By mares covered in 2023, Galiway was second only to his son Sealiway (Fr), the full-brother to Sunway who stands at Haras de Beaumont. Galiway covered 153 mares and Sealiway's first book numbered 166.

Kendargent (Fr), who is the broodmare sire of Sunway and sire of the Group 1 winner Skalleti (Fr), has been trimmed to €15,000 from €17,000, while his son Goken (Fr) remains at €15,000.

Dual-purpose stallion Soft Light (Fr) (Authorized {Ire}) also remains unchanged at €5,000 for his third season at stud.

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The race for champion first-season sire honours was not much of a competition at all last year, with Mehmas (Ire) jumping out of the gate with a pair of winners the day after British racing's resumption on June 1. As the winners continued to pile in for Tally-Ho's son of Acclamation (GB), his race became more against history than his contemporaries, and in mid-October he sailed past Iffraaj (GB)'s 10-year-old record for winners in a debut season (38), eventually settling at an eye-popping 56. Mehmas certainly had numbers on his side, with 101 of the 121 named foals from his first crop having made a start, but the quality was undoubtedly there, too: he led his sire crop by all metrics bar group winners, with five black-type winners (only Fasliyev, Night Of Thunder {Ire}, Frankel {GB}, No Nay Never and Oasis Dream {GB} have had more in their first season), 12 black-type horses, two group winners and two Group 1 horses, headed by the G1 Middle Park S. winner Supremacy (Ire), and earnings of €1,212,486/£1,079,930. Mehmas had 16 runners achieve a Racing Post Rating of 90+, eight achieve 100+ and two reach 110+. In addition to Supremacy he had the G2 Gimcrack S. victor and Middle Park third Minzaal (Ire) and listed winners Acklam Express (Ire), Method (Ire) (also third in the G3 Cornwallis S.) and Quattroelle (Ire) (a listed winner at Santa Anita who is also Grade III-placed). Mystery Smiles (Ire) was third in the Gimcrack and the G3 Sirenia S., while Muker (Ire) was second in the G3 Mercury S. and third in the Listed Windsor Castle S. Mehmas has risen to €25,000 for 2021, having stood for €7,500 last year after starting at €12,500. With Mehmas himself having retired at the end of a 2-year-old campaign in which he won the G2 July S. and the G2 Richmond S., beating Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) and placing in the G1 National S. and G1 Middle Park S., breeders will be waiting on the edge of their seats this year to see if his progeny train on. They can take some comfort in knowing that hasn't been a problem for the progeny of a horse bred on the same cross and from a very similar profile in Dark Angel (Ire). Mehmas's second crop averaged €52,172/£46,445 at last year's yearling sales–third among this cohort.

Whitsbury Manor Stud's Adaay (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) was second to Mehmas on last year's first-season sires' table by both earnings (€470,925/£419,438) and winners (23). It is important to point out that a hefty €147,500 of Adaay's earnings haul came from Shark Two One (GB)'s victory in the Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale S., but he is nonetheless the sire of three stakes horses, including G3 Premio Passi third Doctor Strange (GB) and the Listed Marygate S. second Furlong Factor (GB). Adaay, the winner of the G2 Sandy Lane S. and G2 Hungerford S. at three, stays at £5,000 for the third straight year and has a second crop of 57 2-year-olds to go to bat for him this year, which averaged €15,062/£13,416 at last year's yearling sales.

Adaay is one of four sons of Kodiac in the top 10 first-season sires of 2020 by stakes horses that are still at stud. The G3 Prix de Meautry winner Coulsty (Ire) made an eye-catching start with numbers not on his side: his first crop of 32 foals, of which 23 started, yielded five stakes winners last year (22%), three additional black-type horses (13%) and nine overall winners. Coulsty's highest-rated runner thus far is the G3 Princess Margaret S. winner and G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S. third Santosha (Ire), while he has also had the Italian listed winners Sopran Aragorn (Ire) and Suicide Squad (Ire) and the G3 Round Tower S. third Coulthard (Ire). Coulsty was a winner and made six starts at two before winning the six-furlong Meautry and the seven-furlong Listed King Charles II S. at three, and he added another listed win and was second to Adaay in the Hungerford at four. Coulsty stays at €4,000 at Rathasker Stud this year, and while he is sure to garner attention off a strong start he will face an uphill climb in the years to come, having sired just four foals last year before covering nine mares.

Kodi Bear (Ire), who stays at €6,000 at Rathbarry Stud for the third successive season, joins Coulsty on five stakes horses. A listed-winning 2-year-old who went on to win the G3 Sovereign S. and G2 Celebration Mile going a mile at three, Kodi Bear was represented by the Listed Stonehenge S. scorer and G2 Royal Lodge S. third Cobh (Ire) last year, but the fact that he had five stakes horses, five runners rated 90+ and two rated 100+ stands him in good stead should his progeny progress with age as he did. There was plenty of quality among Kodi Bear's stakes-placed runners: Measure Of Magic (Ire) was third in the G2 Flying Childers, Scarlet Bear (Ire) second in the G3 Firth of Clyde and third in the G3 Dick Poole, Broxi (Ire) third in the G3 Acomb S. and Mystery Angel third in the G3 Zetland S. Buyers took notice of the Kodi Bears, too, at the yearling sales last year; they averaged €21,098/£18,791 off an €8,000 covering fee.

The 2016 G2 Norfolk S. winner Prince Of Lir (Ire) was one of the first of this crop to make a big impression last year, with his The Lir Jet (Ire) breaking the course record on debut at Yarmouth before himself winning the Norfolk and placing in the G1 Phoenix S. and G2 Prix Robert Papin. Prince Of Lir supplied in total 14 winners and three additional stakes horses from his initial crop of 51, and is available for a career-low €3,500 in 2021 after covering 46 mares last year.

