The Long Game

It takes an elite racehorse to retire for more than £50,000 and so it follows that there is only one qualifying sire this year, the imperious and almost unbeaten BAAEED, a six-time Group 1 winner from a mile to a mile and a quarter. A son of Sea The Stars out of the Listed-winning Kingmambo mare Aghareed, his Group 1 Coronation Stakes-winning full-brother Hukum is also at stud, but in Japan.

The jury is still deliberating based on his yearling sales, with many proving either exceptionally popular or friendless and not much in between. It is likely his best mares were those from owner-breeders though, so judgement should be reserved until 2027, when his progeny turn three. He didn’t reach the track until that age so while he has 118 yearlings on the ground, it’s unlikely we will see much from them next year. The middle bracket has a little more substance to it, with three very different sires slotting into the £/€20,000 - £/€50,000 region. Starting with Germany, the somewhat surprising 2021 Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner TORQUATOR TASSO, who retired for €20,000, is charged with carrying on the esteemed stud record of his much-missed sire Adlerflug, who died prematurely aged 17, the same year Torquator Tasso landed the coveted Paris prize.

Retired to Gestüt Auenquelle in his native Germany, he had a progressive profile, winning his second start over 1m3f at three before being campaigned exclusively between that trip and 1m4f for the rest of his career. He had a strong affinity for soft ground and showed it with his action. From the family of the late great Galileo, Urban Sea and this year’s Arc-winning sire Sea The Stars, he has the right profile for a sire who hails from the nation that champions middle-distance talent. He has 67 yearlings to represent him, though most are based in Germany or France, and are going to need time before their mettle can be tested. 

Boasting a contrasting profile is the electric juvenile BLACKBEARD, who was retired before Torquator Tasso’s connections even thought about the racecourse. Coolmore’s dual Group 1-winning two-year-old will be remembered for his quirky pre-race antics as much as for his raw speed and precocity, but I suppose any publicity is good publicity. Being a son of the kingpin of juvenile class, No Nay Never, and duly fulfilling the prophecy by winning six of his eight starts, he won a 5f maiden in April on his debut and signed off his career in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes. The Group 1 Prix Morny winner has 113 yearlings on the ground and the expectation and hope will be to see many of them race next year.

He retired for an opening fee of €25,000, as did the globe-trotting Group 1 scorer STATE OF REST, who has a profile that fits somewhere in between the last two named. A winner at two and Group 3 placed, he is by the sire of the moment Starspangledbanner and blossomed into a smart and versatile three- and four-year-old. State Of Rest won Group 1s in America (Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes), Australia (Cox Plate), France (Prix Ganay) and Britain (Prince of Wales’s Stakes). Amassing just shy of £3m for his troubles, he sired 80 yearlings in his first year at Rathbarry Stud. His offspring should be well capable of showing some form next year, particularly if their grandsire has any say. They should progress nicely from two to three as well, never a bad thing.

The lower end of the market was flush in 2023, with a number of decent racehorses joining the stallion ranks and retiring for less than £/€20,000. Going off the strength of his results at the yearling sales, it makes sense to start with the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner MINZAAL, who also counts the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes amongst his four wins. He only once failed to show in 11 starts, when beaten by fellow first-crop sire Naval Crown in the Group 1 Platinum Jubilee Stakes.

From the first crop of the record-breaking two-year-old sire Mehmas, Minzaal’s progression from two to three and four is one of his key strengths. His yearlings sold like hot cakes and the word has been encouraging, with a number of breeders going back to the well after seeing his first foals. Available for €12,500 after starting out at €15,000, the Derrinstown Stud resident is certain to attract a few gamblers this year with 114 yearlings on the ground and a genuine chance of securing champion first-crop sire honours for Shadwell. 

NAVAL CROWN retired for the same fee but was available for €9,000 in 2025. His sire, Dubawi is creating quite the dynasty with his sons at stud and this smart sprinter out of a Dansili mare bids to join the list with 75 yearlings on the ground. He earned black type as a maiden when third in the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes at Ascot in July, and though he struck in Listed company over a mile at Meydan at three, it was a drop back in trip to 6f that secured his finest moment on a racecourse in said Platinum Jubilee. A diverse sort, he was fourth in the Group One 2000 Guineas and won the Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort over 7f. He showed solid form at two but reached his peak as a four-year-old so let’s not be hasty in judging his first juveniles.

He was not the only sprinting son of Dubawi to retire in 2023, with Compas Stallions’ DUBAWI LEGEND also representing Darley’s stalwart. 

A Group 3 winner at three, he was Group 1-placed as a juvenile and the suspicion is he never achieved his full potential. Nobody would begrudge the hardworking and likeable Micheál Orlandi success with his fledgling operation and there are 47 yearlings bred from an opening fee of €6,500 there to provide it. 

Another respected operation with a debut sire and from the same line is Ballylinch Stud, the operation responsible for potentially one of the first sons of Dubawi to catch the eye, New Bay. His own Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner, BAYSIDE BOY retired for €15,000 in 2023 to Co Kilkenny and was typically well-supported by the outfit and their partners. A winner of the Group 2 Champagne Stakes as a juvenile, he was also twice Group 1-placed at two before getting the job done at Ascot at three. He showed most of his best form in the Autumn, so expect similar from his 97 first two-year-olds next year.