THOSE who value precocious juvenile sprint speed will likely check out Armor, the newest addition to the team at Haras de Bouquetot in France.

The Richard Hannon-trained bay made his debut at Doncaster in late April and followed that one-length win with a fifth-place finish to Chipotle in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot, beaten by less than three lengths. Both were on fast ground, but it was soft at Goodwood on the day of the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes.

Any concerns that the ground might blunt his speed were unfounded because he put up an impressive performance. Armor won that race by three and a quarter lengths from Fearby, was favourite when a neck runner-up to Caturra in the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes on fast ground at Doncaster in September, and was only beaten by a total of two lengths when out of the frame behind Twilight Gleaming in the Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on firm at Del Mar in November.

Those were over the minimum trip, establishing him as one of the quickest members of his crop. However, he also ran twice over six furlongs, which he also handled with aplomb. He finished a two-and-a-quarter-length fourth to Perfect Power in the Group 1 Prix Morny on good to soft at Deauville in August and, one month later, went to Newmarket for the year’s premier English juvenile sprint race: the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes.

Perfect Power won again, but this time Armor was only three-quarters of a length behind. Castle Star split the pair, Go Bears Go was fourth, with Caturra and Twilight Jet dead-heating for fifth.

The 111-rated bay looked an ideal candidate for three-year-old targets such as the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes and Group 1 Commonwealth Cup, but he will be well into what should be a busy first season at stud by the time those races come around.

Armor is a son of No Nay Never, which makes him a grandson of the hugely popular and much-lamented Scat Daddy (Johannesburg). That top-class nine-furlong horse became a leading classic sire and while many of his best excel from eight to 10 furlongs, and US Triple Crown star Justify is one of his two 12-furlong Grade 1 winners, he is prized in Europe for his sprinters.

Armor, like No Nay Never, looks likely to get milers and some 10-furlong horses in addition to the inevitable array of sprinters and juveniles, and that adds to his potential.

Hestia (High Chaparral), his dam, is a granddaughter of the multiple stakes-placed Tadorne (Inchinor), which makes his grandam a half-sister to the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano scorer Pinson (Halling).

Three of Tadorne’s four stakes-winning siblings achieved the feat as juveniles, while another sibling gave us the classic-placed Group 3 Craven Stakes and Group 3 Solario Stakes victor Native Khan (Azamour), a successful sire in Turkey who has a string of local stakes winners plus a high strike-rate of winners to runners.

ARMOR (GB), Bay or Brown 2019. Won two races, £123,712, over 5 furlongs, at 2 years including, Molecomb Stakes, Goodwood, Gr.3, also placed second in Flying Childers Stakes, Doncaster, Gr.2, and third in Middle Park Stakes, Newmarket, Gr.1.

Retires to Stud in 2022

Stands at: Haras de Bouquetot, Domaine de Bouquetot, 14130 Clarbec, France.

Contact: Jeffroy Benoit, Sebastien Desmontils, Antoine Gronfier

Telephone: +33 (0)2 31 32 28 91

Email: nominations@bouquetot.com

Web: www.alshaqabracing.com

Fee: €5,000