Connections of Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), the brilliant G1 National S. winner, are confident that they have a Guineas horse on their hands and are predicting Joseph O'Brien's exciting colt to be even better next year.
Khalifa Bin Ahmed Alattiyah, a familiar face on Irish racecourses and on the sales circuit, was at the Curragh on Sunday to see Al Riffa, owned by his cousin Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah, tower over his rivals.
Not only did Al Riffa provide crack youngster Dylan Browne McMonagle with his first Group 1 success in the saddle, but he also handed his owner with a breakthrough victory at the highest level in Ireland from as many attempts, with Alattiyah labelling his cousin as “one lucky man.”
Alattiyah, who along with his close friend Mohamed Al Mansour has run a number of horses with O'Brien under the Al Mamoura Partnership, revealed his family are now looking forward to a tilt at the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere or the G1 Dewhurst before dreaming of Classic glory for Al Riffa through the winter.
Alattiyah said, “We thought he was a horse that would do better as a 3-year-old when we bought him as a yearling. His class has allowed him to do what he has done.
“Physically, he's a really nice-looking horse and is quite unfurnished. He is only a frame of a horse and he will fill out a lot. To be honest, we haven't even seen the best of him yet.”
He added, “When you see him in the flesh, there is no way you would think that this is a horse who can win a National S. as a 2-year-old, but he has an unbelievable amount of class. He has the option of the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and the Dewhurst as well. The decision will be left to Joseph.
“Al Riffa runs in the colours of my cousin Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah. I was with Joseph when he bought him as a yearling [for 150,000gns at Book 1 at Tattersalls] last year. Al Riffa is actually Jassim's first runner in Ireland–he is one lucky man!”
“He was very impressive and that's a special day. It was a big ask to go from a maiden to a Group One but he's a very high class horse.”@JosephOBrien2's Al Riffa wins the @Goffs1866 Vincent O'Brien National Stakes.#LICW22pic.twitter.com/0A6CLpuxt4
Fortune has certainly favoured the connections of Al Riffa but nobody could accuse Alattiyah of not putting in the legwork along with O'Brien at the yearling sales.
While some owners prefer to take a more passive approach to securing talent, Alattiyah attends most of the sales himself, and revealed that he plans on being active at the Orby Sale at Goffs later this month.
He said, “Joseph has helped me a lot. Niall Ryan has also been a huge help to me. He's played a big role in helping secure everything that we have. He's a great guy. Any time I need help, I give him a call so, between Niall and Joseph, these are the guys who have really helped me out and taught me the most.
“Horses are in our blood. We own Arabian horses back home in Qatar and those families have been nurtured by our great, great grandfathers. We can trace some of those families back 80 to 100 years in some cases. I have loved racing since I was young and followed Sea The Stars (Ire), Frankel (GB), Camelot (GB) and Australia (GB), so I have been exploring racing in Europe since I was 18 or 19 years old.”
On striking up a relationship with O'Brien, he added, “My friend Mohamed Al Mansour introduced me to Joseph. He owns everything 50-50 with me in the Al Mamoura Partnership. “Mohamed went to work for Coolmore to build up his knowledge of horses and racing and it was there where he met Aidan [O'Brien] and Joseph. The first sale we went to with Joseph was at Doncaster in 2016 and, from then, I was really happy as I knew he was the sort of guy who had the same goals as us. We bought two yearlings that day and had some luck with them. Our luck has continued right up to Al Riffa and now it looks like we have a nice horse.
“It is a nice story and we are really lucky that everyone at Owning Hill–Tara Armstrong, Mark Power, Brendan Powell and Faisal Hayat–have helped us. We will be at the Orby Sale. The plan is to try and buy some yearlings there.”
Southern Lights (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a Leopardstown maiden winner who ran in last year's Derby and reached a rating of 104, and three-time scorer Hadman (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), are some of the better horses that Alattiyah has been associated with.
As of yet, he hasn't run in his own silks with O'Brien, but says that could change in the near future, explaining that he plans to bolster his team in Ireland.
