Blue Point Breeding Right to be Auctioned by Darley

With Dubawi as its lynchpin, there have of course been plenty of red-letter days for Darley in recent years, but the results from the Arc meeting at Longchamp on Sunday can nevertheless be deemed to be extra special.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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Seven Days: Ireland’s Perfect Pick-Me-Up

The Devil's Dyke stretches in pretty much a straight line for more than seven miles through parts of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. The best part, according to this scribbler anyway, is the section roughly a mile and half long which cleaves Newmarket's July Course from the Rowley Mile, with a break in the dyke allowing the two courses to join briefly just beyond the ten-furlong mark on the latter.

A Dutch author, Iman Jacob Wilkens, once claimed that Cambridge's Gog Magog Hills was the true location of the City of Troy, with a suggestion that the imposing dyke may have formed part of its protection, though his theory appears to have been largely ignored. Had he lived to see it, Wilkens may have been tempted to have a flutter on Coolmore's City Of Troy (Justify) as he stormed the July Course, to land the G2 Superlative S. in emphatic fashion alongside the Devil's Dyke. Perhaps, after his defection from Sunday's G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S., City Of Troy will be back to conquer the other side of this historic landmark in the Dewhurst S. At least the Rowley Mile offers a longer pull-up zone for this ebullient colt, though he could still end up in the car park.

From the top of the dyke one has the benefit of seeing the breeding and racing world in microcosm. In the distance are the paddocks of the National Stud, dotted at various times of the year with mares and foals or cavorting yearlings. The stallions are there, too, with Stradivarius (Ire) having brought with him renewed interest and a constant stream of visitors. The spring, summer and autumn seasons see the switching from the Rowley Mile to July Course and back again until we wait, those cold and at times seemingly endless months, from early November until Craven time swings back around. 

It is the habit in this sport to constantly be looking forward to the next race, even when the winner is still blowing from the travails of his latest effort. September and October are pretty special months of action and while they may bring with them various departures as the season draws to a close, the action in the two-year-old sphere is all about next year. 

Following a period in which injury and retirement has claimed a number of the big equine names, Ireland's Champions Festival and France's Arc Trials needed to deliver a bit of a pick-me-up as we embark on the autumn programme, and it is fair to say that both did just that. 

The aforementioned City Of Troy remains ante-post favourite for the 2,000 Guineas, with his stable-mate and National S. winner Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) just behind him in the market. Fallen Angel (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), another to have triumphed on the July Course in the Sweet Solera, now heads the market for the 1,000 Guineas following her gutsy victory in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. 

Dubawi Dominates

In a quiet season for Britain's champion trainer Charlie Appleby, there were no runners for Godolphin in either Ireland or France over the weekend, but Appleby's key sparring partner Dubawi still managed to steal the show on Champions Weekend. Darley's flagship sire was represented by a Group 1 double on Sunday, notably through the Coolmore-bred Henry Longfellow, whose dam is the brilliant Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a star of this weekend herself eight years ago when she took the Moyglare. 

That win was backed up later by Eldar Eldarov (GB), bred at Lanwades by Kirsten Rausing from the same family as her Arc heroine Alpinista (GB), and completing the St Leger double in England and Ireland for Roger Varian and KHK Racing. The Bahraini owners were celebrating their second Group 1 victory of the season after the Prix Morny win of Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}).

Dubawi's growing influence was also felt in a first Group 1 winner for his freshman son, Too Darn Hot, the sire of the Karl Burke-trained Fallen Angel, while another son, Night Of Thunder (Ire), provided her runner-up, Vespertilio (Fr). Night Of Thunder is also the sire of Flight Plan (GB), who won the G2 Dullingham Park S. at Leopardstown on Saturday.

Double Parkin

It is likely that we are about to hear plenty more of Dullingham Park Stud, the farm on the outskirts of Newmarket that was bought earlier this year by Steve Parkin and is being managed on his behalf by Ollie Fowlston. 

Parkin has invested plenty in racing in Britain and Ireland over recent years, and that financial commitment appears to be matched by his enthusiasm. British owner-breeders are becoming a scarce commodity so it is heartening to see Parkin's operation, which also includes Branton Court Stud in Yorkshire, being rewarded, in particular with some homebred success.

We have already touched on Fallen Angel and, as a Group 1-winning juvenile, she is the stand-out in this regard, closely rivalled by Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), last year's G2 Queen Mary S. winner who landed the G2 Temple S. in May. Dorothy Lawrence (GB), by Parkin's young Ballyhane Stud-based sire Soldier's Call (GB), has been knocking on the door, too, and she was second last week in the G3 Dick Poole Fillies' S.

Among the horses purchased for Parkin by Ballyhane's Joe Foley are Flight Plan, who gave his connections a huge double and an extra boost by winning their own race, the Dullingham Park S., in a career-best performance. 

This wasn't the first time the team has pulled off this particular feat, either, as Space Traveller (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) won the same race when it was run under Parkin's better-known banner of the Clipper Logistics Boomerang S.

