THE accompanying table shows that just four of Aidan O’Brien’s best racehorses have ever accumulated seven Group or Grade 1 victories on the flat (Istabraq collected 14 over hurdles) throughout their career. Highland Reel (Galileo) now joins Minding, Rock Of Gibraltar and Yeats in that select group. Furthermore, the five-year-old’s truly magnificent international race record is also printed to show what a stalwart he has been.

Breeders should be falling over themselves to avail of a horse who has shown remarkable traits of consistency, toughness and heart, and he has an outstanding stallion pedigree, his first four dams all being responsible for at least one Group 1 winner. I don’t imagine his fee will always be as low as €17,500.

His pedigree is well worth recapping. A 460,000gns yearling and bred by the Hveger Syndicate consisting of Frank Tagg, Frank Meduri and John Moffitt, he is one of three stakes-performers from his Danehill (Danzig) dam Hveger, and easily the best. The first was the Australian-bred Valdemoro and that daughter of Encosta De Lago (Fairy King) was twice runner-up in Group 1 races, including the VRC Oaks. Hveger was brought to Ireland after her second foal was born in Australia and she has been a constant mate of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) since.

Highland Reel is followed by his own-brother Idaho and the winner of last year’s Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes added the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes to his tally this year. He was third in the Group 1 Epsom Derby and runner-up afterwards in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh, while this year he added a placing in the Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. He cost MV Magnier 750,000gns as a yearling.

Hveger’s three-year-old filly by Galileo is named Cercle De La Vie and she was sold in Book 1 of the Tattersalls Yearling Sale to Mayfair Speculators for 460,000gns. She has been placed in France. Last year Hveger’s now two-year-old daughter by the multiple champion sire Galileo realised 625,000gns when sold to Hubie de Burgh and James Harron. She is named Via Condotti, while waiting in the wings are a yearling colt and a colt foal, both by Galileo.

Hveger was placed in the Group 1 Australasian Oaks and she is a full and half-sister to two outstanding runners and now Group 1 sires in Elvstroem (Danehill) and Haradasun (Fusaichi Pegasus). Hveger is one of nine winners from the Group 1 Australian Oaks winner Circles Of Gold (Marscay), and she was the best offspring of Olympic Aim (Zamazaan).

Olympic Aim’s siblings include the Australian Group 2 Blarney Stakes winner Gold Wells (Barathea) and the once-raced National Song (Vain). The latter mare is the grandam of Coolmore stallion Starspangledbanner (Choisir), sire of the Group 1 winner The Wow Signal, and she is third dam of the 2014 Group 1 Schweppes Thousand Guineas winner Amicus (Fastnet Rock).