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Value Sires Part IV: First Juveniles

In this week's installment of Value Sires, we arrive at the young pretenders on the cusp of a moment of reckoning. We dissected their credentials when they retired to stud, analysed the early returns of their first foals and watched in earnest how the market perceived their yearlings. Now, the true test is upon them; in a few short months, they will begin to reshuffle their ranks by the only measure that really matters: progeny racetrack performance.

The most fascinating aspect of this sire crop as a whole thus far has been that the top four by weanling and yearling averages are all by sires who stand outside of Europe: Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Zoustar (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}), Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy) and US Navy Flag (War Front).

Saxon Warrior was the result of Coolmore sending its G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Maybe (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to Hokkaido for two dates with Japan's perennial champion sire Deep Impact (Jpn), of which he was the second foal. Saxon Warrior was unbeaten in three starts at two, including the G2 Beresford S. and the G1 Racing Post Trophy over Roaring Lion, and he rolled right into the G1 2000 Guineas the following spring, posting a

1 1/2-length victory. Saxon Warrior wouldn't win again but wasn't disgraced either, placing in the G1 Irish Derby, G1 Coral-Eclipse and G1 Irish Champion S. before retiring with an official rating of 121. Saxon Warrior was leading first-crop sire by average at the 2020 foal sales and last year's yearling sales; his 17 foals sold in 2020 averaged €110,617/£94,098, while his 55 yearlings sold last year averaged €136,937/£116,489-excellent returns for an initial €27,500 stud fee. Deep Impact, as potent as he himself was, hasn't yet set the world alight as a sire of sires, though he has a few excellent colts who will still get their chances. Saxon Warrior stays at €20,000 for the second straight year at Coolmore.

While the global bloodstock world has become very smitten with Deep Impact, Northern Meteor-a grandson of Sadler's Wells's full-brother Fairy King–is a lesser-known quantity. That will change, however, should Zoustar's first Northern Hemisphere crop transfer their potency in the sales ring onto the racecourse: he was second-leading sire by average at the yearling sales, edging his late, former Tweenhills stud barn companion Roaring Lion at €90,088/£76,616 for horses bred on a £25,000 opening fee. Zoustar is, of course, not an unproven sire at all, already holding multiple titles in Australia, and it was in the midst of his early heydays there that the fee for his second season in Britain actually increased to £30,000. He is now back to £25,000.

US Navy Flag's credentials are hard to fault, being a champion 2- and 3-year-old out of a multiple Group 1 and Classic winner at two and three who is a full-sister to a Classic winner. US Navy Flag ran 11 times at two and was the first horse to complete the Middle Park/Dewhurst double since Diesis (GB) in 1982. And, he trained on to win the G1 July Cup at three. US Navy Flag started at €25,000 at Coolmore and is a very enticing proposition down to €12,500 this year. He had 42 yearlings sell at the sales last year for an average of €71,869/£61,142. Another tough 2-year-old in this sire crop from Coolmore is Sioux Nation, and he looks to become the next son of Scat Daddy to make an impact at stud. He won the G2 Norfolk S. and G1 Phoenix S. in seven starts at two and was a Group 3 winner and Group 1 placed at three. Sioux Nation is available for €10,000 this year.

Darley likewise offers a multiple Group 1-winning sprinter in this cohort: the Cartier champion Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who stands at Dalham Hall Stud for £12,500, down from an initial £20,000. From the red hot Dark Angel/Acclamation sireline, Harry Angel won the G2 Mill Reef S. in his second start at two and trained on to add the G1 July Cup and G1 Sprint Cup at three and the G2 Duke Of York S. at four. His 48 yearlings sold last year averaged €58,649/£49,883. Also under the Darley banner at Haras du Logis in Normandy is Cloth Of Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a beautifully bred Group 1 winner who was the first colt home in the 2017 and 2018 Arcs. He too, looks good value at €7,000, his first yearlings having averaged €45,149/£38,397 off his initial €7,500 fee. Shadwell's multiple group-winning and Group 1-placed sprinter Tasleet (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) is available for £5,000 this year, as is Tweenhills's G1 Sussex S. winner Lightning Spear (GB) (Pivotal {GB}). Tally-Ho's dual group-winning juvenile Kessaar (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) has received a lot of support, and he is down to €5,000 from an initial €8,000.