He said, “Most of the horses I have owned in Joseph's have run in partnerships. I haven't run a horse in my own silks yet, but hopefully that will happen next month. I love going to the sales.
“We try our best to look for nice horses like Al Riffa. Finding one as good as him was our dream. I look for quality. I like the mile and middle-distance horses. First of all, we are looking at a good physical, and then we look for pedigree.”
He added, “If you were to ask me what I dream of, it's to win the Derby. Be that as an owner or a breeder, that's what I want to do. Sometimes, when you're at the sales, you might see something that looks nice and is fast, and we don't mind buying those types either. But the main thing we look for is class.
“Joseph thinks Al Riffa is a Guineas horse. He will probably start off in the Guineas next year and, after that, our dream is to win the Derby. That would be the dream but, at the moment, Joseph thinks that if he has a good winter and doesn't get any setbacks, he has the class to be a Guineas horse, so that is exciting.”
Where to begin? The past week has been so wrought with emotion that by the time Sunday arrived with its 15 group races in England, Ireland and France only the dourest of stayers made it through to Doncaster's Mallard Handicap.
This is a racing publication, of course, but before we reflect on the action on the racecourse, it would be remiss not to mention the heartbreaking human loss which was so intrinsically entwined with the sport.
Grief engulfed two nations. Wednesday brought the indelibly sad image of Henry de Bromhead as one of the pallbearers carrying his son Jack's wicker casket from the Butlerstown's Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary surrounded by mourners of all ages. In solidarity with their friend who lost his life at the age of 13 in a pony racing accident, many of the youngsters appeared at the service in their riding gear.
Jack's grandfather Andrew Moffat and parents Henry and Heather gave us all a lesson in how to grieve with the utmost dignity while paying a magnificent tribute to the boy whose loss has touched people who never even met him, such was the eloquence of their respective eulogies. And during Irish Champions Weekend, Jack de Bromhead was remembered in the red armbands borne by the jockeys in his memory.
In Britain the armbands were a more sombre black. The death of the Queen is in many ways easier to bear than the loss of a teenager with so much sparkle and promise. A 96-year-old woman dying peacefully in the comfort of the Scottish home she adored is what could be described as a 'good death', but Her Majesty's passing isof course far more symbolic than that. Its repercussions will be felt way beyond her funeral next Monday when Britain's period of national mourning ends.
The absence of the sport's most celebrated insider will be felt keenly in racing circles. There are enough members of the royal family with a strong love of horses for us to be able to hope that the Royal Studs will endure, but none of the Queen's descendants appear to share quite the level of absorption and devotion she had for breeding and racing. Change will surely come.
Another two redoubtable members of the racing and breeding community also left us in the last week. On Tuesday evening came the shock news of James Delahooke's sudden death on the Yorkshire moors, while on Saturday the passing was reported of Evie Stockwell, whose contribution to the breeding industry has been enormously significant on both the equine and human front. At the age of 97 she had survived her twin sister Lady Mimi Manton by one month. As Eddie O'Leary observed in Nancy Sexton's tribute to Mrs Stockwell, “The world has lost two Queens this week.”
May it come as some comfort to the de Bromhead, Delahooke, Magnier, and O'Callaghan families that the thoughts of their friends and colleagues in the racing world are with them during this sad time.
The Versatile Dubawi Line
So to the horses. A one-two in the St Leger with Eldar Eldarov (GB) and New London (Ire) gave Dubawi (Ire) his 53rd Group 1 win worldwide, and if you are looking for a pattern for his offspring, the answer is that there isn't one, other than a shared willingness to win.
From top Hong Kong sprinter Lucky Nine (Ire), who was one of his earliest stars, through champion 2-year-olds, Classic milers, smart middle-distance horses, and a Horse of the Year in Ghaiyyath (Ire), Dubawi pretty much has all the bases covered, including a slew of sons at stud. As well as in Britain's final Classic of the season, the line was also represented at Ireland's Champions Weekend when John Fairley's admirable Highfield Princess (Fr), by Dubawi's Guineas-winning son Night Of Thunder (Ire), sped her way to a third consecutive Group 1 win in three different countries, this time dropping back to the minimum trip to claim the Flying Five.
