Among the world-famous breeders with a vested interest in the Royal Ascot action is Three Chimneys Farm, which has its unbeaten homebred filly Ruiva taking a step into the unknown in the June 17 Queen Mary Stakes (G2).
The Munnings filly turned on the style on her racecourse debut at Churchill Downs in late April as she blasted home by 7 lengths in a maiden over 4 1/2 furlongs.
The question hanging in the air is that her victory was achieved on a sloppy dirt track, as opposed to the green Berkshire sward ahead, but she has been road-tested on turf in Newmarket by Wesley Ward since her arrival from across the Atlantic.
"Wesley likes her and had worked her on the turf out here. He's had good success at Ascot so we're very excited," said Tony Cissell, the general manager and chief operating officer of Three Chimneys.
"Wesley understands the ground and we have great faith in him. She does look fast and the firmer the better for her."
Three Chimneys, founded in the Kentucky Bluegrass by Robert and Blythe Clay in 1972, stood fabled names such as Seattle Slew, Dynaformer, and Rahy.
Its modern-day titan is Gun Runner , the multimillionaire from the track and now on the top table of America's leading stallions standing at a lofty fee of $250,000.
Gun Runner was subsumed into the Three Chimneys empire as a yearling in 2014 when the farm purchased the stock of Besilu Stables, at a time not long after Brazilian businessman Goncalo Borges Torrealba and his family had bought Three Chimneys itself.
Ruiva's dam Minha Paixao, an unraced Curlin mare, is out of a winning sister to the dam of 2018 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) hero Gun Runner. She was withdrawn from last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
"We're not afraid to keep horses that we like or partner with people and we did that in the Kentucky Oaks with our winning filly Always a Runner," Cissell said.
"It's the old saying, 'They're for sale but they're not on sale.' A lot of trainers will come to the farm for the pre-inspections and Wesley saw her and liked (Ruiva) early
"She looked like an early horse as a yearling, she's well made and looks fast. We believe in our product and what we raise. One of the great things about being an owner/breeder for Goncalo is we know the family, we know the horses and, if we value them, we're quite happy to keep them."
There have been a couple of Ward challengers carrying the checked silks of Three Chimneys in the Queen Mary in recent times.
Royal Approval never featured behind stablemate Campanelle in the 2020 renewal before going on to score at graded level in America, while Bundchen, a sales purchase by Gun Runner three years ago, finished 22nd of 26 runners.
"Some horses seem to act there but, to be quite honest, we put a lot of faith in Wesley and his opinion," Cissell said.
"He knows how they act on the dirt and turf and whether it translates and I wouldn't say we've done it long enough for us to be completely unhappy with the results.
"Goncalo and the Torrealba family have always appreciated the English racing. He's been a breeder for many many years and isn't allergic to the grass at all. He owned Leroidesanimaux, who raced in the States on the turf. He's a competitor and a sportsman, and he's great for the game."
Three Chimneys has around 80 mares of its own or in partnership in the paddocks of Midway, Ky., and has produced and raced horses such as multiple grade 1-winning mare Guarana. It bred Gun Runner's 2022 Preakness Stakes (G1) scorer Early Voting as well as that year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Wonder Wheel.
"We've got a lot of tentacles out there," Cissell said. "We've produced some good horses and Gun Runner's certainly a blessing to have on the farm as well.
"He would still get a few Southern Hemisphere mares, between Argentina and Australia, and has had another great season, as you can imagine they're all really, really nice mares nowadays as he's gone from strength to strength.
"We stand Volatile too, he had T O Elvis who was a very impressive winner on (Kentucky) Derby Day, and there's Palace Malice in Japan, who's doing really well."
The prospect of a British runner brings the memories flooding back for Cissell, a vastly experienced horseman and former manager of the likes of Crescent, Calumet, and WinStar farms.
"I was working at Beech House Stud in Newmarket for Franca Vittadini," he recalled. "My flatmate at the time was Willie Jarvis and I'd go racing when I could, I just couldn't get to Ascot.
"They were great times. It was 1984, we were all young then but Sadler's Wells, Pebbles, El Gran Senor, and Rainbow Quest, they were all 3-year-olds so I got to see some great horses.
"John Ferguson was a pupil assistant back then, there was Geoffrey Faber, David Loder, James Fanshawe, Paul Webber, Alex Scott, all assistants at the time I was there. Ryan Jarvis was still alive, I got a great deal of history sitting in the living room with him. I was looked after really well."
That period means Cissell understands and appreciates the hoops Ruiva has jumped through to reach this point.
"It would be a real achievement," he said. "Everything's so global now, and to win a group race at Royal Ascot would be just outstanding."
