The Next Generation Of Darley Sires

For any breeder of Thoroughbreds, the opportunity to watch one's carefully cultivated lines thrive across generations must be one of the greatest rewards that can be derived. The team at Darley can take pride, then, in fact that it has three Group 1-winning stallions by its own sires with their first crops to sell at the upcoming foals sales.

Masar (Ire) will be remembered as a true game-changer for Godolphin on the racecourse. By emulating his sire New Approach (Ire) in winning the G1 Derby, Masar became the first blue riband winner to wear the Godolphin silks. Sheikh Mohammed purchased New Approach from Jim Bolger after he had won the G1 National S. and G1 Dewhurst S., and New Approach raced in the colours of Princess Haya. Bred by Godolphin, Masar is from New Approach's seventh crop, and he is out of the dual UAE Classic winner Khawlah (Ire), who is out of Villarrica (Selkirk), a granddaughter of Urban Sea purchased by Sheikh Maktoum from the Tsui family. Khawlah is a daughter of Sheikh Mohammed's homebred stallion Cape Cross (Ire), who stood at Kildangan Stud his entire career.

Godolphin purchased Blue Point (Ire) for 200,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2015. The three-time Royal Ascot Group 1-winning sprinter is by Shamardal, the breed-shaping sire that Sheikh Maktoum purchased from Tattersalls as a yearling for 50,000gns in 2003. With the exception of one season at Dalham Hall, Shamardal likewise stood his entire career at Kildangan until his death last year.

Too Darn Hot (GB) is a champion 2- and 3-year-old bred by the Lloyd-Webbers' Watership Down Stud. He is by Sheikh Mohammed's second-generation stallion Dubawi (Ire) who, bar one season, has stood his entire stud career at Dalham Hall Stud. Dubawi will stand for the sixth consecutive year at £250,000 in 2022, and will be the most expensive sire in the world. Too Darn Hot is out of the three-time Group 1-winning Dar Re Mi (GB), who is by Singspiel, another of Sheikh Mohammed's influential homebred sires who stood at Dalham Hall until his death in 2010.

Masar and Too Darn Hot are preparing to stand their third seasons at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket, while Blue Point holds court at Kildangan Stud in Kildare.

Masar is about as blueblooded as they come, being inbred 3×4 to Urban Sea, and he offers breeders a highly progressive profile, being an early, Group 3-winning 2-year-old who trained to win the Derby and finish third in the G1 2000 Guineas. He was full in year one with 146 mares bred at a fee of £15,000, and covered 99 this year for £14,000.

“I think we pitched him at a good fee; he [has been] competitively priced,” said Dalham Hall nominations team member David Appleton. “We've been really happy with Masar's foals. There are some that look precocious and early and others that will need a bit of time and will be yearling prospects. They're generally nice horses with enough bone, a bit of quality about them, much like him. He tends to stamp them in terms of his colour and his make and shape, so it's exciting.”

Liam O'Rourke, Darley's director of studs, stallions and breeding based in the UK, was particularly enthusiastic about a handful of Godolphin's homebred Masars at Dalham Hall.

“We have a very nice filly out of a mare called Golden Globe,” he said. “She has a lot of quality. She's maybe not quite as big as the others but she has loads of size nonetheless, and presence. She's a very correct walker and looks like she's going to be a really nice yearling.”

Golden Globe (Jpn) is by Shamardal, as is Kazziana (GB), the dam of another standout Masar filly.

“We have another excellent filly out of Kazziana,” O'Rourke said. “She's an exceptionally good-looking foal. She's very strong and the point I'd make about her is that she exemplifies what Masar seems to be doing with his foals, which is putting a lot more substance into them than we may have expected. She has very good bone on her.”

“We have a colt out of Lady Marian (Ger) who is very well related,” O'Rourke added. “Her best foal is Loxley, who is by New Approach, and she is a Nayef mare. He is a really high-quality foal, very correct and very refined with tons of quality. He's been really nice from the time he was born and has developed through those summer stages into a lovely weanling at present. I think he'll be a really lovely yearling too.

