In the latest edition of our Value Sires Series, we arrive at stallions with their first yearlings in 2022. The Darley duo of Too Darn Hot (GB) and Blue Point (Ire) retired as the two breakout horses of this group on fees, and that is how they wound up their first sales season. Too Darn Hot, the beautifully bred son of Dubawi who was a champion at two and three, retired at £50,000 at Dalham Hall Stud, and his 11 foals sold last year averaged €131,148/£111,964-the best foal sale average achieved by a first-season sire since 2017. Blue Point-the triple Royal Ascot Group 1-winning sprinter-meanwhile, got going at Kildangan Stud for €45,000, and his 18 foals sold came in at an average of €98,366/£83,980.
Both of these sires are incredibly deserving of the top of the table. By sire of sires Dubawi and out of the triple Group 1-winning mare Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) from the incredibly deep family of the influential sire Darshaan (GB), Too Darn Hot always had high hopes riding on his shoulders and he delivered from the outset. A 'TDN Rising Star' when winning by seven lengths on debut, Too Darn Hot went on to sweep the G3 Solario S., G2 Champagne S. and G1 Dewhurst S. on his way to champion 2-year-old honours. Too Darn Hot endured a rather not straightforward beginning to his 3-year-old campaign; after a setback caused him to miss the G1 2000 Guineas he was briefly set on the Derby trail, but then re-routed again after he was eclipsed in the G2 Dante S. After placed efforts in the
G1 Irish 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace S., Too Darn Hot put it all back together again for wins in the G1 Prix Jean Prat and G1 Sussex S., which earned him divisional honours once again. Too Darn Hot's first crop contains 124 foals and 163 mares returned last year when his fee dipped to £45,000. That is where it stays this year.
Blue Point carries the hopes of Team Kildangan that he will be his sire, Shamardal's, heir apparent at the stallion yard Shamardal called home for 14 years. Shamardal's fastest son, Blue Point was a good 2-year-old, winning the G2 Gimcrack S. and placing in the G1 Middle Park S. and the Dewhurst. He was good, too, at three, winning a pair of Group 3s and finishing third in the G1 Commonwealth Cup. He got quite good at four, winning the G1 King's Stand S. over Battaash. But at five he was exceptional, winning all five starts including the G1 Al Quoz Sprint and the G1 King's Stand-once again beating Battaash-and the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. four days apart. Blue Point's first season resulted in 154 foals, and 183 mares returned last year, giving him the biggest book of any second-season sire. Blue Point stays at €40,000 for the second straight year.
Blue Point is not alone as a top-class sprinter in this sire crop: Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) won the G2 July S. and G1 Phoenix S. at two before adding the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at three, and he has held his £25,000 fee through his first three seasons at the National Stud. Coolmore's Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) won the G1 Middle Park S. at two and was fourth behind Advertise in the Commonwealth Cup before running a career-best race to beat that rival in the G1 July Cup. Ten Sovereigns started at €25,000 but is this year down to €17,500. He was third on first-crop sire averages at the foal sales, his 30 sold averaging €59,137/£50,422.
Coolmore also has Calyx (GB), the first son of Kingman (GB) to retire to stud, in this cohort. The Juddmonte homebred won on debut to earn 'TDN Rising Star' status 10 days before beating Advertise in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. After missing the remainder of the season, Calyx roared back with a four-length win in the G3 Pavilion S. at three but retired after being upset by the future dual Group 1 winner Hello Youmzain (Fr) (Kodiac {GB}) in the G2 Sandy Lane S. Calyx started at €22,500 and drops to €12,500 this year.
There is quality speed available, too, in the four-figure price range in this sire crop, like Yeomanstown Stud's four-time six-furlong Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Invincible Army (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (€7,500); Tally-Ho Stud's Inns Of Court (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (€5,000), also a four-time group winner and Group 1-placed; Highclere Stud's G2 Richmond S. winner Land Force (Ire) (No Nay Never) (£5,000); Shadwell's G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Eqtidaar (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (£5,000); and Haras d'Etreham's Group 3-winning, G1 Diamond Jubilee-placed City Light (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) (€7,000).
