Ballyhane Stud

Joe Foley stands four sires for 2020, the well-established Dandy Man and newcomer Soldier’s Call among them. His other sires are both standing for €4,000, Elzaam (Redoute’s Choice) and Prince Of Lir (Kodiac). The latter has his first crop of runners, including a colt who sold for 260,000gns, while among those who will train his stock is the juvenile wizard Wesley Ward. Could he turn up at Royal Ascot with the colt he bought at Goffs, trying to emulate Prince Of Lir himself who beat the Group 1 winning two-year-old The Last Lion when he landed the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes over five furlongs?

Elzaam came agonisingly close to also being a Royal Ascot two-year-old winner when he was beaten a nose in the six-furlong Group 2 Coventry Stakes, with Zoffany among the beaten horses, while he returned to the meeting a year later and was the first three-year-old home when fourth in the Group 1 Golden Jubilee. Noted as a sire who upgrades his mares, his stakes winners include Playa Del Puente, a rising star of Hong Kong racing who was beaten a whisker in the Derby there recently. He is one of a number of Elzaam’s stock to have been sold to Hong Kong.

Ballylinch Stud

Leading sire Lope De Vega, Arc winner Waldgeist and Group 1 winners New Bay and Make Believe stand this year alongside Fascinating Rock (Fastnet Rock) at Ballylinch. This is a big year for the latter as he will have his first runners. Whatever they achieve at two will surely be a prelude to even better things, as Fascinating Rock improved like a good claret and his Group 1 wins included the Champion Stakes in a time faster than Frankel and Cracksman. The highest rated son of Fastnet Rock stands for just €7,000 and has been well supported by breeders.

Coolmore Stud

With an array of 23 flat stallions standing under their banner, Coolmore certainly has something for everyone. Two are standing for just €6,000, Gustav Klimt (Galileo) and Rock Of Gibraltar (Danehill). The first foals are arriving now for Gustav Klimt, a Group 2 winning two-year-old over seven furlongs who was multiple Group 1-placed at three, including in the Haydock Sprint Cup. He has the pedigree of a champion sire, his dam being a stakes-winning full-sister to Kodiac and a half-sister to Invincible Spirit. This is also the immediate family of Pinatubo.

Rock Of Gibraltar is a hugely successful international sire, with 16 Group 1 winners around the globe. A dual Group 1 winner at two, including the Dewhurst Stakes, he was the best of his generation in Europe at three, winning five Group 1s in six starts and ending his career finishing second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile. His best runners include Society Rock, Mount Nelson, Eagle Mountain and Samitar, while his daughters are now becoming increasingly successful producers of Group 1 winners like Line Of Duty, Mikki Isle and Photo Call. His current fee represents a great opportunity to use a proven sire at real value.

Derrinstown Stud

Standing alongside classic sire Tamayuz and classic winner Awtaad are Haatef (Danzig) and Markaz (Dark Angel). The well-bred Haatef was making only his second start at two when he ran fourth to Teofilo in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes. He progressed the following year to win three times at six and seven furlongs at up to Group 2 level. He has sired limited crops since going to stud but with a lifetime record of 40% winners to runners, and a reputation for getting juvenile winners, he gives breeders every chance of success at a modest fee of just €2,000.

With his first crop of yearlings selling for up to €76,000 last year and purchasers including many of the leading agents and trainers, the first runners by Markaz will be eagerly anticipated. Group-placed himself at two, Markaz went on to become a dual group-winning sprinter. His sire needs no introduction, while it is worth noting that his dam, a stakes-placed winner of six races over five and six furlongs, has also bred the brilliant Mecca’s Angel, also by Dark Angel, a dual Group 1 winner. Markaz will not stay at €5,000 if his sons and daughters excel in 2020.

Gilltown Stud

The only dual Group 1 winning son of Sea The Stars at stud, Harzand looks to be exceptional value this year at €8,000. The reaction to his yearlings last year would indicate that the buyers loved what they saw, and his stock realised figures such as 130,000gns, 120,000gns, €135,000 and €125,000. Harzand won four races in four months, famously landing the English and Irish Derbys. His sire, a half-brother to Galileo, stands alongside Harzand and has been a phenomenon as a racehorse and a sire. Harzand could be one to watch for at stud.

Irish National Stud

With a range of sires on offer to suit all pockets, and headed by the outstanding Invincible Spirit at €100,000, the Irish National Stud has three sires that make sound, commercial appeal in this price range. Decorated Knight (Galileo) has his first yearlings and he stands for €9,000; Dragon Pulse (Kyllachy) has a growing reputation and he costs €6,000, while National Defense (Invincible Spirit) has his first yearlings and stand with his sire on the roster at €8,000.