“Beneath that we have some others that are improving all the time, and they'll probably be better yearlings than they are foals, which is an exciting thing to be able to say because often times if a foal is really nice initially it can often be plain as a yearling. Masar was a slow burner himself and I think he'll imprint that on his foals; they'll become really good-looking yearlings. The signs are very good.”

Appleton said Masar has myriad qualities that should stand his foals in good stead.

“Masar had speed, which every good horse needs,” he noted. “You speak to the likes of John Gosden and he'll tell you even horses that stay a trip have to have speed. He had that in abundance. He also has an incredible temperament. He's a very nice horse to be around. He's a very relaxed horse and that comes through the pedigree. He's by New Approach out of a Cape Cross mare. The temperament, the precocity and speed–he has everything you'd want.”

Masar will once again stand for £14,000 in 2022. His Dalham Hall studmate Too Darn Hot likewise remains unchanged at £45,000, down slightly from the £50,000 he commanded in his debut season. The champion 2- and 3-year-old of his generation thanks to victories in the G1 Dewhurst S., G1 Prix Jean Prat and G1 Sussex S., Too Darn Hot covered 172 mares in his debut season, and this year covered the best book of mares ever served by a European sire in his second season at stud bar Frankel (GB).

“Too Darn Hot has been incredibly well received for the two seasons we've had him,” said Dawn Laidlaw, Darley's head of nominations in the UK. “I could run through a list of the who's who of European breeders that have all used him, as well as our partners Watership Down and our own mares. He has covered mares from all the top breeders in Europe.”

“Right from the get-go with the first foals, the reports were really positive,” Laidlaw added. “We've been out looking at them and I can honestly say I've consistently seen some of the nicest foals by any of our stallions ever. They have a lot of Dubawi about them in the fact that they can be quite compact, but they probably have a bit more of that Singspiel quality and a bit of Too Darn Hot's own quality. When you have all the top breeders telling you they have nice foals at home, it's really positive and that certainly helped him with his second book. A lot of the breeders came back and will also be using him again next year.”

Too Darn Hot's momentum will also be aided by Dubawi's continued ascent as a sire of sires, with Time Test (GB) and Zarak (Fr) getting off to strong starts this season to join the likes of Night Of Thunder and New Bay as exciting young sons of Dubawi to watch.

Of Too Darn Hot, Laidlaw added, “he has a lot of quality, and he's the most athletic horse. He's a great walker and very agile. He probably has more quality than some of Dubawi's other sons, but Dubawi's sons are now doing exceptionally well-you have the likes of Night Of Thunder, and Time Test has made a great start this year with his first runners. Hopefully Too Darn Hot will follow in their footsteps. He has great potential.”

Darley Ireland Nominations Manager Eamon Moloney said star sprinter Blue Point was “heavily oversubscribed” in his first season, covering 180 mares.

“He has a huge level of fertility and covered some very nice mares,” he said. “I suppose the standout mare that comes to mind is the dam of Palace Pier, who has a fantastic-looking colt on the ground. There are 17 Blue Points coming to [Tattersalls December] and the pedigrees are strong. People stepped up and sent him a really nice, high-quality mare.”

Moloney said Blue Point was equally popular with breeders in year two, when he covered a similar number at €40,000, down from €45,000 in 2020. He remains at €40,000 for 2022.

“He's in a very healthy position, so it's all about the foals now,” Moloney said. “We've seen foals that have the kind of Shamardal qualities that we're used to seeing at Kildangan; people will describe a Shamardal head and they do have a bit of that. But what they have is the great shoulder and hip that Shamardal had, and a great movement.”

Moloney admitted to a bit of friendly competition between Teams Kildangan and Dalham.