The highest-rated member of this sire crop stands at Ballylinch Stud for €15,000 (down from an initial €17,500), and that is the four-time Group 1 winner and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe scorer Waldgeist (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). A Group 1 winner at two who was at his best at five, Waldgeist is by the sire of sires Galileo and from an incredibly stout German family. He kicked off his final campaign in 2019 with a defeat of Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Prix Ganay, and that rival is also in with a great chance at stud. Study Of Man won the G1 Prix du Jockey Club in 2018 and is a grandson of Miesque, and is therefore from the immediate family of sires Kingmambo and Karakontie (Jpn) as well as many, many other Group 1 winners. Being by the great Deep Impact out of a Storm Cat mare, Study Of Man will be easy to mate with much of the European broodmare population. He is down to €12,500 from €15,000.
The Irish National Stud stands the Group 3-winning 2-year-old and G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) for €12,000, down from an initial €15,000. Phoenix Of Spain was the most represented of this group at the foal sales, with 45 going through the ring. Thirty-six sold for an average of €30,713/£26,177.
VALUE PODIUM
Bronze: Soldier's Call (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) (Ballyhane Stud, €7,500) – Soldier's Call was a top-class, Royal Ascot-winning
2-year-old who trained on at three to mix it with the best older sprinters. He ran eight times at two, with wins in the Listed Windsor Castle S., G3 Prix d'Arenberg and G2 Flying Childers S. the highlights before he ran third, beaten a neck, in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye against older horses. In his second start at three, Soldier's Call found only the excellent older sprinters Blue Point and Battaash too tough in the G1 King's Stand S., with his Abbaye conqueror Mabs Cross (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}) among those in arrears.
Though Soldier's Call didn't win at three, he put up another excellent performance against elders when second to Battaash in the G1 Nunthorpe S. Out of the listed-winning and Group 3-placed Dijarvo (GB) (Iceman {GB}), Soldier's Call has been popular at Ballyhane Stud; he covered 159 mares in his first season and one more than that last year. He debuted for €10,000 and after standing for €7,500 last year, remains at that fee in 2022.
Silver: Masar (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) (Darley Dalham Hall, £14,000) – A Group 3 winner at two who trained on to win the Derby and from the family of Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire), Masar packs a lot of value into a €14,000 package. Precocious enough to beat Invincible Army to win on debut in May of his 2-year-old season, Masar was third in Royal Ascot's Listed Chesham S. before beating future Classic winner Romanised in the G3 Solario S. and was third in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. The runaway nine-length winner of the G3 Craven S. at three, Masar finished third in the G1 2000 Guineas before stepping up in trip to win the Derby. Masar, by Galileo's high-class son New Approach, is inbred 3×4 to Galileo's blue hen dam Urban Sea, and is therefore from the female family of Galileo himself as well as Sea The Stars and many other Group 1 winners. Masar is the second foal out of Godolphin's dual UAE Classic winner Khawlah (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), who was also third in the G3 Oh So Sharp S. at two. Khawlah has since produced the Group 3-placed Sayyida (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), and she is herself a granddaughter of Galileo and Sea The Stars's listed-winning and dual Oaks-placed half-sister Melikah (Ire) (Lammtarra). Masar covered 138 mares in his debut book at £15,000 and 98 last year at £14,000, the fee at which he remains this year.
Gold: Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (Coolmore Stud, €17,500) – Down to €17,500, St Mark's Basilica's Classic-winning brother, Magna Grecia–who was also a Group 1-winning 2-year-old–looks excellent value. While St Mark's Basilica fills the spotlight on a debut fee of €65,000, it is worth remembering that not only does Magna Grecia bring sparkling racecourse credentials, but is by proven sire of sires Invincible Spirit. Raced by the Coolmore partners in partnership with the Niarchos Family's Flaxman Holdings, Magna Grecia won at first asking at two and finished second to Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB})-beating his stablemate and fellow Value Sire Circus Maximus-in the G3 Autumn S. before beating Phoenix Of Spain in the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy. Magna Grecia was a decisive first-up winner of the 2000 Guineas at three, and retired after running twice more with a rating of 120. Magna Grecia and St Mark's Basilica are out of the precocious G3 Silver Flash S. winner Cabaret (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who is herself a sister to black-type 2-year-olds Ho Choi (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and Drumfire (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). After covering 159 mares in year one at a fee of €22,500, Magna Grecia covered 127 last year at €18,000 and is available for €17,500 this year.
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