2023 first-season sires: Progress report including Blue Point, Ten Sovereigns, Magna Grecia & Too Darn Hot

ADVERTISE (Showcasing x Furbelow, by Pivotal)

If Soldier’s Call is Showcasing’s most precocious son to become a stallion, Advertise can claim to be the classiest as he is Showcasing’s first Group 1 winner to retire to stud.

A Group 1 winner at two and three, he keeps good company on the Phoenix Stakes roll of honour as he joins the likes Johannesburg, Holy Roman Emperor and last season’s runner-up in the championship, Sioux Nation.

He held his form well at three, adding a further two Group 1 to his CV. It was only Calyx who interrupted an unbeaten two year old campaign and denied Advertise a Coventry Stakes success to precede his Commonwealth Cup win the following summer.

Is there one like him amongst his 96 foals in his first crop from 127 mares covered? In an unforgiving market, anything less may be considered disappointing.

BLUE POINT (Shamardal x Scarlett Rose, by Royal Applause)

The question on everyone’s lips – has any sire ever made as rapid a start to his second career? The answer is yes, though a tentative one. Blue Point has unquestionably begun his career with the same gusto in which he won four Group 1s, with two of those coming in the same week at the coveted Royal meeting.

The question is whether or not he can maintain this momentum? Great expectation can often be followed with disappointment, and such is the excitement around Blue Point that one suspects anything short of an Ascot winner will not suffice.

Precocious enough to place in both the Middle Park and the Dewhurst at two, we must not forget that it wasn’t until Blue Point was a five-year-old that he really found his sixth gear. Precocity is important but so too is longevity, something Blue Point had in spades on the track.

In fact one of his most appealing qualities was his ability to race. Backing up quickly and doing so with conviction, class and speed on a regular basis were surely major factors for the 198 mares selected for him in his first season. That along with his sire of sires Shamardal and a pedigree bursting with speed and precocity - his half-brother won the Railway Stakes and his dam is a half-sister to Horris Hill winner Tumbleweed Ridge (Indian Ridge) - have given Blue Point the perfect ingredients to succeed in his second career for Darley. He has passed the initial taste test with flying colours.

We’re a long way away from the finished article but with every box ticked, he is a sire to keep onside.

CALYX (Kingman x Helleborine, by Observatory)

It’s no secret that Juddmonte know what they’re doing when it comes to breeding top-class racehorses and Calyx was no exception. His brief but brilliant career encapsulates everything the present market craves, and it was somewhat of a surprise to see big players Coolmore swoop to stand him upon his retirement in 2019.

The surprise, if any, was that Juddmonte were willing to let their electric and precocious Coventry Stakes winner go. From one of their faster families, Calyx is a son of Juddmonte roster co-anchor Kingman and out of a Group 3 winning sister to 6f Group 1 winner African Rose. A family of sprinter/milers, European Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Native Trail appeared on the page in advance of Calyx’s first runners reaching the track.

Training on to win the Irish 2000 Guineas at three, Calyx’s pedigree is more than just early two-year-olds. Of his 85 first crop of foals, 11 have run and 5 have won, thus giving Calyx a remarkable strike rate just shy of 50% to date.

One of those five happens to be Amo Racing’s Persian Dreamer, who won a hotly-contested Newmarket novice with consummate ease. A pair of six-figure Goffs UK breeze-up colts duly followed, with Coolmore’s MV Magnier backing their rookie sire in joining with Stephen Hillen to secure the colt out of Lisanor (Raven’s Pass) who was knocked down for £125,000.

Despite his fee falling from an opening €22,500 to €10,000 this year, his bright start suggests that could represent excellent value.

EQTIDAAR (Invincible Spirit x Madany, by Acclamation)

Shadwell Stud recently announced the very premature passing of their Group 1 Commonwealth Cup winning son of Invincible Spirit and if his £120,000 Goffs UK breeze up graduate is anything to go by, it will be a sore loss.

He is a Shadwell homebred, by sire of sires Invincible Spirit and out of the Acclamation mare Madany who boasts a remarkable if poignant record of her own. Eqtidaar is a half-brother to Group 2 winner and 2000 Guineas second Massaat (Teofilo) as well as Group 3 Horris Hill winner Mujbar (Muhaarar) from five overall winners. Unfortunately, it’s a family with apparent bad luck as Madany passed away after having her 2020 colt Mutaany (Invincible Spirit).

Eqtidaar failed to fire after his moment in the sun at Royal Ascot which goes some way to explaining his initial fee of £6,500. Eventually trimmed to £5,000, Eqtidaar has just 54 foals to represent him on the track this year but has begun brightly. His first two runners both showed promise by placing on their respective debuts.

