Exciting New Chapter As Group 1 Winner Scorthy Champ To Stand At Barton Stud

[Wandering Eyes]

Group 1-winning juvenile Scorthy Champ will stand at Barton Stud in 2026 and his fee has been set at £8,500. The son of Mehmas was trained by Joseph O'Brien to win the National Stakes at the Curragh last year. 

He finished that season with an official rating of 117, which makes him the joint-highest two-year-old of 2024 to retire to stud in the UK in 2025 – and second only to Shadow Of Light in Europe.

Standing Scorthy Champ marks a new venture for Tom Blain's Barton Stud, which is located just over 15 miles from Newmarket and has specialised in breeding top-quality thoroughbreds for the sales ring and global racing.

Blain said, “It's always been my dream to stand stallions. We have built the business up over the last 10 years and this feels like a natural and incredibly exciting step for us.

“Despite the much-discussed headwinds we are facing as an industry, especially here in the UK, I remain excited and optimistic about what can be achieved with the right horses.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have secured Scorthy Champ for the 2026 breeding season. We've been looking very hard for a stallion throughout the year and he was always right up there on our wish-list. The truth is we thought he would be unattainable, so it's fantastic we've been able to acquire a horse that ticks as many boxes as he does.”

He added, “Scorthy Champ hails from a superb family. His dam Fidaaha has produced multiple stakes performers such as Malavath, a Group 2 winner and twice a Group 1 runner-up, and Knight, who was victorious in the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes. Second dam Ceist Eile's offspring includes two Group winners and also an unraced daughter Ceistiu, mother of 2025 Glorious Goodwood Group 3 Gordon Stakes victor Merchant.

“Physically, Scorthy Champ, is an incredibly good-looking horse from a famously attractive family. He possesses plenty of size, scope and an impressive walk. I feel he offers breeders across Europe real value. We are selling limited breeding rights in the horse. The deal is highly attractive to investors, who I hope will be with us for the long term on this journey.”

Blain's team are due to take charge of Scorthy Champ in the coming days and the horse will be available to see from mid-December. Blain welcomes breeder enquiries at Tom@bartonstud.co.uk and archie@bartonstud.co.uk.

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