Kildangan stud

Darley now have 22 sires on their flat roster across the UK, Ireland and France. The Irish roster for 2025 comprises the same nine sires who covered 1123 mares in 2024. This is an average of 125 mares per sire which is only slightly behind the average coverings per sire at Coolmore. Notably, Darley’s Irish sires were considerably busier than their 12 UK counterparts who covered an average of 101 mares per sire. The Irish roster is low on diversity with four sons of Dubawi, two sons of Shamardal and one each for sons of Galileo, Elusive Quality and Oasis Dream. It is a good roster but it would have been nice to see some new faces, more diversity in the sire lines and voluntary restrictions on book sizes.

1. Night Of Thunder €150,000 (€100,000) 16.0 1/2 hh (2011 Dubawi ex Forest Storm by Galileo)

Verdict: Beginning to rumble

Two new Group 1 winners in Economics and Desert Flower prompted a big hike in his fee. 2024 also saw him sire five other Group winners including Fairy Godmother who also seemed destined for the top and 12 Listed winners. Economics was bred at €25,000 and Desert Flower off a €75,000 cover so his good season will be a relief to breeders who used him at €100k in 2024 and 2023 in the expectation that his best days were still to come.

Night of Thunder’s first crop was exceptional, eventually yielding 22 stakes winners from 112 foals. His subsequent crops weren’t nearly as impressive. He had 17 stakes winners from the next three crops and surprisingly he had sired only two Group 1 winners in Europe (Highfield Princess and Thundering Nights) from his initial four crops. His career stats are good with 54 black type winners from 627 foals of racing age to the end of 2024 (8.6%). Physically Night of Thunder is a far from perfect specimen and it won’t have gone unnoticed that Economics appeared to bleed after the Dante and Champion Stakes. However, his yearlings had a median of €246,750 so the market has embraced him and he now looks set to be a fixture among the elite European sires. At his new fee he needs to be consistently siring 2-3 Group 1 each year. He attracted 130 mares in 2024 but with his best bred crops to come, he may be able to justify his new rating.
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2. Blue Point €100,000 (€60,000) 16.1 hh (2014 Shamardal ex Scarlett Rose by Royal Applause)

Verdict: Making waves
He has surpassed expectations and to sire three Group 1 winners in his first crop is impressive. Big Evs and Kind of Blue are sprinters but Rosallion was a top miler and the ability to sire milers makes a big difference to his commercial appeal. His yearling median in 2024 was €99,750 (albeit for a crop conceived at €40,000) so his new fee will require the market to show even more love. He has sired 13 stakes from the 281 named foals in his first two crops which is only 4.6% but that percentage should increase as those crops have their three and four old year careers in 2025. There are already an impressive 97 winners from the 158 named foals in his first crop(61%) so he will be popular with trainers. The question will be whether he can maintain his momentum? His two year old’s of 2024 included the unbeaten Group 2 winner Sky Majesty and a pair of Listed winners amongst 33 winners so that was encouraging . Racingpost stats show his progeny average winning distance is 6.5 furlongs with only Havana Grey of the top twenty sires showing a lower average winning trip. There is nothing wrong with being a sire of sprinters but commercially it matters. That is why the success of Rosallion was important as the perception that he sires milers may outweigh the reality that he is primarily a sire of sprinters.

I had my doubts about Blue Points prospects given that he came from an unremarkable female line, he was an atypical Shamardal in terms of distances and he was best at five. Now the fact that he improved with age, augurs well for further success for his initial crops. Its interesting that his dam is by Royal Applause who is now such a prominent feature in pedigrees via his son Acclamation and grandsons Dark Angel and Mehmas. At his new fee, he is pricey for a sprint sire but a fee of €60,000 attracted 161 mares in 2024 so he has lots of fans. He is clearly a good sire but he is fully priced for now.

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3. Teofilo €30,000 (€30,000) 16.2 hh (2004 Galileo ex Speirbhean by Danehill)

Verdict: Doesn’t pack the same punch as before

Next year will be the 5th consecutive season that he stands for €30,000. He has compiled a very credible career record with a current tally of 24 Group 1 winners that included at least one Group 1 winner in each of his first 11 crops the most recent of which is Nation’s Pride from his 2019 crop. He has 99 stakes winners (7%) and has a good reputation as a broodmare sire. His yearling median last year was €43,000 so there is little commercial upside off a €30,000 covering fee and that will dissuade commercial breeders. We know that statistically older sires are less effective but he would still have been a good option for a younger mare if they had considerably reduced his fee. I was a fan of his throughout his career but at €30,000 and 21 years of age he is now overpriced.

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4. Ghaiyyath €20,000 (€25,000) 16.2 hh (2015 Dubawi ex Nightime by Galileo)

Verdict: Big Horse, now a big gamble

His first runners resulted in 12 winners from 44 runners in a crop numbering 101. There were no stakes winners but Stanhope Garden was Group 3 placed and there were some promising end of season maiden winners. As a big horse who got better with age no one was realistically expecting two year old fireworks. He did enough to give hope that he may succeed as a sire but not enough to inspire confidence that he will succeed. His yearling median dropped to €41,626 off a €25,000 covering fee reflecting market nervousness. His progeny will improve with time and stars may emerge but given the modest fee reduction a cautious approach is advised for now.

