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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Flynn has been training for over 40 years and is perhaps best known for sending out Supreme Novices' Hurdle winners Montelado (GB) and French Ballerina (Ire) in the nineties. 

The 66-year-old revealed that the sale of Starspangledwaves, which is reported to have run well into the six-figure mark, will eliminate the financial woes that come with training racehorses for a living for the next number of years but admitted that he has been left perplexed as to why his yard has fallen out of fashion in recent times. 

“We're still pucking the ball out after 40 years in business, which is not a bad achievement in this game and I'm very proud of that,” – Pat Flynn.

From a high of 65 horses at one point, the County Waterford trainer explained that he has just 25 horses within his care at present, and says that Starspangledwaves proves that he can still do the job as well as anyone else in the profession. 

“What I can't figure out is why I don't get more 2-year-olds to train,” Flynn said. “I have a really good opening to Hong Kong and we do what it says on the tin. No horse has ever come into this yard and made a fool of us once it left. If we get a horse good enough, we'll get it to win. I know the time of day with horses and have had loads of good ones down through the years. I don't know why we fell out of favour. It's a tough game.” 

Facing into the cold winter mornings were made a hell of a lot easier with a horse of the caliber of Starspangledwaves to look forward to. After posting a solid debut at the Curragh, the gelding bolted up in a five-furlong maiden at Dundalk in October and subsequently netted Flynn a major payday with Gaelic Bloodstock swooping in to get a deal done for clients in Hong Kong. 

He explained, “I remember when we sold Designs On Rome to Hong Kong, I said to John Moore that he would be one of the best horses they had ever seen. He probably thought to himself, 'this f***er must be mad.' But anyway, he turned out to be a serious horse down there. 

“Starspangledwaves is not too far behind him. He's a different type of horse but he's a fair machine. He's incredible. We ran him on bottomless ground at the Curragh, which he'd hate, and he still managed to finish fifth on debut there. Well, he won apologising at Dundalk after that and Conor [Hoban, jockey] said he never won a race as easily in his life before.” 

He added, “We're still pucking the ball out after 40 years in business, which is not a bad achievement in this game and I'm very proud of that. We're not complaining and have some lovely horses coming through. A lot of people have gone to the wall since I started and it hasn't been easy but this makes it all worthwhile. 

“We got a lot of money for Designs Of Rome and we got something similar for Starspangledwaves. We got a very good price. But I stuck to my guns. I knew he was a serious horse and I told the agents not to be annoying me until they came up with a realistic offer. They have a very good horse to look forward to in Hong Kong and I can see him being top-class over five and six furlongs over there. When you get a good horse, you need to get a good price.”

Starspangledwaves failed to sell as a yearling but confirmed himself a top-notch prospect with his exploits on the track. In doing so, he continued a growing trend of Flynn maximising the potential of a horse who at one point fell through the cracks. 

“Where were all the fellas who know it all the day we brought Starspangledwaves to the Orby? Thank God they weren't there that day anyway! We also sold a very good horse to Australia last year, All In The Mind (Ire), who we brought to the Royal Ascot sale but we couldn't get him sold. “Thank God we didn't as it worked out for luck in the end when we got a deal done privately. It was a similar story with Designs On Rome–we bought him off Moyglare Stud for €10,500 outside of the ring at the Orby in 2011.

“I can remember my hands were trembling when we came out of the office after buying him. I told my wife that I was after buying the best horse that would ever come through our yard. So, what does that all mean? The three horses I did well with were all led out unsold so, when your horse doesn't sell, you're not dead in the water by any means.”

He added, “I think Starspangledwaves will do really well over there. He has a phenomenal stride and is an easygoing type. He's like a puma the way he gallops and I'd say he could go all the way to the top. Over five and six furlongs, he could be a serious force.”

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Bolger gave €31,000 for the recently named Roman Moon (Ire) after Prendergast recommended the filly at the Goffs Orby Sale last September and she is set to break new ground by becoming his first runner with the Friarstown operator.

Roman Moon will carry the white and purple colours of Bolger's wife Jackie, once carried to major glories by Teofilo (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), New Approach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and more recently Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}), when she hits the track this summer.

