SIOUX Nation has already given breeder John Halley, trading as Fethard Bloodstock, much to cheer about. The colt won the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot and on Sunday went one better when taking the honours in the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh.

A son of the much lamented Scat Daddy (Johannesburg), whose daughter Dacita also won the Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes in the USA at the weekend, Sioux Nation is actually from a family that is better known in Europe than in the USA where the champion two-year-old elect (is it too early to say this?) was bred.