Best of all was the victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for the unbeaten Ace Impact (Ire), a member of the first crop of Cracksman (GB). That stellar performance was backed up by a first-crop Group 1 winner for Blue Point (Ire), who is leading the first-season sires' table and supplied the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner, Rosallion (Ire), a homebred for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid. Furthermore, the hugely likeable Highfield Princess (Fr) gained yet another Group 1 success in the Prix de l'Abbaye, and the daughter of Night Of Thunder (Ire) could head next to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita.

“To have three Group 1 winners by the stallions without Dubawi being one of them was new territory for us,” admits Sam Bullard, Darley's director of stallions.

“Ace Impact has been a high-profile 3-year-old through the whole summer. Obviously we were rooting for him and, by God, he was good. I watched it with [Cracksman's breeders] the Oppenheimers and they were so thrilled. It was lovely to see.

“Cracksman was obviously very good, and is the highest-rated son of Frankel, and he has had four 2-year-old winners since Sept. 16, so that is important too. One swallow doesn't make a summer, but there is plenty to back it up. Definitely his best book of mares was in 2023, too.”

With Blue Point out in front on 39 individual winners, he looks unlikely to be caught in the freshman championship, but Darley's Too Darn Hot (GB) has also made an eye-catching start with his first runners, and now has four group winners to his name.

“Too Darn Hot's runners were never going to be precocious but sure enough, once he got to August and September, away he went,” Bullard adds.

“It's been a long time coming but we are so lucky to see this success for sons of Dubawi and Shamardal. Earthlight's yearlings sold well last week in Goffs and we have Pinatubo's first yearlings here as well, and Ghaiyyath.

“It's been great to see both Dubawi and Shamardal do well for other studs too, with Lope De Vega, and Zarak for the Aga Khan. There are plenty of them and I think that's what really excites our principal, the idea that he's got horses who really are breed-shaping, who are making a difference to the long term of the breed. That really gives him a buzz.”

On the back of Blue Point's success this year, Darley will soon launch a “ground-breaking” feature on its website which will facilitate the sale of select breeding rights in its stallions. The project will launch on the weekend of the Darley Dewhurst S., with a breeding right in Blue Point the first to come onto the market.

“We have an auction site on the MyDarley website for any breeders who want to register,” Bullard explains.

“There are no breeding rights in Blue Point at the moment. There will never be more than 30, but we're going to sell one, and if there's a demand, we'll sell more.”

Darley will release further details on this unique feature in the coming weeks.

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Trained by Charlie Appleby, he won both the G3 Somerville S. and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at two. Sent to France at three, Modern Games duly nabbed the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and was third in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, and second in the G1 Sussex S. two starts later. Returned to North America, the royal blue colourbearer added the GI Woodbine Mile S. and the GI Breeders' Cup Mile, with a runner-up performance in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. in between. Kept in training at four, the 4-year-old ran second in the GI Mile S. at Keeneland before adding the G1 Lockinge S. at Newbury in May. In his final start, he was fourth in the G1 Queen Anne S. to Triple Time (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and was retired later this season with a record of 16-8-4-1 and earnings of $3,571,418.

Darley's Sam Bullard said, “The success of Dubawi as a sire of sires is now well known. How lucky we are to have such a sensational addition by the stallion, and one whose mother is also extraordinarily talented. He is a French Guineas winner, and his half-sister won the English Guineas. He won a Group 1 at two, remaining sound throughout, he finished with a Lockinge at four, and he has a magnificent mindset.

“He is now available to view, breeders should come and see him while in Newmarket and get involved.”

The chestnut is a half-brother to 2023 G1 1000 Guineas heroine Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), as well as listed winner Modern News (GB) (Shamardal), who was runner-up in the G3 Diomed S. and G3 Sovereign S. His dam is a half-sister to G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere victor and sire Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), and the family also features dual Group 1 winner Act One (GB) (In The Wings {GB}).

'He's going to be a great addition to the stallions ranks' #ModernGames: five-time G1 winner including two @BreedersCup

New to the @DarleyEurope roster for 2024 pic.twitter.com/6DYQ8Yb7tF

— Darley in Europe (@DarleyEurope) September 29, 2023

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Set to stand for €50,000 at Kildangan Stud in Ireland, the son of Dubawi (Ire) sired his first international Group 1 winner with Kukeracha (NZ) from his only Australasian-bred crop. Former shuttler Palace Pier (GB) leads the way at Dalham Hall Stud at £25,000; and roster veteran and fellow former shuttle stallion Iffraaj (GB), who has accounted for 11 Group 1 winners in the Southern Hemisphere, will stand for £10,000.

