By Alayna Cullen Birkett
King Of Change (GB), a Group 1 winner and Classic-placed son of Farhh (GB), will stand his first season at Derrinstown Stud in 2021 for €7,000. He was a model of consistency throughout his career and Stephen Collins, general manager of Derrinstown, tells TDN's Alayna Cullen more about him.
AC: Stephen, King Of Change is an exciting addition to the Derrinstown Stud roster. How is it that he came to stand at Derrinstown?
SC: We were approached by Ali Abdullah Saeed, King Of Change's owner, and he asked would it be possible to send the horse to Derrinstown. Of course, Sheikh Hamdan was delighted to oblige and the team here at Derrinstown were extremely happy to do so too. He is a lovely looking horse. He's got a tremendously athletic walk and a very attractive head. I think he is a horse who is very well priced in the market and he's a horse that could go places and do the breeders a very good turn.
AC: How is he finding life at Derrinstown?
SC: Very well, he's a very nice horse to work with and he has taken to his surroundings very well. He enjoys being out in the paddock and obviously now it is onwards and upwards for the breeding season.
AC: He was highly competitive throughout his racing career. What were some of his best performances?
SC: He was an outstanding racehorse. He ran six times and was either first or second in all his starts. As a 2-year-old he ran in two maidens and finished second, both very good runs. He reappeared as a 3-year-old and won his maiden, a novice, at Nottingham. From there he went straight to the English 2000 Guineas. This was a huge step up in class for King Of Change to go from a novice to a Group 1. He ran a fantastic race, finishing second to Magna Grecia (Ire). He had a very hard race and Richard Hannon Jr decided to give him a break and bring him back for an autumn campaign. He reappeared in the Listed Fortune S. at Sandown, over a mile in September and then ran in the Queen Elizabeth II S. on Champions Day at Ascot. He beat a magnificent field of eight individual Group 1 winners by 3 1/2 lengths. It was an absolutely top-class performance and it marks him as one of the best of his generation.
AC: His sire line hasn't really been prevalent in Ireland before. Can you tell us more about it?
SC: Farhh was an exceptionally good racehorse himself. He was a dual Group 1 winner which included winning the Champion S. As a stallion, and from limited crops in England, he has had 15% stakes winners to runners. That, by any merit, is an absolutely outstanding statistic.
His yearling sell very well too, and I think the commercial breeder in Ireland will hugely support King of Change. He is one of very few by the stallion in Ireland so I imagine he will be popular.
AC: There is also good depth to his family. What are the highlights of his pedigree?
SC: His half-brother Century Dream (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), was a Group 2 winner and Group 1 placed. But if you look at the pedigree page as a whole it is a very good and sturdy black-type family. I think it is also the sort of family that is versatile, too.
AC: Do you have any indication as to the level of support King Of Change may receive?
SC: I expect breeders in Ireland will really like him. He is attractively priced and he is a first-season sire. He was also a top miler and was Timeform rated 126 be the end of his career so I think he will get very good support. I know Derrinstown Stud will be sending him some mares and Rabbah will be sending some too along with support from the Maktoum family. I think he will be busy next year.
AC: Describe the excitement and anticipation when a new stallion joins the ranks.
SC: I think every stallion farm always tries to get a new recruit every year as it freshens up the stallion portfolio. We have had Tamayuz (GB) quite a while and Awtaad (Ire) and Markaz (Ire) had their first runners this year so it is nice to get some new blood in. It also gets breeders back into the farm so they can see the new horse and then they renew their acquaintances with other stallions at the same time. Also, each time we get a new stallion, there are young people coming to the stud who may never have been before and I think that is very important for our industry's future. We need young breeders as well as our established farms.
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