FOURTEEN years ago, Lope De Vega contested the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Impeded by Duncan in running, he nonetheless disputed the lead in the straight, but there was to be no fairytale end to his racing career, and the André Fabre-trained son of Shamardal (Giant’s Causeway) headed off to a new career at Ballylinch Stud in Co Kilkenny.

He stood for the first two seasons at €15,000, and this was trimmed to €12.500 for seasons three and four. What incredible value that was. Such was the impact of his first crop that Lope Be Vaga was jumped up to €40,000 for year five, and any movement has been upwards since, settling at €125,000 for the last four years. He is one of the world’s best sires, and year on year proves the point.

Lope De Vega produces sales horses, quality racehorses, and is now making an impact with his sons at stud, and as a broodmare sire. He is the complete package, and a great favourite with owner breeders. The star of his first crop was Belardo, winner of the Group 1 Dubai Dewhurst Stakes. In many ways he proves all the statements I made earlier about Lope De Vega.

Bred by Ballylinch Stud, Belardo sold as a yearling for €100,000 and raced successfully for Prince Faisal and Godolphin. He also won the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes, and stood six seasons at Kildangan, moving in recent years to Bearstone Stud. Sure, he did not live up to the high expectations breeders and Darley had for him as a stallion, but he is a Grade 1 sire, Gold Phoenix, with a total of 34 stakes performers, and 13 stakes winners.

All but one of Lope De Vega’s European crops have produced a Group/Grade 1 winner, the only omission being his third crop born in 2014, and he has also sired four southern hemisphere Group 1 winners, notably Santa Ana Lane who won five times at the highest level. He was out of a Fastnet Rock (Danehill) mare, as was the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes winner Gytrash. Belardo was out of a Danehill (Danzig) mare, while Arapaho, Sweet Lady and Capla Temptress are all top-level winners out of Dansili (Danehill) mares.

Eleventh crop

The eleventh European crop by Lope De Vega is headed by the weekend’s Group 1 Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes winner Shadow Of Light, This Godolphin homebred’s dam was an obvious choice to be mated with Lope De Vega, as he is a sibling to Earthlight, a son of Shamardal too. Earthlight was the champion juvenile in France in 2019. He was unbeaten in five starts that season, two of them at Group 1 level.

Earthlight completed a Deauville hat-trick when coming home four lengths clear in the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg, before adding the Group 1 Prix Morny with three Royal Ascot winners in arrears. He made his only visit to England, for the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and won comfortably from Golden Horde, setting a new record time for the race. His younger sibling has done a Middle Park double. Earthlight added two more wins at three, and rounded out his racing career with a close second in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret on Arc day, beaten a neck by One Master.

A Darley stallion and standing at Kildangan Stud, Earthlight is up and running as a sire. His first crop has 13 individual winners in it, and the two standouts are Daylight and Mr Lightside. The former won the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg at Deauville and ran third in the Group 1 Prix Morny. Thirty-five minutes before Shadow Of Light won the Middle Park, Daylight was an honourable runner-up to Lake Victoria in the Group 1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes. Mr Lightside put up a career best performance when third in the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes.

Restricted

Due to health reasons, Sheikh Mohammed decided to restrict Shamardal in 2016 to mares owned by his family and associates. That crop, racing in 2019. contained no fewer than three Group 1 winning juveniles – Earthlight, Pinatubo and Victor Ludorum.

Shamardal is the sire of 29 Group/Grade 1 winners, but Lope De Vega is quickly making inroads on that fine tally, his Group1/Grade 1 winning sons and daughters numbering 23 now.

Earthlight is the first foal out of the Group 1-placed New Approach (Galileo) mare Winters Moon who was also bred by Sheikh Mohammed. She was trained by Saeed bin Suroor, raced just seven times, and won at Newmarket on her debut at two before finishing third in a pair of pattern races, notably behind Together Forever in the Group 1 Dubai Fillies’ Mile. Having such an outstanding runner with her first foal, Godolphin must have looked forward to racing her next three offspring, all fillies.

However, they were brought back to earth, Lunar Falls (Dubawi) raced once at four, and died at five. Callisto Moon (Shamardal) was placed five times in 11 starts, coming closest to a win over 10 furlongs at Mauron in France at three. Nonetheless, she sold well when realising €350,000 at Arqana in 2022, bought by BBA Ireland. The third filly, Snowfinch (Dubawi), finally broke the losing spell, and she won a mile maiden at Vichy last year on her second start.

The limelight

The emergence now of Shadow Of Light has put the family back in the limelight, and no doubt the Godolphin team will look forward with huge anticipation again to the two youngest progeny of Winters Moon, a yearling colt by Too Darn Hot (Dubawi), and a full-brother to Shadow Of Light who was born this year.

Shadow Of Light is a fourth Group 1 winner in recent years for the immediate family. Winters Moon is a half-sister to the 2011 Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner Mandaean (Manduro) and to the same year’s Group 1 Montjeu Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary winner Wavering (Refuse To Bend). The latter is dam of five-time winner Life In Motion (Sea The Stars), and she came agonisingly close to becoming a Group 1 winner last year, beaten a short neck in the Group 1 Prix Rothschild. Three of her five wins were at listed level.

Mandaean, Wavering and Winters Moon are three of the eight winners from Summertime Legacy (Darshaan) who was trained by André Fabre. Bred and raced by Sheikh Mohammed’s brother Maktoum Al Maktoum, Summertime Legacy won the Group 3 Prix des Reservoirs at two and the following year was placed in the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary. She was easily the best of seven winners from Zawaahy (El Gran Senor). The latter is also the third dam of a champion, Telepatic Glances (Pride Of Dubai) earning that accolade for winning the Group 2 Premio Dormello in Italy in 2020.

Golden Fleece

Zawaahy was one of five winners from her dam, the unraced Exotic Treat (Vaguely Noble). By some way the best of these was the Vincent O’Brien-trained Golden Fleece (Nijinsky). Golden Fleece was undefeated in a career that consisted of just four starts, with his most notable victory coming on his final run in the 1982 Group 1 Epsom Derby. As a yearling, Golden Fleece was sent to the sales and bought for $775,000 by Robert Sangster. He was sent to Ballydoyle where his sire Nijinsky (Northern Dancer), the Canadian-bred winner of the Triple Crown in 1970, was also trained.

Golden Fleece won his only start at two in a mile maiden race at Leopardstown, ridden by Pat Eddery and beating Assert. At three he established himself as a leading contender for the Derby by winning the Group 2 Ballymoss Stakes at the Curragh and the Group 2 Nijinsky Stakes at Leopardstown, again accounting for the subsequent Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club, Group 1 Irish Derby and Group 1 Benson and Hedges Gold Cup winner, Assert.

In the Epsom Derby, Golden Fleece took the lead a furlong from home and went on to win by three lengths from the future Group 1 St Leger and Group 1 Irish St. Leger winner Touching Wood. His winning time was the fastest for almost 50 years and afterwards Eddery said Golden Fleece was “the best horse I have ever sat on”, a view he repeated many times. Golden Fleece was retired to stud without racing again. He stood at Coolmore for just one season. but died from complications after intestinal cancer surgery in March 1984.