“In the early part of February and March we were looking at the Too Darn Hots and were kind of looking on a bit jealous,” Moloney said. “These Too Darn Hots were amazing-looking, but the Blue Point foals have started to catch up. They're on a constant improve. We always think our Shamardals constantly improve throughout their foal and yearling year and we're finding that with Blue Point as well. So it's nice to see those similarities coming through.”

After Blue Point beat Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) to win the G1 King's Stand S. at four, the Darley team resisted the temptation to ship him off to stud and, on the recommendation of Charlie Appleby, kept him in training at five. That paid dividends, with Blue Point winning all five starts that season including a repeat in the King's Stand before adding the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. four days later to become the only horse to win three Group 1 sprints at the Royal meeting. That achievement, combined with the fact that he won the G2 Gimcrack S. at two, is a reflection on his toughness and constitution.

Blue Point stands alongside another young Group 1-winning son of Shamardal, Earthlight (Ire), at Kildangan, and another, Pinatubo (Ire), was foaled at Kildangan before going on to be champion 2-year-old and entering stud at Dalham Hall. The pride in Moloney's voice when topic of Shamardal and his sons is broached is palpable.

“It's fantastic to have a son of Shamardal in Kildangan,” he said. “It's building a legacy, and that's what it's about. Shamardal was so good for Kildangan for so many years, and when Blue Point came along it was just the satisfaction of so much hard work that had gone into developing the lines and breeding horses like that. Blue Point was bought, but he was very well bought and he was bred by a very good Irish farm [Oak Lodge Stud] and it was a fantastic effort by them. For us, having Shamardals, that's what we want. We want to bring the lines through. For Pinatubo and Earthlight to follow so quickly behind [Blue Point] is just fantastic as well.”

Masar, Too Darn Hot and Blue Point all have first-crop foals on offer at the upcoming Goffs November and Tattersalls December foal sales.

The post The Next Generation Of Darley Sires appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Street Boss, Frosted Shuttling To Darley Australia For 2021 Southern Hemisphere Season

Fees have been announced for the 20 Grade/Group 1-winning Darley stallions who will stand in New South Wales and Victoria for the 2021 breeding season.

Heading this year's roster is the champion sire-son duo of Exceed And Excel and his world champion sprinter son Bivouac.

Following a stellar 24 months both on the racetrack and in the sales ring, where Exceed And Excel was responsible for a career-best $2.1 million colt earning him the title of leading sire by average at this month's Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, Exceed And Excel headlines the roster at a fee of AUS$132,000 inc GST. His electrifying triple Group 1-winning son Bivouac will stand his first season at Kelvinside at a fee of AUS$66,000 inc GST.

Relocating to Kelvinside this season is Street Boss (AUS$55,000 inc GST), on the back of his ever-increasing demand as an elite sire of 2-year-olds. As the sire of G1 ATC Sires' Produce Stakes winner Anamoe, as well as G1 Winterbottom Stakes winner Elite Street, Street Boss is one of only four Australian stallions to sire multiple G1 winners this season.

The roster includes a new trio of shuttle stallions made up of the best European juvenile in 25 years, Pinatubo (AUS$44,000 inc GST), who joins the Kelvinside roster in New South Wales, with Northwood Park's Victorian roster receiving a major boost with the additions of the world's highest-ranked racehorse of 2020, Ghaiyyath (AUS$27,500 inc GST), and the undefeated champion 2-year-old Earthlight (AUS$22,000 inc GST).

Standing their second seasons after support from some of the smartest minds in the breeding business are three other champions: Microphone (AUS$38,500 inc GST), crowned Australia's champion 2-year-old of 2019, Too Darn Hot (AUS$44,000 inc GST), the champion 2-year-old and 3-year-old of his year, and Blue Point (AUS$44,000 inc GST), Britain's champion sprinter and the only horse ever to win three Group 1 sprints at Royal Ascot.

“It's hard to think of a farm that's retired seven champions to stud in a two-year period,” said Darley Australia's Head of Sales, Andy Makiv.

“To have these horses standing in Australia gives us the potential to embark on a golden era.”

