Pivotal | Horse Racing Free Tips

Pivotal Pensioned From Stud Duties

Pivotal (GB) (Polar Falcon-Fearless Revival {GB}, by Cozzene), the Group 1-winning sprinter who has excelled as both a sire and broodmare sire, has been pensioned from stud duty at Cheveley Park Stud at the age of 28. The chestnut had remained in service at his birthplace up until last year, covering reduced numbers of mares in recent years, and will live out his remaining life at the Newmarket nursery.

Bred by David and Patricia Thompson's Cheveley Park Stud, Pivotal was a member of the first crop of the G1 Sprint Cup victor Polar Falon and out of Fearless Revival, whom the Thompsons had bought in utero when they purchased the G1 Premio Lydia Tesio winner Stufida (GB) (Bustino {GB}) for $150,000 at Keeneland November in 1986.

Retained to race by the Thompsons, Pivotal went into training with Sir Mark Prescott and won two of his three starts at two. He made a belated start to his 3-year-old campaign but soon made up for lost time, beating elders in the G2 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot in 1996. He ran just twice more, finishing sixth in the G1 July Cup before going out on a high with a win in the G1 Nunthorpe S., in the process earning champion sprinter honours and becoming Cheveley Park Stud's first homebred Group 1 winner.

Chris Richardson, managing director of Cheveley Park Stud, said, “The story associated with the 'Mighty' Pivotal is

truly extraordinary, considering he was the result of the very first covering his sire, Polar Falcon, was given. Thankfully, as a yearling, it was decided to retain him to race rather than offer him for sale, as we did with the other yearling colts by Polar Falcon that year. Whilst in the hands of trainer Sir Mark Prescott, Pivotal truly put Cheveley Park Stud on the map, giving owners David and Patricia Thompson their first Group 1 winner in the stud's famous red, white and blue colours.”

Pivotal debuted at Cheveley Park Stud in 1997 for £6,000, and his first four crops yielded no more than 58 foals apiece. Nonetheless, he had 13 winners from 29 starters in 2000, his first year with runners, including two stakes winners, good enough to be the leading British-based first-season sire of his cohort.

As he had done himself, Pivotal's progeny made it a habit of improving with age, and that first crop only got better, eventually yielding three Group 1 winners and nine stakes winners, headed by the GI Beverly D. S., GI Yellow Ribbon S. and GI Del Mar Oaks scorer Golden Apples (Ire); Kyllachy (GB), who emulated his sire with a win in the Nunthorpe before joining him at Cheveley Park Stud; and the G1 Preis der Diana winner Silvester Lady (GB). Pivotal's subsequent two crops included the G1 Pretty Polly S. victress Chorist (GB), the G1 Sprint Cup, G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest and G1 Prix de la Foret scorer Somnus (GB) and the Yellow Ribbon S. and GI John C. Mabee S. winner Megahertz (GB), and thus by the time Pivotal was covering his sixth book in 2003 the secret was well and truly out. He was courted by 100 mares that season and he wouldn't cover less than that again until 2012, although the biggest book he ever covered was 122 in 2007.

Pivotal was twice Britain's leading sire by earnings and eight times the nation's leading sire by individual winners. His first British/Irish Classic win came courtesy of Saoire (GB) in the 2005 G1 Irish 1000 Guineas. Halfway To Heaven (Ire) took that same race in 2008 before going on to a celebrated career as a broodmare, while Sariska (GB) took their sire to the next level with an Epsom/Irish Oaks double in 2009. Falco won the 2008 G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains, while Buzzword (GB) took the G1 Deutsches Derby of 2010.

