Seven Days: Every Sire Has His Day

[Wandering Eyes]

There was much consternation when only three new Flat stallions retired to stand in Britain for the 2025 season. It remains to be seen whether this was a blip, but if it becomes a trend then obviously it is cause for concern.

It is easy to understand why, in an increasingly commercial sphere, breeders would either flock to the proven elite (for those with mares good enough and pockets deep enough) or to the next first-season sire on the block who may be forgiven for a year or two until we know whether he can do the job well or only passably. 

In this racing season in particular, however, we have had frequent reminders of those stallions who can get you a Group 1 winner while not necessarily breaking the bank with his covering fee. Naturally the top-tier stallions Sea The Stars, Frankel, Dubawi, Wootton Bassett, Kingman, Night Of Thunder, Camelot, Too Darn Hot and Siyouni all feature on the list of Group 1 sires in Europe this year, but so too do Australia (sire of Lambourn and Cercene), Almanzor (Gezora), Massaat (Docklands), Washington DC (American Affair), Golden Horn (Trawlerman), Sands Of Mali (Time For Sandals), Territories (Lazzat), Gleneagles (Calandagan), Polish Vulcano (Hochkonig), Wooded (Woodshauna), Cable Bay (No Half Measures), Brametot (Nicoreni), Make Believe (Sajir), and Mohaather (Big Mojo). 

To that list we can now add Sergei Prokofiev and Without Parole, whose respective sons Arizona Blaze and Zavateri each played their part in adding some valuable variety to an excellent Irish Champions Festival. From the latter group, leaving aside Territories, Almanzor and Cable Bay, who were not standing in Europe this season, nine of the remaining 10 were available for £10,000 or less, with Gleneagles being the outlier to a degree at €20,000.

We are edging towards the time of year when stallion announcements start to be made, followed by the unveiling of fees. Though the figures are yet to be officially announced, there has reportedly been another drop in covering numbers this year in Britain and Ireland of around 10 per cent. Stallion owners will undoubtedly be thinking hard when it comes to pricing their sires, and breeders too should think hard about where the value lies. Is it worth running the risk of your mare being one of several hundred to be covered by a particular stallion if you end up with an ordinary-looking individual? 

Granted, it is also a gamble to use an under-the-radar sire and then risk being denied a sales slot simply because of the vagaries of fashion. Inevitably, if a crystal ball is not to hand, it comes down to believing in your own stock and, if the market doesn't like them, being prepared to put horses into training and proving them all wrong. Clearly, though, for those thinking a little outside the box, the cheaper stallions don't necessarily mean smaller returns in the long run.

Gunther Graduates Making Their Mark

Eight days apart in 2015, John and Tanya Gunther welcomed foals by Frankel and Scat Daddy to their breeding operations in Britain (at Newsells Park Stud) and Glennwood Farm in Kentucky. 

The first to be born became known as Without Parole after he had been retained by his breeders at 650,000gns at Book 1 of the October Sale at Tattersalls and put into training with John Gosden. The Scat Daddy colt was sold for $500,000 at Keeneland September and raced for a partnership which included the China Horse Club under the name of Justify. We all know what he did on the track, and 10 days after Justify secured his Triple Crown, Without Parole gave the Gunthers a memorable day at Royal Ascot when winning the G1 St James's Palace Stakes.

What reflected glory these two stallions still heap on their breeders. On Saturday, Scandinavia battled hard to take the St Leger, following fellow Justify colts City Of Troy and Ruling Court in becoming a British Classic winner.

The following day, the name Gunther appeared again as the breeder of the plucky little chestnut colt named Zavateri, who bowed neither to size nor reputation when it came to digging deep to see off three colts from Ballydoyle in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes at the Curragh.

Without Parole's two crops of racing age, conceived at Newsells Park from fees of £10,000 and £8,000 respectively, number less than 100. He had 52 foals in his first crop and 42 from his second. Of the 56 to have raced to date, 27 have won (48 per cent), including the Group 3-placed Fiery Lucy and Listed-placed Sea To Sky from his first crop, while current juvenile Genchev was third in the Listed Pat Smullen Stakes on debut behind the previous winners Daytona and North Coast.

The unbeaten Zavateri is of course Without Parole's star performer, jumping from his Salisbury novice win in June to the G2 July Stakes and G2 Vintage Stakes to become a Group 1 winner. The Dewhurst beckons and, as a descendant of the great Zarkava, Zavateri has the family behind him to allow owners Mick and Janice Mariscotti and trainer Eve Johnson Houghton to dream of next year's Classics.

Sergei Prokofiev Calls The Tune

The statuesque Sergei Prokofiev retired to stud at the same time as Without Parole, joining Whitsbury Manor Stud at an opening fee of £6,500. A son of Scat Daddy, his best victory came in the G3 Cornwallis Stakes over the minimum trip, and over that same distance he is now a Group 1 sire after his son Arizona Blaze took Sunday's Flying Five Stakes for Amo Racing. 

 

David Egan and Kia Joorabchian celebrate Arizona Blaze's win | Racingfotos

 

An admirably tough colt, Arizona Blaze, who was bred by Andrew Bengough and Partners, had been his sire's first winner on March 18, 2024, and he ran a further eight times last year, never finishing out of the first four and beating subsequent Classic winner Camille Pissarro when winning the G3 Marble Hill Stakes. In his final start of last season he was a close second to Magnum Force in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. This year, four of his eight starts to date have resulted in victory and he now has a deserved Group 1 tag against his name. 