Speaking about the reasoning in sending the filly to the 89-year-old handler, Bolger told TDN Europe, “It was Kevin who suggested that we buy the filly and, when we did, we said that we would leave her with him knowing that she would be in safe hands.

“If I remember correctly, I was sitting beside Kevin when she walked into the ring and he told me that he was thinking of buying her on spec. Clare Manning [Bolger's granddaughter] also liked her and, when what she told me was confirmed by Kevin, I told her to go ahead and buy the filly.

“I decided there and then that, if Kevin was interested in training her for me, he could have her. She cost €35,000 so is qualified for all of those auction races and will carry Jackie's colours.”

Bolger added: “Kevin is very happy with her. You could say that Kevin is a victim of his age, and I suppose myself to a lesser extent, as not too many people want to send a man in his late 80s a racehorse. But, as far as Kevin is concerned, there are few better than him at his craft.”

Prendergast outlined his ambition to continue training “until the man upstairs calls it all to a halt” to the TDN Europe last week and Bolger's Roman Moon will form part of a 15-horse string.

Bolger's numbers are understood to be closer to 100 or more, the majority of which are owned by himself, with the wheels of his famous Coolcullen-based training establishment kept turning by the trainer's breeding arm of the operation.

It is a truly unique way of running things, with Bolger deriving just as much interest from breeding winners as he does in training them.

“One is dependent on the other but, as far as enjoyment is concerned, I suppose it would be 50-50. I have 80 broodmares and I would need 60-70 of those to go in foal every year in order to keep the wheel turning as I own 95% of the horses I train,” he explained.

“The majority of my mares will go to my own stallions but we use outside stallions as well. We could send up to 20 mares to outside stallions every year and the dam [Halla Na Saoire (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire})] of Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) has been covered by Mehmas (Ire). She also has a yearling by Make Believe (GB).”

Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), best known for getting the better of his stablemate Poetic Flare in a gripping Irish 2,000 Guineas last May, has been kept in training as a 4-year-old.

Just under 12 months on from that heroic display at the Curragh, Bolger recalls of how he wasn't best pleased to see his better-fancied Poetic Flare beaten but, any pain felt in the defeat soon disappeared when he realised he had the dam (Halla Na Saoire) standing out in the field.

“I was disappointed initially when Mac Swiney beat Poetic Flare in the Irish 2,000 Guineas last year but, when I realised that I had the dam of the winner standing out in a paddock, it made it a bit easier,” he said, before sharing details on some of stallions he supported this year.

“Along with Make Believe and Mehmas, we sent mares to Profitable (Ire), Blue Point (Ire) and Belardo (Ire). I sent 25 mares to Teofilo, about a dozen to New Approach and we supported Dawn Approach as well.”

Mac Swiney may be the best older horse Bolger has in training and is firmly on course to kick-start his 4-year-old campaign in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh later this month but the trainer has Classic aspirations for TDN Rising Star Wexford Native and Boundless Ocean.

He said, “Good ground will make a huge difference to Wexford Native (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and if we get good ground in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, he could go there. His proper trip will end up being 10f or 1m4f–he could stay the Irish Derby trip.”

Bolger added, “Boundless Ocean (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) was too keen [when 13th in the 2,000 Guineas] at Newmarket but we think we've got him settled at home now and will pick a race for him soon. He could go for the Irish 2000 Guineas but I would be in no rush to run the two of them against each other.”

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Having gone so close in last year's 2000 Guineas with Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who was narrowly denied by the Jim Bolger-trained Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}), Appleby left nothing to chance this year when aiming both barrels at the Rowley Mile and firing in a one-two with Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Though the second-favourite overturned the favourite, for the Godolphin team that was very much the right result, the winner being a homebred by the operation's beloved flag-bearer Dubawi and a member of a family which has brought repeated success for Sheikh Mohammed. That includes two Dubai World Cups courtesy of Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}), a half-brother to Coroebus's dam First Victory (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). The 2000 Guineas was just the first of an extraordinary run of success for Teofilo as a broodmare sire over the weekend. He popped up again as the damsire of 1000 Guineas winner Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}), just 40 minutes after he filled the same role in the breeding of Ed Walker's G2 Dahlia S. winner Dreamloper (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Fifteen years ago, Teofilo's own Classic season spluttered to a halt without ever really getting started. Having finished the previous season as champion 2-year-old in Europe, a tendon problem ruled him out of the 2000 Guineas, and his trainer and breeder Jim Bolger eventually retired him in August with just his juvenile credentials to his name as he joined the Darley roster. But what credentials they were, representing a faultless progression through the summer of 2006, from maiden, to Listed and Group 2 success, followed by a brace of Group 1s, both at the expense of Coolmore's Holy Roman Emperor (Ire).