While Mehmas took Britain and Ireland by storm, it was a similar story for Goken (Fr) in France. During a time when France has hit new heights on the sire front with the likes of Siyouni (Fr), Le Havre (Ire) and Kendargent (Fr) staking their claims as truly international sires, it is a son in Kendargent in Goken who made a case for someday joining their ranks, with two group winners and three group horses from 37 starters (his first crop numbered 57 foals in total). Goken had three runners last year assigned an RPR of 100+ headed by the G3 Prix la Rochette scorer Go Athletico (Fr) at 110. Goken was also represented by the G3 Prix du Bois one-two Livachope (Fr) and Axdavali (Fr) and 15 total winners. Goken was himself a precocious horse who ran eight times at two including winning the Bois himself, and he trained on at three to win the G3 Prix Texanita as well as finishing third to Profitable (Ire) in the G1 King's Stand S. at four. Goken is up to €15,000 alongside his sire at Haras de Colleville for 2021 after dropping to as low as €3,000 in 2020.

New Bay (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) may have wound up just 10th by earnings, but he was one of this cohort's true eye-catchers based on the quality of his winners. The G1 Prix du Jockey Club victor New Bay was one of the 118 Group 1 winners campaigned by Khalid Abdullah, and he had 39 starters from a first crop of 63 last year. Twelve won; two were pattern-race winners, and four overall were stakes horses. New Bay was, significantly, the only other first-crop sire in addition to Mehmas and Goken last year to have a runner rated RPR 110+ (G2 Royal Lodge S. scorer New Mandate {Ire}), and he had three rated 100+. New Bay had five runners last year rated RPR 90+, and four on the cusp at 89. New Bay's other standouts included the G3 Oh So Sharp victress and G1 1000 Guineas hopeful Saffron Beach (Ire). New Bay, who is from the family of successful sires Oasis Dream (GB) and Kingman (GB), has received continued support from his ownership syndicate including Juddmonte, China Horse Club and Ballylinch Stud, and he is back up to his opening fee of €20,000 this year at Ballylinch after dipping to €15,000 the past two seasons. Buyers were clearly buoyed by New Bay's early signs, making him the leading second-crop sire at the yearling sales last year with 34 sold for an average of €74,005/£65,654.

Haras de Bouquetot's G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S. winner Shalaa (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) had been the leader of this crop with his first yearlings in 2019, and buyers were encouraged enough by his start in 2020 to snap up 51 of his 58 yearlings offered last year for an average of €58,889/£52,244. Shalaa didn't have a stakes winner in the Northern Hemisphere last year but he came close with the G2 Coventry S. third Saeiqa (GB), the G3 Prix Eclipse second Legal Attack (GB) and the Listed Ingabelle S. second No Speak Alexander (Ire), and he had 20 winners from 64 starters. Shalaa leads the first-season sires' standings in Australia; his G3 Breeders' Plate winner Shaquero (Aus) recently took the Listed Restricted Magic Millions 2YO Classic. Shalaa has provided a respectable three winners Down Under just over halfway through the season, and those also include the G3 Ottawa S. second Nice For What (Aus). Shalaa was the leader of this sire crop when he retired for €27,500 in 2017, and the son of Invincible Spirit is available for €15,000 in 2021.

Another son of Invincible Spirit, Darley's G1 Prix Jean Prat winner and G1 2000 Guineas second Territories (Ire), carried high hopes on his shoulders after the 2019 yearling sales and he likewise made a promising start, with two stakes winners and seven stakes horses among the 19 winners (65 starters) in his first season. Those were led by the G3 Prix des Reservoirs scorer and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac third Rougir (Fr), and he looks to have some useful runners waiting in the wings with nine of his runners having already achieved RPRs of 90+; that is more than anyone bar Mehmas in this crop. Territories has had three new winners since the turn of the calendar, including a double at Deauville on Jan. 9. Territories has been well supported at Dalham Hall at a fee of €12,000 through his first four seasons, and he takes a cut for the first time to €10,000.

Darley has an equally promising prospect at Kildangan Stud in the G1 Dewhurst S. and G1 Lockinge S. victor Belardo (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who was the joint leader among this group by number of group winners (three), with four stakes winners overall last season and 13 winners from 53 starters. Belardo's top-rated runner was the G2 Rockfel S. and G3 Prestige S. winner Isabella Giles (Ire), while he also had the G3 Park S. scorer Elysium (Ire) and the G3 Prix Miesque winner Lullaby Moon (GB) and one listed winners. His mark of four Northern Hemisphere black-type winners is just one off Mehmas, while he also had one listed winner in the Southern Hemisphere. Belardo remains at €10,000 at Kildangan Stud, the fee at which he has stood the past three seasons after opening at €15,000.

Pride Of Dubai (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) has not returned to Coolmore's Irish headquarters from Australia since shuttling for a second season in 2018, but a case could be made for him doing so after he left behind five first-crop stakes winners, equal with Mehmas, last year. Three of those were group winners, including the G3 Sweet Solera S. winner Star Of Emaraaty (Ire), and he had eight runners RPR rated 90+ and five RPR rated 100+. Pride Of Dubai currently remains ensconced in Jerry's Plains, having been leading first-season sire in Australia last year with two stakes winners.

Coolmore has another representative here in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and G1 Sussex S. winner The Gurkha (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose 15 winners were led by the G3 Preis des Winterfavoriten scorer Best Of Lips (Ire). This first crop was bred on a fee of €25,000, and The Gurkha is chopped to €5,000 this year, having stood for €12,500 last year.

Cheveley Park Stud's G1 Sprint Cup and G1 Diamond Jubilee winner Twilight Son (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) was well supported early at stud with a first crop of 109 foals yielding 80 runners last year, and 22 of those became winners, good for third among first-crop sires by that metric. His Aria Importante (GB) was a standout juvenile in Italy, winning four races last year including the G3 Premio Primi Passi, and his Grammata (reI) was second in Cork's Listed Tipperary S. Twilight Son himself didn't hit his best stride until the second half of his 3-year-old campaign, and he is available for £5,000 this season.

