Your essential guide to finding value in the British and Irish stallion ranks
BREEDING ON A BUDGET
Bloodstock special Breeding on a Budget
AN ALWAYS
interesting aspect of our tables in this supplement are those sires who are appearing for the first time.
That’s the case for a trio of Irish-based stallions, who make the cut on the basis of their fees being reduced to our upper limit of €12,500.
One is Good Guess, who covered an extremely healthy number of mares –250 – in his first season at Tally-Ho Stud last year.
The five-year-old, winner of the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat, is standing alongside his own sire, Kodiac, in County Westmeath but now for half his fee, having been €5,000 above our supplement’s limit in 2024.
Good Guess will have some of the results from his large first book appearing at the foal sales later this year, and one can envisage a decent number of breeders again beating a path to his door over the coming weeks.
Bayside Boy, whose first yearlings will be heading to market in the summer and autumn, is €2,500 cheaper this time round at Ballylinch Stud.
The Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner has covered books of 134 and 111 at the County Kilkenny operation in his first two seasons, according to Return of Mares, and a high-quality bunch they were too.
The six-year-old returned a decent foal average of 36,073gns from the Goffs November and Tattersalls December sales, and will surely prove popular once more.
So too should Minzaal at Derrinstown, who has the same fee profile as Bayside Boy – two years at €15,000, followed by €12,500 this time.
The seven-year-old, who signed off his racing career with success in the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock, attracted 161 mares in his first term. That slipped to 88 last year, but you can be sure that Shadwell would have kept standards high. His team expected his first foals to sell well last year and he duly returned an average of 46,762gns across the two biggest auctions in Ireland and Britain.
As always, we have tried our level best to make sure our details are up to date, though it’s the devil’s own job to keep track of stallions.
Do get in touch at any stage to flag a movement, fee change or death, and we’ll make an early note for the 2026 edition.
ANDREW SCUTTS, BLOODSTOCK
MANAGING EDITOR
Martin Stevens with ten humbly bred performers who wrote their name in lights on the track in 2024
Bargainsgalore
A LILAC ROLLA
4yo b f Harry Angel-Mejala (Red Ransom) Bred by John Cullinan Dalham Hall Stud resident Harry Angel has become a firm friend of breeders on a budget, delivering a heap of winners at decent strike-rates, including a few smart types. He is also pretty popular with foal and yearling buyers.
A Lilac Rolla shows that the sire can get one out of the top drawer. Bought by Amanda Skiffington as a yearling at Fairyhouse for €40,000, she was sent out by Paddy Twomey to win both her starts at two and to win the Priory Belle Stakes and finish second in the Irish 1,000 Guineas and third in the Falmouth Stakes at three. She was sold to Resolute Bloodstock for 1,000,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale at the end of the year. Harry Angel, who is pitched at £10,000 this season, is also responsible for last year’s Greenham Stakes winner Esquire and York sales race scorer Diligently, as well as back-to-form sprint ace Marshman.
AL QAREEM
6yo b g Awtaad-Maqla (Teofilo)
Bred by Shadwell
The secret is well and truly out now: Awtaad offers some of the best value for money in the stallion business. From relatively inexpensive books of mares he has supplied multiple Group/Grade 1 victors Anisette and Anmaat, Group 3 winners Create Belief and Diamil, and Listed scorers
Bellosa, Calithea, Ebeko, Maktoob, Prichi and Primo Bacio.
Al Qareem is another highlight by the sire. Bred by Shadwell but sold by the operation as an unraced twoyear-old to Karl Burke and Nick Bradley Racing for just 27,000gns at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale, he has won eight of his 26 starts for those connections including the Stand Cup and Cumberland Lodge Stakes last season.
Awtaad had been quiet for a few years at Derrinstown Stud before surging in popularity in 2024 on the back of those results. He received a small increase in fee this year, but is still more than reasonably priced at €7,500.
ARIZONA BLAZE
3yo b c Sergei ProkofievLiberisque (Equiano) Bred by Andrew Bengough and Partners
Arizona Blaze is one of those wonderful horses who has made money for each of his owners throughout his life. He is from the first crop of Sergei Prokofiev, who stood at £6,500 in his debut season, and was sold to Amanda Skiffington for 36,000gns as a foal, before being resold by Glenvale Stud to Rodrigo Goncalves and Robson Aguiar for £82,000 as a yearling.
He earned just shy of £360,000 for Amo Racing and Giselle de Aguiar during a busy two-year-old campaign last year, thanks to victory in the Marble Hill Stakes and six
placed efforts in stakes company, including a close second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
Sergei Prokofiev, who topped the European firstseason sire charts thanks in large part to Arizona Blaze’s exploits, has been pitched at the still reasonable price of £8,000 at Whitsbury Manor Stud this year.
BOLO NEIGHS
3yo b g Coulsty-Onomatomania (Mr Greeley)
Bred by Rathasker Stud
What a fine advertisement for racehorse ownership. Bolo Neighs was bought by Alex Elliott on behalf of Peter Mellett for €82,000, when he was the first lot in the ring at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale of 2023.
Trained by Ralph Beckett, he carried Mellett’s silks to win the Goffs 500 at the Curragh by seven lengths, bagging €245,000 in the process. He rounded out the season with a solid third in the Rockingham Stakes.
Bolo Neighs is by solid budget option Coulsty, also the source of US Grade 1 winner Shantisara and Princess Margaret Stakes scorer Santosha, and was bred by the sire’s home farm Rathasker Stud.
C ABURN
3yo gr c Twilight Son-Tigrilla (Clodovil)
Bred by Newstead Breeding
The Jack Jones-trained colt scooped connections more than £150,000 when he won
both a valuable novice stakes and the Weatherbys Super Sprint and finished fifth in the Gimcrack Stakes last summer.
That’s not bad for a horse who cost the handler only 24,000gns at Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, and was conceived when his sire Twilight Son was covering at Cheveley Park Stud at a fee of £5,000.
Twilight Son, who now stands at Annshoon Stud at the even lower fee of €5,000, was also the sire of last year’s big Glorious Goodwood handicap winners Toimy Son (Golden Mile) and Get It (Stewards’ Cup).
D OCKLANDS
5yo b c Massaat-Icky Woo (Mark Of Esteem)
Bred by Mickley Stud Mickley Stud has showcased what its well-bred sire Massaat is capable of doing, by breeding Harry Eustace’s highclass five-year-old Docklands, winner of the Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot in 2023 and runner-up to Charyn in the Queen Anne Stakes at the same meeting last year.
Massaat’s roll of honour also features Group 3 winners Coco Jamboo and Queues Likely, Listed-placed two-year-old Mascapone and a hatful of handicap winners. Remember, that is from just three crops bred off chicken-feed prices. Massaat stands at Mickley Stud at a fee of just £3,500 this season. He shows that even small breeders operating on a shoestring can breed nice horses.
FIERY LUCY
3yo b f Without ParoleCraighall (Dubawi)
Bred by Whatton Manor Stud Fiery Lucy was the highlight of Without Parole’s promising first season with two-year-old runners in 2024. The Gavin Cromwell-trained filly, purchased for just 38,000gns from Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, won a Fairyhouse maiden and finished second in the Ballyhane Stakes and two Group 3 contests at the Curragh. She finished fourth, beaten just three lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on her last start. Without Parole, a blueblooded son of Frankel who won the St James’s Palace Stakes, also came up with classy US winners Serving Time and Without Caution, Glorious Goodwood nursery scorer Mr Chaplin and Listed third Sea To Sky. He also put several maiden and novice stakes winners on the board. The sire has plenty of good will from the industry, so his fee of £8,000 at Newsells Park Stud seems like a fair deal.
HAATEM
4yo b c Phoenix Of Spain-Hard Walnut (Cape Cross) Bred by Hyde Park Stud Haatem confirmed himself one of the best three-year-old milers in Europe last year by winning the Craven Stakes and Jersey Stakes and finishing placed in both the Newmarket and Curragh 2,000 Guineas for Richard Hannon. He is one of four black-type
Names to note: Arizona Blaze, Fiery Lucy, A Lilac Rolla and (inset) Caburn
performers from the first two crops of Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Phoenix Of Spain, along with Deauville Listed winner Lady Of Spain, Park Express Stakes runner-up Alpheratz and Longchamp Listed third Flying Finn. Smart handicappers Bobby Bennu, Cabrera, Pedro Valentino and Spanish Blaze have also shown him in a good light. He looks good value at €10,000 at the Irish National Stud this year, especially as he covered a large book last season after his encouraging freshman showing.
HOLKHAM BAY
5yo b g Aclaim-Tumblewind (Captain Rio)
Bred by Hellwood Stud Farm Aclaim must be one of the biggest bargains in the stallion ranks. His first four crops of racing age have yielded 1,000 Guineas heroine Cachet, accomplished sprinters Purosangue and Royal Aclaim, Italian Group 2 runner-up Jacinda and plenty of other
smart horses, and yet he is standing at Batsford Stud this season at the basement price of £3,000.
Holkham Bay is another example of the solid talents he gets. The five-year-old gelding, bought from breeder Hellwood Stud Farm for just 12,500gns at the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale, has been sent out by William Knight to win five races, including two valuable handicaps at Ascot last season. Those victories sent his earnings into six-figure territory.
Great Acclaim, Manila Scouse and Solar Aclaim were among the other tough, hardworking sprinters who advertised Aclaim’s budget credentials last year.
R ASHABAR
3yo b c Holy Roman EmperorAmazonka (Camelot)
Bred by Haras de Beaufay Castlehyde Stud stalwart Holy Roman Emperor was standing at €12,500, the upper end of the budget bracket, when he
conceived last year’s two-yearold star Rashabar – but he is more affordable this season, offered to breeders at just €8,000.
