Unlike America, the foal crop in Britain and Ireland has been gently on the rise in recent years, up to 13,438 in 2023, compared to 12,778 in 2020, though within that combined number for last year, the Irish crop rose by 4% to 9,082 while the British number was down by 4% at 4,356. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues this year.

Those behind the stallions will be all too aware of the dilemma faced by some of their clients. In Monday's TDN, Coolmore's Mark Byrne said, “Now more so than ever breeders will need to steady the ship and use the good stallions that they can afford.” 

As we discussed in Part II of this series, which looked at stallions under the £/€10,000 mark, for those attempting to breed commercially and second-guess which way the winds of fashion and favour will blow, it truly is a game of chance. As we go up another tier in price, we will try to offer some perspective on both up-and-coming and established stallions which could offer value. This will not include any of the stallions standing their first season this year who were dealt with in Part I of the series.

Proven sires

While for many breeders the Juddmonte high-flyers of Frankel (GB) and Kingman (GB) are out of reach, it is hard to look past two stalwarts of the roster in this division. Bated Breath (GB) had a quieter year in 2023 by his own standards but he has the offspring of his strongest crop on paper to run for him this year and he's a stallion we will surely be hearing plenty more from. Having spent a couple of years at £15,000, he is back down to £10,000 and when considering his yearling average in 2023, of £48,300 for 60 sold, this does look a very workable price for a horse who generally gets good-looking sprinter-milers.

Then there is his fellow resident Oasis Dream (GB), who has been a friend to the British breeding industry for 20 years now and last year had a yearling average of just over £55,000. Yes, he's 24, but at his lowest fee of £15,000 (his career high having been £85,000 ten years ago) he's a decent choice to get a young mare off to a good start. We all know what Oasis Dream can do: his best horses among his 18 Group/Grade 1 winners include his champion two-year-old son Native Trail (GB), who has recently retired to Kildangan Stud, the brilliant Midday (GB) and top sprinter Muhaarar (GB). Oasis Dream is versatile as a sire and increasingly influential as a broodmare sire – from brilliant juvenile sprinter Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) to talented stayer Quickthorn (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). 

And that brings us to Nathaniel, who some now seem to consider a National Hunt sire but that's sheer madness. With a Derby winner and an Oaks winner already in his portfolio, Nathaniel added another two Group 1 winners to his list last year in the Champion Fillies and Mares S. winner Poptronic (GB) and the aforementioned Quickthorn. Both of these horses raced for their breeders, and I guess Nathaniel has a proper owner-breeder profile, but look at how the Blunts and the Blyths have been rewarded for their patience: Poptronic was sold for 1.4 million gns after her Champions' Day success, having also racked up racecourse earnings of £459,815, and Quickthorn has earnings knocking on the door of £800,000.

Nathaniel's fee has gone up again a little this year. After spending three years at £15,000, he is now back at £17,500, but he's still worth it. 

Golden Horn (GB) is another with a National Hunt label around his neck since his move to Overbury Stud but again, if you're an owner-breeder with a bit of patience, he really should not be forgotten. Admittedly, it remains a disappointment that from his early expensive books he has still not produced a Group 1 winner. That is surely coming, but it didn't happen soon enough to stop his fee dropping from £60,000 to £10,000 (having been at £8,000 last year when he covered 162 mares). Sure, plenty of breeders have had their fingers burnt, but he is now at a price which is workable. He had nine stakes winners in 2023, including three Group 2 winners, putting him ahead of some fairly big names, and he certainly should not yet be considered solely a jumps sire.

On the rise

Territories (Ire) is quietly compiling a decent record and is one who could easily be overlooked in the rush for the new stallions. He shouldn't be. Haydock Sprint Cup winner Regional (GB) became his second Group 1 winner last year after the Prix de l'Opera heroine Rougir (Fr), and he was represented by another seven stakes winners in Australia, Britain, Italy and Germany last year. His fee has been pretty consistent: £12,000 for his first four years and £10,000 for the next four. Territories is not necessarily flashy but, from the family of Shamardal and Street Cry (Ire), he has a solid feel to him.

There's a lot of love for Kodi Bear (Ire), particularly in our house, because he is from the family of Roy Rocket (Fr). But that pointless fact aside, he made a decent start with his first crop which included the Group 2 winner Go Bears Go (Ire) and Oaks runner up Mystery Angel (Ire). He needs to build on that, but he has some bigger and more expensive crops on the way through following his early success. This season's two-year-olds were conceived from his lowest fee of €6,000. He's been at €15,000 for the last two seasons and remains at that figure in 2024. Crucially, the market seems to retain faith in his stock.

Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) caught a few people by surprise with the early results of his first two-year-olds, his 18 winners including the G2 Vintage S. winner Haatem (Ire) and giving him a 36% winners to runners strike-rate. His fee for 2024 has been reduced by a third from his opening price of €15,000, and €10,000 seems a reasonable level for this good-moving Classic winner.

Heading into the second season

In France, Sealiway (Fr) was the busiest new stallion of 2023 and, a good juvenile himself, it would be no surprise to see him make a reasonably fast start with his runners. That won't be until 2026, but considering the leap his own increasingly popular sire Galiway (GB) has made, from €3,000 to €30,000, Sealiway's fee of €12,000 may look reasonable in years to come, and he has certainly been lent some support to get his career off to a decent start.

For his personalised breeder bonus scheme alone, which returns for his second year at stud, it is worth taking a chance on Stradivarius (Ire), who covered 120 mares in his first year and remains at £10,000. He's unlikely to get you the Brocklesby winner but if he sires horses in a similar mould to himself, there could be plenty of fun and rewards to be had down the line.

TDN Value Podium

Bronze: Gleneagles (Ire), Coolmore, €17,500

From a top-drawer family, Gleneagles had weighty expectations on his shoulders from the start. While he may not have quite lived up to that level, and his fee has come down accordingly, he has steadily proved himself to be more than useful and was represented by nine group winners last year, while his daughter One Look (Ire) was the easy winner of the Goffs Million on debut, having been picked up for €65,000 as a yearling. In the last two years another three of his daughters have sold for in excess of 500,000gns at the December Mares Sale.

Silver: Ardad (Ire), Overbury Stud, £12,500

Ardad could have a big year in store. From being the leading first-season sire in Britain in 2021, when his son Perfect Power (Ire) won the G2 Norfolk S., G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S., his numbers dropped off keenly to just 18 foals in his third crop, but the success of his first runners meant that his book soared to three figures, and he has 101 two-year-olds in 2024, with 144 yearlings to follow those. From a lowest fee of £4,000 in 2021, he has since then stood at £12,500, which keeps him in a commercial bracket, with a yearling average last year of almost seven times his fee.

Gold: Study Of Man (Ire), Lanwades, £12,500

One of the best-bred stallions in Europe, this son of Deep Impact (Jpn) made a really promising start with his first two-year-olds last year and is another who could be set for a big season. His most obvious Classic prospect from his nine winners at a strike-rate of 35% is Deepone (Ire), winner of the G2 Beresford S., a race whose previous winners include Sea The Stars (Ire), Saxon Warrior (Jpn), and Luxembourg (Ire). But there are others who could well step up on impressive performances last season, including the French-trained Birthe (Ire) and Newmarket winner Sons And Lovers (GB). One would expect his stock to be progressive and there's a number of well-bred youngsters yet to make an appearance, not least a half-brother to the Derby winner Desert Crown (GB).

Breeder's perspective: Tom Whelan, Church View Stables

Gold: Kodi Bear (Ire)

Silver: Supremacy (Ire)

Bronze: Space Blues (Ire)

Breeder and pinhooker Tom Whelan says, “I've had great luck with Kodi Bear so I'd have to put him forward as being the best-value stallion in this bracket. He gets great-looking horses and they all have a great attitude and lovely size for a son of Kodiac (GB). He's just very hard to knock. I'm a huge fan.  

“I have been very taken by some of the progeny of Supremacy. He looks to have a real chance. Another one who had his first foals last year was Space Blues and, while I might be a bit biased here because I got decent money for one, I'd be happy to use him going forward. I better give a mention to two others, Phoenix Of Spain and Lucky Vega (Ire), as they are producing the goods at this level as well.”

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The largest ever contingent from Japan is expected at Park Paddocks this week, and with most of the stallion farms in the region displaying signs saying 'open house' it's the perfect time for international breeders also to consider using a local stallion to cover a new purchase before export. The locals are pretty good after all. Frankel (GB) handed the champion sire trophy to his Newmarket neighbour Dubawi (Ire) at the end of last year and the Juddmonte star is just about to reclaim his title.