And it isn't only the stellar additions over the past two years who provide strength and depth to the roster.

“Lonhro (AUS$66,000 inc GST) still commands enormous respect among breeders, there is also Brazen Beau (AUS$49,500 inc GST), who has just had a breakthrough with his first G1 winner, Frosted (AUS$44,000 inc GST), who has had two stakes winners and another two stakes performers from his first nine runners in Australia, and Street Boss, whose G1-winning son Anamoe might just be the best 2-year-old in the country,” Makiv said.

Complementing the roster are sons of breed-shaping sires Medaglia d'Oro, whose highest-rated son Astern (AUS$16,500 inc GST) is already the sire of a first-crop five-length stakes winner, plus Kermadec (AUS$11,000 inc GST) who, at the same point in his career as his own sire Teofilo, is profiling well ahead having already produced the dual G1-winning filly Montefilia. Kermadec moves to Northwood Park giving Victorian breeders access to a G1 sire in a jurisdiction where his progeny has sold particularly well and where he has highly promising horses in the leading stables.

First-crop weanlings by world champion sprinter Harry Angel are regularly being described by stud masters as 'the best from their mare'. The son of one of Europe's leading sires, Dark Angel, returns to New South Wales at a fee of AUS$16,500 inc GST.

“We're constantly saying that the Darley stallions win, they sell and they get you to the big days, because ultimately that's what we're seeing, that's what our clients strive to achieve, and we believe our roster will provide every breeder, at all levels, those opportunities,” said Makiv.

For a full list of fees and locations click here.

The post Street Boss, Frosted Shuttling To Darley Australia For 2021 Southern Hemisphere Season appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Value Sires Part II: First Foals

We kicked off our annual Value Sires series earlier this week with a look at the new class of sires entering stud in 2021, and today we move on to the group with their first foals set to hit the ground in the coming months.

While it is not always a straightforward task to pinpoint value in unproven sires, the ripple effects of the global pandemic make the exercise a little more interesting this year. While it has become the norm for some young sires to get fee cuts in their second and third years to help mitigate the damages of a market that often judges them before their first progeny has even set foot on a racecourse, almost every member of this sire crop has had its fee trimmed this year. That trend is, of course, set against the backdrop of a bloodstock sales market that was down somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20%. While the sales were remarkably resilient in the face of such major economic uncertainty, it cannot be overlooked that a good many breeders will have suffered in 2020 and fee cuts nearly across the board are likely necessary to help keep the industry afloat.

Editor’s Note: covering figures referenced here are from the Weatherbys Return of Mares. These figures are not final until the supplement is published in February.

While their fees may be down, none of these sires’ credentials have lessened during their first year standing in the stallion barns, and Darley’s pair of champions Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) remain at the head of the pack on fees. Too Darn Hot is trimmed to £45,000 from £50,000 at Dalham Hall, and he covered 172 mares in his debut season including Frankel Light (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), the €1.3-million top lot at last year’s Arqana December sale; Galileo Gold (GB)’s dam Galicuix (GB) (Galileo {Ire}); Masar (Ire)’s dam Khawlah (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}); Time Test (GB)’s dam Passage Of Time (GB) (Dansili {GB}); dual Group 1 and Classic winner Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}) and Group 1 winner Sultanina (GB) (New Approach {Ire}). On paper, Too Darn Hot looks about as foolproof a sire prospect as they come, with little to fault on race record or pedigree. Unbeaten in four starts at two culminating in a G1 Dewhurst S. win that was rated even higher than his new barnmate Pinatubo (Ire)’s, Too Darn Hot was named European champion 2-year-old. His 3-year-old campaign admittedly didn’t begin exactly as hoped-after a setback kept him from the G1 2000 Guineas he was beaten in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas (second) and the G1 St James’s Palace S. (third), but he returned to the winner’s enclosure in a big way when dropping back to seven furlongs to win the G1 Prix Jean Prat by three lengths in an effort rated equal to his Dewhurst win on Racing Post ratings (125).

