This is the territory inhabited by many small breeders, and in plenty of cases the margins between operating at a profit and a loss are very tight indeed. 

I am reminded here of a particularly interesting quote from Paul Thorman in the interview with Brian Sheerin which appeared in these pages earlier this week. 

Thorman said, “Fashion has never been stronger. We used to be able to sell yearlings by unpopular stallions. If they were good-looking horses out of reasonable mares, they'd find a level and sometimes that level was quite good. Sir Mark Prescott, Peter Makin, the likes of those people would always buy a good-looking horse by an unfashionable sire. Now, if you have picked the wrong sire, there is nobody for it. Stallions are never as good or bad as fashion says they are.”

This does rather underline just why first-season sires are so popular, with their stock often given plenty of benefit of doubt at their first few rounds of sales. It can also be of benefit to breeders to have hit upon the 'right sire' in his second or third crop if his first-crop runners make an impression. Look how well some breeders have done from using Havana Grey (GB) in the seasons in which he was £6,000 before he shot up to £55,000, or Ardad (Ire) at his lowest price of £4,000 in the year that his first runners took to the track.

There are educated guesses to be had if this is your modus operandi and if you've seen enough of a young stallion's stock at the sales to have given you a favourable impression of how well his runners might fare. But even the finest minds and best stockmen have been flummoxed by the unpredictability of the soaraway success for some stallions and perceived failures of others. It's all part of the beauty – and the frustration – of the breeding industry.

Take Your Chance 

These selections mean that you are spinning the wheel of chance with stallions who have runners this year or in the next two years. We will start with Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), who is at the National Stud at a fee of £8,500. Lope he's called and lope he does, this good-walking son of the highly successful Lope De Vega (Ire) who had 40 first-crop foals sell for an average just shy of £22,000. He also has a strong syndicate behind him, with the National Stud teaming up with Coolmore and Whitsbury Manor Stud. He covered 134 mares in his first crop, followed by 152 in 2023, so should have a decent representation of runners next year.

Some sons of Kodiac have been quick to make an impression and it will be interesting to see if the Flying Childers winner Ubettabelieveit (Ire), who stands at Mickley Stud for £5,000, will follow suit. He has first yearlings this year from an initial season in which he covered 96 mares, a figure which increased slightly to 105 in 2023. Breeding a mare to him this year means you will have a foal in the year of his first runners. Richard Kent and his family support their stallions, and that has been the case again with this horse. They breed plenty of winners at Mickley Stud, and it would be no surprise to see Ubettabelieveit represented by some early sorts.

In A'Ali (Ire) and Caturra (Ire) we find two more winners of the Flying Childers, both of whom were bred by Tally-Ho Stud by their home stallions Society Rock (Ire) and Mehmas (Ire) respectively (and don't forget that this was also the team behind 

Ardad and his son Perfect Power). They are a year apart in their retirement to stud with A'Ali having joined Newsells Park Stud in 2022. He also won the G2 Norfolk S., G2 Prix Robert Papin and G2 Sapphire S., and there were favourable comments and results for his first foals, which averaged £23,200 for the 14 sold.

Caturra is now alongside the aforementioned Ardad at Overbury Stud and, like A'Ali, stands for £5,000. He covered 109 mares in his first season and his foals will be appearing in the coming months. Mehmas's sons are appearing thick and fast, with Minzaal (Ire), Persian Force (Ire) and Supremacy (Ire) all at stud in Ireland, and Lusail (Ire) new to France. Caturra is his sole representative in Britain.

Ballyhane Stud's Sands Of Mali (Fr) is a horse with a very interesting profile. He was the co-second top lot at the now-defunct Tattersalls Ireland Ascot Breeze-up Sale and his unheralded sire Panis had a few people scratching their heads. But he had impressed a notable judge in Con Marnane at the Osarus Yearling Sale and then Matt Coleman took a chance on him as a breezer when buying him for the Cool Silk Partnership for £75,000. It was money well spent. He won the G2 Gimcrack S. and the next year followed up with victories in the G1 QIPCO Champion Sprint, G2 Sandy Lane S. and G3 Prix Sigy (the race named after the champion sprinter who appears in the fourth generation of his pedigree), as well as being a close second in the G1 Commonwealth Cup. 

