EPAULETTE has just completed his fourth season where he covered for a fee of €7,000. He has been at Kildangan Stud for three of those years, with one spent at Dalham Hall in Newmarket. This is always considered a ‘difficult’ year in the life of a stallion as breeders anxiously await the outcome of the first crop runners. On Wednesday, Richard Hannon sent out Regimented to win at the first time of asking, and thus become the fifth individual winner for his Commands (Danehill) sire.

Epaulette is a three-parts brother to Helmet (Exceed And Excel) who won one more race than his year younger brother. One thing that Epaulette did in his career that Helmet failed to do was land the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes over seven furlongs at three, and in record time to boot, the same season in which he won the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 and was runner-up to Black Caviar in the six-furlong Group 1 TJ Smith Handicap.

As a two-year-old Epaulette won twice over six furlongs and was beaten just a nose by Pierro in the Group 2 Todman Slipper Trial. Though Australian-bred, Epaulette had a pedigree that was sure to appeal to northern hemisphere breeders and hence he joined the Darley stallion roster. His brother Helmet had the Group 1-winning juvenile Thunder Snow in his first crop of runners in Europe last year and that colt recently added the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat to his tally.

KEAPPOCK

Regimented is a son of the Spectrum (Rainbow Quest) mare Colour Coordinated and the latest winning offspring for that Ballymacoll Stud-bred. Joe Keappock (below), the breeder of Regimented, purchased Colour Coordinated a dozen years ago for 45,000gns at the Tattersalls December Sale when she was offered as a filly out of training. She has been placed a few times for John Oxx.

Colour Coordinated’s appeal as a broodmare was obvious as her siblings included Bonny Scot (Commanche Run), winner of the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes and placed in the Group 1 St Leger. Even more appealing was the fact their half-sister Highland Gift (Generous) produced the 2000 Guineas and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Golan by Spectrum, sire of Keappock’s new acquisition.

As if that was not enough, Golan’s full-brother Tartan Bearer won the Group 2 Dante Stakes and was runner-up in three Group 1 races at three, the Derby to New Approach, the Prince of Wales’s Stakes to Vision D’Etat and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes to Conduit.

The recent sale of the Ballymacoll Stud has prompted the complete dispersal of all of their stock and many more members of this great family will be available to in the coming months.