Invincible Spirit has been the mainstay at the INS for years and now the farm has a son who they hope will continue his legacy. The champion two-year-old in France following his win in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, National Defense joins the likes of sire sensations Kingman and I Am Invincible (in Australia) as a son of Invincible Spirit at stud.

Decorated Knight ticks all the boxes to be a successful stallion; conformation, race record and pedigree. A triple Group 1 winner, he won both the Irish Champion Stakes and Tattersalls Gold Cup just up the road from the INS. His dam is an own-sister to Giant’s Causeway, the ‘Iron Horse’ who became a hugely successful sire, and their Group 2-winning full-sister bred the champion and dual classic winner Gleneagles.

The early successes enjoyed by Dragon Pulse’s runners are impressive and this year he will have biggest and best-bred crop of two-year-olds. He was a good juvenile himself, beating the subsequent Group 1 winner Parish Hall when landing the Group 2 Futurity Stakes at the Curragh, and he was runner-up to Power in the Group 1 National Stakes. Perhaps underrated by breeders when he first went to stud, it would appear that the best is yet to come from Dragon Pulse.

Rathasker Stud

Only Bungle Inthejungle among the five stallions at Maurice Burns’s Rathasker Stud does not fit into this price range of stallions. The other four are Anjaal (Bahamian Bounty), Clodovil (Danehill), Coulsty (Kodiac) and Gregorian (Clodovil).

Anjaal had his first runners in 2019 and he made an explosive start. That crop already numbers 20 individual winners, though this should come as no surprise as Anjaal was himself a precocious juvenile and won the six-furlong Group 2 July Stakes. What perhaps is a surprise is that his fee is unchanged at €5,000 given the success of his runners and that his yearlings have sold for up to 100,000gns.

Group 1 winners Nahoodh and Moriarty are two of the more than 50 stakes horses sired by the classic winner Clodovil, a great servant to the Burns at Rathasker. While he never had the huge crops of other stallions, he has always delivered where it matters most, on the track. By a great sire of sires, Clodovil stands alongside his son Gregorian at a fee of €8,000.

Standing his second season at Rathasker, having spent four at the National Stud in Newmarket, Gregorian’s first crop contained six stakes horses. A winner at two himself, he was runner-up at three in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat and third in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes. He got a well-deserved Group 2 success at four in the Hungerford Stakes, just failing to win it again at five. He stood his racing well. Other notable placed efforts included running third in both the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes (to Declaration Of War) and the Group 1 Darley July Cup (to Slade Power). His early success and his move to Ireland last year resulted in an upswing in support and this is sure to continue at a fee of €6,000.

Speed is everywhere in the make-up of Coulsty who will have his first runners this year. Given that they are being trained by such as Jamie Osborne, Willie McCreery, Ed Dunlop, Michael Dods and Eve Johnson Houghton, we can expect to see some early winners. Coulsty won every year from two to five, from the minimum trip to seven furlongs, and Richard Hannon saddled him for his biggest win in the six-furlong Prix de Meautry at Deauville. From the family of speedsters Lugana Beach and The Tatling, he is a son of the record-breaking sire of two-year-olds, Kodiac. Coulsty stands for €4,000.

Rathbarry Stud

Just turned 21, Acclamation still rules the roost at the Cashman’s Rathbarry Stud, and in addition to his own success, he is sire of Dark Angel and has a number of other sons at stud too. He is not the oldest sire at the farm, that honour going to the evergreen Tagula (Taufan) at 27! They are joined on the roster by James Garfield (Exceed And Excel) and Kodi Bear (Kodiac).

Tagula’s books of mares may be smaller these days given his age, but he remains very fertile and at a covering fee of €4,000, using him is something of a no-brainer if you wish to get a winner.

The first foals by James Garfield are due and his first book of mares was supplied by many leading commercial breeders – and no wonder. A son of one of the best sires of juveniles in Exceed And Excel, James Garfield beat Invincible Army to win the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes at two, going on the next year to beat Expert Eye in the Group 3 Greenham Stakes, He was also runner-up in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest. His dam won the Chesham Stakes and this is the family of Invincible Spirit and Kodiac. James Garfield stands at €6,000.

Also available for €6,000 is Kodiac’s son Kodi Bear, a Group 2 winning miler at three and a stakes winner at Ascot over seven furlongs at two when he also chased home Belardo in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes. Much will be expected from Kodi Bear’s first runners this year and, not surprisingly, Clive Cox will train some, as will Kevin Prendergast, Andrew Balding and more. His yearlings sold for up to €100,000 to China Horse Club. Will be on many shortlists to challenge for first-season sire honours.

