European champion two-year-old Shadow Of Light (Lope De Vega) has been retired from racing and will take up stud duties at Kildangan Stud in Ireland next year. A stud fee will be announced at a later date.
Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, Shadow Of Light joins the Darley roster as a dual Group 1 winner, having become only the third two-year-old since the Pattern began to win both the Middle Park Stakes and Dewhurst Stakes. Beaten just once in five starts that season, when filling the runner-up spot in the G2 Gimcrack Stakes at York, he followed that effort with a four-length success in the Middle Park, before returning to Newmarket just two weeks later to win the Dewhurst by a neck.
Though unable to add to those Group 1 spoils in four starts as a three-year-old, Shadow Of Light proved himself at least as good as ever when beginning the campaign with a close-up third in the 2,000 Guineas. He was also fourth in a blanket finish to the Prix Jean Prat at Deauville, with just half a length separating him from the winner.
Godolphin homebred Shadow Of Light is out of the G1 Fillies' Mile and G3 Sweet Solera Stakes third Winter's Moon (New Approach), whose first foal, Earthlight (Shamardal), has stood the past five seasons at Kildangan Stud. He too was a dual Group 1-winning juvenile, having completed the Prix Morny/Middle Park double in 2019.
Winter's Moon is also the dam of this year's GI Summer Stakes and G2 Superlative Stakes placegetter Wild Desert (Too Darn Hot), while Shadow Of Light's second dam, the G3 Prix des Reservoirs winner and G1 Prix Saint-Alary third Summertime Legacy (Darshaan), has produced seven other winners. They include the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud hero Mandean (Manduro) and G1 Prix Saint-Alary scorer Wavering (Refuse To Bend), while another daughter, the unraced Hurricane Irene (Green Desert), is the second dam of this year's G1 Prix Morny winner Venetian Sun (Starman).
Sam Bullard, Darley's director of stallions, said, “Shadow Of Light hails from an extraordinary family packed with precocious Group 1 performers and his own record at two is simply outstanding. We are very excited to show him to breeders in the coming weeks.”
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