THE grey Kingston Hill (Mastercraftsman) was the second highest-rated European two-year-old of 2013, unbeaten in three starts, and the champion three-year-old stayer in Europe in the following year when he carried off the Group 1 St Leger at Doncaster. He retired to stud at Coolmore in 2026 at a fee of €6,000, spent four seasons there, and then moved to Castlehyde Stud for two more.

In 2022 Kingston Hill found himself in a new location, at Nunstainton Stud, where he was attractively priced at £2,000, but that fee has doubled for 2026, and canny breeders will have noticed that he had a weekend to remember with three blacktype earners, his daughters Kingston Queen and White Noise finishing first and second in the Grade 2 Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Jane Seymour Mares Novices’ Hurdle at Warwick, and this was 90 minutes before A Likeable Rogue won his second bumper, a listed contest, at Newbury.