New European stallions for 2019

Some exciting new sires are joining stallion rosters in France and Germany for 2019

Recoletos, the dual Group 1 winner of the Prix d’Ispahan and the Prix du Moulin, is the most expensive sire retiring to stand in France for 2019. He is standing at Haras du Quesnay at a fee of €8,000.

He claimed his first Group 1 form when third in the Prix du Jockey-Club, just a short-head and a length behind Brametot and Waldgeist.

He collected the Prix du Prince d’Orange (G3) in September before finishing fourth to Cracksman, Poet’s Word and Highland Reel in the British Champion Stakes (G1).

At four he once again kicked his season off on a winning note taking the Prix du Muguet (G2) before that first Group 1 success came his way in the 1m1f Prix d’Ispahan.

A down-the-field run in the Queen Anne Stakes (G1) preceded a second in the Prix du Jacques le Marois behind the 2018 star filly Alpha Centauri. He then took the Prix du Moulin (G1) by a head from Wind Chimes and subsequent Breeders’ Cup Mile scorer Expert Eye. He retired off a career-high mark of 121.

He is a half-brother to Castellar, a daughter of American Post and a winner of the Prix de la Nonette (G2).

His second dam Pharatta (Fairy King) was a Grade 2 winner in the US and grand-dam of a Group 3 winner and a Listed placed horse, while his third dam produced Crimson Tide, winner of the Premio Ribot (G2) and the Grosser Preis von Dusseldorf (G2).

His fourth dam has the biggest claim to fame on the page: for owner-breeder The Aga Khan she produced Shahrastani, the dual Derby winner and an Irish champion of 1986.

She is also ancestress of Shalapour, who finished third in the Irish Derby, the Brigadier Stakes (G3) winner Sharestan, the Group 3 winner Shareen and the dual Blandford Stakes (G2) winner, Shamreen.

There are no instances of Danehill, Danzig or Green Desert in the Recoletos’s page so all those strains are open to breeders, while Sadler’s Wells and his brother Fairy King are duplicated in the stallion’s third generation

The André Fabre-trained Cloth Of Stars was a talented juvenile by Sea The Stars, who continued to progress throughout his career.

After his maiden victory first time out in August, he took the mile Group 3 Prix de Chenes, finished third in the Prix de Conde (G3) and then second in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud (G1), both times behind winner Robin Of Navan.

A Group 3 and a Group 2 both over 1m2f kicked his three-year-old year off in style, while he finished in the middle of the field when taken to Britain for the Epsom Derby, failing to stay the 1m4f.

His season ended in July in the Grand Prix de Paris (G1) when third beaten a length and a quarter and a neck.

At four, he duly completed an early-season hat-trick, building from a Group 3 win to a Group 2 victory to success in the 1m2f Prix Ganay (G1).

Put away through to the autumn, he concluded his year with a fine second to Enable in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) run that year at Chantilly.

He failed to win in 2018, but collected two third placings in Group 1s – a journey to Dubai saw him third in the Dubai Sheema Classic behind Hawkbill and Poet’s Word, and then when back at Longchamp he finished third in the Prix Ganay behind Cracksman.

He rounded his career off just a short-neck and three-quarters of a length behind Enable and paternal half-sister Sea Of Class in the Pric de l’Arc de Triomphe.

By a leading sire in Sea The Stars, Cloth Of Stars hails from a top-class middle-distance European family. He is out of an own-sister to the talented dual Oaks winner Light Shift (Kingmambo) – the dam of the champion older horse and dual Group 1 winner Ulysses (Galileo) – and to Shiva (Hector Protector), a champion older mare in Europe in 1999 and 2000.

Other good performers on the page include the multiple Group 2 winner Limnos, the champion US older horse Main Sequence and third dam Northern Trick, a champion in Europe in 1984 and winner of the Prix de Diane Hermes (G1) and Prix Vermeille (G1). Sea The Stars, a son of Cape Cross, has done very well with mares by Sadler’s Wells (Taghrooda, Storm The Stars and Knight To Behold), Bering (Stradivarius), Hernando (Sea Of Class), Mark Of Esteem (Crystal Ocean) and Pivotal (Mutakayyef).

Using a mare with Cloth Of Stars by a son of Galileo (Frankel for instance) would doubel the wonderful influence of Urban Sea.

The most expensive sire retiring to Germany is Iquitos, a son of Adlerflug, who is to stand at Gestüt Ammerland for €6,000.

He won Group 1s at four, five and six beating Nightflower in the 2016 renewal of the Grosser Preis von Baden from Nightflower, the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis from Best Solution in 2017 and in 2018 on his final career start last November, the Grosser Preis von Bayern from Defoe and Dee Ex Bee.

He also finished in the Group 1 places six times, frequently crossing swords with Guignol, Best Solution, Dschingis Secret,

His best performances all came on good ground or soft and he was awarded the German Horse of the Year title in 2016.

He is the best horse by the Deutsches Derby (G1) winner Adlerflug, while his winning dam Irika is a daughter of Areion and a half-sister to a Listed performer.

He is by In The Wings (Sadler’s Wells) who is out of Alya, a full-sister to Allegretta, the dam of Urban Sea.

An option would be to renew that family strength through Galileo or his sons, or alternatively to use a Green Desert line sire or a Danehill line stallion – neither currently feature in Iquitos’s pedigree.

Taareef becomes the first son of the US Turf champion sire Kitten’s Joy to stand in France, the Sheikh Hamdan-raced colt heading to Haras du Mezeray.

Bought in the US by Shadwell Estates for $675,000, the chestnut won twice at two and was a dual Group winner at three – he took the 1m1f Prix Daphnis (G3) and the mile Prix Daniel Wilderstein (G2) run at Chantilly.

