I think we can all agree that Juddmonte both know what they are doing and have an eye on the bottom line.
Last year they had two Group 1-winning Frankel colts with stud potential. Both have similar profile dam-lines and both are good-looking colts. One was rated seven pounds superior to the other.
You can't get in to the winner of the less-than-vintage renewal of the 2,000 Guineas the 119-rated Chaldean (GB) at Banstead, meanwhile the 126-rated Irish Derby winner Westover (GB) was quietly shuffled off to Japan without a whimper and I would suspect at a fraction of the €12million Prix du Jockey Club winner and his Arc conqueror Ace Impact is being syndicated for in France. Frankel's last son to win the Irish Derby is standing at Coolmore's National Hunt division for €6,000. There's your valuation.
Juddmonte know they would hardly get a Flat mare to Westover and certainly not at £25,000 because he is a mile-and-a-half horse and Flat breeders aren't interested in them, but the Champion two-year-old and Guineas winner is a different proposition altogether. We can also assume that Juddmonte believe that Chaldean is the better stallion prospect and they would prefer to use him for their own mares rather than Westover, who was by far the better racehorse.
Would Westover have won the same Irish Derby at 10 furlongs? As he only beat a Group 3 winner and a horse that never even won a Listed race (sadly the norm these days) we can assume so. Would he then have been worth considerably more? Yes.
So because the race is run at a distance that no longer interests European mare owners and, after all they are the ones that decide a stallion's value, Juddmonte's racing arm has missed out on the extra millions that a potential bidding war between European and Japanese interests would have attracted, and Japan has ended up with the better of the two Frankels.
The Prix du Jockey Cub is without any doubt the preeminent stallion-making race for middle-distance horses in Europe. The reason is simple. It is a 10.5-furlong race and a proven success in the stallion-making business since it became so. St Mark's Basilica (Fr), Vadeni (Fr) and Ace Impact (Ire) are the next three in line. All will be given a proper shot.
Westover is just the latest example of an Irish Derby winner who was both unloved and unwanted by European breeders. The present format makes no sense for owner, breeder, fan or even for the breed in Europe.
Shorten the Irish Derby.
Patrick Cooper, BBA Ireland
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