VALUE PODIUM

Bronze: Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) (Whitsbury Manor Stud, £6,000) – A Group 1-winning sire from the Galileo line and out of a mare by the speedy Dark Angel (Ire), Havana Grey has been the subject of excellent support since retiring to Whitsbury Manor Stud and will certainly have the numbers to make an impact: he had 80 yearlings go through the ring last autumn, more than any other sire in this cohort, and 70 sold for an average of €35,522/£30,137, bred off an £8,000 opening fee. And should they inherit his talent and that within his pedigree, they will stand in good stead. Havana Grey is out of the six-time winner Blanc De Chine (Ire), and he ran eight times at two for four wins including the G3 Molecomb S. over Invincible Army (Ire), and was second in the G1 Prix Morny. Back to run an additional eight times at three, all over five furlongs, Havana Grey won the G2 Sapphire S. at The Curragh and, two starts later, added the G1 Flying Five S. Havana Grey's first 2-year-olds should be expected to come out running, and if they follow in their sire's footsteps they won't be stopping anytime soon, either.

Silver: Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) (Juddmonte, £10,000) – At fully half his debut fee, Expert Eye is an enticing value prospect for 2022. By the red-hot sire of sires Acclamation, Expert Eye is out of a Dansili (GB) mare who won at two and is a half-sister to dual Classic winner Special Duty (GB) (Hennessy), who also won the G1 Cheveley Park S. and G2 Prix Robert Papin at two. The precocity in Expert Eye's pedigree shone through in his 2-year-old campaign, when he won on debut in June before taking the G2 Vintage S. A 4 1/2-length win in the G3 Jersey S. and a victory in the G3 City of York S. at three bookended a second in the G1 Sussex S., and Expert Eye was third in the G1 Prix du Moulin before traveling to Churchill Downs to take the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. A high-class 2-year-old who trained on to win a Breeders' Cup race, Expert Eye has been well supported and his yearlings averaged €52,453/£44,505.

Gold: Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) (Darley Dalham Hall, £17,500) – Cracksman was, quite simply, one of the best racehorses not only of his generation, but that we have seen over the past decade, his official rating of 130 upon retirement trailing only his own sire Frankel (140), Sea The Stars (Ire) (136) and Harbinger (135) among European colts in the past 10 years. Out of the stakes-winning Pivotal (GB) mare Rhadegunda (GB)-herself a granddaughter of the G1 1000 Guineas winner On The House (Be My Guest)-Cracksman won his lone start at two. He won the Investec Derby Trial first out at three and went into the Derby in just his third lifetime start, but missed by a length when third, and a neck when second in the G1 Irish Derby. Dropped back slightly in class for the G2 Great Voltigeur S., Cracksman won by six lengths before venturing to Chantilly to take the G2 Prix Niel by 3 1/2 lengths. Next up was the G1 Champion S., in which Cracksman came home a seven-length winner over Poet's Word (GB) (Poet's Voice {GB})–who would go on to win the following season's G1 Prince of Wales's S. and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S.-and sealed Cartier 3-year-old honours. Brought back in 2018 at four, Cracksman added victories in the G1 Prix Ganay and G1 Coronation Cup before defending his Champion S. title in an equally stirring performance, coming home six lengths the best. Cracksman had 52 yearlings sell at the sales last autumn, averaging €70,771/£60,042.

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A Second French Title For Siyouni

If having the winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe counted as a breakthrough moment for Siyouni (Fr) in 2020, his reputation climbed higher still as his son St Mark's Basilica (Fr) romped through his Classic year, winning the Poule d'Essai des Poulains, Prix du Jockey Club, Eclipse S. and Irish Champion S. on his way to becoming the top-rated horse in the world in 2021. Both he and Sottsass are now residents of the Coolmore stallion barn, where they will be given plenty of opportunities to attempt to establish Siyouni's reputation as a sire of sires.

Until Sottsass came along, the Aga Khan Studs' Siyouni had been best represented by his daughters. Ervedya (Fr) became his first Group 1 and Classic winner, Laurens (Fr) advertised his abilities to a wider audience with her six Group 1 wins in Britain, Ireland and France, while Etoile (Fr) took it a step further with a Grade I strike in Canada, and Dream And Do (Fr) has more recently enhanced his Classic roll of honour. What is clear is that Siyouni is an extremely accomplished sire, and there is plenty to suggest that as his reputation has grown, along with his stud fee–from €7,000 in 2011 and for the next three seasons to a high of €140,000 since 2021–then so will his achievements on the back of bigger and higher-quality books.