Other standouts by Pivotal have included the dual Group 1-winning mares Izzi Top (GB), Immortal Verse (Ire) and Peeress (GB); G1 Dubai World Cup scorer African Story (GB); G1 Champion S. and G1 Lockinge S. winner and popular sire Farhh (GB); G1 Prix Jean Luc Lagardere victor Siyouni (Fr), who is also keeping Pivotal's line safe with an excellent start at stud; triple Australian Group 1 winner Avilius (GB); dual Group 1-winning sprinter Regal Parade (GB); and G1 St James's Palace S. winner and sire Excellent Art (GB). Pivotal proved a rare ability to throw runners of the highest class from five furlongs all the way up to a mile and a half, and his progeny have become known for their longevity, too. Nowhere was this more apparent than last year on British Champions Day, when Pivotal scored a Group 1 double in his 20th season with runners courtesy of Addeybb (Ire) in the Champion S. and Glen Shiel (GB) in the British Champions Sprint S. Both are six, and Addeybb was earning his third win at the highest level, having taken two Group 1s in Australia earlier in the year. He stays in training as a 7-year-old with plans to defend his titles in the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. and G1 Ranvet S. Down Under should Covid protocols allow it. And while Addeybb and Glen Shiel are both geldings, there is plenty of sire power within the Pivotal line, led by Siyouni and also including Kyllachy, Farhh, Excellent Art (GB) and Falco. Kyllachy stood alongside his sire for 15 years before preceding him in retirement in 2017, and today his dual Group 1-winning son Twilight Son (GB) holds the mantle. Pivotal's G1 Sussex S.-winning son Lightning Spear (GB) has his first yearlings this year.

Pivotal has thus far left behind 32 Group 1 winners, but it could still be that his greatest legacy comes through his daughters, who have provided 23 Group 1 winners. The aforementioned Halfway To Heaven is responsible for two of those, both daughters of Galileo (Ire): Magical (Ire), the winner of seven Group 1s including the Champion and Irish Champion S. (twice) and the highest earner out of a Pivotal mare with over £4.9-million in the bank; and the G1 Fillies' Mile, G1 Lockinge S. and G1 Prix de l'Opera scorer Rhododendron (Ire). Other products of the Galileo/Pivotal cross include last year's champion 3-year-old filly Love (Ire) and full siblings Hermosa (Ire), Hydrangea (Ire) and The United States (Ire).

Pivotal's daughters have likewise developed an affinity with Galileo's best son Frankel (GB), the best from that cross being the dual Champion S. and four-time Group 1 winner Cracksman (GB), one of the highest-rated horses of the past decade. The Frankel/Pivotal cross has also been responsible for Cheveley Park's homebred G1 Falmouth S. winner Veracious (GB). Other standouts out of Pivotal mares include the American champion turf horse Main Sequence (Aldebaran), triple Group 1-winning sprinter Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), triple G1 Prix de la Foret winner One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), French Classic winners Precieuse (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) and Olmedo (Fr) (Declaration Of War), Group 1-winning sprinters Mayson (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) and Golden Horde (Ire) (Lethal Force {Ire}), and G1 Cheveley Park S. and G1 Flying Five S. scorer Fairyland (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).

While wrapping up his 50th season with a license last November, Sir Mark Prescott spoke about Pivotal in an interview with the TDN.

“Pivotal is a much better stallion than I ever thought he would be,” Prescott said. “I suppose his great quality was that he was infinitely faster than his pedigree. The only time we tried him over six [furlongs] was the only time we had a disaster. And I have since watched and believe that all sorts of horses who've been infinitely more successful than one thought have been faster than their pedigrees. Not many have been successful at stud that were slower than their pedigree.”

Prescott admitted that Pivotal didn't make a memorable first impression, but that the chestnut quickly began to make amends.

“He fell off the box when he came here but the first time we worked him, he absolutely flew,” Prescott said. “And it was a complete shock; normally you've got an idea.”

Pivotal's story has truly been an extraordinary one, he having been responsible for so many milestones for his dedicated owner/breeders and having outbattled a four figure fee and modest early numbers to stand for as high as £85,000. He has sired 153 stakes winners worldwide (10.8% of starters) and his daughters have produced 111 stakes winners. And there is more to come: Pivotal has 48 3-year-olds of 2021, 47 2-year-olds and 31 yearlings and covered 28 mares in his final season last year.

Richardson said of Pivotal's legacy at stud, “Having covered a relatively small book of mares in his first year, his resulting progeny excelled and inspired at all levels, which they have continued to do throughout his career, both domestically and internationally. On the world stage, Pivotal has excelled as a sire, a sire of sires and as a broodmare sire, to the highest level and all of us at Cheveley Park Stud have been so blessed to have been part of his life for 28 years. I think Triple Crown winner, Isinglass, whose stable Pivotal occupies, would have been very proud and we all wish Pivotal a well-deserved and happy retirement.”

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Cheveley Park Stud Owner/Breeder Thompson Dies At 84

David Thompson, owner of Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket, England, has died due to renal failure at the age of 84, according to The Blood-Horse.