Sergei Prokofiev is also responsible for the Listed winner Enchanting Empress and four other black-type earners, but arguably his most impressive horse of this campaign after Arizona Blaze has been Song Of The Clyde. An £85,000 yearling from Goffs UK by his trainer Clive Cox, the Middleham Park Racing colour-bearer has earned £438,790 from five starts this year, chiefly from his victory in the Harry's Half Million at York, and he was also runner-up last week to Calendar Girl, a daughter of Advertise, in the Weatherbys Scientific £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes.

Burke's Shining Example

While Aidan O'Brien had to concede the National Stakes to Eve Johnson Houghton, narrowly missing out on making Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) a Group 1 winner like his half-brother Vandeek (Havana Grey), the master of Ballydoyle did collect three of the weekend's top-level contests. With the help of Tom Marquand, he landed the St Leger for the third consecutive year and ninth time in total with the aforementioned Scandinavia, the Irish Champion Stakes with Delacroix (Dubawi), and the Moyglare with Precise (Starspangledbanner), whom he and his wife Annemarie also bred. 

Karl Burke laid down the most impressive challenge for Britain at the Irish Champions Festival, with Fallen Angel (Too Darn Hot) claiming her fourth Group 1 victory in the Matron Stakes, Convergent (Fascinating Rock) winning the G3 CMG Group Stakes and Royal Champion (Shamardal), Venetian Sun (Starman) and Al Qareem (Awtaad) each finishing third in the Irish Champion, Moyglare and Irish St Leger respectively. Burke and his jockey Clifford Lee also scooped €135,500 for the victory of Alparslan (Dandy Man) in the Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Stakes. 

Burke's five runners in five Group 1 races over the weekend sets an example to plenty of other major stables. 

Fruitful Partnerships

Last year's spending spree by Amo Racing at the yearling sales also saw the emergence of a new partnership between Kia Joorabchian's operation and Al Shaqab Racing. One of their joint-acquisitions was Aylin, from the first crop of St Mark's Basilica, for 600,000gns from Yeomanstown Stud. 

Another promising young individual from Karl Burke's stable, Aylin posted her second win when taking the G2 May Hill Stakes on Thursday and will likely bid to go a grade higher in the G1 Fillies' Mile. 

Along with Amo Racing's Group 1 strike with Arizona Blaze, Al Shaqab has also enjoyed a major winner in its own right of late courtesy of the G1 Prix du Moulin win of the homebred Sahlan (Wootton Bassett).

Another partnership which has been in clover of late is that of Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy. Following a treble on September 6 with Old Borough Cup winner The Reverend, Crown Of Oaks and Dash Of Azure, the duo was represented on the opening day of Doncaster's St Leger meeting by the victory of the progressive stayer Santorini Star in the G2 Park Hill Fillies' Stakes.

The daughter of Golden Horn is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Dreamloper (Lope De Vega) and was bred by Olivia Hoare from Livia's Dream (Teofilo), whose female-line ancestors include the 1980 Oaks winner Bireme (Grundy), who also features as the great granddam of another Oaks winner, Talent (New Approach). 

The William Haggas-trained Santorini Star will in time make a lovely addition to the burgeoning broodmare band of her owners, as will the G1 Prix Morny winner Venetian Sun, who leads the charge for the Bloom and McAleavy team this year. 

Gold-Star Performers

This may not happen any more, but in the schooldays of the 1970s children used to be awarded a gold star for doing something well, or perhaps for not misbehaving. Not so long ago, the daughter of a friend of this column used to be awarded stickers on a kitchen chart if she had got through a whole week without biting anyone. We saw said child at her grandmother's 80th birthday party recently and she appears to have grown out of such behaviour, so the reward charts clearly have a place in civilised society.

It is not known whether Convergent and/or Al Riffa are prone to biting people, but they may be forgiven if they are, particularly after their respective gold-star performances at the weekend.

 

Convergent and Clifford Lee, third left | Racingfotos

 

Convergent was simply a joy to watch – and perhaps even more so after the winning post than before. Some excellent camera work followed him bowling on round the bend at Leopardstown after he had won the G3 CMG Group Stakes in convincing fashion for owner-breeder Newtown Anner Stud, who also bred and raced his sire Fascinating Rock. 

Convergent had previously come within a squeak of adding his sire's name to the list up above, when beaten a short-head in the G1 Deutsches Derby, and it would be no surprise to see him bag his own top-level win before too long. 

The G1 Champion Stakes and G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Fascinating Rock, whose sire Fastnet Rock died last week, has been at Burgage Stud for the past four seasons and was advertised at €2,000 this year. 

Al Riffa, too, deserves a big gold star for his menacing win in the G1 Irish St Leger, three years almost to the day after he had won the G1 National Stakes on the equivalent card of 2022. The son of Wootton Bassett didn't feature much the following year, running only twice at three, and it would have been easy to have written him off as a decent juvenile who didn't go on. But go on he has, to pick up last year's G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin and now this season's G2 Curragh Cup and Irish St Leger en route to attempting to give his trainer Joseph O'Brien a third win in the Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday of November. 

As both his jockey's first and most recent Group 1 winner, Al Riffa must hold a special place in the heart of Dylan Browne McMonagle. Let's give him a gold star too.

 

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