THE impressive victories last weekend of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-bound Kew Gardens (Galileo) in the Group 1 St Leger at Doncaster and Flag of Honour (Galileo) in the Irish equivalent once again highlighted the continuing success of one of Europe’s most successful nurseries, Barronstown Stud in Co Wicklow.

Other recent high-class winners bred by David and Diane Nagle at Barronstown include dual Group 1 winner Simple Verse (Duke Of Marmalade), Group 1 Middle Park Stakes winner The Last Lion (Choisir), Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes winner Even Song (Mastercraftsman) and leading stayer Torcedor (Fastnet Rock) who is due to contest a Group 1 in Germany tomorrow on his first start for new connections.

In total Barronstown Stud, on their own or in partnership, has produced 28 individual winners of 43 classic or Group 1 races, the most notable of which are Generous (Caerleon), Imagine (Sadler’s Wells), Yeats (Sadler’s Wells), Septimus (Sadler’s Wells), Oratorio (Danehill), Wind In Her Hair (Alzao), Horatio Nelson (Danehill), Fine Motion (Danehill), Matiya (Alzao), Hootenanny (Quality Road) and Shahtoush (Alzao).

The pedigree of Kew Gardens was previously reviewed in this column, so this time I will have a look at the family of the Irish classic winner Flag Of Honour. The three-year-old son of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) is a progressive type and he set himself up for his most recent success with a victory in the Group 2 trial for the classic. Now a five-time winner from seven to 14 furlongs, he is a horse we should hear a lot more about.

Not for the first time the Nagles put their faith in a family developed by the Aga Khan and they purchased Flag Of Honour’s dam Hawala (Warning) for 280,000gns as far back as 2005. That was considerably more than she traded for four years earlier when Pheopotstown Stud paid IR9,000gns for her at Goffs, and she returned to the same venue two years later and was purchased privately by Tom Wallace for €8,500 after being led out unsold in the ring!

Her significant change in value was due largely to the fact that her daughter Slip Dance (Celtic Swing) emerged as a smart two-year-old in 2004 and her son Misu Bond (Danehill Dancer) was a juvenile stakes winner in 2005. Slip Dance has had further impact on the pedigree in 2018 as her granddaughter Awesometank (Intense Focus) won the Listed Distaff Stakes at Sandown.

Hawala has gone on to produce 12 winners so far from her first 12 foals, and with the likelihood of another to come. Her last foal is a two-year-old filly named Four Leaf Clover (Galileo) and she sold as a yearling at last year’s Orby Sale for €625,000. She is in training at Ballydoyle.

Flag Of Honour is Hawala’s first Group 1 winner, but not her first Group 1 horse. Her son Air Chief Marshal (Danehill Dancer) was a Group 3 winner and runner-up in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes as a two-year-old, while his full-brother Foxtrot Romeo (Danehill Dancer) was second to Power in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas.

Hawala ran just a handful of times when she was trained by Sir Michael Stoute for the Aga Khan. She won on her second outing as a three-year-old at Windsor and was the first foal of another three-year-old winner in Halawa (Dancing Brave). That mare went on to breed five winners, including the Group 3 winner Afaf (Spectrum) and the multiple listed winner Zack Hall (Muhtathir).

This female line has always been a solid stakes producing one, tracing back to Flag Of Honour’s fourth dam Halwah (The Minstrel) who bred the Derby Italiano winner Houmayoun (Shernazar). It is interesting to note that Halwah’s daughter Haratiyna (Top Ville) is the grandam of the 2017 Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Sizing John (Midnight Legend).