Kildangan Stud

Apart from Shamardal who stands privately, the 15 other sires standing under the Darley banner at Kildangan Stud range in fee from €4,000 up to €45,000. Five of that group fit into the price category for this feature. Slade Power (Dutch Art) and The Last Lion (Choisir) stand for €7,500, Buratino (Exceed And Excel) costs €5,000, while French Navy (Shamardal) and Fulbright (Exceed And Excel) will set you back just €4,000.

With 14 winners in his first crop, Slade Power made a good start to his stallion career, yet his fee halved to €7,500 last year, the figure at which it remains. Given that he started at €20,000, it is reasonable to suggest that he is now tremendous value. Last year’s juveniles included the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes and Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes winner Raffle Prize, and she later only found Earthlight too good in the Group 1 Prix Morny. Slade Power won the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee, the Group 1 July Cup and was the best older sprinter in Europe in 2014.

You cannot ask for much more than a two-year-old who races 10 times, never finishes out of the first three, and ends his season with a Group 1 victory. Such is the story of The Last Lion who beat such notables as Blue Point and Mehmas to land the six-furlong Middle Park Stakes. By the same sire as Starspangledbanner and Olympic Glory, he went to stud at three and this year he will have his first runners. His 26 yearlings sold averaged in excess of five times his fee, and have joined many leading trainers.

The Group 2 Coventry Stakes winner Buratino will be well represented with his first crop of runners this year, with some 90 possible. He has proven to be a big hit with breeders covering an average of more than 120 mares in his first three seasons at stud. In addition to his Royal Ascot win, he chased home Shalaa in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes. One of 18 Group/Grade 1 winners by his sire, his stakes-winning grandam is a half-sister to Danehill Dancer, and from the family of Street Sense and Mr Greeley.

Another son of Exceed And Excel at Kildangan is Fulbright and he is off the mark with three winners in his first small crop of runners. Winner of the Listed Woodcote Stakes over six furlongs at two, he beat Red Jazz to take the Group 2 Challenge Stakes at three, and showed his soundness by running 30 times in his career.

Shamardal last year sired champion sprinter Blue Point and three Group 1 winning two-year-old colts. His multiple Group 3 winning son French Navy, including as a two-year-old, is already off the mark with winners from his first crop that raced last year. He has four individual winners from a small first crop, including Get Set who showed great consistency in eight juvenile runs in France and Germany. At a small fee he is an opportunity to use a smart son of Lope De Vega’s sire.

Springfield House

Unfortunately moves from Cheveley Park Stud to Reddy and Linda Coffey’s Springfield House this year. The champion two-year-old colt of 2017 in France, he won the Group 1 Prix Morny there in a time that was the fastest in a decade and the second fastest in 50 years, eclipsing the times recorded by Dream Ahead, No Nay Never, Lady Aurelia, Earthlight and Shalaa. Another of his juvenile wins came in the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin. This son of the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes and Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner Society Rock is standing at €5,500 and last year Cheveley Park supported him with 17 mares in his first year at stud.

Starfield Stud

The newly-established Starfield Stud is home to three sires this year that fit into the price range under review. The proven Cappella Sansevero (Showcasing) stands for €7,000, the exciting Kuroshio (Exceed And Excel) is available at €6,000, while Smooth Daddy (Scat Daddy), whose first foals are being born this spring, costs €5,000.

Cappella Sansevero first made headlines when he sold for £1.3 million at the Goffs London Sale, on the eve of running second to The Wow Signal in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes. Winner that same year of a Group 3 and a listed race at the Curragh, he was also placed in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes. His first crop appeared last year and to date his eight winners include the high-class Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes winner Pierre Lapin. He is the first advertisement for the prowess of his sire Showcasing as a sire of sires.

A five-furlong Group 2 winning son of Exceed And Excel, Kuroshio’s first crop in Europe born in 2016 numbered just 22. To date eight have won and they include Group 3 and listed winner Kurious, Group 2-placed Dunkerron and the stakes-placed duo of Siculi (five wins) and Daphinia. Breeders flocked to him when he was brought back to stand in Ireland last year and he covered nearly 110 mares.

Smooth Daddy covered over 70 mares in his first season and those foals are now appearing on the ground. The son of Scat Daddy, sire of No Nay Never, Justify, Caravaggio and more, was tough and consistent and he was in the first four on 22 of his 31 starts, winning the Grade 3 Fort March Stakes over nine furlongs at Belmont. He comes from the female family of Scat Daddy’s Group 1 winning juvenile Sioux Nation.

Sweep Lane Stud

Standing his first season at a fee of €2,500 is The Irish Rover. He joins Land Force and Ten Sovereigns as a son of sire sensation No Nay Never at stud. His sire commands a fee of €150,000 this year. Trained by Aidan O’Brien, The Irish Rover won a six-furlong conditions race at Newbury at two and was beaten a length when third in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh. This speedy juvenile and stakes-placed three-year-old cost 150,000gns as a yearling and is from the family of Landseer.