The two others in this crop to supply stakes winners last year were Derrinstown Stud's G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and Tara Stud's G2 Superlative S. and G2 Champagne S. victor Estidhkaar (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who stand for €10,000 and €5,000, respectively, in 2021. Awtaad's stakes winner came in the U.S. in the form of the Santa Anita listed scorer Ebeko (Ire), and he also had the Listed Ingabelle S. third A Taad Moody (Ire) among his 15 winners. Estidhkaar's flagbearers were the Listed Sea The Moon-Rennen victor Belcarra (Ire) and the Italian listed-placed The King Geremia (Ire) among his 10 winners. The G1 Deutsches Derby victor Isfahan (Ger) had just 10 runners to his name last year from his debut crop of 36 from Gestut Ohlerweiherhof, and those included five winners headed by the G3 Premio Guido Berardelli scorer Isfahani (Ger) and Sardasht (Fr), who is a maiden after five starts but was given an RPR of 95 for his fourth in the G3 Wackenhut Mercedes-Benz-Preis Zukunftsrennen.

Haras de Bonneval's G1 Prix Ganay winner Dariyan (Fr) (Shamardal) was responsible for two Group 3-placed horses among his 10 winners, and he stays at €8,000, the same fee he has commanded since his debut in 2017. Kildangan's G2 Coventry S. winner and dual Group 1-placed 2-year-old Buratino (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) supplied 13 winners, including the G2 Beresford S. third Snapraeterea (Ire), and he stays at €5,000, while Lanwades's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Bobby's Kitten (Kitten's Joy) provided 12 winners last year including Monaasib (GB), who edged Snapraeterea out for second when they were beaten by the Derby favourite High Definition (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Bobby's Kitten stands for £7,000 this year.

A trio of Group 1 winners whose progeny could reasonably be expected to progress with age this year are Harzand (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) (seven winners from 24 starters last year), Fascinating Rock (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) (three winners from 17 starters) and Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}). Protectionist had one winner, the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin third Amazing Grace (Ger), from 13 starters, and his Milka (Ger) was also listed-placed. Protectionist remains at €6,500 at Gestut Rottgen, while Harzand stands for €8,000 at Gilltown Stud and Fascinating Rock for €5,000 at Ballylinch Stud.

Value Sires' Podium

Gold: Mehmas (€25,000) – if he can keep up his early tempo like Dark Angel did, €25,000 will look like value in a few years' time.
Silver: Territories (£10,000) – more runners rated RPR90+ than any sire in this crop bar Mehmas last year, and he has gotten off to a quick start in 2021.
Bronze: Coulsty (€4,000) – his small book sizes the last few seasons will not help those looking to sell their foals of 2022, but the numbers don't lie: he can get a runner.

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The A to Z of the region's stallions, from Almanzor (Fr) to Zelzal (Fr), has a price range from €1,000 to €140,000, the latter commanded by France's champion sire, Siyouni (Fr), sire of last season's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr). Between those two figures can be found a horse to suit just about every breeder's budget and, as has increasingly been the case in recent years, a number of high-profile young stallions have joined the French ranks for 2021.

There's quite a leap in price from Siyouni down to the next most expensive stallion in France at €40,000, the established Classic sire Le Havre (Ire). His best runner last year was the dual Group 1-winning filly Wonderful Tonight (Fr), who was bred at Haras de Montfort et Préaux, where her sire stands under Nurlan Bizakov's Sumbé banner. Le Havre has recently been joined by new recruit Golden Horde (Ire). The G1 Commonwealth Cup-winning son of Lethal Force (Ire) whose grandam is a half-sister to champion racemare and producer Serena's Song (Rahy), makes his debut at €10,000.

“It's always very nice to meet the breeders, especially when you have a new horse, but we were lucky that we were able to bring Golden Horde in to Deauville during the sales so plenty of people saw him there, and he has had visitors every day,” said Mathieu Alex of Sumbé. “But of course there is always a great atmosphere for the Route des Etalons, when you can welcome people, and breeders meet, but this year we have to be sensible and be careful.”

He added, “We obviously liked Golden Horde a lot physically but it's always nice to get feedback and to hear that people agree with us. He's going down well and it's obviously important to get the support from the breeders. Mr Bizakov will support him with mares also.

“It's also an exciting year for Recorder (GB) with his first runners. We've worked for three years for that and he has 100-plus horses in training, in France and some abroad. We have 15 that were bred here that we've sent to good trainers, so fingers crossed.”

While its flagship stallion Wootton Bassett (GB) has moved to stand at Coolmore in Ireland, Haras d'Etreham has an exciting year in store with the arrival of two new Group 1 winners, Persian King (Ire) and Hello Youmzain (Fr), each being the sole French representative of their popular respective sires Kingman (GB) and Kodiac (GB). Furthermore, once the Flat season starts, Wootton Bassett's champion son Almanzor (Fr) will be represented by his first runners, while the first foals of his fellow Etreham resident City Light (Fr) will be arriving over the next few months.

Camelot (GB) enjoyed a terrific season with his runners in 2020 and two of his sons join French studs this year. Etreham's National Hunt wing, Haras de la Tuilerie, welcomes the Irish Derby winner Latrobe (Ire), while among Haras d'Annebault's new faces for the season is Fighting Irish (Ire). Breeders using the Group 2 winner in his first season will be eligible for a €50,000 bonus if they are fortunate enough to breed Fighting Irish's first Group winner in France, Britain or Ireland.

The retirement of Kendargent (Fr) to stud in 2010 coincided with the first year of the Route des Etalons initiative. Breeders who viewed him and perhaps used him then at his introductory fee of €1,000 will have enjoyed the success he has had in the ensuing years, which has really put Haras de Colleville, the farm of his owner Guy Pariente, firmly on the map of Normandy's leading studs. The grey, now 18, was joined at stud in 2017 by his son Goken (Fr), who was France's leading first-season sire in 2020, and their stud companion Galiway (GB), has also made a pleasing start to his career, most notably as the sire of G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Sealiway (Fr).

Another son of Kendargent returns to France this year. The former Godolphin campaigner Jimmy Two Times (Fr) spent his first two seasons in Germany at Gestut Hofgut Heymann but is now resident at Haras de Montaigu alongside the popular young National Hunt stallions No Risk At All (Fr) and Beaumec De Houelle (Fr).

