ZOFFANY (by Dansili) had a tremendous year with his first crop of juveniles and Coolmore Stud’s Group 1 star is already off the mark in blacktype company this season.

Washington DC was among the leaders of his generation in 2015 when he won the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot and then chased home champion Air Force Blue in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh. He made his return to action in the Listed Text Your Bets To Paddy Power On 51465 Stakes over seven furlongs at Dundalk eight days ago.

Quoted at around 25/1 to 33/1 for the Group 1 Qipco 2000 Guineas after this two and a quarter length success, he is also engaged in next month’s Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas, and his ante-post price for the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup was also trimmed.

It will be interesting to see whether he goes the sprinting route this season or steps up to a mile, or perhaps tries both options.

His two-year-old form showed him to possess plenty of speed, but his sire stayed a mile, one of his direct ancestors won the Coronation Stakes, and his relations include a classic-placed Group 1 star and a Group 2 South African Derby winner, among various others of note.

All of Zoffany’s wins came over six and seven furlongs, headed by the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes, but he was only beaten by a head in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat and he got within three-quarters of a length of Frankel in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes at Ascot so he clearly stayed a mile.

Indeed you would have expected him to be a miler or 10-furlong horse on pedigree given that he’s a son of Dansili (by Danehill) and grandson of Group 3 Prix de la Nonette scorer Dust Dancer (by Suave Dancer), and, depending on the mares, it is entirely possible that he could sire plenty of milers and middle-distance horses.

There is mile and middle-distance capability in the distaff side of the family, as I hinted above, but there is no guarantee that Washington DC has inherited much of that.

Bred by the partnership of Paul Hyland with Chris and James McHale, he is the second foal out of the seven-times sprint winner How’s She Cuttin’ (by Shinko Forest), a stakes-placed mare who was beaten on each of the few occasions when she went beyond the minimum trip.

Her full-sister By The Edge got all of her four wins over five furlongs, and although the four for their half-brother Like Magic came from six to seven furlongs, being a son of Invincible Spirit (by Green Desert) may have helped him with that. He missed out on blacktype when fourth in the Group 3 Round Tower Stakes as a juvenile.

The grandam of Washington DC is Magic Annemarie, a dual five-furlong and one-time six-furlong scorer by the sprinter Dancing Dissident (by Nureyev) and out of a daughter of Precocious (by Mummy’s Pet).

Her half-brother Escape Plan (by Key Of Luck) is a stakes-placed dual six-furlong winner, although her lowly-rated half-sister Appletreemagic catches the eye as both of her wins came over a mile, a distance more akin to what you might expect of an Indian Danehill (by Danehill).

Indian Haven (by Indian Ridge) is a classic-winning miler from a family that includes more pronounced stamina, and yet when he was bred to Escape Plan’s unraced full-sister Manuka Magic the result was Aspen Darlin, the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes winner who was runner-up to Serious Attitude in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes.

She was then runner-up to Lahaleeb in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes over seven furlongs and she pulled-up in the Group 1 1000 Guineas on her only subsequent start so we can only guess as to whether or not she would have stayed.

Annmarie’s Magic (by Flying Spur), another half-sister to Magic Annemarie, was well-beaten on her only attempt in a sprint, she was placed over eight and a half and nine furlongs, and although one could be tempted to ignore her as she was rated just 33, her stakes-placed son Magic City (by Elusive City) achieved a peak handicap mark of 102 with five of his six wins coming over seven furlongs.

If you were to look only at these first three generations of the pedigree, and those tend to be far more important than anything further back on the page, then you would doubt the ability of Washington DC to stay a mile.

But clearly it is not impossible, and one could say that of all these relations he is one of the few whose sire gives him the best chance of staying and even excelling at that trip.

So what of the top milers and middle-distance horses alluded to above?

TOP MILERS

The fourth dam of Washington DC is the Cheveley Park Stakes and Coronation Stakes heroine Magic Flute (by Tudor Melody), her son Lost Chord (by Busted) was runner-up in the Group 2 Gallinule Stakes before becoming a stakes winner in South Africa, and she is also responsible for Eagling (by Nureyev) who won the Listed Scottish Derby and was runner-up in the Group 3 John Porter Stakes.

Their winning half-sister Early Song (by Precocious), whose full-sister Magic Garter is the third dam of Washington DC, is the dam of the Group 1-placed Group 2 South African Derby winner Silverpoint (by Woodman) and of Group 1 Canterbury Guineas scorer Fine Society (by Marscay), and she is the grandam of Madam Gangster (by Al Maher), a seven-furlong Group 3 scorer at Flemington last year.

Magic Flute is also the dam of La Papagena (by Habitat), the unraced filly who gave us classic-placed dual Group 1 star Grand Lodge (by Chief’s Crown), sire of Arc and dual Derby hero Sinndar, among many others of note.

La Papagena’s many blacktype descendants include mostly milers and middle-distance horses.

One exception is English (by Encosta De Lago), the dual Group 2-winning sprinter who was runner-up in last year’s Group 1 Golden Slipper and in this year’s Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes, but La Papagena is that filly’s fourth dam and so her connection to Washington DC is remote.

There is clearly a strong speed influence in the immediate generations of his family, but the way he won over seven at Dundalk gives encouragement that this colt will stay the Guineas trip, and it is possible that this €340,000 Goffs Orby Sale graduate could be one of those horses who are effective in both the sprinters and milers divisions.