THE French classic winners Lope De Vega, New Bay and Make Believe have been joined at Ballylinch Stud in Co Kilkenny this year by another champion trained by Andre Fabre, the imposing chesnut Waldgeist who sensationally defeated Enable in last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Considering his excellent pedigree and that he scored in three other Group 1 events and amassed earnings of £4,298,559, Waldgeist would seem to be exceptionally good value at his fee of €17,500.

Yet another Group 1 star sired by Galileo, Waldgeist is from a very strong German family on his dam’s side and his name means Spirit of the Forest in German.