Dubawi's latest Classic winner in the delayed St Leger came on the back of his daughter Mimikyu's win in the G2 Park Hill S. on the same afternoon that the White Birch Farm homebred juvenile Kubrick (Ire) won the G3 Prix des Chenes at Longchamp. On European earnings, Dubawi has edged ahead of Frankel (GB) in the leading sires' table and in fact he is way out in front when it comes to black-type winners for the year, his tally of 38 (12% of his runners) putting him ahead of Frankel by 14. The two mighty stallions, who live only about a mile from each other as the crow flies, are level pegging on seven Group 1 winners apiece this year in Europe.
The Lanwades Success Story Continues
In her role as Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk, Kirsten Rausing was acting as master of ceremonies on Sunday while Newmarket's mayor Philippa Winter read the proclamation of the accession of King Charles III as Britain's new monarch. This meant that Rausing was not on Town Moor to witness a notable first for her as the breeder of a British Classic winner in Eldar Eldarov.
She was however present for her first British Group 1 winner in her own colours when Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) won the Yorkshire Oaks to bring her Group 1 haul to five. Eldar Eldarov and Alpinista are out of the half-sisters Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) and All At Sea (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) from the Lanwades Alruccaba (GB) family which just keeps giving.
From a different family entirely springs the expat Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), another redoubtable Lanwades-bred who is thriving in Australia and now has 13 victories to his name, including the G2 Tramway S. on September 3. He is bound for the G1 Cox Plate on October 22 via the G1 Underwood later this month.
Firsts and Seconds For Many
Eldar Eldarov's St Leger win was also of significance for more of his connections. Notably, he became the second breeze-up graduate from Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm to win a Classic this season following the Irish 2,000 Guineas success of Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), last year's champion 2-year-old. Williamson was also the breeze-up pinhooker behind the 2019 Preakness S. winner War Of Will, who now stands alongside his sire War Front at Claiborne Farm.
For Roger Varian, it was a second victory in Britain's oldest Classic following Kingston Hill (GB) in 2014, and his faith in his young stable jockey David Egan was repaid handsomely as the 23-year-old notched his first Classic victory in the same season he lost his retainer with Prince AA Faisal, for whom he won the 2021 Saudi Cup as well as two Group 1s aboard Mishriff (Ire).
Eldar Eldarov had been bought at the relocated Arqana Breeze-up Sale for £480,000 by Oliver St Lawrence for Bahrain's KHK Racing, thus also giving that relatively new owner in British racing a significant first Classic success.
Kyprios Continues to Climb
The opening up of the Irish St Leger to older horses almost 40 years ago means that there have been a number of repeat winners, most notably the Dermot Weld-trained Vinnie Roe (Ire), who owned the race between 2001 and 2005. With Vincent O'Brien, Weld jointly holds the record for the most number of winners of the Irish St Leger, with the last two of his nine being provided by the admirable Moyglare Stud-bred filly Search For A Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Now six, she has run in the race in all four of her seasons in training, and added a third place to her fine record this year when finishing almost eight lengths behind her full-brother Kyprios (Ire), who is now the pre-eminent stayer in training following his unbeaten season which includes lifting the Gold Cup and Goodwood Cup.
The Weld stable enjoyed a successful Irish Champions Weekend, however, when unleashing the Aga Khan's Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), a half-sister to the brilliant Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), to win the G1 Moyglare Stud S. on just her second racecourse appearance. A day earlier her 3-year-old stablemate Duke De Sessa (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) won the G3 Paddy Power S., leading home a one-two for Maurice Regan's Newtown Anner Stud, which also owned and bred runner-up Thunder Kiss (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}).
Kyprios, who runs in the Moyglare colours but is co-owned by the Coolmore partners, sealed a fruitful weekend for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore as Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) confirmed his juvenile promise by winning the G1 Irish Champion S. on only his second start since resuming from an injury earlier in the season.