At four he won two Group 3s over a mile at the start of the season before his career highlight when he finished three-quarters of a length second to Ribchester in the G-roup 1 Prix du Moulin. He came home ahead of Massaat, Robin Of Navan, Inns Of Court and Lightning Spear.

He went from there to conclude his year once again with success in the Daniel Wilderstein.

His 2018 best performance was when fourth to Recoletos in the 1m1f Prix d’Ispahan (G1), perhaps the extra furlong just catching him out.

As to be expected, Taareef hails from a largely US family but although his Carson City dam was a winner on the Dirt, she is a half-sister to two successful horses at Grade 3 level on the Turf.

Kitten’s Joy’s best runner Roaring Lion is out of a Street Sense mare – and with no instances of him, his sire Street Cry or

Machiavellian in Taareef’s pedigree mares by those sires give options.

Hawkbill is out of a mare by Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat), while Oscar Performance is out of a mare by the broodmare sire Theatrical. He was a son of Nureyev, so that will bring in options to consider mares by leading broodmare sire Pivotal.

Another two new sires by Sea The Stars to join the stallion ranks in France are Mekhtaal, who retires to Haras de Bouquetot, and Chemical Charge who goes to Haras de Grandchamp.

Mekhtaal’s extended pedigree traces to the multiple champion and Group 1 middle-distance runner White Muzzle, and to Almutawakel, winner of the Prix Jean Prat (G1) and the Dubai World Cup (G1).

Mekhtaal is a half-brother to three black-type performers headed by Democrate, winner of the 1m2f Prix Hocquart (G2), while his Silver Hawk dam won the Prix Fille de l’Air (G3) and is a half-sister to the dam of Germance, winner of the Prix Saint-Alary (G1) and also by Silver Hawk.

Mehktaal won the three-year-olds Prix Hocquart (G2) himself and finished fourth in that year’s Grand Prix de Paris (G1).

At four he finished second in the 1m2f Prix d’Harcourt (G2) to Cloth Of Stars before claiming Group 1 glory in the Prix d’Ispahan, a race in which he beat the good form guide Robin Of Navan.

Transferred to US trainer Graham Motion for his five-year-old season, he took second placings in Nijinsky Stakes (G2) and the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes (G1).

Chemical Charge, is to stand at a fee of €4,000. He is out of the Listed-placed Kingmambo mare Jakonda and his third dam is Weekend Surprise, the dam of the champion and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner A.P. Indy, the dual Grade 1 winner Summer Squall, and the Grade 1-placed Weekend In Seattle. She is the dam of Court Vision, a five-time Grade 1 winner.

Chemical Charge’s Group race victory came in the 1m4f September Stakes (G3) on the All-Weather at Kempton for trainer Ralph Beckett.

He had previously collected Group 2 and Group 3 placings over 1m4f and 1m2f, including in the Hardwicke Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot behind Idaho.

His career best came when fourth, beaten just under 2l, in the 1m4f Hong Kong Vase (G1) behind Highland Reel, Talismanic and Tosen Basil.

Two by Scat Daddy are also joining the French stallion roster: Seabhac (Haras de

Saint Arnoult) and Seahenge (Haras de la Haie Neuve) – both were talented juveniles and offer some precocity to the Gallic sires’ list.

Seabhac raced in the US for trainer Todd Pletcher and was a good juvenile – he picked up a win in the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stake on Turf and a fourth placing in the Grade 3 With

Anticipation Stakes. He is the first foal out of a young Curlin mare Curlin Hawk, a half-sister to Afleet Alex, a US champion in 2005 and winner of the Hopeful Stakes (G1), the Preakness Stakes (G1) and the Belmont Stakes (G1), while his full-brother Unforgettable Max is a Grade 2 winner in the US.

Third dam Qualique won the Grade 1 Demoiselle Stakes and is dam of Vale Mantovani, second in the Premio Regina Elena (G2).

Seahenge was bought in the US by MV Magnier for $750,000 and ran for the Coolmore partnership.

After a good fifth in the Vintage Stakes (G2), he won the Champagne Stakes (G2) from Hey Gaman and then finished third in the Dewhurst Stakes (G1) behind US Navy Flag.

He did not really train on and failed to trouble the judge again – apart from a Listed third in the Patton Stakes behind paternal half-brother Mendelssohn.

He is out of the stakes-winning Not For Love mare Fools In Love. She is a half-sister to Louisiana Derby (G2) winner International Star, from the extended family of Group 2 winner and sire Van Nistelrooy.

The seven-year-old Guignol, a German-bred and raced three-time Group 1-winning (the Grosser Preis von Bayern twice) son of Cape Cross, retires to Haras d’Annebault at a fee of €4,500.

He won six times and is a half-brother to four winners including Guiliani, a Group 1 winner over 1m2f in Germany, and the Listed winner Guantana. His dam Guadalupe (Monsun) won the Oaks D’Italia (G2) and is sister to the sire and dual 1m4f Group 1 winner Getaway.

The six-year-old Dschingis Secret (Soldier Hollow) was campaigned in Germany, but on three journeys to France won the Prix Foy (G2), finished sixth in the Arc de Triomphe of 2017 and second in the Prix de Chantilly (G2).

He won the 1m4f Grosser Pries von Berlin (G1) at Hoppengarten in 2017 from Hawkbill. In total he won six Group races (one over 1m6f, five over 1m4f), and was placed another six times at Group and Listed level.

His winning dam Divya is sister to Deva, a dual Group 3 winner (over 1m2f in Italy and 1m3f in Germany) and she is closely related to the 1m6f Listed winner Dragon Fly (Acatenango) and a half-sister to 2m Listed winner Duke D’Alba (Monsun).

Dschingis Secret is standing at Haras de Saint Arnoult for €4,000.

Dschingis Secret