Andrew Caulfield Apr. 22

NOVAE BLOODSTOCK INSURANCE CRAVEN S.-G3, £65,000, NKT, 4-17, 3yo, c/g, 8fT, 1:35.42, gd. 
1–TOORMORE (IRE), 129, c, 3, by Arakan
     1st Dam: Danetime Out (Ire), by Danetime (Ire)
     2nd Dam: Matila (Ire), by Persian Bold (Ire)
     3rd Dam: Peace Girl (GB), by Dominion (GB)
(£36,000 yrl ‘12 DONAUG) O-Middleham Park Racing 
IX & James Pak; B-Bec Bloodstock; T-Richard 
Hannon; J-Ryan Moore; £36,862. Lifetime Record: 
G1SW-Ire, 4-4-0-0, £177,908. Werk Nick Rating: B. 
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click
for the Racing Post resulthttps://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/members/video/equidia.cfm?id=1054. VIDEO, courtesy Racing UK. 
    Imagine one of today’s stallions achieving 17% black-type winners, nearly 10% graded winners and a lifetime Average Earnings Index of 3.49. Sadly, in these days of the mega-book of mares, such remarkable achievements now seem totally out of reach. Yet those figures were the legacy of the brilliant Nureyev, who died as recently as 2001. 
    Of course Nureyev wasn’t alone in setting such high standards. For example, the Blood-Horse Stallion Register for 1997 carried a table of leading sires by lifetime AEI, on which Nureyev ranked fourth with an AEI of 4.47. Ahead of him were Danzig, Seattle Slew and Mr. Prospector and fifth position was taken by Storm Cat. 
    Nureyev was the odd one out among this collection of superstars in that he alone failed to sire a champion sire in the U.S. or Britain and Ireland. This came as something of a surprise after Theatrical, a member of his first crop, proved a very dependable source of GI winners. Even the Coolmore/Ashford coalition didn’t have a whole lot to show for standing Nureyev’s G1-winning sons Peintre Celebre, Stravinsky, Fasliyev, Spinning World and King Charlemagne, although Peintre Celebre has a respectable total of nine G1 winners. 
    Altogether some 20 sons have been represented by a northern hemisphere G1 winner, with those meriting mention including Soviet Star, a sire of seven G1 winners, and Polar Falcon, who is arguably giving the Nureyev male line its best chance of survival, through his son Pivotal. 
    The 20 also include a couple of surprise packages. Although Unusual Heat didn’t make his debut as a stallion until he was eight, following a career which lacked a graded win, he reeled off six consecutive sires’ championships in California, thanks partly to his Eclipse Award-winning son Acclamation and to three other 
GI winners. 
    Then there is Arakan, whose services still cost no more than €5,000 at Ballyhane Stud in Ireland, even though his son Toormore was officially rated last year’s champion European 2-year-old. Toormore kept his unbeaten record intact last week when he made much of the running under co-top weight in the G3 Craven S. The laid-back Toormore will now attempt to win the 2,000 Guineas – a race also featured on the agenda of two other sons of Arakan from the Hannon stable. The first, Dick Turpin, was second to Makfi in the 2010 Newmarket classic and the second, the dual G2 winner Trumpet Major, finished fourth to Camelot in the 2012 race, after winning the Craven S. 
    This sequence of high-class sons is all the more remarkable in view of the fact that Arakan struggled for support after enjoying the customary flush of popularity in his first season. That first crop, born in 2007, numbered 108 foals but the figures fell to 39 in 2008, 15 in 2009 and 17 in 2010. Toormore is one of 50 members of Arakan’s fifth crop and the sixth numbers only 36, even though it was sired after Dick Turpin had highlighted Arakan’s potential. 
    Breeders could be forgiven for thinking that Dick Turpin was a fluke – a flash in the pan – but Trumpet Major helped dismiss such thoughts and Arakan covered 216 mares in 2012 (for 126 reported foals) and 127 in 2013. 