Cheveley Park Stud has been home to multiple influential stallions since Thompson purchased the property in 1975. The most notable was Pivotal, winner of the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes and sire of 150 black type winners, who is still breeding today.

Thompson also found success on the track with Russian Rhythm, Echelon, Red Bloom, Integral, and 2016 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner, Queen's Trust, to name a few.

“David Thompson was a very generous, meticulous, sometimes unpredictable man, who always had a certain charm,” said Chris Richardson, the stud's managing director. “He inspired everyone with his insatiable enthusiasm for business which, thankfully, included a love of racing and breeding, alongside his wife, Patricia, and their family.”

Cheveley Park Stud’s David Thompson Dies at 84

David Thompson CBE, the owner with his wife Patricia of Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket, died on Dec. 29 from renal failure at the age of 84.

A proudly patriotic man whose numerous successful racehorses sported the stud’s red, white and blue colours, Thompson’s significant involvement in British racing and breeding began in 1975 with his purchase of Newmarket’s oldest stud farm, which was then in receivership. That same year Music Boy (GB), trained initially in Yorkshire by ‘Snowy’ Wainwright, became the Thompsons’ first Group winner, in partnership with Ken Mackey, in the Gimcrack S. Music Boy was later trained by Brian Lunness, who had been installed as the private trainer at Cheveley Park Stud, and he became the first stallion to stand for the Thompsons, becoming leading first-season sire in 1980.

From the original 270 acres of land purchased, the stud now extends to just less than 1,000 acres and incorporates the neighbouring Strawberry Hill, Sandwich, Ashley Heath and Warren Hill divisions, which house a sizeable broodmare band. Cheveley Park Stud itself is home to the six-strong stallion roster which is headed by Pivotal (GB), one of the most successful stallions of the modern era.

Now 28, and still on active duty, Pivotal was the first foal for both his sire, the former Cheveley Park Stud resident Polar Falcon, and his dam Fearless Revival (Cozzene). More importantly, he was the first homebred Group 1 winner for the Thompsons and, from a relatively humble beginning at stud, starting off at a fee of £6,000 in 1997, he graduated to a high of £85,000 as his success grew. His 32 Group 1 winners around the world include the current French champion sire Siyouni (Fr), as well as Classic winners Sariska (GB), Saoire (GB) and Halfway To Heaven (Ire). Pivotal was also European champion broodmare sire in 2018 and 2019.

Along with Pivotal, David and Patricia Thompson’s extensive list of group winners includes the Classic-winning fillies Russian Rhythm and Confidential Lady (GB), trained respectively by two of their longest-standing trainers, Sir Michael Stoute and Sir Mark Prescott. Russian Rhythm, bred in America by Brushwood Stable, was a rare yearling purchase but Cheveley Park Stud’s homebred roll of honour contains dual Group 1 winner and successful stallion Medicean (GB), and his fellow top-level winners Chorist (GB), Nannina (GB), Peeress (GB), Exclusive (GB), Virtual (GB) and Hooray (GB). The most recent Group 1 winner was the 2019 Falmouth S. victrix Veracious (GB), while Queen’s Trust (GB) provided the Thompsons with a memorable American triumph when beating Lady Eli in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf of 2016.

Paying tribute to the successful owner/breeder, Chris Richardson, Cheveley Park Stud’s managing director for more than three decades, said, “David Thompson was a very generous, meticulous, sometimes unpredictable man, who always had a certain charm. He inspired everyone with his insatiable enthusiasm for business which, thankfully, included a love of racing and breeding, alongside his wife, Patricia and their family. He had tremendous foresight and would often ask a question, knowing full well the answer. I always tried to be prepared, as one never knew when the thrill and challenge of another equine adventure would catch his imagination.”

One such adventure has been the Thompsons’ significant investment in a select string of National Hunt horses, trained in Ireland by Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead. Most notably, they race the unbeaten novice chaser Envoi Allen (Fr), a Grade 1 winner at each of the last two Cheltenham Festivals. The day before David Thompson died, another of the couple’s jumpers, A Plus Tard (Fr), put himself in the Cheltenham Gold Cup reckoning with victory in the G1 Savills Chase at Leopardstown.

