Darley Q&A Part 1: the New Kids on the Block

The Darley stallion roster is ever growing and with five new stallions retiring across Europe, TDN's Alayna Cullen spoke with a few members of the nominations team about the new boys on the block.

TDN: How important is it to have new sires retiring each year?

Sam Bullard: We run a stallion operation with the aim being to get the best stallions of tomorrow. You can't get the best stallions of tomorrow if you don't have new horses coming in. The market moves very fast nowadays, and people are moving on to the next horse very quickly. And I think all stallion operations are looking for exciting new horses to come in. We only want to have horses that are capable of producing top-class runners themselves.

Dawn Laidlaw: There is always a lot of excitement behind the new horses so this year we are really lucky, we have two world champions in Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) so that gets a lot of people up here to see them and keeps refreshing the roster.

TDN: The new horses are an exciting bunch, but Sam I know you are particularly eager to talk about one of them who is that?

SB: Cracksman, the highest-rated horse in the world for the last two years. We're incredibly lucky to have him here at Dalham as a new headline act on the roster. Mr. Oppenheimer very kindly wanted to stand the horse with us, and Sheikh Mohammed fortunately was delighted to buy into the horse. He's a beautiful looking horse and by 13 pounds, the best son of the great Frankel, to have raced to date. So we're thrilled to have him.

TDN: What would you say were some of his best performances on the racetrack?

SB: Well, I think you can't deny that his two [G1] Champion stakes at Ascot probably were the two greatest days. Whether you prefer the 3-year-old or the 4-year-old race is up to you. People talk about them a lot. I actually refer to the [G1 Prix] Ganay as one of his greatest races. The ground was fast, the trainer would say faster than was ideal for him, but he put a very good field to the sword in a very impressive way on his very first outing as a 4-year-old in France this year.

TDN: Dawn you've mentioned before that you have a soft spot for one of the new stallions, which one?

DL: I love Harry Angel. Harry Angel is just, for me, a lovely horse. He's not an overly big horse, he has a little bit of Acclamation (GB) length about him, great color, lovely head, great eye and a great attitude. I just think he could be our next superstar.

TDN: He was electric on the racecourse. Can you sum up his career?

DL: He was just beaten, first time out, in his maiden but then he broke his maiden in the [G2] Mill Reef which gave him a TimeFrom rating of 111. That mark was a full nine pounds higher than his own father achieved when he won the same race. As a 3-year-old he was second in the [G1] Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot just behind Caravaggio (Scat Daddy). After that he came back in the [G1] July Cup here at Newmarket and reversed that form. There were a lot of good horses behind him that day, a lot of other Group 1 winners.

His next outing was at Haydock and it was touch and go whether he was going to run that day. It was very soft ground and it was a last minute decision after Clive had walked the course. Harry put up a really impressive performance that day, easily winning by four lengths.

TDN: He was bred by a renowned Irish breeder. What in his pedigree suggests he could be a great sire?

DL: Well he's by another great stallion, Dark Angel, but he is also out of Cadeaux Genereux (GB) mare, Cadeaux Genereux himself [being] a July Cup winner. So you've got a lot of speed on both sides of that family. His mother is a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Xtension (Ire) too, so I think there is lot going for Harry Angel.

TDN: David there is a son of Kitten's Joy retiring to Dalham this year. What can you tell us about Hawkbill?

David Walsh: As you said Hawkbill is by Kitten's Joy. He was a $350,000 yearling from Keeneland and he's from the family of Cozzene which has a champion turf influence on the pedigree, so I think it made sense for him to run in Europe. He had his international campaign on the turf which was incredible for Charlie and for Godolphin.

His most impressive performance, for me anyway, was definitely his third run as a 3-year-old when he won the [G1] Eclipse. He beat the likes of Time Test (GB) and The Gurkha (Ire) so impressively, it was an amazing run really.

TDN: He also had a winning campaign in Dubai. I'm sure that was a great thrill for the team?

DW: Yes, he won the [G2] Dubai City of Gold and then progressed on to win the [G1] Dubai Sheema Classic on Dubai World Cup night. Having winners anywhere in the world is important for Sheik Mohammed but having them on World Cup night is extra special so it was incredible for him to do that.

TDN: How is he going down with breeders so far?

DW: He is a really good looking horse. He came in from Charlie's about a month ago and he's just progressed and progressed. He's a good looking, good walking horse. He's gone down really well with breeders in the UK. We had open days at Dalham Hall over the Tattersalls December Sales and the horse that everybody's talking about is Hawkbill and how well he walks.

TDN: We can't forget the new horse retiring to Ireland which is Jungle Cat (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}). Anthony is he an attractive sire prospect for Irish breeders?

Anthony O'Donnell: I suppose there's a number of different lines of appeal to him. The fact that he's great value, especially in this current market, is one of them. He's the son of Iffraaj who Irish breeders have had huge amounts of success with when he retired to stud in Kildangan in 2007. We are very excited about standing him and also being able to supply breeding rights in him to British and Irish clients.

TDN: He seems to have a great mind and constitution. What would you say on those qualities?

AD: He has a fantastic temperament. He was trained by Mark Johnson as a 2-year-old and then went to Charlie Appleby at three. He ran 32 times in total and never had a lame step. So from a temperament and soundness aspect, he is right up there.

He's a good looking horse too. A lot of Irish breeders, who've seen him over the last couple of weeks, who have seen Iffraaj can see the resemblance between him and his father. So we're very excited about showing him to more Irish clients over the next couple of months.

TDN: You mentioned he ran 32 times. What were some of his career highlights?

AD: He had a very good 2-year-old career, being placed in the [G2] Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. He was also placed in the [G2] Richmond S. The highlight of his 2-year-old career would have been when he was just beaten a nose in the [G2] Gimcrack behind Muhaarar (GB). Earlier this year he won two group races in Dubai one of which was the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint, over six furlongs. He traveled to Australia this year too and won the G1 Sir Rupert Clarke over seven furlongs.