Rashabar, a €120,000 Arqana August Yearling Sale purchase by Sam Sangster, was sent out by Brian Meehan to win the Coventry Stakes and finish second in both the Prix Morny and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. He has just shy of £260,000 in the bank and holds significant appeal as a stallion.
He is one of 104 black-type winners by Holy Roman Emperor, joining the likes of European Classic scorers Homecoming Queen, Romanised and Well Timed, and Hong Kong champions Beauty Only and Designs On Rome.
Haatem: winner of last season's Craven Stakes and Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot
SPRINGFIELD HOUSE STALLIONS 2025
Only Gr.1 July Cup Winner by Sire of Sires INVINCIBLE SPIRIT
Yearlings Averaged €29,000 in 2024 Fee: €4,250 1st Oct SLF
CHAMPION SPRINTER, GROUP WINNER AT 2 AND 3
Sound Bloodlines of KODIAC and GIANT’S CAUSEWAY Family of Champion Miler BENBATL, Gr.1 1,000 Guineas Winner EMALKA, etc
Fee: €8,000 1st Oct SLF
Calyx takes over in the driving seat from Golden Horn
Martin Stevens looks at the stallions whose progeny are shining
GOLDEN HORN regularly tops the table of sires standing in Britain or Ireland at £10,000/€12,500 or less by the ratio of their progeny who achieved a Racing Post Rating of at least 80 in the preceding year, but he lost his crown to Calyx in 2024.
Calyx had 32 of his 73 representatives in Britain and Ireland last year hit a mark of 80, the sort of level needed to win a fair-quality maiden or decent handicap, at a superb strike-rate of 44 per cent.
Among the best performers by the son of Kingman, who has two full crops to have raced, were Irish Oaks third Purple Lily, Craven Stakes runner-up Eben Shaddad and black-type two-year-old fillies Barnavara and It Ain’t Two.
Calyx stands at Coolmore at a fee of €12,500 this season, which looks even better when you consider his yearlings sold
for an average of 45,000gns and median of 27,000gns in Europe last year.
Golden Horn still put in his customary good showing by this measure. The son of Cape Cross was second only to Calyx, with 36 of his 89 runners in Britain and Ireland (40 per cent) achieving a mark of 80 or higher.
High-class stayers Caius Chorister, Gregory and Trawlerman and emerging middle-distance star Higher Leaves were the highlights, while the Futurity Trophy fourth Seaplane and novice stakes scorers Nanny Park and Royale Goodnight showed he was still good for a smart twoyear-old talent.
Golden Horn’s fee has been held at £10,000 at Overbury Stud this year and he will no doubt remain popular with both Flat and jumps breeders.
Awtaad’s reputation for offering some of the best value for money in the stallion ranks is upheld by these stats. The son of Cape Cross fielded 26 runners rated 80 or more from 74 runners, at a clip of 35 per cent.
That haul included some horses out of the very top drawer, too. Anmaat won the Champion Stakes, Al Qareem scored in the Cumberland Lodge Stakes, and Knebworth, Solent Gateway and Talis Evolvere were all smart handicappers. Ethical Diamond, who changed hands for 320,000gns at the Tattersalls July Sale, has meanwhile emerged as a classy dual-purpose performer. Those domestic figures don’t even tell the whole story, as he was also responsible for US Grade 1 winner Anisette.
Awtaad’s yearlings sold for an average of 32,500gns and median of 24,000gns in Europe last year, so at his fee of €7,500 at Derrinstown Stud he ought to appear on every sensible budget breeder’s shortlist.
Rajasinghe matched Awtaad’s feat of 35 per cent runners rated at least 80 in 2024, with nine out of 25. The son of Choisir’s tally included five horses who posted marks of 90 or more: Two Tribes (98), Run Boy Run (97), Waiting
YE AR 2 is the year to...
£10,000 Oct 1, SLF. Dalham Hall Stud, UK
Triple Time
Frankel’s best miling son out of a hats-off Royal Ascot Blue Hen –her sons and grandsons include three Royal Ascot G1 winners in two years.
118 in-foal mares in his first book. That’s a lot of breeders dreaming about the Royal Ascot winners’ lunch.
Leading performers: the progeny of Calyx (left) and Golden Horn have had most impressive success on track based on Racing Post Ratings
Bloodstock special Breeding on a Budget
From page 4
All Night (92), Cross The Tracks (91) and Giant (90).
A precocious sort himself, he is also a dab hand with twoyear-olds, with Captain Kinsella, Rajaking and Singoura returning into the winner’s enclosure last year. Those feats have been achieved from small numbers.
All things considered, Rajasinghe was a bit of a giveaway at £3,000 at the National Stud even before the operation and owner Phil Cunningham decided to offer his services for free to mares with an official rating of at least 70, or have produced progeny to that level.
Harry Angel has been a solid source of two-year-olds, sprinters and milers since his first runners appeared in 2022. He produced some commendable stats again last season, with 33 of his 96 representatives in Britain and Ireland (34 per cent) rated 80 or more.
Irish 1,000 Guineas runnerup A Lilac Rolla and Greenham Stakes winner Esquire were his finest ambassadors. Cammidge
DARK ANGEL x CERCLE DE LA VIE • €8,000
Trophy runner-up Marshman became frustrating throughout 2024 but is a reformed character this year after a gelding operation and wind surgery, having won two hot all-weather contests.
representation. Seven of his 21 runners were rated 80 or higher (33 per cent), led by Epsom Dash winner Dream Composer.
and Jersey Stakes winner Haatem and Park
Harry Angel seems to have the industry on side, as his yearlings sold for an average of 35,000gns and median of 31,000gns in Europe last season. He should be popular at his fee of £10,000 at Dalham Hall Stud this year.
Dream Ahead, who moved from France to Bearstone Stud in 2022, did well last year without having a large
The son of Diktat, whose roll of honour features Group 1 stars Al Wukair, Dream Of Dreams, Donjuan Triumphant and Glass Slippers, is available at Bearstone Stud at the reasonable fee of £6,500.
The Irish National Stud’s third-crop sire Phoenix Of Spain also notched 33 per cent runners rated 80 or more (27 out of 82). The son of Lope De Vega got one or two topnotchers, in particular Craven
Stakes runner-up Alpheratz. His fee of €10,000 seems fair, especially when he covered a big book of mares last year and so will have plenty of runners to advertise his talents in future.
Sixties Icon and Twilight Son also achieved at least 30 per cent runners rated at least 80 last year. That’s no mean feat when they have never commanded high fees. They deserve their fair share of support from owner-breeders, or producers wanting to start off a mare.
Leading budget stallions* by percentage of runners with a Racing Post Rating of
80 or more in 2024
Winning offspring: Alpheratz (left), Marshman (black star on cap) and Dream Composer (white face)
Sucessful stallions (clockwise from above): Rajasinghe, Harry Angel and Phoenix Of Spain
Bloodstock special Breeding on a Budget
Value to be found across
THE DIRECTORY
Guide to a selection of British and Irish sires standing for £10,000/€12,500 or less
NEW SIRES OF 2025
Aisling Crowe
AESOP'S FABLES certainly contain lessons for the bloodstock industry, with the hare and the tortoise perhaps most relevant, but the equine Aesop, who begins his stallion career at Starfield Stud for €6,500, was quick out of the traps as a two-year-old, which is exactly what he was bred to do.
A son of No Nay Never, who is established as the juvenile speed conduit of Scat Daddy's blood in Europe, the bay was produced by David and Diane Nagle, breeders of renown, and is a half-brother to the Group 3 Phoenix Sprint Stakes and Royal Ascot-winning juvenile Washington DC, by Zoffany.
Trained by Aidan O'Brien, he won two of his five starts at two, with the highlight being victory in the Group 2 Railway Stakes, and he was fourth to Chaldean in the Dewhurst and to Al Riffa in the National Stakes.
As a three-year-old, he was third in both the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and the Prix de l'Abbaye, before getting back in the winning groove at four and adding the Listed Sole Power Sprint Stakes to his list of wins. He is out of the Listedplaced sprinter How's She Cuttin’, by Shinko Forest, and his unraced third dam Magic Garter is a Precocious half-
sister to the dam of Grand Lodge.
Arrest is the new recruit to Boardsmill Stud and an exciting son of Frankel for National Hunt breeders as a Group 3 winner who was second to Continuous in the St Leger.
Bred by Swordlestown Little Stud, Arrest was one of three Frankel foals who topped the Goffs November Foal Sale of 2020. Juddmonte Farms went to €440,000 to secure the halfbrother to Hong Kong Group 3 winner and Group 1 third Dinozzo out of Nisriyna, who is an unraced Intikhab halfsister to the Group 3 winner Narniyn.
The daughter of Dubawi was also placed at the highest level in the Nassau Stakes and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Arrest was runner-up in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud and filled the same position at three in the St Leger.
Bucanero Fuerte is a fullbrother to the Prix de l'Abbaye winner Wooded, who has his second crop of runners this year.
By Wootton Bassett, who sired four individual juvenile Group 1 winners from his first crop conceived at Coolmore, the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner is one of a trio of new sires at Tally-Ho Stud this year but the only one who creeps into this list at a fee of €12,500.
A €165,000 purchase by Robson Aguiar at Arqana's August Yearling Sale, he was a
high-class two-year-old who won three of his five starts for Amo Racing and Adrian Murray.
Out of the Elusive City mare Frida La Blonde, Bucanero Fuerte won the opening twoyear-old maiden of the 2023 season in Ireland at the Curragh and was next seen when third to River Tiber in the Coventry Stakes.
Back to the Curragh for the Group 2 Railway Stakes, he defeated subsequent Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Unquestionable, before plundering the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes on his next start.
Stepped up to seven furlongs for the Group 1 National Stakes, he finished third to Henry Longfellow.