There are six mares in foal to Frankel in this week's December Mares catalogue and while there are none carrying to Dubawi, there are 12 opportunities to buy a mare in foal to the young British sire currently tearing up the charts: Havana Grey (GB). They include Zuhoor Baynoona (Ire) (Elnadim), a half-sister to the dual Group 1 winner Hello Youmzain (Fr) (Kodiac {GB}), who has already produced three winners and is being sold by Cheveley Park Stud as Lot 1651.

Driving rain throughout Sunday didn't stop plenty of hardy breeders getting around to the stallion farms on the quiet day between the end of the foal sale and the start of the mares. 

At Lanwades, there was an extra treat in store, and I don't mean the excellent fish pie. Along with inspecting Bobby's Kitten, Sea The Moon (Ger) and Study Of Man (Ire), there was the chance to see Bobby's Kitten's newly retired daughter, the treble Group 2 winner Sandrine (GB), and Listed winner Alpenblume (GB) (Kendargent {Fr}), the half-sister to last year's Arc heroine Alpinista (GB). Both will be visiting Alpinista's sire Frankel (GB) in the new year.

Beech House Stud is now properly back in business as a stallion operation with the Shadwell trio of Baaeed (GB), Mohaather (GB) and Mostahdaf (Ire) all based there permanently. The new year heralds important times for all three. Mostahdaf is set to cover his first book of mares as Baaeed's first foals arrive on the ground. Come spring and summer we shall start to see how the good-walking Mohaather gets on with his first runners. 

A Baaeed bobble hat graced the top of the Shadwell Christmas tree, loyally decorated in blue and white, and a newly installed stallion roll of honour reminded us just what an important place Beech House Stud has been over the years. For a small taster, think Nearco, Crepello, St Paddy and Ardross. 

On to Dalham Hall Stud to see a trio of new recruits and the marquee proved very popular thanks to the mulled wine, giant doughnuts and a few moments to dry out in the warmth. Modern Games (Ire) already looked properly settled in the yard which has also been the long-term home of his sire Dubawi (Ire) and broodmare sire New Approach (Ire), while fellow newcomer Triple Time (Ire) looked equally at home posing outside the box of Cracksman (GB), who was the first son of Frankel (GB) to retire to stud in Britain and is this year joined by Triple Time, Mostahdaf and Chaldean (GB) in Newmarket alone, while Onesto (Ire) is now at stud in France, and Adayar (Ire) and Westover (GB) are settling in to a new life in Japan.

There was also the opportunity to see the imposing former champion two-year-old and Classic winner Native Trail (GB) before he starts his stud career at Kildangan Stud in Ireland. 

Fading light, encroaching cold and the need to scribble a few notes meant that visits to other farms will have to be made in the coming days, but a heartfelt thank you to all the studs for being so accommodating, and special thanks to the hardy stallion handlers showing in the cold and wet weather. Your efforts are hugely appreciated.

A New Avenue for McStay

With Tattersalls being back in the spotlight from 9.30 on Monday morning, we return to this week's important business of selling fillies and mares. Mark McStay, the man behind Avenue Bloodstock, has added a new string to his bow in launching a consigning element to his business under the name of Avenue Sales. McStay brings two mares who have each been represented by high-class winners during 2023.

Opening up the first of two Sceptre Sessions on Monday will be Sulaalaat (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) the 11-year-old dam of G2 Rockfel S. winner Carla's Way (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) and from the family of the champion racemare The Fugue (GB) (Dansili {GB}).

“Historically I've sold my own horses or unofficially helped my parents when they've been selling yearlings over the years,” McStay explained. “I've been standing outside stable doors for 30 years, so this was always something that I thought I'd do at some stage. For the last few years I've helped Taylor Made when they've brought horses over. Obviously I have a number of clients with some nice stock that they wanted to sell, particularly the two that we have here this week.”

He continues, “We had a couple of late withdrawals which means that the consignment is a little smaller than I had envisaged but it's a good starting point. 

“We have the dam of Carla's Way, who is by New Approach, a really good broodmare sire. She's a good-looking mare and Carla's Way was awesome at the breeze-up sales and she's turned out to be one of the superstars on the track this year who is now a live Guineas prospect.”

Anisette (GB) (Awtaad {Ire}), who started her winning in England this time last year, has flourished since moving to the United States, where she has won the GI Del Mar Oaks and GII San Clemente H for Leonard Powell. Her dam, Tutti Frutti (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), a close relation to the G1 Nassau S. winner Sultanina (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), is also 11 and is consigned by Avenue Sales on behalf of the Morera Partnership in Tuesday's Sceptre Session as Lot 1774.

“Anisette was bred by some friends of mine and then I sold her to Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbreds,” McStay says. “I've followed her career with huge interest and she's the highest-rated three-year-old turf filly in America at the moment. She goes for the American Oaks on 26 December. She's already a Grade I and a Grade II winner out there and she's a really exciting prospect.

“The mare is in foal to Magna Grecia and she's a magnificent-looking mare, so hopefully she will sell very well.”

Of his decision to branch out into consigning, he adds, “Being a bloodstock agent, you're a natural salesperson, whether you're buying or standing outside a stable door selling a horse. When you're buying you have to sell the idea to the client and pitch the horse to the end-user. These two mares should really sell themselves but I'll have my shoulder to the wheel to make sure we can get the last bid for my clients. It's important that people feel like you're working for them if they've put their faith in you, and over the last few years in my agency business I've been fortunate that I've had people who have put their faith in me. 

“This is now a progression in my life, and my wife Eva is going to be involved. And we've got great staff: Mick O'Dwyer and Tony Murphy are going to be helping us, and fingers crossed that it will build and keep going. 

“I'm really excited, and Tattersalls have put together a great catalogue, so let's hope that it all falls into place.”

It's not all about the Sceptre Sessions, however. At all levels of the market there are entries with plenty going for them. Lot 1386 Rekindle (GB), was bought from the Juddmonte draft at this sale five years ago for 170,000gns. Though unraced, it is easy why she commanded such a price as the daughter of Frankel is out of Hot Snap (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), herself a Group 3-winning half-sister to the brilliant Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Returning at the age of eight, Rekindle is now offered for sale by Houghton Bloodstock in foal to Too Darn Hot (GB), whose eight foals sold last week averaged 126,500gns on the back of a solid season for his first runners. 

The Juddmonte draft this time is split between the Monday and Tuesday and on each day is scheduled to sell just ahead of the Sceptre Sessions. On Tuesday there is the rare chance to buy a daughter of blue hen Hasili (GB) when Very Good News (Empire Maker) is offered as Lot 1754 with a March 31 cover to New Bay (GB). Among her four winners, the 15-year-old mare has two stakes-placed multiple winners by Frankel and also has a two-year-old filly and yearling colt by the same stallion still to run for her. 

As already mentioned, the next few months will see the appearance of the first foals of last year's top-rated turf horse in the world, Baaeed (GB). If you can't wait to send Baaeed a mare in 2024, there are 11 mares to be sold in foal to him this week, including Patronising (GB). The daughter of Galileo (Ire) is Lot 1824 from Minster Enterprises and is a half-sister to the Group 1 winner Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) whose own Galileo-sired dynasty includes the Classic winners Minding (Ire), Tuesday (Ire) and Empress Josephine (Ire).

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Some have now faded from everyday use, and for this fan the Ballymacoll Stud colours are much missed. Certain silks have such resonance that one almost doesn't need to have a race card handy to have an educated guess at the standard of certain races about to happen, and if the colours of the Niarchos family are spotted in the parade ring then it's a safe bet that there's a classy maiden or Pattern race in store. 

Happily, those distinctive colours are not about to disappear, though the restructuring of the family's bloodstock operation has brought about a proper 'bloodstock event', and one which offers a mouthwatering opportunity for other breeders to buy into some of the best Niarchos pedigrees. 

Forty of their fillies and mares will be offered at Goffs next week. Friday's session is likely to be the liveliest of the November Breeding Stock Sale since the Wildenstein Stables dispersal of 2016 or the Paulyn dispersal a decade ago when Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), sold for €6 million to Coolmore, became the most expensive horse ever to sell in Ireland.

“We had a big draft last November at Goffs but this one is exceptional because the offerings include three homebred Group 1 winners,” says Alan Cooper, who has been the Niarchos family's racing manager for almost 40 years.

He adds with no little understatement, “It's a very special gathering of the family's stock.”