The septet and their fees are as follows:

Dalham Hall Stud:
Palace Pier (GB) – £25,000
Cracksman (GB) – £17,500
Masar (Ire) – £12,500
Iffraaj (GB) – £10,000

Kildangan Stud:
Night Of Thunder (Ire) –  €50,000
Space Blues (Ire) – €15,000
Naval Crown (GB) – €10,000

Sam Bullard, Darley's Director of Stallions, said, “We are pleased to be able to offer Southern Hemisphere breeders a great range, from top international proven stallions to younger commercial options. Night Of Thunder is doing as phenomenally well in Australia as he is here, and Palace Pier's first Australian crop is so well-bred, it's a near certainty that his second crop will be in great demand at the sales. As ever, our stallions are available to view by appointment, and we very much welcome visitors during the July Sales.”

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In other British EBF news, Ed Harper of Whitsbury Manor Stud joins the board of trustees while Chris Richardson of Cheveley Park Stud retires after two full terms. Shane Horan is expected to succeed Simon Mockridge of Juddmonte Farms after his six years as a trustee, while Sam Bullard will replace Jono Mills as the Darley Stallions representative.

British EBF Chairman Simon Sweeting said, “Chris Richardson, Simon Mockridge and Jono Mills have been dedicated members of the board; on behalf of the British EBF, I thank them for their time, hard work and being wonderful ambassadors for the organisation. They have helped guide our recent decision making, been conscientious and provided practical support and solutions to the British EBF through a challenging couple of years for British racing.

“We are looking forward to welcoming Ed Harper and Shane Horan to the Board of Trustees from Whitsbury Manor Stud and Juddmonte.”

Harper added, “I am delighted to be joining the EBF Board of Trustees. The EBF continues to be a vital source of prizemoney and I hope to continue its good work for the benefit of both racing and breeding in the UK.”

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Unlike his sire, the brilliant but ill-fated Dubai Millennium (GB), he is not a horse who 'fills the eye' with those long classic lines and fluent stride. On the short side and fairly close-coupled, with a habit of growing a coat as thick as a native pony in midwinter, Dubawi is not your archetypal elegant Thoroughbred. But those same seasoned horsemen will doubtless have seen enough in their time to know that when it comes to racing and breeding, handsome is as handsome does. And Dubawi does it all.

That started on the racecourse. An unbeaten juvenile who became his sire's first stakes winner in the G3 Superlative S. and went on to land the G1 National S., Dubawi then graduated to his Classic season with a warm-up fifth in the 2000 Guineas before winning the Irish equivalent. The Derby distance proved too much for him, but he was not disgraced when third to Motivator (GB) and Walk In The Park (Ire). Dubawi then emulated his sire by winning the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois, and signed off by finishing second to Starcraft (NZ) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S.

Since then, he has spent all bar one of the Northern Hemisphere seasons at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket, while he also made three visits to Darley Australia in the early years of his second career. As his 20th birthday approaches on Feb. 7, Dubawi is rightly revered as an outstanding stallion, a burgeoning sire of sires and broodmare sire, and the main conduit of the Mr Prospector line in Europe, making him a more-than-useful mate for mares from the dominant Northern Dancer lines. For four years, he was accompanied on the Darley roster by another son of Dubai Millennium, the €1.2 million yearling purchase Echo Of Light (GB), who died in 2012.

“With one of his two stallion sons, the great Dubai Millennium has delivered for us, and that means everything,” says Sam Bullard, Darley's director of stallions.

“Now we want sons of Dubawi to be successful. Night of Thunder has got off to such an incredible start, and Time Test, Zarak and others doing so well is testimony to the horse. We are very fortunate that we've got horses like Ghaiyyath, Space Blues and Too Darn Hot all coming through on the roster.”