For good measure, Too Darn Hot went back up to a mile to defeat his St James’s Palace conqueror Circus Maximus and elders in the G1 Sussex S. three weeks later. Too Darn Hot was just the latest classy performer out of Watership Down’s triple Group 1 winner Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), herself also a half-sister to three Group 1 winners, and it is also the family of influential sire Darshaan.

Speaking of influential sires, Too Darn Hot’s own sire Dubawi has only furthered his credentials as a sire of sires this year with the continued progression of Night Of Thunder (Ire) and New Bay (GB) showing plenty of promise with his first runners. Too Darn Hot, like Night Of Thunder, is very much in the mould of his sire physically and there appears to be little standing in the way of him following in their footsteps.

Blue Point, the only horse ever to win three Group 1 sprints at Royal Ascot, is down to €40,000 at Kildangan Stud from €45,000. Blue Point’s debut book of 198 mares included Beach Frolic (GB) (Nayef), the dam of this year’s champion 3-year-old Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) who topped the Tattersalls December Mares Sale when bought by MV Magnier for 2.2-million gns. Other mares to visit Blue Point last year included Daily Times (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup winner Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}); Group 1 producer Danetime Out (Ire) (Danetime {Ire}); triple Group 1 winner Golden Lilac (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}); G2 Queen Mary S. winner Jealous Again, the dam of this year’s standout but ill-fated sprinter Sceptical (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}); Lucky Clio (Ire) (Key Of Luck), the dam of G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}); and Sand Vixen (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), the dam of G1 Jebel Hatta winner Dream Castle (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Blue Point was an exceptionally consistent talent over four seasons who ran six times at two, winning the G2 Gimcrack S., but was undoubtedly at his best at five when he went unbeaten in five starts. He won the G1 Al Quoz Sprint before defending his G1 King’s Stand S. title from the prior year and four days later added the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. In Blue Point’s wake in both his King’s Stand scores was Baattash (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), the winner of four Group 1s and the world’s highest-rated sprinter in 2019. Like Too Darn Hot, Blue Point carries the weight on his shoulders of being a potential heir to his outstanding sire, and Blue Point ranks high among a wave of young sires looking to follow in the footsteps of Shamardal’s best sire son Lope De Vega (Ire).

Darley’s third player in this sire crop is none other than the Derby winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), who is available for £14,000 at Dalham Hall, down from £15,000. For those commercial breeders shaken by the word ‘Derby’, remember that Masar ran five times at two, was a Group 3 winner over the future Irish 2000 Guineas winner and won at first asking in May, beating Invincible Army (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) who went on to be a group-winning sprinter at two, three and four. Masar won the G3 Craven S. in April of his 3-year-old campaign over eventual Horse of the Year Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) and again bested that rival and the Guineas winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Derby. Masar’s dam Khawlah won the G2 UAE Derby and G3 UAE Oaks and is a granddaughter of Melikah (Ire) (Lammtarra), a half-sister to Galileo and Sea The Stars. Masar was laid up with an injury after his Derby win and sportingly brought back for a 4-year-old campaign that unfortunately didn’t pan out to fruition, but as such breeders likely got slightly better value in his first season, when he covered 146 mares.

The Coolmore Trio

Coolmore’s trio in this bunch-Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never), Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Calyx (GB) (Kingman {GB})-all take fee cuts as well.