Before we run through some of the bluebloods on offer, it is worth emphasising that the Niarchos family will still be developing these equine families through the young stock being retained. More than 100 horses, including those in training, remain within their ownership.

“It's not a dispersal,” says Cooper. “These are going to auction but from each of the core families, we've got several fillies who are either foals, yearlings, or two-year-olds of this year going forward. We're not cutting the tie with any of the top families. That is important because Maria and her father and her brothers have built this up, and it's still ongoing.”

Stavros Niarchos, the Greek shipping tycoon, made a significant impact on the world of Thoroughbred breeding in the second half of the twentieth century, and his passion for the sport was shared by his daughter Maria Niarchos-Gouaze, one of his five children, who took on the running of the bloodstock sector of her father's empire following his death in 1996. 

Earlier this year, Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard, the Normandy farm bought by Stavros Niarchos in 1979, was put up for sale. It had previously been home at different times in their lives to such luminaries of the turf as Nureyev, his incredible daughter Miesque, and her influential son Kingmambo (Mr. Prospector). Other top names include Hernando (Ire) (Niniski) and his son Sulamani (Ire), both of whom were winners of the Prix du Jockey Club, and the Breeders' Cup Mile victrix Six Perfections (Fr) (Celtic Swing {GB}).

Members of those families and more are included in the draft for next week's sale. As referred to above, three Group 1 winners form the cornerstone of that elite group. 

Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), the Prix Marcel Boussac winner whose first foal by Wootton Bassett (GB) sold for €460,000 as a yearling this season, is offered as Lot 1212 from Baroda Stud and is in foal to St Mark's Basilica (Fr). She also has a weanling filly by Dubawi (Ire) on the ground. 

Later, as Lot 1240 from Kiltinan Castle Stud, comes Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), the G1 Coronation S .winner who was runner-up in the G1 Prix de Diane, G1 Jacques Le Marois ad G1 Prix de l'Opera. She is in foal to Frankel (GB) and had a colt foal by the same stallion.

It remains to be seen which of the draft becomes the jewel of the crown in broodmare terms, but as a racehorse it is easy to argue the case for Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), who sells last of all as Lot 1263 from Norelands and is in foal to Sea The Stars (Ire), carrying what will be her fourth offspring. On the track she was both the European champion three-year-old filly and champion three-year-old miler of 2018, when her wins included the Irish 1,000 Guineas, Coronation S., Falmouth S., and Prix Jacques Le Marois, which ran under the long-term sponsorship of the Niarchos family. 

Alpine Star and Alpha Centauri are half-sisters and daughters of the Rahy mare Alpha Lupi, representing the family which has become synonymous with the name Niarchos. Their granddam was another Jacques Le Marois winner and dual Classic heroine, East Of The Moon (Private Account), herself a daughter of one of the most revered mares of the modern era, Miesque. The latter's many Group/Grade 1 triumphs included back-to-back wins in both the Jacques Le Marois and Breeders' Cup Mile, as well as victories in the 1,000 Guineas, Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, Prix Marcel Boussac, Prix de la Salamandre, and Prix d'Ispahan. And that was just the entree to Miesque's celebrated career at stud.

The Hall of Famer produced the aforementioned Classic winners Kingmambo and East Of The Moon, as well as the Group 3 winners Miesque's Son (Mr. Prospector) and Mingun (A.P. Indy), Listed winner Moon Is Up (Woodman) and stakes-placed Inventing Paradise (Mr. Prospector). Another daughter, Second Happiness (Storm Cat), is the dam of  the Prix du Jockey Club winner and young sire Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), while another, Kingmambo's full-sister Monevassia, is the dam of Group 1 winner Rumplestiltskin (Ire) (Danehill).

Along with the aforementioned Group 1 winners, Miesque's direct line is also represented in the three-year-old Frankel filly Humankind (Lot 1104). Meanwhile, another branch of the family appears through Miesque's half-sister Yogya (Riverman), the dam of Six Perfections whose daughter Raja Ampat (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) features as Lot 1259 and is carrying a member of the first crop of Baaeed (GB). 

Six Perfections's unraced four-year-old granddaughter See (War Front) is Lot 1105, and that filly's full-sister La Fiamma is Lot 1181, and is sold in foal to Mehmas (Ire).

Another family which has stood the operation in great stead is that of Coup De Folie, the Halo mare bought from her breeder EP Taylor as a yearling who went on to win the G3 Prix d'Aumale. She later become the dam of Machiavellian (Mr. Prospector), his fellow Group 1 winner and full-sister Coup De Genie, and Exit To Nowhere (Irish River {Fr}), who was yet another winner of the Jacques Le Marois in the Niarchos silks.

That line thrives still, notably through Coup De Genie's daughter Moonlight's Box (Nureyev), the dam of Arc winner Bago (Fr) (Nashwan), dual Group 1 winner Maxios (GB) (Monsun {Ger}) and Listed-placed Malicieuse (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose Deep Impact daughter Bold As Love (Ire) gets the ball rolling when offered as Lot 1102, the first of the draft.

Worldwide influences loom large among the Niarchos broodmare band, which has ties beyond Europe, to America, South Africa, and Australia. Significantly the family has long had strong links to Japan, before other major owner-breeders caught on to this fertile source of class. 

“Maria was definitely a precursor of the modern age on that,” says Cooper. “And thanks to the good relations we built up with Teruya and Chizu Yoshida, which came through Hector Protector going over [to stud in Japan]. We sent him mares and then sent mares to Sunday Silence and then Deep Impact as well. And we branched out every now and again, we took mares to Bago, of course, and Lord Kanaloa, Daiwa Major.”

He continues, “And we've even got some Australian influence in the draft, with Dawn Wall [by Fastnet Rock] in there and Provocateuse by Pride of Dubai. It's truly global.”

One of those mares sent to the Classic-winning homebred Hector Protector, who was later sold to Zenya Yoshida of Shadai Farm for his stallion career, was Lingerie (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}), a daughter of another important founder of a dynasty in Northern Trick (Northern Dancer), winner of the G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Prix Vermeille. 

Lingerie's daughter Shiva was foaled in Japan and exported to Europe where she won the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. Her half-sister Light Shift (Kingmambo), also trained by Henry Cecil, later won the Oaks. Five members of Lingerie's family are catalogued, including Shiva's Listed-winning daughter That Which Is Not (Elusive Quality), the dam of Group 3 winner Piz Badile (Ire), who is by another Niarchos-bred stallion in Ulysses (Ire).

The 40 mares are spread between the drafts of Norelands, Baroda and Kiltinan Castle Studs, and are also dotted evenly through the Friday of the catalogue in groups of five or six. 

“All those studs have boarded mares for us,” Cooper explains. “With this number of horses we thought it was best to divide them up between these teams, who all do a wonderful job. We thought it was very manageable that way for us, too. It would be too much for everybody to sit and watch 40 horses go through together.”

Cooper arrived at the Niarchos family's London office in February 1984 to work as assistant to Sir Philip Payne-Gallwey, the former racing manager to Stavros Niarchos who played such a key role in the operation's success through his purchase of Miesque's sire and dam, Nureyev and Pasadoble, as well as Northern Trick, as yearlings in Kentucky.

“He went back to the BBA in 1987 and I've been here ever since,” says Cooper. “Karen Clark was here before me, and she's still very much part of the original team.”

Of the draft itself, he adds, “It goes back to the yearling fillies purchased in the 80s: you've got Pasadoble, the dam of Miesque; Coup De Folie, the dam of Coup De Genie, and so much has come down from those two alone. But then you spread out and another branch of Miesque's family was Yogya, the dam of Six Perfections, another family goes back to Rare Mint, and we've got a great-granddaughter of hers, Celestial Lagoon, represented through several of her daughters. Then you've got Lyrism, the dam of Whakilyric, who is the third dam of Nature Spirits.

“So there's a lot of families that we've had for generations. It's quite a history.”

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His latest winner, however, is perhaps the most special to Kirsten Rausing, the owner of Lanwades Stud where the son of Deep Impact (Jpn) stands. On Saturday at Newmarket, the newcomer Sons And Lovers (GB) got up on the line to win the seven-furlong juvenile maiden. Rausing, who bred the colt from the Smart Strike mare So In Love (GB), races him in partnership with her close friends Hugo and Maya Morriss, two immensely popular members of the Newmarket racing fraternity and the former owners of Banstead Manor Stud. Hugo was also a long-serving steward at both Newmarket racecourses. 

