Chris Hill brings us the latest bloodstock news and reflects on the action both on track and in the sales ring.

At the Curragh last Saturday, Kingman (Invincible Spirit) claimed his maiden Group One victory when producing a devastating turn of foot to land the Irish 2,000 Guineas for John Gosden, having perhaps been an unlucky runner-up to Night of Thunder earlier this month in the English 2000 Guineas.

The Juddmonte homebred is from a family that Gosden knows particularly well having last season trained Kingman’s half-brother Remote (Dansili) to win the Group Three Tercentenary Stakes at Royal Ascot. As well as training their dam Zenda (Zamindar) to win the 2002 French 1000 Guineas, Gosden also prepared her half-brother Oasis Dream (Green Desert) to four Group One victories and 2002 Champion European Two Year-Old and 2003 Champion European Three Year-Old Sprinter honours whilst the Clarehaven handler also has a two year-old full brother to Remote named Multilingual (Dansili) to hopefully unleash in the future.

Further back in his pedigree, Kingman is related to Irish Oaks winner Wemyss Bight - herself the dam of the four-time Grade/Group One winner Beat Hollow - the Prix du Cadran winner Reefscape, Phoenix Stakes winner La Collina and the French Group Two winners Bellamy Cay, Coastal Path and Martaline.

With a first success at the highest level following victories in the Group Three Greenham Stakes and Solario Stakes, Kingman became the ninth individual Group One winner for his Irish National Stud-based sire, Invincible Spirit. The winner of the 2002 Haydock Sprint Cup, Invincible Spirit produced a Classic winner in his first crop with Lawman going on to land the 2007 French Derby, but it is his daughter Moonlight Cloud who is his greatest offspring to date being the winner of six Group One races in all, two of which she landed in the space of seven days at Deauville last season.

"The victory of Marvellous signalled a milestone for sire Galileo as she became his 100th Grade/Group winner, by coincidence in the same race that his daughter from his first crop, Nightime, became his first Group One winner when victorious in the 2006 renewal."

Champion trainer Aidan O’Brien recorded his thirtieth domestic Classic win when Ryan Moore steered the tremendously well-bred Marvellous (Galileo) to an impressive victory in the Irish 1,000 Guineas, to bring the Irish master trainer a sixth victory in the race.

The first foal out of the Group Two Cherry Hinton Stakes and Group Three Naas Sprint Stakes winner You’resothrilling (Storm Cat), a full-sister to one of Coolmore’s greatest, the six-time Group One winner Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat), Marvellous hails from the further family of the three-time Grade One winner Dearly Precious and the Group Two Prix d’Harcourt winner Panoramic and being by Coolmore colossus Galileo is bred along the same lines as another of O’Brien’s Irish 1,000 Guineas winners Misty For Me as well as this month’s Grade Two American Handicap winner Global View.

In addition to O’Brien recording a piece of history, the victory of Marvellous signalled a milestone for multiple champion sire Galileo as she became his 100th Grade/Group winner, by coincidence in the same race that his daughter from his first crop, Nightime, became his first Group One winner when victorious in the 2006 renewal.

The Tattersalls Gold Cup on the same card saw Noble Mission (Galileo), the Lady Cecil-trained full-brother to the ten-time Group One winner Frankel, make all the running to gain his first victory at Group One level at the expense of joint-favourite and paternal sibling Magician (Galileo).

A Juddmonte homebred out of Kind (Danehill), who Roger Charlton trained to win six races from five to seven furlongs, Noble Mission is not only a full-brother to Sir Henry Cecil’s all-time great but also a half-brother to the Group Three Lingfield Derby Trail winner Bullet Train (Sadler’s Wells) and the dual-Listed winner Joyeuse (Oasis Dream), who had landed the Cecil Frail Stakes at Haydock Park the day before.

Another familiar face, the Corinne Barande-Barbe-trained Cirrus des Aigles (Even Top) recorded his fifth victory at the highest level when claiming the Prix d’Ispahan for the first time, having finished runner-up in two previous runnings of the Longchamp Group One.