Too Darn Hot wasn’t the only unbeaten Group 1-winning 2-year-old of his generation; so too was Ten Sovereigns, who went three-for-three in 2018 including scores in the G3 Round Tower S. and G1 Middle Park S. Ten Sovereigns put in his best performance at three when besting the triple Group 1 winner Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) and elders in the G1 July Cup, and he is cut to €20,000 this year from €25,000, having covered 214 mares in 2020. Those include Coolmore’s excellent producer Airwave (GB) (Air Express {Ire}), second dam of Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}); G2 Ribblesdale S. winner Banimpire (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}); Big Boned (Street Sense), the dam of last year’s German Group 3 winner K Club (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}); Jessica Rocks (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), a half-sister to Group 1 winner and sire Havana Gold (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}); and Night Fever (Ire), dam of last year’s G2 Rockfel S. second Nazuna (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). Ten Sovereigns looks to follow in the footsteps of his own sire as an important outcross to Sadler’s Wells, and he is out of a daughter of Exceed and Excel, who only continues to bolster his record as both an excellent sire and broodmare sire. Ten Sovereigns’s first in-foal mares were well received at the recent breeding stock sales, with 15 sold for an average of €114,262/£104,333.

Magna Grecia is reduced this year to €18,000 from €22,500, and like Ten Sovereigns he was a Group 1 winner at two and three. His class was apparent early as a 340,000gns foal purchase by Coolmore, and it didn’t take him long to display that class on the racecourse for the partnership of Coolmore and the Niarchos Family; he won the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy at two over the subsequent Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain with Circus Maximus in fourth, and followed up with a 2 1/2 length score in the G1 2000 Guineas on seasonal debut. It will certainly help Magna Grecia’s chances, too, that he is a son of sire of sires Invincible Spirit, and his half-brother St Mark’s Basilica gave the pedigree a major boost last year when winning the G1 Dewhurst S. Magna Grecia was visited by 180 mares in 2020 including the Niarchos Family’s standout producer Alpha Lupi (Ire) (Rahy), the dam of four-time Group 1 and Classic winner Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) and last year’s G1 Coronation S. winner Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}); Ghurra, the dam of Group 1-winning 2-year-old and sire Shalaa (Ire) (Invincible Spirit{Ire}); and Sun Bittern (Seeking The Gold), the dam of G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest winner Signs Of Blessing (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). Magna Grecia’s first in-foal mares found favour in the auction rings; five were sold for an average of €114,059/£104,169.

Like Ten Sovereigns, Calyx is an outcross to Sadler’s Wells, being by Kingman out of the Observatory mare Helleborine (GB), herself a Group 3 winner in France and a full-sister to G1 Sprint Cup winner and stakes producer African Rose (GB). Calyx was the first son of Kingman to retire to stud and though his racetrack career was brief, he caught the eye with the electric turn of foot reminiscent of his sire when winning the G2 Coventry S. at two and the G3 Pavilion S. at three. Calyx covered 163 mares last year for €22,500, and is available for €16,000 in 2021. Calyx had 11 in-foal mares offered at the breeding stock sales and all sold, for an average of €76,899/£70,235.

More Quality Speed

The fourth Group 1-winning 2-year-old in this sire class laden with top-class sprinting talent is Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who stays at £25,000 having covered 138 mares at the National Stud in 2020 including 67 black-type performers or producers, like the dams of Group 1 winners Aclaim (Ire), Maarek (GB) and Dick Whittington (Ire), as well as a half-sister to Battaash.

Advertise found only Calyx and Too Darn Hot too good during his five-race juvenile campaign. A first-out winner in May, Advertise was second to Calyx in the Coventry before winning the G2 July S. and the G1 Phoenix S. After a late summer holiday, he split Too Darn Hot and future Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Dewhurst. Advertise failed to see out the mile trip of the Guineas at first asking at three, but put that defeat firmly behind him next out with a career-best win in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. Second to Ten Sovereigns in the July Cup, he bounced back once more with a win over elder sprinters in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest. Advertise has plenty of sire power behind him in his pedigree, too, being the best son to date of Oasis Dream’s prolific son Showcasing out of a daughter of Pivotal (GB), whose prowess as a broodmare sire needs no introduction. Advertise had seven in-foal mares sell at the breeding stock sales for an average of £80,091/€87,665.