Auguste Rodin (Ire), bred on theDeep Impact (Jpn)/Galileo (Ire) cross that has already yielded Classic winners Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and Snowfall (Jpn) for O'Brien, continued the tremendous run of the Ballydoyle juveniles this year with his success in the G2 Champion Juvenile S. in his first run in Pattern class. He could now be headed to England next month for either the Dewhurst or Vertem Futurity. It requires no leap of imagination to see Auguste Rodin make up into a serious Classic contender for next season as the colt is the first foal of the treble Group 1 winner Rhododendron (Ire), a sister to Magical (Ire) and daughter of the equally brilliant Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}).
Hint of Things to Come
Al Riffa (Fr) took quite a step up from maiden company to winning the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. on Sunday for Joseph O'Brien, and the result will certainly have been welcomed by the Coolmore camp. Though the colt from the penultimate French crop of Wootton Bassett (GB) is not owned by the Coolmore team but by Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah, he, like Auguste Rodin, is out of a Galileo mare and represents a cross that we are likely to see more frequently in runners following the stallion's move to Coolmore Stud two seasons ago.
The Galileo mares in Wootton Bassett's first Irish crop include Snowfall's dam Best In The World (Ire), Arc winner Found (Ire), and G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Clemmie (Ire), who is also a sister to Churchill (Ire), while those currently in foal to him include Group 1 winners Minding (Ire), Hydrangea (Ire), Marvellous (Ire) and Happily (Ire).
Al Riffa, who was bred by a partnership led by Haras d'Etreham, is Wootton Bassett's sixth Group 1 winner, that group being split evenly between colts and fillies. His pedigree certainly gives plenty of hope for him to thrive with age and a bit of a step up in distance. His unraced dam Love On My Mind is a sister to the dual Sagaro S. winner and Gold Cup runner-up Mizzou (Ire), while their dam Moments Of Joy (GB) was a Listed winner over 1m6f and is herself a daughter of the G1 Prix Vermeille and G1 Yorkshire Oaks winner My Emma (GB) (Marju {Ire}).
Al Riffa was sold as a foal at Arqana to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for €31,000 the same day that his dam went through the ring for just €11,000, bought by Arqana representative Zied Romdhane. The 10-year-old mare now has a yearling filly by Land Force (Ire) and was subsequently covered by St Leger winner Galileo Chrome (Ire).
Kingsclere in the Spotlight
Andrew Balding's association with Juddmonte has started in some style thanks to the smart juvenile Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who added the G2 Champagne S. to his victory in York's G3 Acomb S.
A successful Doncaster St Leger meeting for the Kingsclere team also included group wins for two stalwart owners of Park House Stables. First, Bounce The Blues (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}) won the G3 JRA Sceptre Fillies' S for the irrepressible Barbara Keller, one of the most enthusiastic owners in the business who also raced the Grade 1 winner Blond Me (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}). Similar comments apply to Mick and Janice Mariscotti, who certainly know how to celebrate a big winner and struck on Sunday with the G2 Doncaster Cup winner Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}). With victories in the Ascot S. at Royal Ascot and in the Listed Esher Cup, the progressive stayer, who missed almost the whole of his 4-year-old season has certainly given the Mariscottis plenty of cause for cheer this year. Patience rewarded.
The spotlight will soon be thrown on the Balding stable which features in a new series to be released later this month on Amazon Prime. 'Horsepower' runs in four parts from September 23 and, according to the press release announcing its launch, it “captures a momentous period in the lives and careers of its two main protagonists, racehorse trainer Andrew Balding and jockey Oisin Murphy”.
The documentary series was being filmed when Murphy was banned for 14 months for Covid regulation and alcohol breaches. The trailer for Horsepower can be viewed below.
Stallions on a Roll
Shadwell's Muhaarar (GB) was represented by Group/Grade 2 winners on each side of the Atlantic last week. On Thursday, Polly Pott (GB) made sure Harry Dunlop's training career will go out with a bang by landing her fourth consecutive win on her first outing in stakes company when winning the G2 May Hill S. at Doncaster.