INNS OF COURT (Invincible Spirit x Learned Friend, by Seeking The Gold)

Few racehorses can boast form as diverse as Inns Of Court. For those who can, few of them aren’t entires afforded the opportunity to pass on their talents at stud.

The only cross Inns Of Court has to bear is the far too frequent mix up between speed and precocity. With the 5f Group 2 Prix du Gros-Chene on his record, expectations may be high for fast juveniles, when in reality Inns Of Court boasts so much more than speed. Finishing second by just a head in the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois as a three-year-old, he filled the same position by the same narrow margin in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret as a four year old.

He won seven of his eighteen starts over 5f-7f, but his closest call with Group One glory came over a 1m. Though he is by a top source of sprinters, milers and now sires in Invincible Spirit, his dam’s a half-sister to Japanese St Leger winner Fierement. Inns Of Court made his winning debut in November as a two-year-old and held his form from three to five.

On paper, he should be no one trick pony, and there is enough in both his pedigree and race record to suggest we’ll need more than this season to know if he is the ‘real deal’.

INVINCIBLE ARMY (Invincible Spirit x Rajeem, by Diktat)

There are few stallion masters who know more about the game than Yeomanstown, and thus it is no surprise 139 mares visited Invincible Army in 2020.

That yielded a healthy return of 130 soldiers to go to war with and as a result it was no surprise Invincible Army was represented by his first winner in April. Appropriately, Love Billy Boy is a Yeomanstown homebred signed for by Peter & Ross Doyle for £90,000 at Doncaster for Richard Hannon - a transaction that has sharp early two year old written all over it.

A remarkably consistent racehorse, Invincible Army won two of his seven juvenile starts and placed in the other five. That included a season highlight in the Group 3 Sirenia Stakes and a narrow second place finish to James Garfield in the Group 2 Mill Reef. ‘Narrow’ second/third places was the common theme on his biggest days with arguably his best effort on the track coming in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes, when finishing a length and a half behind Fairyland.

Group 1s seemed to find him out in his first career, but if his pedigree is going to make its mark then breeders need not worry. Invincible Army’s dam Rajeem (Diktat) won the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes and his sire Invincible Spirit is a proven sire of sires across the globe. Invincible Army was tough, sound, fast and consistent on the track, running 19 times in all. His best season on the track came as a four-year-old when he won the Group 2 Duke Of York Stakes, and it can only be hoped that the market doesn’t write him off too soon if his progeny need some extra time to find their stride.

LAND FORCE (No Nay Never x Theann, by Rock Of Gibraltar)

Sire lines don’t come much hotter than Scat Daddy, with No Nay Never and Justify flying the flag on both sides of the Atlantic for Ashford Stud’s prematurely-lost son of Johannesburg.

The bright start made by Sioux Nation last year has helped as well as a definite buzz surrounding fellow son of No Nay Never and first-season sire Ten Sovereigns. Land Force is more than ‘just’ a son of a hot sire, though. The Group 2 Richmond Stakes winner comes from a fast and deep family littered with Group 1 winners.

His dam Theann is by crack miler Rock Of Gibraltar and out of King’s Stand winner Cassandra Go, who can boast amongst her many achievements as a broodmare, triple G1 winner Halfway To Heaven (Pivotal), herself the dam of Magical and Rhododendron. Thus it’s fair to say that Land Force’s pedigree makes up for what his race record might lack in terms of star quality in spades.

Land Force has 117 soldiers on the ground and this year will be make or break for him. Expect sharp, precocious juveniles or nothing at all. What better way to start than with a Nottingham winner from his fourth runner sporting the Royal silks? Serried Ranks did just that.

MAGNA GRECIA (Invincible Spirit x Cabaret, by Galileo)

A Group 1 winner at two and a Classic winner at three, it was hard to envisage Magna Grecia’s prospects as a stallion improving once he retired to the stallion shed.

Whilst his sire Invincible Spirit has been enhancing his reputation as a sire of sires, his dam has been doing her bit too in the shape of Magna Grecia’s half-brother and Prix du Jockey Club winner St Mark’s Basilica (Siyouni).

Magna Grecia is not unfamiliar with his reopposing rivals in the first-season sires race. He accounted for Phoenix Of Spain (Lope de Vega) in the Vertem Futurity Trophy as well as stablemate Ten Sovereigns in the 2000 Guineas. His dam was a Group 3 winner at two as well so expect action this year with scope to train on.

Magna Grecia’s first runner was a winner of the first Paris 2yo race of the year, giving reason to hope the sire who didn’t make his debut until September has a bright future ahead of him in his second career.

