Decorated Knight

ATOUGH and tenacious performer who only improved with age, Decorated Knight comes from a stallion-making family – he is a son of Pearling, a Storm Cat full-sister to Giant’s Causeway and to Group 2 Cherry Hinton winner You’resothrilling, dam of one of 2019’s leading first-season sires Gleneagles.

Decorated Knight is one of three Group 1 winners and five Group 1 performers so far produced by her, all of them by Galileo.

As well as sharing his maternal family with Gleneagles, Decorated Knight shares his sire with him meaning that the blood that pumps through his veins is remarkably similar to that of Gleneagles, although their racing careers took different trajectories.

Second over a mile on his only start at two, Decorated Knight was purchased in-utero by Tony Nerses on behalf of Blue Diamond Stud at the 2011 Tattersalls December Mare Sale. Despite Pearling’s modest track career, as a full-sister to Giant’s Causeway and in-foal to Galileo she cost 1.3m guineas.

At three, Decorated Knight won twice over a mile and, at his first try in Group company, finished second in the Group 2 Joel Stakes. Giant’s Causeway’s stock tend to improve with maturity and further trips than the majority of progeny by Storm Cat’s stallion sons, and Decorated Knight had that in common with his “uncle’s” offspring.

As a four-year-old, he won both his first start over 1m2f and his first Group race, the Group 3 Meld Stakes at Leopardstown on Irish Champions Weekend.

It was as a five-year-old that Decorated Knight realised his potential, and the Winter Derby Trial was used as a the springboard to success in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta at Meydan and the Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh.

He then finished second to Highland Reel in Royal Ascot’s Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes and returned to Leopardstown for the track’s show-piece event on Irish Champions Weekend, the Irish Champion Stakes (G1) in which he defeated Group 1 winners Churchill, Poet’s Word, The Grey Gatsby and Zhukhova.

As Galileo closes in on 20 sons at stud who have sired Group 1 winners, Decorated Knight’s credentials as a future sire are wellestablished.

Giant’s Causeway is the sire of more than 30 individual Grade 1 winners, was North America’s champion sire on three occasions and its leading broodmare sire in 2018.

His son Shamardal, from his sire’s only European-bred crop, has created a lasting legacy in Europe, which his son Lope De Vega is poised to carry on.

Blue Diamond Stud is backing Decorated Knight to the hilt, and has nine yearlings by him, a mixture of home-breds and sales purchases. The Irish National Stud bred seven mares to him, and other prominent breeders who supported Decorated Knight in his first season included Rabbah Bloodstock, Rathasker Stud, Skymarc Farm and Tinnakill Bloodstock.

The triple Group 1 winner covered 62 mares in his first season, a number that increased to 73 in his second season, an encouraging move based on the quality of his first foals. That was reflected in the prices given for the eight which were sold at public auction last year.

Decorated Knight achieved an average of 48,095gns, more than four times his covering fee of €15,000, while the median of 24,882gns was double it.

The most expensive foal sold by Decorated Knight was a colt out of Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes winner and Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes second Princess Noor (Holy Roman Emperor). Consigned by Norelands Stud at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, he was purchased by Jamie Railton for 190,000gns.

Hillwood Bloodstock went to €66,000 to secure a colt foal out of Nazli, an Invincible Spirit full-sister to Listed Blenheim Stames winner Lethal Promise, consigned by Whitethorn Bloodstock at the Goffs November Foal Sale.

Decorated Knight’s most expensive filly foal was sold, with Blue Diamond Stud spending €50,000 on a daughter of Aniarnota, a Dalakhani half-sister to European champion three-year-old Desert King.