Middle Distance Stars

Also sticking with his 2020 fee (€17,500) is Waldgeist (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who looks to have been very fairly priced from the outset as a multiple Group 1 and Arc-winning son of Galileo from a stout German family littered with black-type stars. For those not convinced by Waldgeist’s 2019 Arc score over Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), Japan (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), let’s rewind to 2016, when he was a Group 1-winning 2-year-old in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Despite finishing a short-head second in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, Waldgeist failed to win at three, but connections’ patience paid off the following year when the chestnut won four straight group races including the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud over the grand mare Coronet (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the G2 Prix Foy over GI Breeders’ Cup Turf scorer Talismanic (Medaglia d’Oro). He won the third of his four Group 1s, the Prix Ganay, over Classic winner Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) on seasonal debut at five and finished third in both the G1 Prince of Wales’s S. and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. before winning the Foy again and the Arc. Waldgeist was the joint highest-rated horse in the world in 2019 and his official rating of 128 is the highest in this sire crop. He covered 117 mares last year at Ballylinch Stud with plenty of support from Ballylinch as well as his co-owner Gestut Ammerland-it is worth remembering this is the same team that brought us Lope De Vega.

The aforementioned Study Of Man is trimmed to €12,500 from €15,000 after covering 71 mares at Lanwades Stud, many of those from the blue-blooded broodmare ranks of Kirsten Rausing and the Niarchos Family, the latter having bred and raced Study Of Man. Being by Deep Impact and out of a Storm Cat daughter of the great Miesque, Study Of Man’s pedigree is choc-full of stallion-making influences, and he is also an outcross to both Sadler’s Wells and Danehill. Study Of Man won his lone start at two before taking the G2 Prix Greffulhe and the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, and he picked up two Group 1 seconds at four behind Waldgeist in the Ganay and Zabeel Prince (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the G1 Prix d’Ispahan.

Another Lope Rising

Another Classic winner in this crop is the Irish National Stud’s Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who stands for €12,500, down from €15,000. Looking to follow in the footsteps of another son of Lope De Vega, Belardo (Ire), who made a promising start with his first runners last year, Phoenix Of Spain covered 148 mares in 2020. The winner of the G3 Acomb S. at two and second to Too Darn Hot in the G2 Champagne S. and Magna Grecia in the Vertem Futurity Trophy, Phoenix Of Spain turned the tables on Too Darn Hot in the Irish Guineas the following spring.

Four-Figure Finds

Taking the prize for the busiest member of this sire crop last year was Inns Of Court (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who covered 218 mares for €7,500 and is this year available for €5,000. Inns Of Court was a winner in his lone 2-year-old outing before winning a pair of seven-furlong Group 3s in France at three and finishing second in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. He won the G3 Prix de Ris-Orangis at four and was a short-head second to One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the G1 Prix de la Foret, and held his form through his 5-year-old campaign when he won the Listed Prix Servanne and the G2 Prix du Gros-Chene. Inns Of Court’s dam Learned Friend (Ger) (Seeking The Gold) is out of the G1 Premio Lydia Tesio winner Lune d’Or (Fr) (Green Tune) and is a half-sister to dual Japanese Group 1 and Classic winner Fierement (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

Another young son of Invincible Spirit who proved popular in Ireland last year was Invincible Army (Ire), who covered 139 mares at €10,000 and stands for €7,500 in 2021 at Yeomanstown Stud. Invincible Army was a group-winning sprinter at two, three and four, and he was at his best at four when winning the G2 Duke of York Clipper Logistics S. and the G3 Chipchase S. and finishing third in the G1 Flying Five S. Invincible Army is out of the G1 Falmouth S. scorer Rajeem (GB) (Diktat {GB}).

The fourth son of Invincible Spirit in this sire crop is the G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Eqtidaar (Ire), who stand at Shadwell’s Nunnery Stud for £5,000, down from £6,500 in 2020 when he covered 74 mares. Eqtidaar, whose only other win in eight starts was a Nottingham maiden on debut at two, is out of the high-class Madany (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), also the dam of G2 Hungerford S. winner and Guineas-placed Massaat (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and G3 Horris Hill S. scorer Mujbar (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}).