Over at Kentucky Downs, Bran (Fr) won the GII Fanduel Turf Sprint S. Not only was the John Sadler trainee bred in France by Lordship Stud but she was ridden to victory by French Classic-winning jockey Vincent Cheminaud, who is now based in America.
Ballylinch Stud's Lope De Vega was another stallion to exhibit his versatility on Sunday when represented at Longchamp by G1 Prix Vermeille winner Sweet Lady (Fr) over 1m4f and also by the 5f winner Berneuil (Ire), who landed the G3 Prix du Petit Couvert. Both horses are out of mares by Dansili (GB), which is a cross that has also worked well to produce Grade I winner Capla Temptress (Ire), Group 2 winner Cadillac (Ire), and the dual Group 1 runner-up and Group 3 winner Lope Y Fernandez (Ire).
Lope De Vega has been on a roll of late, with his daughter Dreamloper (Ire) winning the previous weekend's G1 Prix du Moulin to add to her G1 Prix d'Ispahan success, and the aforementioned Duke De Sessa winning a Group 3 on Saturday at Leopardstown.
In the summer of 2020, Haras d'Etreham sold its flagship stallion, Wootton Bassett (GB), to Coolmore Stud. The son of Iffraaj (GB) is the kind of fairytale stallion story that any breeder dreams of; having stood for as low as €4,000 at Etreham in his third and fourth seasons, he stands for a career high €150,000 this year.
Since Wootton Bassett's sale, Etreham has reinvested in young sires Persian King (GB) and Hello Youmzain (Fr), both multiple Group 1 winners, and they stand on a young roster alongside Wootton Bassett's champion 3-year-old Almanzor (Fr), whose first crop are three this year, and City Light (Fr), whose first crop are yearlings.
In sharing some of Etreham's 2022 mating plans, Nicolas de Chambure noted that the stud has increased its support of its own stallions in recent seasons and will this year send each of them about 10 mares in addition to using outside proven sires.
MALAKEH (GB) (m, 7, Harbour Watch {Ire}-Marisa {Ger}, by Desert Sun {GB}), visits Almanzor (Fr)
Malakeh was a listed-winning and multiple group-placed miler, including a second in the G2 German One Thousand Guineas. Bred by Gestut Gorlsdorf, she is owned in partnership with SF Bloodstock and will be bred to Almanzor for her second covering, having already produced a “nice filly” by Hello Youmzain. “She is a strong-bodied mare who is going to suit Almanzor very well,” de Chambure said.
KOUBALIBRE (IRE) (m, 6, Galileo {Ire}-Kheleyf's Silver {Ire}, by Kheleyf), visits Siyouni (Fr)
Koubalibre is a winning half-sister to champion 2-year-old filly Tiggy Wiggy (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). Her first foal, a yearling colt, is by Kodiac, and she is due to Wootton Bassett this season after which she will visit Siyouni. “That cross has been very successful,” de Chambure noted of the Siyouni/Galileo pairing. “She is a good-looking mare with great strength for a daughter of Galileo.”
MISSION IMPASSIBLE (IRE) (m, 7, Galileo {Ire}-Margot Did {Ire}, by Exceed and Excel {Aus}), visits Wootton Bassett (GB)
Mission Impassible is a daughter of Group 1 winner Margot Did who was herself a listed winner and placed in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for Mohamed Fahad Al-Attiyah and Etreham. Mission Impassible's first foal is a 2-year-old colt by Kingman with Jean-Claude Rouget, while she has a yearling colt by Almanzor, whose sire she will visit this year after foaling a Lope De Vega.
BOOS (FR) (m, 8, Dream Ahead-La Belliere {Ire}, by Kheleyf), visits Persian King
Boos ran exclusively at age two, fitting in nine starts between May and October for two wins and a second in the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte. Having produced her first foal, a Kitten's Joy filly, last year, Boos was bought by Etreham for $175,000 at Keeneland November to support Persian King in his second season. She is currently in foal to Mendelssohn. “She is a really good-looking mare with strength and quality,” said de Chambure.
