THE Coolmore stallion Canford Cliffs has made a great start at stud and among his first crop winners has been the Patrick Prendergast-trained Lady Allegra. It was announced last week that this Navan maiden winner has been sold to Team Valor and will join trainer Christophe Clement in the USA. She also ran second on her debut.

She is the 13th and final produce from the Shirley Heights mare Puck’s Castle and all bar one were named and ran. Ten of the dozen runners visited the winner’s enclosure and the best of the runners – so far – was the first of her offspring. That was the Green Desert filly Emerald Peace and seeing her in the pedigree reminds me of two great friends who combined to pick her out at the sales as a foal.

Emerald Peace was bred by the Nagle’s Barronstown Stud in partnership and sold as a foal at Tattersalls in 1997, where she was bought by Brian Grassick Bloodstock on behalf of Robert Griffin in Loughbrown Stud. He resold her the following year at Goffs to BBA Ireland and she was sent into training with Michael Jarvis.

She won twice as a two-year-old and was runner-up in the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes. She ran for two more seasons, landing a listed race at Kempton as a four-year-old. At stud her first eight named foals have all run and won and include the stakes winner Vital Statistics who was runner-up in the Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot.

Lady Allegra was a bargain buy by Dermot Farrington when she sold for just €18,000 from Camas Park Stud at Goffs last year.

With a win under her belt and an opportunity surely to add blacktype in the future she will be a most desirable broodmare.

Puck’s Castle is out of Pass The Peace and she was not only rated a champion at two in Ireland but she bred a champion at the same age in Europe.

Pass The Peace won the Tattersalls Cheveley Park Stakes and was second in the French 1000 Guineas.

Her winning offspring were led by Embassy who emulated her dam and also won the Cheveley Park Stakes.

Two daughters of Pass The Peace went on to become grandams of Group 1 winners, namely King’s Apostle (Prix Maurice de Gheest), champion Australian three-year-old filly Atlantic Jewel, and Commanding Jewel, winner at Caulfield of the 1000 Guineas.

Canford Cliffs is blazing a trail among the first season sires and the Redpender Stud-bred Silhuette’s win last Sunday was his 16th individual winner of the year.

He is also off the mark as a stakes sire and his son Painted Cliffs and daughter Most Beautiful were successful in blacktype races on successive days in Ireland. Painted Cliffs won the Group 2 Railway Stakes and is now to be aimed at the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes.