NOT only is the Juddmonte organisation one of the world’s great breeding entities, but when it comes to making purchases at public auction, their strike rate is enviable. The most recent example is the exciting Field Of Gold.

Upset in the stalls, and running very green, Field Of Gold nonetheless finished off his race well when beaten into third on his debut, and there was further encouragement to be drawn from the run when the winner, New Century, subsequently won a listed race. For the Gosden-trained Field Of Gold, the next stop was Newmarket in July, and there he readily justified favouritism against 12 opponents in the seven-furlong Weatherbys British EBF Maiden Stakes.

On Saturday he took another step forward, winning the Group 3 Solario Stakes at Sandown Park, and this is, significantly, a race that has been won by Too Darn Hot and Reach For The Moon, both Gosden graduates, in the past decade. While the smart Reach For The Moon did not attain the heights expected of him, Too Darn Hot most certainly exceeded expectations. Oh, I forgot to mention that John Gosden saddled Raven’s Pass in 2007, and Field Of Gold’s sire Kingman (Invincible Spirit) six years later, to win the Solario.

Signs are that the next step for Field Of Gold will be the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc weekend, and victory there would be no surprise for a colt who looks as though time will be a help to him. Expect him to take high order next year, no matter what happens in France.

Otherwise perfect

Kingman himself did not race again at two after he won the Sandown feature, but look at what he achieved at three. The only smudge on his otherwise perfect race record was to be denied a classic win by half a length in the Group 1 2000 Guineas by Night Of Thunder, a colt he had thrashed earlier in the Group 3 Greenham Stakes, and would later beat by more than two lengths at Royal Ascot in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes.

Field Of Gold is pattern winner number 53, and stakes winner number 87 for the champion and four-time Group 1 winner Kingman, and he must be short odds to become the Juddmonte sire’s next Group 1 winner. There are 12 of those already, and two of them are classic winners this year, Elmalka in the Group 1 1000 Guineas, and Sparkling Plenty in the Group 1 Prix de Diane-French Oaks.

Meanwhile, down Limerick way, Roundhill Stud owners Bobby Donworth, his wife Honora, and even their French-based son Tim, will no doubt be thrilled with the latest success for a runner bred at their outstanding nursery. Field Of Gold is the latest quality performer in a female family that has been good to the clan since the purchase of his grandam, the four-year-old US winner Princess Serena (Unbridled’s Song), for $150,000.

Nine winners

In the two decades since, Princess Serena is the dam of nine winners, a Group 1 winner and Group 1 second, three stakes winner in all, and is grandam of a dual Group 1 winner and champion, a dual Grade 1 runner-up, and Field Of Gold is the seventh blacktype winner under the mare. What an investment Princess Serena has proven to be.

For a moment, let me go back to Field Of Gold’s dam, Princess De Lune. A daughter of Shamardal (Giant’s Causeway), she was offered for sale at Tattersalls in Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale in 2015, and unsold at 300,000gns. Instead, she was put in training with Roger Charlton, and won easily on her debut at three, ironically beating a Gosden-trained, Shadwell runner.

Two starts in listed company were somewhat disappointing, and when Princess De Lune next appeared on the track, she faced just a single opponent in a novice race at four, but she was well-beaten. The decision to retire her to the paddocks was swift, and she travelled to Banstead Manor Stud for a mating with Oasis Dream (Green Desert), an established sire who would give her every opportunity to make a flying start at stud.

Given that the stallion’s fee in 2018 was £30,000, Bobby and Honora must have been thrilled when the resulting filly sold as a yearling to Shadwell for £450,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale, during the pandemic. Roger Varian had the training duties and Zanbaq won half of her six starts, and she placed at listed level. Excitingly, Zanbaq’s first foal this year is a colt by Frankel (Galileo).

Usual shrewdness

Princess De Lune missed a year before having her second foal, Lunar Eclipse (Night Of Thunder). Displaying their usual shrewdness, her breeders used the sire when he was standing for just €25,000 (he is four times that now), and they reaped a harvest when the filly sold to Avenue Bloodstock at Goffs for €350,000. Lunar Eclipse made a very promising winning debut last November at two, but has only run once since.

Field Of Gold is the third produce of Princess De Lune and, given the fine start made in the sales ring for her offspring, Bobby and Honora significantly upgraded the mare’s covering, and she went to Kingman who stood for £150,000. The grey colt, who takes his colour from his female side of the family, was offered for sale as a foal at Goffs in 2022, and Juddmonte signed for him at €530,000. He was the second-highest priced foal at the sale, and the top three were all sired by Kingman.

As a matter of interest, all three have already raced. King’s Charter, a half-brother to Group 1 winner Skitter Scatter, topped the sale at €550,000, was resold a year later for €650,000 to Godolphin, and has been placed, while Pretty Diva was sold to Japan for €460,000, and is unbeaten in two starts there and is considered a certain stakes winner.

Oh, and by way of an added piece of information, and emphasising my comment in the opening paragraph of this article, Juddmonte bought one other foal at that sale, a colt by Wootton Bassett for €340,000. This sibling to Arrest is called Detain, and he won on his debut two weeks ago!!

Welcome arrival

This spring Roundhill welcomed the arrival of Princess De Lune’s latest produce, a daughter of Ghaiyyath ((Dubawi) who will be retained, and Kingman is already booked for 2025.

In summary, as I have no doubt that this is a family I will be writing again about later this year. Princess De Lune is a half-sister to Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan winner Zabeel Prince (Lope De Vega), and a full-sister to dual Group 2 winner and multiple Group 1-placed Australian runner Puissance De Lune (Shamardal) and Group 2 Middleton Stakes winner Queen Power (Shamardal).

As if all that was not enough, Princess De Lune’s half-sister Serena’s Storm (Statue Of Liberty), is the winning dam of Rizeena (Iffraaj) and Summer Romance (Kingman).

The former won the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes (getting a delighted Clive Brittain in dancing mood), and Royal Ascot’s Group 1 Coronation Stakes the following year. Summer Romance was a Group 2 winner in Dubai, and was twice denied a Grade 1 win by less than a length, in the Diana Stakes at Saratoga and the Just A Game Stakes at Belmont Park.