THERE can have been few nicer starts to the year than that enjoyed by the Godolphin team at Doncaster when Secret Brief won a hugely competitive Lincoln, triumphing by a neck and boosting his career earnings to an amazing £444,000.

For a horse that has won four races from 18 starts, been group-placed but is not a stakes winner, it is quite a haul.

The reason for such a large prize money total is that he was successful twice as a juvenile in valuable Tattersalls’ sales races at Newmarket where he repaid his 150,000gns yearling purchase price with interest. John Ferguson had selected him at the yearling sale.

Secret Brief is a four-year-old son of Shamardal and he is the seventh produce of his dam Discreet Brief. The eighth is a two-year-old filly by Frankel and she was sold at Goffs for €460,000 as a foal. Apart from the obvious attraction of her sire, she was a half-sister to six siblings that had raced, five of them being winners and all but one of that group earning blacktype.

STEELER

The best of the stakes earning quartet is Steeler, a son of Raven’s Pass who won the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at two and ran third in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy to Kingsbarns, with the classic winner Trading Leather back in fifth. He too has carried the colours of Godolphin during his racing career.

Their dam Discreet Brief was purchased by Sonia Rogers as a foal for 100,000gns with the intention to resell the following autumn. Her attraction was obvious, being a daughter of Darshaan and out of a half-sister to a Group 1 winning daughter of the same sire, Key Change. She won the Yorkshire Oaks when trained by John Oxx for Lady Clague, and she was placed in two Irish classics, the Oaks and St Leger.

When Discreet Brief failed to make her reserve as a yearling Sonia Rogers placed her in training with John Dunlop and the second of her victories was gained in the Group 3 Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster. The following year the race was upgraded to Group 2 status.

Now a 16-year-old, Discreet Brief has more than repaid Sonia Rogers’ initial investment and her subsequent faith.