To complete the good run, the Branton Court Stud graduate Starlust (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}), who was sold to Jim and Fitri Hay last October, won the G3 Sirenia S. at Kempton on Saturday. And, lest the Kempton action be overlooked amid the bigger days of last weekend, it was heartening to see Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) return triumphant to the winner's enclosure after the G3 September S. Hopefully a fruitful autumn campaign beckons for him in his preferred softer conditions. 

Bottom Up

A clever person (Joseph Burke) pointed out over the weekend that to make any sense of this year's 2,000 Guineas one has to view the form of that race upside down. Only the last three home–Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Flight Plan and Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never)–have won a race since running at Newmarket in May, with the best of those of course being the enigmatic Auguste Rodin.

The way he came home in the Derby remains one of the most visually impressive performances of the season. He was then workmanlike when winning the Irish Derby before flopping in the King George, followed by redemption in the Irish Champion S. on Saturday. 

He rivals stable-mate Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) as the leading three-year-old colt of the season, with Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) having failed, so far, to build on his 2,000 Guineas success. 

Among the fillies, Tahiyra (Ire) is continuing to ensure that her sire Siyouni has two of the best three-year-olds of the season, if not the two best. The Aga Khan's half-sister to fellow Group 1 winner Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) has only been bettered once when the subsequently absent Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) prevailed by half a length in the 1,000 Guineas, and Tahiyra has been imperious in her three Group 1 victories since that seasonal debut.

A cap should also be doffed to Warm Heart (Ire), who is giving her sire Galileo (Ire) something of a last hurrah at the top table. She has barely put a foot wrong all season apart from appearing not to enjoy the soft conditions at the Curragh for the Irish Oaks, in which she was fifth. This was the only time she was asked to contest a Classic, but prior to that she had been the smart winner of the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot and has subsequently annexed the G1 Yorkshire Oaks and G1 Prix Vermeille. Those two latest successes have come in the hands of James Doyle, who has made the most of his rare Coolmore call-ups.

Warm Heart is bred on similar lines to the ill-fated Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Ire). Both are by Galileo out of mares by a son of Danehill. In Warm Heart's case, that is Fastnet Rock (Aus), who has often blended well with Galileo on the reverse of this cross. They are both also out of fast Australian-bred mares. Warm Heart's dam Sea Siren (Aus) won three Group 1 races in Australia for John O'Shea over six and seven furlongs before heading north to join Ballydoyle and adding the Listed Belgrave S. to her record along with a pair of Group 3 placings.

Top Sprints Delivering Diversity

The top-class sprint division continues to provide some delightful results this season, giving an airing to some usually lesser-heralded sires and deserved success for some smaller stables.

To the twin Group 1 triumphs in June and July for Julie Camacho's Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), we can add the victory in the Nunthorpe of the Adam West-trained Live In The Dream (Ire), a son of Prince Of Lir (Ire), while last weekend saw Group 1 victories for Regional (GB) (Territories {Ire}) in the Haydock Sprint Cup and Moss Tucker (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}) in the Flying Five.

Regional became the first Group 1 winner for his trainer Ed Bethell, who, with agent Tom Biggs, managed to pick him up at the July Sale two years ago for just 3,5000gns. The five-year-old also provided another major group success in Britain for the Italian breeding industry this season. Francesca Franchini of Scuderia La Tesa has already been successful with Giavellotto (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), who defeated Eldar Eldarov in the G2 Yorkshire Cup, and Isabella Bezzera of Razza del Sole bred Regional from the Listed winner Favulusa (GB) (Dansili {GB}).

Moss Tucker, bred by Donal Spring, proved yet again what Ken Condon is capable of when he gets a good one in his stable, and the five-year-old follows Barney Roy (GB) in becoming a Group 1 winner for Excelebration who was last listed as standing at the Moroccan National Stud.

Though on the face of it, with Moss Tucker's dam Rare Symphony (Ire) being by the July Cup winner Pastoral Pursuits (GB), it is perhaps no surprise that she has produced a good sprinter, the mare herself rather defied her speedier sireline and won twice over hurdles, in Britain then Ireland. Rare Symphony's stamina was perhaps gathered from her dam Rubileo (GB), an unremarkable member of Galileo's first crop on the track, who went on to produce two useful horses by Sir Percy (GB) in the Swedish Derby winner Bomar (Ire) and Pantsonfire (Ire), whose Grade III victory at Santa Anita came over 1m4f.

Hot Take

Though most of the best two-year-old races are still to come, Darley looks to have this year's freshman sires' title sewn up, with Blue Point (Ire) way out in front numerically on 32 winners, and Too Darn Hot being the only stallion in the group to have been represented by three group winners, including a Group 1 winner. 

There was a breakthrough for Yeomanstown Stud's Invincible Army (Ire) over the weekend, when Kitty Rose (GB) became his first black-type winner in the Ingabelle Stakes. Like Flight Plan, who won the Group 2 on the same day, her fourth dam was John Greetham's Much Too Risky (GB) (Machiavellian).

