First-season sires Soldier's Call and Blue Point leading the way

By John Ingles

Horse Racing

Sat July 15, 2023 · 1y ago

John Ingles gives an update on the first-season sire standings going into the second half of the year.

This year’s first-season sire race in Britain and Ireland is looking a two-horse contest, with Soldier’s Call and Blue Point clear of the chasing pack in terms of number of wins – Soldier’s Call currently on 17 and Blue Point on 14 – while there’s not much between the pair on prize money won either, with Blue Point only about £14,000 in front at the time of writing (all these stats up to the end of racing on July 14).

Blue Point and Soldier’s Call were racecourse rivals too, meeting for the only time in the 2019 King’s Stand Stakes in which five-year-old Blue Point had three-year-old Soldier’s Call back in third, with the pair of them split by Battaash. It’s no surprise that Soldier’s Call and Blue Point are leading the way among the first-season sires given their own speedy profiles as racehorses and that both have big first crops to represent them – each has had close to fifty individual runners already which is a lot more than their rivals.

One factor which does distinguish the pair, though, is the fees they were standing for in their first season at stud. Soldier’s Call covered his first mares at Ballyhane Stud for €10,000, whereas Blue Point, also standing in Ireland, stood for more than four times that - €45,000 – at Darley’s Kildangan Stud.

Blue Point’s runners are headed by his impressive Windsor Castle Stakes winner Big Evs (Timeform rating 105p), with this week’s July Stakes fourth Thunder Blue (96) and the filly Needlepoint (92p), sent over to Chantilly by Amy Murphy to win a valuable newcomers race, his other highest-rated runners to date.

Soldier’s Call’s best two-year-old so far, Soldier’s Gold (91) has won his last two starts, including a nursery at Ascot this week, while not far behind on ratings are Up The Manor (89p) who was fourth in the Windsor Castle and Dorothy Lawrence (89) who hasn’t won yet but has picked up black type from placings in listed races at York and Chantilly.

The chasing pack are headed by Inns of Court, a Group 2-winning sprinter in France for Andre Fabre. He’s another with a huge first crop, his 32 runners to date totalling 7 wins between them. They are headed by the Irish filly Gaenari (91) who has been runner-up in both her starts, notably when beaten a neck in a listed race at Tipperary earlier this month.

Land Force and Phoenix of Spain have had 6 wins each and that’s a very promising start for the latter stallion in particular. Phoenix of Spain won the Acomb Stakes at two before going on to win the Irish 2000 Guineas, so doesn’t have the speedy profile of most of the first-season sires who have been quickest out of the blocks, and those six wins have come from just a dozen runners to date, fewer than all the other first-season sires who have had more than one win.

Phoenix of Spain’s highest-rated runner so far is Haatem (100), fifth in the Coventry Stakes, while Spanish Phoenix (92p) who was eighth in the same race and Spanish Flame (94p), winner of his last two starts in Ireland, are other potentially useful colts.

Invincible Army, Calyx and Ten Sovereigns are next with 5 wins apiece. The one to pick out of that trio is lightly-raced Coventry Stakes winner Calyx, who, despite being another with a large first crop, has had fewer runners than most with just 16 runners to date. But with two of them rated 101, Calyx has a couple of notable early two-year-olds. Malc was runner-up in the Norfolk Stakes, and while he didn’t repeat that form at Newmarket this week, by contrast filly Persian Dreamer improved on her fourth place in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot to win an admittedly weak edition of the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes.

Persian Dreamer is a useful daughter of Calyx

Invincible Army’s runners are headed by Chaturanga (85p), winner of both his starts at Redcar and Haydock for Archie Watson, while Ten Sovereigns’ runner of note so far is Inquisitively (91p) who has been placed in both his starts, notably when third in the Windsor Castle.

Even though he was champion two-year-old himself, Too Darn Hot wasn’t likely to have an abundance of precocious types but he’s off the mark with three winners to date and plenty more no doubt set to follow in the second half of the year. Alyanaabi (85p) and Fallen Angel (84p) have been promising first-time-out winners at Salisbury and Haydock respectively, while Son (85p) beat the aforementioned Soldier’s Gold at Newbury on his second start and is another set to improve.

Along with Inns of Court and Invincible Army, 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia is a third first-season sire son of Invincible Spirit with winners on the board. He’s had two winners in Britain and Ireland, but his highest-rated horse, Myconian (94), has gained his two wins for Amy Murphy in France, notably a listed race at Deauville.

Among those sires waiting for a first winner in Britain or Ireland is Derby winner Masar, though the Andre Fabre-trained Will Scarlet (84p) got him off the mark at Longchamp in June. Plenty of Masar’s runners at home have shown promise though, notably Royal Army (72P), a son of Yorkshire Oaks winner Punctilious, who caught the eye when sixth on his debut at Yarmouth.

Despite having only three runners in Britain and Ireland so far, Prix du Jockey Club winner Study of Man already has a winner with Deepone (86p) who looked a useful prospect for Paddy Twomey when winning a maiden at Leopardstown on his debut over seven furlongs in May.

High-class sprinter Advertise is the other first-season sire to have had a winner though he could have been expected to have had more than just the single success by now given he’s had 22 individual runners. That winner is Matters Most (84) who won his debut at Salisbury in May but has been beaten since in listed company, though Instant Appeal (87) and Serious Notions (83p) have shown enough ability in Ireland to suggest they’re up to winning races.

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