SADLY, the most significant stallion news of the week concerns the sale of Poetic Flare (Dawn Approach) to Shadai Stallion Station in Japan. No doubt he will prove to be very popular there, but breeders in Europe will not now have easy access to the best miler of his age.

Poetic Flare has the imprint of his owner, with Jackie, breeder and trainer Jim Bolger going back a couple of generations on either side of the family. The colt won this year’s Group 1 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes, was runner-up to Palace Pier in the Group 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois, to stablemate Mac Swiney in the Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas, and to Alcohol Free in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes. He chased home St Mark’s Basilica and Tarnawa in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes.

Two weeks after Gay O’Callaghan announced the retirement of Supremacy (Mehmas) to stud at Yeomanstown, his brother Tony has added the Group 1 winner Starman to the Tally-Ho roster for 2022. The son of Dutch Art (Medicean) gives breeders in Ireland and beyond access to a sire line that will cross easily with many of the mares in this part of the world.

Only starting his eight-race career in July of last year, Starman quickly ran up a sequence of three wins, including a listed race. He was pitched in at Group 1 level next time out and this was the only time he was out of the money.

This season, at four, he won the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes before defeating 18 opponents in the six-furlong Group 1 July Cup. He was denied a second Group 1 success by a short head at Haydock on his final start, having run third in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest.

Starman joins Mabs Cross, Garswood and Slade Power as Group 1 winning progeny sired by Dutch Art, and he and the group-placed Sunday Star (Kodiac) are the first two winners from their winning dam Northern Star (Montjeu). She is one of six winners for Slow Sand (Dixieland Band), the best of these being last year’s Grade 1 Arkansas Derby runner-up King Guillermo (Uncle Mo), winner of the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby.

Ubettabelieveit

There is a Tally-Ho connection to another piece of stallion news, the retirement of Ubettabelieveit (Kodiac) to Richard Kent’s Mickley Stud. The three-year-old is from a fast family and gained the best of his juvenile successes in the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster, beating Sacred and the Group 1 winner Winter Power. He was third in the Group 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Finally, Haras de Montaigu will stand Dschingis Secret (Soldier Hollow) next year when the 2017 German Horse of the Year will have his first runners. Winner of six Group 2 races, those victories came in the Grand Prix de Berlin, Prix Foy, St Leger Italien, Gerling Preis and two editions of the Grosser Hansa Preis. He was third in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Bayern and Deutsches Derby, and finished sixth in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.