By Adam Houghton
“He's been everything to us,” was the sign-off from Gay O'Callaghan in this must-read TDN feature from Emma Berry, who had a golden opportunity during the Tattersalls December Sale to sit down with the Yeomanstown Stud patriarch, as well as his sons David, Guy and Robert, to discuss the remarkable story of their homegrown hero, Dark Angel (Ire).
If you're one of the few who haven't read the piece already, then I urge you to correct that misdemeanour before we see in the new year, but first stick with me as we zone in on the most recent chapter in the tale of the 19-year-old Dark Angel, the champion sire of Britain and Ireland for 2024.
The first title for the son of Acclamation (GB) and those who have masterminded his career at Yeomanstown, few would argue that it's not thoroughly deserved. After all, he's now finished on the podium in three of the last five years, having previously finished third behind Galileo (Ire) in 2020, before faring best of the rest when Frankel (GB) ran away with the spoils in 2023.
Whilst this maiden championship for Dark Angel wasn't sealed in quite such clear-cut fashion, his healthy advantage today over his closest pursuer is still in stark contrast to the promise of a hard-fought title race we faced back in early October when the top three–Dubawi (Ire), Galileo and Dark Angel in that order–were covered by around £125,000.
Today, the top three remains the same but in a totally different order as Dark Angel sits proudly at the top of the standings, with the earnings of his progeny in Britain and Ireland amounting to over £4.9 million, nearly £500,000 more than Dubawi who, in turn, is another £220,000 clear of Galileo. Whilst there's still a handful of all-weather meetings to be held on these shores, Dark Angel's work for the year is done, allowing him to bask in the glory of a campaign which yielded eight stakes winners in Britain and Ireland.
The undoubted star among them was Charyn (Ire), who turned the tide firmly in his sire's favour when gaining his third Group 1 victory of the campaign in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. That race was worth £655,709 to the winner and supplemented the £425,325 he'd already pocketed when making the breakthrough at the top level in the Queen Anne Stakes.
A third Group 1 for Charyn! He is back to winning ways as he takes the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes for @SilvDSousa and @varianstable at @Ascot… pic.twitter.com/hEjzUtybAx
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 19, 2024
Fellow Royal Ascot scorer Khaadem (Ire), who won the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes for the second consecutive year, featured among Dark Angel's other notable performers, along with the G2 York Stakes hero Alflaila (GB) and G3 Summer Stakes winner Flora Of Bermuda (Ire), who later finished third in the G1 Champions Sprint Stakes.
On the international stage, Dark Angel was also represented by the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen winner Mad Cool (Ire), while he ended the year ranked fourth on the European sires' table, with Charyn's French exploits, including an emphatic victory in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois, giving him another lift in those standings.
Incidentally, Charyn has since retired to Sumbe's Haras de Montfort et Preaux and is perhaps Dark Angel's best chance yet of emulating the late Acclamation by making his mark as a sire of sires. Of his other stallion sons, the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Harry Angel (Ire) has made a promising start to his stud career, having found a place among the top 30 in Britain and Ireland for the first time this year, before his fourth crop of juveniles appear on racecourses in 2025.
Harry Angel stands at Darley's Dalham Hall Stud alongside the champion sire of 2022, Dubawi, who had more stakes winners in Britain and Ireland this year than any other stallion with 16, two more than Kingman (GB) and three more than Frankel. They were headed by a pair of British Classic winners in Notable Speech (GB), who won twice at the top level in the 2,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes, and Oaks heroine Ezeliya (Fr). The Group 1-placed two-year-olds Ancient Truth (Ire) and Delacroix (Ire) also offered plenty of promise for the future as the veteran shows no signs of slowing down, despite being about to turn 23 on January 1.
It's now been nearly three and a half years since we lost the 12-time champion Galileo and his final crop, reported to be 13 in number, has so far produced just one winner from those who made it to the track this year. It was a Flat season in which the former Coolmore colossus still reminded us of what we'll be missing, though, with Kyprios (Ire) starring among his 12 stakes winners in Britain and Ireland as he returned to the top of the staying tree in no uncertain terms. He was ably supported by the Yorkshire Oaks heroine Content (Ire) and Jan Brueghel (Ire), who led home a one-two for the stallion in the St Leger, taking him to the unprecedented tally of 101 individual Group/Grade 1 winners worldwide.
Juddmonte's Frankel looked the natural successor to his sire as the one likely to dominate the domestic stallion scene after he was crowned champion for the second time in three years in 2023, with over £7 million in progeny earnings. By contrast, the £3.9 million and change his progeny amassed this year was only good enough for fifth spot, his lowest finishing position since he was 12th in 2020. The bright spot in his season was the emergence of the unbeaten two-year-old Lake Victoria (Ire), who was arguably the most exciting juvenile of either sex after she completed a hat-trick of wins at the top level in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, Cheveley Park Stakes and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. If there is a horse with the potential to propel Frankel back to the top of the rankings in 2025, then this filly looks as likely as any.
