THE 2015 flat turf season will soon draw to a close, an annual period in which a flurry of announcements are made about imminent new additions to the stallion ranks.

The Charlie Hills-trained Cable Bay is on that list. The four-year-old rounded off his racing career with victory in the Group 2 Dubai Challenge Stakes over seven furlongs at Newmarket eight days ago and he will be on the roster at Highclere Stud in 2016.

Bred by the Irish National Stud, and a €130,000 Goffs Orby Sale graduate, he also won the Group 3 Timeform Jury Stakes (registered as the John of Gaunt Stakes) over seven furlongs at Haydock in May.

The races in which he has been runner-up include the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes, the Group 2 Richmond Stakes, and last year’s Group 2 Challenge Stakes, he is the second foal of his dam, and his record makes him easily the best of the three winners for Rose De France (by Diktat).

He is a son of the Irish National Stud flag-bearer Invincible Spirit (by Green Desert), and as that horse’s early stallion sons include the classic sire Lawman, the successful trio of Zebedee, Vale Of York, and Captain Marvelous, and the Australian rising star I Am Invincible, the prospects of all of his other sons look bright.

Those at stud, but still awaiting runners, include the Group 1 winners Charm Spirit, Mayson, and the brilliant Kingman, plus pattern scorers such as Kargali and Swiss Spirit, and this is a list that will grow..

There is a popular concept of a horse being a sire of sires, a term often used for one who merely has at least a few winner-getters at stud instead of the more narrowly applied label for a horse who has a good number of Group/Grade 1-siring sons and it is one that is already being applied by some to Invincible Spirit.

MARE’S IMPORTANCE

However, the term’s predictive value is limited as the male line is only part of the genetic picture and the distaff side of the pedigree can be just as important.

It is true that some top stallions have been something of a disappointment as a source of sons who would carry on their lineage, getting only one or two good ones, or even none of note: Habitat, Mill Reef, and El Gran Senor are three examples and they highlight the often essential role that input from that other side of pedigree makes.

Some stallions get their best results with mares from families noted for producing top class racehorses and/or strong broodmares, but whose males make little impact beyond their track days, and if these various types of distaff lines are the ones that most often click with a particular stallion then he may struggle to get sire sons of note, no matter how talented they were as racehorses.

None of these concerns should be an issue for Cable Bay and his supporters, as not only is he by a well-bred stallion who has proved that at least some of his sons can do well at stud, but the newly-retired colt comes from the immediate family of a multiple champion sire, one who is a son of his own paternal grandsire, Green Desert (by Danzig).

There are no guarantees, of course, and the pedigrees of the mares he receives will play an important part in his success, but being an Invincible Spirit horse who is so closely related to Volksraad boosts his potential.

Rose De France did not win, but several of her siblings did and they include both the Group 1-placed sprinter Ahtoug (by Byron) and the classic-placed pattern-winning miler Bowman (by Irish River).

Three of her half-sisters have produced blacktype scorers too and the most notable of the trio is Moyesii (by Diesis), who was herself just a runaway maiden winner over an extended nine furlongs in France.

MASTERY

Moyesii was unplaced in several attempts in blacktype company but she is the dam of 2009’s Group 1 St Leger and Group 2 Derby Italiano hero Mastery (by Sulamani) and also of the Group 1 Gran Criterium scorer Kirklees (by Jade Robbery), in addition to two non-winning daughters who have made their name at stud.

Magic Tree (by Timber Country), who was unplaced on her only start, is the dam of Mukhadram (by Shamardal), the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes winner and Nunnery Stud stallion whose first foals will arrive in a few months’ time.

Artisti (by Cape Cross) is the other one and although unraced she is the dam of the Group 1-placed Italian pattern scorer Magic Artist (by Iffraaj) and of a Raven’s Pass (by Elusive Quality) filly who made 420,000gns recently from the Book 1 sessions of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

The grandam of Cable Bay is Cherokee Rose, the fastest daughter of the Timeform 140-rated Dancing Brave (by Lyphard), 2000 Guineas, Eclipse, King George, and Arc hero of 1986.

She won the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock and the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, she was runner-up in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp, and she is a half-sister to the aforementioned Volksraad, the lightly-raced Group 2 Challenge Stakes third who went on to be crowned champion sire in New Zealand eight times.

Congress, a full-sister to Cherokee Rose, is the dam of the listed scorer Royal Intrigue (by Royal Applause), but of more interest with regard to Cable Bay’s stud prospects is her grandson Noordhoek Flyer (by Pivotal).

He won the Group 1 Cape Guineas, was runner-up in the Group 1 Cape Derby and the Gary Player Stud Farm stallion was a successful freshman sire in South Africa in 2014/15.

The third dam of Cable Bay is the Listed Lupe Stakes runner-up Celtic Assembly (by Secretariat) and her descendants also include the Canadian Grade 2 scorer Siringas (by Barathea) and the multiple pattern-winning sprinter Contat (by Diktat), among others of talent.

Her half-sister Molesnes (by Alleged) won the Group 1 Prix du Cadran and her stakes-winning dam Welsh Garden (by Welsh Saint) was both the top-rated juvenile filly in Ireland in 1975 and half-sister to the dual US middle-distance Grade 1 scorer Galaxy Libra (by Wolver Hollow).

Home And Away (by Home Guard), another of her siblings, is the unraced mare from whom the Group 1 stars Alkaased (by Kingmambo), San Sebastian (by Niniski), and Sajjhaa (by King’s Best) descend, and her branch of the family also leads to the classic-placed blacktype scorers Noushkey (by Polish Precedent) and Chesa Plana (by Niniski).

Further back this is the famous family of Mesopotamia (by Zarathustra) and Irish Oaks heroine Agars Plough (by Combat), but these horses are so distantly related to the recent Newmarket scorer as to have next to no impact on him or his prospects.

Cable Bay is by an influential stallion, his dam is closely-related to the multiple pattern-winning sprinter Contat, and his Group 1-winning grandam Cherokee Rose is a half-sister to a prolific champion sire.

His combination of race record and pedigree should ensure that he attracts plenty of support in his new role, and it would be no surprise to see him fare well among the freshman sires of 2019.