A successful seasonal reappearance in the Group 3 Lacken Stakes looked to have set Bucanero Fuerte up for a sprinting summer, but he was not seen again until Haydock's Sprint Cup, and the success at Naas proved to be the final win of his career.
Bradsell has arguably the best racing career of any stallion in this category, and definitely the form which appeals most to the marketplace as a Royal Ascot winner in each of his three seasons of action.
One of just two Group winners sired by Tasleet before his exile to India, Bradsell went straight from the Goffs UK Breeze-Up to making a winning debut and then to Royal Ascot, where he was victorious in the Coventry Stakes for Archie Watson.
Owned by Victorious Racing, he suffered a season-ending injury in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes but came back at three to defeat Highfield Princess in the King's Stand at Royal Ascot on his first start at five furlongs.
Kept at that trip for the Nunthorpe, he was third to Live In The Dream and Highfield Princess.
As a four-year-old, he won the Listed Prix du Cercle on his belated seasonal reappearance in August, before making up
stallions standing in Britain and Ireland for £10,000/€12,500 or less
for lost time by winning the Nunthorpe and Flying Five and losing out only narrowly in the Prix de l'Abbaye.
Bred by Deborah O'Brien, Bradsell is out of Russian Punch, who won the Listed Radley Stakes over seven furlongs at two. The Archipenko mare is the first black-type winner in her family for five generations.
Eldar Eldarov, a late announcement for the 2025 season at Chapel Stud, probably boasts the best profile of the sires in this bracket but, as a winner of the St Leger and Irish St Leger, lacks the kerb appeal of the sprinters.
The son of Dubawi has it all however; a Group 1 winner with an outstanding pedigree and unquestionable bravery and tenacity, and all for just £5,000.
Bred by Kirsten Rausing and a £480,000 breeze-up buy, Eldar Eldarov won his sole start in October of his twoyear-old season and at three won the Group 2 Queen's Vase
and the St Leger, and also finished fourth to Onesto in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris. Trained by Roger Varian, he ended his third racing season by defeating Kyprios in the Irish St Leger, having been fourth in the Group 1 Goodwood Cup and runnerup in the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup.
He has recovered from a lifethreatening neck injury suffered in a stalls incident in Dubai last March and will cover a limited book of mares, with his welfare a priority. His dam All At Sea is a Listed-winning daughter of Sea The Stars and has bred three black-type performers from five runners. She is a halfsister to Listed winner Alwilda, the dam of Arc heroine Alpinista, and to the Group 3 winner Algometer.
Also a three-parts sister to Listed winner Alignak, they are out of the triple Group 1 winner Albanova, an Alzao full-sister to the Champion Stakes winner Alborada.
Go Bears Go was a precocious and tough juvenile, making a winning debut in May and failing by only a head against Perfect Power in the Coventry Stakes.
Like fellow Amo-owned newcomer Bucanero Fuerte, the son of Kodi Bear ventured to the Curragh for the Railway Stakes and gained compensation in the Group 2 contest, but his attempt at Group 1 glory in the Phoenix Stakes returned a bronze medal.
Fourth to Perfect Power in the Middle Park, he finished down the field in the Dewhurst but came back to form in the Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile
New sires: Arrest (second left), Eldar Eldarov and (inset) Isaac Shelby
the board
Turf Sprint when runner-up to Twilight Gleaming.
A dual Group 3 winner at three, he was trained by David Loughnane for his first two seasons and the 150,000gns Craven Breeze-Up purchase did all his winning for the trainer.
Switched to the United States and Wesley Ward as a four-year-old, he returned to Europe and ran three times last season, which was the year in which his family added a new Classic winner.
Go Bears Go is out of In Dubai, a winning Giant's Causeway half-sister to dual top-level winner Nahrain, dam of last year's 1,000 Guineas winner Elmalka and of the multiple Group 1 winner Benbatl. His second dam Bahr won the Ribblesdale and Musidora Stakes, and he stands for €8,000 at Springfield House Stud.
Isaac Shelby is the first son of Night Of Thunder to retire to stud and the £7,000 Newsells Park resident offers an interesting pedigree to breeders with two strains of the brilliant Galileo up close.
Poulains. Fourth in the St James's Palace Stakes, Isaac Shelby was also runner-up twice at Group 2 level - in the Lennox Stakes and Prix Daniel Wildenstein.
Bred by Elaine Chivers, he is out of Kentucky Belle, who is a Heliostatic half-sister to the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida Handicap winner Ramazutti out of the stakes-placed Mining mare Mine Inning.
Heliostatic is a full-brother to Soldier Of Fortune, from the family of Sholokhov, Intense Focus and Skitter Scatter.
Luxembourg (below) stands under the Coolmore National Hunt banner at the Beeches Stud, but there is nothing to stop brave or rich Flat breeders who can afford to race their stock from using him. He's another who really ought to be a Flat stallion but is pigeonholed due to the dictates of our time.
The chestnut was a £92,000 purchase by Sam Sangster at Goffs UK's Premier Yearling Sale and was trained by Brian Meehan to win a Newbury maiden on his debut and the Group 2 July Stakes on just his second start. He won the Greenham Stakes on his three-year-old reappearance, defeating Charyn, and was a narrow runner-up to Marhaba Ya Sanafi in the Poule d'Essai des
The highest-rated son of Camelot, Luxembourg was a Group 1 winner in each of his four seasons of racing, winning the Futurity Trophy at two, the Irish Champion Stakes as a threeyear-old, the Tattersalls Gold Cup at four and the Coronation Cup last season as a five-year-old.
Unbeaten in three starts at two, it shouldn't be forgotten that Luxembourg had the pace to be third in the 2,000 Guineas, beaten only by Coroebus and Native Trail.
He was also runner-up to Romantic Warrior in the Hong Kong Cup, to Auguste Rodin in the Irish Champion Stakes and to Mostahdaf in the Prince of
✪
STAR VALUE ✪
Eldar Eldarov Classic winner bred on a cross that has 30 per cent stakes winners to runners. His pedigree is beautiful and he is as brave as a Serengeti full of lions
Isaac Shelby First son of Night Of Thunder at stud, he was a classy juvenile and just touched off in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains Luxembourg A Group 1 winner in four seasons, placed in the 2,000 Guineas and an Irish Champion Stakes winner by the reigning European champion sire. If you're plucky and can afford to take the sales ring hit or run the foals, this horse should be on your list of middle-distance Flat sires
Wales's Stakes, all over ten furlongs.
The filly out of his half-sister Sense Of Style was bought for 2,900,000gns by Amo Racing from Camas Park Stud at Tattersalls Book 1 last October.
July Cup winner Mill Stream is one of four individual Group 1 winners by Gleneagles, a reliable source of class, and will benefit from standing alongside champion sire Dark Angel at Yeomanstown Stud. A winner on his debut at two for Jane Chapple-Hyam and Peter Harris, Mill Stream progressed through the ranks to become a top-class sprinter who was also third in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes last season.
Winner of five of his 16 starts, he was bred by
2yo Gr.2 winner
1st Gr.2 Futurity Stakes, Curragh, 7f, by 2¼l 1st Maiden, Navan, 5½f, by 2¼l on debut
3yo Gr.1 sprinter
3rd Gr.1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, Santa Anita, 5f, to Nobals by a nk & ½l
3rd Gr.1 Prix de l’Abbaye, ParisLongchamp, 5f, to Highfield Princess by 1l & a shd
4yo Stakes winner
1st L Sole Power Sprint Stakes, Naas, 5f Beating 18 Gr.1 horses during his career.
He is typical of his sire, a big, strong, powerful horse with a good mind. He has loads of scope and could get very classy horses.
Aidan O’Brien
Bloodstock special Breeding on a Budget
From page 9
Redpender Stud and is a halfbrother to the Group 2 Richmond Stakes winner
Asymmetric, by Showcasing, who was also third in the Prix Morny.
They are the only two runners to date out of Swirral Edge, a winner at two and three and a Hellvelyn halfsister to Listed Westow Stakes winner Fashion Queen, by Aqlaam.
Mill Stream is inbred 2x4 to the full siblings Giant's Causeway and You'resothrilling.
Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes winner Sakheer, new to Ballyhane Stud this year, is from the penultimate crop of Zoffany and shares his broodmare sire Arcano with young sire Supremacy.
Bred by Drumlin Bloodstock, Sakheer topped the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale of 2022, making €550,000 to Oliver St Lawrence on behalf of KHK Racing. He was a quality juvenile, winning his maiden and the Mill Reef, in which he defeated fellow new stallions Charyn and Shouldvebeenaring.
Luck deserted him thereafter. He missed the Dewhurst with a dirty scope, then suffered a significant injury in the Commonwealth Cup and in two starts last year failed to recover his former sparkle.
Sakheer is a half-brother of the Group 2 Kilboy Estates Stakes winner and Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes third Lemista, out of Shortmile Lady, an Arcano half-sister to the Group 3 Prix de Meautry winner Indian Maiden. She is the dam of Group 3 winner Maid In India and the Listed winner Love Spirit.
The Irish National Stud's new grey, Shouldvebeenaring, is the first son of Havana Grey to retire to stud in Ireland. From the debut crop of the Whitsbury Manor sensation, Shouldvebeenaring won six of his 30 starts and was placed in ten more of them.
He was tough too, having seven outings as a juvenile and winning three of them, with the highlight being his victory
in the Listed Ripon Champion
Two Yrs Old Trophy for Richard Hannon and Middleham Park Racing.
At three he ran 12 times, from the end of January to the start of October and won the Listed King Charles II Stakes, though his best performances came in defeat. He was runner-up to Regional in the Group 1 Sprint Cup and third to Kelina and Kinross in the Prix de la Foret.
He made 11 starts last year and was runner-up to Mill Stream in the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes, and won the Group 3 Prix de Ris-Orangis.
Another bred to be quick, he is out of the winning Equiano mare Lady Estella, a half-sister to the Group 3 Prix du PalaisRoyal winner Rosso Corsa.