“Jimmy Two Times is small and compact but he is very well-balanced, strong horse,” said Sybille Gibson of Haras de Montaigu. “I took him to the Hippodrome de Clairefontaine during the sales in December and lots of people came to see him then. We just hope he will do as well as Goken has done. 'Jimmy' was the best colt by Kendargent so we dream.”

The offspring of No Risk At All include the reigning Champion Hurdler Epatante (Fr), while Beaumec De Houelle, who now has yearlings on the ground, is a son of the late Montaigu resident Martaline (GB).

Gibson continued, “No Risk At All and Beaumec De Houelle are both fully booked, with mares from all the best breeders in France, and more and more people from abroad. The English are just mad for No Risk At All. Both horses are limited to 150 mares and they were full in November.”

Breeders going both ways across the Channel this year face increased expense and paperwork in the wake of the end of the Brexit transition period, which is understandably causing a few headaches for stud owners.

“We have had received a few mares from England and we have already had one or two cancellations,” Gibson said. “And for us it's the same, we don't know if we are going to send all our mares that were due to go to England because with Brexit the transport is now quite complicated.”

She added, “We will really miss the Route des Etalons this year. We have had a few breeders come to the farm but I think some people don't really want to travel too much at the moment. Normally we would have between 200 and 300 people visit us over the weekend. They came not only to see the new stallions but to see us and to see how the horses were changing. We had more and more people coming from a long way, not just Normandy. We will just have to look forward to next year.”

The burgeoning stallion unit at Larissa Kneip's Haras de Saint Arnoult has been extended again this year to include newcomers Elarqam (GB)—a son of two champions in Frankel (GB) and Attraction (GB)—and Yafta (GB), a Group 3-winning son of Dark Angel (Ire).

Kneip said, “Elarqam is very well booked, which is not surprising. He's the only son of Frankel in France and he was Frankel's second-highest rated runner after Cracksman. Yafta already has about 50 mares booked to him. Until recently we didn't have too many speed stallions in France but there are a few more now and obviously there was a demand for them. But none of them seem to have the sort of pedigree Yafta has, because it is really speed throughout, back to the fifth generation, and that's quite a rarity.”

The farm with the largest roster of nine stallions is Al Shaqab's Haras de Bouquetot, which this year has signed up Robert Ng's G1 Prix Jacques le Marois winner Romanised (Ire) as well as the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye winner Wooded (Ire), a son of Wootton Bassett. They join Shalaa (Ire), who has recently returned from Arrowfield Stud in Australia, where his first crop includes the Magic Millions 2yo Classic winner Shaquero (Aus), and Al Wukair (Ire), who has first-cop runners in Europe this season.

Sea The Stars (Ire) has two young sons at stud in France, Bouquetot's Zelzal (Fr), who his first runners this year, and Haras du Logis resident Cloth Of Stars (Ire), the G1 Prix Ganay winner who was placed in two Arcs and has his first yearlings at the sales of 2021. Another young stallion taking that next important step in his career this year is Recoletos (Fr), the winner of seven of his 14 starts including two Group 1s. He stands alongside the Derby winner Motivator (GB), sire of the mighty Treve (Fr), at Haras du Quesnay.

Plenty will be expected from the first-crop runners by Zarak (Fr) when they take to the track this year. Not only is he a Group 1-winning son of Dubawi (Ire), whose sons Night Of Thunder (Ire) and New Bay (GB) have made encouraging starts to their own stud careers in the last two seasons, but he is out of the brilliant Arc winner Zarkava (Fr) and shares his broodmare sire Zamindar with Kingman. Ordinarily, a visit to the Aga Khan's Haras du Bonneval is one of the highlights for travellers on the route. This year Zarak, Dariyan (Fr) and their illustrious stablemate Siyouni must be admired from afar.

Videos and further information on the stallions from the 28 participating studs will de displayed online over the weekend and, when the world returns to some sort of normality, be sure to brighten up next January with a trip around the picturesque farms of Normandy.

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Siyouni, who now commands a fee of €140,000 having started his career at €7,000, is the French champion sire and was second overall in Europe to Galileo (Ire). He had to play second fiddle to Galileo in his home country last year and to an extent that could be put down to what a difference an Arc makes. Galileo sired the 2019 Arc winner Waldgeist (GB), while new Coolmore stallion Sottsass (Fr) enjoyed the biggest day of his career in front of an almost empty ParisLongchamp grandstand in October 2020. He made a huge contribution to Siyouni’s overall progeny earnings of just over €4 million—double that of Le Havre—but the Aga Khan Studs stallion had plenty of other winners, 63 in total in France including nine stakes winners and 17 black-type performers in France, with 27 of the latter throughout Europe.

While Sottsass was the stand-out, Siyouni also sired his second winner of the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, Dream And Do (Fr), who is now in the ownership of Katsumi Yoshida. His reputation farther afield was bolstered by the G1 Dewhurst S. winner St Mark’s Basilica (Ire) and GI EP Taylor S. victrix Etoile (Fr).

The 62 winners for Le Havre were led by a filly trained outside France but by a Frenchman. The G1 Prix de Royallieu and G1 QIPCO British Champion Fillies & Mares S. Winner Wonderful Tonight (Fr) is the stable star for Sussex-based David Menuisier and she was a another feather in the cap of her breeders Sylvain Vidal and Mathieu Alex, who have played a major role in the rejuvenation of the French stallion scene at what was originally known as Haras de la Cauvinière and is now Haras de Montfort et Préaux. Now under the ownership of Nurlan Bizakov, the stud has a further name to grapple with this year in Sumbé, the title which now unites Montfort et Préaux with Bizakov’s original breeding base of Hesmonds Stud in England. 

Le Havre, who was tenth overall in the European table, notched 11 black-type winners in Europe last season included the hugely promising Normandy Bridge (Fr), winner of the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon and runner-up to Van Gogh (American Pharoah) in the G1 Criterium International. A tall colt with plenty of scope, he could be one to put his young trainer Stephanie Nigge firmly on the map in 2021.