STEIP AMACH (IRE) (m, 10, Vocalised-Ceist Eile {Ire}, by Noverre), visits Mehmas
Etreham and Riviera Equine purchased Steip Amach from Jim Bolger when she was four after winning the G3 Amethyst S., and she placed in the G1 Prix Rothschild and G1 Prix Jean Romanet after transferring to David Smaga. She is in foal to Wootton Bassett and will visit Mehmas, the sire of last year's Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte winner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf runner-up Malavath (Ire), who is out of Steip Amach's half-sister Fidaaha (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}). “We are using a proven cross and a stallion that should suit her very well physically,” said de Chambure.
INTERESTING (IRE) (m, 12, Raven's Pass-With Fascination, by Dayjur), visits No Nay Never
Interesting was a group performer at two and her second foal is Fast Raaj (Fr) (Iffraaj {GB}), who won last year's G3 Prix Djebel and made it back-to-back Chantilly conditions wins on Tuesday. She has produced a “nice filly foal” by Hello Youmzain and visits No Nay Never. “She is suited to size, speed, and Mr. Prospector blood, so hopefully the cross will work,” de Chambure said.
PURELY PRICELESS (IRE) (m, 12, Galileo {Ire}-Peeping Fawn, by Danehill), visits Lope De Vega (Ire)
Purely Priceless is beautifully bred, being out of the excellent racemare and producer Peeping Fawn, and three of her first four foals are black-type horses. Purely Priceless is due to Almanzor and visits Lope De Vega to emulate the cross of her dual listed-winning daughter Alzire (Fr) (Shamardal).
SHADAN (FR) (m, 7, Orpen-Alatasarai {Ire}, by Giant's Causeway), visits Hello Youmzain (Fr)
Shadan was a listed-winning 3-year-old and is a half-sister to the GII Sands Point S. winner and Grade I-placed Tamahere (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). She is due to Tamahere's sire and visits Hello Youmzain. “The family needs strength and substance and can do with some precocity, so Hello Youmzain is the perfect candidate,” said de Chambure.
HIDDEN BREEZE (GB) (m, 4, Dark Angel {Ire}-Noyelles {Ire}, by Docksider), visits Kingman (GB)
The winning Hidden Breeze is a full-sister to the Group 3-winning and Group 1-placed Lily's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) from the immediate family of George Strawbridge's excellent producer In Clover (GB) (Inchinor {GB}). “Her first cover will be Kingman as she has a great mind and a lot of bone and substance,” said de Chambure. “They should compliment each other very well.”
VADSARIYA (FR) (m, 8, Exceed and Excel {Aus}-Valasyra {Fr}, by Sinndar {Ire}), visits City Light (Fr)
Vadsariya is from the Aga Khan family of G1 Prix de Diane winner Valyra (GB) (Azamour {Ire}), and was bought by Etreham for €140,000 at Arqana December in 2017. She has a yearling filly by Almanzor and visits City Light.
If having the winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe counted as a breakthrough moment for Siyouni (Fr) in 2020, his reputation climbed higher still as his son St Mark's Basilica (Fr) romped through his Classic year, winning the Poule d'Essai des Poulains, Prix du Jockey Club, Eclipse S. and Irish Champion S. on his way to becoming the top-rated horse in the world in 2021. Both he and Sottsass are now residents of the Coolmore stallion barn, where they will be given plenty of opportunities to attempt to establish Siyouni's reputation as a sire of sires.
Until Sottsass came along, the Aga Khan Studs' Siyouni had been best represented by his daughters. Ervedya (Fr) became his first Group 1 and Classic winner, Laurens (Fr) advertised his abilities to a wider audience with her six Group 1 wins in Britain, Ireland and France, while Etoile (Fr) took it a step further with a Grade I strike in Canada, and Dream And Do (Fr) has more recently enhanced his Classic roll of honour. What is clear is that Siyouni is an extremely accomplished sire, and there is plenty to suggest that as his reputation has grown, along with his stud fee–from €7,000 in 2011 and for the next three seasons to a high of €140,000 since 2021–then so will his achievements on the back of bigger and higher-quality books.