At this relatively early stage of his career, Siyouni has been represented by just one stakes winner as a broodmare sire, courtesy of the Deauville Listed winner Hurricane Dream (Fr) (Hurricane Cat), and there is surely hope for the Christophe Ferland-trained Times Square (Fr) (Zarak) to build on her juvenile season which saw her finish second in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac. But in a year in which he was also represented by the Group winners Seachange (Fr), Wally (Ire), Sacred Life (Fr), Policy Of Truth (Fr), Acer Alley (GB), Mise En Scene (GB) and Who Knows (Fr), taking his lifetime tally to 113 stakes winners, it is safe to say that Siyouni is already paying a handsome tribute to his much-loved sire Pivotal (GB), who died in November.

Another stallion sadly lost in 2021 was the German champion sire Adlerflug (Ger). Like Siyouni, he had secured his first championship in his native country in 2020, and he repeated that feat 12 months later, as well as finishing runner-up in France. In 2020, Adlerflug had the first and second in the G1 Deutsches Derby, In Swoop (Ire) and Torquator Tasso (Ger). The former went on to run second to Sottsass in the Arc that year, but his 2021 season was cut short in July after four runs, including a further Group 2 and Group 3 success. Torquator Tasso picked up the baton as it was announced that In Swoop would be retired to Coolmore's National Hunt division, and the final two races of the year for Gestut Auenquelle's colour-bearer and future stallion resulted in victories in the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Adlerflug had just 29 runners in France, resulting in 12 winners of 22 races, but Torquator Tasso's prize-money haul from Europe's richest race was enough to secure his sire the runner-up spot in the stallion table.

During a decade in French breeding when some classy stallions have emanated from some less-than-obvious sources, Wootton Bassett (GB) has been one of the great success stories. Chapter two of his stud career is currently being written in Ireland at Coolmore, where he has stood since last year following nine seasons at Haras d'Etreham. He too has had an enormous upturn in fee, from a starting price of €6,000, to a low of €4,000 in 2014 and his current high of €150,000. That of course has been fanned by the flames of success, and Wootton Bassett enjoyed another good year, with Prix Marcel Boussac winner Zellie (Fr) and Incarville (Fr) two new Group 1 winners, taking his tally to five, while Royal Patronage (Fr), Atomic Jones (Fr), Ilaraab (Ire) and Wootton Asset (Fr) were new Group/Graded winners outside France.

Wootton Bassett has 44 stakes winners to his name from eight crops of racing age, and it is worth remembering that none of his first four crops of foals exceeded 50, with his smallest, in 2014, numbering just 18. In his first season at Coolmore he covered 244 mares. Expect bigger and better things to come.

With 59 winners in France, and Skalleti having provided a first Group 1 success, Haras de Colleville's Kendargent (Fr) was fourth in the French sires' table for 2021.

Skalleti's full-brother Skazino (Fr) upheld the family honour with three Group wins, including the G2 Prix Kergorlay, while the Teruya Yoshida homebred Tokyo Gold (Fr) gave Kendargent a Classic victory in the G2 Derby Italiano for the French-based, Japanese-born trainer Satoshi Kobayashi.

It is also worth keeping an eye on Kendargent's growing profile as a broodmare sire, with the G1 Champion S. winner Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) being his leading representative in this regard, along with the G1 Deutsches Derby winner Sisfahan (Fr) (Isfahan {Ger}).

The winner of the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and third in the Arc, Hurricane Lane (Ire) helped to propel Britain and Ireland's champion sire Frankel (GB) into fifth place in the French table, just ahead of Sumbe's Le Havre (Ire). The latter's daughter Wonderful Tonight (Fr) bowed out in August before she was able to meet her end-of-year appointment in the Arc, but she did add a further two Group 2 wins to her tally of the previous year, winning at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood.

These of course did not count towards Le Havre's tally in France, but Glycon (Fr) took the G2 Prix de Deauville and Waliyak won the G3 Prix Bertrand de Tarragon. The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Ville De Grace (GB) is a filly to keep an eye in in 2022 following her win in the G3 Pride S. at Newmarket in the autumn.

Outside the leading contenders, it is also worth noting the five stakes winners for Intello (Ger) in France in 2021. He remains at Haras du Quesnay in 2022, having served two years at a time when alternating between Cheveley Park Stud and Quesnay for the first eight seasons of his stud career, and his fee for this year has been dropped to €8,000, down from a high of £/€25,000. Bubble Smart (GB), Dawn Intello (Fr) and Adhamo (Ire) were all Group 3 winners for him in France, while Waldbiene (Fr) won Germany's G2 T von Zastrow Stutenpreis.