Though their involvement in jumping has grown significantly in the last few seasons, the interest in the National Hunt scene has been long held and Patricia Thompson previously owned the 1992 Grand National winner Party Politics (GB).

David Thompson attended the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale on Dec. 10, which was relocated to Newmarket owing to Covid restrictions, and bought the top two lots, both 4-year-old geldings, for a total of 740,000gns.

Chris Richardson added, “His latest venture into National Hunt racing, proved a huge success and gave him so much pleasure. DBT’s recent visit to the Cheltenham Sale held in Newmarket, and to the stud, gave him and all here, so much joy. He certainly enriched the lives of all those he met and who knew him. He will be much missed.”

As well as having been one of the most successful owner/breeders of this or any other era, David Thompson will be remembered as one of the great entrepreneurs and philanthropists, though he always liked to keep a low profile.

After leaving school, he joined his two elder brothers in the family business B. Thompson Ltd, a meat wholesaling company which their father had developed from his agricultural roots in Suffolk. The trio expanded the company to the extent that it was floated on the stock exchange in 1966. It subsequently merged with J. B. Eastwood plc, but Thompson found the restrictions imposed by the corporate structure did not suit his entrepreneurial spirit so well, and he began to plough his own furrow with sensational results.

By this time, David and Patricia Thompson were living in Hillsdown Court in Totteridge in North London, and in 1975 he consolidated his interests in a new company which he named Hillsdown Holdings (a name which will resonate in plenty of racing ears as sponsor of Newmarket’s Cherry Hinton S. for several years).

Specialising in taking over ailing businesses, often food-related, and revivifying them, within a decade Hillsdown Holdings became one of the largest privately-owned companies in Britain. In 1985 it was floated on the Stock Exchange and soon became a constituent part of the FTSE 100. By the end of the decade it had an annual turnover of almost £4 billion and over 40,000 employees.

Around this time, David Thompson stepped back from his managerial role in Hillsdown Holdings and sold his interest in the company, but his innate acumen would not allow him to rest. He continued to buy and sell businesses, including farms, and at various times he was the owner of Windsor Racecourse and Queen’s Park Rangers Football Club. He also took the opportunity to focus on charitable activity: he and Patricia formed the Thompson Family Charitable Trust, through which they have donated over £70 million to a wide variety of medical, educational, social, artistic and other charities, while maintaining an endowment for future donations of more than £100 million. It was for their philanthropy that both were recently awarded CBEs.

Sir Mark Prescott, who trained Pivotal as well as the Thompsons’ homebred Classic winner Confidential Lady and Group 1-winning juvenile Hooray (GB), said, “When they started, Mr Thompson was really more interested in the racing and Mrs Thompson was perhaps more interested in the stud but gradually the two interests melded together. He didn’t always like going racing, even when he was younger, but he loved racing. Mr Thompson was determined not to be a tax exile and was determined to pay British taxes. He waved the British flag with his red, white and blue colours. He was very proud to be a British breeder.”

David Thompson is survived by his wife Patricia, children Richard, Rosalind and Katie, and seven grandchildren.

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Galileo: The Hardest Of Acts To Follow

In a temporarily upside-down world, a comforting air of normality can be found in a perusal of the end-of-year stallion tables. To Benjamin Franklin’s certainties of death and taxes, in this smaller world we can add just about the only sure thing in racing and bloodstock: Galileo (Ire) is champion sire.

Perhaps the greatest compliment that can be paid to the King of Tipperary is the fact that, even at his home at Coolmore, the operation which naturally has free-flowing access to the supersire via some of the best mares on the planet, the hunt is still on for his rightful heir. It may be too much to expect that a son will be able to continue the line with a show of such dominance, as Galileo did for his own sire Sadler’s Wells, and he in turn for Northern Dancer. Galileo certainly has some very good sire sons out there—not least his greatest achievement, Frankel (GB), and the former champion 2-year-old Teofilo (Ire)—but he once again remains way out in front of allcomers after another record-breaking year.

Galileo officially turns 23 on New Year’s Day and he has now been champion sire in Britain and Ireland for more than half of his life. After the most unsettling year in living memory, when the Guineas, Oaks and Derby were all delayed, Galileo once again left his increasingly imposing mark on the season’s Classics.