So Moonstruck is a son of Sea The Moon and was runner-up to Sammarco in the Group 2 Union-Rennen and third to that son of Camelot in the Deutsches Derby, a race won by So Moonstruck's sire.
His second dam, So Squally, is a Monsun full-sister to the Group 1 winner and sire Shirocco, the Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Subiaco and the Listed winner Storm Trooper.
He is standing at Killack Stud.
(left), Subjectivist (centre) and Triple Time are all standing for £10,000/€12,500 or less
Surprise again as Triple Time provides some standout value
FIRST FOALS OF 2025 Aisling Crowe
REFLECTING on last year's supplement and the section on new sires, I note that I wrote it was a surprise to find Triple Time fulfilling the criteria, albeit it sneaking in at the upper end of the budget.
Well, 12 months on and my surprise remains, although tempered somewhat by the 118 mares the Group 1 winner by Frankel got in foal at Dalham Hall Stud last year. Evidently I was not alone in believing the Queen Anne winner was a quantifiable bargain among the new intake of stallions.
With his first foals on the ground, Triple Time's fee remains at £10,000 and I remain convinced this horse is one of the best-value unproven
GOOD MORNING BLOODSTOCK
stallions in Britain and Ireland.
His pedigree, which was none too shabby to begin with, has only improved in the intervening period, with last year's Commonwealth Cup winner Inisherin appearing on the page. The son of Shamardal is out of the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet winner Ajman Princess, a Teofilo sister to Triple Time.
Rosallion, out of their New Approach sister Rosaline, was a Group 1 winner at two and the son of Blue Point added the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes to his list of achievements.
Making his debut in June of his two-year-old career, he was placed on his first two starts before winning at Haydock and then taking the Listed Ascendant Stakes at the same track.
He won the Group 3
Superior Mile back at Haydock on his belated seasonal reappearance at three and then won the Queen Anne on his seasonal debut at four.
Another son of Frankel who appears in this section is Hurricane Lane, the Irish Derby, St Leger and Grand Prix de Paris victor who stands as a National Hunt stallion for Coolmore at Grange Stud. The chestnut, who was also third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and Derby, was one of the busiest new sires in Britain and Ireland last season, covering 236 mares. Hurricane Lane's advertised fee was trimmed to €5,000 from €6,000 ahead of the 2025 breeding season, rendering him an even more attractive proposition.
Bred by Philippa Cooper, he was purchased by Godolphin for 200,000gns at Book 1 and is
Pyledriver
one of three black-type performers out of the Listed Prix Denisy winner Gale Force, with her first being Frankel's Storm, a full-sister to Hurricane Lane.
The daughter of Shirocco is also the dam of Sweet William, by Sea The Stars, winner of the Group 2 Doncaster Cup last season, in addition to being placed behind Kyprios in the Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup and British Champions Long Distance Cup.
Gale Force is a half-sister to Seal Of Approval, who won her Group 1 on British Champions Day in the Fillies & Mares and is the dam of the Group 3-placed Promissory. Another of her half-sisters, the Group 3-placed Instance, produced last year's Listed John Musker Stakes winner Sound Angela.
Hurricane Lane's third dam Handaza is a Be My Guest halfsister to Group 3 winner
Hazariya, dam of Derby and Irish Derby winner and exciting National Hunt sire Harzand, and third dam of the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Big Rock.
Another of Handaza's halfsisters is Hidden Brief, the Listed-placed dam of the dual Group 1 winner Emily Upjohn.
The Group 1 Prix Jean Prat winner Good Guess was the busiest of the new sires qualified for this supplement, covering 250 mares at Tally-Ho Stud, where he stands alongside his sire Kodiac.
His initial fee was €17,5000 but it has been dropped to €12,500 for his second season at stud, which sees him right at the top of our budget.
Bred by Cheveley Park Stud, he is a grandson of the great Russian Rhythm and cost 420,000gns at Book 1.
Trained by Fabrice Chappet for Hisaaki Haito, Good Guess
won four of his nine starts, with the Prix Jean Prat victory the highlight of his career.
His first two races were at Chantilly and he was successful in both, before being tasked with the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg, in which he finished down the field. However, on his fourth and final start at two he earned his first black type when third in the Listed Prix Zeddaan.
Good Guess won the Group 3 Prix Djebel on his seasonal debut at three and was sixth in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains, before making his Group 1 breakthrough in the sevenfurlong Prix Jean Prat at Deauville.
His final start was in the Prix Jacques le Marois.
Bred to be a sprinter, he is out of the unraced Pivotal mare Zykina, who is also the dam of Group 3 Sceptre Stakes winner Spangled and the
Listed Westow Stakes third Jumira Bridge, by Kodiac's half-brother Invincible Spirit. Quadruple Group 1 winner Russian Rhythm has proved to be a much better granddam
than dam. Safina, a full-sister to Zykina, was placed in the Listed Sandringham Handicap and is the dam of the Group 3 winners Marenko and Potapova, and second dam of
last season's Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye winner Makarova, by Acclamation.
Whitsbury Manor Stud's track record for producing Continues page 12
Group winners in 2024 than any other stallion standing in the
or Ireland at, or below his fee.
Bloodstock special Breeding on a Budget
From page 11
stallions, particularly ones that have excelled with their very first crops, ensured that Dragon Symbol was a busy boy last season, with 140 mares being sent to the Hampshire farm.
First past the post in the Commonwealth Cup, the son of Cable Bay is out of the winning Arcano mare Arcamist, who was bred in partnership by Whitsbury, so his stallion career is a homecoming of sorts.
Demoted to second in the Royal Ascot Group 1, Archie Watson's charge was a classy sprinter and also placed at the highest level behind Starman in the July Cup and Winter Power and Emaraaty Ana in the Nunthorpe, both at three. That season he was also fourth in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes and runner-up in the Group 2 King George Stakes.
Unraced at two, he won his first four starts at three and was second to Rohaan in the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes.
He ran six times at four, with his best placing coming at Haydock in the Listed Achilles Stakes, in which he was second, and he was also fifth in the Nunthorpe and the Flying Five.
His now three-year-old halfbrother Symbol Of Honour is the most expensive yearling by Dragon Symbol's studmate Havana Grey. He made 600,000gns at Book 1, where he was bought by Godolphin from Stauffenberg Bloodstock, and was second in the Listed Flying Scotsman Stakes last season for Charlie Appleby. El Caballo shares his sire, the late and much-missed Havana Gold, with Symbol Of Honour's sire Havana Grey and, with the Whitsbury resident now beyond the reach of many of the breeders who made his name, Culworth Grounds' first stallion proved very popular in 2024, covering 99 mares at £6,000.
This season he stands for £5,000. Another bred by Whitsbury Manor, he is out of a Showcasing mare. That Whitsbury stallion and Juddmonte-bred is an emerging broodmare sire, with Lake Victoria the standardbearer for his daughters last year.
The Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes winner was runner-up to Armor on his debut at two and won his other two starts as a juvenile.
At three, he put a winning sequence of four together, including the Sandy Lane and the Listed Spring Cup at Lingfield, and was third in the Group 3 John of Gaunt Stakes as a four-year-old. He finished his racing career with six wins and two places from ten starts. His younger three-parts sister Symbology was placed in the Lowther and Princess Margaret Stakes, while their Due Diligence half-sister Avengers Queen was a Listed winner in Italy.
It's a pacey pedigree. Dam
Showstoppa is a half-sister to Mill Reef winner Temple Meads and to Harryana To, dam of the Listed winner and Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint third Diligent Harry and of the Listed winner Harry Three. The Antarctic, as a Group 2-winning juvenile who additionally placed in two Group 1s, was always going to be popular at Coolmore's Castlehyde Stud, particularly at a fee of €6,000. Add in the fact his fullbrother is the brilliant Battaash, and it's no surprise the son of Dark Angel received 126 mares in his first season at stud.
That number will probably increase this season given that his fee has been dropped to €5,000 and his sire is the reigning champion of Britain and Ireland.
The Antarctic, a 750,000gns purchase by MV Magnier from breeders
Ballyphilip Stud at Book 1, won three of his eight starts at two,
✪ STAR VALUE ✪
Good Guess Pure speed with Pivotal and Kingmambo as the sires of his dam and granddam. At €12,500 he's value compared to last season
Hurricane Lane (below)
Classic winner from a Classic family, by a generational talent and outstanding sire
Triple Time No surprises there. A Group 1 winner by Frankel out of a brilliant broodmare, there is everything to love about this young stallion
including his first two, both over five furlongs.
Third in the Listed Tipperary Stakes, he then ran into Blackbeard for the first time in the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin. He was second to his stablemate at Chantilly, and The Antarctic would be sick of the sight of the No Nay Never colt by season's end.
His own day in the sun came in the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg, but back at Deauville for the Prix Morny he was third to Blackbeard and Persian Force.
In the Middle Park, he managed to beat Persian Force but was forced to settle for second, once more behind
The Antarctic ran four times at three, winning the Group 3 Lacken Stakes.
His dam Anna Law is a Lawman halfsister to the Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner, Group 1 July Cup third and
sire Etlaala, and to the dam of Tasleet.
Pyledriver, who defeated Torquator Tasso to win the King George, offers an interesting alternative for National Hunt breeders.
Also winner of the Coronation Cup and third in the St Leger, the son of Harbour Watch covered 112 mares under Coolmore's National Hunt banner at the Beeches Stud last year.
A Listed winner at two, he was successful the following year in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes and the Great Voltigeur prior to his Doncaster third.
He is out of La Pyle, a winning daughter of Le Havre who was placed over hurdles and is a half-sister to the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Mont Ormel, who was renamed Helene Charisma after being exported to Hong Kong. Second dam Lidana is a King's Best half-sister to the dual Group 1 winner Linngari.