At stud, Teofilo has never quite had the flashy profile of some of his major rivals in the stallion list, which include of course his own over-achiever of a sire, Galileo (Ire). But as we have discussed in these pages before, Teofilo has steadily compiled an admirable record, with 22 Group 1 winners worldwide, and as every proper stallion should become as they age, he is now a force to be reckoned with as a broodmare sire. His three Classic winners in this sphere include the Bolger-bred Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}).

Though Teofilo is not represented by many sons at stud, it is worth nothing that the speedy Havana Gold (Ire) has already notched three stakes winners this season–among the British-based sires only Dubawi and Frankel (GB) have had more–and Havana Gold's son Havana Grey (GB) is currently the co-leader with Sioux Nation in the freshman sires' table with four winners apiece.

Riotous Response For Cachet 

The 1000 Guineas winner Cachet turns out to have been very well named. Her antics have not only brought her much respect and distinction, but also for her trainer George Boughey, for whom she was a first Classic winner in only his third full season with a licence. She is not the first to have demonstrated Boughey's prowess, of course. Mystery Angel (Ire) became the trainer's first black-type winner exactly a year earlier when landing the Listed Pretty Polly S. and, after being boldly supplemented for the Oaks, she ran a mighty race to be second to Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

Cachet only had to leave her back gate at Saffron House Stables and stroll across Southfields to land the biggest victory of her career to date, but some longer-distance travel may soon be required again.

“She makes my job very easy,” Boughey told TDN on Monday. “She has always been sound, she eats up and trains. She's very hard to fault because she's so willing. I had a long chat to Jake Warren and Harry Herbert and it's almost not doing her justice to not consider another Guineas. 

“The French Guineas might just suit her a bit better than Ireland and she loves her racing. I've never thought I've over-raced her. I'm sure some people would say that they thought I have, but she loves it and I think we are going to consider the French Guineas before Royal Ascot.”

Six of Cachet's ten starts have come on her neighbouring racecourses in Newmarket, but she has already made overseas trips to Longchamp and to Del Mar, when she was fourth, beaten only a length, in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Boughey added, “It's a long year and I quite want to end up in the Breeders' Cup again. For me, having a Breeders' Cup winner is perhaps my biggest career goal. Of course everyone wants to win the Derby but travelling horses is something I really want to do, and we've done it with a degree of success already to France.”

He added of his home track, “The good thing about racing at Newmarket is that they're back in their box in an hour. She's had two runs [this season], and obviously [the 1000 Guineas] was a hard race, but the run before was like a racecourse gallop. She hardly did a stroke. It's a big advantage being here.”

The Newmarket faithful certainly gave Boughey and Cachet a rousing return to the winner's enclosure on Sunday. The Rowley Mile can sometimes lack atmosphere but that was not the case after the 1000 Guineas, when the sense of collective joy was infectious. 

“I've never known a reception like it,” said the trainer. “It was almost like Best Mate winning a third Gold Cup. My biggest task now is trying to get through my messages. I've got 400 to read still. All my family was there yesterday–aunts, uncles, brother, sisters, cousins, mum, dad, it was amazing. That was probably where quite a lot of the noise came from.”

A lot of the noise also came from the 20 members of the Highclere Racing Syndicate which owns Cachet. As one of the Coolmore contingent mentioned as he passed by the winner's enclosure, a major winner for a syndicate is a superb result for racing's broader appeal, as that joy was multiplied and shared by so many.

“That's the families of all those owners celebrating now, and it's great to see,” he said. 