Kendargent has been one of the great success stories of the French ranks in recent years. The non-stakes winner who started out at a fee of €1,000, he received significant backing from his passionate owner Guy Pariente, whose Haras de Colleville, near Deauville, has blossomed into a breeding operation of some repute. 

Now 18, Kendargent is in danger of being upstaged by his son Goken (Fr), who was France’s leading first-season sire of 2020, and Kendargent has also featured as the broodmare sire of several stakes winner by his other Colleville companion, Galiway (GB). His fee peaked at €22,000 and is down to €10,000 for 2021. His leading performer from 63 French winners last season was the globe-trotting Skalleti (Fr), who beat Sottsass when winning the Prix Gontaut-Biron, followed that up by winning the G2 Prix Dollar and was then second to Adeyybb (Ire) in the G1 QIPCO British Champion S.

Wootton Bassett has also been a real success story for French breeding, so much so that he was headhunted by Coolmore last year and is about to serve his first season in Ireland at a fee of €100,000, having stood for as little as €4,000 in this third and fourth seasons. The James Fanshawe-trained Audarya (Fr) followed up her G1 Prix Jean Romanet win with a memorable victory at the Breeders’ Cup, while Wooded (Fr) won the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye before being whisked off to stud himself. There were also close calls for Wootton Bassett’s offspring in the French Classics: his daughters Speak Of The Devil (Fr) and Mageva (Fr) were second and third in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and The Summit (Fr) was runner-up (Ire) in the Poulains.

The winner of that race, Victor Ludorum (Ire), helped his late sire Shamardal to a fifth place in the French sires’ table, his 10 black-type winners including the Aga Khan’s classy Tarnawa (Ire) and Pinatubo (Ire), winner of the G1 Prix Jean Prat.

Rajsaman (Fr) is another to have left France and is now at Ireland’s Longford House Stud but he still sires plenty of winners in his native country, with 60 last year, to put him in sixth place. 

Completing the top ten were Juddmonte’s Kingman (GB), whose outstanding French representative was Persian King (Ire); Haras du Quesnay’s Anodin (Ire), who sired four stakes winners in 2020 including G3 Prix de Fille de l’Air winner Directa (Fr); Dabirsim (Fr) and the now Japanese-based Makfi (GB).

The aforementioned Goken was not only leading first-season sire in France but also the country’s leading sire of 2-year-olds, with his 15 winners putting him three ahead of Siyouni in the juvenile category.

Leading sires in Germany
That Sadler’s Wells is a major influence is hardly newsflash material. His reach in Germany is predominantly through one of his lesser-heralded sons, the late In The Wings (GB), whose best sire son, arguably, was Singspiel (Ire). The German ranks are headed by two of his other sons, Adlerflug (Ger), who is champion for the first time ahead of Soldier Hollow (GB), the title holder in the previous two years as well as in 2016. 

Physically they are chalk and cheese. Adlerflug, a tall, flashy chestnut, is a product of Germany’s oldest stud farm, Gestut Schlenderhan. Meanwhile, the diminutive bay Soldier Hollow, was bred in England by Car Colston Hall Stud and has spent his stud career initially at Gestut Rottgen before moving to Karl-Dieter Ellerbracke’s Gestut Auenquelle in 2012, whence he has been Germany’s busiest and most expensive stallion for a number of years. Incidentally, Soldier Hollow’s owner Helmut von Finck, who has had notable success with his offspring, has commissioned a video to celebrate the stallion’s 20th birthday, which can be found here.

Adlerflug covered 39 mares in 2020 and he really is a stallion who should be taken more seriously outside Germany. For a start, he is bred very similarly to Galileo (Ire): beyond the Sadler’s Wells top line they share a third dam, Anatevka (Ger), with Adlerflug’s grandam Alya (Ger) being a full-sister to Allegretta (GB).

Ranking 20th overall in the European sires’ championship with markedly fewer runners than all the stallions above him, Adlerflug was responsible for the first two home in the G1 Deutsches Derby, Schlenderhan’s In Swoop (Ire), who was subsequently runner-up in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and Torquator Tasso (Ger), who went on to win the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin. A rare runner for him in Britain in 2020 was the William Haggas-trained juvenile Alenquer (Fr), an easy winner on debut at Newbury who followed up with second in the listed Ascendant S. and looks a colt to follow in 2021.

Alenquer is out of a mare by former German champion sire and classy sprinter Areion (Ger), a veteran son of Big Shuffe (Ger) who was third in the table in 2020 and, now 25, has spent the last three seasons at Gestut Etzean.

Among the younger stallions to note is Gestut Ohlerweierhof’s Isfahan (Ger), the leading German-based first-season sire in 2020. Like Adlerflug, he is a former winner of the Deutsches Derby, and from his 10 runners in 2020, five were winners, including Isfahani (Ger), who won the G3 Premio Guido Berardelli on debut in the colours of her sire’s owner Stefan Oschmann of Darius Racing. Isfahan should be expected to make a bigger impression with his first 3-year-olds, and the same can be said for Gestut Rottgen’s Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist (Ger), the lone son of Monsun (Ger) remaining at stud in Germany.

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It is, frankly, a staggering tally, with 101 of his 121 named first-crop foals having set foot on a racecourse in 2020. Moreover, there was strength in depth. Mehmas’s 12 black-type performers include four stakes winners in Europe, led by Supremacy (Ire), winner of the G1 Middle Park S. and G2 Richmond S. and Minzaal (Ire), winner of the Gimcrack S and third behind the former in the Middle Park. He also finished the year with a flourish as the sire of a fifth stakes winner, Quattroelle (Ire), in the Blue Norther S. at Santa Anita.

Having passed this first stage with flying colours, the challenge now is for Mehmas to sustain this dominance. He covered 177 mares in 2018, and unsurprisingly the results of those matings were popular at the most recent round of yearling sales. The true test of any stallion is what happens when his runners turn three and beyond. We’ve seen plenty burn brightly in their debut season with runners only to fizzle out, but nonetheless this son of Acclamation (GB) is most certainly a stallion to follow keenly in 2021.