Sands Of Mali is a good-looking horse with a lot more scope than some sprinters. Through his grandsire Miswaki he brings in a different strand of the Mr. Prospector sire-line than that more readily seen in these parts now through Dubawi (Ire), and his is a pedigree which should be open to plenty of mares. Indeed, plenty did visit him in his first book, but that 152 dropped to 74 and 56. His first runners this year could help to put him back on a similar upward curve to Ardad and at a fee of €5,000.

Don't You Forget About Me

It is hard to believe that Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) is now 20, and don't policemen look young these days? He's a grand horse, who in my mind is still that neat two-year-old who went down valiantly and so narrowly to the prize fighter Teofilo (Ire) in the Dewhurst, having already won the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. His stud entrance was hastened by the poor fertility of George Washington (Ire), so we only saw Holy Roman Emperor at two, and in his now-lengthy stud career he has assembled an impressive portfolio that makes his current fee of €8,000 very enticing.

It feels like Dream Ahead has spent most of his stud career being quietly good and not really gaining the recognition and support he deserves. He has two sons at stud in France, where he stood himself for four years after spending his first five seasons at Ballylinch Stud. Now he is at the speed-orientated Bearstone Stud, a sensible place for this top sprinter to be, and the farm is also home to his best daughter, the treble Group 1 winner Glass Slippers (GB). At £6,500, he is at his lowest fee yet and he is far better-credentialed than many younger sprinters at stud. If you have a fast, young mare, why wouldn't you take a chance on a horse who was an excellent racehorse and who has already shown that he can get a good one?

Mayson (GB) is in a similar boat. A July Cup winner who has sired a July Cup winner, he is standing in Ireland for the first time this year at Springfield House Stud for €4,250. Mayson has never covered big books – 90 in his first year, dropping down to 71, 54 and 41 in the last three seasons – but he has the potential to give you a speedy two-year-old who will train on and, as Oxted (GB) and Rohaan (Ire) have shown, he can get a classy individual too.

Owner-Breeder Selections

If you have the luxury of being an owner-breeder with a penchant for middle-distance and staying horses then there is plenty of value to be found by the top-class gallopers who have been recruited by National Hunt studs but could very clearly do a good dual-purpose job. I'd include former Horse of the Year Crystal Ocean (GB) in this bracket at €8,000, along with Haras de la Hetraie's gorgeous liver chestnut G1 Prix Ganay winner Mare Australis (Ire) at €4,500, and the Adlerflug (Ger) full-brothers In Swoop (Ger) and Ito (Ger), at The Beeches Stud and Yorton Farm respectively for €3,500 and £3,000.

And let's not forget an old favourite, Sixties Icon (GB), at Norman Court Stud, with his first-class pedigree and value fee of £3,000. He's far from one-dimensional as a stallion and gets winners across the distance range.

Interesting First Impression

Talking of Adlerflug, his son Iquitos (Ger) made a notable impression last year with only five runners from a total of seven foals in his first crop. His two winners from that set were both stakes winners, including the Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Mr Hollywood (Ire), a TDN Rising Star who is worth following again this season. Iquitos, a treble Group 1 winner over 10 and 12 furlongs, covered a larger book of 32 mares in 2023 and has subsequently moved from Gestut Graditz to Gestut Rottgen, where he stands for €6,000 and should gain some extra support.

Breeder perspective: Fiona Denniff

Fiona and Mick Denniff of Denniff Farms have focused their attentions on breeding speedily-bred horses with notable success, much of which has stemmed from the purchase of Hill Welcome (GB) (Most Welcome {GB}), ancestress of Beat The Bank (GB), Chil Chil (GB), and Kachy (GB) among a raft of decent winners.

