IN January Godolphin added to their team with the acquisition of a half-share in the highly-rated juvenile of 2018, Persian King. A member of the first crop of Kingman (Invincible Spirit), the colt capped an impressive juvenile campaign for Andre Fabre when beating the subsequent Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy winner Magna Grecia in the Group 3 Autumn Stakes at Newmarket.

Now the colt has made the perfect start to his second season, waltzing to a five-length win in the Group 3 Prix de Fontainbleau at Longchamp. Connections are considering a tilt at the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, bolstered by the fact that all three of Fabre’s Guineas winners on the Rowley Mile – Zafonic, Pennekamp and Miss France – won there as two-year-olds.

Prior to his part-acquisition by Godolphin, Persian King raced in the colours of the Wildenstein family’s Ballymore Thoroughbred. Furthermore, he is from a dam line that is readily identified with the leading French owner-breeders.

Persian King has only once tasted defeat, beaten by Anodor on his debut in a newcomers’ race at Deauville last August. The winner went on to win a Group 3 and run third in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc weekend. Persian King then produced two impressive displays at Chantilly before beating Magna Grecia at Newmarket.

In the week that Kingman’s daughter set a sale record for a filly of 850,000gns at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, Persian King has emerged as a very live classic hope. He is the second foal for his winning dam Pretty Please, a daughter of Dylan Thomas (Danehill). She won on her debut at Chantilly at three, and was obviously highly thought of as she was kept in training at four. Sadly she made only one more unsuccessful start.

Sent to stud, her first offspring is the now four-year-old Pretty Spirit (Invincible Spirit) who was runner-up on her debut, the best of her three starts last year. Consigned to the Arqana December Sale, she was sold for €150,000 – a price tag that could look a bargain in a few weeks’ time.

Pretty Please is a half-sister to a pair of stakes winners, Planteur (Danehill Dancer) and Pilote D’Essai (Oasis Dream). The latter is a stakes winner in Australia, while Planteur won the Group 1 Prix Ganay, was runner-up in the French Derby, and is at stud in France.

Despite siring 13 first-crop two-year-old winners, he has covered dwindling books of mares and his crop born last year numbers just 15. This is well down from the 49 two-year-olds he has, while the first two crops are made up of 150 horses.

Planteur’s unraced dam Plante Rare (Giant’s Causeway) is a half-sister to two horses who stand or stood in Ireland. Policy Maker (Sadler’s Wells) is at Blackrath Stud and this multiple Group 2 winner has made a good start at stud. His half-brother Pushkin (Caerleon) stood at Clongiffen Stud until a few years ago. Their dam was a half-sister to the Arc winner Peintre Celebre (Nureyev).

Last weekend, another son of Kingman made an eyecatching debut. Fox Chairman runs in the colours of King Power Racing and is trained by Andrew Balding. This 450,000gns yearling buy from his breeders Manister House Stud is one to watch.