Take Mehmas out of the equation and 24 winners is a decent first tally. That was the number of winners notched by Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Adaay (Ire) in 2020 from his 64 runners. He is missing a stakes winners but has been represented by three black-type performers and two useful dual winners, Shark Two One (GB) and Twaasol (GB), both rated in the mid-90s.

With Mehmas and Adaay the leaders in Ireland and Britain respectively, the emerging young sire in France was Haras de Colleville’s Goken (Fr), who was another stallion to make his mark almost as soon as racing resumed in France, and the day after his stud-mate Galiway (Fr) had supplied the first juvenile winner of the season in the high-class Sealiway (Fr). What will certainly have pleased his breeder and Colleville’s owner Guy Pariente is that Goken is a son of the stallion who made the Normandy stud’s name, Kendargent (Fr).  Furthermore, his 15 winners, including the Group 3 winners Livachope (Fr) and Go Athletico (Fr), came from a first crop of just 61 foals. Support for him will certainly grow, along with his popularity.

The Darley duo of  Territories (Ire) and Belardo (Ire) feature in fourth and fifth in the European table, with the former hailing from the family of Shamardal and Belardo, by Lope De Vega (Ire), being one of Shamardal’s grandsons.

The 19 winners and seven black-type horses for Territories represent a decent start and they included the Group 3 winner Rougir (Fr), who was also third in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac. Belardo is certainly worth noting and following closely in the season to come. From his 51 runners, he has 13 winners, four of which were stakes winners, with Isabella Giles (Ire) landing both the G2 Rockfel S. and G3 Prestige S. and Lullaby Moon (GB) winning the G3 Prix Miesque and listed Two-Year-Old Trophy among their four wins apiece.

Coolmore’s Pride Of Dubai (Aus) did not return to Ireland after his debut season but a case could be made for him doing so in future. The son of Street Cry (Ire) was champion first-season sire in his native Australia last year and, from 43 runners in his sole northern hemisphere crop he sired 11 winners, five of which were stakes winners. These include the Italian Group 2 winer Telepathic Glances (Ire) as well as Flying Visit (Ire) and Star Of Emaraaty (Ire), who are Group 3 winners in Ireland and Britain respectively.

Another of the young Kodiac (GB) stallions at stud, Kodi Bear (Ire), joined Adaay in the top ten, with 17 winners from his 54 runners, which again was an encouraging debut for a sire with 79 first-crop foals. Plenty of stallion masters have Clive Cox to thank for getting their youngsters off to a good start (think Supremacy) but in the case of Rathbarry Stud’s Kodi Bear, Cox trained both the stallion and his best offspring to date, the 107-rated Cobh (Ire), winner of the listed Stonehenge S. and third in the G2 Royal Lodge S.

As a grandson of Pivotal (GB) and son of Kyllachy (GB), Twilight Son (GB) was always going to be a popular new recruit to Cheveley Park Stud and, by number of first-crop winners, he is third behind Mehmas and Adaay on 22. His sole stakes winner, Aria Importante, won both the G3 Premio Primi Passi and listed Eupili in Milan.

Ballylinch Stud not only has the globally popular Lope De Vega (Ire) as its lynchpin but it also has some promising young stallions on the way through, including New Bay (GB), who, from a first crop of 77 foals, was represented by 43 runners and 12 winners in 2020. Encouragingly, this group includes four stakes performers, among them the G2 Royal Lodge S. winner New Mandate (Ire) and G3 Oh So Sharp S winner Saffron Beach (Ire). Unfortunately, the gelded New Mandate cannot be aimed at this year’s Classics but, being out of an Authorized (Ire) mare, one could reasonably expect him to improve further with age and distance. Saffron Beach looks a worthy Guineas contender for Jane Chapple-Hyam and her step-brother Ben Sangster, who races the filly in partnership with his son Oliver and James Wigan.

Haras de Bouquetot’s Shalaa (Ire) was the toast of this crop as his first foals and yearlings hit the sales, and he has sired 21 winners overall from his first northern hemisphere crop, two of those coming in America and one in Kazakhstan. His best European performers are the G2 Coventry third Saeiqa (GB) and the 102-rated No Speak Alexander (Ire). 

Just bubbling under the top ten were Prince Of Lir (Ire), whose 13 winners include the G2 Norfolk S winner The Lir Jet (Ire), and The Gurkha (Ire) on 14 winners. 

As is often the case, the table is numerically dominated by Irish-based stallions. In addition to those mentioned above, the smaller British contingent includes Bobby’s Kitten, whose 12 winners were led by Sheikh Hmadan’s promising dual winner Monaasib (GB), who was runner-up in the G2 Beresford S. With Roaring Lion having met an early demise and Hawkbill having been relocated to Japan, the Lanwades Stuyd resident leads the charge for his successful American sire Kitten’s Joy in Britain, with Kameko having recently taken up stud duties at Tweenhills.

Also worth noting among the young German stallions is the Deutsches Derby winner Isfahan (Ger), who, from only 10 starters, notched five winners including Italian Group 3 winner Isfahani (Ger).

Second-crop sires of 2020
Darley’s Night Of Thunder (Ire) made a huge impression with his first-crop runners and the 2019 champion first-season sire retained the upper hand as his second crop took to the track, albeit with fewer eye-catching juveniles than in his dazzling debut season. A Group 1 winner eludes him, though surely not for long, as the son of  Dubawi has 14 stakes winners to his credit, with G2 Dante S. Winner Thunderous (Ire) and G2 Oaks d’Italia victrix Auyantepui (GB) his leading lights in 2020.

We’ve already touched on Ballylinch Stud’s small but select stallion roster above and Make Believe (GB) continued his fledgling career in upwardly mobile fashion with a first-crop Classic winner to add to his credentials. The Prix du Jockey Club winner Mishriff (GB) remains the star of his runners to date, while Believe In Love (Ire) was consistent and progressive for Roger Varian and Koji Maeda, winning five of her nine starts in 2020, culminating in the G3 Prix Belle de Nuit in October.

