Dark Angel (Ire)

The 41st running of the G1 Mile Championship was a salty one, and when the dust settled, it was Soul Rush (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) who came out on top to claim his first victory at the highest level in the autumn highlight at Kyoto on Sunday. The fourth betting choice faced a line up which included defending champion Namur (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), who had last been seen in a runner-up effort in the G1 Yasuda Kinen, as well as European multiple Group 1 winner Charyn (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). Soul...

Group 2 winner and Group 1 sire Acclamation (GB) has been pensioned from stallion duties at Rathbarry Stud. The 25-year-old son of Royal Applause (GB) stood for €25,000 this term. Bred by Tedwood Bloodstock and partners, the son of Princess Athena (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}) won the G2 Diadem Stakes and was placed in both the G2 King's Stand Stakes prior to it being elevated to Group 1 level and the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes for Gerald Cottrell. The sire of 155 stakes horses internationally and 68 lifetime stakes winners, the bay...

Yeomanstown Stud has released its stud fees for next season, with champion sire-elect Dark Angel (Ire) unchanged at €60,000 and this year's G1 July Cup winner Mill Stream (Ire) introduced at €12,500. It will be the fifth consecutive year that Dark Angel has stood for €60,000 and it follows a stellar season on the racecourse with the likes of Charyn (Ire), who registered three Group 1 successes in the Queen Anne Stakes, Prix Jacques le Marois and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Now 19, Dark Angel covered 134 mares earlier this...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Friday's Observations features a son of Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}).   12.35 Newmarket, Mdn, €8,500, 2yo, c/g, 7fT Wathnan Racing's hitherto unraced MAGNETITE (GB) (Frankel {GB}), a 575,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 graduate, is a son of five-time Group 1 winner Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}) and thus a full-brother...

A total of 197 lots have been catalogued for the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale, which takes place at Park Paddocks on Monday, November 25. The catalogue features 11 siblings to Group 1 winners, including lot 63, a Dark Angel (Ire) half-sister to this year's Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Camille Pissarro (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and the Commonwealth Cup winner and sire Golden Horde (Ire); lot 102, a Nathaniel (Ire) half-sister to this year's Irish Champion Stakes scorer Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}); and lot 179, a Saxon Warrior (Jpn)...

This year has seen a 6% decrease in the number of live foals registered to date in the General Stud Book, according to the Return of Mares, which has been published by Weatherbys. The returns to September 30, 2024 show that a total of 12,578 foals have been born in Britain and Ireland, 840 fewer than the 2023 figure of 13,438. It marks the first time in the last decade that the overall foal crop has fallen by more than 4% from one year to the next. The 6% drop...

It's been tricky to focus on the racing of late with all the theatrics at Tattersalls, so let's call this fourteen days and attempt a catch-up in the brief period between the sales starting up again at Arqana on Tuesday. The extraordinary prices of Books 1 and 2 at the October Yearling Sale tell only half the story, and we all know that in any sales season there are tales of the haves and the have-nots. Perhaps the most interesting element of the top end is what feels like a...

There was a sense of inevitability in the lead-up to Saturday's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and for the vast majority of the mile feature as Nurlan Bizakov's Charyn (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}--Futoon {Ire}, by Kodiac {GB}) capped a near-perfect season at Ascot. Adding to his G1 Queen Anne Stakes and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois successes, the 13-8 favourite had only Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) to concern him late on but ultimately subdued his latest challenger to record a two-length success. Needing the occasional niggle from Silvestre De...

Anthony Stroud signed for the first lot to make a million during Wednesday's second session of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, with Grangemore Stud's Dark Angel (Ire) full-sister to the G1 Queen Anne Stakes and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois winner Charyn (Ire) selling for 2,900,000gns. Stroud bought the filly on behalf of Godolphin, with Amo Racing, who made three seven-figure purchases on Tuesday, filling the role of underbidder. Lot 183 is out of the Listed-placed Kodiac (GB) mare Futoon (Ire), who is also responsible for the...

Multiple Group 1-winning miler Charyn (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) will retire at the end of the year and stand his first season for Sumbe at Haras de Montfort et Preaux in 2025. A fee for the Roger Varian trainee will be announced later. "I am delighted to announce that Charyn, the leading miler in Europe and impressive winner of this year's G1 Queen Anne Stakes and G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois, will retire at the end of the racing season to become the fifth Group 1 winner on Sumbe's stallion...

It's that time of year where most of the stories in the bloodstock world are being written in the sales ring, with the ink used to tell the tale of Book 1 of the Goffs Orby Sale still fresh on the page and the major plotlines ahead of next week's Tattersalls October Yearling Sale already starting to take shape. But as the search continues for the Classic winners of 2026, it's worth also reminding ourselves of the many stories still waiting to be written on the racecourse in the closing...

Having confessed my love for one dual Nunthorpe winner, Borderlescott (GB), in a TDN feature published during York's Ebor Festival, it now seems only fair to revisit the story of another, the force of nature that was Mecca's Angel (Ire), successful on the Knavesmire in 2015 and 2016 and now one of the most exciting young broodmares on the planet through the exploits of her daughters, Content (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Bedtime Story (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). For former owner David Metcalfe it's the story that just keeps on giving, even...