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5. Space Blues €16,000 (16,000) 15.3 1/2 hh (2016 Dubawi ex Miss Lucifer by Noverre).
Verdict: Good chance of lift off

He had 11 wins and 4 places from 19 runs including success in the Breeders Cup Mile, Prix de la Foret and Prix Maurice de Gheest. He only ran once at two when winning a maiden, but with 109 two year olds to run in 2025 he will be amongst the favourites for the first season sire title . His dam was high class winning the Challenge Stakes. He is free of Sadler’s Wells and Danzig so he is an outcross option for many Irish mares. Normally I would expect a fee reduction for a fourth season at stud but perhaps because he attracted 177 mares in 2024 they saw no need to stoke demand. I fancy him to do well as a sire but as with any unproven sire that is only guesswork until we see the merit of his first runners.

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6. Native Trail €16,000 (17,500) 16.1 1/2 hh (2019 Oasis Dream ex Needleleaf by Observatory).
Verdict: Proceed with caution

An unbeaten two year old who won the National Stakes and the Dewhurst, he was runner up to Coroebus in the Guineas but gained classic success in the Irish Guineas. That proved his last victory as he had two further unsuccessful runs at three and no success from his two runs at four. He was reported as having a wind operation in the Autumn of his three year old season but that didn’t worry the owners of the 179 mares who visited him in 2024. Oasis Dream hasn’t a great record as a sire of sires. Showcasing did well but Aqlaam, Arcano, Muhaarar, Power and others all failed to make a significant impact. Coincidentally Power also won the National Stakes and Irish Guineas. Native Trail comes from a strong female family with names such as African Rose, Calyx and Distant Music all appearing on the page. As a dual Group 1 winner at two and a classic winning miler at three he ticks a lot of boxes for commercial breeders. I was still surprised at his popularity but time will tell whether he justifies that support.

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7. Earthlight €12,500 (€15,000) 15.3 hh (2017 Shamardal ex Winters Moon by New Approach)

Verdict: Needed a much brighter start
Earthlight , Pinatubo and Victor Ludorum were the three unbeaten sons of Shamardal who dominated the two year old season in 2019. Earthlight had 113 two year olds last season of which 62 ran, 20 won and there was a single stakes winner in the Group 3 winner Daylight. As Prix Morny and Middle Park winner, his progeny were expected to be precocious and the lack of fireworks provoked a strong market reaction that saw his yearling median drop from €75k in 2023 to €25,091 in 2024. Earthlight’s three parts brother Shadow of Light won the Middle Park and Dewhurst but his emergence isn’t going to change anyone’s mind about Earthlight’s prospects. It’s not inconceivable that he could turn things around, but if I was a commercial breeder I would be slow to spend €12,500 on that possibility.

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8. Naval Crown €9,000 (€10,000) 15.3 hh (2018 Dubawi ex Come Alive by Dansili)

Verdict: Far from watertight

Naval Crown earned his berth at stud courtesy of an unexpected victory at 33-1 in the Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. His overall record was four wins from 20 starts so whilst he had talent (he also finished runner up to Alcohol Free in the July Cup) he wasn’t a superstar. His female line is unexceptional and better judges than me have cribbed at his physique. All of those factors explain why he is the cheapest of the Dubawi’s on the roster. His relatively low price was enough to offset some peoples reservations and he attracted 118 mares last year. Despite Dubawi’s stellar reputation as a sire of sires there are still plenty of dud sire sons on his cv and this guy will have to outperform expectations to succeed.

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9. Raven’s Pass €7,500 (€7,500) 16.1 1/2 hh (2005 Elusive Quality ex Ascutney by Lord at War)

Verdict: Another Pass
He has good percentages for a stallion at this fee with 40 stakes winners (6%) but his best days are behind him. There are only 2 stakes winners in his crops born since 2018 albeit none of those crops had more than 38 named foals. He also had a bad year at the sales with only 4 out of 10 yearlings selling for a median of €3,755 and he attracted only 24 mares in 2024. Understandably, there will be no clamour to use him at an unchanged fee.

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Final Word

The stallions at Kildangan reflect the breeding ethos of our age. Only one of them (Ghaiyyath) won over 12 furlongs and it was his victories over 10 furlongs the endeared him to breeders, not his stamina. Three of the sires (Space Blues, Native Trail and Naval Crown) have yet to have runners and Earthlight and Ghaiyyath saw their first runners in 2024. They are heavy with sons of Dubawi . Unrestricted book sizes are the order of the day and its easy to see why research from Emily Hill shows that there is a 50% reduction in T:T horses (stamina) in the general population and a 70% increase in C:C (sprinters). It’s a competitive marketplace and Darley can argue that they are simply giving the market what it wants but they are also part of the problem as we lose stamina in the thoroughbred population and unrestricted book sizes narrow genetic diversity. There is a widespread awareness in the sector that big books, high levels of inbreeding, the use of unsound sires and the pursuit of speed and precocity to the detriment of anything akin to stamina isn’t good for the breed, but still it continues. Charles Warner’s quip that ‘Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it’ might also apply to the Irish breeding sector.