If ever a sire line has come to prominence in recent times, it is that of confirmed speed influence Acclamation.
In contrast to heavyweights of the modern era in Galileo, Sea The Stars and Dubawi, who have stamped their authority in classic spheres with excellent support from leading breeders, this bona fide breed shaper rose from far humbler beginnings.
Expert Eye at the entrance to the Paardeberg stallion barn (Pic – Romi Bettison)
Acclamation died at the end of 2024, just weeks after his retirement from a storied stallion career spanning two decades.
He has left close on 160 black-type performers, which include the Gr1 winning sprinters Marsha (Nunthorpe Stakes), Equiano (King’s Stand Stakes), Dark Angel (Middle Park Stakes) and Makarova (Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp), the Gr1 winning miler Expert Eye, as well as a contemporary great in the Hong Kong-based gelding Romantic Warrior, a rare three-time winner of the Gr1 Queen Elizabeth Cup (a race won by London News), as well as the prestigious Gr1 W S Cox Plate in Melbourne.
However, it is as a sire of sires that Acclamation has made his mark, to the extent that several of them have risen to elite status as stallions, notably Dark Angel and Mehmas.
In fact, the former, who hailed from his sire’s fledgeling crop, elevated himself from top-class sire to Britain and Ireland’s champion sire of 2024.
Given that South Africa’s racing programme favours speed and precocity over stamina, it remains a mystery why local breeders failed to delve into this sire line.
That is, until Paardeberg Stud took cognizance of Acclamation’s ever-growing stature and had the foresight to snap up his Gr1 winning son, Expert Eye.
At only his second juvenile start, he won the Gr2 Vintage Stakes over1400m at Goodwood. Thereafter he was only beaten two lengths in the Gr1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.
Trainer Michael Stoute had high praise for the colt, describing him as “the best two-year-old I’ve had for a while.”
In his seasonal sophomore debut he ran second, beaten just under a length in the Gr3 Greenham Stakes, before finishing 3,50 lengths behind Saxon Warrior in the English 2000 Guineas.
Expert Eye relaxes in his paddock (Pic – Romi Bettison)
Expert Eye next claimed the Gr3 Jersey Stakes over 1400m at Royal Ascot, by the biggest margin this century. In his next start he ran second in the Gr1 Sussex Stakes over the Goodwood mile.
Within a month he went on to win the Gr3 City Of York Stakes, a race which has since been upgraded to Gr1 level. Within two weeks, Expert Eye travelled to France, where he finished third in the Gr1 Prix du Moulin at Longchamp.
Expert Eye then travelled to the USA where he won the Gr1 Breeders Cup Turf Mile. He is Acclamation’s only son to have scored a Gr1 over that distance. Timeform rated him 124, which not only puts him in the company of champion Vercingetorix, it is also superior to the likes of Foveros, Var and Trippi.
A product of the acclaimed Juddmonte Farms, Expert Eye arrived in South Africa having spent five years at birthplace Banford Manor Stud, where he stood alongside the well supported powerhouse sires Frankel, Kingman and Oasis Dream.
True to his sire-line, his progeny are precocious.
He has sired 51 individual two-year-old winners in his first three crops, including the juvenile stakes winners Snellen and Juniper Berries. The former defeated colts in the Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot, whilst Juniper Berries claimed the Gr3 Dicke Poole Fillies’ Stakes.
Witness Stand – a son of Expert Eye (Pic – Supplied)
The gelded Witness Stand, a six-length maiden winner, placed at Gr2 and Gr3 level as a juvenile before claiming Newbury’s Listed Dubai Duty Free at three.
Expert Eye’s third crop includes Nesthorn, runner-up in last season’s Gr3 Prix des Chenes at just his second start and Rock Hunter, a winner first time out in France before running second in Sandown’s Listed National Stakes next time out.
While his progeny display plenty of zip up to a mile, Expert Eye’s first-crop daughter Entrancement flashed her stamina with back-to-back victories in the Listed Beckford Stakes and Gr3 Prix Belle de Nuit, both over 2800m. Those achievements saw her fetch 120,000 guineas at last year’s Tattersalls December Sale.
Well supported in his first season at Paardeberg Stud, Expert Eye covered many quality mares which includes proven stakes producers Mina Salaam (dam of Gr1-placed Gr3 winning sprinter True To Life), Gr2 Oaks winner Princess Of Light (dam of stakes winner Gentleman’s Wager), Gr2-placed Mrs O (dam of stakes-placed Priscilla Maisey), Gr3-placed Izora (dam of stakes winner Ice Star) and Stormin Cat (dam of stakes-placed Emerald Band and Sahara Cat), as well as the Gr1 winner Zirconeum, Gr2 winner Bold Fortune and the stakes performers Comtesse Dubois, What A Player and Electric Surge.
Young Paardeberg acquisitions which visited him for the first time included Gr2 Golden Slipper winner Love Bomb, Gr3 Poinsettia Stakes victress Marigold Hotel, as well as the stakes winners And We Danced and Ripple Effect.
From a pedigree perspective, Paardeberg Stud co-owner and stud manager Sally Bruss made some interesting observations as to which mares would suit Expert Eye: “He has a high strike rate when mated to mares by Oasis Dream, so Querari fillies could suit. Also, mares with Danehill or from the Gone West sire line.”
For those who favour inbreeding, note that Expert Eye’s damsire Dansili is a full-brother to champion Banks Hill, the dam of Mauritzfontein-based Ideal World.
A Gr1 winner and performer in the USA and Europe and the second-highest earning son of Acclamation on the track after the great Romantic Warrior, he is a proven stallion of precocious two-year-olds who are now showing they train on.
At a covering fee of R25 000 (R5000 plus R20 000 live foal), what’s not to like about Expert Eye!
Blessed with a wonderful temperament, he is a good boned, very well-topped horse, with a lovely length of rein and offers South African breeders access to an invigorating new bloodline.
