Dornoch makes it three for Gleneagles

THIS year's freshman sire class looked like a particularly promising bunch at the start of the season and, up to Wednesday night, there are already 15 of them who have sired at least one stakes winner in Europe.

Golden Horn has had two, and when Royal Dornoch won the Group 2 Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday, Gleneagles (by Galileo) joined Due Diligence and Night Of Thunder at the top of that list with three.

The mile star has notched up a double-digit tally of winners overall, got his first blacktype scorer when Southern Hills landed the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and then followed up with Royal Lytham's victory in the Group 2 Tattersalls July Stakes at Newmarket in July.

That colt has since finished third in the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh, Precious Moments was runner-up in the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes at the Curragh and Highland Chief picked up third place in the Listed Chesham Stakes at Ascot.

Royal Dornoch, who stayed-on well to catch Kameko in Saturday's one-mile test, clearly appreciated the step up in trip. He had been third to Golden Horde in the Group 2 Qatar Richmond Stakes over six furlongs at Goodwood but had only a seven-furlong Gowran Park maiden success to his name from six starts, which is why he was a 16/1 shot at Newmarket.

His entries include the Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster later this month and, of course, classics of 2020, and it will be interesting to see how he fares at three.

Gleneagles will probably get most of his best winners in the six-to-12-furlong range – the Derby distance or farther relying on a stamina contribution from the mare – and Royal Dornoch looks a likely candidate to stay at least 10 furlongs.

He is out of Bridal Dance (by Danehill Dancer), who was unplaced and never tried beyond seven furlongs, but he is a half-brother to Hawksmoor (by Azamour), who is by far the better of his two blacktype-earning siblings.

That mare won the Group 3 Prestige Stakes and finished third in the Group 1 Fillies' Mile at two, added the Group 2 German 1000 Guineas at three plus third place in the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary, and went on to excel in the USA.

She won a 10-furlong Grade 2 contest at Belmont Park as a four-year-old and the most recent of her pattern wins came in February of this year, aged six, when she landed a Grade 3 prize over eight and a half furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs.

Their half-sister Magical Fire was a half-length runner-up in the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes over six furlongs at Newmarket, but you would expect a daughter of Dragon Pulse (by Kyllachy) to show more sprint speed than a daughter of Azamour (by Night Shift).

Bridal Dance's siblings include Millennium Dragon (by Mark Of Esteem) and he was an easy listed scorer over seven furlongs in England before going on to become a high-class performer in the USA, earning a string of pattern placings include the runner-up spot in the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap over 10 furlongs at Belmont Park.

Their dam, Feather Bride (by Groom Dancer), won over that same trip and that mare's blacktype-producing siblings include Bubbling Heights (by Darshaan), the dam of J'Ray (by Distant View).

Although the daughter of a talented miler, J'Ray was a multiple graded stakes winner over nine furlongs and came within a head of taking a Grade 2 handicap over 12 furlongs at Gulfstream Park West as a five-year-old.

Her stakes-placed half-sister Dadeland (by Desert King) was a five-length winner over 11 furlongs at Ayr and twice successful over a furlong less, and their middle-distance stamina is hardly a surprise when their dam is somewhat closely related to the multiple Grade 1 star Kotashaan (by Darshaan), who appears farther back on the page.

Royal Dornoch, who set a wind-assisted new juvenile track record over the Rowley mile at Newmarket, is clearly a promising prospect who has shown marked improvement following the step up in trip.

He is yet another high-class winner bred by the famous Barronstown Stud and it would be no surprise to see this 240,000gns Tattersalls December Yearling Sale graduate go on to become a notable middle-distance three-year-old.

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Fiesolana off to a perfect start

NOT every Group 1 star on the track will go on to become a producer of note at stud, but Fiesolana (by Aussie Rules) has made the perfect start to her second career.

The Group 1 Matron Stakes heroine of 2014 was trained by Willie McCreery and it is he who trains her first-born, Tuesday's Listed Navigation Stakes winner Up Helly Aa (by Galileo).

The Flaxman Stables Ireland Ltd-homebred landed that eight-and-a-half-furlong contest by a neck from Pincheck, he was runner-up to Mohawk in the Group 3 Meld Stakes over nine at Leopardstown in July and could be an exciting prospect for 2020.

Fiesolana, who also won the Group 2 Challenge Stakes at Newmarket and a trio of Group 3 races, is a granddaughter of Danehill (by Danzig) and her siblings include Innit (by Distinctly North), a juvenile mile Group 3 scorer in Italy who went on to Grade 2 success over 10 furlongs in California.

She is also a half-sister to the French Grade 1 hurdle winners Tidara Angel (by Oratorio) and Tidal Fury (by Night Shift), both of whom showed more stamina than might have been expected for this speedy American distaff line.

Their dam, Tidal Reach (by Kris S), is a half-sister to the Grade 2-placed prolific stakes winner Davie's Lamb (by Unpredictable) and related to some sprinters.

Fiesolana's two-year-old filly Innervisions (by Dubawi) has been placed, she has a yearling full-sister to Up Helly Aa and had a Dubawi (by Dubai Millennium) colt in late March of this year. Her potential as a broodmare of note looks bright.