IT’S that time of the year, the new kids on the block are getting off the mark. Another sire with his first runners in 2022 is Saxon Warrior, a colt who narrowly missed out on being crowned the best of his generation at two and three.

As a juvenile the son of Deep Impact (Sunday Silence) won the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy from Roaring Lion, and in his second season he added the Group 1 2000 Guineas, finding the aforementioned Roaring Lion too good for him in the Irish Champion Stakes and the Eclipse Stakes.

Saxon Warrior sired some 115 foals in his first crop, and the first of these to see a racecourse was Ser Sed. Bred in Ireland by Gestüt Ammerland, he was one of the least expensive yearlings by the sire sold in 2021. He failed to take his place at the BBAG Sale and was redirected to Arqana in October, selling to Fal Stud for just €15,000. He lined up against eight opponents over five and a half furlongs at Le Lion-D’Angers on Sunday and battled to a neck victory.

So little

How he could have made so little as a yearling, based on pedigree, is hard to fathom. He is the first foal out of the unraced Lady Livonia, a daughter of Frankel (Galileo). That made has since produced a yearling colt by Sea The Stars (Cape Cross). Lady Livonia is an own-sister to Lady Frankel, a Group 3 winner who placed in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera.

More significantly, Lady Livonia is a half-sister to one of the world’s leading sires, Ballylinch Stud’s Lope De Vega (Shamardal). That dual classic winner, successful in both the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains-French 2000 Guineas and Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby, is the sire of 14 Group 1 winners, the most recent being Hypothetical. No wonder Lope De Vega stands at €125,000.

Lady Vettori (Vettori) was acquired as an eight-year-old in Deauville for €500,000, carrying to Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells). She was a Group 3 winner of five races at two and Group 1-placed, and at the time of her sale her first foal and only runner was a minor winner.

What an investment she has proven to be, now responsible for nine winners from 12 foals, though one of these was never named. Four of her winners have won at stakes level.

One of this quartet is the Group 3 winner Bal De La Rose (Cadeaux Genereux) and the best of her offspring is the Group 1 German winner Danceteria (Redoute’s Choice).