Leading German Sires

The posthumous success of Adlerflug during the 2021 season has already been referenced above and his untimely death in April after covering a mare at the stud where he was born, Gestut Schlenderhan, will continue to be lamented in Germany and beyond. The son of In The Wings is champion for the second year running, with his 28 winners led by Torquator Tasso, whose major success at home came in the Grosser Preis von Baden. Outside Germany, Adlerflug's leading runners in 2021 were In Swoop and the G2 King Edward VII S. winner Alenquer (Fr).

The first crop of Adlerflug's fellow German Derby winner Isfahan (Ger) were only three in 2021, but the victory in that same Classic of his son Sisfahan (Fr) helped to put the Gestut Ohlerweiherhof resident in second place in the German sires' table.

Isfahan was also represented by the G1 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) runner-up Isfahani (Ger), who sadly died in September.

Sisfahan, who was runner-up to Torquator Tasso in the Grosser Preis von Baden, is reported to be heading to the Saudi Cup meeting in February for Germany's champion trainer Henk Grewe.

Soldier Hollow (GB) has just turned 22 and has previously been champion sire in Germany on three occasions. This time around he had to settle for third, but he sired the most winners (43) and highest number of stakes winners (nine). The diminutive son of In The Wings (GB) remains a huge credit to Gestut Auenquelle and to his owner Helmut Von Finck.

Another sad loss to the German stallion ranks and to Gestut Etzean in 2021 was Isfahan's sire Lord Of England (Ger). The 18-year-old was represented by another Classic winner in the last year of his life in the Preis der Diana winner Palmas (Ger).

Etzean has also been home for the last four years to the veteran former multiple champion sire Areion (Ger). The son of Big Shuffle turns 27 this year and had the valuable BBAG auction race winner Mister Applebee (Ger) among his leading performers of last year.

The Etzean stallions featured prominently in the sires' championship, with Amaron (GB), a son of Shamardal whose eldest runners were four in 2021, finishing sixth in the table. He will be joined at stud in 2022 by the Group 1 winner Japan (GB), who becomes the first son of Galileo (Ire) to stand in Germany.

A German sire of whom we could hear more this year is Guiliani (Ger), a son of Tertullian out of a full-sister to Getaway (Ger). Like Isfahan he had his first 3-year-old runners in 2021 and while Guiliani is yet to make a major impression, a notable member of his second crop is the Group 3 winner Tunnes (Ger), a half-brother to Torquator Tasso who is currently favourite for the Deutsches Derby.

Arcano Shines In Italy

Arcano (Ire) left Derrinstown Stud for Italy in 2016 and having spent the intervening years at Allevamento di Besnate, just north of Milan, he is now champion sire in his adopted country for the first time. His 26 winners included the G2 Oaks d'Italia heroine Eulaila (Ity), and she is out of a mare by the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Pounced, who has stood at the same stud for his entire career and is also now represented in the stallion ranks by his Group 2-winning son Full Drago (Ity), who had his first juvenile runners this year.

Second in the table was another former Allevamento di Besnate resident and Shadwell runner, Mujahid. Arcano has recently been joined at the stud by two more Shadwell-owned stallions, Mukhadram (GB) and Adaay (Ire).

The G1 July Cup winner Sakhee's Secret (GB) died in November at the age of 17. Having moved to Italy's Allevamento Si Fra in 2015, he was champion sire in 2019 and 2020, and finished fourth in the table in 2021, just behind Kendargent, who was represented by the Italian Derby winner Tokyo Gold.

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Value Sires Part III: First Yearlings

In the latest edition of our Value Sires Series, we arrive at stallions with their first yearlings in 2022. The Darley duo of Too Darn Hot (GB) and Blue Point (Ire) retired as the two breakout horses of this group on fees, and that is how they wound up their first sales season. Too Darn Hot, the beautifully bred son of Dubawi who was a champion at two and three, retired at £50,000 at Dalham Hall Stud, and his 11 foals sold last year averaged €131,148/£111,964-the best foal sale average achieved by a first-season sire since 2017. Blue Point-the triple Royal Ascot Group 1-winning sprinter-meanwhile, got going at Kildangan Stud for €45,000, and his 18 foals sold came in at an average of €98,366/£83,980.