Castle Star, the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes winner and Group 1 Middle Park runnerup by Starspangledbanner,
covered 91 mares at Capital Stud last year at a fee of €5,000. This year Castle Star, also winner of the Listed First Flier Stakes, stands for an advertised price of €3,000. He is out of an Iffraaj halfsister to the dam of Suelita, in turn the dam of 2,000 Guineas and Dewhurst winner Chaldean, Group 2-winning juvenile Alkumait – who also stands at Capital – and the Listed winners Get Ahead (also second in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes) and The Broghie Man.
Suelita is also a half-sister to Ayr Missile, dam of Lowther Stakes winner Living In The Past and last season's Listed Rockingham Stakes winner Jungle Drums.
Dubai Mile has been relocated to Coolagown Stud in County Cork for the 2025 season. The only Group 1 winner by Roaring Lion, he joins at Coolagown another stallion whose first foals are arriving, namely Kenway, the first son of Galiway to be retired to stud in Ireland. Kenway covered 71 mares last season.
The Antarctic: winner of the Group 3 Lacken Stakes
Trimming of Minzaal's Derrinstown
FIRST YEARLINGS OF 2025
Aisling Crowe
old cliche about first impressions? They count. A lot when you're a stallion trying to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
, the Group 1 Sprint Cup winner from the first crop of Mehmas, is embarking on his third season at Derrinstown Stud but this is the first time he has been eligible for inclusion in this supplement as his fee has been trimmed to €12,500 from the €15,000 it was in his first two seasons at stud. That is no reflection on his performance, for his first foals shone at the sales last year.
He has 111 registered with Weatherbys and 47 of them came up for sale in Europe, with 45 changing hands for an average of €57,574 – which is not far short of four times their covering fee.
Three of them returned sixfigure sales, with top-billing awarded to Kellsgrange Stud's colt out of the winning Oasis Dream mare Freedom March.
The half-brother to two winners including the Mill Reef Stakes fourth Spanish Phoenix – subsequently renamed Turf Phoenix after his sale to Hong Kong – was bought by Tally-Ho Stud for 165,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale. Also at Park Paddocks, Glenvale Stud went to 100,000gns to secure Baroda Stud's colt out of the Listed
winner Erysimum. With Arcano as his broodmare sire, the half-brother to two winners is bred along similar lines to Supremacy, who is by Mehmas and out of an Arcano mare.
The other six-figure foal from Minzaal’s first crop was sold at Goffs in November, when Rob Speers and Old Mill Stud bought the half-brother to Listed King Charles II Stakes winner and Middle Park runner-up Jash for €190,000 from Oak Leaf Stud.
Minzaal was a high-class juvenile who won the Gimcrack Stakes and was third to Supremacy and Lucky Vega in the Middle Park.
He was also placed in the Group 1 British Champions Sprint and the Prix Maurice de
Continues page 14
Bloodstock special Breeding on a Budget
From page 13
Gheest prior to his Haydock triumph.
The Mehmas effect was also at work with Caturra, whose initial foals proved very popular at the sales. The first crop of Overbury Stud's Flying Childers and Rose Bowl Stakes winner averaged 2.5 times their £6,500 covering fee, and notable pinhookers were among the buyers of his best.
Bred by Tally-Ho Stud, where his sire has developed into a formidable source of classy performers, Caturra was a 110,000gns Book 2 buy for Blandford Bloodstock, the agency which purchased the most expensive foal from Caturra's first crop.
That was Whatcote Farm Stud's colt out of the Dandy Man mare Shrara. He is the second foal out of the winning juvenile from the further family of No Nay Never and was knocked down for 55,000gns.
With 23 of the 26 foals on offer changing hands, there was solid trade for Caturra's first crop, which should help him in this tricky third season, for which his fee remains unchanged from last year at £5,000.
Persian Force, who stands alongside his sire Mehmas at Tally-Ho, has 98 members of his first crop registered.
The track record of the Amo Racing-owned chestnut bears striking resemblance to that of his sire. Both raced only at two, both won the Group 2 July Stakes and both were second in the Coventry Stakes and third in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes.
For good measure, Persian Force won the Brocklesby on his debut and was runner-up to Little Big Bear in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes and to Blackbeard in the Group 1 Prix Morny. His final race was the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, in which he was fourth.
Mehmas sired three individual Group/Grade 1 twoyear-old winners last season from his most expensively bred crop to date at €25,000, having begun at half that price.
Persian Force retired to stud at €10,000 and this is his second successive year standing for €8,000.
Three of the 40 Persian Force foals to come on the market last year made at least €50,000, and all three sold at
✪ STAR VALUE ✪
Caturra Following the herd here but the first foals by this son of Mehmas really caught the attention. He's imparting his good looks to his progeny
Minzaal A Group 1-winning sprinter who was a Group 1 performer as a juvenile, by a sire who everyone wants and his first foals were lookers, impressing all the right people
Naval Crown A Group 1 sprinter by Dubawi, who has established a thriving sireline in Europe, and available for €9,000. He allies class with speed
the Goffs November Foal Sale.
The highest price of €68,000 was for Baroda Stud's colt out of Princess Rose who was bought by Tally-Ho. A halfbrother to Italian Listed winner Andromaca, he is inbred 4x2 to Royal Applause.
The most expensive filly foal from his first crop was Greenville House Stud's daughter of Sea The Stars mare Playful Dance, a half-sister to last year's Oaks runner-up Dance Sequence. Her first foal was bought for €60,000 by RC Bloodstock.
Tally-Ho also has a connection to the Darley sire Perfect Power, who has his first crop of yearlings in 2025.
The Group 1 Commonwealth Cup, Middle Park and Prix Morny winner was bred and breezed by the O'Callaghan family, who also bred and sold his sire Ardad and stand Ardad's sire Kodiac.
Perfect Power is a dual Royal Ascot winner having been successful in the Norfolk Stakes at two for Richard Fahey, and he won the Greenham Stakes on his seasonal debut at three.
The winner of six of his 12 starts, Perfect Power began his stallion career at a fee of £15,000 but is available for half that in 2025.
His first crop numbers 55 registered yearlings, with a single six-figure sale among them. Altenbach Bloodstock's colt out of Mutrecy, a placed Camelot half-sister to the Rockfel Stakes second and Poule d'Essai des Pouliches third Rahiyah, made
130,000gns to Peter and Ross Doyle at the December Foal Sale.
The first Perfect Power foals sold well across the board, with 27 of the 28 offered returning an average of almost three times their covering fee.
At the December Foal Sale, eight of the Perfect Power foals on offer sold, for a minimum of 50,000gns. It was an encouraging reception for his stock, and both of his first two books consisted of 14 per cent black type-performing mares.
Darley unleashed two new stallions in 2023 who were ineligible for this supplement at the start of their careers but have been in budget for the last two seasons.
Perfect Power is one and the Group 1 Platinum Jubilee Stakes winner Naval Crown is the other.
The son of outstanding stallion and former champion
sire Dubawi began his career at €15,000 but was reduced to €10,000 last year and is being advertised at €9,000 for 2025. That is off the back of a successful foal sale season for the July Cup runner-up, whose first representatives at the sales managed to record an average that was double their covering fee.
Northern Bloodstock's half-brother to the Listed Blenheim Stakes second Born To Be made 48,000gns to JPD Bloodstock at the December Foal Sale, which is a smidgen higher than the €60,000 that Tara Stud's colt out of Karjera sold for at Goffs in November. The half-brother to Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye and Al Quoz Sprint winner A
Case Of You was bought by Lynn Lodge Stud.
At the same sale, Brendan Holland's Grove Stud matched that price for Ridge Manor Stud's colt out of the Tagula mare Thaleia.
Naval Crown, who is out of the Dansili mare Come Alive, was a Listed winner and fourth in the 2,000 Guineas the year before his sprinting breakthrough.
Twice Group 3-placed at two, he covered 118 mares last year, which was just one fewer than in 2023 and the percentage of black-type performers grew to 14 per cent in 2024.
Bayside Boy (above) is another to make his debut in
this section, with the fee of the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner on the receiving end of a haircut by Ballylinch Stud.
The son of New Bay is now available for €12,500, having stood for the past two seasons at €15,000.
A homebred for Ballylinch by their own sire, Bayside Boy was such a good-looking yearling from the second crop of his Prix du Jockey Clubwinning sire that he made 200,000gns at Book 2, having been bred on a fee of €20,000. Sent to Roger Varian by Teme Valley and Ballylinch, he won a Newbury maiden on his debut and was then runner-up to Masekela over course and distance in the Listed Denford Stakes.
He followed that up with victory in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes and then earned a pair of Group 1
placings when third to Native Trail in the Dewhurst and to Luxembourg in the Futurity Trophy.
At three he won the Listed Fortune Stakes and defeated Modern Games to win his Group 1 on Champions Day.
Out of the Anabaa mare Alava, herself a Listed winner, he is a half-brother to Forest Ranger, twice successful in the Group 2 Huxley Stakes and a dual Group 3 winner.
Bayside Boy has 70 registered yearlings in his first crop and maintained a highquality book in his second season. A total of 22 per cent of the mares he covered were classed as black-type performers, down from 25 per cent in his first book, but the rest held steady. Ten per cent of both his books were blacktype winners, with four per cent of each book made up of Groupwinning mares.
The most expensive of his foals to come on the market last year was Ballylinch's own colt out of Fairy Dancer, a Fastnet Rock halfsister to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf winner Red Rocks and to the Listed winners Medicinal, Galvaun and Blue Coral.