His daughter Love (Ire) won the 1000 Guineas before posting arguably the most impressive performance by a 3-year-old all season when going on to land the Oaks. Between those two races, her stablemate Peaceful (Ire) had pushed Galileo into new record-breaking territory when becoming his 85th individual Group 1 winner in the Irish 1000 Guineas, thereby wresting the title from Danehill, the stallion with whom he has shown such an affinity.

Further records were to follow. The Derby of 2020 was a memorable one, perhaps not for the right reason, but the tearaway winner Serpentine (Ire) meant Galileo went clear as the most successful Derby sire of all time, his five winners putting him ahead of Sir Peter Teazle, Waxy, Cyllene, Blandford, and his erstwhile stud-mate Montjeu (Ire).

With over £5 million in progeny earnings for 2020-more than double the tally of his nearest pursuer Dubawi (Ire)—Galileo duly claimed his 12th sires’ championship in Britain and Ireland, and he is the European champion, with almost £6.4 million in earnings, £777,199 of which was accrued by his top earner, the mighty mare Magical (Ire). It is worth noting that this tally is significantly lower than last year’s haul of just over £16 million owing to drastic prize-money cuts during a Covid-affected racing season. Galileo was also a long way clear by number of black-type winners: 27 in Britain and Ireland, and 32 in total across Europe, which was almost 11% of his runners.

Dubawi Provides World Beater
Darley’s admirable Dubawi (Ire) is used to playing understudy to Galileo but he is a fantastically successful stallion in his own right, and clearly the best in Britain. With an increasing array of promising young sire sons, he is also responsible for the top-rated horse in in the world in 2020: Ghaiyyath (Ire). In his 5-year-old season Ghaiyyath had Enable (GB) and Magical (Ire) behind him respectively when winning the G1 Coral-Eclipse and G1 Juddmonte International, following his front-running romp in the relocated G1 Hurworth Bloodstock Coronation Cup. And Ghaiyyath is of course out of Galileo’s first Classic winner, Nightime (Ire) and thus bred on the same cross as his Kildangan Stud mate Night Of Thunder (Ire), who has made an eye-catching start to his own stallion career.

Dubawi posted 13 stakes winners in Britain and Ireland in 2020 to take second in the table, and with 23 stakes winners overall in Europe, he was third in the European championship behind Siyouni (Fr), who was responsible for Arc winner Sottsass (Fr) and is the champion sire in France. We’ll be looking at the French and German tables in greater depth in Sunday’s edition of TDN.

Dark Angel (Ire) and Kodiac (GB), representing different branches of Ireland’s O’Callaghan family at Yeomanstown Stud and Tally-Ho Stud respectively, are both hugely reliable sources of winners and they were the only two stallions to notch in excess of 150 winners, with Kodiac on 155 and Dark Angel on 152.

The latter finished ahead overall in the table, with his 11 stakes winners headed by the top-class sprinter Battaash (Ire), who was faultless in his three starts in 2020, landing the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe S. for the second year in a row having started out with victory in the G1 King’s Stand S. He also won Goodwood’s G2 King George S. for the fourth time, beating subsequent Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint heroine Glass Slippers (GB).

Kodiac enjoyed a memorable Royal Ascot in the juvenile division as the sire of Campanelle (Ire) and Nando Parrado (GB), but leading the charge for him in Berkshire was the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. winner Hello Youmzain (Fr), who has now become the first son of Kodiac to retire to stud in France.

A Champions Day To Savour
The redoubtable veteran of the British stallion ranks is Cheveley Park Stud’s Pivotal (GB), whose range is such that he was runner-up to Galileo in the broodmare sires’ table and provided the French champion sire, his son Siyouni. In his own right he was responsible for a British Champions Day Group 1 double via Glen Shiel (GB) and Addeybb (Ire), the latter having also won two Group 1 races in Australia back in the spring while European racing was on lockdown.

Pivotal had only 79 individual runners in Britain and Ireland in 2020 – less than half of most of the sires around him in the top ten list, but he can still more than hold his own and was fifth overall.

Ballylinch Stud’s Lope De Vega (Ire) is a stallion whose popularity stretches across continents and, while his GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Aunt Pearl (Ire) doesn’t count towards his local earnings, he had a Group 1 winner on Irish turf in Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Lucky Vega (Ire). That runner’s stable-mate Cadillac (Ire), winner of the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. for Jessica Harrington, looks another exciting prospect for the 2021 season.

