THREE deaths of horses were announced this week, the stallion Pastorius, the successful but frustrating broodmare, Pearling, and the former top-class chaser, Kicking King. All were great losses to connections in different ways, and all will leave their mark.

Spending much of his retirement at the Irish National Stud, Kicking King was an immensely popular and successful racehorse, and it was appropriate that he lived out his days in comfort, and not far from his birthplace, Michael and Sheelagh Hickey’s Sunnyhill Stud in Kilcullen. He will continue to exert an influence there as he appears in many of their pedigrees.

Let’s start by summarising what was a golden career for the son of Sunnyhill’s then resident sire, Old Vic (Sadler’s Wells). Kicking King was sold as a yearling for IR£21,000 at the 1999 Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale. Trained throughout his career by Tom Taaffe, and owned by Conor Clarkson, he won and was placed in two bumper starts at four, ridden by Philip Fenton, was successful three times over hurdles and excelled over fences, winning on eight occasions.

For the jumping part of his career, encompassing 26 starts, he had Barry Geraghty in the plate. Over hurdles he gained his biggest win in the Grade 2 INH Byrne Group PLC Novice Hurdle at Punchestown, and he was runner-up on both his other starts, to Back In Front in the Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, and to Solerina in a Grade 3 at Navan.

Important triumphs

His eight wins over fences earned connections just short of £750,000, and we are left to wonder what he might have won had his career not been interrupted. His most important triumphs came in the 2005 Grade 1 Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase, two editions of the Grade 1 Stan James King George VI Chase at Kempton Park, while in Ireland he landed three Grade 1 races, the Baileys Arkle Challenge Cup Novice Chase at Leopardstown, and the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase and Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup Chase.

Winner of the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby, and the Irish Derby which led to the gallops on the Curragh being named in his honour, Old Vic was hugely successful as a National Hunt sire, his career being guided throughout by Michael Hickey, and now his daughters are continuing his legacy. He sired a couple of Aintree Grand National winners, but his Grade 1 winners, numbering 10 in all, also included Our Vic, Ballyoptic, Killultagh Vic, Citizen Vic, In Compliance, One Cool Cookie, Snoopy Loopy, Southern Vic and Carrigeen Victor.

McGrath connection

Given that Michael Hickey is married to a McGrath, it is appropriate that the dam of Kicking King, Fairy Blaze, a daughter of yet another Sunnyhill stallion in Good Thyne (Herbager), comes from a McGrath family. Fairy Blaze did not race, but she had five winning siblings. At stud, she more than made up for a lack of a race record, and she bred 10 winners in all, Kicking King being outstanding.

The Gold Cup hero has three winning full-brothers, Four Commanders (Old Vic) being the best. He was placed a number of times in Grade 2 chases. Also placed in graded races were Fairy Blaze’s son Colonel Monroe (Lord Americo) and her daughter Whistle Dixie (Kayf Tara).

Kicking King’s unraced own-sister Fairy Lane (Old Vic) was eclipsed her own dam, breeding a pair of blacktype winners, Grade 1-winning chaser Kalashnikov (Kalanisi) and his Grade 1-placed full-sister Kalane (Kalanisi).

Bringing the family right up to date, Fairy Blaze’s daughter Magic Park (Carroll House) is the grandam of Magic Daze (Doyen), a Grade 2 chase winner whose 2023 form includes a listed chase win at Naas.

Great loss of emerging sire talent

THE death of Pastorius (Soldier Hollow) at Haras de Hetraie is a double blow for the French farm, as he is the second stallion to die there this year. The German Derby winners’ loss will be felt most heavily. In his classic success he beat the multiple Group 1 winner Novellist.

Standing at a fee of €7,000, it was clear that Pastorius was only beginning to show his prowess with his jumpers, and his first crop conceived after he moved to France included the recent Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle-placed Zenta, also a Grade 3 winner and trained by Willie Mullins.

Winner also of the Group 1 Prix Ganay, in which he defeated Maxios by a length, with the subsequent Group 1 Melbourne Cup winner Dunaden a length further back in third, Pastorius was not afforded decent-sized books of mares in Germany, and yet he sired Group 3 winner Master Bloom and an Australian listed winner in his first crop. The second crop featured the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes winner Dalika, and Group 3 winner Riocorvo, while yet another group winner emerged from his third crop.

In addition to Zenta, Pastorius has sired a listed chase winner in France, Campinas, and a Grade 1 AQPS winner in July Flower, while his son Bolero was placed in the Grade 1 Prix Cambaceres Hurdle at Auteuil.

By the sire of Group 1 flat winners Ivanhowe, Welstar, Dschingis Secret and Serienholde, as well as Grade 1 National Hunt winners Saldier and Arctic Fire, Pastorius is a full-brother to Group 3 winning juvenile Parthenius (Soldier Hollow), while his third dam Princess Nana (Bellypha) won the Group 2 Arag Preis-German 1000 Guineas).

Pearling was truly a diamond

BRED to be a star, Pearling’s birth in 2006 came six years after her full-brother Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat) had taken the racing world by storm, and his nine wins at two and three included six Group 1s. As we know, he went on to become a huge success at stud.

Now comes the news that, at the age of 17, Pearling has died. Pearling herself did not possess the racing prowess of her sibling, and she made just two starts as a three-year-old at Woodbine in Canada, finishing second on the last of these.

Her start at stud was no less disappointing, as she aborted her first pregnancy. She was covered by Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) and sold for 1,300,000gns to Tony Nerses on behalf of Blue Diamond Stud at Tattersalls.

The foal she was carrying was Decorated Knight, successful in three Group 1 races, the Irish Champion Stakes, Tattersalls Gold Cup and the Jebel Hatta at Meydan. He is now standing at the Irish National Stud.

He was followed by Azizaan (Dubawi), placed once in three starts, Ambrosia (Frankel), a winner and placed four times in seven outings, and an unnamed colt by Dansili (Danehill).

Ambrosia got off the mark as a broodmare last year when her two-year-old daughter Aunt Shirley (Justify) won in the USA. Ambrosia was purchased by WinStar Farm for 1,300,000gns as a five-year-old.

Having had four foals in a row, over the next eight years Pearling had three living progeny, including a recently foaled filly by Frankel (Galileo). The others are the unraced five-year-old Blue Diamond (Galileo), now a member of the broodmare band at Blue Diamond Stud and with a Siyouni (Pivotal) colt on the ground, and a two-year-old filly, Haute Couture (Kingman), in training with the Gosdens.

You’reshthrilling

Luckily for Blue Diamond Stud, they still own three of the four daughters of Pearling, one of three mares out of Mariah’s Storm (Rahy) to breed a Group/Grade 1 winner.

Pearling’s own-sister, Group 2 winner You’resothrilling (Storm Cat), is the outstanding member of that trio, being responsible for four Group 1 winners, Gleneagles, Happily, Joan Of Arc and Marvellous, and another four Group/Grade 1-placed winners, Taj Mahal, Coolmore, Toy and Vatican City, all of them sired by Galileo.

Pearling’s unraced half-sister Fabulous (Galileo) is the dam of last year’s Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Above The Curve (American Pharoah), while another sibling, Love Me Only (Sadler’s Wells), bred the Group 2 winner and Group 1 Irish Derby runner-up Storm The Stars (Sea The Stars).