THREE group winners in your first crop of juveniles is quite the start at stud, and hats off to Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact) who achieved that feat when Moon Ray won the Group 3 Prix Miesque at Chantilly, building on an earlier win and her second place finish in the Listed Prix Saraca at the same course.

This week we celebrated a 20th individual winner for Expert Eye (Acclamation), a feat that Saxon Warrior can also claim. These numbers are comparable with Harry Angel (Dark Angel) with 23 winners and Kessaar (Kodiac) with 20 also. What sets Saxon Warrior apart, at present, is in the stakes-performing department.

While these numbers are some way off the leaders among the first season sires, Sioux Nation with 42 winners and Havana Grey with 40, Saxon Warrior is keeping them company again when it comes to quality, that being measured by stakes winners and performers.

Sioux Nation has two Group 3 winners and another stakes winner, Havana Grey trumps that with a trio of Group 3 winners and two more stakes winners, while all of Saxon Warrior’s blacktype winners won at Group 3 level.

Saxon Warrior’s daughter Lumiere Rock won the Silken Glider Stakes and his son Victoria Road was successful in the Group 3 Prix de Conde and a listed race. He was due to run last night at the Breeders’ Cup. Saxon Warrior’s three stakes-placed daughters are Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Gan Teorainn, and the Group 2-placed duo of Rage Of Bamby and Thornbrook.

Back for a moment to Moon Ray. Purchased by bloodstock agent Tina Rau and trainer Nicolas Clement for €55,000 as a yearling at the Arqana October Yearling Sale, she is the fifth winning offspring of the Swedish listed winner Demeanour (Giant’s Causeway). The five now include a group winner in France, Moon Ray, a listed winner in Norway, Swedish Dream (Helmet), and a group-placed juvenile in Ireland, Moravia (Siyouni).

Arkadina

Breeders and racegoers in Ireland will be familiar with this female line. Demeanour’s grandam was the Group 1 Irish St Leger winner Dark Lomond (Lomond), and she, in turn, was a daughter of Arkadina (Ribot).

I remember the latter mare well, and being at Goffs in November 1981. In the early afternoon of November 25th David Nagle was on the rostrum. The senior auctioneer at the time, he brought the gavel down at a new European record price for a broodmare of 900,000gns, then the equivalent of $1.5 million. Consigned by Airlie Stud, the classic-placed Arkadina was sold to dissolve a partnership between Captain Tim Rogers and Robert Sangster.

She was in foal to Northern Baby (Northern Dancer) and, when the hammer fell, it was in favour of John Magnier who was acting on behalf of the property tycoon Patrick Gallagher. Arkadina also played a major role in the foal section of the sale, setting another European record price with her son by Habitat (Sir Gaylord). He was sold for 240,000gns.