Amhran Na Bhfiann
Knockhouse Stud has been home to many leading stallions, most memorably Roselier, and this spring it will be the new base for Galileo’s son Amhrann Na Bhfiann. This 1.3 million guineas yearling was trained by Aidan O’Brien and won the Group 2 Curragh Cup, while also placing in the Group 1 Derby. He was bred by the Burns family at Lodge Park Stud.
This is an outstanding female pedigree, as Amhrann Na Bhfiann is a full-brother to the Oaks winner Was. Their grandam is the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes winner Park Express, and at stud she produced New Approach, Galileo’s first Derby winner and now a successful sire. Amhrann Na Bhfiann stands for €1,500.
Asymmetric
The stallion ranks at Joe Foley’s Ballyhane Stud is undergoing a lot of change in 2024, but there is great excitement about the retirement to stud of the speedy Asymmetric, who looks to be the perfect successor to another son of Showcasing, Soldier’s Call. The latter started his career at Ballyhane and his first runners in 2023 yielded an impressive 24 winners.
Asymmetric, who will stand for €7,000, beat two Group 1 winners when landing the Group 2 Richmond Stakes, and his placed efforts included running third to Perfect Power in the Group 1 Prix Morny. This female line is packed with precocity and speed.
Bolshoi Ballet
The Beeches Stud will stand two new National Hunt sires for the 2024 season, and one of them is the leading US runner Bolshoi Ballet. The son of Galileo will stand for just €3,000. A two-year-old maiden winner at Leopardstown, he returned at three to the same track and recorded a classic trial double in the Derrinstown Stud Stakes and the Ballysax Stakes. After running in the Derby at Epsom, Bolshoi Ballet went on to win the Grade 1 Belmont Derby.
He made a single start in 2022, but returned last year and ended his career on a winning note in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga. He won more than £1 million.
Bouttemont
Joining his sire Acclamation at Rathbarry Stud is the six-time winner Bouttemont, where he is exceptional value at €5,000. A winner over a mile as two-year-old, Bouttemont progressed into a high-class performer after being dropped to sprint distances. Winner of a Group 3 in 2022, he took his form up to another level on his second start at five furlongs when winning the Prix Hampton at Chantilly last year in a sensational time of 56.18 seconds.
Bought for €125,000 as a yearling by his trainer Yann Barberot, Bouttemont will be seeking to enhance Acclamation’s exceptional record as a sire of sires, being responsible for Group 1 sires Dark Angel, Mehmas and Equiano already.
Castle Star
Ger O’Neill’s Capital Stud is quickly emerging as a force to be reckoned with on the stallion front, and they have three new additions for this spring. Castle Star was among the best of his generation at two, the son of Starspangledbanner, also sire of State Of Rest, gaining both his victories in stakes races, the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes and the Listed First Flier Stakes.
Runner-up to Perfect Power in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and to Go Bears Go in the Group 2 Railway Stakes, Castle Star is from the immediate family of last year’s classic winner Chaldean, successful at two in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes. He will stand for €5,000.
Good Guess
It is fair to say that few studs have had the level of consistent success with their sires as Tally-Ho has done. For 2024 they are adding Kodiac’s son Good Guess to their roster at a fee of €17,500. Out of a mare by the acclaimed broodmare sire Pivotal, Good Guess beat four Group 1 winners, including Chaldean, when he crowned his career with victory in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat. That was his fourth success, a pair of them gained at two.
Good Guess is the best runner in his family since his grandam Russian Rhythm, and her four Group 1 wins came in the 1000 Guineas, Lockinge Stakes, Nassau Stakes and Coronation Stakes.
Hurricane Lane
Hurricane Lane was a powerful tropical cyclone that brought havoc to Hawaii during August 2018. It is also the name of Frankel’s son, born that year, who won three Group 1 races, two classics, and will stand his first season at Coolmore’s Grange Stud for €6,000.
Carrying the colours of Godolphin, this 200,000gns yearling out of a Shirocco half-sister to Group 1 winner Seal Of Approval, earned well over £2 million in a career that saw him win seven of his 13 starts. Having run third in the Derby, he won the Group 1 Irish Derby, Grand Prix de Paris and St Leger in succession before being beaten less than a length behind Torquator Tasso and Tarnawa in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Jeu Et Eloi
Part of the Cashman’s Rathbarry empire, Glenview Stud is home to Jeu Et Eloi, a son of leading sire Saint Des Saints. The 13-year-old is moving from Haras de Cercy where he has set firm foundations to his stallion career. He is already sire of the Grade 2 Ascot Hurdle winner Blueking D’Oroux, Grade 3 Prix Sagan Hurdle winner Kargesse, and three listed hurdle winners in Hano De Loi (also a listed chase winner), Nara and Hucello. Yet to win a blacktype race is Jazzy Senam, runner-up in the Grade 1 Prix Maurice Gillois Chase.
From the immediate family of the leading French sire Balko, Jeu Et Eloi is one of the most interesting additions to the National Hunt stallion ranks in Ireland.
Kenway
David Stack’s Coolagown Stud will be home to Kenway for this season, standing at an introductory €3,000. He will stand in partnership with the Chehboub family who own him, and also own and stand the Arc winner Ace Impact.
Considered by connections to be an attractive proposition to flat and National Hunt breeders, Kenway raced 38 times and over five seasons, demonstrating toughness and soundness. He won the Group 3 Prix la Rochette and three listed races, and was placed a number of times in pattern races. A son of Galiway (sire of Vauban) and a Kendargent mare, he is bred on the cross that also produced Group 1 winners Sealiway and Sunway, and Grade 1 hurdle winner Gala Marceau.
