THE class of 2004 contained a number of exceptional racemares, but a dozen years later how well have they done at stud? A recent visit to Coolmore to see Australia, together with a talk earlier in the year to the Irish National Stud students, prompted me to look at the best mares of that year and see what happened to them at stud.

Does breeding the best to the best always produce the best? In the case of Australia plainly it did. However, was that success repeated elsewhere? A total of 24 fillies or mares were included in the World Rankings for that year with a rating of 115 or more.