With one riotously happy weekend stored in the memory banks to sustain them through the darker months of winters, the smiling riders of George Boughey's string pulled out on Monday morning as usual. It may have been a Bank Holiday in Britain but the work never stops in a racing stable, even if it started a little later than usual, with eyes a bit blearier following the previous night's celebrations. The trainer was back in his usual spot atop Warren Hill, keenly observing his string as they completed a steady canter. As he drove back down the Moulton Road, he received a cheery wave of congratulation from fellow trainer Chris Wall, cycling by.

Chatting to TDN a little later on, the equable Boughey confessed, “I never thought I'd have one like her in a lifetime. The first horse I bought, I made Sam Haggas buy me something to try to win a classified race, so it's come a long way for sure.”

That was only in 2019. Boughey has indeed come a long way. He'll go farther still, for sure.

Acclaim For Aclaim

There has been plenty of interest in the offspring of Time Test (GB) at recent sales but he has been firmly usurped by his National Stud mate Aclaim (Ire) in the second-crop sires' race. A Group 1-winning son of Acclamation (GB) from the family of Montjeu (Ire), Aclaim is the first of that intake to sire a Group 1 winner this year. Cachet remains his sole black-type winner, but his first crop also contains the Group 2-placed Jacinda (GB), and he has the clearly highly regarded Royal Aclaim (Ire) entered for both the G1 King's Stand S. and the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.

Trained by James Tate, Royal Aclaim is on the comeback trail since her sole run at Newcastle in May 2021, three weeks after graduating from the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up Sale with a price tag of 60,000gns, the same amount paid by Highclere for Cachet at the earlier Craven Sale. We may have seen nothing of Royal Aclaim since her maiden victory but she had some pretty smart horses behind her that day, notably the subsequent dual Group 1 winner Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) and the Listed winner and multiple Group-placed Fearby (Ire) (Havana Gold {Ire}).

Like Dark Angel (Ire) and Mehmas (Ire) before him, Aclaim could yet prove to be another influential member of the expanding line of one of Northern Dancer's less heralded sons, Try My Best, through grandson Royal Applause (GB). The latter remains in luxurious retirement at The Royal Studs in Sandringham at the age of 29.

On The Attack

In Rome on Sunday, the Endo Botti-trained Swipe Up (Ire) rather appropriately became the 50th group winner for Teofilo's old friend Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) when landing the G3 Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1000 Guineas). Bred by George Kent at Knockenduff Stud and sold for just £6,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale, she was followed home, at a five-length distance, by another daughter of the same sire, Nonna Ercolina (Ire). Another Coolmore stallion Highland Reel (Ire) provided the third home, Atamisque (Ire), to bring up an Irish-bred trifecta. 

In the Italian 2000 Guineas, the G3 Premio Parioli, the winner See Hector (Ger) represented, like Cachet, another European second-season sire in Counterattack (Aus). The son of Redoute's Choice (Aus) may be less familiar to European breeders as he did all of his racing in Australia, where he won a Group 3 sprint and earned three Group 1 placings. Bred on the same Redoute's Choice-Snippets cross as Australian supersire Snitzel (Aus) and a half-brother to the Dane Shadow-sired Group 1 winners Red Tracer (Aus) and Shellscrape (Aus), Counterattack joined the Faust family's Gestut Karlshof in 2018. He was represented by his first stakes winner, Pirouz (Ger), in the Listed Premio Emanuele Filiberto, a trial for the Derby Italiano, in Milan on Saturday. This was swiftly followed by his first group success with See Hector, both winners having been bred by Gestut Karlshof. 

“It's extraordinary. We're very happy to see Counterattack have a Classic winner in his first crop, especially as he has only 20 to 25 horses in training,” said Holger Faust, the racing manager for See Hector's owner Cometica Ag and whose parents run Gestut Karlshof.

He added, “We were looking for a son of Redoute's Choice. Back in the days when Counterattack started at our place Redoute's Choice was the sire of 11 stallions who have produced a Group 1 winner, and now I think that number is 15. We are very keen to stand stallions by a good sire of sires. In our opinion that is very important.”