The first foal of his dam, the Italian Oaks winner Zomaradah (GB) (Deploy {GB}), Dubawi was born at Kildangan Stud, where he later stood one season, and he hails from the same family as a sire who was already ensconced in the Kildangan stallion unit at that time, the Breeders' Cup Turf and Coronation Cup winner In The Wings (GB). More pertinently, though, he was also one of a small number of foals expected that year by Dubai Millennium.

Sheikh Mohammed's pride in his homebred so prophetically named to win the Dubai World Cup of 2000 was renowned. Dubai Millennium's racing record was hugely impressive. He was beaten only once in ten starts when finishing ninth behind Oath in the Derby, and on what would transpire to be his final performance in the G1 Prince of Wales's S. at Royal Ascot, the applause started ringing out when he was only halfway up the straight, so emphatic was the manner of his victory. But a little over six weeks later his racing career was over when he suffered a hind-leg fracture on the gallops. Brutally, Dubai Millennium's stud career was even more brief when, during his first covering season, he was struck down with grass sickness and died on Apr. 29, 2001.

“The whole stallion operation at Darley was set up on the back of Dubai Millennium really,” recalls Bullard. “We had this wonderful racehorse, the greatest horse that Godolphin had ever had, and when he retired to stud that was the catalyst really for the stallion operation that is here now, and always the number one goal was to get the top stallions of tomorrow.”

Clearly, those mares to have visited Dubai Millennium before his untimely death were of a decent calibre, but the odds were stacked against him making a meaningful impression on the breed when the foaling season of 2002 was complete and his sole crop numbered just 56. Sheikh Mohammed set about buying up a number outside those bred by his operation, but ultimately it was a homebred who would become not only Dubai Millennium's best son, but one of the best stallions in the world.

Most importantly, Dubawi's influence is now growing through his sons. He stands alongside five of them on the Darley roster: Ghaiyyath (Ire), Too Darn Hot (GB), Night Of Thunder (Ire), Postponed (Ire) and the recently retired Space Blues (Ire). And up to 20 sons of Dubawi are at stud around the world, including in America, Japan and India. 

Night Of Thunder, his second 2000 Guineas winner, was the champion first-season sire in Europe in 2019, while the Aga Khan Studs' Zarak (Fr) led the French freshmen last year, and the National Stud's Time Test (GB) was another young son to make a favourable impression with his first runners in 2021.

A top-five finisher in the stallion table in each of the last nine years, and on four occasions runner-up to Galileo (Ire), Dubawi had to settle for third in 2021 when Frankel (GB) nudged his own sire down a slot to second. But Dubawi's 54% winners-to-runners strike-rate was higher than both Frankel and Galileo, and was a figure that only his son New Bay (GB) could match in the top 50 stallions in Britain and Ireland. On worldwide earnings for last year he was at the top of the table, those lucrative Breeders' Cup victories no doubt helping in this regard.

In his 39 years with Darley, head stallion man Ken Crozier has worked with both Dubai Millennium and Dubawi and describes the horse now regarded as the king of the stallion yard as “straightforward, uncomplicated, a hard, gutsy horse”.

He continues, “When Dubawi first arrived here, he's obviously physically a very different animal to his father, but he was coming in as a Classic winner with a high profile and I guess we had high expectations given that, sadly, Sheikh Mohammed and Darley had lost Dubai Millennium so young.”

While Dubai Millennium's short stud career was beset with illness from an early stage, the only concerns Dubawi ever gives those looking after him is how to keep him trim. 

Crozier adds, “We have him on shavings. He would eat everything in sight. He gets fed a little and often. He will get fed hay three times a day because he would eat a bale of hay in a half an hour. So that's the only problem we have with Dubawi, keeping the weight off him.”

Even within the sons of Dubawi just on the Darley roster, it is easy to see that he is not a horse who stamps his stock in the manner of his old friend and rival Shamardal.

“They come in all shapes and sizes,” agrees Bullard. “You can't look at them and say, 'I can see Dubawi in that'. But what you can't see is what's between their ears, and that is consistent with all of them. They just have these extraordinary temperaments, he really does pass that on.”

Darley's head of nominations Dawn Laidlaw has, like Crozier and Bullard, worked with Dubawi throughout his stallion career and has witnessed the change in attitude towards him. 