Typically, Fiona provides a pragmatic approach in considering this year's mating plans and admits that she has reduced her broodmare numbers.

She says, “I always add on £20,000 to the stud fee to think about whether I will break even. So if you're using a stallion at, say, £10,000, they've got to make £30,000 before I've made a profit selling them as a yearling, so really to make money and call them good value they've got to make £40,000.

“GBB has been fantastic for improving the lot of fillies but you still have to think very carefully about whether you would get £40,000 if your mare produced a filly.

“There will come along another Havana Grey at some point and those who are astute enough to use that stallion will make their money but you have to consider the flipside. I have sat outside stables waiting for people to come and I know what it's like when nobody does come. Last year was very difficult. I feel that the bottom market has gone and the middle has slipped down.

“Hopefully in this new year some of the factors which affected the sales in 2023 will go, but they won't all go. I'm pulling back on breeding because it's not as commercial at the moment, and I have always been very much in the commercial field.”

Denniff adds,”The reason I never went for middle-distance horses is firstly that I love the look of a sprinter, I love the shape of them. Secondly, when I first started, I couldn't get into a middle-distance pedigree for £3,000, which is what I bought Hill Welcome for. It wouldn't have bought me a good enough pedigree to get going, but for a sprinter it was a good enough pedigree.”

“I am sure among this group of stallions there will be another Havana Grey lurking there, but quite which one it will be is hard to say.

“I don't want to put people off breeding, because we need young blood coming in, and there is nothing better than the feeling of having bred a winner. I'd say that money can't buy that feeling, though of course money does buy it, but it is the best feeling in the world.”

TDN Value Podium

Bronze: Awtaad (Ire), Derrinstown Stud, €5,000

Awtaad remains one of the best value sires in Europe. The son of Cape Cross (Ire) had five black-type winners last year, putting some other much more expensive stallions to shame, and these included G1 Prix d'Ispahan winner Anmaat (Ire) and dual Grade I winner Anisette (GB). His global reach was extended by two Group 3 wins in Sydney for Diamil (Ire). 

His Listed-winning daughter Primo Bacio (Ire) sold for 1.1 million gns at Tattersalls in 2023 and while he had only a handful of yearlings sold last year, the previous season the returns had been decent enough, with 28 sold for an average just over £40,000.

Having dropped to 38 mares covered in 2022, Awtaad was back up to 79 last year, so someone loves him, and rightly so.

Silver: Intello (Ger), Haras de Beaumont, €8,000 

Intello spent his early years at stud alternating between Cheveley Park Stud and Haras du Quesnay, and he is just about to embark on his second season across the road from the latter at Haras de Beaumont. 

From his initial feel of £25,000 he has been at €8,000 for three seasons and that of course tells its own story, but he is clearly a capable sire, and while he may fall more into the owner-breeder category his yearling prices weren't too shabby last year: the 12 sold from 13 offered at Arqana October returned an average of €43,417 and a top price of €135,000. 

That may have been helped by Intello's five black-type winners last year, with Junko (GB) ending his year on a high with victory in the G1 Hong Kong Vase.

Gold: Without Parole (GB), Newsells Park Stud, £8,000

There is a growing surge of Frankel's stallion sons in the pipeline but Newsells Park Stud's Without Parole (GB) was among the first and the fastest, as the winner of the St James's Palace S. in 2018. He's now at £8,000 having opened at £10,000, and he has physical refinement to match his lovely pedigree. His half-brother Tamarkuz (Speightstown) preceded him at stud and won the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, while his dam, who brings some Lemon Drop Kid blood to the equation, was a half-sister to the GI Travers S. winner Stay Thirsty (Bernardini).

Thirty of Without Parole's first yearlings sold for an average of £35,700. His book size actually rose to 92 last year, after he covered 83 then 75 mares in his first two seasons. That is hopefully a sign that breeders were encouraged by his youngsters. He could surprise a few people this year and if he does, his fee would likely rise again. It could be a good time to jump aboard. 