One of two winners out of the unraced French mare Taille de Guepe (Septieme Ciel), the Jean-Claude-Alain Dupouy-owned eight year-old gelding is a half-brother to the seven-time winner Mesnil des Aigles (Neverneyev) and hails from the further family of the Group Three Prix La Rochette winner Banjer and European Listed winners Diagnostic, Lou Biella, Mokambo, Moyenne, Opus Dei and Selangor.

Now a winner of 20 races in all, 17 of them black-type, Cirrus des Aigles is undoubtedly the star performer by the late stallion Even Top, a dual Listed winner for Mark Tompkins and runner-up in the 1996 2000 Guineas, whose only other black-type performer is the Grade Two Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase third Diablo.

In the Group One Prix Saint-Alary, the George Strawbridge-homebred We Are (Dansili) maintained her unbeaten record when running out a comfortable winner under Thierry Jarnet for trainer Freddy Head.

The fourth foal out of Strawbridge’s Group Three Prix de Flore winner In Clover (Inchinor), We Are is the third winner she has produced to date and is a full-sister to the French ten furlong winner Elodie (Dansili) and half-sister to the dual- French Listed winner Dream Clover (Oasis Dream), whilst In Clover’s mating with Frankel last year resulted in a colt being foaled this February.

In sales news, the DBS Spring Sale posted impressive results with a total of £7,041,300 changing hands, an improvement of 41% on the 2013 renewal, with the average price of £17,049 and median price of £11,000 being increases of 16% and 22% respectively on the previous year’s sale.

Trade was headed by the six year-old gelding Operating (Milan), the winner of the Grade Three Punchestown Novice Handicap Chase earlier this month when trained by Jessica Harrington, who was bought by Donald McCain for £140,000. Two other lots made six figures with Kieran McManus going to £105,000 to secure Paul Nicholls’ four-time winner Aldopicgros (Tirwanako) and Doktor Glaz (Mount Nelson), a Kelso bumper winner for Rose Dobbin, purchased by Tom Malone and Colin Tizzard for £100,000.

Last week also saw Goresbridge host the sole breeze-up sale in Ireland with an Astronomer Royal colt out of the dual-winner Sentimental Union (Dixie Union) topping the sale when selling to Global Equine Group for €125,000. The six-figure price marked a significant increase for the vendors Mayfield Stables as the colt had previously been purchased for just €12,000 at the 2013 Osarus September Yearling Sale.

The sale’s second priciest acquisition was a Scat Daddy colt out of the once-raced mare Luxaholic (Macho Uno), who was purchased by Jamie Osborne on behalf of Michael Buckley for €100,000 and again proved to be a pinhooking success story having been bought by Friday’s vendors Grove Stud for $25,000 at last year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

At the close of proceedings, a total of €3,470,200 had changed hands, an increase of 44% on the 2013 renewal despite last year’s top price of €145,000 not being equalled, with an impressive clearance rate of 89% and both the average price of €22,474 and median of €14,000 being improvements of 26% and 27% respectively.

Jeff Smith’s star sprinter Lochsong was put down this week at the age of twenty-six following a bout of colic. Trained by Ian Balding to fifteen victories from five to seven furlongs, the great mare was a triple Group One winner, with career highlights achieved under Frankie Dettori when triumphant in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York and Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp in 1993 before successfully defending her Abbaye crown the following year.

On her retirement to Smith’s Littleton Stud, Lochsong produced five winners from nine foals with the Listed winners Loch Verdi (Green Desert) and Lochridge (Indian Ridge), herself the dam of last year’s Listed race runner-up City Girl, being her best representatives on the racecourse, whilst poignantly, her final foal, the well-named Swan Song (Green Desert) was victorious for Smith and Andrew Balding at Chester earlier this month.

Finally, stallions in the news include Danehill Dancer, sire of Classic winners Mastercraftsman, Dancing Rain, Speciosa and Again and Australian sprinter Choisir, who has been retired from stud duties due to declining fertility and the five-time Group One winner Duke of Marmalade, who is leaving Coolmore to stand at Drakenstein Stud in South Africa where he will stand alongside South African Triple Crown winner Horse Chestnut.

Chris Hill

Chris is a Pedigree Researcher for Weatherbys Ltd, the company that provides the majority of pedigrees for thoroughbreds sold at public auction in Britain and Ireland and who offer a range of products and services to suit your Bloodstock needs.

For further information please visit http://www.weatherbys.co.uk/bloodstock