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Too Darn Hot heads to the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday 18 June. Here is all you need to know about the Lord Lloyd Webber-owned colt...
The three-year-old bay colt is trained by John Gosden in Newmarket and has been ridden in all of his career runs by top jockey Frankie Dettori.
The son of Dubawi is home-bred by Andrew and Madeleine Lloyd Webber at their Watership Down Stud near Newbury in Berkshire.
He is out of the Lloyd Webbers’ three-time Group One-winning mare, Dar Re Mi. The dam has also produced St Leger runner-up Lah Ti Dar and Musidora Stakes winner So Mi Dar — both fillies also by Dubawi — for the Lloyd Webbers.
By winning four from four starts last season, Too Darn Hot remained unbeaten during the 2018 Flat season. His connections celebrated his success when the colt picked up the Cartier two-year-old award at the prestigious Cartier awards in November.
His three-year-old season endured a delayed start following an injury to a splint bone and he had to by-pass the 2000 Guineas. He made a comeback in the Group Two Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes on 16 May when finishing second to Telecaster — ending his unbeaten run. He ran again, just nine days later, in the Irish 2,000 Guineas to finish second once again.
Too Darn Hot is rated 126, and in last year’s juvenile rankings, it was the highest mark for a juvenile since Frankel and Dream Ahead were given the same rating in 2010.
The colt boasts an enviable amount of speed mixed with an impressive pedigree. “He’s blessed with an awful lot of speed,” his trainer told Racing Post. “His mother got a mile and a half and his father was a phenomenal miler and, at this stage, he seems to be taking more after his father.”
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
It has been confirmed that Too Darn Hot will eventually stand under the Darley banner at Dalham Hall Stud — where his sire Dubawi has stood with success — on retiring from the racecourse.
Don’t miss our full report from Royal Ascot in 27 June issue of Horse & Hound.
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