Both of these sires are incredibly deserving of the top of the table. By sire of sires Dubawi and out of the triple Group 1-winning mare Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) from the incredibly deep family of the influential sire Darshaan (GB), Too Darn Hot always had high hopes riding on his shoulders and he delivered from the outset. A 'TDN Rising Star' when winning by seven lengths on debut, Too Darn Hot went on to sweep the G3 Solario S., G2 Champagne S. and G1 Dewhurst S. on his way to champion 2-year-old honours. Too Darn Hot endured a rather not straightforward beginning to his 3-year-old campaign; after a setback caused him to miss the G1 2000 Guineas he was briefly set on the Derby trail, but then re-routed again after he was eclipsed in the G2 Dante S. After placed efforts in the

G1 Irish 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace S., Too Darn Hot put it all back together again for wins in the G1 Prix Jean Prat and G1 Sussex S., which earned him divisional honours once again. Too Darn Hot's first crop contains 124 foals and 163 mares returned last year when his fee dipped to £45,000. That is where it stays this year.

Blue Point carries the hopes of Team Kildangan that he will be his sire, Shamardal's, heir apparent at the stallion yard Shamardal called home for 14 years. Shamardal's fastest son, Blue Point was a good 2-year-old, winning the G2 Gimcrack S. and placing in the G1 Middle Park S. and the Dewhurst. He was good, too, at three, winning a pair of Group 3s and finishing third in the G1 Commonwealth Cup. He got quite good at four, winning the G1 King's Stand S. over Battaash. But at five he was exceptional, winning all five starts including the G1 Al Quoz Sprint and the G1 King's Stand-once again beating Battaash-and the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. four days apart. Blue Point's first season resulted in 154 foals, and 183 mares returned last year, giving him the biggest book of any second-season sire. Blue Point stays at €40,000 for the second straight year.

Blue Point is not alone as a top-class sprinter in this sire crop: Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) won the G2 July S. and G1 Phoenix S. at two before adding the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at three, and he has held his £25,000 fee through his first three seasons at the National Stud. Coolmore's Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) won the G1 Middle Park S. at two and was fourth behind Advertise in the Commonwealth Cup before running a career-best race to beat that rival in the G1 July Cup. Ten Sovereigns started at €25,000 but is this year down to €17,500. He was third on first-crop sire averages at the foal sales, his 30 sold averaging €59,137/£50,422.

Coolmore also has Calyx (GB), the first son of Kingman (GB) to retire to stud, in this cohort. The Juddmonte homebred won on debut to earn 'TDN Rising Star' status 10 days before beating Advertise in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. After missing the remainder of the season, Calyx roared back with a four-length win in the G3 Pavilion S. at three but retired after being upset by the future dual Group 1 winner Hello Youmzain (Fr) (Kodiac {GB}) in the G2 Sandy Lane S. Calyx started at €22,500 and drops to €12,500 this year.

There is quality speed available, too, in the four-figure price range in this sire crop, like Yeomanstown Stud's four-time six-furlong Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Invincible Army (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (€7,500); Tally-Ho Stud's Inns Of Court (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (€5,000), also a four-time group winner and Group 1-placed; Highclere Stud's G2 Richmond S. winner Land Force (Ire) (No Nay Never) (£5,000); Shadwell's G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Eqtidaar (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (£5,000); and Haras d'Etreham's Group 3-winning, G1 Diamond Jubilee-placed City Light (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) (€7,000).

The highest-rated member of this sire crop stands at Ballylinch Stud for €15,000 (down from an initial €17,500), and that is the four-time Group 1 winner and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe scorer Waldgeist (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). A Group 1 winner at two who was at his best at five, Waldgeist is by the sire of sires Galileo and from an incredibly stout German family. He kicked off his final campaign in 2019 with a defeat of Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Prix Ganay, and that rival is also in with a great chance at stud. Study Of Man won the G1 Prix du Jockey Club in 2018 and is a grandson of Miesque, and is therefore from the immediate family of sires Kingmambo and Karakontie (Jpn) as well as many, many other Group 1 winners. Being by the great Deep Impact out of a Storm Cat mare, Study Of Man will be easy to mate with much of the European broodmare population. He is down to €12,500 from €15,000.

The Irish National Stud stands the Group 3-winning 2-year-old and G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) for €12,000, down from an initial €15,000. Phoenix Of Spain was the most represented of this group at the foal sales, with 45 going through the ring. Thirty-six sold for an average of €30,713/£26,177.

