Mare of the Month by Martin Stevens
VEILED BEAUTY (USA)
Veiled Beauty is no ordinary mare of the month. The 21-year-old daughter of Royal Academy was the first mare to foal at Chasemore Farm and has now been given a well earned retirement after giving birth to her 13th offspring, a Ten Sovereigns colt, in April.
Because of her long service and wonderful achievements as a broodmare, Veiled Beauty is a big favourite of everyone on the stud and especially Jane Black. She tells us more about the magnificent matriarch.
“Veiled Beauty was bought for 160,000 guineas at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale of 2008, when she was in foal to Byron, on Tom Goff’s recommendation,” says Jane. “It was Andrew’s first foray into breeding so we were very much guided by Tom for the initial purchase. We had only bought the farm the previous year and had no breeding facilities in place, so she went to board at New England Stud, pending completion of the fencing and temporary stables at the farm.
“Andrew had done some analysis on covering Royal Academy mares and was very keen to use Singspiel for Veiled Beauty’s first Chasemore cover. That mating produced Wall Of Sound, who is now probably our most exciting broodmare at Chasemore, having herself produced Boomer and Uncle Bryn.”
She continues: “Veiled Beauty had already produced The Cheka, who at the time had run twice as a two-year-old and looked promising, and her dam was a sister to Zaizafon, who was herself the dam of Zafonic and Zamindar, both of whom were sired by Gone West.
“After foaling Wall Of Sound, Veiled Beauty had a year off before heading to the states to be covered by Mr Greeley, a son of Gone West, in the hope of repeating the sire’s success with this family. Unfortunately, Mr Greeley died pretty much as soon as Veiled Beauty set foot on American soil, so instead she was covered by Rock Hard Ten, and foaled a filly who we called Opportuna.
“Opportuna ran in Chasemore colours but with little success and was subsequently sold. But the story doesn’t end there, as Opportuna herself went on to produce Last Opportunity, who won his first race as a two-year-old in impressive fashion in Ireland for Ger Lyons. Just as his granddam was purchased on the back of her two-year-old’s success, so Opportuna was bought back (for a sum considerably more than she was sold for!) to join her mother and half-sisters, Wall Of Sound and Wall Of Light (a daughter of Zamindar), as a broodmare at Chasemore.
“She has since been joined by two daughters of Wall Of Sound: Boomer, who is carrying a Lope De Vega filly, and Flighty Almighty, who is in foal to American Pharoah. “
Veiled Beauty, who hails from the family of not only Zafonic but other champions Elmaamul, Midday, Reams Of Verse and Regal Parade too, will leave quite the legacy at Chasemore Farm.
“She has certainly left her stamp,” says Jane. “Currently five of the 32 Chasemore broodmares are her descendants, with more to come in the future.”
The abundance of relations to Veiled Beauty is definitely no bad thing. Not only was she an accomplished producer, but she also has good looks and the sort of assertive attitude you wouldn’t mind being shared among the herd.
“She’s a big horse with a lovely dappled coat and that’s definitely a trait she has passed on to her offspring – both Wall Of Sound and Wall Of Light certainly have a lot of scope, and her granddaughter Flighty Almighty is a very imposing mare,” says Jane.
“Without being overly aggressive they all seem to command a natural alpha status amongst their peers, which I’m sure plays a part in their success in training. Her fillies who have become broodmares have inherited her protective maternal instinct, in particular Wall Of Sound, who is always very foal proud!”
So now all that is left is for Veiled Beauty to enjoy a slower pace of life in a lush paddock.
“She was the last mare to foal in 2021, but it was worth the wait as she foaled a lovely Ten Sovereigns colt on 23rd April,” says Jane.
“We haven’t decided yet where she will retire to, however after leaving such an amazing footprint at Chasemore, and after such a long period of sterling service, wherever she goes she will be well looked after and will enjoy the rest she so richly deserves.”
