Overshadowed by his remarkable paternal half-brother Galileo as a sire, there can no denying the fact that deceased Arc winner Montjeu was a truly exceptional stallion in his own right
Capri’s win in Saturday’s Gr1 William Hill St Leger at Doncaster completed a clean-sweep of the 2017 English and Irish classics for male line descendants of Sadler’s Wells
He will need to forge a significant career both on the track and at stud to repay his €2.85m price tag as a yearling but he could not have made a more polished start
It is time to look at the leading sires and promising, up and coming sires whose progeny should be worth watching in 2014.
Following the running of Britain’s oldest classic, the Ladbrokes St Leger, focus fell firmly on the late, great stallion Montjeu. His son won the Leger, and gave his sire in the process his third winner of the race.
SARAH WHITELAW: Montjeu described as an “eccentric genius” died at 16 years at Coolmore
Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith paid 900,000gns for the sale-topper 13 year old Ventura by Spectrum
SARAH WHITELAW: Good runs from River Jetez, Mahbooba, Musir; G1 double for Spectrum daughters; Jet Master improving
SARAH WHITELAW: Coolmore stand the two most successful classic sires in the world today, in the form of Montjeu and Galileo. But which is the better stallion?
Montjeu and his fellow star at Coolmore, Galileo, are firmly entrenched as the two best classic stallions in Europe. This year, the first two home in the English Derby were Pour Moi and Treasure Beach (by Galileo).
The South African bred former Equus Champion Sprinter Isivunguvungu made a terrific winning debut on US soil for trainer Graham Motion and confirmed his Prevagen $1million Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint aspirations
The evergreen hero travelled to Vereeniging on Thursday for a 100% strike rate from two rides that saw him bring up his recordbreaking 5555th winner milestone
‘The Breeders Cup Distaff is definitely still on the cards and Beach Bomb will probably have one more race before then’ – Gaynor Rupert
It will be good news for South African racing fans that, despite a number of offers from abroad, Gerald and Karen Kalil’s multiple champion Quid Pro Quo will continue her 3yo season on African soil