VALUE PODIUM

Bronze: Soldier's Call (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) (Ballyhane Stud, €7,500) – Soldier's Call was a top-class, Royal Ascot-winning

2-year-old who trained on at three to mix it with the best older sprinters. He ran eight times at two, with wins in the Listed Windsor Castle S., G3 Prix d'Arenberg and G2 Flying Childers S. the highlights before he ran third, beaten a neck, in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye against older horses. In his second start at three, Soldier's Call found only the excellent older sprinters Blue Point and Battaash too tough in the G1 King's Stand S., with his Abbaye conqueror Mabs Cross (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}) among those in arrears.

Though Soldier's Call didn't win at three, he put up another excellent performance against elders when second to Battaash in the G1 Nunthorpe S. Out of the listed-winning and Group 3-placed Dijarvo (GB) (Iceman {GB}), Soldier's Call has been popular at Ballyhane Stud; he covered 159 mares in his first season and one more than that last year. He debuted for €10,000 and after standing for €7,500 last year, remains at that fee in 2022.

Silver: Masar (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) (Darley Dalham Hall, £14,000) – A Group 3 winner at two who trained on to win the Derby and from the family of Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire), Masar packs a lot of value into a €14,000 package. Precocious enough to beat Invincible Army to win on debut in May of his 2-year-old season, Masar was third in Royal Ascot's Listed Chesham S. before beating future Classic winner Romanised in the G3 Solario S. and was third in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. The runaway nine-length winner of the G3 Craven S. at three, Masar finished third in the G1 2000 Guineas before stepping up in trip to win the Derby. Masar, by Galileo's high-class son New Approach, is inbred 3×4 to Galileo's blue hen dam Urban Sea, and is therefore from the female family of Galileo himself as well as Sea The Stars and many other Group 1 winners. Masar is the second foal out of Godolphin's dual UAE Classic winner Khawlah (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), who was also third in the G3 Oh So Sharp S. at two. Khawlah has since produced the Group 3-placed Sayyida (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), and she is herself a granddaughter of Galileo and Sea The Stars's listed-winning and dual Oaks-placed half-sister Melikah (Ire) (Lammtarra). Masar covered 138 mares in his debut book at £15,000 and 98 last year at £14,000, the fee at which he remains this year.

Gold: Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (Coolmore Stud, €17,500) – Down to €17,500, St Mark's Basilica's Classic-winning brother, Magna Grecia–who was also a Group 1-winning 2-year-old–looks excellent value. While St Mark's Basilica fills the spotlight on a debut fee of €65,000, it is worth remembering that not only does Magna Grecia bring sparkling racecourse credentials, but is by proven sire of sires Invincible Spirit. Raced by the Coolmore partners in partnership with the Niarchos Family's Flaxman Holdings, Magna Grecia won at first asking at two and finished second to Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB})-beating his stablemate and fellow Value Sire Circus Maximus-in the G3 Autumn S. before beating Phoenix Of Spain in the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy. Magna Grecia was a decisive first-up winner of the 2000 Guineas at three, and retired after running twice more with a rating of 120. Magna Grecia and St Mark's Basilica are out of the precocious G3 Silver Flash S. winner Cabaret (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who is herself a sister to black-type 2-year-olds Ho Choi (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and Drumfire (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). After covering 159 mares in year one at a fee of €22,500, Magna Grecia covered 127 last year at €18,000 and is available for €17,500 this year.

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LFT Requirement For Weighing Room Deferred

Edited Press Release

Recognising the difficulty some participants and officials have had in ordering Lateral Flow Tests (LFTs), the racing industry COVID-19 Group has temporarily deferred the requirement, announced earlier this week, to show a negative lateral flow test to gain entry to the Weighing Room, which was due to take effect at all fixtures from 5 January.

Existing requirements will remain in place, including the need for COVID status certification for all Weighing Room attendees at all fixtures. Anyone unable to provide evidence of vaccination status will continue to require proof of a negative PCR or LFT test.

This pause is to allow participants to secure a supply of tests and we encourage you to continue your efforts to do so. A new implementation date will be announced once LFT supply issues improve.

If you have been able to obtain tests, we recommend you start testing on a regular basis to protect your colleagues should you contract COVID-19. You should not attend a race meeting if you feel unwell in any way and should get a PCR test as soon as possible. Please be aware that the symptoms of Omicron can be very mild to start with. While vaccination with booster remains a key defence against severe illness and death, you may still contract and pass on the virus, hence the value in combining vaccination with regular testing.

On the racecourse, please wear masks and maintain social distancing where possible and as directed, and minimise the time you spend in indoor spaces.

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