The six stakes winner for Coolmore’s Gleneagles (Ire) in 2020 included the Jessica Harrington-trained Silence Please (Ire). His contemporary Golden Horn (GB) matched him on 51 winners for the year and, while the Darley stallion could do with a few more stakes winners, he has a decent array of highly-rated winners who could yet take that next step into group class.

Similar comments apply to Shadwell’s Muhaarar (GB), whose 52 winners for the year equalled the tally of Night Of Thunder. The Francis Graffard-trained Paix (Ire), from the family of Irish Oaks winner Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), was his star performer of the season with victories in the G3 Prix de Lutece and listed Prix Frederic de la Grange.

Worthy of a special mention in this category is Haras de Colleville’s son of Galileo (Ire),  Galiway (GB). With only 85 foals from his first two crops, his 18 winners include the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere victor Sealiway (Fr) and Kenway (Fr), winner of the G3 Prix la Rochette and two listed contests. Both are out of mares by his fellow Colleville resident Kendargent.

Also noteworthy is the Ashford Stud-based American Pharoah, whose 27 runners in Europe this year included 16 winners. Top of the pile was the G1 Criterium International winner Van Gogh, a son of the dual Oaks winner Imagine (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells).

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Right, where were we? Ah, Epsom.

I’ll go to my grave failing to understand why all the world doesn’t love horseracing. For a so-called ‘magnificent triviality’ it doesn’t half get the blood pumping, the emotions soaring and the brain churning before and beyond the great races. And we saw two great races on the Epsom Downs on Saturday, one with a result as thrilling as it was expected and the other as thrilling as it was unexpected.

Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) really did look like she could spend the season conquering all as she swept down the Epsom helter-skelter in a new race record of 2.34:06, narrowly beating the record of Enable three years earlier. Love sets the standard for what looks an exciting crop of 3-year-old fillies this year.

It took Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) roughly a third of a second more to cover the same course and once the shock subsided from his audacious front-running victory it was hard not to view this as anything other than an excellent result. Most of all, of course, for his 30-year-old jockey Emmet McNamara, who, before Saturday had won two group races, both for his boss Aidan O’Brien, and has now added his name to the roll of honour on which all Flat jockeys long to be included.

It could of course be argued that without the delay to the Classic season, Serpentine would not even have run in the Derby. He had won a Curragh maiden just seven days earlier on his third racecourse appearance, three hours before his stable-mate Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) landed the Irish Derby. His breeding, however, gives him every right to have been considered a potential Derby winner, with his dam Remember When (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and her sibling Dylan Thomas (Ire) (Danehill) both having knocked on the door at Epsom.

It’s a topsy-turvy year, and ordinarily we would expect to see the Derby winner next in the Irish Derby or, even better for those of a more commercial mindset, the Eclipse, lest he be filed instantly under the ‘future National Hunt sire’ label. Both of those options are impossible this year but wouldn’t it be something to see Love and Serpentine take on each other, as well as Enable (GB) and possibly Ghaiyyath (Ire), in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. on July 25? What a shot in the arm that would be for a great race which has somehow, inexplicably, lost its lustre of late.

Together Alone
An initial thought as Serpentine flashed by the famous winning post more than five lengths ahead of the chasing pack was ‘what more can be said about those over-achievers Aidan O’Brien and Galileo?’ Appropriately, it was Galileo himself who first caused O’Brien’s name to be etched on the list alongside a Derby winner. From the 19 horses to have won the race since then, another seven have been trained by him, while Galileo has now featured as the sire of five Derby winners (and grandsire of one). Together and alone, they are record-breakers in myriad ways and we are fortunate to be alive to witness what will forever be regarded as a significant chapter in the history of racing and breeding.

A new chapter was started the following day at Chantilly when the former Aidan O’Brien trainee Fancy Blue (Ire) became the first Classic winner for her new trainer and Aidan’s son Donnacha. Last season the filly had been one of the winners which had helped the 21-year-old secure his second champion jockey title in Ireland before hanging up his boots to join his father and his elder brother Joseph in the training ranks.

There was an echo of another Derby winner in Fancy Blue, who is out of a full-sister to the late and often overlooked High Chaparral (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), who gave Aidan O’Brien his second Derby victory the year after Galileo. There has been more focus though on the filly’s sire, Deep Impact (Jpn), who can very much be viewed as the Galileo of Japan and who died almost a year ago at only 17. His legacy will also be long-lasting and it is starting to creep into Europe via his Classic-winning stallion sons Saxon Warrior (Jpn)—out of a Group 1-winning daughter of Galileo—and Study Of Man (Fr), a grandson of Miesque.

In fact it was one of Study Of Man’s relations, the fellow Niarchos-bred Alpine Star (Ire), who was so narrowly beaten by Fancy Blue on Sunday in the Prix de Diane after emphatically winning the G1 Coronation S. at Ascot only just over a fortnight earlier. Her sire Sea The Moon (Ger) stands alongside Study Of Man at Lanwades and both should be given serious consideration by breeders with Classic aspirations but without pockets deep enough for Galileo or Dubawi (Ire).

Millennium Marker
While we will look back and view these early decades of the 21^st century as the time of Galileo, the horse named to usher in a new era, Dubai Millennium, is remembered through a now flourishing male line which could so easily have withered and died.

Dubawi was of course a member of the first and only crop of the ill-fated Dubai Millennium. The winner of the Irish 2000 Guineas, Dubawi was then represented in his first crop by Makfi (GB), who won the 2000 Guineas. Make Believe (GB), from Makfi’s first crop, reinforced the line and in turn won the Poule d’Essai des Poulains. He now has a first-crop Classic winner of his own in the Prix du Jockey Club hero Mishriff (GB).

