“WE always said Battaash was the best-looking horse that we’d bred, but I think this guy is better, no doubt about it.” So said breeder Paul McCartan after The Antarctic was sold in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale for 750,000gns to M.V. Magnier.

Battaash (Dark Angel) not only proved himself to be one of the best sprinters of any generation, but he was immensely popular with the racing public. He won 13 of his 25 starts, recorded Group 1 victories in the Coolmore-sponsored Nunthorpe Stakes twice, the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp and the King’s Stakes, but as a gelding he could not pass on his speed genes to another generation.