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    • It may be the season to be jolly, but it's also a time of reflection, and there are many ways one can look back on a first-season sires' championship in Britain and Ireland that was ultimately dominated from start to finish by Whitsbury Manor Stud's Sergei Prokofiev.  The cool thing to say about this year's championship was that none of the new stallions seemed to be standing out from the crowd like Blue Point (Ire) and Havana Grey (GB) had done in previous years.  That may well be true, but Sergei Prokofiev is deserving of a bit more credit for how his debut batch of runners performed this year as 23 individual winners and a total of 29 wins in Britain and Ireland left him well clear on numbers of his nearest pursuer, Mohaather (GB), who performed creditably with 19 winners and 24 wins respectively.  However, what some people seem to have missed with Sergei Prokofiev is that, not only did he win the first-season sires' championship, but his tally of two-year-old winners and wins compared favourably with some of the best stallions in the business.  In fact, Sergei Prokofiev ended the season in the top 10 most successful sire of two-year-old winners in Britain and Ireland, with his 23 individual winners comparing favourably with the likes of Starspangledbanner (Aus), No Nay Never and even Kingman (GB). It must be said that there is a huge disparity of quality winners there, but still, it doesn't take from the fact Sergei Prokofiev has surpassed expectations to be mentioned in the same breath of such vaunted stallions on that one metric alone.  Sergei Prokofiev's sole Group winner came in the G3 Marble Hill Stakes at the Curragh when the Adrian Murray-trained Arizona Blaze (GB) – who had become his first winner on the opening day of the Irish turf season – carried the colours of Amo Racing to a hard-fought victory over subsequent Group 1 scorer Camille Pissarro (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). Arizona Blaze very nearly clinched a Group 1 triumph of his own when flying home for second behind Magnum Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar. He remains a classy colt with a view towards next year.  It will be interesting to see how his first crop of runners progress next year on the whole because, if there is a question mark hovering over Sergei Prokofiev, it is going to be how his horses train on.  A high-class juvenile himself when trained by Aidan O'Brien, the son of Scat Daddy managed to win at Listed level as a three-year-old but never really fulfilled his potential beyond his juvenile campaign.  But it must be noted that Sergei Prokofiev is throwing fine, big horses who look as though they will progress and the fact that buyers like Amo Racing, Ralph Beckett and Anthony Stroud supported him at the yearling sales this year can only be viewed as a positive going forward.  Sands Of Mali (Fr), who on top of having 16 winners and 23 wins, enjoyed Royal Ascot success with the Kevin Ryan-trained Windsor Castle Stakes hero Ain't Nobody (Ire). The Ballyhane Stud stallion finished second overall by prize-money, trailing Sergei Prokofiev by just €70,000 and finishing some €100,000 clear of Darley's Pinatubo (Ire) in third. Winner of the G2 Gimcrack Stakes himself at two, Sands Of Mali developed into a top-class sprinter, winning the G1 British Champions Sprint Stakes as a three-year-old.  Along with Ain't Nobody, he was responsible for the 105-rated Time For Sandals (Ire), who was beaten just a neck into second in the G2 Lowther Stakes at York for Harry Eustace.  Like Sergei Prokofiev, Sands Of Mali confirmed himself well capable of getting highly-rated soldiers on the ground who achieved good ratings–nine were rated 80 or above. The emphasis is definitely on speed with his progeny as the majority of those wins were achieved between five and six furlongs.  There's no doubt that Sands Of Mali has done enough in his debut season to suggest that he has a place at stud in Britain and Ireland for years to come. However, the fact that he had just 50 registered yearlings and only 24 foals on the ground will make things difficult in the short-term at least for him to kick on from what was an excellent debut year.  Mohaather | Shadwell Mohaather Makes Strong Start It didn't seem to be happening for Mohaather up to the midpoint of the season but the way his progeny roared home in the second half of the season saw him surge up the table and, at one point, it looked as though he may even knock Sergei Prokofiev off his perch.  In the end, Mohaather trailed the first-season sire champion by just four individual winners and five wins overall. His strong debut season was headed by the success of G3 Molecomb Stakes winner Big Mojo (Ire) and a strong case can be made for the progeny of Mohaather doing even better beyond their juvenile years given he developed into a high-class miler later in life and recorded his career-high G1 Sussex Stakes success as a four-year-old.   