metres. It is no ...
on good to firm ground at Naas Racecourse on 8 June in which he was ridden by Shane Foley and started the 9/2 second favourite in an eighteen-runner field. After tracking the leaders he showed his inexperience as he hung to the left approaching the final furlong but kept on well to overtake the favoured Lipizzaner in the closing stages to win by half a
length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with Dimension (physical quantity), dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a Base unit (measurement), base unit for length is chosen, ...
. For his next start, the colt was stepped up in class to contest the
Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal The alkaline earth metals are six chemical elements in group (periodic table), group 2 of the periodic table. They are beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (B ...
Railway Stakes over the same distance on softer ground at the
Curragh The Curragh ( ; ) is a flat open plain in County Kildare, Ireland. This area is well known for horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is on the edge of Kildare town, beside the Japanese Gardens. Pollardstown Fen, the larges ...
on 18 July and started the 3/1 second favourite. He lost his position entering the last quarter mile before staying on in the closing stages to finish second, beaten half a length by the 66/1 outsider Laws of Indices. On 9 August, over the same course and distance, Lucky Vega was partnered by Foley in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes and started the 4/1 second favourite behind the
Aidan O'Brien Aidan Patrick O'Brien (born 16 October 1969 in County Wexford, Ireland) Aidan O'Brien bio NTRA. ...
-trained
St Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica (; ), is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Venice; it became the episcopal seat of the Patriarch of Venice in 1807, replacing the earlier cath ...
. The other eight runners included Laws of Indices, Steel Bull (
Molecomb Stakes The Molecomb Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is scheduled to take plac ...
), The Lir Jet ( Norfolk Stakes), Ventura Tormenta (
Prix Robert Papin The Prix Robert Papin is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,200 metres (about 6 furlongs), and it ...
) and Aloha Star ( Airlie Stud Stakes). Lucky Vega raced just behind the leaders before taking the lead inside the final furlong and drawing away to win "easily" by three and a half lengths and a short head from Aloha Star and The Lir Jet. The placings of the second and third were reversed after a stewards' enquiry. Jessica Harrington said "He probably needed it the last day because he had won his maiden without getting into a battle. The last day, when he got into a bit of a battle, it just hardened him up. He was much more streetwise and, on his work at home, he had really started to come to himself". At the Curragh on 13 September Lucky Vega was stepped up in distance for the
National Stakes The Vincent O'Brien National Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 me ...
over seven furlongs and started the 2/1 joint-favourite in a ten-runner field. After racing in mid-division he was repeatedly blocked as he attempted to gain a clear run in the straight and came home fifth behind Thunder Moon, Wembley, St Mark's Basilica and Master of The Seas, beaten two and a half lengths by the winner. Two weeks later the colt was sent to England and started 5/2 favourite for the Group 1
Middle Park Stakes The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it i ...
. He tracked the leaders before finishing strongly but failed by half a length to overhaul the front-running Supremacy. In the official European classification of for 2020 Lucky Vega was given a rating of 116, making him the fifth best two-year-old of the season four pounds behind the top-rated
St Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica (; ), is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Venice; it became the episcopal seat of the Patriarch of Venice in 1807, replacing the earlier cath ...
.


2021: three-year-old season

Before the start of the 2021 season it was announced that Lucky Vega would stand as breeding stallion in Australia from August of that year. For his first run of the season Lucky Vega contested the
2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1.6 km) and scheduled to take place each yea ...
over the Rowley Mile at Newmarket on 1 May and started at odds of 12/1 in a fourteen runner field. He was in contention from the start and kept on strongly in the closing stages to take third place, beaten a short head and a neck by Poetic Flare and Master of The Seas in a closely-contested finish. Three weeks later the colt started 7/2 favourite for the
Irish 2000 Guineas The Irish 2,000 Guineas is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and i ...
at the Curragh but after losing his position two furlongs out he came home fourth behind Mac Swiney, Poetic Flare and
Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...
. At
Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Gra ...
on 15 June Lucky Vega started 4/1 favourite for the
St James's Palace Stakes The St James's Palace Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts. It is run at Ascot Racecourse, Ascot ...
and finished second of the thirteen runners behind Poetic Flare.


Stud career

As had been planned, Lucky Vega began his breeding career at the Yulong Stud in Australia in 2021. He was shuttled back to Europe to stand at the
Irish National Stud The Irish National Stud (official name: ''Comhlacht Graí Náisiúnta na hÉireann Teo.'') is a Thoroughbred horse breeding facility in Tully, Kildare, County Kildare, Ireland. It was formally established by incorporation on 11 April 19 ...
for the 2022 Northern Hemisphere breeding season.


Pedigree

*Through his sire, Lucky Vega was
inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...
4 × 4 to Machiavellian, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Career 1-2-3 Colour Chart
– ''Lucky Vega'' 2018 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in Ireland Thoroughbred family 10