SNOW Sky overcame the handicap of having his first runners appear during the period when the pandemic restricted point-to-points and racing, but he has well and truly made up for it with a host of winners between the flags, and now they are transferring that success to the racecourse.

At the recent Goffs UK Aintree Sale, Snow Sky’s four-year-old point-to-point winning son Parish Quiz sold to Rebecca Menzies for £100,000. Little wonder that she would be attracted to a son of Snow Sky, as she trains another son Twoshotsoftequila who has earned more than £50,000 with four wins to date. It will not be long before he gets his first blacktype performers.

Snow Sky was trained by Sir Michael Stoute and the son of Nashwan (Blushing Groom) and Unfuwain’s (Northern Dancer) top-class half-brother Nayef (Gulch) was an 11-length winner of a one-mile maiden on heavy ground on his penultimate start at two. His first blacktype success came when he beat the subsequent multiple Group 1 star Hartnell in the Listed Derby Trial Stakes at Lingfield. That was just over two months before Snow Sky landed the Group 3 Gordon Stakes at Goodwood.

He then chased home future Group 1 star Postponed in the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes, finished third to Kingston Hill in the Group 1 St Leger. and returned to action as a four-year-old, adding wins in the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup (from Brown Panther) and Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes.

Snow Sky is a full-brother to Ice Breeze, who won the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak, Group 2 Prix Chaudenay and Group 2 Prix Hocquart before taking up stallion duties. Winter Silence (Dansili), their stakes-placed dam, is a winning half-sister to the Group 1 Sheema Classic winner Polish Summer (Polish Precedent), sire of the multiple National Hunt Grade 3 scorer Toner D’Oudairies and a French Grade 2 winner. Their half-brother Meteor Storm (Bigstone) won the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap in the USA.

Winter Silence is a daughter of Hunt The Sun (Rainbow Quest). That mare is a full-sister to the triple Group 1 stars Raintrap and Sunshack, both of whom have sired winners under National Hunt rules, and like Ice Breeze, both won the Prix Royal-Oak.

Raintrap’s other top-level wins came at Woodbine and Santa Anita, whereas Sunshack’s other two were the Coronation Cup and Criterium de Saint-Cloud.

Race record

SNOW SKY (GB), Bay 2011. Won five races, £490,061, from 1 mile to 1 mile 6 furlongs, 2 to 4 years including, Betway Yorkshire Cup, York, Gr.2, Hardwicke Stakes, Ascot, Gr.2, Neptune Investment Gordon Stakes, Goodwood, Gr.3, betfred.com Derby Trial Stakes, Lingfield Park, L, also placed second in Neptune Great Voltigeur Stakes, York, Gr.2, and third in Ladbrokes St Leger Stakes, Doncaster, Gr.1.

At stud

Retired to stud in 2016, and sire of 5 winners, of 9 races, and £129,397, including Twoshotsoftequila (Ire), Snowy Evening (Ire), Glencorrib Sky (Ire), Miranda Priestly (Ire), and Disco Dancer (Ire).

Information

Stands at: Ballycurragh Stud, Ballycurragh, Rathoe, Co Carlow, R93 K611, Ireland.

Contact: Willie or Jim Murphy, and Moira McElligott

Telephone: +353 59 9148621, +353 87 7707305(Jim), +353 (87 2216994 (Willie) or +353 87 9295219 (Moira)

Email: ballycurragh@gmail.com

Fee: Private