ACCLAMATION (by Royal Applause) is still going strong at the age of 21 and it’s a fair bet that he will add to his blacktype tally over the next few seasons.

Although likely to sire plenty of stakes and pattern winners from five furlongs to a mile, he was not an obvious candidate to become a progenitor of longer-term influence, and yet he has emerged as a much sought-after sire of stallions.

His son Equiano has already got two Group 1 winners to his name and the late Harbour Watch has one, Aclaim (first crop are yearlings), Expert Eye (foals on the ground) and Mehmas (a freshman sire in 2020) are hugely popular, Lilbourne Lad has had winners at up to Group 3 level, and Attendu has yearlings.

Of course, it is the Yeomanstown Stud stallion Dark Angel who has made the greatest impact so far, and with seven Group 1 winners among 57 stakes winners he has passed out his sire’s figures of five from 52. He gets sprinters and milers, it would be no surprise to see him add a classic star at some point, and there is every chance that he could come up with a few sons who will excel in that role too.

Dark Angel’s array of talented offspring includes plenty who have done well as two-year-olds and yet many of his best hit their peak at three or older. It is reasonable to expect that we may see a similar pattern for some of his sons.

Lethal Force was represented by one of the best six-furlong juveniles of 2019 in Golden Horde who won the Group 2 Richmond Stakes and was placed in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and Group 1 Prix Morny. Alhebayeb and Heeraat have had plenty of winners, and are now blacktype sires.

Tough As Nails has winners from limited opportunities, Estidhkaar and Markaz are now freshman sires this year, Birchwood (has yearlings) and Harry Angel (foals this spring) are coming up behind them, and then, of course, there’s Gutaifan.

The juvenile Group 2 star stands alongside his sire, has more than 30 winners to his name already, and came within half a length of getting a first pattern winner when three-time scorer Graceful Magic was runner-up in the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes at Ayr in September.

Gutaifan’s second crop of yearlings made up to £95,000 in 2019, he comes from the prolific blacktype family of Maraahel (by Alzao), Ventura Storm (by Zoffany), Mustashry (by Tamayuz), Kayrawan (by Mr Prospector), Magical Memory (by Zebedee), and leading Australian sire Twig Moss (by Luthier), and he will surely get off the mark as a sire of stakes winners in 2020.

GUTAIFAN (IRE), Grey 2013. Won four races, £182,767, from 5 furlongs to 6 furlongs, at 2 years including, Fly Aer Lingus Flying Childers Stakes, Doncaster, Gr.2, Prix Robert Papin, Maisons-Laffitte, Gr.2, also placed second in Darley Prix Morny, Deauville, Gr.1.

Retired to Stud in 2016, and sire of the winners of 46 races, and £446,605, including Graceful Magic (GB)

Stands at: Yeomanstown Stud, Naas, Co Kildare, Ireland.

Contact: Gay or David O’Callaghan

Telephone: +353 (0)45 897314

Email: yeomanstownstud@eircom.net

Web: www.yeomanstown.ie

Fee: €6,000