THE ups and down of watching the progress, or otherwise, of sires with their first crop runners can be quite dizzying. From month to month the jury is in, out or sitting on the fence about sires, all of which is a nightmare for stallion masters, but also for vendors at the yearling sales who put their trust in certain sires, gambling on them delivering with their first runners.
Almost every foal by Minzaal offered from his first two crops sold, an amazing statistic given the numbers who passed through the sale ring. His first crop of 45 sales averaged €57,574, while the 19 sold last year averaged €36,689. Those who bought last autumn were the ones taking a gamble on his first runners doing well, and they included a number of smart judges. Has their gamble paid off?
At this stage of the year, five sires have taken a strong lead over the rest when it comes to numbers of winners – Blackbeard, Persian Force, Minzaal, Bayside Boy and Space Traveller. A mention too for Thunder Moon who has posted a 47% winners-to-runners figure from a much smaller crop, and it includes a pair of blacktype runners. What of the quality of the winners? Five sires have two or more blacktype horses, Bayside Boy (5 including Group 2 winner), Persian Force (4 including Group 3 winner), Minzaal (3), while Naval Crown (sire of a Group 3 winner) joins Thunder Moon with two.
Controversial finish
Minzaal has yet to get a group winner, but they are knocking at the door. The French listed winner Crownbreaker was arguably unlucky to be beaten a neck in a controversial finish to the weekend’s Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster. Damsel In Distress was just a length away in third behind Sea Of Rain in a Curragh Group 3. Minzova has won three times in Italy and is stakes-placed.
William Haggas trains Majestic Jude, a dual winner from three starts, and the bare form might leave you wondering how good he is. After a promising debut at York, he beat five others at Newmarket just over three weeks later, scoring by nearly four lengths. The two immediately behind him that day have franked the form, but clearly Majestic Jude’s trainer felt the colt needed more experience.
At the weekend, Majestic Jude travelled nearly 400 miles to Thirsk and back to face three others in a restricted novice, was long odds on, and won comfortably. This was in spite of dwelling at the start, taking a keen hold, but it was the manner in which he finished out the race that was most pleasing. He has now run three times in six weeks, and is clearly on the upgrade. He is one to keep an eye on.
Knocklong Cottage
David Barry bred Majestic Jude at his Knocklong Cottage Stud. He catalogued the colt as a foal at Goffs, but he was withdrawn on the day of the sale. When he did appear in a sale ring, it was in Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Sale and from Guy O’Callaghan’s Grangemore Stud. Joey Logan acquired him for 75,000gns, and turned a nice profit when reselling him at this year’s Craven Breeze-Up Sale for 160,000gns, purchased by Peter Trainor.
Barry has a filly foal this year from the first crop by Mill Stream (Gleneagles) out of Atlas Silk (Dansili), a Juddmonte-bred who won in France at three for Khalid Abdullah. Majestic Jude is her fifth winner, and the best of the rest was Atomic Force (Cotai Glory), a smart juvenile when he won the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin and Group 3 Prix du Bois. After that he went to Hong Kong, won three races there, but returned to England last year. Atomic Force was unplaced at the weekend in Doncaster’s Portland Handicap, but has won at Lingfield and Chelmsford this year as a seven-year-old.
THE desire to follow fashion when it comes to breeding can be quite frustrating to observe from a distance. Sires go out of favour too quickly, understandably in some cases, but few rebound to become popular again with breeders. Thankfully, they have rowed in again with Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact), and hopefully the owners of the 114 mares the classic winner covered this year will be rewarded for so doing.
Saxon Warrior’s books for 2025 and 2024 were 44 and 37 respectively, meaning that there are few opportunities to buy yearlings by him this autumn. Kildaragh Stud in Book 1 and Wardstown Stud in Book 2 have the only yearlings by him at the Goffs Orby Sale, both colts, while Tattersalls October Book 2 has three colts, all from Irish vendors – Peter Nolan, Brook Lodge and Herbertstown House. The latter has a full-brother to a Group 2-placed winner.
The reason for Saxon Warrior earning a mention is the performance of his brilliant four-year-old daughter Sheza Alibi. She brought her tally of victories to eight last weekend when she won the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes in breathtaking fashion. On a continent where runners appear often and win often at Group 1 level, Sheza Alibi could be the next superstar down under.
Sheza Alibi was the champion three-year-old filly last season when she rounded off her year with wins in the Group 1 Randwick Guineas and Doncaster Mile. She has never been out of the first three in a dozen starts, nine of them blacktype races. Her winnings are A$4.37 million (over €2.6 million).
Top-flight winner
The Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road is Saxon Warrior’s only other top-flight winner to date, and while he failed to build on that success, he is back on the winning trail in Australia this year. Saxon Warrior’s worldwide count of blacktype winners stands at 23, and he has a smart juvenile in Ireland in Green Empress. Were it not for Sun Goddess, she would be unbeaten in four starts. Instead, she is a Group 2 winner of the Debutante Stakes, and runner-up to her nemesis on all other starts, including the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes at the weekend.
Trained by Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman, Sheza Alibi was praised by the latter. “It’s incredibly special,” she said.
“She loves defying history, this girl, and I think she’s going to continue to do it as her career progresses. She looked like she did that quite easily today, which is incredible, when you look at the horses that she was up against. She is very, very special and it means so much to our stable.” Sheva Alibi’s next goal is the A$10 million Group 1 Golden Eagle on the last day of October.
Winner of the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at two and the Group 1 2000 Guineas at three, Saxon Warrior shuttled four times to Australia for Coolmore up until 2022. His Australian crops also had the Group 1 runners-up Archaic Smile and Aethelflaed.
Other top-level performers in his Irish-conceived crop are the German Derby runner-up Borna (won the Group 2 Derby Italiano), Lumiere Rock, Prix d’Ispahan second Sardinian Warrior, Impact Warrior and the Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Gan Teorainn who was sold at two for 1,000,000gns.