THE first foals by Twilight Son were extremely popular at the sales last autumn, with €95,000 paid for a colt and €68,000 for a filly at Goffs November, while at Newmarket in December a filly made 57,000gns, with 55,000gns paid for a colt. Not bad for a young stallion covering at only £8,000! Altogether he had 23 foals sold for €27,000 or more.

Very few future stallions start off their racing careers in as spectacular a way as Twilight Son, who retired to Cheveley Park Stud in 2017. Unbeaten as a two-year-old, he continued his winning sequence through to the next year’s Group 1 Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock Park, and when he sustained his first defeat in October he was second in a field of 20 runners in another Group 1 sprint. Then as a four-year-old he won the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot and increased his earnings to £725,151.

Twilight Son comes from a well established Cheveley Park Stud male line, as his sire Kyllachy, his grandsire Pivotal and his great-grandsire Polar Falcon have all been very successful stallions there. Kyllachy was the champion sprinter in Europe after winning the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes and he has sired 32 different blacktype winners, among them Sole Power who won both the Nunthorpe Stakes and the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes twice, and Krypton Factor, winner of the Group 1 Golden Shaheen Sprint in Dubai.

Twilight Mistress, the dam of Twilight Son, won three races and she is dam of seven winners of 27 races, including Music Master who was successful in the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury, third in the Group 1 Betfred Sprint Cup and twice fourth in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes. This family traces back to Selene, the dam of Hyperion.

Trained by Henry Candy, Twilight Son began his racing career in August with a comfortable win at Salisbury over six furlongs, the only distance over which he ever raced, before adding a Thirsk nursery, carrying 9st 5lbs. In May 2015 Twilight Son won the Charm Spirit Handicap at Newmarket by two lengths, with Magical Memory third, and then was an impressive winner of the Charity Sprint Handicap at York.

Rested for three months, Twilight Son maintained his unbeaten record in the Group 1 Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock Park, holding off Strath Burn, with Magical Memory third again, the 2014 winner G Force fourth and Due Diligence fifth, while Belardo and Gordon Lord Byron were unplaced.

At Ascot, in the Group 1 British Champions Sprint Stakes, Twilight Son firstly tasted defeat, though finishing a very creditable second to champion sprinter Muhaarar. Timeform’s Racehorses of 2015 rated Twilight Son as the second best three-year-old sprinter in Europe on 125.

As a four-year-old Twilight Son was fifth to Magical Memory in the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes at York, but then returned to his best form to win the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, with Magical Memory behind him.

TWILIGHT SON (GB). Won six races, £725,151, over 6 furlongs, 2 to 4 years including, Betfred Sprint Cup, Haydock Park, Gr.1, Diamond Jubilee Stakes, Ascot, Gr.1, also placed second in Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes, Ascot, Gr.1.

Retired to Stud in 2017, first crop now yearlings

Stands at: Cheveley Park Stud, Duchess Drive, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 9DD, England

Contact: Matthew Sigsworth or John Marsh

Telephone: +44 1638 730316

Email: enquiries@cheveleypark.co.uk

Web: www.cheveleypark.co.uk

Fee: £8,000