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In case any of you were similarly distracted by nuptials, holidays, or binge-watching The Dry, here's a handy TDN overview as to who's up, who's down, and who's new on the stallion scene. (And a tip to those of you entrusted with sending out press releases: try to send them well before 6pm. Certain members of the European desk get a little tetchy if the pouring of the first gin is delayed.)

The Big Boys

Some things in life remain reassuringly expensive, and that can certainly be said for the top stallions in Europe. In this elite sector, it is not usually a case of finding enough breeders to stump up the money, more a worry for the stallion owner as to how not to offend those who won't make the cut for said horse. 

Dubawi (Ire) became the most expensive stallion in the world earlier this year when his fee was raised to £350,000, and he remains at that level for 2024. He is now joined by Frankel (GB), who has gone up from £275,000 and is about to wrestle the champion sire trophy back from his Newmarket neighbour. 

While the rock-solid trio of Wootton Bassett (GB), Sea The Stars (Ire) and Siyouni {Fr) have all had their fees increased after yet more notable results on the track this season, some of the others in this higher bracket have been held at 2023 prices. 

We're including Invincible Spirit (Ire) in this section. He was at his highest price of €120,000 between 2016 and 2019 and dropped to €60,000 in 2022. He has been listed as private since this start of the 2023 covering season, but by dint of seniority (he will turn 27 in January) and influence, he deserves to be included here.

Dubawi £350,000 (-)
Frankel £350,000 (+ £75,000)
Wootton Bassett €200,000 (+ €50,000)
Sea The Stars €200,000 (+ €20,000)
Siyouni €200,000 (+ €50,000)
No Nay Never €150,000 (- €25,000)
Kingman £125,000 (-)
Lope De Vega €125,000 (-)
Night Of Thunder €100,000 (-)
Baaeed £80,000 (-)
New Bay €75,000 (-)
Invincible Spirit PRIVATE (-)

The Middle Ground

Those on the rise in this sector include this season's three 'buzz' sires, the freshmen Too Darn Hot (GB) and Blue Point (Ire), each of whom has been represented by at least one Group 1 winner, and leading second-season sire Havana Grey (GB), who shows no signs of stopping after his breakthrough season in 2022.

We also have the three most expensive new arrivals, led by the four-time Group 1 winner Paddington (GB).

Various press releases from studs last week referred to the challenging yearling sales in 2023 when announcing reduced fees. Often the top end of the market is immune to this, but that wasn't the case this year and there were retractions in most sales sectors, though it has to be said that these came after a frankly extraordinary 2022, the first fully normal season post-pandemic. 

There have been some notable reductions in fees at most levels of the market, and the results of the foal sales will no doubt determine how many deals there are to be done.

Too Darn Hot £65,000 (+ £25,000)
Havana Grey £55,000 (+ £36,500)
Blue Point €60,000 (+ €25,000)
Dark Angel €60,000 (-)
Zarak €60,000 (-)
Paddington €55,000 NEW
Camelot €50,000 (- €10,000)
Mehmas €50,000 (- €10,000)
St Mark's Basilica €50,000 (- €15,000)
Palace Pier  £45,000 (- £5,000)
Showcasing £45,000 (-)
Starspangledbanner €45,000 (- €5,000)
Ace Impact €40,000 NEW
Pinatubo £35,000 (-)
Sea The Moon £32,500 (+ £7,500)
Kodiac   €35,000 (- €5,000)
Modern Games £30,000 NEW
Churchill €30,000 (-)
Galiway €30,000 (-)
Teofilo €30,000 (-)

Twenty-Somethings

Sioux Nation is a big climber in this bracket but he too has had some fine representatives in his second season with runners. Congratulations are due to Caroline Hanly and Sean Ronan for breeding a horse as tough as his son Brave Emperor (Ire), whose 15 outings in two seasons have resulted in nine wins, including four group wins.