Kameko A Class Act Although Kameko couldn't rival the tally of winners amassed by Sergei Prokofiev and co, he certainly came up trumps in the quality stakes and ended the year as the only freshman sire to come up with a winner at the highest level with Qatar Racing's New Century taking the Grade I Summer Stakes at Woodbine for trainer Andrew Balding.  That achievement didn't go unnoticed, either, with Godolphin going to 1 million gns to secure the brother of New Century during Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale at Tattersalls. That proved to be the sale-topping result of what proved to be memorable trade. Talk about two major feathers in the cap for the young stallion.  In terms of the figures, 12 individual winners and 17 wins from 46 runners all told in Britain and Ireland makes for hugely respectable reading for a sire whose progeny should progress with time and racing. Along with New Century, Kameko has a genuine Derby contender in the shape of the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes winner and the 114-rated Wimbledon Hawkeye (GB), while Rajeko (Ire) also secured a triple-figure rating of 100 for the stallion this season.  Good Vibes On Ghaiyyath  Big things were expected from Darley's Pinatubo, Earthlight (Ire) and Ghaiyyath (Ire) and, strangely, while the latter didn't get as many winners on the board, he shaped the best of the trio in many people's eyes.  Predictably, Ghaiyyath's juveniles came to the fore late in the season, with Mandanaba (Fr) delivering a breakthrough TDN Rising Star success at Chantilly in November.  Six individual winners and wins from just 30 runners in Britain and Ireland was spearheaded by the 111-rated and G3 Autumn Stakes runner-up Stanhope Gardens (Ire). Ghaiyyath's second-crop yearlings have sold for up to 500,000gns and, perhaps most interestingly, a number of leading pinhookers stretched to secure foals by the stallion this year. The bookmakers chalked up Pinatubo as the ante-post favourite to scoop first-season sire honours at odds of 6-4 and few would have disagreed with such an appraisal. A tally of 18 individual winners and 23 wins in Britain and Ireland leaves him just one shy of Mohaather on both metrics from 16 fewer runners. There's no denying that more may well have been expected this year from Pinatubo, who was such a brilliant juvenile himself, with his two Group 1 wins featuring among an unbeaten two-year-old campaign that spanned six races. Nonetheless, he still finished third in the table on prize-money and also in the European table (behind Sergei Prokofiev and Hello Youmzain) with his 22 individual winners and 30 overall wins just five and four short of the figures posted by the first-season sire champion in each category respectively. It may be the case that his runners are taking more time than many expected. Meanwhile, another son of Shamardal, Earthlight, enjoyed 14 individual winners and 15 wins in Britain and Ireland with the 103-rated Mr Lightside (Ire), who finished third behind Big Mojo in the Molecomb, the highest-rated of that bunch.  The best from Earthlight was undoubtedly on show in France, where his daughter Daylight (Fr) scored in Group 3 company before finishing third behind Whistlejacket (Ire) in the Prix Morny followed by a fine second to Lake Victoria (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Cheveley Park. Electrolyte: a high-profile horse for Hello Youmzain this year | Scoop Dyga Hello Youmzain Here To Stay Speaking of France, it is hard not to be taken by the achievements of Haras d'Etreham resident Hello Youmzain (Fr). A quick scan of the leading first-crop sires' table in that country will see that his tally of 13 individual winners saw him hold off Wooded (Ire) by a single winner but the €200,245 difference in prize-money between the pair highlights where those wins were achieved.  Hello Youmzain managed to account for eight winners and nine wins in Britain and Ireland but, far more impressive than that was the fact he enjoyed two Group winners–Electrolyte (Ire) and Misunderstood (Fr)–in his debut season. His prowess has already been felt in the southern hemisphere, where Remala produced an impressive first winner in New Zealand for a sire who appears to be the real deal.  Best Of The Rest Honourable mention must go to Without Parole (GB), who came up with two black-type horses–Fiery Lucy (GB) and Sea To Sky (Ire)–in his first crop while King Of Change (GB) did similarly well from a small crop to produce a Listed winner in Lady With The Lamp (Ire).    The post Sergei Prokofiev Tops First-Crop Sires – But Others Make A Mark  appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • In a star-studded field, it was Sierra Leone and Fierceness who turned the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) into a gem.View the full article
    • South African jockey snaps 57-ride run of outs with impressive success aboard ‘one of my favourites’ Full Credit.View the full article
    • Australian star joins Douglas Whyte in reaching 1,800 Hong Kong wins after booting home Endeared, Masterofmyuniverse and Tourbillon Prince.View the full article
    • Former Argentinian Group One winner handles leap to Class Two as Australian handler jumps to second in championship.View the full article
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