Little Big Bear
Ranked the best juvenile colt in Europe, Little Big Bear stamped his authority on that division when he won the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes, adding to successes at Group 3 level and in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot. He came close to a Royal Ascot double last year when he chased home Shaquille in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup.
As a son of No Nay Never, a phenomenally successful sire of top-class juveniles such as Blackbeard, Meditate, Ten Sovereigns and Alcohol Free, Little Big Bear has great appeal, with three of his first four dams being stakes winners, notably the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner All Along. His fee is €27,500.
Mac Swiney
New to the Irish National Stud at a fee of €8,000 is the classic and dual Group 1 winner Mac Swiney. At two he won the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, and went one better than his sire New Approach to land the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas. Fourth in the Derby at Epsom, Mac Swiney was also placed in the Group 1 Champion Stakes. In his racing career he accounted for the likes of State Of Rest, Lucky Vega, Mishriff, Poetic Flare, Adayar and Alcohol Free.
Like his sire, Mac Swiney is from the famed Jim Bolger academy, and is closely related to another star from Coolcullen, the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes winner Parish Hall.
Marie’s Diamond
Diamond Stud in Bellewstown introduced Marie’s Diamond for the 2024 season at a fee of €6,000. Ciarán De Barra is keen to show this son of Footstepsinthesand to breeders, as he had the constitution of a lion, one that saw him race for six seasons and start 65 times. At two he won the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes, and kept his form to run third to Triple Time in the Group 3 Superior Mile at six.
A half-brother to the Australian stakes winner and Group 1-placed Sikandarabad, Marie’s Diamond’s grandam is a half-sister to dual Derby winner Sinndar.
Mayson
While he is no stranger to the stallion ranks, Mayson is new to the Irish scene and will stand his first season at Reddy and Linda Coffey’s Springfield House Stud for a fee of €4,250.
The son of Invincible Spirit, himself a Group 1 winner of the July Cup, is also the sire of a winner of the same race, Oxted, who doubled up at the highest level when successful in the King’s Stand Stakes.
In all, Mayson is the sire of 11 stakes winners and 30 stakes performers, and these include multiple pattern winner and Group 1-placed Rohaan, and True Mason who was placed in the Group 1 Prix Morny.
Mojo Star
Breeders sit up and take notice of any stallion retiring to Ronnie O’Neill’s Whytemount Stud, and the latest to do so is Mojo Star. A horse who has always been close to the headlines, the son of one of the world’s leading sires, Sea The Stars, sold for 220,000gns as a yearling, joining Richard Hannon. Though he only won once, he was runner-up three times at Group 1 level, in the Derby, St Leger and Ascot Gold Cup.
From a renowned Juddmonte family, Mojo Star is a half-brother to a couple of stakes winners, and he shares his grandam Dockage with Rail Link, winner of the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Native Trail
The reaction to the announcement that Native Trail will start his stallion career at Kildangan Stud for a fee of €17,500 has been overwhelmingly positive, and little wonder. An undefeated European champion juvenile, the son of Oasis Dream won the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas the following year, and ran second in the English equivalent.
He also upheld a proud family tradition, as his first four dams have bred Group/Grade 1 winners – the speedster African Rose, the fellow Dewhurst Stakes winner Distant Music, and the American champion Vanlandingham. Native Trail won £1 million racing, and also annexed the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh.
Paddington
Coolmore welcomes Paddington to their ranks for 2024 at an introductory fee of €55,000. Here is a horse who caught the imagination of the racing public, and he looks sure to be popular with all the leading breeders in the world.
By the sire of St Mark’s Basilica and Sottsass and out of a stakes-winning daughter of Montjeu, Paddington won seven of his 10 starts, four at Group 1 level.
His victories included the Irish 2000 Guineas, Eclipse Stakes from Emily Upjohn and Sussex Stakes, while in the St James’s Palace Stakes he beat the classic winner Chaldean. One of the best newcomers at stud this year.
Pyledriver
The McCarthy’s The Beeches Stud has stood a lot of leading National Hunt sires over many decades, and Pyledriver sets off on his quest to join them in 2024 at a fee of €5,000. The versatile son of Harbour Watch won from two to six, over distances from seven to 12 furlongs, and his principal victories came in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Coronation Cup.
His dam La Pyle, a daughter of Le Havre, won twice and is a half-sister to the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Mont Ormel. A significant added attraction is that Pyledriver is a complete outcross for the majority of active National Hunt mares.
The Antarctic
Standing for a fee of €6,000 at Castlehyde Stud, The Antarctic is a group-winning full-brother to the brilliant Battaash. The Antarctic raced eight times at two, his chief victory gained in France where he won the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg over six furlongs. He found just Blackbeard too good for him in both the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and Group 2 Prix Robert Papin, and also placed behind his stablemate in the Group 1 Prix Morny.
In addition to his race record and strong female line, The Antarctic is a son of Dark Angel, one of the most consistent sires of pattern winners, and responsible for 15 Group/Grade 1 winners.
Triple Threat
One of three new additions to the stallion ranks at Ger O’Neill’s Capital Stud, Triple Threat moves from France where he has been standing since 2017.
His early runners are already showing class, and his winners include Grade 3 hurdle winner and Grade 2 chase-placed Sans Bruit, listed hurdle winner Rosa Kleb, and a pair of runners who were placed in listed races over jumps in France.
A son of the influential Monsun, Triple Threat won both the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam and Group 3 Prix La Force over 10 furlongs in France, and the nine-furlong Grade 2 Monmouth Stakes in the USA. He was placed at Grade 1 level. Triple Threat’s stock have sold for up to €230,000.