There's a number of young stallions here on the verge of being loved or loathed, depending on how their first runners fare. (Mind you, those decisions are now often made as early as the foal sales, with some later having to admit they were wrong to judge so harshly so soon.)

It is good to see the dependable Nathaniel (Ire), who had another Group 1 winner this year in Poptronic (GB), given a little boost, and similar comments apply lower down the fee scale to Golden Horn (GB), who has risen from £8,000 to £10,000. In both cases, however, they have covered plenty of National Hunt mares. 

By the way, Nathaniel and Cracksman are on the list as their sterling-to-euro price conversion elevates them to just beyond the 20,000 mark.

Chaldean £25,000 NEW
Little Big Bear €27,500 NEW
Sioux Nation €27,500 (+ €10,000)
Acclamation €25,000 (- €2,500)
Ghaiyyath €25,000 (-)
Persian King €25,000 (-)
Saxon Warrior €25,000 (- €10,000)
Sottsass €25,000 (-)
Hello Youmzain €22,500 (-)
Blackbeard €20,000 (- €5,000)
State Of Rest €20,000 (- €5,000)
Torquator Tasso €20,000 (-)
Cracksman £17,500 (-)
Nathaniel £17,500 (+ £2,500)

A Bit of Value

We won't name every stallion in the lower fee brackets here as Oliver St Lawrence provides the excellent service of a full list every year and we are reliably informed that his cards are already being printed in time for the sales.

It is worth remembering that bloodstock journalists generally have lemonade pockets, even if they have champagne tastes. In solidarity with small breeders, we are looking here at a selection of stallions whom we consider to offer value for a variety of reasons. 

Vadeni, €18,000 NEW
Let's not forget how brilliant he was at three.

Shaquille, £15,000 NEW
Extremely fast horse who is introduced at a level which is bound to have breeders beating a path to the new Dullingham Park stallion yard. 

Oasis Dream, £15,000
Tremendous value for a horse of this class. Yes, he's rising 24, but it was only two years ago that he was represented by the champion two-year-old Native Trail (GB), who joins Kildangan Stud this year at €17,500.

Mostahdaf, £15,000 NEW
A whole lotta horse who had a humdinger of a season and is rated only one pound behind Equinox (Jpn). And he's by Frankel, no less.

Earthlight, £15,000
Not all sons of Shamardal will take off in the way that Blue Point did with his first runners, but Earthlight's stock have been popular as foals and yearlings, and it's worth sticking with him at this unchanged fee at what could turn out to be his cheapest level.

Study Of Man, £12,500
His fee has also been held at his 2023 price after a year in which a number of people sat up and took notice of his first runners, led by the G2 Beresford S. winner Deepone (Ire). Classily bred, and as a son of Deep Impact (Jpn) his stock should only improve with age.

Erevann, €8,000 NEW
Failed narrowly to notch his Group 1 win, but he was a solid performer. By Dubawi out of Siyouni's first Classic winner Ervedya, Erevann has the pedigree to succeed and is pitched in at a reasonable starting price.

Dream Ahead, £6,500
He remains woefully underrated and should not be overlooked at his lowest price in 12 seasons at stud in three different countries. 

Iquitos, €6,000
A horse that produces two stakes winners from his first crop of only five foals is going to get noticed, and this treble Group 1-winning son of Adlerflug (Ger) has moved from his home farm of Gestut Ammerland to Gestut Graditz and now Gestut Rottgen. His fee is up from €4,000 last year but remains enticing. 

Awtaad, €5,000
The Irish 2,000 Guineas winner remains at the same fee he's been for the last two seasons even after notching two Group/Grade 1 winners this year. Awtaad may not be prolific but he is more than capable of siring a good horse. 

King Of Change, €5,000
He has been clipped in from €6,000 ahead of his first runners hitting the track in 2024. It remains deeply regrettable that his sire Farhh (GB) does not have better fertility because he is plainly a good stallion. Time will tell if King Of Change can pick up the baton but he's a Group 1 winner from a decent enough family and it's worth taking a chance at this price.