Thirty years earlier, Mishriff’s owner-breeder Prince A A Faisal, had enjoyed Classic success at Chantilly with the Prix de Diane winner Rafha (GB) (Kris {GB}), who is the colt’s third dam. His claims to a future stallion career are further enhanced by two of Rafha’s sons, the successful sires Kodiac (GB) (Danehill) and Invincible Spirit (Ire) (Green Desert).

Make Believe, a three-parts-brother to dual Grade I winner Dubawi Heights (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), raced in Prince Faisal’s colours but had been bought by him as a foal for 180,000gns from his breeder Simon Hope of Aston Mullins Stud. The prince had also purchased Make Believe’s contemporary, rising freshman sire Belardo (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), as a yearling at Arqana for €100,000 and the pair ended their careers with two Group 1 victories apiece.

Belardo also did his sire a huge favour by becoming his first Group 1 winner in the Dewhurst S., and, though bred by Ballylinch Stud where Lope De Vega stands, he is now at Kildangan Stud after Godolphin bought into him during his racing career.

Make Believe instead stands at Ballylinch, which is now part of a powerful partnership behind the young stallion.

“Prince Faisal kept a third of Make Believe and on occasion in the first few years we have sent half the broodmare band to him,’ says Ted Voute, who manages the prince’s bloodstock at Eydon Hall Farm, the former base of Gerald Leigh’s successful breeding operation.

“He has ten mares and he tends to keep the average age of the broodmare band quite low. Gerald Leigh was the same way, he often sold mares that were 10 or 12.”

Mishriff’s dam, the winning 10-year-old Raven’s Pass mare Contradict (GB), has had a breeding career of highs and lows. Her first three foals are all black-type earners and in the following three seasons she has failed to produce any offspring.

Voute says, “Contradict is now in foal to Frankel (GB) and we have had a bit of bad luck with her because she would get in foal and then reabsorb before 42 days. We are past that stage now this year so we are hopeful but she will hold on to this one.”

Prince Faisal’s good week may not yet be over as he has TDN Rising Star Seventh Kingdom (GB) (Frankel {GB}), another great grandson of Rafha, entered for Saturday’s G2 Superlative S.

“We might be shooting a bit high with him, but you could have said that we were doing that on Sunday also,” Voute adds of the 2-year-old colt. “He’s not a horse that puts in scintillating work so when he won well first time out we were slightly caught off guard.”

While Mishriff and Seventh Kingdom are both homebreds, their breeder has not been averse to racing other people’s stock, as illustrated by Belardo and Make Believe, and he has enjoyed notable success with his select purchases.

Voute explains, “We don’t really have a [buying] strategy. We’d bought [G2 Prix Greffulhe winner] Ocovango (GB) a few years before that and we got lucky with him. Every now and then when the mood takes him, Prince Faisal will say ‘if you’re in Deauville go and have a look at this one’. He’s always going through the catalogues and the photos online and he usually has his own shortlist. In the case of Belardo he had asked me to go to see a Lawman (Fr) and I didn’t like that colt but I told him I had seen a nice Lope De Vega colt, so that’s how we bought him. At the foal sales when he bought Make Believe we’d made a shortlist of ten with Hugo Merry, because when I am selling I don’t like to sell and buy at the same time. The prince came up from London and we showed him the ten and we were beaten on the first two, a Teofilo (Ire) and a New Approach (Ire), both bought by John Ferguson. So then we took all the Darley horses off the list and the only one left was the Makfi and, lo and behold, that was Make Believe. We took him back to Eydon—all the horses are raised there, and Belardo came back there after the yearling sale. Mishriff of course was also there. There’s a very prolific colts’ paddock called Culworth Road East, in which Gerald Leigh had Barathea (Ire) and Markofdistinction (GB), and we’ve kept the tradition of raising our colts in this massive 30-acre field.”

As for Mishriff’s future stud prospects, Voute adds, “It’s a real stallions’ family now. When the prince sold Invincible Spirit and Kodiac he kept very few shares in both of them and I think perhaps he regretted that, so he kept a good bit of Make Believe and he also kept breeding rights in Belardo. I imagine he will now keep a good part of Mishriff when the time comes for him to go to stud and that will help when he hands over to his sons as they will have an operation that can cover its own costs.”

For Ballylinch Stud, the good news did not end with Mishriff this weekend as Lope De Vega, who is enjoying another typically fruitful season, was represented by the G2 Lancashire Oaks winner Manuela De Vega (Ire). Furthermore, the stud’s freshman stallion and fellow French Classic winner New Bay (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is starting to make his presence felt. Since June 12, he has been represented by four winners and, in a manner reminiscent of last year’s freshman champion and fellow son of Dubawi, Night Of Thunder (Ire), it is his strike-rate at this stage which is the remarkable factor as those winners have come from just seven runners.

In turn, Night Of Thunder has continued his ascent and currently heads the second-crop sires’ list with seven black-type winners including a first Classic winner of his own, the G2 Oaks d’Italia winner Auyantepui (GB). The unbeaten filly was bred by Massimo Parri, head of the Italian TBA and owner of Allevamento Le Gi in Tuscany. Trained until now by Nicolo Simondi, Auyantepui’s recent 50% purchase by Australian-based OTI Racing means that she will transfer to the Chantilly stable of first-season Italian trainer Mario Baratti, a former assistant to Marco Botti and Pascal Bary.

Adaay On The Hunt
Goken (Fr) has been the leader of the European first-season sires’ competition since flagfall, and his first winner, Livachope (Fr), duly became his first group winner last week when extending her unbeaten record to three in the G3 Prix du Bois, leading home her paternal half-sister Axdavali (Fr).

With ten individual winners on the board, the son of Kendargent (Fr) is only one ahead of Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Adaay (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who is the sire of Twaasol (GB), winner of the Woodcote S. at Epsom, and Doctor Strange, who took third in Sunday’s G3 Premio Primi Passi.

Kodiac and his half-brother Invincible Spirit account for five of the top 11 stallions in the table, including Prince Of Lir (Ire) and Kodi Bear (Ire) by the former, and Invincible Spirit’s sons Territories (Ire) and Shalaa (Ire).

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