Acclamation

There is no little poignancy in the timing of Acclamation (GB) making his permanent exit from the stage just as his most celebrated offspring, Dark Angel (Ire), stands on the cusp of being crowned champion sire in Britain and Ireland. As the mares sale got underway at Tattersalls last Monday, the news filtered through that Acclamation, who had been officially retired only a matter of weeks beforehand, had died at the age of 25. His passing, though at a good age and with his legacy already assured, will leave a...

Top breeze-up handlers Antonio Da Silva and Nikki Scallan of A&N Bloodstock had a lucky escape on Friday evening when, the horse box that they were driving on the way home from Dundalk races caught fire with the Jenny Lynch-trained Late Night Talking (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) inside it.  But for their quick thinking, the couple's Late Night Talking, who had finished third in the mile maiden just a few hours earlier, could have met a horrific end when the vehicle burst into flames on the M50 motorway in Dublin.  Sharing...

We're at the top end now when it comes to stallion fees, but there is quite a range to those prices, which for this feature is anything above £/€20,000. There is of course a massive difference, certainly when it comes to value, in a stallion standing at £35,000 and one at £350,000. In fact, we have two at that latter fee, which makes Frankel (GB) and Dubawi (Ire), the champion sires of the last two years in Britain and Ireland, the most expensive stallions in the world. Those two representatives...

It was fitting that Dark Angel's 100th stakes winner should have come in the Dick Hern S. at Haydock, a milestone which the ultra-reliable Yeomanstown Stud-based stallion reached thanks to the victory of the St. Albans Bloodstock home-bred filly Heredia (GB). Dick Hern, who sent out 16 British Classic winners including three winners of the Derby as well as his best horse Brigadier Gerard (GB), would have thoroughly approved of Dark Angel. Hern was an archetypal 'old-school' trainer who excelled with every type of horse. Late in his career he...

Kevin Blake and Jack Cantillon have secured French sprinter Bouttemont (Ire), who they are targeting at a rare Group 1 double in the Flying Five and Prix de l'Abbaye, before standing the highly-rated son of Acclamation (GB) in Ireland.  Bouttemont will see out his career with current trainer Yann Barberot and will race in the colours of Syndicates.Racing, the successful ownership group which is headed by Cantillon.  A number of packages that include racing and breeding rights are available in the Group 3 winner with Blake describing the opportunity to...

Which stallion does the data say is the outstanding sire-of-sires in Britain and Ireland? The answer will surprise you. We often hear chat about a stallion's ability as a sire-of-sires being bandied about, but it is less common to see it examined in a more detailed and data-driven manner. First and foremost, my personal opinion is that using a stallion's record as a sire-of-sires is one of the most brutally harsh measures in all of bloodstock on which to judge a horse. In short, the reality is that the vast...

Take the One O One has been retired from racing and will enter stud for the 2022 season at Barton Thoroughbreds for $2,000 LFSN, with special consideration given to approved mares. The 7-year-old son of Acclamation out of the Jump Start mare North Freeway retires with lifetime earnings of near $500,000, which includes wins in the Snow Chief S. and Real Good Deal S., as well as a third-place finish to Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI FrontRunner S. "Barton Thoroughbreds is pleased to add Take the One O...

Fresh off a season in which he earned the mantle of Europe's leading sire of 2-year-olds, it would seem that Dark Angel (Ire)'s legacy as a sire of precocious and classy sprinter/milers is set. The question inevitably becomes, then, who is next in line to carry on his branch of the Acclamation (GB) sireline? The 17-year-old Dark Angel already has a Group 1-producing sire son in his G1 Diamond Jubilee S. and G1 July Cup-winning Lethal Force (Ire), whose Golden Horde (Ire) also won at the Royal meeting when he...

Sumbe-under its previous guises as Haras de la Cauviniere and Haras de Montfort et Preaux and still today under the guidance of new owner Nurlan Bizakov-has made a concerted effort to upgrade the level of stallions standing of France. It has done so with success, too; as part of its fruitful relationship with Gerard Augustin-Normand, the Cauviniere principals retained the 2009 G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Le Havre (Ire) to stand in France, and the son of Noverre rose through the ranks to become one of the most successful...

A fortnight to go, apparently, until England casts aside all restrictions following the 16-month weirdness of the pandemic era. 'Freedom day', as it has been dubbed by those of Boris Johnson's government who are not currently serving time on the naughty step, has unfortunately not come in time for the regular 'July week' festivities in Newmarket. There will be racing with a reduced crowd and a sale taking place pretty much as normal, but without any of the parties and stallion parades that have become the staple of the town's...

Near the entrance to The Royal Studs at Sandringham is a magnificent bronze commemorating the Prince of Wales's homebred Persimmon (GB) (St Simon {GB}), whose racing record highlights the fact that things were done a little differently back in the 1890s. Very differently, in fact. The Coventry S. winner of 1895 went on to win the Derby and the St Leger and, kept in training, he returned to Royal Ascot to win the Gold Cup, which had been his principal 4-year-old target. Exactly a century later, the horse who was...

To an extent, when Coolmore wins two of the weekend's premier Classics in Europe and Godolphin wins another, it feels like we are harking back to the glory days around the turn of the century, when the battle of the superpowers was epitomised by those back-to-back duels between Galileo (Ire) and Fantastic Light in the 'King George' and Irish Champion Stakes. Honours even. And it was honours even at Epsom, with the dazzling victory of Ballydoyle's Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Cazoo Oaks, followed by the satisfying success...