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Monfort said, “This colt is still growing. He should be ready late spring or early summer. I bought him at the sales, I liked him a lot. He is a late season-born colt. He is well made and has a good temper. From what he shows in the morning, he is very “Dream Ahead”, more of a speed and short-distance oriented horse.”

There is also a 1/60th share in Group 1 sire Complacent (Aus) (lot 3B) set to go under the hammer, as well as a 1/90th share in trotting stallion Feeling Cash (Fr) (lot 10).

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Joining the son of Diktat, as announced on Thursday, is Belardo (Ire) at £6,500. Washington DC (Ire) will command £3,000, down from £3,500 in 2022. Mattmu (GB)'s fee has been reduced an identical amount, and he is priced at £2,000.

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Trained by Kevin Ryan, Glass Slippers won three black-type races culminating in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye at three. She added the G1 Flying Five S. the following season and, after missing by a neck to Wooded (Fr) in her l'Abbaye title defense, shipped to Keeneland to win the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Glass Slippers finished third in three starts last year, including the Flying Five and the l'Abbaye, before finishing eighth in the latest edition of the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar.

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Terry Holdcroft, owner of Bearstone Stud, commented, “Mattmu has impressed us with the quality of his stock and his

early results indicate that he is capable of upgrading his mares. We are delighted to welcome him back to the stud where he was born and believe he deserves the opportunity to cover a larger book of mares and build on his early success.”

He is joined by Group 1 winner and sire Dream Ahead and Washington DC (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}).

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A winner of five Group 1 races including the G1 July Cup and G1 Middle Park S., the 13-year-old first stood at Ballylinch Stud in Ireland in 2012 and later moved to Haras de Grandcamp in France in 2016. He also spent several seasons in Australia and has Group 2 winners Phobetor (Aus) and Shumookh (Aus) to his credit in that hemisphere. His 13 group winners are led by a quartet of Group 1 winners and besides his three-time Group 1 winner Glass Slippers, has dual Group 1 winner Dream of Dreams (Ire), and young sires Donjuan Triumphant (Ire) who won the G1 British Champions Sprint S. and G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois victor Al Wukair (Ire). From his Northern Hemisphere crops, the bay has sired the winners of 672 races who have earned more than £12.5 million.

Bred by Darley in Kentucky, Dream Ahead is out of Group 2 winner Land of Dreams (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) and will stand alongside Washington DC (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) at Bearstone.

Terry Holdcroft, owner of Bearstone Stud, said, “We are delighted to be working with Ballylinch Stud and extremely proud they have entrusted us with such a high-class stallion as Dream Ahead. His record as a sire of Group 1 sprinters speaks for itself and it will be a pleasure to have him at the stud alongside his daughter Glass Slippers who has given us so many treasured memories during the last few years. It is also particularly good news that a stallion of his quality will be available to British breeders, and we are confident he will prove extremely popular with our clients.”

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There are a wide variety of established sires represented, among them Acclamation (GB) (1), Dabirsim (Fr) (8), Dream Ahead (4), Footstepsinthesand (GB) (1), Galiway (GB) (2), Gleneagles (Ire) (1), Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) (1), Kendargent (Fr) (1), Kodi Bear (Ire) (1), Kodiac (GB) (3), Mehmas (Ire) (4), Night Of Thunder (Ire) (1), Oasis Dream (GB) (1), Olympic Glory (Ire) (4), Wootton Bassett (GB) (3) and Zoffany (Ire) (3). Some of the sires with first-crop yearlings set to go through the ring are: Cloth Of Stars (Ire) (2), Expert Eye (GB) (1), Harry Angel (Ire) (1), Havana Grey (GB) (1), Recoletos (Fr) (3), Seahenge (5) and Sioux Nation (5).