MASAR (New Approach x Khawlah, by Cape Cross)

Much to the delight of racing fans, 2021 Derby winner Adayar and last year’s winner of the Epsom showpiece, Desert Crown look set to clash in 2023.

With both the 2019 and 2020 winners denied their opportunities at stud, 2018 winner Masar is almost a phenomenon of the stallion ranks. Though a Derby winner doesn’t typically scream precocity in the modern era, Masar had enough class to make a winning debut in May of his two year old season.

He went on to finish third in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot and his stallion masters will be dreaming handlers of his progeny have their eyes on going two places better. A Group 3 winning juvenile who returned at three with an emphatic 9-length victory in the Craven Stakes, Masar went on to run a gallant third behind Saxon Warrior in the 2000 Guineas before reversing that form in no uncertain terms in the Derby.

Retiring to Dalham Hall for £15,000, his fee has held steady at £14,000 since his opening season. A fee that undoubtedly reflected his no show as a four-year-old, Masar is an affordable, high-class Derby winner with smart juvenile form to boot. The best part though? He’s from one of the best families in the stud book being out of the Cape Cross mare Khawlah, a granddaughter of Melikah, whose claim to fame is more than her placed efforts in both the English and Irish Oaks.

She’s out of Arc winner Urban Sea making her a half-sister to Galileo, Sea The Stars, Black Sam Bellamy - the list is almost endless. Even though Masar showed plenty at two, this is a pedigree that blossoms in their Classic season so expect some action from midsummer onwards, with the best hopefully yet to come with his three-year-olds in 2024.

PHOENIX OF SPAIN (Lope de Vega x Lucky Clio, by Key Of Luck)

Standing at 16.2hh, Phoenix Of Spain is built to carry big weights and so he must be if he’s going to fill the inevitable void that will be left on the Irish National Stud’s roster when long-term stalwart Invincible Spirit calls it a day.

Very much in the formative years of his second career, Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain has some of the biggest shoes around to fill. Facing two of his former conquerors in the race for Champion First-Season Sire honours, Phoenix Of Spain will hope to reverse the form from his second place finishes to Magna Grecia in the Vertem Futurity Trophy and Too Darn Hot in the Champagne Stakes.

Despite having had the last laugh over the latter in the Irish 2000 Guineas, he retired for an opening fee of €15,000. He never reproduced his Curragh effort again, something which undoubtedly played a leading role in the sober opening fee for his debut season.

Making his debut in July and shedding his maiden tag over 7f in the same month, it’s promising that from only four runners at the time of writing, Phoenix Of Spain is already off the mark in April with Andrew Balding’s Spanish Phoenix winning well at Leicester.

His top priced yearling was knocked down to Ben McElory for €200,000 from Pier House Stud. She is a half-sister to Queen Mary second Twilight Gleaming (National Defense) and as yet unnamed. It’s early days for alarm bells - although Phoenix Of Spain won the Acomb Stakes and was Group 1 placed as a juvenile, it was the Irish 2000 Guineas when he shone brightest.

His progeny will need to be seen as three-year-olds before we will know if the Irish National Stud have found their heir apparent.

SOLDIER’S CALL (Showcasing x Dijarvo, by Iceman)

As a Royal Ascot winning two year old by emerging sire of sires Showcasing, the pressure is on Soldier’s Call to deliver this season and to do so quickly.

Eight of his fourteen starts were made as a juvenile, including all four of his wins. Though he added the Group 2 Flying Childers to his CV, it was arguably his very close third behind Mabs Cross against older horses in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye where he really showed his class.

164 breeders clearly thought as much and for an affordable fee of €7,500, Soldier’s Call has 121 foals of racing age to give him a very realistic chance at Champion First Season Sire honours.

Ten winners and two black type horses on the board at the time of writing from 34 starters is a promising start and from the sire line that gave us last season’s Coventry Stakes winner Bradsell (Tasleet), Soldier’s Call is making a very bold claim to add yet another string to Showcasing’s bow.

STUDY OF MAN (Deep Impact x Second Happiness, by Storm Cat)

With a roll of honour that includes Darshaan, Montjeu, Shamardal, Le Havre, New Bay and Lope de Vega to name just a few, ignore the Prix du Jockey Club at your peril.

Each and every Derby is rightly considered vital in the race to make a stallion, but few can proclaim so many success stories in the modern era. Winning on his sole start at two, Study Of Man is a Niarchos homebred with a pedigree, sire line and race record that should have had him oversubscribed.

In the strange world we live in today, that was not the case and so Study Of Man has 54 foals from 71 mares received in his first season. In terms of depth, it was far from a vintage renewal of the ‘French Derby’ but form concerns aside, what about his pedigree?

