From Arizona to Yafta:

Martin Stevens runs the rule over the stallions with their first yearlings up for sale

PINATUBO was the most expensive new recruit to the stallion ranks in 2021, retiring to Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket at £35,000 on the back of being unbeaten in six starts at two, including a dazzling nine-length demolition job in the National Stakes, and becoming the best juvenile on Racing Post Ratings since Celtic Swing. He also earned Group 1 laurels at three in the Prix Jean Prat, for all that he wasn’t nearly so dominant that season, and is by Shamardal from the stallion-making family of Invincible Spirit and Kodiac, so it is no surprise that his services didn’t come cheaply.

Pinatubo’s largest yearling drafts will be in the blue-chip sales in Britain and Ireland in the autumn, but the early bird might catch the worm with some well-bred lots available in the coming weeks.

The nine listed at the Arqana August Yearling Sale include WH Bloodstock’s half-brother to Group 3-winning sprinter Dubai Station (lot 24) and Haras de Montaigu’s closely related half-brother to recent Chantilly maiden scorer Mondrial (283).

Two Pinatubo yearlings at Goffs UK Premier are siblings to stakes winners – Longview

Stud’s half-brother to Al Raya (405) and Stratford Place Stud’s half-brother to Thammin (421) – while both lots by the sire at BBAG are siblings to German 1,000 Guineas scorers, namely Gestüt Fährhof’s half-sister to Habana (165) and Gestüt Brümmerhof’s half-brother to Novemba (63).

Pinatubo was one of an unprecedented three unbeaten juvenile Group 1 winners by Shamardal in 2019, along with Earthlight and Victor Ludorum. Earthlight, who took the Prix Morny and Middle

Park Stakes and was a neck second in the Prix de la Foret at three, was new to Kildangan Stud at a fee of €20,000 in 2021. The four by the sire available at Arqana include a halfbrother to Prix Jean Prat hero Intellogent (313) from Ecurie des Monceaux; the eight on offer in Doncaster include a colt out of Group 3 winner Split Trois (209) from Siskin Lodge; and the trio at Tattersalls Somerville include a filly out of Park Express Stakes third Achnaha (31) from Plantation Stud. Shamardal’s treble of

FIRST-CROP SIRES AT THE 2023 EARLY YEARLING SALES

Group 1-winning two-yearolds coincided with older son Blue Point – leading this year’s freshman table – winning both the King’s Stand Stakes and Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, which predictably helped spark a run on his sons retiring to stud in 2021.

Shaman, a beautifully bred Group 2 winner and dual Group 1 runner-up over a mile who stands at Yeomanstown Stud, is represented by seven lots at Goffs UK Premier, including a colt out of the Group 3-winning Kodiac mare Bear Cheek (317) and filly out of a Dark Angel sister to stakes performers Maggies Angel, San Andreas and Sistine Madonna (407), both offered by the O’Callaghan family’s operation themselves.

Waldpfad, an intriguingly rare high-class Germantrained sprinter by Shamardal from the brilliant family of Masked Marvel and Waldgeist, stands in his native country and has eight catalogued in Baden-Baden. His ownerbreeder Gestüt Brümmerhof showcases him with a halfsister to eight winners including Listed scorer North Mum, out of Preis der Diana second North Queen (177). This year’s cohort of European-based first-crop yearling sires includes a world champion in Ghaiyyath, a son of Dubawi and Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Nightime who bolted up in the Coronation Cup, Eclipse and Juddmonte International in 2020. He covered his first book of mares at Kildangan Stud at a fee of €30,000.

The talk of last year’s foal sales, he is another who will have more delegates at the autumn yearling auction fixtures. But he does have a few on offer in the coming weeks, including a half-sister to Prix La Force winner Chilean (176) consigned by La Motteraye to Arqana August and Gestüt Etzean’s half-sister to German champion two-year-old Sea Bay (74) and Gestüt Karlshof’s half-brother to Group 1-placed No Limit Credit (176) in Baden-Baden.

Among the Classic winners with debut yearlings up for