A NEW stallion starting his stud career at Derrinstown Stud this year is King Of Change, an outstanding miler who was rated 126, only 1lb below champions Too Darn Hot and Sottsass, by Timeform in their Racehorses of 2019.
King of Change was more consistent that either of those, as he was never out of the first two in both his seasons in training with Richard Hannon. He proved himself to be a really top-class performer with his victory in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and his second place finish in the Group 1 2000 Guineas, retiring with the very substantial earnings of £766,138.
Second in his only two starts as a two-year-old just before the close of the 2018 season, King Of Change reappeared in a maiden over a mile at Nottingham in April 2019 and he won that easily enough that he was declared as a runner in the Group 1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.
In a field of 19 he finished strongest of all to be a very creditable second to Magna Grecia, almost two lengths clear of all the others who included Ten Sovereigns, the Craven Stakes winner Skardu and Advertise.
King Of Change was rested after that until the autumn, when he reappeared in the Listed Fortune Stakes over a mile at Sandown Park in September, staying on strongly to win by a length and a quarter from Turgenev and Silver Line. He then was sent to Ascot on Champions Day for the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes, in which he faced a very strong field of 16 runners, which included no less that eight previous Group 1 winners.
King of Change came through to challenge the leaders over a furlong from home and he ran on strongly to score by a length and a quarter from the French star The Revenant, with Safe Voyage a similar distance away in third place, ahead of the pacesetting Veracious. Trailing further back were Lord Glitters, Phoenix Of Spain and the classic winner Magna Grecia.
The Group 1 Champion Stakes was run at Ascot on the same day and six years earlier that had been won by Farhh, the sire of King Of Change. One of the best sons of Pivotal, Farhh has made an excellent start as a stallion, with his other group winners including Dee Ex Bee, who was also second in both the Group 1 Epsom Derby and the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup.
Salacia, the dam of King Of Change, won and she has also produced Century Dream, who scored in the Group 2 Celebration Mile at Goodwood and in two runnings of the Group 3 Diomed Stakes at Epsom. Her dam Neptune’s Bride and her grandam Wedding Of The Sea were both group winners in France.
KING OF CHANGE (GB), Bay 2016. Jt 4th top rated 3yr old colt in England in 2019. Won three races, £766,138, over 1 mile, at 3 years including, Qipco Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Ascot, Gr.1, Chasemore Fortune Stakes, Sandown Park, L, also placed second in Qipco 2000 Guineas Stakes, Newmarket, Gr.1.
Retires to Stud in 2021.
Stands at: Derrinstown Stud, Maynooth, Co Kildare, Ireland.
Contact: Stephen Collins, Enda Stanley or Rosie Kane
Telephone: +353 (0)1 6286228
Email: nominations@derrinstown.com
Web: www.derrinstown.com
Fee: €7,000