His sire Deep Impact changed the face of Japanese racing, so much so that they rarely let his progeny go and thus Study Of Man is one of very few sources of Deep Impact’s coveted genes outside Japan for European breeders to tap into.

His dam Second Happiness is by Storm Cat, meaning there is super sire power on both sides of the pedigree, but it is his second dam Miesque where the real potential lies. Winning no less than ten Group 1s, including two Breeders’ Cups and the English and French 1000 Guineas, she matched her achievements on the track when going to stud and producing two Group 1 winners of her own, one of those being future top sire and excellent broodmare sire Kingmambo.

Avid pedigree fans will know Kingmambo is the damsire of last year’s champion Baaeed (Sea The Stars). With far too many more Group 1 descendants to name, there is every chance Study Of Man will emulate the achievements of the many greats who have come before him.

TEN SOVEREIGNS (No Nay Never x Seeking Solace, by Exceed And Excel)

Widely fancied to take First Season Sire honours, No Nay Never’s unbeaten two-year-old son Ten Sovereigns’ perfect juvenile season peaked in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes. Trying a 1m for the first and only time in the 2000 Guineas, he ran creditably to finish fifth behind stablemate Magna Grecia.

Reverting back to sprinting, he was fourth to fellow first crop sire Advertise in the Commonwealth Cup before putting it all together for his career highlight when beating his elders in the Group 1 July Cup.

In Ten Sovereigns’ case it is most definitely raw talent over pedigree as you have to go back to his fourth dam to find a Group 1 winner like himself. That said, it’s no secret what No Nay Never has achieved and a successful son at stud is just about the last thing left for him to accomplish.

Like his sire, Ten Sovereigns began life at €25,000 at Coolmore Stud and having received 214 mares in his first season for a resulting 175 foals, it is apparent several breeders are hoping he will emulate his sire in more ways than one. His first runner Brightest was a winner wearing the same purple and white colours he carried to victory four times himself, a notable vote of confidence in his ability as a stallion.

TOO DARN HOT (Dubawi x Dar Re Mi, by Singspiel)

If any sire line can compete with Scat Daddy and sons at the moment it’s Dubawi, and in Too Darn Hot he might have one of his most exciting prospects yet.

Too Darn Hot is Dubawi’s first and only Champion Two-Year-Old and one of just two domestic Group 1 winning juvenile colts for the current Champion Sire, and that’s not all he has to offer. Unbeaten in four starts at two, Too Darn Hot missed the 2000 Guineas, for which he was winter ante-post favourite.

Though his three year old campaign was slow to get going, he proved he was every bit the Champion when taking the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat over 7f and the stallion-making Group 1 Sussex Stakes with former rival Circus Maximus in second and old foe Phoenix Of Spain further back. It’s no wonder connections tried a mile and a quarter with Too Darn Hot given his dam Dar Re Mi (Singspiel) excelled over a mile and a half. However, it was soon apparent Too Darn Hot had inherited Dubawi’s electric turn of foot over a mile. We’ll soon find out if he has inherited his sire power too.

For an opening fee of £50,000, 165 mares yielded a debut foal crop of 106 foals. Amongst those to sell at auction was the 600,000gns colt out of Turret Rocks (now named Trafalgar Square) bought by David Redvers. Highly respected bloodstock agent Mike Ryan signed a 400,000gns ticket for the filly out of the Group 2-placed Cape Cross mare Zurigha. She is reportedly set to race for Klaravich Stables and will likely fly the flag for her rookie sire in America.

Just a handful of runners have raced to date yielding one winner for Darley’s main hope to succeed their Champion Sire but given Too Darn Hot made his debut in August and comes from a progressive and classy family, we can wait until the autumn before sounding the alarm bells.

WALDGEIST (Galileo x Waldlerche, by Monsun)

Standing at Ballylinch Stud -- well versed in making stallions -- is the latest son of the much-missed, former perennial Champion sire Galileo to retire to the stallion shed.

Bringing highly respected and sought after German blood to our shores, Waldgeist is from the illustrious ‘W’ German family that lays claim to St Leger winner Masked Marvel (Montjeu), German St Leger winner Wurftaube (Acatenango) and German Derby winner Waldpark (Dubawi) to name just a handful.

While class is in abundance, precocity is not. Waldgeist was a Group 1 winner at two over a mile and a quarter and just a head away from Prix du Jockey Club glory, but this is a family who undeniably improve from two to three and beyond.

Waldgeist’s finest hour came when denying Enable her third Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as a five-year-old. We’ll need to see at least a crop of his three-year-olds before we can judge this regally bred son of Galileo in his second career. A healthy 2023 for him will include some late autumn two-year-olds promising more to come next year and beyond.

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