At this relatively early stage of his career, Siyouni has been represented by just one stakes winner as a broodmare sire, courtesy of the Deauville Listed winner Hurricane Dream (Fr) (Hurricane Cat), and there is surely hope for the Christophe Ferland-trained Times Square (Fr) (Zarak) to build on her juvenile season which saw her finish second in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac. But in a year in which he was also represented by the Group winners Seachange (Fr), Wally (Ire), Sacred Life (Fr), Policy Of Truth (Fr), Acer Alley (GB), Mise En Scene (GB) and Who Knows (Fr), taking his lifetime tally to 113 stakes winners, it is safe to say that Siyouni is already paying a handsome tribute to his much-loved sire Pivotal (GB), who died in November.
Another stallion sadly lost in 2021 was the German champion sire Adlerflug (Ger). Like Siyouni, he had secured his first championship in his native country in 2020, and he repeated that feat 12 months later, as well as finishing runner-up in France. In 2020, Adlerflug had the first and second in the G1 Deutsches Derby, In Swoop (Ire) and Torquator Tasso (Ger). The former went on to run second to Sottsass in the Arc that year, but his 2021 season was cut short in July after four runs, including a further Group 2 and Group 3 success. Torquator Tasso picked up the baton as it was announced that In Swoop would be retired to Coolmore's National Hunt division, and the final two races of the year for Gestut Auenquelle's colour-bearer and future stallion resulted in victories in the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Adlerflug had just 29 runners in France, resulting in 12 winners of 22 races, but Torquator Tasso's prize-money haul from Europe's richest race was enough to secure his sire the runner-up spot in the stallion table.
During a decade in French breeding when some classy stallions have emanated from some less-than-obvious sources, Wootton Bassett (GB) has been one of the great success stories. Chapter two of his stud career is currently being written in Ireland at Coolmore, where he has stood since last year following nine seasons at Haras d'Etreham. He too has had an enormous upturn in fee, from a starting price of €6,000, to a low of €4,000 in 2014 and his current high of €150,000. That of course has been fanned by the flames of success, and Wootton Bassett enjoyed another good year, with Prix Marcel Boussac winner Zellie (Fr) and Incarville (Fr) two new Group 1 winners, taking his tally to five, while Royal Patronage (Fr), Atomic Jones (Fr), Ilaraab (Ire) and Wootton Asset (Fr) were new Group/Graded winners outside France.
Wootton Bassett has 44 stakes winners to his name from eight crops of racing age, and it is worth remembering that none of his first four crops of foals exceeded 50, with his smallest, in 2014, numbering just 18. In his first season at Coolmore he covered 244 mares. Expect bigger and better things to come.
With 59 winners in France, and Skalleti having provided a first Group 1 success, Haras de Colleville's Kendargent (Fr) was fourth in the French sires' table for 2021.
Skalleti's full-brother Skazino (Fr) upheld the family honour with three Group wins, including the G2 Prix Kergorlay, while the Teruya Yoshida homebred Tokyo Gold (Fr) gave Kendargent a Classic victory in the G2 Derby Italiano for the French-based, Japanese-born trainer Satoshi Kobayashi.
It is also worth keeping an eye on Kendargent's growing profile as a broodmare sire, with the G1 Champion S. winner Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) being his leading representative in this regard, along with the G1 Deutsches Derby winner Sisfahan (Fr) (Isfahan {Ger}).
The winner of the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and third in the Arc, Hurricane Lane (Ire) helped to propel Britain and Ireland's champion sire Frankel (GB) into fifth place in the French table, just ahead of Sumbe's Le Havre (Ire). The latter's daughter Wonderful Tonight (Fr) bowed out in August before she was able to meet her end-of-year appointment in the Arc, but she did add a further two Group 2 wins to her tally of the previous year, winning at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood.
These of course did not count towards Le Havre's tally in France, but Glycon (Fr) took the G2 Prix de Deauville and Waliyak won the G3 Prix Bertrand de Tarragon. The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Ville De Grace (GB) is a filly to keep an eye in in 2022 following her win in the G3 Pride S. at Newmarket in the autumn.