He and his wife Maya, who has been on long-term dialysis treatment, were able to be at the Rowley Mile thanks to the forethought of Jane Chapple-Hyam, who trains Sons And Lovers and gained special permission for the Morrises to be brought near to the winning line on the far side of the track in a mobility vehicle, which allowed Maya to watch from her wheelchair in the company of her trainer and her friend Wendy Milbank.

Chapple-Hyam explained how she gave the owners an impromptu race-call as their colt made his debut. “I'm not a very good commentator,” she said. “It went something along the lines of 'sat last, now joint-second last, he has pulled out and is third' and then, 'he is coming through', then, 'oh, he's won!'”

The trainer added, “I was expecting him to finish in the first three. He is a lovely horse. He is still a bit raw and he has got bit of maturing to do. He is a lovely mover but I was worried the ground might be too quick. I think we will put him away now and look forward to next season.”

Parading in front of the stands is usually the preserve of Group 1 winners but, before returning to the winner's enclosure, jockey David Egan brought Sons And Lovers partially back down the track to greet the Morrisses. It was a touching move that wouldn't have been witnessed by many on course on Saturday, but meant the world to Hugo and Maya Morriss.

Just over an hour earlier, the brilliant Inspiral (GB) and Frankie Dettori had stolen the show with a dazzling performance in the Sun Chariot, but far and away the most moving moment of the day was seeing that two-year-old, brimming with promise, head over to the far rail to be greeted by his delighted owners. In tough times, these Thoroughbreds have a way of lifting us up. Of helping us dream of better days to come. 

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It's curtain up this Friday for the European yearling sales season, and we all know what that means: Christmas is right around the corner. For breeders and stallion masters, results on the track are important at any time of the year, but they become ever more crucial in the coming weeks and months, with a fresh update providing the pedigree equivalent of gold dust when trying to sell a yearling.

There can be none fresher than the Group 1 victory on Saturday of Amo Racing's Bucanero Fuerte (GB) in the Keeneland Phoenix S. The colt, who is named after a brand of Cuban beer, no doubt prompted the imbibing of a similar product for those closely involved in his career, as he provided a first top-level win for Kia Joorabchian's outfit. He also became the seventh Group 1 winner for his sire, Wootton Bassett (GB). Remarkably, two of those have the same dam, Frida La Blonde (Fr) (Elusive City), with Bucanero Fuerte having followed his brother, the Prix de l'Abbaye winner Wooded (Ire), in snaring a Group 1 success.

When you look at their pedigrees and see the names of Wootton Bassett on top and Elusive City on the bottom line, it is not hard to come to the conclusion that all roads lead to Normandy's Haras d'Etreham, and this is indeed where Frida La Blonde is boarded by her breeder Maurice Lagasse of  Gestüt Zur Küste.

The Swiss-based operation has been behind a good deal of decent winners, most notably Teppal (Fr) (Camacho {GB}), the heroine of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches in 2018 on the same day that another Gestüt Zur Küste-bred, Dice Roll (Fr) (Showcasing {GB}), was third in the Poulains. The G2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier winner San Huberto (Ire) (Speightstown) won his first stakes race in his breeder Lagasse's colours before being part-sold to OTI Racing.

The pairing of Frida La Blonde, whom Lagasse bred in partnership with Pontchartrain Stud, with Wootton Bassett has also yielded the Group 3-placed Beat Le Bon (Fr), who was her first foal, but the 12-year-old mare has visited Dubawi (Ire) twice since foaling Bucanero Fuerte. Her yearling daughter by the Darley stallion is set to sell on Saturday as lot 214 from the Etreham draft.

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the Amo team rather likes Wootton Bassett. Robson Aguiar was effusive in his praise of Bucanero Fuerte when he spoke to Brian Sheerin last week ahead of the Phoenix, and he can take much of the credit for presenting Joorabchian, who co-owns the colt with Aguiar's wife Giselle, with a commercial stallion prospect, having bought him last year at Arqana for €165,000.

Then there's the imposing King Of Steel, by the same sire, and surely a Group 1 winner in waiting following his runner-up finishes in the Derby and King George, which sandwiched his victory in the G2 King Edward VII S. The contrasting characteristics of these two colts speak to the versatility of Wootton Bassett as a stallion, with his top runners having struck from five furlongs to a mile and a half. Like their sire himself, a number of them are precocious: Al Riffa, Zellie and Bucanero Fuerte are all Group 1 winners at two, and this set may well expand on Sunday if the Coventry S. winner River Tiber (Ire) can extend his unbeaten record in the Sumbe Prix Morny. Wootton Bassett's record with juveniles was further enhanced over the weekend by the victory of Grey Man (Fr) in the G3 Prix Francois Boutin.

Though Wootton Bassett did not really make his mark beyond his own two-year-old season, he atoned for that from the off at stud as he got the European champion three-year-old Almanzor (Fr) from his tiny first crop born in 2013. His Breeders' Cup-winning daughter Audarya (Fr) excelled at four over 10 furlongs, the same distance over which Incarville (Fr) proved best in the Prix Saint-Alary.

After Almanzor's flamboyant start, there was a three-year wait for another Group 1 winner by Wootton Bassett, but let's not forget that his early crops numbered just 23, 18, 45 and 47. Since Audarya, who was foaled in 2016, there has been a Group 1 winner emerge from each of his five subsequent crops.

Almanzor's sterling work in 2016 meant that the following year there were 92 Wootton Bassett foals, a figure which held more or less steady until the three-figure mark was first breached in 2021, when there were 127 on the ground. That was the last batch conceived at Haras d'Etreham, whose Nicolas de Chambure must take great credit in helping to establish the son of Iffraaj (GB) as one of the most desirable stallions in Europe, so much so that he was bought by Coolmore and has stood at their Irish base for three seasons, commanding a fee of €150,000 for the last two years.

It is safe to say that Wootton Bassett has not been short of suitors in Tipperary. He is listed as having covered 229 mares in 2021 and 249 last year. Their names are as starry as they are abundant. Twenty-six members of his first Irish-conceived crop are catalogued for Arqana this week, among them a daughter of the Oaks winner Was (Ire), who is bred on the cross with Galileo (Ire) that has already yielded Al Riffa, who is set to run in Tuesday's G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano. We can expect to see plenty more of his runners bred this way.

With the increase in both the number and the quality of mares that Wootton Bassett has received in recent seasons, it will be a surprise if the exploits of his stock are not filling the racing pages for years to come.

Hot Forecast

Talking of timely updates, the former champion two-year-old Too Darn Hot (GB) was represented by his first group winner at the weekend with a determined performance from Steve Parkin's smart filly Fallen Angel (GB) in the G3 Sweet Solera S.

Simon Marsh, manager of Watership Down Stud where Too Darn Hot was bred, showed a smart turn of foot himself in getting to Newmarket's winner's enclosure to greet the Clipper Logistics colour-bearer, and he was quick to remind us that Too Darn Hot didn't appear on the racecourse until that same week in 2018. From his winning debut in mid-August, he collected a win in every group division to finish the season unbeaten and be crowned champion juvenile. He currently has eight winners from his 33 runners.

Fallen Angel already held the accolade of being her sire's first winner when making a successful debut back in May. She earned her first sliver of black type with a runner-up finish in the Listed Star S., and it would be no surprise to see her chart a similar path to her talented but somewhat ill-fated mother, Agnes Stewart (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), who won the G2 May Hill S. and was second in the G1 Fillies' Mile.

With injury hijacking Agnes Stewart's three-year-old season, and colic claiming her life after Fallen Angel, the last of her four foals, was born, it would certainly be pleasing for the team at Parkin's Branton Court Stud to welcome her daughter back there eventually. As a Group 3 winner, Fallen Angel has already earned her place in the broodmare band, but let's hope there's plenty more to come on the track first.

Up and Coming

It is the time of year when the juvenile races start to become much more interesting. One would question the wisdom of having the pretty much identical Group 1 contests of the Phoenix S. and the Prix Morny just eight days apart, but this coming Sunday's line-up should be pretty stellar, and will hopefully pitch Christopher Head's filly Ramatuelle (Justify) against the aforementioned River Tiber, whose trainer Aidan O'Brien opted for Deauville over the Curragh, and possibly the recent G2 Richmond S. winner Vandeek (GB). The latter's sire Havana Grey (GB) continues to go from strength to strength and was second in the Morny himself to his stable-mate Unfortunately (Ire).

Amo Racing have rarely been unrepresented in juvenile stakes races this season, and this weekend they could have the G2 Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) in action for Bucanero Fuerte's trainer Adrian Murray as well as the Dominic Ffrench-Davis-trained G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. victrix Persian Dreamer (Ire) (Calyx {GB}).

