Sax on the Brain

The world is getting smaller but the racing world continues to grow exponentially making it a forgivable offence to need reminding as to what exactly next year’s crop of first-season sires achieved as racehorses. They may have changed physically, but their race records are set in stone and it helps to take a moment to remind ourselves what might be in store for 2022. It's no surprise that 2000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior, who covered this crop for a fee of €30,000, is top of the class at this stage by virtue of being the only first-season sire to achieve a six-figure yearling average (51 sold for an average of €140,900). If ever you could say €30,000 is a bargain, his 2019 stud fee is it.

Having brushed Roaring Lion aside in a pair of Group 1s, he failed to beat him again on four subsequent occasions. In their final battle, just a neck separated them in Leopardstown’s Irish Champion Stakes, a titanic battle that proved to be Saxon Warrior’s final appearance. Following the premature loss of both his sire and damsire, it would be nothing short of a fairytale if Saxon Warrior emerged as the one to fill the gaping hole left by the late, great Galileo at Coolmore – he has 111 registered yearlings and the stage is set.

We could be set for another fairytale with an equally compelling storyline if Roaring Lion produces an heir from his sole crop to create a legacy, just as Dubawi did for Dubai Millennium. Human nature is such that we want what we can’t have and there are only 113 Roaring Lions on the ground with no more to come after he tragically succumbed to colic after just one season at stud. Roaring Lion’s top lot at this year’s yearling sales was signed for by Qatar/Tweenhills frontman David Redvers for 450,000gns, a colt out of proven producer Reckoning (Danehill Dancer). He’s a half-brother to this year’s Ascot Gold Cup winner Subjectivist (Teofilo) and Group 2 winner Sir Ron Priestley (Australia). Bearing in mind Kitten’s Joy is by El Prado, a son of the late great Sadler’s Wells, breeders Mascalls Stud must have liked what they saw at home and repeated the dose. 

310,000gns was the price paid for the Zoustar colt out of Rue Cambon by Demi O’Byrne and White Birch Farm. The dam is a full sister to Group 2 winner Royal Intervention by Exceed And Excel, an excellent source of two-year-olds. Zoustar presented breeders with exceptional value for money having commanded £25,000 for his first Northern Hemisphere season at Tweenhills – a figure that looks a bargain compared to his 2021 Australian fee of A$154,000.

  If you follow Australian racing, this sensation needs no introduction. If not, the easiest way to describe his meteoric rise to the top of Australia’s sire ranks is to compare him to one of our own. His dash to the top echoes the rapid start Dubawi made to his career with 2000 Guineas winner Makfi in his first crop. Much is said about the ability of Australian stallions to mirror their success when they shuttle between hemispheres with more high-profile failures than successes to date. So what is it about Zoustar that has the sales ring hopping? 

Sending your mare to a first-season sire is akin to a very big bet, but if you’re going to choose one, why not select the one who had no less than three Group 1 winners in his first Australian-bred crop? That’s right, he’s an ‘unproven’ first-season sire in Europe who is a proven Group 1 stallion Down Under. His 2021 yearling sales average in Australia of A$253,709 makes his European average of €89,592 look like value for money. Fillies, colts, geldings, it doesn’t appear to matter for Zoustar and his progeny will be scrutinised with immense intrigue in 2022. With 128 registered foals in his first European crop, he’s a sire anyone with a spare €89,592 might be compelled to consider. 

In Australia they had Winx-mania but here Frankel-mania hit the European racing scene like a tornado in 2016. One of the greatest racehorses of the modern era and a son of the best stallion of the modern era (Galileo) who commanded a fee of £125,000, his first runners were always going to attract attention. Nothing short of a champion would suffice to fulfil expectations and Cracksman duly delivered. He made British Champions Day his own for two consecutive years, emulating his distinguished sire in winning back-to-back renewals of the Champion Stakes.

Given his profile, it would be a surprise were he to break any records with his juveniles, and a few impressive maiden winners will keep him fresh in our minds as we await their classic campaigns. Having stood for £25,000 at Dalham Hall, Cracksman has no less than 98 juveniles to represent him in 2022 – enough to ensure it won’t be a lack of representation that gets in his way. Of his 55 yearlings to sell in the ring, they averaged €66,554 headed by the filly out of Coolminx (One Cool Cat). A half-sister to this year’s Listed Dragon Stakes winner Fearby, she brought 410,000gns for her astute pinhooker Brendan Holland, who purchased her for 95,000gns as a foal. 

Across the channel, there are a multitude of reasons why Cloth Of Stars is a notable addition to the French stallion ranks. He’s out of a full sister to Oaks heroine Light Shift, the dam of promising young sire Ulysses. He’s bred on the prolific Sea The Stars–Kingmambo cross that provided a 2021 highlight in the shape of unbeaten Group 1 miler Baaeed. His sire Sea The Stars’ son Zelzal is already off the mark with a stakes winner in his first crop.

Cloth Of Stars didn’t lack for speed, winning Group races from 8f-10.5f. He was highly tried and finally landed a much-deserved Group 1 in the Prix Ganay. He made 20 starts and placed in 17 of them, a Group 3 winner and Group 1 placed at two, he was classy, sound, consistent and adaptable to track, trip and ground. He covered 120 mares in his first crop and leads the French first crop sires in the sales ring with 26 yearlings selling for an average of €52,576 – an astonishing return from his €7,500 stud fee. Sealiway’s lucrative trip to Ascot to take the Champion Stakes back to France was a timely reminder that the French know a thing or two about making a stallion. 

New recruits to the Juddmonte stallion shed command respect as the operation has become globally renowned as one of the most successful stallion makers in the industry. Breeders’ Cup winner Expert Eye was always going to garner support when he retired for a fee of £20,000 and he had 99 registered foals in 2020 to show for it. From a typically deep Juddmonte family featuring their homebred Poule D'Essai des Pouliches and Cheveley Park Stakes winner Special Duty, he’s by sire-of-sires sensation Acclamation out of a mare by top damsire Dansili. Acclamation’s current star sons Dark Angel (OR114) and Mehmas (OR115) were both talented juveniles.