Among the lots of interest are: lot 480, a son of Kodiac out of listed winner Beauty of Love (GB) (Elusive City) consigned by Haras d'Etreham; a Dabirsim filly (lot 361) who is a half-sister to stakes winner Eleni (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) from the extended family of Grade I winner Gorella (Fr) (Grape Tree Road {GB}) offered by Haras de Grandcamp; a Haras des Faunes-consigned Kheleyf half-brother (lot 389) to G3 Prix du Bois winner Livachope (Fr) (Goken {Fr}); lot 435, a Recoletos filly who is a half to group winner Absolutly Yes (Fr) (Country Reel) from the draft of Haras de lAumonerie; and a Shalaa (Ire) half-brother (lot 498) to the listed-winning trio of Prince Falcon (Fr) (Shirocco {Ger}), Cashman (Fr) (Soldier of Fortune {Ire}), and Only The Brave (Fr) (Iffraaj {GB}) from Haras de Castillon.

In 2019, the sale grossed €4,080,000 for 110 sold (79%) from 139 offered. The average was €37,091 and the median was €31,000.

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Saturday, Royal Ascot, Britain
DIAMOND JUBILEE S.-G1, £700,000, Ascot, 6-19, 4yo/up, 6fT, 1:14.87, sf.
1–DREAM OF DREAMS (IRE), 129, g, 7, by Dream Ahead
1st Dam: Vasilia (GB), by Dansili (GB)
2nd Dam: Kangra Valley (GB), by Indian Ridge (Ire)
3rd Dam: Thorner Lane (GB), by Tina's Pet (GB)
(37,000gns Wlg '14 TATFOA; £44,000 RNA Ylg '15 DNPRM). O-Saeed Suhail; B-Prostock Ltd (IRE); T-Sir Michael Stoute; J-Ryan Moore. £396,970. Lifetime Record: GSP-Ire, 31-9-9-2, $1,262,554. *1/2 to Silverheels (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}), MGSP-Eng, $206,229; and Lasilia (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), MSP-Eng. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Glen Shiel (GB), 129, g, 7, Pivotal (GB)–Gonfilia (Ger), by Big Shuffle. (£45,000 5yo '19 GOFSPR). O-Hambleton Racing XXXVI & Partner; B-Darley (GB); T-Archie Watson. £150,500.
3–Art Power (Ire), 129, c, 4, Dark Angel (Ire)–Evening Time (Ire), by Keltos (Fr). (€110,000 Ylg '18 GOFOR). O-King Power Racing Co Ltd; B-Owenstown Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-Tim Easterby. £75,320.
Margins: 1, 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 3.00, 7.00, 3.50.
Also Ran: Happy Power (Ire), Garrus (Ire), Sonaiyla (Ire), Nahaarr (Ire), Ventura Rebel (GB), Royal Commando (Ire), Summerghand (Ire), Final Song (Ire), Namos (Ger). Scratched: Emaraaty Ana (GB), Starman (GB). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.

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EB: Who have you identified as a first-year stallion at an appealing opening fee?

HH: Sottsass (Fr), at €30,000, is very good value for what he’s done; he was a very consistent horse. Also Wooded (Ire) was a good sprinter who was very well trained and he will get a good chance. He’s not too dear at €15,000.

EB: Best value proven stallion, and why?

HH: I am a fan of Make Believe (GB). I also think Mehmas (Ire) is good value, even though he’s now standing for three times more than he was. I think he will be a hell of a horse. In the U.S., I would also mention Summer Front, a son of War Front, who gets a lot of winners for the mares he has covered.

EB: Who would you consider to be an under-the-radar stallion?

HH: Here I would name two horses who have come to France who have been elsewhere before. Dream Ahead is not a commercial stallion but he is a very consistent stallion and I like him a lot. Lawman (Fr) is also still a very interesting horse who has been quite overlooked lately. On a much smaller scale, I would also say that Stormy River (Fr) has always been a good stallion who is underrated. It is hard for a horse if he isn’t getting the best mares. In this business a horse has to be good in the first two years otherwise he gets rejected.

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