Iffraaj

As the 2022 breeding season approaches, we bring our Value Sires series to a close by shining the spotlight on 10 sires with their first crops four and older that appear poised to deliver breeders value. Though it seems at times as if the chasm between the elite proven sires and the unproven pretenders is ever-widening, driven by the often ruthless nature of the auction marketplace, there is still value to be found among the lesser-priced proven sires. We have opted to make the cutoff fee for this exercise £/€20,000,...

Godolphin's Forest of Dean (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) had finished adrift of Marco Botti trainee Felix (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in both starts this term and stepped forward to exact revenge on that familiar foe in Saturday's G3 Betway Winter Derby Trial at Lingfield, providing John Gosden with a record-breaking third renewal of the fledgling 10-furlong test. Successful in four of seven starts in 2019, he was under wraps until running third in a Jan. 11 Wolverhampton conditions heat on belated return before filling the same spot in the Feb....

Land Of Legends (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) provided a throwback result in Thursday's G2 Al Fahidi Fort at Meydan, giving the once-prolific trainer and jockey combination of Saeed bin Suroor and Frankie Dettori-together responsible for so many big-race moments in Dubai--their first wins at the 2021 carnival. Unraced at two, Land Of Legends strung together three wins-a novice race and a pair of handicaps--in the summer of 2019. He managed a pair of seconds in handicap company going a mile on the turf at last year's carnival and had not been...

NEWMARKET, UK—The popularity of first-season sires is no new phenomenon but it is a feature of the market which apparently gains more and more traction, and three freshmen were responsible for four of the top ten lots as pinhookers wasted no time in assembling their prospective yearling drafts for next season. The first session traditionally represents a quieter start to the four-day auction, which builds towards the better pedigrees on Friday. With shorter sessions throughout the sale this year, there were 135 foals sold on Wednesday, compared to 168 on...

Coolmore has purchased champion racehorse and sire Wootton Bassett (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}-Balladonia {GB}, by Primo Dominie {GB}) to join its stallion roster. The 12-year-old has stood at Haras d'Etreham in Normandy since retiring to stud in 2012. Bred by Laundry Cottage Stud, Wootton Bassett was a £46,000 yearling purchase by Bobby O'Ryan from the St Leger Sale in 2009. Trained by Richard Fahey, he went unbeaten through his first four starts in the UK before capping his 2-year-old campaign with a victory in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and thus...