He added, “So Redoute's Choice was one factor, but the other was that Counterattack ran 27 times in three years, so he was tough. Also it was a question of quality, because the Australians maybe have the best sprinters in the world. Last but not least, on his dam side, he is a brother to two Group 1 winners. The fact also that he is out of a Snippets mare made it more and more exciting.”

Along with See Hector, potential forthcoming runners for Counterattack in Classics in Germany and Italy include Pirouz, Open Skies (Ger), and Zandjan (Ger), who broke his maiden in Munich on Saturday. 

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Breaking from post four, Rockemperor was next to last of seven, with only Gufo behind him early in the 1 1/2-mile stakes. Channel Maker set the pace, running on the lead until the race's final turn, as Arklow passed him with both Gufo and Rockemperor going to the far outside to pass horses and bid for the lead. Gufo got there first, coming into the stretch with a short lead, but began to tire in the straightaway. Instead, Rockemperor found running room toward the center of the track, passing Gufo and drawing away to a two-length lead. Serve the King was second and Gufo held on to finish third. The final time for the 1 1/2-mile G1 Joe Hirsch was 2:25.61.

Rockemperor paid $33.20, $10.80, and $5.40. Serve the King paid $13.00 and $6.40. Gufo paid $2.60. Find this race's chart here.

Bred in Ireland by Haras du Mezeray, Rockemperor is by Group 1 winner Holy Roman Emperor out of the Muhtathir mare Motivation. He is owned by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, Wonder Stables, Michael Kisber, and Michael Caruso. The 5-year-old horse was consigned by Mocklershill at the 2018 Arqana May Two-Year-Old Breeze-Up Sale and sold to Simone Brogi for $14,330. With his win in the G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Rockemperor has two wins in six starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of 20-4-5-6 and career earnings of $914,404.

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While value exists in all price brackets and for all budgets, we have chosen to limit the scope of this analysis to stallions standing in Europe for £/€20,000 and below, selecting two sires apiece that stand between 15,000 and 20,000; 10,00 and 12,500 and below 10,000. As we have covered in depth the sire crops up to those which have first-crop 3-year-olds this year, stallions highlighted here will be those with at least two crops of racing age fully behind them.

Selecting the final six was far from an easy exercise. There were many worthy candidates, and in addition to the raw data likes percentages of winners and stakes winners and overall career performances, other factors taken into consideration included price point and the current trajectory of the horse's career.

15,000 to 20,000

This price bracket must be one of the most intriguing of them all: it includes not only the ever-reliable Iffraaj (GB) and Nathaniel (Ire) at a career-low fees, but also the incredibly popular Dandy Man (Ire) and the rising talent Make Believe (GB). But two stallions stand out in this price range on both percent of stakes winners to runners and winners to runners: Oasis Dream (GB) (£20,000) and Mastercraftsman (Ire) (€15,000).

One would be hard-pressed to nominate a sire in this price range that has compiled a body of work over a career that compares with Oasis Dream's. The 21-year-old former G1 July Cup winner was fast out of the gate with his first crop and soon established himself as a world-class sire, with the likes of Midday (GB), Muhaarar (GB) and Power (GB) among his 17 Group 1 winners. The dark bay stood for up to £85,000 at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud, and is this year down to a career-low £20,000. His 9.5% rate of stakes winners to runners puts Oasis Dream in a class with sires that stand for many multiples of his fee, and he likewise gets 66% winners/runners. The dip in his fee goes hand-in-hand with the reality that his numbers of stakes winners have leveled off in recent seasons, but an average of seven per season since 2016 is still nothing to scoff at, and he is still turning out Group 1 winners, with three of his 17 having come since 2016: Muarrab (GB) won the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen as a 7-year-old in 2016 while  Pretty Pollyanna (GB) and Polydream (Ire) won the G1 Prix Morny and G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, respectively, in 2018. Oasis Dream has sired 122 stakes winners and his daughters have produced 58 stakes winners and five Group 1 winners. He had a remarkable year in 2020 alone as a broodmare sire, with G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Siskin, G1 Melbourne Cup winner Twilight Payment (Ire), G1 Cox Plate scorer Sir Dragonet (Ire) and G1 Prix Saint-Alary victress Tawkeel (GB) on his honor roll in addition to standout juveniles Miss Amulet (Ire) and Chindit (Ire). A mark of his consistent brilliance is that Oasis Dream is still well-supported in the sales ring, too: his 29 yearlings sold in 2020 averaged €86,669/£76,604. It's hard to imagine a horse in Oasis Dream's price range with a better chance to get a breeder anything from a sales horse to a potential broodmare or a top-class runner.