Outside the leading contenders, it is also worth noting the five stakes winners for Intello (Ger) in France in 2021. He remains at Haras du Quesnay in 2022, having served two years at a time when alternating between Cheveley Park Stud and Quesnay for the first eight seasons of his stud career, and his fee for this year has been dropped to €8,000, down from a high of £/€25,000. Bubble Smart (GB), Dawn Intello (Fr) and Adhamo (Ire) were all Group 3 winners for him in France, while Waldbiene (Fr) won Germany's G2 T von Zastrow Stutenpreis.
Leading German Sires
The posthumous success of Adlerflug during the 2021 season has already been referenced above and his untimely death in April after covering a mare at the stud where he was born, Gestut Schlenderhan, will continue to be lamented in Germany and beyond. The son of In The Wings is champion for the second year running, with his 28 winners led by Torquator Tasso, whose major success at home came in the Grosser Preis von Baden. Outside Germany, Adlerflug's leading runners in 2021 were In Swoop and the G2 King Edward VII S. winner Alenquer (Fr).
The first crop of Adlerflug's fellow German Derby winner Isfahan (Ger) were only three in 2021, but the victory in that same Classic of his son Sisfahan (Fr) helped to put the Gestut Ohlerweiherhof resident in second place in the German sires' table.
Isfahan was also represented by the G1 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) runner-up Isfahani (Ger), who sadly died in September.
Sisfahan, who was runner-up to Torquator Tasso in the Grosser Preis von Baden, is reported to be heading to the Saudi Cup meeting in February for Germany's champion trainer Henk Grewe.
Soldier Hollow (GB) has just turned 22 and has previously been champion sire in Germany on three occasions. This time around he had to settle for third, but he sired the most winners (43) and highest number of stakes winners (nine). The diminutive son of In The Wings (GB) remains a huge credit to Gestut Auenquelle and to his owner Helmut Von Finck.
Another sad loss to the German stallion ranks and to Gestut Etzean in 2021 was Isfahan's sire Lord Of England (Ger). The 18-year-old was represented by another Classic winner in the last year of his life in the Preis der Diana winner Palmas (Ger).
Etzean has also been home for the last four years to the veteran former multiple champion sire Areion (Ger). The son of Big Shuffle turns 27 this year and had the valuable BBAG auction race winner Mister Applebee (Ger) among his leading performers of last year.
The Etzean stallions featured prominently in the sires' championship, with Amaron (GB), a son of Shamardal whose eldest runners were four in 2021, finishing sixth in the table. He will be joined at stud in 2022 by the Group 1 winner Japan (GB), who becomes the first son of Galileo (Ire) to stand in Germany.
A German sire of whom we could hear more this year is Guiliani (Ger), a son of Tertullian out of a full-sister to Getaway (Ger). Like Isfahan he had his first 3-year-old runners in 2021 and while Guiliani is yet to make a major impression, a notable member of his second crop is the Group 3 winner Tunnes (Ger), a half-brother to Torquator Tasso who is currently favourite for the Deutsches Derby.
Arcano Shines In Italy
Arcano (Ire) left Derrinstown Stud for Italy in 2016 and having spent the intervening years at Allevamento di Besnate, just north of Milan, he is now champion sire in his adopted country for the first time. His 26 winners included the G2 Oaks d'Italia heroine Eulaila (Ity), and she is out of a mare by theGII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Pounced, who has stood at the same stud for his entire career and is also now represented in the stallion ranks by his Group 2-winning son Full Drago (Ity), who had his first juvenile runners this year.
Second in the table was another former Allevamento di Besnate resident and Shadwell runner, Mujahid. Arcano has recently been joined at the stud by two more Shadwell-owned stallions, Mukhadram (GB) and Adaay (Ire).
The G1 July Cup winner Sakhee's Secret (GB) died in November at the age of 17. Having moved to Italy's Allevamento Si Fra in 2015, he was champion sire in 2019 and 2020, and finished fourth in the table in 2021, just behind Kendargent, who was represented by the Italian Derby winner Tokyo Gold.