Fairy Dancer is the dam of Group 3 Prix de Cabourg second Jubilation, and
Oneliner Stables bought her Bayside Boy colt for 80,000gns. Space Traveller (below) was moved farms since his appearance in this supplement last year and is now standing at Starfield Stud, where his fee for 2025 is down slightly to €6,000 from €6,500. A colt from his first crop, when he was in residence at Ballyhane Stud, topped the opening day of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale. Offered by Barton Stud on behalf of Steve Parkin, who raced Space Traveller under his Clipper Logistics banner, the halfbrother to last season's Listed Windsor Castle Stakes winner Ain't Nobody made 82,000gns to Ciara and Michael Carty. That was the highest price achieved of the 21 Space Traveller foals offered for sale, with Mareshah Stud's colt out of Delphica, a halfsister to Richmond Stakes winner and Middle Park and Prix Morny third Always Hopeful, making €50,000 to Pat McCarthy at the Goffs November Foal Sale.
The Group 2 Boomerang Stakes and Group 3 Jersey Stakes winner by Bated Breath has 114 yearlings registered with Weatherbys and covered 66 mares last season.
Stradivarius was as close as
Flat racing has come in the last few years to a genuine folk hero, one who had the talent to go with his public popularity.
The National Stud's bright chestnut resident is therefore a social media star for the farm, as well as a draw for breeders.
He covered 120 mares in his first season and 101 in his second, with the percentage of black-type winners remaining steady at eight.
With owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen's determination that the seven-time Group 1 winner would appeal to Flat breeders, Stradivarius's first crop includes Sir Alex Ferguson's homebred half-brother to his triple Group 2 winner Spirit Dancer.
A dozen of the baby Strads were sold as foals and they averaged £16,329, off a covering fee of £10,000.
The most expensive was Brook Stud's colt who made 40,000gns to Newnham Lodge Farm at the December Foal Sale. He is out of the Pivotal mare Balance, who has three winners from three runners, including Lady Justice from the first crop of Without Parole.
At the same sale, the National Stud sold a halfbrother to the Listed Noel Murless Stakes winner Biographer for 27,000gns to Beth Dutton. His dam, Reflective, is an unraced Seeking The Gold half-sister to the Group 1 winners Hector Protector, Bosra Sham and Shanghai.
Caturra (left) and Naval Crown (right)
Bloodstock special Breeding on a Budget
FIRST TWO-YEAROLDS OF 2025
Kitty Trice
NEWSELLS PARK STUD’S A’Ali
was a precocious and highclass juvenile, with victories in the Norfolk Stakes, Prix Robert Papin and Flying Childers Stakes to his credit, all of those being Group 2 contests.
Also a dual Group winner at three, he remains at a fee of £5,000 for the third year on the spin, and that could look even better value if his first runners prove as quick and talented as their sire.
By a champion first-season sire in the late Society Rock and a half-brother to two winning sprinters, A’Ali certainly has the pedigree to make a name for himself early in the campaign.
His first yearlings sold for prices like 200,000gns and £150,000, which won’t have
gone unnoticed by savvy budget-conscious breeders.
Another who feels good value at just €3,000 this year is Capital Stud resident Alkumait, winner of the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes.
A major attraction with the son of Showcasing – sire of one of the leading lights from the 2024 first-season brigade, Mohaather – is his improving page.
He is out of Whitsbury Manor Stud’s brilliant Dutch Art mare Suelita, dam of 2,000 Guineas and Dewhurst hero Chaldean, whose first foals are arriving, as well as Get Ahead, a Listedwinning Group 1-placed sprinter also by Showcasing. Alkumait’s Frankel halfsister made 2,500,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale to Amo Racing in November, while further updates are likely to come from his Kingman half-sister, Kassaya, a winner as a two-year-old last year for Andrew Balding having made
1,000,000gns to Juddmonte at Tattersalls in 2022.
At the more middle-distance end of the spectrum, Bangkok rates an attractive proposition on the eve of his first runners given he stands for only £3,000 yet is a dual Group-winning son of brilliant producer Tanaghum.
The Chapel Stud resident was a neck second to the smart Sangarius on his debut at two and went on to land the Group 3 Sandown Classic Trial at three and later the Group 2 York Stakes at five, among half a dozen career victories.
He is a half-brother to Meydan Group 1 winner Matterhorn, a close relation to Dante Stakes victor The Foxes and Mujarah, the dam of European champion miler Ribchester.
The National Hunt-oriented quartet of Dee Ex Bee, In Swoop, Logician and Mirage Dancer all have their merits as either Group 1/Classic winners
✪ STAR VALUE ✪
A’Ali Multiple Groupwinning sprinter whose stock are described as mini A’Alis
Lucky Vega High-class juvenile who has made a fine start with first southern hemisphere runners
Ubettabelieveit Fast and precocious juvenile whose first yearlings made a good initial impression
or performers, and warrant consideration from breeders on a budget.
Dee Ex Bee went close to picking up a top-level success, never more so than when a neck second to Stradivarius in the Goodwood Cup. He had also finished runner-up to that rival in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot the previous month, while he was second to Masar in the Derby.
when runner-up to Sottsass in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. He was also a Group 2 and Group 3 winner from just four runs the following year.
He is out of a Preis der Diana winner, is a brother to a German Group 1 winner and, at a fee of €3,000 at Coolmore’s Beeches Stud, what’s not to like?
behind Siskin in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and second to Pinatubo in the Prix Jean Prat.
A son of Lope De Vega and half-brother to Vintage Stakes winner Dark Vision, his first crop of yearlings sold for up to €175,000.
A trim to £7,500 for 2025, from £8,500 last year, means breeders get even more bang for their buck.
The son of Farhh certainly has the credentials for the job, as no fewer than 15 stallions feature in the first three generations of his pedigree –he himself is out of a sister to the outstanding Dubai Millennium. There’s plenty to like for just €3,000 at Arctic Tack Stud.
Frankel’s St Leger winner Logician and his Australian Group 1 winner Mirage Dancer are priced at £3,500 and €3,500 at Shade Oak and Capital Stud respectively, and both can boast typically deep Juddmonte pedigrees to back up their race records.
In Swoop defeated Torquator Tasso in the Deutsches Derby and later that season was beaten just a neck
The National Stud’s Lope Y Fernandez was a Group 3-winning juvenile and toplevel performer at three and four, including when third
First-crop two-year-old
Lucky Vega was the winner of the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at two and was also Classicplaced at three when a halflength third in the 2,000 Guineas behind Poetic Flare. The Irish National Stud resident was also runner-up to Supremacy in the Middle Park Stakes and, on what proved his last run, filled the same position in the St James’s Palace Stakes, again behind Poetic Flare
Remaining at his 2024 fee of €12,500, Lucky Vega is already a black type-winning sire with his first southern hemisphere crop, while his first northern hemisphere yearlings averaged three times his fee and up to €150,000 at the sales.
Fellow Irish National Stud resident Nando Parrado was
NEWS YOU CAN USE
also a quality two-year-old, springing a big shock in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes and then backing that up with second-placed finishes at Group 1 level in the Prix Morny and Jean-Luc Lagardere. He also remains unchanged, in his case at €6,000, and his supporters were buoyed by his
first yearlings selling for up to €65,000.
Tally-Ho Stud’s Starman was unraced at two but still became a top-notch sprinter, landing the July Cup and placing in the Sprint Cup and Prix Maurice de Gheest, in addition to winning the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes.
Remaining at €10,000 for 2025, the son of Dutch Art’s supporters were well rewarded with his first yearlings selling for up to 260,000gns.
The aforementioned Middle Park Stakes victor Supremacy, a champion juvenile by the brilliant two-year-old sire Mehmas, also gives breeders
plenty of food for thought having been cut to €8,000 from €10,000 for 2025.
From the family of champion sprinter and Group 1 sire Harry Angel, the Yeomanstown Stud go-getter’s yearlings came with price tags such as 270,000gns and 220,000gns.
A son of renowned sire of sires Kodiac, his fee of £5,000 should appeal to speedoriented breeders.
NAVAL CROWN
The son of Dubawi with a highly profitable first crop of foals. They averaged €31,000 – more than the 2024 foals of Cotai Glory, Kodi Bear, Supremacy, Persian Force, Calyx and many more. The top two were bought by Brendan Holland and Eddie O’Leary.
Plus: an even bigger crop in year two than in his first, a sure sign that commercial breeders like his stock.
Mickley Stud’s Flying Childers Stakes winner Ubettabelieveit also looks well placed to reward breeders after his stock made prices up to 70,000gns last year.
A'Ali: his runners could easily make a name for him early on this season
Bloodstock special Breeding on a Budget
FIRST THREE-YEAROLDS OF 2025
Kitty Trice
NEWTOWN ANNER STUD’S Group 2 Railway Stakes winner and dual Group 1 runner-up Beckford has already sired a stakes-placed winner from just three runners in the shape of Beckman, who was also fourth in Group company in the Tyros Stakes.
Beckman was allotted a Racing Post Rating of 90 for that effort, and is joined by two others who have RPRs of 80 and 74. It will be interesting to see if this still-young sire can gain any traction in the years ahead..
Starfield Stud’s Far Above and King Of Change both look good value for money at €5,000, and it will be fascinating to monitor whether their progeny can progress with age, given Far Above didn’t race at two and King Of Change improved markedly at three to land the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
Beckford out to build on fine start from a handful of runners so far
Both sons of Farhh supplied stakes winners from their first crop in 2024, with Kabir and Nigrum Regina flying Far Above’s flag high, and Lady With The Lamp doing likewise for King Of Change, while there is the promise of bigger books of mares to follow for both.
Glenview Stud’s Old Persian is geared towards the National Hunt sphere but it is worth remembering the son of Dubawi was a winner at two
and progressed to land two Group 2s at three and a brace of Group/Grade 1s at four for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby.
Old Persian is a well-bred son of Darley’s 2022 champion
sire who progressed nicely with age and experience, and who covered 430 mares in his first three seasons.
He could easily sire Flat winners before his stock take root in the jumps discipline, and he very much impressed on the recent Irish Stallion Trail.
