Dream Ahead

It feels like just yesterday that the bloodstock world was lauding the record-breaking achievement of Mehmas in 2024, the year that he sired no fewer than 70 individual two-year-old winners in Europe, smashing the previous record tally of 61 which belonged to his neighbour at Tally-Ho Stud, Kodiac. Time waits for no one in this game, however, and so it is that we now head into the 2026 breeding season with three of those 70 having already found themselves a place at stud. They include Ballyhane's new recruit Magnum Force,...

This raft of stallions at the lowest range of the price scale is every bit as important as those at the top. For a start, if we look at Royal Ascot alone in 2025, we find the names Massaat and Washington DC alongside those of two of the week's Group 1 winners. Then there was Rajasinghe, whose offspring made their presence felt in two of the season's most prestigious sprint handicaps. Breeders with mares rated 70 or above could have used Rajasinghe for free this year, such was the desire...

There are doubtless decisions still to be made and deals to be struck for this year's matings with many breeders taking to the roads since the start of this new year for both the official stallion trails and informal stud visits. For this last part in our series on value sires for 2025 it is worth restating that value is very much subjective and depends on a number of different factors, including whether the buyer of the nomination is breeding to race or to sell.  This final chapter, for stallions...

There's a growing sense of anticipation at Bearstone Stud with less than 11 weeks to go until the start of the British Flat season on turf, with the first foal out of the farm's most notable graduate, Glass Slippers (GB), having recently turned two. The Dubawi (Ire) colt in question will be the third generation of this family to have been bred and raced by Terry and Margaret Holdcroft, who founded the business back in 1979. They bought the colt's great grandam, the winning Fairy King mare Ocean Grove (Ire),...

Continuing our series, Heather Anderson will be paying particular attention to the form of the 2024 Moyglare Stud Stakes as the new turf season opens in the spring. Two of her selections were first and second in that Group 1 contest. Horse of the Year: Lake Victoria The great ones find a way to win. They make their own luck. The surface doesn't matter, the venue doesn't either. An even rarer accolade: unbeaten. Not an adjective that just any horse can claim, and with Cartier Champion Two-Year-Old Filly Lake Victoria...

Group 1 winner and G1 2000 Guineas third Al Wukair (Ire) will stand at Yeguada La Serreta in Spain, the stud announced on X on Wednesday. The son of Dream Ahead was previously based at Al Shaqab's Haras de Bouquetot. Trained by Andre Fabre, the bay won both of his starts at two including the Listed Prix Isonomy. At three, he added the G3 Prix Djebel, before running third to Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the 2000 Guineas. Second in the G3 Prix Messidor later that summer, he added the...

Bearstone Stud has kept the fees for its three stallions at the same price as in 2024, with Dream Ahead at £6,500, Belardo (Ire) at £5,500 and Washington DC (Ire) at £3,500.  "We feel our stallions offer exceptional value in a challenging market, none more so than Belardo, who is the highest-ranked sire standing in Europe under £15,000 by the number of European winners in 2024," said Bearstone Stud owner Terry Holdcroft.  "Further afield US Grade I winner Gold Phoenix added more US black-type to his form, and Fiach McHugh...

Having started with the new stallions for 2024, we are continuing the series with those in the lower price tier beneath the fee of 10,000, whether in euros or sterling. For the benefit of this piece we are treating them as one and the same, despite the current exchange rate of £1 = €1.16. This is the territory inhabited by many small breeders, and in plenty of cases the margins between operating at a profit and a loss are very tight indeed.  I am reminded here of a particularly interesting...

Our man in Ireland, Brian Sheerin, timed his run to the altar to perfection, leaving his colleagues to sort through and try not to miss any of the plentiful stallion fee announcements over the last week or so. He's now back from his Tuscan honeymoon and has been banned from getting married again. In case any of you were similarly distracted by nuptials, holidays, or binge-watching The Dry, here's a handy TDN overview as to who's up, who's down, and who's new on the stallion scene. (And a tip to...

Three more lots have been added to the Auctav March Sale set for Mar. 29. Dream Ahead 2-year-old Perhaps Traou Land (Fr) (lot 8) is a half-brother to seven winners and will be offered by trainer Edouard Monfort. Monfort said, "This colt is still growing. He should be ready late spring or early summer. I bought him at the sales, I liked him a lot. He is a late season-born colt. He is well made and has a good temper. From what he shows in the morning, he is very...

Dream Ahead anchors the 2023 Bearstone Stud roster and will stand for an unchanged fee of £7,500. He is the sire of 32 stakes winners (13 group) and four Group 1 winners worldwide led by GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint heroine Glass Slippers (GB). Joining the son of Diktat, as announced on Thursday, is Belardo (Ire) at £6,500. Washington DC (Ire) will command £3,000, down from £3,500 in 2022. Mattmu (GB)'s fee has been reduced an identical amount, and he is priced at £2,000.

Triple Group 1-winning sprinter Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead) has been tested in foal to Dubawi (Ire) for her first mating, owner/breeder Bearstone Stud revealed on Twitter on Thursday. Trained by Kevin Ryan, Glass Slippers won three black-type races culminating in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye at three. She added the G1 Flying Five S. the following season and, after missing by a neck to Wooded (Fr) in her l'Abbaye title defense, shipped to Keeneland to win the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Glass Slippers finished third in three starts...