She is special! Lake Victoria wins the @BreedersCup Juvenile Fillies Turf! #BC24 pic.twitter.com/ONV2HIugm2
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) November 1, 2024
When Frankel won his first championship in 2021, he ended 31 years of dominance for Coolmore, home to the champion sire in Britain and Ireland every year between 1990 and 2020, before the Newmarket neighbours Frankel and Dubawi combined to ensure that the crown stayed in Britain between 2021 and 2023.
It will be no consolation to the team at Coolmore that the title is returning to Ireland this year, and you can be sure that they won't rest until the prize is back in their possession as the search continues apace for the next Galileo, if there could possibly be such a thing. Without an all-conquering force like that in their ranks, the strength in depth at their Tipperary base was the key to their continued success on the racecourse this year, with seven of the top 20 stallions featuring on the Coolmore roster. They included Ashford Stud resident Justify, the sire of Derby hero City Of Troy, who finished 11th despite having considerably fewer runners than every other stallion around him.
Wootton Bassett (GB) is without doubt the coming force at Coolmore's Fethard operation, having produced four individual Group 1 winners from his first crop of Irish-bred juveniles in 2024. It's easy to see him ranking much higher than this year's 14th in 2025 and beyond, as the increased support given to him since his arrival in Ireland starts to deliver more quantity to go with the undoubted quality of his runners. He will also be joined by two of his sons at stud in Ireland in 2025 when Bucanero Fuerte (GB) and King Of Steel kick off their new careers at Tally-Ho Stud.
Of the more long-standing residents at Coolmore, the multiple Classic winners Camelot (GB) and Gleneagles (Ire) both enjoyed banners years in finishing ninth and 14th, respectively. The G1 July Cup hero Mill Stream (Ire), Derby runner-up Ambiente Friendly (Ire) and G2 King Edward VII Stakes winner Calandagan (Ire) starred among six stakes winners for Gleneagles, who also celebrated a Classic winner in Germany when Palladium (Ger) won the G1 Deutsches Derby.
As for Camelot, he too had a Classic winner in Los Angeles (Ire), who was third behind City Of Troy and Ambiente Friendly in the Derby at Epsom, before going two places better in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh. He was also third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by the poster girl for their sire in 2024, Bluestocking (GB), who gained her third top-level victory of the year with a dominant performance at Longchamp. With nearly €9 million in progeny earnings to his name, Camelot topped the European sires' table ahead of Ballylinch Stud's Lope De Vega (Ire) and Gilltown Stud resident Sea The Stars (Ire).
Supplementing success! Bluestocking stamps her mark on the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for @RalphBeckett and @Rossaryan15 at @paris_longchamp… pic.twitter.com/ihd4xeP2Mr
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 6, 2024
Lope De Vega, who will be joined at Ballylinch in 2025 by his Prix du Jockey Club-winning son Look De Vega (Fr), finished fourth in Britain and Ireland where he was responsible for 11 stakes winners, including the dual Group 1-winning juvenile Shadow Of Light (GB). Sea The Stars matched his domestic tally of 11 stakes winners and took sixth spot, with his unbeaten two-year-old The Lion Of Winter (Ire)–a late absentee from the Dewhurst Stakes when due to clash with Shadow Of Light–looking a particularly exciting prospect for 2025.
Tally-Ho stalwart Kodiac (GB) topped the British and Irish sires' table by number of individual winners in 2024, but the record which was once his for the most two-year-old winners in a calendar year was lost to his stud-mate, Mehmas (Ire). Mehmas, who counted the top-level scorers Magnum Force (Ire), Scorthy Champ (Ire) and Vertical Blue (Ire) among his record-breaking tally of 70, also had bragging rights over Kodiac when it came to the final standings for progeny earnings, with the pair finishing 12th and 13th, respectively.
Juddmonte's Kingman, the sire of two new Classic winners in Elmalka (GB) (1,000 Guineas) and Sparkling Plenty (Fr) (Prix de Diane), finished seventh for the fourth consecutive year, while the team at Darley's Kildangan Stud were responsible for two new entries to the top 10 in Night Of Thunder (Ire) (eighth) and Blue Point (Ire) (10th).
The G1 Irish Champion Stakes winner Economics (GB) was the flagbearer for Night Of Thunder, who also came up with a top-class two-year-old filly in the unbeaten Group 1 scorer Desert Flower (Ire), while second-season sire Blue Point picked up where he left off after a sensational start with his first two-year-olds in 2023. The star of that first crop, Rosallion (Ire), took his Group 1 tally to three with wins in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes, while the sprinters Big Evs (Ire) and Kind Of Blue (GB) looked cut from the same cloth as their sire when winning the G2 King George Stakes and G1 Champions Sprint Stakes, respectively.
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