“I think every breeder, agent and ourselves would be honest enough to say that we probably didn't see the success of Dubawi coming in those early days,” she says. “Obviously he was a great racehorse by a fantastic stallion, so he had a special place in our hearts from the beginning. But I think it would be fair to say that people didn't necessarily take to his early progeny. I mean, everybody's seen him and he's a little bit on the short side, a little bit dumpy, not the greatest walker. I think initially that's what people thought about his yearlings. I think right until they started running, and it was when they started winning that people very quickly realised he was a special stallion.”

Dubawi's first crop included the 2000 Guineas winner Makfi (GB), who, in an example of the blossoming of the line, sired the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Make Believe (GB) in his first crop, who in turn is the sire of G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Mishriff (Ire) from his first crop. Along with Makfi in the class of 2007 were the Group 1 winners Lucky Nine (GB), Poet's Voice (GB), Dubawi Heights (GB), Monterosso (GB) and Prince Bishop (GB), as well as the Group 3 winner and Irish 1000 Guineas runner-up Anna Salai (GB), who would later become the dam of Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

Among his 142 Group winners, Dubawi is now the sire of 48 Group/Grade 1 winners–six of those having come from his three stints down under–with the group including the 2020 Horse of the Year Ghaiyyath. From an opening fee of £25,000, he stood his fourth season at £15,000 before gradually climbing to his fee of £250,000 for the last six years, making him the most expensive stallion in Europe.

“It's very typical in a stallion, and his third and fourth years were a little bit more difficult to sell,” recalls Laidlaw. “Even the best of stallions usually go through that dip. Then as soon as he had his winners, he just absolutely took off. One of the most difficult things since then has been selecting the mares. There's always an upper limit on the numbers he'll cover, so unfortunately every year there have been mares that we would have loved to have that haven't always been able to come to him. The quality of mare that comes to him every year is fantastic. It's like a who's who of the broodmare band in Europe and beyond. We're lucky to have him and I say that every day.”

The sense of pride in their star stallion is quite clear at Dalham Hall Stud, where they have now had many years to bask in the reflected glory of Dubawi. Now entering his third decade and about to embark on his 17th stud season, he fortunately shows no waning in enthusiasm for his main task.

“When covering season comes, he will go down to that barn roaring and shouting, whether it's at the 8am covering session or the fourth session at midnight,” says Crozier. “You'll hear him coming. You know, if he was a human, he would have his neighbours round knocking on his door.”

With a reputation so hard earned, Dubawi has every right to shout about it.

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Sam Bullard, Darley's director of stallions, said, “Victor Ludorum was a great credit to the Godolphin team–a homebred Classic winner who was exceptional at two. We're delighted to be standing him in France, scene of all his races. He hails from a particularly exceptional stallion-making family and has every chance of being a great stallion son of Shamardal.”

Victor Ludorum started three times at two in the space of five weeks for trainer Andre Fabre and won all three outings culminating in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. He trained on to take the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains of 2020 and was third behind Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club. He picked up another pattern-race win over a mile this season when taking the G3 Prix Messidor at Chantilly, and was third behind the ascendant Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Prix du Moulin.

By Darley's own highly successful sire Shamardal, Victor Ludorum is inbred 3×3 to the excellent producer Helen Street (GB) (Troy {GB}), best known as the dam of Street Cry (Ire). Useful young sire Territories (Ire) also appears on the page.

Haras du Logis's Julian Ince said, “I'm thrilled that Darley is entrusting such a wonderful horse to the Haras du Logis. And, of course, it's tremendous for the French breeding community. Bred by Godolphin and masterfully trained by Andre Fabre, Victor Ludorum has been a wonderful horse to watch. We've all been so excited by him. A great looking colt, with a fantastic pedigree, and such a talent Unbeaten at two and brilliant in the Poule d'Essai–that's exactly what his sire Shamardal achieved, and we'll be hoping Victor Ludorum will be just as successful at stud.”

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Sit through any breeze-up sale and you will regularly hear the auctioneer espousing the Royal Ascot potential of the 2-year-old in the ring before him. At the Royal Meeting of 2012, New Approach set a new freshman sire benchmark when being represented by three stakes-winning members of his first crop: Dawn Approach (Ire) (G2 Coventry S.), Newfangled (G3 Albany S.) and Tha'Ir (Ire) (Listed Chesham S.). Indeed, Dawn Approach had won his first race before the main breeze-up sales had even been staged that year, and he collected another two wins before his Ascot success. He would remain unbeaten as a juvenile, emulating his sire by gathering the G1 Vincent O'Brien National S. and G1 Darley Dewhurst S. before withdrawing to his winter quarters. 