Tara Stud resident and US Grade 1 winner River Boyne is the sole son of the late Dandy Man at stud in Europe and is so far the sire of four individual winners from his first crop.
Standing at an unchanged fee of €3,500, having retired to Tara in 2021 for €5,000, the ten-year-old was himself a winner at two and progressed nicely to pick up Graded races at three and five, most notably the Frank E Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita, where he held off the challenge of Got Stormy to prevail by a neck.
Gleneagles’ July Stakes winner and Phoenix Stakes
third Royal Lytham is also off the mark with his first crop and remains steady at €2,500 for the upcoming covering season.
The Irish Emerald Stud resident was a high-class juvenile performer for Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore partners, winning on his debut at Navan before landing his Group 2 at Newmarket and then finishing a length third to Siskin in the Phoenix.
Another sire who was a good twoyear-old and was on the board with his first runners in 2024 was Rumble Inthejungle (above)
✪ STAR VALUE
King Of Change Plenty more to come as his progeny turn three Sands Of Mali Conduit of quality who hit the headlines last year
Shaman Carving out a decent reputation despite lack of fanfare
fourth in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot. He was then a fluent two-and-a-half-length winner of the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, and was later third behind Ten Sovereigns in the Middle Park Stakes. Rumble Inthejungle was also fourth behind the brilliant Battaash as a three-year-old in the King George Stakes back at Goodwood.
Based at Norman Court Stud and at an unchanged fee of £3,500 for 2025, his first runners are headed by Manila Thriller, winner of her second start at Chester and a neck second behind subsequent Rockfel Stakes runner-up Serving With Style at Goodwood in August, and recent Kempton winner Distant Rumble.
One of the protagonists in last year’s first-season sires’ title race was Ballyhane Stud’s exciting Sands Of Mali, the leading freshman in Ireland and sire of two black-type winners and four individual stakes performers.
The son of Bungle Inthejungle won on his debut at Salisbury in the May of his juvenile year before finishing
Winner of the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes at two and the Group 1 British Champions Sprint and Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes at three, he has got off to an excellent start in his second career. Now standing at a private fee, having commanded €6,500 in his debut season and then €5,000 from 2022 until last year, Sands Of Mali’s first runners include Windsor Castle Stakes victor Ain’t Nobody and fellow Listed
winner Ellaria Sands.
His Time For Sandals also picked up valuable black type when third in the Group 2 Lowther Stakes at York, while Aviation Time completed a one-three for his sire in the Windsor Castle in June.
One doesn’t need a crystal ball to foresee how popular Sands Of Mali will be this season, and no doubt in seasons to come, especially if his progeny progress like he did from two to three.
Presumably commanding a well-deserved chunkier fee for 2025, he should be at the forefront of breeders’ minds, particularly as he is a highly valuable outcross as a son of Panis and Indian Rocket mare Kadiania.
Whitsbury Manor Stud knows how to launch a sire from a bargain-basement fee –Havana Grey being the most recent and obvious example –and last year’s champion firstseason sire Sergei Prokofiev still easily qualifies for this supplement despite his £2,000 rise to £8,000 for 2025.
The Scat Daddy nine-yearold has the quality to go with his quantity of winners, chief among them the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes winner Arizona Blaze, who was also placed at the highest level in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and Phoenix Stakes.
The second of his black-type winners is Enchanting Empress, who captured the Listed National Stakes at Sandown. Both, interestingly, race in the silks of Amo Racing. Sergei Prokofiev’s yearlings of 2024 unsurprisingly proved popular, selling for prices such as 170,000gns and £140,000, while he is future-proof having covered full books in every season at stud.
The Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes winner and Coventry Stakes third will no doubt
prove popular again, and he still looks good value despite his career-high fee.
Yeomanstown Stud’s Shaman had some smart representatives from his first crop, headed by Newmarket sales race winner Brian, who was also placed in the Sirenia Stakes and Chesham Stakes, as well as Ascendant Stakes and Prix Saraca-placed Eternal Elixir.
Remaining at a fee of €5,000, the regally bred son of Shamardal was himself a
Group-class juvenile but progressed with age to finish runner-up in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains and land two Group races at three and four. It is therefore worth keeping an eye on his stock this year as they turn three, and he should have plenty more to offer breeders in the years ahead.
Group 1 winner Way To Paris was a durable and talented campaigner from three to seven, and if his stock take after him then they should provide breeders and
connections with plenty of fun.
Based at Coolagown Stud for an unchanged €3,500, the son of Champs Elysees could do a job in both disciplines of the sport as his books consisting of more than 120 mares in 2021, 2022 and 2023 included the dams of Group and Grade 1 winners on the Flat and over jumps.
St James’s Palace Stakes winner and Newsells Park resident Without Parole has sired 13 individual winners from his first crop, headed by
dual Group 3-placed and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf fourth Fiery Lucy and the Listed-placed Sea To Sky. The son of Frankel was an easy winner in the December of his juvenile year and built on that at three and older, landing the Royal Ascot Group 1 and placing in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Standing at an unchanged fee of £8,000, the ten-year-old is another budget sire whose runners ought to get better with age and experience.
PRO GENY TRACKER
Sands Of Mali: sire of four individual stakes performers
Bloodstock special Breeding on a Budget
£3,000 Aclaim likely to prove popular at his lowest fee in eight seasons
MORE ESTABLISHED SIRES
Kitty Trice
ACLAIM now resides at Batsford Stud and the Classicwinning sire has been introduced at his new abode for £3,000, the lowest fee he has commanded yet in what is his eighth season of covering.
Winner of the Group 1 Prix de la Foret, and Group 2 Park Stakes and Challenge Stakes, the son of the late Acclamation has produced 11 black-type performers to date, headed by 1,000 Guineas heroine Cachet, who was also a close second in the French equivalent.
Other smart sorts include Listed winners Purosangue and Royal Aclaim, alongside the Group 2-placed Jacinda.
An Aclaim filly out of Cachet’s Farhh half-sister Sophie sold from Blue Diamond Stud to Christopher Head for €60,000 at last year’s Goffs Orby Book 1.
His former National Stud and Manton Park studmate Advertise has also moved, in his case to Knockmullen House Stud in County Wexford.
Introduced to Irish breeders at €5,000, the triple Group 1-winning son of Showcasing has proved himself more than capable of siring smart sorts.
Among last year’s haul was Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes winner Cool Hoof Luke, Group 3 Goldene Peitsche winner Al Shabab Storm, Group 3 Musidora Stakes scorer Secret Satire and Billboard Star, placed in both the July and Mill Reef Stakes.
Off the back of those results, his yearlings of 2024 sold with price tags including €75,000 and €58,000. Those looking to breed tough and talented racehorses at a good-value fee could find themselves in luck here.
Similar comments apply to Coolmore’s Calyx, who beat Advertise when landing the Group 2 Coventry Stakes in 2018.
The Juddmonte-bred son of Kingman stands for €12,500 for a second year in the row and has four black-type winners to his name, headed by Group 2 winners Classic Flower and Persian Dreamer.
The nine-year-old looks
well-stocked for the future as he covered 273 mares in 2024, more than any other Flat sire in Europe, while his yearlings sold for prices such as €220,000 and €200,000, both of those coming at Goffs Orby Book 1.
On the track, Purple Lily finished third behind You Got To Me in the Irish Oaks, and Eben Shaddad was runner-up in the Craven Stakes, having finished third to City Of Troy in the Dewhurst at two.
Calyx’s Grade 3-winning daughter Zona Verde was placed on all five starts last year in California, including in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, while It Ain’t Two ran 13 times as a two-year-old, winning on
the first and last starts of her campaign, plus twice more in between. Her sign-off success was in the Listed Bosra Sham Stakes at Newmarket.
Coolmore’s young National Hunt sire
Crystal Ocean (right) is also worth noting in this bracket. The co-world champion by Sea The Stars has had winners in both codes,
Saint
and Watamu. The last-named was an eight-anda-half-length winner on her debut in a Stratford bumper in October, while last month Saint Crystal caught the eye when winning at Pau on his second start by
more than three lengths.
While it is a pity that a horse of Crystal Ocean’s stature was immediately whisked off to the National Hunt sheds, Flatoriented breeders can still send mares to him and there is no reason at all why he can’t get classy sorts in that discipline.
Darley’s champion sprinter and Group 1 sire Harry Angel holds steady at a fee of £10,000 and he has been a consistent source of high-class performers, including Australian Group 1 winner Tom Kitten, Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial winner and Irish 1,000 Guineas and Falmouth Stakes-placed A Lilac Rolla, Greenham Stakes winner Esquire, and Australian Group 2 winners Arkansaw Kid and Stretan Angel.
A son of newly crowned British and Irish champion sire Dark Angel, Harry Angel has shown he can get Group horses in both hemispheres.
His yearlings in 2024 realised prices of up to 150,000gns, that one being a half-brother to the Listedplaced Make Haste who sold to Clive Cox at Tattersalls Book 2.
His horses in training have continued to prove popular in the ring too, with A Lilac Rolla one highlight when selling to Resolute Bloodstock for 1,000,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale.
✪ STAR VALUE ✪
Calyx Has big books to follow on from his early crops’ success
Harry Angel Reliable source of sprint stakes winners
Ulysses Enjoyed his best ever season last year with White Birch and co
Harry Angel’s former Dalham Hall studmate Masar has been relocated to Sunnyhill Stud in County Kildare for 2025 and it will be interesting to see how the Derby winner gets on in his new vocation.
The son of New Approach has a 38 per cent winners to runners strike-rate with his first two crops and has sired three winners from four runners over jumps, including JP McManus’s Triumph Hurdle entry Stencil.