The Irish National Stud's Phoenix Of Spain (Ire), who beat Too Darn Hot in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, has crept into the picture in the first-season sires' table. He's had just 17 runners to date, but six of them have won, including the G3 Vintage S. winner Haatem (Ire). Similarly, another European Classic winner, Lanwades Stud's Study Of Man (Ire), has made an encouraging start with three winners from just eight runners. His dual winner Deepone (GB), trained by Paddy Twomey, garnered some black type on Friday when a close second to Warnie (Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}) in the Listed Coolmore Stud Churchill S.

It is also worth noting that City Light (Fr), Etreham's son of Siyouni (Fr), has eight winners from 19 starters, giving him a strike-rate just above 40%.

Inspiral Emulates Miesque

The Prix Jacques Le Marois has become something of a Gosden benefit in the last decade, with John, and later John and Thady Gosden, winning five of the last ten runnings, including four consecutive victories with just two horses: Palace Pier (GB), who is a son of the 2014 winner Kingman (GB), and now Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Cheveley Park Stud's four-year-old remained unbeaten as a juvenile  and is now a Group 1 winner in each of her three seasons.

Only one other filly, the great Miesque (Nureyev), has won the Jacques Le Marois twice, and in joining her, Inspiral provided Frankie Dettori with an emotional big-race success on his final ride at Deauville. She may yet give him a chance to shine at Santa Anita, with her trainers considering the Breeders' Cup Mile on the first weekend of November after Inspiral's 'win and you're in' success in Deauville.

Thousand Stars

While there was Group 1 action occurring just a stone's throw from his Deauville stable, Stephane Wattel crossed the border to Germany to notch his first win at the top level on Sunday with Simca Mille (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) in the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin.

Torquator Tasso (Ger) and Alpinista (GB) both went on to score in the Arc in the year after winning Hoppegarten's major prize. Perhaps that means we should be following Rebel's Romance (Ire) this year, and Simca Mille in 2024, though Wattel is already eyeing that prize for his four-year-old Haras de la Perelle homebred this season, and rightly so.

Simca Mille has run at Longchamp  on four occasions, winning two Group 2 contests, the Prix Niel and the Prix d'Harcourt, and twice finishing runner-up, in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Prix Ganay. In fact, he has only ever been out of the first two twice in his 14 starts and it had long appeared to be only a matter of time before he claimed his own Group 1 triumph. Simca Mille also gave his young jockey Alexis Pouchin his second Group 1 victory in as many weeks, following the win of Mqse De Sevigne (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the Prix Rothschild a fortnight earlier.

Sweeping the Board

Croom House Stud's Sweepstake (Ire) is already a noted matriarch as the dam of the multiple group winners Broome (Ire) and Point Lonsdale (Ire), who are both sons of Australia (GB). Her two youngest racing offspring have both added to the 18-year-old mare's record since the start of August, with Saadiyat (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) having won at Vichy on Aug. 2 for Al Shira'aa Farms. The juvenile Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) followed suit when making a scintillating debut at the Curragh on Saturday to win his maiden by almost five lengths. He was awarded a TDN Rising Star for his efforts.

As a 2.4 million-guinea yearling, he is his dam's most expensive offspring to date, but his siblings haven't exactly been cheap. Sweepstake has certainly done her bit to help balance the Croom House books, as another eight of her offspring have been sold for six-figure sums as yearlings.

From the first crop of Acclamation (GB), Sweepstake became her sire's second stakes winner in the same week that Pencil Hill (Ire) beat her to the punch when holding off You'resothrilling (Storm Cat) to win a Listed contest at the Curragh. This duo emanated from the same crop that also produced the G1 Middle Park S. winner Dark Angel (Ire), who on Saturday was represented by his 100th black-type winner when Heredia (GB) landed the Listed Dick Hern S for owner/breeder Andrew Stone of St Albans Bloodstock.

Fev Takes The Bev

It takes a little adjustment to get used to the Arlington Million and the Beverly D S. being run at Virginia's Colonial Downs rather than in Chicago, but both those Grade 1 contests last Saturday fell to familiar names on this side of the pond.

Juddmonte's Set Piece (GB), by the late Dansili (GB), took the Million. Winner of the Listed Hyde S. and third in the Craven for Hugo Palmer before joining Brad Cox, the seven-year-old gelding has been a solid performer in America with five graded stakes wins to his credit.

Not quite so advanced in years, the Manister House Stud-bred Fev Rover (Ire), now five, continued her admirable career with her first top-level strike in the Beverley D. The daughter of Gutaifan (Ire), who is by the aforementioned Dark Angel, claimed the first of her wins at two in the Listed Star S. for Richard Fahey, before landing the G2 Prix Calvados and finishing fourth in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac. She was third in the 1,000 Guineas the following May and though she didn't manage another win in Europe, she strung together enough impressive runs to ensure a 695,000gns price tag when she went through the Tattersalls December Sale and was bought by Tracy Farmer. She has rewarded her new owner and her trainer Mark Casse with victories in the GII Canadian S. and GII Nassau S. and two further Grade 1 placings prior to Saturday.

Fev Rover is out of the High Chaparral (Ire) mare Laurelita (Ire), and her three-parts-brother has been catalogued for the Goffs Orby Sale on Sept. 27, selling through breeder Luke Barry's Manister House draft.

Barry was understandably delighted with the latest important update for the family. He said, “We're chuffed to bits. It's becoming more and more important to breed good horses. It's the Group 1 winners that catch people's attention and we've had so many messages from well-wishers.

“She's actually the third Group 1 winner we've sold at Doncaster after La Collina (Ire) and Law Enforcement (Ire). That's always been a lucky sale for us.

“Laurelita's yearling colt was bred specifically to produce a racehorse–it's a good cross–and she is now back in foal to Starspangledbanner.”

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Even the greatest handlers of young stock, Malcolm Bastard, Alan McCabe, Joseph O'Brien, Conor Hoban and Dick Brabazon, men who know better than most the folly that comes with predicting 2-year-old talent, are keen to have their say on which up-and-coming stallion can make the biggest splash this season. 

O'Brien is sticking loyal to Ten Sovereigns (Ire) in his prediction for first-season sire championship honours while Bastard, who broke and pre-trained Too Darn Hot (GB), has reported striking similarities between the unbeaten champion 2-year-old and his stock.

Meanwhile, Dick Brabazon, one of the finest horsemen in Ireland who has had Snow Fairy (Ire) (Intikhab) and Exultant (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) through his Curragh base, has taken a swing on Study Of Man (Ire) to come up trumps with a top-notcher.

Welcome to this year's earliest predictions to what the next Mehmas (Ire), Cotai Glory (GB) or Havana Grey (GB) will be. Each opinion is right until proven otherwise and, for starters, Bastard, McCabe and Hoban are in agreement that the bookmakers have found the right favourite in Blue Point (Ire), priced up as a general 5-2 market leader by most firms.

McCabe, who pre-trains for Rabbah Bloodstock, Simon Crisford and Charlie Appleby among others, is particularly keen on Blue Point's stock and said, “I think he will make a big splash. I think that bookmarkers are barking up the same tree as I am with Blue Point as I think he will go well in the first-season sire championship. In fact, there was a very smart Blue Point colt I was dealing with, and he's gone into Simon Crisford's. He was the smartest Blue Point I had and, if he is not winning up at the July Course at Newmarket, I'd be very surprised.”

Bastard agrees.

Malcolm Bastard | Racingfotos.com

He said, “We have six or seven Blue Points and they are nice solid horses who are very good in their minds. They all have nice action about them. They are only just cantering away nicely at this time of year, so it is difficult to say, but the Too Darn Hots and the Blue Points stand out a little bit at the moment. The Blue Points are definitely not early horses, not ours anyway.”

But it's the Too Darn Hots who have set the temperature at Bastard's Wiltshire operation with the renowned handler of young stock particularly impressed by the progeny of the young sire.

“I have about a dozen Too Darn Hots and they are very similar to him. From day one, he cantered like an old pro–he was a beautiful-moving colt–and his progeny seem to be the very same. I think they will be late summer horses, if not autumn horses, like he was. They will be seven furlongs plus and they are not going to be sprinters so he's probably priced right [at 14-1]. You'd expect him to have a really good number of winners by the end of the season and quality horses out of that number as well.”

