FRESHMAN sire Zoffany shone at Royal Ascot, with three winners – Washington DC, Waterloo Bridge and Illuminate – from just five runners.

Canford Cliffs hit back at the Curragh last weekend, however, with Painted Cliffs winning the Group 2 Railway Stakes and Most Beautiful landing the Group 3 Grangecon Stud Stakes. Zoffany is about £90,000 ahead of his fellow Coolmore stallion in terms of total prize money won this season, but Canford Cliffs is about the same amount clear of the Rathbarry stallion Lilbourne Lad in third, and the battle for top first-season sire could be developing into a match already.