Expert Eye (GB)

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday's Insights features a half-brother to Breeders' Cup winner Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}). 4.20 Kempton, Novice, £6,300, 2yo, 7f (AWT) DUTY OF CARE (GB) (Kingman {GB}) debuts for Khalid Abdullah and Sir Michael Stoute, who combined to capture the 2018 GI Breeders' Cup Mile with his half-brother Expert...

NEWMARKET, UK—The popularity of first-season sires is no new phenomenon but it is a feature of the market which apparently gains more and more traction, and three freshmen were responsible for four of the top ten lots as pinhookers wasted no time in assembling their prospective yearling drafts for next season. The first session traditionally represents a quieter start to the four-day auction, which builds towards the better pedigrees on Friday. With shorter sessions throughout the sale this year, there were 135 foals sold on Wednesday, compared to 168 on...

The five-strong Juddmonte 2021 stallion roster, led by Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire})-the youngest stallion to sire 40 group winners in history, was announced on Tuesday. The Juddmonte wunderkind is siring 11% group winners to runners and 15% black-type winners to runners, and he will stand for £175,000 in 2021. At the sales, his highest-priced filly brought 2 million gns, while he also had a colt knocked down for 1.1 million gns during the recent Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1. Although his oldest foals are only four, Kingman (GB) (Invincible...

Juddmonte has released details of some of the foals already on the ground at Banstead Manor Stud this year, including a colt by Kingman out of the multiple Grade I winner Proviso (GB) (Dansili {GB}). The March-foaled colt is one of a number by his exciting young sire to have been welcomed by Juddmonte so far in 2020, along with a filly out of another Grade I winner, Ventura (Chester House {GB})), who is already the dam of G3 Prix de Lieurey winner Fount (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Listed winner Mirror...

Earning a ticket into the Banstead Manor stallion barn is an advertisement in itself of the quality of a young sire, and Juddmonte's newest recruit Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) is thus far living up to expectations with his first cluster of foals to hit the ground. The GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner covered a full book of 140 mares in his debut season last year (from 277 applications) at a fee of £20,000, and at this point he has just over 30 foals on the ground. "Breeders are expressing...

The dams of G2 Coventry S. and Pavilion S. winner Calyx (GB), dual Group 2 winner Headman (GB) and G3 Hampton Court S. winner Sangarius (GB) are among the Juddmonte mares set to visit Kingman (GB) in his sixth year at stud this year. Also on the books of the 2014 Cartier Horse of The Year are Juddmonte's Group 1 winners Capla Temptress (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Romantica (GB) (Galileo {Ire}); Group 2 winner Starformer (Dynaformer); Amser (GB) (Frankel {GB})-a half-sister to Group 1 winners Timepiece (GB) and...

In the second installment of TDN Europe's Value Sires Series, we take a look at the sire crop with its first foals due this season. While the first real clues will be laid out once the foals actually hit the ground, many of this intake had in-foal mares go through the ring at the latest round of breeding stock sales, thus providing a minimal amount of data to tear apart. Numbers of mares bred are taken from the Weatherbys Return of Mares published in November 2019. The covering sire returns...