Hoban may be one of the newest names on the Irish scene but he has made a major impact already. The professional jockey has had two Classic winners, Magical Lagoon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Sonnyboyliston (Ire) (Power {GB}), through his hands and has built up an impressive portfolio working with Barnane Stud, Yulong Investments, Johnny Murtagh, Eddie Lynam, Jessica Harrington and Paddy Twomey.

Along with the progeny of Blue Point, Hoban nominated Invincible Army (Ire) to throw down an early marker this spring, and said, “I have a very nice Invincible Army colt. He'll be going to one of the breeze-up sales and he seems to be doing everything well. He's the only Invincible Army I have but I'd be keen to recruit more of them at the sales as everything about him is promising. He just has a lovely way of going and nothing seems to phase him. I'm very interested in the sire.”

Hoban added, “I don't have a Ten Sovereigns but there seems to be a bit of chat about them, which is interesting, and the couple of Blue Points that I have are really nice. They are forward-going, are strong and seem to have good minds. I've had a couple of Phoenix Of Spain (Ire)s as well and, while they won't be that precocious, they are well-balanced horses who have great attitudes. They will be more for the second half of the year.”

One man who has his fair share of Ten Sovereigns to work with is O'Brien and he likes what he sees.

“It's early days, obviously, but we've been lucky enough to have accumulated quite a few by Ten Sovereigns and we really like what we are seeing from them,” the trainer said.

McCabe has the biggest sample size to choose from given he has broken in the best part of 100 yearlings to go into training for this year and, while he admits a certain amount of luck is needed for a stallion to break through, he identified a broad spectrum of young sires whose stock has impressed him.

Blue Point: favourite for the first-season sire championship | Racingfotos.com

He said, “I'd be very keen on the Masar (Ire)s and the Too Darn Hots as well. The Blue Points are a sharp bunch and they look as though they will be 2-year-old types and the Too Darn Hots are just beautiful horses. They are lovely to deal with and are all very good-looking horses. We like them a lot.

“The Masars are very similar to the first Night Of Thunder (Ire)s. They're very honest horses and I'd imagine he will be pretty successful. Masar won over seven furlongs as a 2-year-old and was no slouch. He'd a great constitution as a racehorse and, like Night Of Thunder, they come in all different shapes and sizes. They seem to have good minds and are easy to work with.

“I only had one Magna Grecia (Ire) colt but I liked him a lot. He looked like he would be a runner. I have a little filly by Intrinsic (GB) and she goes very well. Intrinsic won a Stewards Cup and his trainer Robert Cowell said that, if he didn't get injured, he'd definitely have been a group horse. He's only had a handful of runners and he's had winners, with one of them [Intrinsic Bond (GB)] achieving an RPR of 101 so he may not be a bad sire at all. I know he's not a first-season sire but we've a lovely Kodi Bear (Ire) as well and I'd be a fan of him as a sire.”

On the championship as a whole, he added, “I used to ride Kheleyf and nobody would have predicted he'd have done what he did at stud. You get horses who you think will do well at stud and they don't do it for whatever reason and then you get others who you think will be basement level and they come up with the goods. It's very hard to predict but, if I was a betting man, I'd be rowing in behind Blue Point to get rocking and rolling early. You need a lot of luck.”

One stallion who is a longer shot at ending the year as the champion first-season sire is Study Of Man but, for different reasons, the stock of the impeccably-bred French Derby winner has impressed Brabazon.

He explained, “We deal more with the owner-breeder type of horse, the one that will be slower to mature, but still, when I go through my list, we've got a nice filly by Magna Grecia and another by Phoenix Of Spain. But if I was to nominate one sire that I am particularly interested in the progeny of, it would have to be Study Of Man, as the two that we have by him are very athletic, hardy and tough types. He could be a very interesting sire and it would be great if Deep Impact (Jpn) had a major influence over here given what he achieved in Japan. He's a horse I will follow with great interest this year. His granddam is Miesque so it is one hell of a pedigree. Saxon Warrior (Jpn) has got going in Ireland so it will be really interesting to see how Study Of Man gets on. Now, it's only February, and I might be talking nonsense at this early stage in the year, but these two Study Of Man fillies have really caught our eye.

“We've only just started out on the Curragh gallops with our 2-year-olds now. I am beside the Old Vic gallop and we've only just started with the colts cantering up the Old Vic now. We'll get the fillies going now soon. It's all about education for me. I am not the trainer, so I let the trainer train them and I only educate them. I am always shouting at the riders to remember they are only babies. Sometimes they start scooting around on them if they start showing a bit but I always try to mind them and turn the horses into a career horse for their owners. I am not going to win any Brocklesbys, I am afraid! I have accepted that at this stage in my life. My aim is for the horse to last. I just lay the foundation for the trainers and then follow the horses' careers with great interest.”

He added, “The riders are so important. Tim Carroll is my main rider and he's just super. He just has a natural feel for a horse and can tell exactly how well each horse is going. If he says this is nice, I take note of what he says. He has picked a few already and he is a fan of the Study Of Mans. They don't all go on the right way but you'd have a fair idea at this stage.”

Similarly, Bastard has seen enough from the progeny of Land Force (Ire), Inns Of Court (Ire) and Ten Sovereigns to suggest that their 2-year-olds can achieve good things on the track this season.

He concluded, “We've had a few Land Forces and they've been quite nice to deal with as well. They've got a bit of size and scope about them and plenty of strength. They have good bone, are nice in their minds and are quite forward-going and they look okay. He might be a bit of a surprise package. He could do well. Inns Of Court is another worth mentioning. I must say, we only had one by Inns Of Court, but he was very nice and I expect him to do very well. We have a few by Ten Sovereigns, who go well but, again, the ones we have seem as though they will want a bit of time. There is nothing really early amongst them but they are nice horses. They are quite scopey.”

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On paper, the Dalham Hall Stud-based Farhh (GB) has an awful lot going for him. A son of Pivotal (GB) out of a dual Group 1 winner over a mile and a half, he was lightly raced, with just one winning appearance in each of his two- and three-year-old seasons. Then at four, when things fell into place for him, he had Nathaniel (Ire) then Frankel (GB) holding him off the top spot in three consecutive Group 1 races. In total, Farhh ran second in four Group 1s that season, in the Eclipse, Sussex, International and Prix du Moulin, being beaten just a head in the latter by Moonlight Cloud (GB). The infrequency of his appearances resumed in his five-year-old season but boy was he worth waiting for, as he won the Lockinge and the Champion S. to round off his career in style.

Unfortunately things haven't gone swimmingly for the handsome Farhh at stud, as his career has been dogged by poor fertility. It has also been liberally sprinkled with excellence. 

From eight crops of foals to date, the largest number recorded in one year was 39 in 2019. The previous year only 18 Farhh foals were born, and there were 14 in 2022. From a total of 189 foals eligible to have raced so far he has had 149 runners and 89 winners, including 17 stakes winners. His seven group winners give a snapshot of the diversity one can expect when it comes to distance, which is perhaps no surprise given the speed and stamina influences in his own pedigree. His Group 1 winners King Of Change (GB) and Fonteyn (GB) are both essentially milers; the Group 3 winners Wells Farhh Go (GB) and Dee Ex Bee (GB) were both talented stayers, while another, Far Above (GB), was an extremely fast winner of the G3 Palace House S. at Newmarket. Far Above and King Of Change are both now at stud, and it will be interesting to see how much of a boost they can give to the Pivotal male line to enhance the good work being done primarily in France by Siyouni (Fr).

For the benefit of this exercise, as previously stated in Part I and Part II, the stallions are examined in four key price brackets according to their yearling sales returns of 2022 set against their fees at the time of covering. The average profit has been determined by the stallion's fee plus a figure of £20,000 for keep costs. The profitable stallions featured must have had at least five yearlings sold in 2022 to make the list and prices have been converted to sterling from Euros according to the conversion rate on the day of the sale.

With an average yearling price which was 8.5 times his 2020 fee of £12,000, Farhh was the clear leader in this field. Twelve of the 22 member of his 2021 crop were offered for sale, with the ten sold returning an average profit of £69,685. The only reason I have not given Farhh the gold medal which his results certainly deserve is that his poor fertility does present something of a risk, but that is for each breeder to weigh up for themselves as he is quite clearly a very good stallion.

Click Table To Enlarge. 

