Which first-season sires have made the quickest starts?

By John Ingles

Horse Racing

Sun June 09, 2024 · 10M ago

With the first big two-year-old races at Royal Ascot approaching, John Ingles looks at how this year's first-season sires have been faring.

At the time of writing, ten first-season sires had got off the mark in Britain and Ireland with Sergei Prokofiev being the fastest out of the blocks. That’s very much in keeping with his own career at two as he finished third in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot having already won twice by then for Aidan O’Brien, including a listed race at Naas. That precocity, coupled with the big advantage of the largest crop of two-year-olds among this year’s first-season sires, made him the leading contender for early two-year-old success and he hasn’t disappointed, with his 21 runners to date in Britain and Ireland including six individual winners of nine races.

With a Timeform rating of 97, his highest-rated winner so far is Amo Racing’s Arizona Blaze who won the first two-year-old race in Britain or Ireland when successful at the Curragh in March and then took his record to two out of three when winning the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes over six furlongs at the same track. The same owner’s Enchanting Empress (90p) is Sergei Prokofiev’s leading filly, winning all three of her starts over five furlongs for Dominic Ffrench Davis, including the listed National Stakes at Sandown last time. Other promising winners to note are Itsatenfromlen (89p) who made a winning debut for Amy Murphy at Chantilly, Sergio Parisse (80p) who appreciated the step up to six furlongs when winning at Windsor for Clive Cox, and Barrak (79p) who has won his only start at Musselburgh for Kevin Ryan.

Arizona Blaze and David Egan (right) win at the Curragh

Richard Fahey’s very smart sprinter Sands of Mali is unfashionably bred but was another likely type to get early two-year-olds, having won the Gimcrack Stakes at that age, and he’s had three winners so far. They are headed by another debut winner for Kevin Ryan, Ain’t Nobody (86p) who won in good style at Carlisle and looks sure to progress. The fillies Aviation Time (72p) and Sea of Diamonds (69p) have also won first time out, the former for Richard Hughes at Kempton and the latter for Archie Watson at Redcar.

2000 Guineas winner Kameko wasn’t an early two-year-old himself, making a winning debut over seven furlongs in late-July and winning the Futurity Trophy late in his first season. But it’s encouraging for his later runners than he already has three individual winners on the board. Michael Bell’s colt Rajeko (85p) had the speed to make a winning debut over six furlongs at Windsor, despite looking very green, but his other two winners won first time out over seven furlongs, with Wimbledon Hawkeye (81p), who is out of a half-sister to Mill Reef Stakes winner James Garfield, successful for James Owen at Kempton and the filly Del Ray (72p) winning on the turf at Lingfield in the same Qatar Racing colours as her sire for Archie Watson.

A trio of other first-season sires have had a couple of winners in Britain and Ireland so far. Perhaps the most notable of those, because he is based in France and has had only five individual runners in Britain, is Hello Youmzain, winner of two of his three starts at two for Kevin Ryan, including the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte. His son Afentiko (82p) was still green on his second start when landing the odds over six furlongs at Windsor for Paul and Oliver Cole, while his other winner was Electrolyte (79p) over the same trip at Ayr for Archie Watson, a £220,000 breeze-up purchase by Wathnan Racing. Hello Youmzain has had a couple of winners in France too.

Far Above and Earthlight were another couple of sires expected to be represented by early sorts and both have delivered. Standing in Ireland for €6,000, Far Above’s two winners have shown fairly useful form, with Twaafeeg (87p), one of her sire’s most expensive yearlings at 65,000 guineas, making a winning debut over six and a half furlongs at Doncaster for Archie Watson, and Rock N Roll Rocket (83) successful first time up for Jessica Harrington at Cork over five furlongs before disappointing on much softer ground last time. Hugo Palmer’s Stratusnine (89p) was an eye-catching second on his debut at York and should be another winner for Far Above before long.

Godolphin’s Earthlight won the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes at two and has had a couple of winning fillies so far, with the more promising being Xanthe (81p) who beat male rivals to make a winning debut for Richard Hannon in a novice over five furlongs at Ascot. She’s out of precocious filly Gilded who won the Queen Mary Stakes for her trainer’s father so it will be interesting to see if Xanthe develops along similar lines. Earthlight’s other standout performer, Xanthe’s stablemate Cayman Tai (84p), has found one too good in both his starts but has shown enough to win a race.

Of the other first-season sires to have broken their duck, Darley’s Pinatubo is the most significant. He was unbeaten in six starts at two, two of those wins coming before Royal Ascot where he won the Chesham Stakes, and at £35,000 he had the highest fee among this year’s first-season sires. He’s likely to make more of an impact later in the year but has a useful prospect with his first winner Andesite (92p), a half-brother to his stable’s 2022 Queen Mary winner Dramatised, who looked a Royal Ascot type himself for Karl Burke when beating other newcomers in a six-furlong novice at York.

Beaten a short head by Andesite at York was Yah Mo Be There (92p), a son of Sussex Stakes winner Mohaather, trained by Richard Spencer. Only Sergei Prokofiev has had more runners among first-season sires than Mohaather who is yet to get off the mark, but it’s surely only a matter of time before he does.

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