That early star also became New Approach's first Classic winner, gaining revenge for his father's nose defeat by Henrythenavigator in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket with his own decisive five-length victory on his 3-year-old debut. Come Epsom, Dawn Approach blew any chance he might have had of seeing out the Derby distance by pulling so hard he was almost fly-leaping, but New Approach had other irons in the fire, and a day earlier he had notched a second Classic winner from his debut crop when Talent (GB) won the Oaks. Dawn Approach duly finished last of the 12-runner Derby field, eased down when it was clear his chance had gone, but New Approach's other son in the race, the long-striding Libertarian (GB), flew home from an unpromising position to finish runner-up to Ruler Of The World (Ire), Galileo's second Derby winner.

Bred by the Burns family of Lodge Park Stud, New Approach is of course as much synonymous with Jim Bolger. The trainer had already masterminded the career of his dam, the G1 Irish Champion S winner Park Express (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}), for Paddy Burns. He also trained her daughters Dazzling Park (Ire) (Warning {GB}), who was runner-up to Daylami (Ire) in the Irish Champion S., and the listed-placed Alluring Park (Ire) (Green Desert), who has gone on to produce the Oaks winner Was (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), as well as her full-brother and last year's Derby third Amhran Na Bhfiann (Ire). 

Park Express's son by Galileo would not, therefore, have been too much of a hard sell to Bolger, who recalls the first time her set eyes on New Approach at Lodge Park Stud.

“He was trotting around with his dam with a bell on her neck because the dam had gone blind,” he says. “And we suspect that's maybe where he got the problem of swinging his head and looking around him. It could have had something to do with that.”

It's rare on these shores to see a horse ponied to the start of a race, as New Approach was for the Guineas and the Derby. The distance of a nose prevented him from being the winner of both of those races, and his imperious track-record-breaking win back at Newmarket for the Champion S. sealed his position on equal footing with Curlin at the head of the world rankings. A certain flightiness was a small price to pay for such obvious talent.

New Approach's stud career has not been plain sailing owing largely to the fact that he is a rig. Despite the fact that logic should dictate that something being in short supply should therefore increase its value, this is frequently not borne out in Thoroughbred sales rings. In New Approach's 12 northern hemisphere stud seasons to date, he has had four crops of foals in three figures, but only just, with the 104 born in his second crop being the largest.

“I suppose a stallion's reputation is very, very hard-earned,” says Bolger. “The ones who are the most attractive are the ones who get the sprinter-milers because that leaves a lot of people happy–it leaves the commercial breeders very happy and it leaves the new owner happy. There are fewer people whose targets are the Classics so there's reduced patronage there then right away as the pool of buyers is smaller.”

As the breeder of Dawn Approach and the 2000 Guineas winners in Britain and Ireland this year, Poetic Flare (Ire) and Mac Swiney (Ire), respectively sons of Dawn Approach and New Approach, Bolger has done more than most to demonstrate that this sireline is far from just a one-dimensional source of later-maturing middle-distance horses. 

“New Approach did get a Coventry winner in his first crop, so that should have helped, but for whatever reason it didn't, and then of course Dawn Approach went on to win the Guineas and the St James's Palace the following year but I don't think that worked any miracles either,” Bolger adds. 

Sam Bullard, Darley's director of stallions, says, “His being a rig, and therefore his limited size of books, is undoubtedly a hindrance, so the commercial aspect is always difficult.

“His fee is listed as private because we would rather have the opportunity to discuss it with breeders, and look at the mare's breeding record, and we can then say 'he's £30,000 but let's look at the best way  to help both sides'.”

Certainly his compromised fertility has not helped his case, but New Approach did get his Derby winner in 2018 when Masar (Ire), inbred to Ahonoora and a certain Urban Sea, gave Sheikh Mohammed a long-awaited success in the Godolphin blue. The following year his grandson Madhmoon (Ire) was second to Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). 

Madhmoon's sire Dawn Approach was not represented by his first Classic winner until this year, following his return to his birthplace of Bolger's Redmondstown Stud after standing seven seasons at Kildangan.