While the scarcity of Farhh's offspring could well have been a driver in his sales returns, the same cannot be said for New Bay (GB), who had 53 of his 61 yearlings offered sold for an average which was almost six times his 2020 fee. That figure of €15,000 was the lowest he stood for, and well done to those breeders who caught him at that fee in 2019 and 2020. Subsequently he has shot up to €37,000 in 2022, and that was then doubled to his current high of €75,000. One of his three Group 1 winners to date, Bayside Boy (Ire), has just joined New Bay on the roster at Ballylinch Stud, while the other two, Saffron Beach (Ire) and Bay Bridge (GB) remain in training with further lofty targets in their sights. 

In fee, New Bay has moved up two tiers on these stallion tables in just two years. His average profit on the yearlings sold last year was £47,636, and with a likely upturn in the quality of mares covered in line with his fee, it is fair to expect for his yearling average to continue to climb as long as those results on the track keep coming.

Sea The Moon (Ger) bucked a certain number of trends merely by being recruited to stand at Lanwades Stud in the first place. Not many winners of the German Derby make it to studs outside Germany, and not many sons of Sea The Stars (Ire) are afforded places at Flat studs, a situation that is as ridiculous as it is regrettable. 

Early on in his stud career, Sea The Moon caught the imagination of Australian buyers who switched their attention to buying foals and yearlings as the prices for horses in training climbed, and he has a decent strike-rate with his offspring to have ended up down under. They include the G1 Caulfield Cup winner Durston (GB), G3 N E Marion Cup winner Favorite Moon (Ger), and the Group 3-placed Pondus (GB). 

As he embarks on his ninth covering season, Sea The Moon's popularity remains strong. His yearlings of 2022, conceived the last year he stood for £15,000, returned  average profit of £30,284 from 58 sold. Though his fee has since risen to £25,000, he remains that rare middle-distance horse to be holding his own in the centre ground of the stallion market.

With such illustrious stud-mates as Frankel and Kingman (GB), Bated Breath (GB) can be in danger of being under-appreciated but he should not be, for he is a mid-range stallion who offers great value in a commercial marketplace. A Group 1 winner in Europe would be a boost to his profile–presently his sole top-level winner, Viadera (GB), posted her best performance in America–but he has had plenty knocking on the door, including the Group 2 winners Worth Waiting (GB), Daahyeh (GB), and Space Traveller (GB). The last named, twice a Grade I runner-up in the States, has recently joined the roster at Ballyhane Stud.

Bated Breath's fee has increased to £15,000 from the £12,500 paid for the nomination fee when these yearlings were conceived, but that keeps him within this bracket, and when considering a yearling average of £61,029 and average profit of £28,529 from the 45 sold through the ring last year, he remains an enticing prospect for breeders.

Doctor Dino (Fr) is primarily considered a National Hunt stallion, with the likes of Sceau Royal (Fr), La Bague Au Roi (Fr) and Sharjah (Fr) to his credit, but he should be regarded as a dual-purpose option, for he is also the sire of G1 Prix de Diane runner-up Physiocrate (Fr) and Group 3 winners Golden Legend (Fr) and Villa Rosa (Fr). Admittedly those three Flat horses named were all bred by Henri and Antonia Devin at Haras du Mesnil, where Doctor Dino stands, but if we are to learn, then it should be from the best, and the Couturié/Devin family has proved for many years to be extremely capable of producing top-class Flat runners. 

Like his sire Muthathir (GB) before him, Doctor Dino can cut it under both codes, and he has gradually worked his way up from an opening fee of €3,000 to his current high of €20,000. He stood at €16,000 when these yearlings were conceived, and showed a decent average profit of £27,907 for the 14 sold in 2022. There aren't many male-line descendants of Sharpen Up left at stud in Europe (Jack Hobbs is another, but he too is marketed primarily as a jumps sire), so it would be pleasing to see Doctor Dino have broader appeal to Flat breeders.

The more obvious French stallion high in this list, from a Flat perspective at least, is Zarak (Fr). Considering that his pedigree stretches back ten generations and 100 years to Mumtaz Mahal (GB) and the foundation of the Aga Khan Studs, he really would be a fitting stallion to make it to the top, especially as a son of the celebrated Zarkava (Fr). He is making all the right noises, with nine stakes winners from his first two crops as well as two Classic place-getters in La Parisienne (Fr) and Times Square (Fr), and there is a general clamour for his young stock. His opening fee of €12,000 held solid though his first four seasons until rising to €25,000 last year and €60,000 this year. This is the territory in which stallions start to get found out, but with the might of the Aga Khan broodmare band behind him, along with support from plenty of outside breeders, Zarak has a decent chance of taking another big step forward. Last year his yearlings sold for five times his 2020 fee and showed average profit of £25,554.

The G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Sioux Nation made an extremely promising start to his stud career with his first runners in 2022. His tally of winners was such that in any normal year he would have been champion first-season sire, but he came up against another prolific youngster in Havana Grey (GB), who had the edge when it came to the number of stakes winners. Sioux Nation, one of the last of Scat Daddy's sons to retire to Coolmore, was not lacking in this regard himself, and Lakota Sioux (Ire) and Sydneyarmschelsea (Ire) both won Group 3 races, while Matilda Picotte (Ire) landed the Listed Bosra Sham S. and was third in the G2 Lowther S.

His second-crop yearlings were conceived off his opening fee of €12,500. This dipped to €10,000 for two years before bouncing up to €17,500 for the coming season on the back of that promising start. Even at this new fee, Sioux Nation still looks a profitable option if he can build on his debut season with runners, for his 61 yearlings sold last year fetched an average price of £46,626 (four times his fee) and average profit of £15,236.

The 2020 covering season saw three very smart recruits to the stallion ranks in Britain and Ireland. Derby winner Masar (Ire) joined the Darley team in Newmarket, the town which has also become home to the Niarchos family's Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Ire), who is at Lanwades Stud, while the Arc winner Waldgeist (GB), who was only narrowly denied the previous year's Jockey Club when beaten a short-head by Brametot (Ire), retired to Ballylinch Stud. All three have top-drawer pedigrees to match their racing records and, while their first two-year-olds will be unleashed this season, it is fair to expect all of them to be better represented once that crop turns three. 

That said, two things should be kept in mind when considering Masar. His sire New Approach (Ire), a fellow Derby winner, had been champion two-year-old and with his first crop he pulled off the extremely rare feat of being represented by three juvenile stakes winners at Royal Ascot. Masar was no slouch at two himself, beating the smart sprinter Invincible Army (Ire) over six furlongs on debut in May before winning the G3 Solario S. and finishing third in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. He could well be in the mix in the first-season sires' table this year.

Masar's first yearlings sold for an average which was 3.3 times his opening fee of £15,000. He has dropped only fractionally to £14,000 but it may well be a good time to use him. His average profit on 59 yearlings sold was £14,942.

Waldgeist outstripped that from an opening fee of €17,500, with 54 sold for an average 3.4 times that mark and average profit of £18,512. He was of course a Group 1 winner at two, and his stock looked pretty tidy, as he is himself, and may well not take too long to come to hand. With a drop in fee to €12,500 for 2023, again this could well be a good time to strike for this well-bred son of Galileo (Ire).

Just as Waldgeist will have been lent support by the powerful Ballylinch partners, including his co-breeder Gestut Ammerland, as well as Newsells Park Stud, so will Study Of Man been supported by the Niarchos family and Kirsten Rausing at Lanwades. The latter was responsible for 25 of Study Of Man's first crop of foals, including ten from her 'AL' family and a filly out of Group 1 winner Madame Chiang (GB) (Archipenko), while other notable first-crop members include a half-brother to Derby winner Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) who was retained by breeder Gary Robinson of Strawberry Fields Stud. Juddmonte Farms, Gestut Fahrhof, Blue Diamond Stud, and Hascombe & Valiant Stud were among the other major operations to back the son of Deep Impact (Jpn) and grandson of Miesque (Nureyev).

With some notable owner-breeders involved it wasn't a surprise that not many of Study Of Man's yearlings came onto the market, but of the 27 that did, 23 were sold for an average of £40,321 at an average profit of £5,321. His stud fee was adjusted from an opening £15,000 to £12,500 for his next two seasons, and that is where it remains for 2023, which seems an extremely fair price for a horse with a pedigree of hugely international significance.

The Niarchos family's Flaxman Stables Ireland was also responsible for breeding Ulysses (Ire), the son of a Derby winner and Oaks winner in Galileo and Light Shift (Kingmambo). He does need to have a big year this year, but there have been glimmers of potential from Ulysses's first two crops to date, with Piz Badile (Ire) winning the G3 Ballysax S. and finishing second in the Irish Derby, while Holloway Boy (GB) announced his talent in no uncertain terms when winning the Listed Chesham S. on his audacious debut at Royal Ascot. 

