WEATHERBYS celebrated 30 years sponsorship of the Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh last weekend. The first year they appended their name to the race it was won, for the second time, by the Vincent O’Brien-trained College Chapel.

In the intervening years it has been captured by some standout performers, and this year the Group 2 contest was a career highlight for the six-year-old Owenstown Bloodstock-bred Art Power. Sold as a yearling for €110,000, and racing for King Power, Art Power has now won seven times, four of them at group level, and all of his pattern successes have been in Ireland, where he has never been beaten.

Art Power is a son of Dark Angel (Acclamation), and the best of nine winners to date from Evening Time (Keltos). He could yet be joined on the winners’ podium by his two-year-old full-brother who sold at Arqana last month for €135,000.

Owenstown Stud’s John Tuthill and his late aunt Averil Whitehead retained Evening Time as a yearling, and the daughter of the sub-fertile Keltos (Kendor) was put into training with Kevin Prendergast. At two she ran out a nine-length winner of a six-furlong maiden, and eight days later at the Curragh added the Listed Flame Of Tara EBF Stakes, beating Theann by five lengths.

As a three-year-old Evening Time added a further stakes win at Leopardstown, being most impressive when landing the Sweet Mimosa Stakes by five lengths, and she was twice placed in Group 3 races at the Curragh. She won or placed on five of her seven starts. In addition to Art Power, Evening Time is dam of the Group 3 Ballyogan Stakes winner Penny Pepper (Fast Company), the French stakes winner Morning Frost (Duke Of Marmalade) and the US stakes-placed Shaan (Iffraaj).

Juddmonte

At the December Sale at Tattersalls in 1996 the Juddmonte owned and raced Shadow Casting (Warning) was sold for 7,000gns to Mrs Whitehead through the Curragh Bloodstock Agency. The three-year-old was trained by Barry Hills to win and place from just a handful of starts.

Her career at stud could hardly have had a worse start, the first foal Shadow Casting produced selling for just IR£1,000 at Goffs as a yearling. He made his way to Italy where, named Distinctly Dancer (Distinctly North), he was a leading two-year-old, winning 11 races, two at listed level.

Shadow Casting had six foals at stud, five of them ran and all of them won. Her strike rate of two stakes winners is impressive. She had three fillies and one of these was Mujadil Shadow (Mujadil). She found her way to Italy, won a couple of races, and is the dam of 11 winners, including her 2023 two-year-old, Portomatto (Buratino). More importantly, she is the dam of three stakes winners.

Shadow Casting’s half-sister Fanciful Dancer (Groom Dancer) produced the stakes winner and Grade 1 Arlington Million runner-up Fanciful Angel (Dark Angel) and the Listed Wolferton Stakes winner at Royal Ascot, Mountain Angel (Dark Angel).