Joining Advertise as a son of Showcasing in this sire crop is Soldier’s Call (GB), who covered 165 mares at Ballyhane Stud last year at €10,000 and is trimmed to €7,500 for 2021. Soldier’s Call won the Listed Windsor Castle S. at Royal Ascot, the G2 Prix d’Arenberg at Chantilly and the G2 Flying Childers S. at Doncaster before being beaten a neck by elders when third in the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye. He ran eight times at two and despite not winning at three, held his form to place in the King’s Stand and the Nunthorpe. Soldier’s Call had just two in-foal mares go through the ring at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale and they fetched 190,000gns and 120,000gns.

Likewise, Ten Sovereigns’s sire No Nay Never has a son available for a four-figure fee, and that is Highclere’s Land Force (GB), who covered 155 mares at Highclere Stud for £6,500 last year and is down to £5,000. Like Soldier’s Call, Land Force ran eight times at two, winning in May and picking up the Listed Tipperary S. and G2 Richmond S. in the summer. A €350,000 yearling, Land Force’s pedigree catches the eye: out of Group 3 winner Theann (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), he is a half-brother to the dual Grade I winner Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and a grandson of Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), whose daughter Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) has brought us the Group 1-winning Galileo mares Magical (Ire) and Rhododendron (Ire). The top mare at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale–Zain Art (Ire), the dam of Group 2-winning 2-year-old Aloha Star (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus})–was sold in-foal to Land Force (Ire) for €390,000.

While Sottsass (Fr) this year becomes the first Group 1-winning son of Siyouni (Fr) to retire to stud, he was preceded last year by two stakes-winning sons of the French star, City Light (Fr) and Le Brivido (Fr). City Light showed plenty of potential at three, placing in multiple black-type sprints, and he won the G3 Prix de Saint-Georges at three before finishing a short-head second in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. He added another Group 3 sprint, the Prix du Pin, at four before once again being narrowly beaten in a Group 1 when a half-length second to One Master in the Prix de la Foret, and he stays at €7,000 at Haras d’Etreham in Normandy. It is worth noting that with a short head and a half lengths’ difference, that fee could easily have been double.

Le Brivido, meanwhile, moves to Haras de la Haie Neuve in France and stands for €5,000 after covering 56 mares at Overbury Stud in Britain last year at £7,000. He, likewise, came agonizingly close to Group 1 glory, finishing a short head second in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains before winning Royal Ascot’s G3 Jersey S.

Godolphin’s triple Group 1 winner Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) was a welcome addition to the German stallion ranks last year, and he once again stands at Haras Auenquelle for €6,500. Best Solution was, incidentally, second to Waldgeist in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud at two after winning the G3 Autumn S., and while he won the G3 St Simon S. at three he was at his best at four, winning the Grosser Preis von Berlin, the Grosser Preis von Baden and the Caulfield Cup on the bounce. Best Solution’s third dam is Juddmonte’s excellent producer Eva Luna, who left Classic winner Brian Boru (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) and the dam of Derby and Arc winner Workforce among many other stakes winners.

Value Podium

Gold: Masar (£14,000) – a precocious 2-year-old that trained on to win the Derby from the family of Galileo and Sea The Stars.

Silver: Soldier’s Call (€7,500) – a tough 2-year-old who trained on to mix with the best sprinters at three. Has been well supported and should be popular commercially.

Bronze: Advertise (£25,000) – a sprinter of the highest quality at two and three. Plenty of stallion-making influences in his pedigree.

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Palace Pier’s Dam Commands 2.2-Million Gns At Tattersalls

Beach Frolic (GB) (Nayef) (lot 1731), the 9-year-old dam of this year’s champion 3-year-old Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}), is headed to join the Coolmore broodmare ranks after MV Magnier went to 2.2-million gns to secure her at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale on Tuesday. Beach Frolic was offered by Highclere Stud in foal to Blue Point (Ire).

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