WHITSBURY Manor Stud is never far from the headlines these days, and at last year’s Tattersalls December Foal Sale they had another good result with their Kingman (Invincible Spirit) colt out of the winning Arcano (Oasis Dream) mare Arcamist. He sold to Alex Elliott on behalf of Amo Racing for 360,000gns.

That mare, bred at Whitsbury Manor, is the dam of two winners with her first two foals, and her son Dragon Symbol (Cable Bay) won five times and was runner-up in the Group 1 July Cup and Group 1 Commonwealth Cup, and placed in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes. This year he has commenced duties as a Whitsbury Manor stallion. In 2022, Arcamist’s Havana Grey (Havana Gold) colt foal sold for 250,000gns, and resold last year from Stauffenberg Bloodstock to Godolphin for a profitable 600,000gns.

Described by Norman Williamson as “the fastest two-year-old I have ever breezed”, Dragon Symbol didn’t actually race at two, but he more than made up for that at three. Only once out of the first four in 11 starts that year, he proved himself to be the fastest three-year-old of his generation. He won his first four starts, once over five furlongs, three times over six, and he was first past the post in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, only to suffer demotion to second place, with Campanelle being promoted to first.

Dragon Symbol’s consistency throughout his three-year-old season was notable, and he was runner-up on his next start after Royal Ascot to Starman in the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket. In the Group 2 King George Stakes at Goodwood he started second favourite to Battaash and had that star in arrears when finishing second to Suesa. That opponent was one place behind Dragon Symbol when the grey was third in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York, after which he was fourth in a blanket finish to the Group 1 Derrinstown Stud Flying Five at the Curragh.

Raced on at four, Dragon Symbol added a further win over the minimum trip and was runner-up to Raasel in the Listed Achilles Stakes at Haydock. Sold for 67,000gns as a yearling and trained by Archie Watson and Roger Varian, Dragon Symbol now returns to the place of his birth for stud duties. Ed Harper, director of Whitsbury Manor Stud, said at the time of the grey’s retirement: “In the helter-skelter world of sprinting it is very rare to find elite-level consistency, but Dragon Symbol put together a sequence of five top-class performances every month from the Sandy Lane in May to the Nunthorpe in August, marking him down as an exceptional sprinter.”

One of the best sons of Cable Bay (Invincible Spirit), Dragon Symbol is out of a winning half-sister to a pair of stakes winners, one of which is her close relation Oasis Dancer (Oasis Dream). Dragon Symbol retires to stand alongside Showcasing and Havana Grey, both Group 1 sires developed at Whitsbury Manor, and with Sergei Prokofiev whose first runner won the opening two-year-old race of the season in Ireland.

Race record

DRAGON SYMBOL (GB), Grey horse, 2018. Won 5 races, value £393,447, at 3 and 4, from 5 furlongs to 6 furlongs and also placed second in July Cup, Newmarket, Gr.1, Commonwealth Cup, Ascot, Gr.1, King George Stakes, Goodwood, Gr.2, Sandy Lane Stakes, Haydock, Gr.2, Achilles Stakes, Haydock, L. and third in Nunthorpe Stakes, York, Gr.1.

At stud

Retired to stud in 2024.

Information

Stands at: Whitsbury Manor Stud, Nr. Fordingbridge, Hampshire, SP6 3QP, England.

Contact: Joe Callan

Telephone: +44 1725 518254

Email: jcallan@whitsburymanorstud.co.uk

Web: www.whitsburymanorstud.co.uk

Fee: £8,000