The half-sister to two excellent stayers in Sydney Cup winner Marooned (GB) and Irish St Leger winner Arctic Owl (GB), Much Too Risky produced the Yorkshire Oaks runner-up and Musidora winner Short Skirt (GB) as well as Group 2 winners Little Rock (GB) and Whitewater Affair (GB). The latter went on to have particular success as a broodmare in Japan as the dam of Group 1 winners Victoire Pisa (Jpn) and Asakusa Den'en (GB).

When it comes to stallion tables, it is always wise to pay close attention to the percentage of winners to runners. In this regard, Blue Point and his nearest pursuer, Soldier's Call, measure up well on 40% and 35% respectively. The nine winners for Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) have come from just 22 runners to put him on 41%, while Study Of Man (Ire), who had two new winners this week, is now on five from 14 runners (36%). 

In France, Haras d'Etreham's City Light (Fr) has now been represented by 10 winners from his 26 runners (38%).

Acclaim for Pyledriver

It is the time of year when plenty of rumours abound as to which colts have been snapped up for stallion duties. There is at least one announcement imminent this week, and we already know that Native Trail (GB) is off to Kildangan Stud, Little Big Bear (Ire) to Coolmore, and Bouttemont (Fr) is joining his sire Acclamation (GB) at Rathbarry Stud. 

There is one horse from the much-vaunted Acclamation line that it would be particularly gratifying to see granted a place at a good Flat stud, and that is Pyledriver (GB). Just as it is easy to forget that the high-flying sprinter Havana Grey (GB) has those noted middle-distance influences of Teofilo (GB) and Galileo as his grandsire and great-grandsire, so it is to overlook that Pyledriver is by Acclamation's son Harbour Watch (Ire). A six-furlong Group 2 winner whose racing and stud career were both cut short, the late Harbour Watch pops up in the pedigrees of good horses with some frequency.

The neat and good-looking Pyledriver, who, on 122, is the second-highest rated of any colt from this sireline to retire to stud, also has some nice influences in the bottom half of his pedigree. Furthermore, he proved over five seasons that he has that vital durability to accompany the class that drove him to win a King George and a Coronation Cup. He wasn't a late developer, either, as he won on debut in the July of his juvenile season before winning the Listed Ascendant S. two months later.

As already pointed out in this column, there is as much delight to be taken from the big sprints as from the Classics, and stallions can sometimes buck expectations. But the programme in any serious racing nation must remain balanced.

This is no new concern, but it remains troubling that it is becoming harder still for horses of Pyledriver's ilk to be given a proper chance at stud. It would be a crying shame if he is overlooked in the blinkered rush towards stallions who offer little prospect of siring a horse who will see out the Guineas trip, never mind a Derby or an Arc winner. When breeding, it is wise to remember where the greater prestige and rewards remain.

 

 

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Top Industry Judges Have Their Say On The First-Season Sires

It's early-February and already the Flat enthusiasts are getting excited about what stallion will end the season as champion first-season sire. A futile exercise, one would have thought? Not a bit of it.

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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12 Questions: Richard Knight

First job in the Thoroughbred industry?

Mucking out at Guirys 1 in Coolmore Ireland on my year out from University. I think there were 20 foals in the barn – 18 by Sadler's Wells and two by Danehill.

Biggest influence on your career?

Ultimately, my father, who introduced both my brother William and I to racing. He loved his National Hunt and we spent many a happy afternoon at Huntingdon and Towcester. Later in life, both Richard Henry and Simon Mockridge played major roles in my experience and development.

Favourite racehorse of all time, and why?

Desert Orchid. I was 10 when he won the Gold Cup and he was a grey who jumped well – everything me and my grey pony at the time aspired to be.

Who will be champion first-season sire in 2023?

Too Darn Hot.

Greatest race in the world?

The Derby.

If you could be someone else in the industry for a day who would it be, and why?

MV Magnier. MV works very hard and I would imagine his day-to-day is incredibly diverse from selecting young stock to managing the paths of future champions. I love that diversity.

Emerging talent in the industry (human)?

He has already emerged, but at only 24 years old, I am going to say Tom Marquand. I am sure Tom will be champion jockey in the near future.

Name a horse TDN should have made a Rising Star, and didn't?

Checkandchallenge – I so hope he will provide my brother William with his first Group 1 winner in 2023.

Under-the-radar stallion?

Once again, I am not sure quite how under the radar they are, but I think both Saxon Warrior and Cracksman are set for big years ahead.

Friday night treat?

Chinese takeaway.

Guilty pleasure outside racing?

Watching Rugby Union.

Race I wish I'd been there for…

The Wow Signal's Prix Morny Group 1 win. I think I was inspecting yearlings for the Goffs UK Premier sale. Any winner celebrating with John and Sean Quinn is good fun, so I really missed out with his Group 1 win.

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