“He will probably cover about 50 mares this year so that could resurrect his career, and Poetic Flare has done much for him as well so hopefully there will be more to come,” says Bolger. 

Meanwhile Masar, who had the speed and precocity to beat subsequent crack sprinter Invincible Army (Ire) on debut over six furlongs in the May of his juvenile season, is now in his second season alongside his sire at Dalham Hall. 

“Masar has everything going for him,” Bullard says. “He sold himself when people came to see him last year because I think they expected him to be a bit of an 'on-the-leg' New Approach, and he's not. And his 2-year-old form actually mattered more, sadly, than some of his middle-distance form.”

He adds, “We stood him at £15,000 because that was a price at which they had to come and look at him. You can't not look at a Derby winner with a pedigree like his. He was full in year one with 140 mares and this year he is nicely through 100 again.”

It falls now to Poetic Flare, Mac Swiney and their creator Jim Bolger to continue to remind his fellow breeders of the potential of this branch of Galileo's ever-expanding sireline. They have a 2000 Guineas apiece, and colts have retired to stud with less impressive credentials than that, but one senses neither they nor their trainer are finished yet. Bolger is now setting his colts on diverging paths following their wafer-thin split when first and second in the Irish 2000 Guineas. We hope to see Poetic Flare at Ascot, aiming to emulate his sire in the St James's Palace S., while the likeably tenacious Mac Swiney will bid to do the same for New Approach at Epsom on Saturday. 

Bolger is upbeat when appraising Mac Swiney's recovery from his exertions on the Curragh just two weeks ahead of the Cazoo Derby. He says, “He's very well and as fresh as paint today so hopefully we will get him there in that form. He doesn't have any more work to do now, he's just exercising.”

Casting his mind back to the Irish 2000 Guineas, he continues, “I wasn't surprised that they were first and second but I wasn't convinced that it would be in that order. It was nice to watch for the last furlong. I did make one mistake because I meant to tell Kevin [Manning] and Rory [Cleary] that there were to be no whips if they had the race won. I had intended telling them and I forgot to do it, but they are both very hardy horses and they are none the worse.”

Bolger adds, “They have never galloped together [at home] but we have always held the two of them in high regard and we knew that there was never very much between them, except that when Poetic Flare eventually blossomed into what he is now he was much more muscled up and he looks stronger than Mac Swiney. But Mac Swiney is deceptive strength-wise. He's compact but he's very strong also, but he doesn't show the same strength as Poetic Flare.”

Epsom's topography presents its own unique challenge, but the trainer feels that it is one Mac Swiney will be able to rise to, even as the ground dries out on the Downs.

“For me he would seem to be the ideal candidate,” says Bolger. “He's a lovely horse with a lovely attitude. I think he'll be fine [at Epsom]. He takes everything in his stride. He's very well balanced and he goes downhill here at home the same as he comes up it.”

A number of trainer/breeders have enhanced the Derby's rich history which is closing in on 250 years. The 1908 victory for the filly Signorinetta (GB) two days before she successfully backed up in the Oaks for the romantically inclined Cavaliere Edoardo Ginistrelli is one such fantastic fable, while Arthur Budgett remains a personal racing hero for his training of the homebred Derby-winning half-brothers Blakeney (GB) and Morston (GB). 

For the depth of his connection to Mac Swiney, who boasts three individual Derby winners in his first three generations and was the first Group 1 winner to be inbred to Galileo, Jim Bolger would surely enter Derby folklore if the son of New Approach out of a mare by another former stable star, Teofilo (Ire), is to secure the third Classic of the season for his team at Coolcullen.

In his 79 years, Bolger has seen enough of the sport's twisting fortunes to not get too carried away by sentiment even as the Derby is now just days away and when he is likely to be represented by two runners as a breeder. The Mark Johnston-trained Gear Up (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), winner of the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud, is also a Redmondstown Stud graduate.

He does, however, allow himself to appreciate being in what is an unusual position for most breeders by having played as significant a role in the careers of the sires involved as he did for their female families of his proteges.

He says, “To have horses like those two, no matter what they were by, is a great sense of satisfaction, but for them to be by the stallions that we've been so close to down the years adds to that enjoyment.”

