Twilight Gleaming impresses in Royal Ascot

National Defense’s first winner, Filly of Malta, will now be trained in Chantilly by Satoshi Kobayashi following a change in ownership from Mark Cuschieri to Ryuzo Kaimoto. She was previously trained by Canella Antonino in Sicilia. Several champions have hailed from the female line of this filly’s family. Her dam Amusing Plan is the half-sister to Group 1 winner Folklore (Tiznow), who is the dam of Rhodochrosire, herself the dam of Japanese Triple Crown winner Contrail. Her half-sister, Delightful Quality (Elusive Quality), is the dam of last year’s Champion 2-year-old in America and 2021 Belmont Stakes winner, Essential Quality.

Twilight Gleaming supplied National Defense with his first Royal Ascot runner. The 2-year-old filly enjoyed her first run on European ground for American based trainer Wesley Ward when she finished 2^nd in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes behind Gavin Cromwell’s Quick Suzy (Profitable).

Congratulations to the connections of these two fillies by National Defense, who himself was a champion two-year-old.