At Cheveley Park Stud, his fee has dropped from an opening £30,000 to £10,000 but there were still plenty of Ulysses supporters at the yearling sales, where 34 of his yearlings sold for an average of £48,239, representing average profit of £13,239 from his 2020 fee of £15,000. There will be plenty of people happy to see Ulysses have a noteworthy season in 2023.

Value Podium:

Gold: Bated Breath

Silver: Sea The Moon

Bronze: Waldgeist 

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The Ballydoyle duo of Auguste Rodin (Ire) and Victoria Road (Ire) concluded their juvenile seasons with victories, respectively, in the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, and they are a son and grandson of Deep Impact (Jpn), the latter being by the late Shadai resident's Classic-winning son Saxon Warrior (Jpn).

Auguste Rodin is in fact bred on the same Deep Impact-Galileo (Ire) cross as Saxon Warrior, which has also been seen to good effect in Oaks winner Snowfall (Jpn), while Deep Impact's Prix de Diane-winning daughter Fancy Blue (Ire) is out of a mare by Galileo's sire Sadler's Wells. 

We shouldn't get too hung up on the nicks, however. These top-class racehorses are all out of good mares and by elite stallions. Yes, that's a recipe that doesn't always work, but if performance and pedigree count for anything then the decks are loaded more and more in the favour of the top-tier stallions as their reputations soar.

In Saxon Warrior and Auguste Rodin, however, it is hard to overlook that enticing blend of two of the great stallions of the modern era in the east and west. Though standing their whole stud careers in Ireland and Japan, you don't have to trace the male lines of Galileo and Deep Impact back too far to find yourself in North America. And as my colleague Chris McGrath likes to remind us, the line between the dirt and the turf is a fine one which should really be crossed more often.

But let's claim Galileo and Deep Impact as proper turf influences first and foremost. Inevitably, geography meant that we didn't see too many of Deep Impact's offspring here in Europe prior to his untimely death in 2019 at the age of just 17. 

Both of those stallions have had very positive influences on the family of the top-class sprinting filly Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}). The mare, who died last year at the age of 25, was bought as a yearling by Trevor Stewart who quite rightly says, “I keep calling it my family.” He adds with a laugh, “You see, I'm very possessive now.”

Stewart has some justification in taking great pride in the family which is responsible for both Victoria Road, who is a grandson of Cassandra Go, and Auguste Rodin, a great grandson. He bred Victoria Road from Cassandra Go's daughter Tickled Pink (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who won two Group 3 races in Stewart's colours when trained by Sir Henry Cecil then Lady Cecil. Auguste Rodin hails from a daughter who 'got away'. His grand-dam Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), who was sold to Demi O'Byrne at the Goffs Million Sale of 2006 for €450,000 and is in the process of forming a formidable dynasty for Coolmore. Her repeated matings with Galileo produced not only the outstanding Magical (Ire) but also Auguste Rodin's dam Rhododendron (Ire), winner of the G1 Prix de l'Opera, G1 Fillies' Mile and G1 Lockinge S. as well as finishing runner-up to Winter (Ire) in the 1,000 Guineas and also to Enable (GB) in the Oaks. Auguste Rodin is Rhododendron's first foal, which bodes well for the eight-year-old's future broodmare career, though sadly her 2021 colt by Dubawi (Ire) is listed as having died since birth.

Deep Impact is of course now unavailable but Stewart says that he is going “all in” on Saxon Warrior next season with his members of the family. That runs to three broodmare daughters of Cassandra Go, including Halfway To Heaven's full-sister Allez Alaia (Ire). The breeder has also retained the mare's final foal, a yearling filly by Night Of Thunder (Ire) named Chaumet More (Ire).

He says, “Tickled Pink, Holly Golightly and Allez Alaia are all going to Saxon Warrior. And Tickled Pink is in foal to him again too, so she will be going for the third time.

“I did consider using [Deep Impact's son] Study Of Man for one of them and I thought, well, he's totally unproven while Saxon Warrior is semi-proven, so I thought I better just play it safe at the moment.”

Stewart also has a two-year-old colt by Saxon Warrior out of Cassandra Go in training with Paddy Twomey named Change Sings (Ire).

“We think he is well above average and definitely a group horse,” says the breeder. “What level, we don't know. He nearly ran in October and we just decided, no, we needed a little bit more time. He's a lovely big strapping horse, and very straightforward so far. Hopefully we'll have him out in April, and see where we go from there.”

Of that colt's year-younger half-sister Chaumet More, he adds, “She's in pre-training. The trainer has not been selected yet. She is a little on the small side which is probably no surprise as she is out of a 25-year-old mare. She may go to England, I'd say.”

With four daughters of Cassandra Go, three of which are at James Hanly's Ballyhimikin Stud, as well as two granddaughters, Stewart is playing his part in fully developing the family, and of course he has had some key back-up from Coolmore.

“First of all, obviously, it's a great family,” he says. “But two, it's the cheapest way to get into a good family, if you keep the daughters. My plan is to keep every daughter that comes along now. I've sold a few, and obviously [Halfway To Heaven] has worked well. Another one of the daughters that Coolmore had was [Tickled Pink's full-sister] Fantasy, and she was sold to Australia, so that's exciting. But now I'm just going to just keep most of the daughters coming along. Why not?”

Why not indeed? Saxon Warrior is of course backed up in the British and Irish stallion ranks by the aforementioned Niarchos-bred Lanwades Stud resident Study Of Man (Ire), who presents an interesting option for breeders looking to send Galileo mares to a son of Deep Impact. These two are about to be joined by the reverse shuttler Tosen Stardom (Jpn), another son of Deep Impact bred by Northern Farm and the winner of Flemington's G1 Toorak H. and G1 Emirates S. He will stand at Lemongrove Stud in Ireland in 2023. 

The of course there are Auguste Rodin and Victoria Road. The Classic season may seem a long way off in this bleak midwinter, but the Aidan O'Brien-trained duo has already staked strong claims to be given a chance to extend this line at stud in Europe in the years to come.

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The G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Ire) will have his first runners on the track next season and his fee has also remained static at £12,500. Bobby's Kitten, who surged to success in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint this time eight years ago when beating No Nay Never, has had his priced trimmed slightly to £6,000 (from £7,000).

Completing the roster is Sir Percy, sire of Group/Grade 1 winners in Australia and America. The former British champion juvenile and 2006 Derby winner is rising 20 and his fee for 2023 is listed as private.

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She added, “I would think that your listeners will know which way my mind is going because one has to look not only at what makes a pretty pattern on paper but what is logistically and in general possible in terms of the ages of stallions involved.”

A potential mating with Dubawi would produce a reverse of the cross seen in recent Classic winners Adayar (Ire) and Homeless Songs (Ire). While it is relatively early days for Frankel as a broodmare sire, daughters of his sire Galileo (Ire) have combined well with Dubawi, with notable examples of that cross being Horse of the Year Ghaiyyath (Ire) and 2,000 Guineas winner Night Of Thunder (Ire). 

Furthermore, Rausing's Lanwades Stud has also been represented as the breeder this year of St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB), a son of Dubawi who, like Alpinista, has the treble Group 1 winner Albanova (GB) (Alzao) as his grand-dam.

The 5-year-old Alpinista, a daughter of the Hernando (Fr) mare Alwilda (GB) and a fourth-generation Lanwades homebred, has won six consecutive Group 1 races for Rausing and Sir Mark Prescott. She will retire at the end of the year, though one final racecourse hurrah has not yet been ruled out.

“The plan for the spring is definitely the paddocks at Lanwades Stud because she will be a 6-year-old then,” Rausing told Nick Luck. “She will definitely retire at the end of the year. Whether she runs again, at this precise moment is not decided. There are only two opportunities for her, which would be the Japan Cup or the Breeders' Cup, and in fact I would say the firmer going in Japan would be attractive to us because she has always actually been particularly good on firm going, so from that point of view it was an even more admirable achievement on that very heavy ground in Paris.”

Rausing pointed to the long journey to Japan as a potential matter of concern, however. 

“I am pondering that at the moment,” she added. 

While stud plans for next year are to be confirmed, Rausing revealed that she has already decided to keep Alpinista at home at Lanwades for her 2024 mating with G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Ire), the only son of Deep Impact (Jpn) at stud in Britain. 

“I can tell you that she is going to visit Study Of Man in 2024,” she said. “Study Of Man has his first-crop yearlings this year. We very much look forward to seeing his produce run as two- and three-year-olds in the next two years and I have great expectations for him.”

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