    Crops numbering as few as 15 and 17 foals would normally sound the death knell for a stallion’s career, but not with Arakan. Trumpet Major was among the 15 2009 foals and one of the 17 2010 progeny is Sruthan. This gelding ended 2013 with victory in the G3 Concorde S. before starting the current campaign with another G3 success in the Gladness S. With Toormore coming from his fifth crop, Arakan has sired a group winner in four of his first five crops, totalling 229 foals. 
    While that hardly equates to Nureyev-like statistics, it mustn’t be forgotten that Nureyev enjoyed support from the bloodstock world’s top breeders from the very start, whereas Arakan has spent most of his career at fees lower than €5,000 – as low as €3,000 in 2012. Consequently it comes as little surprise that he sired Toormore and Trumpet Major from unraced mares, Sruthan from a mare who finished towards the rear in both her races and Dick Turpin from a filly who failed to win in 12 attempts. Inevitably there are some more accomplished mares further back in these Group winners’ female lines. Toormore has a G3 two-year-old winner as his third dam, while Dick Turpin’s dam is a half-sister to Deep Finesse, a winner of two G3 sprints. Sruthan’s second dam is a sister to the Epsom Oaks winner Shahtoush, whereas Trumpet Major’s is a German Oaks winner. 
    One remarkable aspect of Arakan’s success story is the part played by agents Peter and Ross Doyle, who bought three of Arakan’s group winners. The prices were €26,000 for Dick Turpin, €20,000 for Trumpet Major and £36,000 for Toormore. The fourth group winner, Srythan, cost only €1,000 as a yearling. 
    Although Arakan wasn’t among Nureyev’s G1 winners, he still managed to achieve annual Timeform ratings of 119, 123 and 120 in winning six times at up to a mile. Also, there is little fault to be found with his pedigree, as might be expected of a horse bred and owned by the Niarchos Family. Arakan’s pedigree features three lines to Northern Dancer (3 x 5 x 5), via his outstanding sons Nureyev, Lyphard and The Minstrel. For good measure, his sixth dam is Cosmah, a half-sister to Northern Dancer’s dam Natalma. Cosmah found fame as the dam of the champion sire Halo and Arakan’s fifth dam, Queen Sucree, produced the GI Kentucky Derby hero Cannonade. Arakan’s dam Far Across never raced, but two of her half-brothers were G3 winners. 
    You could never take stamina for granted with Nureyev’s progeny, which included sprinters of the caliber of Stravinsky, Soviet Star, Polar Falcon and Wolfhound, and some of Arakan’s best efforts came over six furlongs. However, a mile has proved no problem for his best sons and Toormore seemed untroubled by the eighth furlong in the Craven S., even though there could have been some stamina doubts beforehand. 
    His broodmare sire, Danetime, was best at around six furlongs and has made his name principally as a sire of sprinters, including some which shone as 2-year-olds, such as Bushranger, Vital Equine and Myboycharlie. The last-named is sire of Peggy Jean, a recent G1 2-year-old winner in Australia. 
    Toormore’s second dam Matila – by the speedy Persian Bold – gained her only win over six furlongs and the next dam, Peace Girl, did all her winning at two, when she took the G3 Curragh S. over five furlongs. You could be forgiven for thinking that his pedigree is all about speed when I add that his fourth dam, Olderfleet, was by another sprinter in Steel Heart. 
    However, Olderfleet was a half-sister to the smart middle-distance horses Chaumiere and Beeshi. Despite being by sprinters, these two stayed quite well and they must have inherited stamina via their broodmare sire, the stoutly-bred Espresso. More recently the family has produced Hawridge Prince, a grandson of Peace Girl who won the G3 Jockey Club Cup over two miles, despite having sprinters as his sire and broodmare sire. The fact that Hawridge Prince was sired by a fast son of Nureyev no doubt provided some of the inspiration for the mating which resulted in Toormore. 
    Toormore’s dam Danetime Out sold for as little as €7,000 at Goffs in February 2008, but her Dark Angel colt sold for £200,000 as a yearling at Doncaster last summer, after Toormore has recorded his first important success in the G2 Vintage S. The buyers, once again, were Peter and Ross Doyle but this time the colt, now named Estidhkaar, will carry the colors of Hamdan Al Maktoum.