One of the stand-out older fillies of 2020 was Sheikh Hamdan’s Nazeef (GB), winner of the G1 Falmouth S. and G1 Sun Chariot S. on each of Newmarket’s tracks. She was also the headline act for her sire, the Irish National Stud’s Invincible Spirit (Ire), now 24 and joining his half-brother Kodiac on the leaderboard at number seven. He too was represented by a Grade I winner in America when 4-year-old Digital Age (Ire) landed the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs for Chad Brown.

Zoffany (Ire) may struggle for attention against some of his stud-mates at Coolmore but he nevertheless can be relied upon to provide his fair share of smart juveniles. Albigna (Ire) was his Group 1 star in that regard in 2019, and the following season that honour went to the Aidan and Annemarie O’Brien-bred Thunder Moon (Ire), winner of the G1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National S. for Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez and who helped to boost his sire to the top 10.

King In The Making
The youngest of this group is Juddmonte’s Kingman (GB), whose first crop were four in 2020 and included his first Classic winner, Persian King (Ire). The classiest of his most recent Classic generation was the champion 3-year-old colt Palace Pier (GB), winner of five of his six starts, including the G1 St James’s Palace S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. Kingman posted nine stakes winners in Britain and Ireland, and he was sixth overall in the European table, with 16 black-type winners to his name, including another two Group 1 wins for Persian King in the Moulin and the Ispahan.

Completing the top ten in Britain and Ireland was Gilltown Stud’s Sea The Stars (Ire), sire of the massively popular champion stayer Stradivarius (Ire) among his 18 black-type winners, eight of which came in Britain and Ireland. Fanny Logan (Ire) got the better of the colts in the G2 Hardwicke S., while another of his Royal Ascot winners, Hukum (Ire), could well be a stayer to follow this year.

Galileo’s first two sons in the table appear just outside the top ten. The profile of Australia (GB) was lifted in 2020 by his first Classic winner, Galileo Chrome (Ire), in the St Leger, while farther afield Order Of Australia (Ire) emulated the Breeders’ Cup success of his elder half-sister Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}).

By his own lofty standards, Frankel (GB) had a quieter year in Britain and Ireland, but he was responsible for 11 stakes winners and on the international stage he was represented by G1 Metropolitan H. winner Mirage Dancer (GB) in Australia and GI Asahi Hai Futurity winner Grenadier Guards (Jpn) in Japan.

Global Success
The Irish-based duo of Dandy Man (Ire) and Camelot (GB) were also represented by international Grade/Group 1 winners, with River Boyne (Ire), a son of the former, landing the Frank E. Kilroe Mile in America, and Russian Camelot (Ire) breaking new ground by becoming the first northern hemisphere-bred 3-year-old to win a Classic in Australia with his victory in the South Australia Derby. Camelot’s Australian reputation was further enhanced by the G1 Cox Plate victory of Sir Dragonet (Ire).

Closer to home, Even So (Ire) gave Camelot a domestic Classic victory in the G1 Irish Oaks, and Dandy Man’s daughters Dandalla (Ire) and Happy Romance (Ire) shone brightly. The former landed Group-race wins at Royal Ascot and Newmarket’s July meeting, while Happy Romance beat subsequent G1 Cheveley Park S. Winner Alcohol Free (Ire) when landing the G3 Dick Poole Fillies S.

Also making the top 15 was Showcasing (GB), whose list of sons at stud now stretches to five, the most recent recruit being his top performer of 2020, the G1 Sussex S. winner Mohaather (GB). In fact, Showcasing’s top two runners of the year were both trained in his ‘home’ stable of Whitsbury by Marcus Tregoning for Sheikh Hamdan, with Alkumait (GB) displaying his talent with victory in the G2 Mill Reef S.

It takes a mighty effort to make it into the top 20 stallions in Britain and Ireland with just one crop of runners, but the prolific Mehmas (Ire) achieved just that, finishing in 17th position overall with 46 winners, and 56 across Europe from his 101 runners. His tally smashed Iffraaj’s record of 39 first-crop winners and included G1 Middle Park S. hero Supremacy (Ire) and G2 Gimcrack S winner Minzaal (Ire). There will be more about his explosive season in Saturday’s edition when we review the leading first- and second-crop sires in Europe.

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