ACCLAMATION was a somewhat unexpected hit at stud. One of the best sons of the Group 1-winning sprinter Royal Applause (by Waajib), the great-grandson of Try My Best (by Northern Dancer) represented a somewhat unfashionable male line and had the added hinderance of having failed to win a stakes race until the age of four.
However, the Group 2 Diadem Stakes winner and Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes third quickly built up a following at Rathbarry Stud, where the now 21-year-old still holds court. His tally of stakes winners stands at a very respectable 52 and many of his stock are prolific, and there is no limit to what they can achieve.
His blacktype tally and the distance range over which his progeny typically excel could have been expected once he secured an early foothold in the industry, but the surprise has been his emergence as a source of sought-after stallion sons.
Yeomanstown Stud’s juvenile Group 1 scorer Dark Angel (seven Group 1 stars among 57 stakes winners) is an elite stallion who has sons at stud, Equiano has sired the top-level winners Belvoir Bay and The Tin Man, and both Lilbourne Lad and the late Harbour Watch have had stakes winners.
Attendu (Haras du Quesnay, yearlings of 2020) and Johnny Barnes (Haras des Granges, yearlings) stand in France, Mehmas (Tally-Ho Stud), whose yearlings made up to £260,000 last year, is expected to excel as a freshman sire in 2020, and Breeders’ Cup Mile hero Expert Eye covered 140 mares at Banstead Manor Stud in 2019.
Acclamation’s sons also include Aclaim, a member of the team at the National Stud in Newmarket. There are 109 registered foals in his first crop, they fetched up to €120,000 in Goffs and up to 65,000gns in Newmarket, and he covered 101 mares last year. Aclaim won his only start at two, at Kempton in December, stayed a mile but was best at seven furlongs. He won the Group 2 Challenge Stakes at three and both the Group 1 Prix de la Foret and Group 2 Park Stakes over the trip at four.
His stakes-placed dam Aris (by Danroad) is a granddaughter of Danehill (by Danzig), and she is a closer than half-sister to the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas and Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine Again (by Danehill Dancer) – dam of 2019’s Group 1-placed stakes winner Delphinia (by Galileo) – and her dam is a half-sister to a major international sire.
Montjeu (by Sadler’s Wells) was a brilliant middle-distance horse before going on to sire 31 Group 1 winners among 126 blacktype scorers. They included a double-digit tally of classic stars of whom Authorized, Camelot, Fame And Glory, Frozen Fire, Hurricane Run, Motivator, Nom De Jeu, Pour Moi, and Roman Emperor won a Derby in either England, Ireland, or Australia.
Aclaim will likely get some talented juveniles but his long-term potential may lie with progeny who are effective from seven to 10 furlongs, making him a potential classic sire.
ACLAIM (IRE), Bay 2013. Won seven races, £441,316, from 6 furlongs to 1 mile, 2 to 4 years including, Qatar Prix de la Foret, Chantilly, Gr.1, Alan Wood Plumbing/Heating Park Stakes, Doncaster, Gr.2, Dubai 100 Challenge Stakes, Newmarket, Gr.2, Dubai Duty Free Cup Stakes, Newbury, L, also placed second in LARC - Prix Maurice de Gheest, Deauville, Gr.1, and third in Bar One Racing Lacken Stakes, Naas, Gr.3.
Retired to Stud in 2018, first crop now yearlings.
Stands at: The National Stud, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 0XE, England.
Contact: Joe Callan (nominations & marketing manager)
Telephone: +44 (0)1638 663464
Email: stallions@nationalstud.co.uk or joe.callan@nationalstud.co.uk
Web: www.nationalstud.co.uk
Fee: £9,500