THE Irish National Stud’s handsome chesnut stallion Decorated Knight is clearly passing on his good looks at his modest fee of €9,000, as all but one of his first foals sold in 2019 made prices of €23,000 or more, with a top figure of €221,445 (190,000gns) at Newmarket for Norelands Stud’s colt out of Princess Noor.

A son of Galileo, Decorated Knight was three times a Group 1 winner at around 10 furlongs and ended his illustrious career with earnings of £1,325,886. Second on his only start as a two-year-old, he won over a mile at Haydock Park and Sandown Park the next season and was third in the Group 2 Joel Stakes at Newmarket. Improving all the time, he won the Group 3 Meld Stakes at Leopardstown by two lengths and the listed Festival Stakes at Goodwood as a four-year-old, besides finishing second in the Group 3 Diomed Stakes at Epsom.

Moving to Roger Charlton’s stables, it was as a five-year-old in 2017 that Decorated Knight really climbed the heights. He started the year by winning the Listed Winter Derby at Lingfield, before carrying off the Group 1 Jebel Hatta over nine furlongs in Dubai. In May he was sent to Ireland for the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup over 10 furlongs at the Curragh and again finished fast to defeat the Coolmore pair of Somehow and Deauville by just over a length.

Going on to Royal Ascot to take on a very strong field for the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes, he was a close second to Highland Reel, with Ulysses third and Jack Hobbs unplaced. Then in September Decorated Knight was really thrown in at the deep end in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, where he again finished strongest of all to win by half a length from Poet’s Word, with Eminent third and Churchill, Zhukova and The Grey Gatsby all behind them.

Decorated Knight is very closely related to dual champion Gleneagles, as both are sons of Galileo and their dams are sisters.

Pearling, the dam of Decorated Knight, is an own-sister to You’resothrilling, who won the Group 2 Cherry Hinton Stakes and is the dam of five group winners (all by Galileo) including Gleneagles and Group 1 heroines Marvellous and Happily.

Pearling is also an own-sister to champion Giant’s Causeway, another winner of the Irish Champion Stakes and sire of 190 blacktype winners.

DECORATED KNIGHT (GB), Chesnut 2012. Won eight races, £1,325,886, from 1 mile to 1 mile 2 furlongs, 3 to 5 years including, Emirates Airline Jebel Hatta, Meydan, Gr.1, QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes, Leopardstown, Gr.1, Tattersalls Gold Cup, Curragh, Gr.1, ICON Meld Stakes, Leopardstown, Gr.3, Al Basti Equiworld Festival Stakes, Goodwood, L, Betway Winter Derby Trial Stakes, Lingfield Park, L, also placed second in Prince of Wales’s Stakes, Ascot, Gr.1, Investec Diomed Stakes, Epsom Downs, Gr.3, and third in Shadwell Joel Stakes, Newmarket, Gr.2.

Retired to Stud in 2018, first crop now yearlings.

Stands at: Irish National Stud, Tully, Co. Kildare, Ireland

Contact: Cathal Beale, Sinead Hyland, Gary Swift, Patrick Diamond or Helen Boyce

Telephone: +353 (0) 45 521251

Email: info@irishnationalstud.ie

Web: www.irishnationalstud.ie

Fee: €9,000