Hailing from the incomparable family of Urban Sea, that of Derby winners Galileo and Sea The Stars,
Masar stands at a private fee but one that is almost certain to offer value for money. His Flat flag-flyers include UAE Listed-placed third Yamamah, Old Rowley Cup runner-up Mount Atlas, Godolphin’s promising Will Scarlet and Chester Vase fourth Golden West. Mickley Stud’s Massaat (below) supplied Group winners in both hemispheres last year courtesy of Coco Jamboo and Queues Likely, while high-class son Docklands found only Charyn too good in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. The son of Teofilo was a fine performer himself, winning the Group 2 Hungerford Stakes and placing in the 2,000 Guineas and Dewhurst, and he appears capable of passing on his qualities despite having to judge that on relatively small crops.
Massaat’s fee has ranged between £3,000 and £5,000 during his stud career, and being nearer the bottom of the scale currently at £3,500, he should continue to serve breeders on a budget well.
Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Phoenix Of Spain has made a good start to his second career, with the Irish National Stud resident notably supplying Haatem, winner of the Group 2 Vintage Stakes at two and who progressed to place in both the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas last year, sandwiched between Group 3 strikes in the Craven and Jersey Stakes. Phoenix Of Spain has another exciting runner for Continues page 22
including St Leger runner Wild Waves, Indian Listed scorer Golden Thunder and National Hunt winners
Crystal
Aclaim: Classic-winning sire has moved to Batsford Stud
Masar: The 2018 Derby hero was shown to visitors on the Irish Stallion Trail last month at his new home Sunnyhill Stud
Bloodstock special Breeding on a Budget
From page 20
this year in the unbeaten Lady Of Spain, three-length winner of a Listed contest at Deauville in December, while Alpheratz collected black type when runner-up in the Park Express Stakes and Flying Finn did likewise when third in the Prix Finlande.
The son of Lope De Vega, who stands for €10,000, has 35 per cent of his winners rated 80-plus, while his yearlings sold for up to €150,000 last term.
Boardsmill Stud’s Poet’s Word has his first Irish-bred crop of four-year-olds running this year. He has consistently covered big books since he transferred from Nunnery Stud – from where he got Grade 3-placed hurdler Pacini – and the King George hero’s stock has also proved popular at the sales. His stores of 2024 reached prices of up to €120,000, and the future is surely bright for this handsome bay, whose fee this year is listed as private.
The National Stud’s Rajasinghe has proved his worth despite relatively small books, registering a 57 per cent strike-rate in terms of winners to runners.
The Coventry Stakes winner is available for free to breeders of a mare who was rated at least 70, or has progeny who
have run to that level or above. Otherwise, he is priced at a still very reasonable £3,000, given he has a stakes performer in Waiting All Night, as well as several multiple winners.
The dual Derby-placed Storm The Stars, a beautifully bred son of Sea The Stars out of a Sadler’s Wells half-sister to Giant’s Causeway, is pitched at €3,500 at Coolagown Stud, to where he moved prior to the 2023 covering season.
His winners are headlined by the Grade 1-placed Storm Heart, who this month finished a really good second carrying a big weight, and returning from a nine-month absence, in a Listed handicap hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.
The equally blue-blooded Ulysses looks excellent value at a career-low fee of £8,000 at Cheveley Park Stud, given he supplied five individual Group winners last year.
They were led by Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup scorer White Birch, who is due to return this season, and also included Huxley Stakes winner Passenger and Holloway Boy, who at Meydan last month was beaten just a short head by Poker Face in the Group 2 Zabeel Mile, before finishing third behind Romantic Warrior in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta.
Australia likely to be busy given fee at revised €10,000
ESTABLISHED SIRES
Kitty Trice
AT €10,000 Coolmore’s Australia has dipped to the lowest fee of his stud career, and there are several reasons to think the cover star of our supplement is very good value. For starters, with seven black-type winners last year, headed by Ribblesdale Stakes scorer Port Fairy, the dual Derby hero has 44 stakes winners and counting,
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including five at the highest level.
His yearlings last year, meanwhile, sold for up to €180,000, that individual being a colt out of the Medicean mare Blending at Tattersalls Book 1 who went the way of Badgers Bloodstock.
And as a broodmare sire, Australia tasted Group 1 success in August courtesy of Prix Maurice de Gheest victor Lazzat; his record in that guise will no doubt be enhanced in the years to come.
Derrinstown Stud’s Awtaad has received a well-deserved fee rise to €7,500, from €5,000, thanks in large part to the Group/Grade 1-winning exploits of Champion Stakes victor Anmaat and star American mare Anisette.
The son of Cape Cross, whose highlight on the track was winning the Irish 2,000 Guineas, attracted an increased number of mares in 2024, covering 128, while his yearlings sold for up to 80,000gns.
The evergreen Bated Breath, who has recently turned 18, continues to prove a reliable servant to breeders on a budget.
Juddmonte’s son of Dansili has a tally of 26 stakes winners headed by Del Mar Grade 1 scorer Viadera, while his other Group winners include Daahyeh, Space Traveller, Worth Waiting and Beckford.
A quieter year on the track in 2024 has seen his fee trimmed to £8,000, from £10,000, although it’s worth noting that his yearlings sold for up to 170,000gns, while he has a decent crop of three-year-olds for 2025.
The yearlings of fellow toplevel sire Bungle Inthejungle sold for up to 150,000gns in 2024, and he remains at his fee of €7,500 at Rathasker Stud.
The 15-year-old is the source of Nunthorpe heroine Winter Power, in addition to fellow Pattern winners Living In The Past and Givemethebeatboys, who went for £1,100,000 at the Goffs London Sale of 2023.
Last year’s Listed Rockingham Stakes winner Jungle Drums can hopefully improve for his first run for
new trainer Jamie Osborne at Meydan last month.
Dream Ahead has his first crop of juveniles bred from Bearstone Stud this year and in a few months’ time his £6,500 fee could look even better value.
From previous stints at Ballylinch Stud and Haras de Grandcamp, Dream Ahead is a well-established source of Group 1 talent, with his leading offspring including Glass Slippers, Al Wukair, Donjuan Triumphant and Dream Of Dreams.
He is also making his mark as a broodmare sire, his daughters having produced the likes of Poptronic, Texas, Romantic Style and Cold Case.
Free Eagle has sired a number of smart types on the Flat, led by Group 3 winner Dancing King, but if extremely impressive Ascot bumper scorer Windbeneathmywings is anything to go by then the Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner could be in for an exciting few years with his National Hunt progeny.
Now standing at Anngrove Stud, having initially resided at the Irish National Stud, the son of High Chaparral’s fee for 2025 is once again listed as private.
Aside from leading Champion Bumper candidate Windbeneathmywings, his other National Hunt flagbearers include Listedwinning chaser Walnut Beach and Grade 2-placed Eagle Fang and Perry Owens.
Another stallion who is highly capable on both the Flat and over jumps is Golden Horn. The Overbury Stud sire enjoyed another fruitful campaign in 2024, with Group
✪ STAR VALUE ✪
Australia Has lots more to offer despite career-low fee
Golden Horn Consistent producer of classy performers on the Flat and over jumps
Make Believe Classicwinning sire at an affordable price
1 stayers Trawlerman and Gregory among his classy Flat performers, and Graded jumps winners Golden Ace, East India Dock and Mark Of Gold also flying his flag with distinction.
East India Dock returned last month with a ten-length victory at Cheltenham and is one of the leading fancies for the Triumph Hurdle. The Derby and Arc hero is again available for £10,000 this year, and will likely continue to prove popular at that price, especially as his progeny’s resale value can be strong –they made up to 330,000gns at the 2024 Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale.
Golden Horn’s former Dalham Hall Stud colleague Iffraaj may have turned 24 but is still more than capable of producing quality runners. The sire of Wootton Bassett was responsible for 2024 Lockinge Stakes victor Audience, as well as My Prospero, who returned from injury to win another Pattern race, the Group 3 Winter Hill Stakes, and has since taken up stud duties at Haras des Faunes.
Iffraaj is again on offer at a fee of £10,000, and he looks an excellent choice to start off a young mare.
Another proven stallion who retains plenty of value is Make Believe, now at a fee of €8,000 for the upcoming breeding season at Ballylinch Stud.
The sire of the outstanding Mishriff, Make Belive’s seven stakes winners in 2024 featured two Italian Group 2-winning juveniles, as well as French Group 3 winners Sajir and Making Dreams.
Alne Park Stud’s Ocovango is the sire of a Grade 1 winner in Champ Kiely and a dual Cheltenham Festival winner in Langer Dan, while his giant son Mr Vango last month added the Peter Marsh Chase to his CV.
The son of Monsun is at an unchanged fee of £4,500 for
Free Eagle: could come to the fore next month at Cheltenham with Champion Bumper hope Windbeneathmywings
Name Age Sire Stud Fee No. covered in 2024
Affinisea 14 Sea
2025, and continues to rate an excellent and affordable source of winners. Similar comments apply to Planteur, Schiaparelli and Yeats.
Planteur is the sire of toplevel winners on the Flat and over jumps, namely Trueshan and Gran Diose, and remains at £4,000 for 2025 at Chapel Stud.
His son Gold For Alec was a six-length winner at Huntingdon last month and
looks an improving sort for the Tom Symonds yard. Schiaparelli continues to produce quality runners, including Doncaster Listed hurdle winner Wyenot and Marsh Wren, winner of Listed
chases at Thurles and Market Rasen last year.
The 22-year-old has always been great value at Overbury Stud, where £2,000 can get you a piece of the action this covering season.
Yeats has reached the even grander age of 24, but his Grade 1 roll of honour continues to grow, the latest addition being The Yellow Clay, who extended his unbeaten record over hurdles
in last month’s Lawlor's of Naas Novice Hurdle. Clearly, the champion National Hunt sire of 2021-22 and 2022-23 still has plenty to offer, and for just €4,000 at Coolmore’s Castlehyde Stud.
2025 Stallion Book