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Leading the overall roster is veteran Dubawi (Ire) (Dubai Millennium {GB}), who will stand for £250,000 at Dalham Hall Stud. The sire of four Group 1 winners this year along, including the brilliant MG1SW Ghaiyyath, his progeny have struck an additional 17 times at black-type level in 2020.

Outstanding juvenile Pinatubo’s fee is £35,000 at Dalham Hall. Rated the best juvenile in Europe in the past 25 years, the 2019 English/Irish highweight’s undefeated 2-year-old season included victories in the G1 National S., and G1 Dewhurst S. At three, he added the G1 Prix Jean Prat, ran second in the G1 Prix du Moulin and G1 St. James’s Palace S. and was Classic placed with a third in the G1 2000 Guineas.

The aforementioned Ghaiyyath is priced at €30,000 at Kildangan Stud in Ireland. The four-time Group 1 winner struck three times at the highest level this term, collecting scintillating victories in the G1 Coronation Cup, G1 Eclipse S., and the G1 Juddmonte International. French champion juvenile Earthlight will also hold court at Kildangan. Undefeated at two, the 2019 G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S. hero’s fee has been set at €20,000.

“We know that breeders are facing unpredictable times and have reflected this in our fees, in Europe and the United States,” said Liam O’Rourke, Director of Stud, Stallions & Breeding at Darley. We’ve aimed to be supportive in our approach for 2021 and we trust breeders can take advantage of what we believe is our strongest roster ever–yet one that is keenly priced.

“We are thankful to all the breeders who have used our stallions in the past and we look forward to offering them the best opportunities for the future. We have three very exciting new stallions joining the ranks, giving us every confidence that 2021 and beyond will see more success.”

Of the established stallions, Night of Thunder (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), whose oldest foals are three, has continued to enhance his reputation, with 10 black-type winners on the year, half of them at the group level. His fee has been increased at Kildangan to €75,000.

Kildangan veteran Teofilo (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has enjoyed a successful year at stud, his 12 stakes winners featuring six Group 1 winners alone ranging from G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud victor Gear Up (Ire), to G1 Prix Royal Oak hero Subjectivist (GB) and G1 Melbourne Cup winner Twilight Payment (Ire). He is priced at €30,000.

Expecting his first foals in 2021, MG1SW Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) will command £45,000 at Dalham Hall, while the veteran Group 1 sire New Approach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is listed as private. Also at Dalham Hall, both Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), whose oldest foals are 3-year-olds this term and former shuttle stallion Iffraaj (GB) (Zafonic) are both at £20,000. Champion Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) will have yearlings of 2021 and is priced at £17,500.

Rounding out the Dalham Hall roster are Farhh (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) at a private fee, G1 Derby winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) at £14,000, Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) at £12,500, Territories (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), the sire of two black-type winners in his first crop, is at £10,000, Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) is at £7,500 and both Charming Thought (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Outstrip (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) are valued at £4,000.

MG1SW Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal), who covered his first book of mares this spring, will stand for €40,000 alongside fellow Kildangan resident and top miler Ribchester (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) at €17,500. For €10,000 apiece, breeders can access Belardo (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire})-already the sire of three stakes winners in his first crop–and Profitable (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), while roster veteran Raven’s Pass (Elusive Quality) is €7,500 and Buratino (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus})’s fee has been set at €5,000. Exceed and Excel (Aus) (Danehill) will not be shuttling from his Australian base in 2021.

In France, a quartet of stallions are standing at Haras du Logis. Cloth of Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) who has his first yearlings next year, is at €7,000, while Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), set for his first runners in 2021, is €5,000. The pair of Bow Creek (Ire) (Shamardal) and Hunter’s Light (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) will both command €4,000. The former has first 3-year-olds and the latter has first 4-year-olds next year.

Added Darley Director of Stallions Sam Bullard, “It is a source of great pride that the best horse in the world this year and the best 2-year-old for a generation are not just retiring to Darley having raced for Godolphin, but are themselves the sons of Darley stallions. That, and the value we are offering to breeders, makes us very optimistic about the future.

“While 2020 has undoubtedly been a challenge, there has been remarkable resilience in parts of the yearling market, and buyers have shown great confidence in the product of European breeders’ labours.

“We are confident that, with the support of our breeders and their mares, the Darley stallions will continue to breed the star horses of the future.”

For the complete Darley Europe roster, please go to www.darleyeurope.com.

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