The six years younger Mastercraftsman (Ire) is following a similar trajectory; in fact, he has an average of 9.6 stakes winners per crop, versus 8.7 for Oasis Dream. From eight crops of racing age, the grey has supplied 77 stakes winners (6.3% of starters) and he gets winners at a rate of 62.3% (of starters). Mastercraftsman has 15 Group 1 winners, just two off Oasis Dream, and he likewise gets them at the highest level: Alpha Centauri (Ire) was champion 3-year-old filly and won the Coronation S., Falmouth S., Irish 1000 Guineas and Prix Jacques le Marois; The Grey Gatsby (Ire) took the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G1 Irish Champion S., and Amazing Maria (Ire) and A Raving Beauty (Ger) each won a pair of Grade/Group 1s apiece. Mastercraftsman's 2021 fee of €15,000 is his lowest since 2013, and his crop bred off the back of Alpha Centauri's championship season will be 3-year-olds when his 2022 crop are going to the yearling sales.

10,000 to 12,500

There are plenty of horses in this price range across Britain, Ireland and France that offer eye-catching stats-with Coolmore stalwart Footstepsinthesand (GB) and French up-and-comer Galiway (GB) certainly among them-and once again we landed at Coolmore and Juddmonte for our top two choices: Bated Breath (GB) (£12,500) and Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) (€12,500).

A Group 2-winning sprinter for Roger Charlton who was second in four Group 1s, Bated Breath marked himself out early as a prolific source of high-class winners, his first three crops including the likes of G2 Rockfel S. and G3 Albany S. winner Daahyeh (GB), G2 Railway S. winner Beckford (Ire), G2 Dahlia S. and G3 Prix Minerve S. winner Worth Waiting (GB) and G2 Boomerang S. and G3 Jersey S. scorer Space Traveller (Ire). The bay has continued to build on those results, and in 2020 notched his first Group 1 winner in the GI Matriarch S. victress Viadera (GB). Bated Breath's juveniles had another outstanding year, too, in 2020, highlighted by Makaloun (GB) winning the G3 Prix de Conde and Cairn Gorm (GB) taking the G3 Prix de Conde. His winners to runners ratio is 60.2%, and the crop bred after his first successful season with 3-year-olds are three themselves in 2021. His yearlings are providing a return for their breeders and pinhookers, too: 53 sold at auction last year realized an average of €50,018/£44,162 that was 4.4x their £10,000 covering fee.

The 17-year-old Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) has carved out a truly remarkable stud career that has seen him sire Group 1 winners all across the world and across a great variety of trips. His 13 top-level scorers range from Guineas winners Homecoming Queen (Ire) and Romanised (Ire) to G1 Australian and New Zealand Derby scorer Mongolian Khan (NZ) to G1 Oakleigh Plate victress Sheidel (Aus) and GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship winner Rich Tapestry (Ire). They can be fast and precocious-like he was as a G1 Phoenix S. and G1 Jean-Luc Lagardere S. winner-but also have plenty of scope to train on. Holy Roman Emperor sires stakes winners at a rate of 6.1% of his starters (he averages 8 stakes winners per crop), and winners at 66.2%. He is still producing the goods and is this year available for the second-lowest price he has ever commanded.

Below 10,000

At last we deviate away from the Danzig sireline as we land on Raven's Pass. The G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and GI Breeders' Cup Classic-winning son of Elusive Quality has long had his books restricted at Kildangan Stud-his crops of racing age average 57 foals apiece–but he will certainly have his admirers; he is currently turning out stakes winners at a rate of 8.3% of his runners, and winners at 62.6%. His 2-year-olds of 2021 were bred off the back of his career-best season in 2017 when he provided 12 stakes winners, four of which were group winners including the G3 Prix Imprudence scorer and G1 Prix Rothschild second Via Ravenna (Ire). The chestnut has supplied three Group 1 winners: the G1 Sprinters S. winner Tower Of London, who was also a Group 2-winning 2-year-old on the competitive JRA circuit; G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Royal Marine (Ire) and in 2020 the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 victor Matternhorn (Ire). Raven's Pass is available for four figures for the first time in 2021: he stands at Kildangan Stud for €7,500.

