WE are, to a large degree, obsessed with statistics and tables. They are informative, of course, and we simply cannot ignore them.

Sometimes it is worthwhile delving behind the numbers though, and this type of digging can throw up some interesting stories. One such tale is that of Rajasinghe, who stands at the National Stud in Newmarket.

Sadly, given the start he has made with his first runners, he was poorly supported in his first few years, covering just 31 mares in year one, yielding some 25 current juveniles, servicing 25 and 35 in the next two seasons, and this year he was down to nine mares. Even reducing his fee of £5,000 for his first two years at stud to £3,000 didn’t have the effect of boosting his mare numbers.

A son of Choisir (Danehill Dancer), also the sire of Starspangledbanner, Rajasinghe won the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, one of a pair of juvenile successes.

He possibly didn’t see out the mile at Newmarket in the Group 1 2000 Guineas, his only sophomore outing, and went to stud. His owner Phil Cunningham has great belief in the bay and hopefully his loyalty to date will pay off in the longer term.

Deliver value

Rajasinghe’s first six runners have produced three winners, two others who have been placed, and one of his sons, the Cunningham owned and bred Waiting All Night, won on his debut, was fifth in the Coventry Stakes, and most recently was runner-up to Naval Power in a listed race back at Ascot.

Given his fee, Rajasinghe is a horse who looks as though he can deliver value for breeders.

By the way, Rajasinghe’s second winner, Hougoumont, was successful on his second start, but he was entitled to win as he ran second on his debut to Lakota Blue who was subsequently runner-up in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes.

Winner number three was Talamanca, a 50,000gns foal purchase by Phil Cunningham, and he won by six and a half lengths on Monday, his second start in just over 24 hours, and showing that six rather than seven furlongs could be his metier.