Our second selection in this price bracket also resides in Co. Kildare: Rathasker Stud's elder statesman Clodovil (Ire). The 21-year-old Clodovil is the sire of 25 stakes winners and, remarkably, had one of his finest years yet in 2021 with six black-type winners headed by his third Group 1 winner, the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and Prix Francois Boutin victress Tiger Tanaka (Ire). In fact, 2020 was a notable year for Clodovil's juveniles, he having also sired the G3 Molecomb S. winner Steel Bull (Ire). Clodovil is siring black-type winners/runners at a rate of 4.6%, and winners at a rate of 65.2%; those are pretty attractive numbers for a €5,000 fee-like Raven's Pass, Clodovil is at his lowest-ever fee. It is worth noting that Clodovil's triple group-winning son Gregorian (Ire) is also available at Rathasker at the same fee, and he has gotten off to a promising start with five stakes winners from his first three crops to race, including last year's G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte winner Plainchant (Fr) and G3 Summer Fillies' S. victress Queen Jo Jo (GB).

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Campaigned by Robert Ng and trained by Ken Condon, Romanised won at first asking in April of his 2-year-old campaign and was second to eventual G1 Derby winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) in the G3 Solario S. that fall. He sprang a 25-1 upset when beating US Navy Flag (War Front) in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, and though he went winless in three subsequent starts that year he bounced back in 2019 to win the G2 Minstrel S. and the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois and was beaten a nose by Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Prix du Moulin. Romanised defended his title in the Minstrel this July.

Romanised’s dam, Romantic Venture, has produced two other stakes winners including the G3 St Leger Italiano winner Rock Of Romance (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), and she is a half-sister to three stakes winners including Hong Kong Horse of the Year Designs On Rome (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}).

Condon said, “From when he first commenced fast work in the spring of his 2-year-old year, Romanised showed that precocity, speed and class that were the hallmarks of his racing career. His biggest attributes were his superior cruising speed and an electric turn of foot. Coupled with his impeccable physique, Romanised is possessed of many of the prerequisites to be a success at stud.”

Haras de Bouquetot Stud Manager Benoit Jeffroy added, “We’re delighted to be given the opportunity to stand a dual Group 1-winning miler with such eye-catching looks as Romanised, who will be a valuable addition to the Al Shaqab stallion roster at Haras de Bouquetot for the 2021 season. He is a well balanced horse, with strong hind quarters, a great athleticism and good muscle definition. For a horse matching performances, pedigree and looks, his stud fee of €7,000 Live Foal should prove a great value to the European breeders.”

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

JN: I think Earthlight (Ire) looks to be well priced at €20,000, as a dual Group 1-winning son of the great Shamardal. I am really looking forward to seeing him and am hoping to send him a nice mare. I think Shamardal is a huge loss, and it is lovely to see how well his sons are doing at Stud. As breeders we all flock to the shiny new first-season sires, but Earthlight was a proper Group 1 racehorse.

GK: Best value proven stallion, and why?

JN: Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) was a seriously good racehorse and I think is value at €12,500. He is a really nice horse to start off a young mare with; he is proven in the sales ring and produces every year on the track. Also, a nice safe horse to use if you wish to sell a mare in foal.

I also wish to mention a younger stallion Sea the Moon in this category. I saw him at Lanwades for the first time last year, and he has to be one of the most beautiful stallions at stud in my opinion; what acceleration as a racehorse. He is getting excellent results and is of course by the great Sea the Stars.

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

JN: I think Elzaam (Aus) is very interesting; his percentage of runners to winners is very good and they are obviously sound racehorses. I think he is good value and now that he has a Group 1 winner he will get a better quality book of mares.

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