From Champion sprinters, milers and middle-distance performers, to record-breaking juveniles, the Darley stallions have produced two decades of breathtaking performers across Europe.
Leading the way are two sons of the great Cape Cross, the outstanding Sea The Stars, winner of six G1s in 2009, and Golden Horn, whose victories in 2015 included the Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. With a Timeform rating of 140, Sea The Stars has only been bettered by Frankel in the last two decades, while Golden Horn is the second-best Derby winner after his paternal half-brother.
When the 2020 season hopefully gets underway in earnest, Shamardal’s son Pinatubo will be looking to improve on his rating of 134, the highest a juvenile has achieved in Europe for 25 years. The Charlie Appleby-trained colt had an impeccable 2019, winning all six starts including a nine-length triumph in the Vincent O’Brien National Stakes and a two-length win in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes.
He sits ahead of another brilliant two-year-old in Dream Ahead, who gained a juvenile rating of 128 when winning the Middle Park Stakes by nine lengths. The son of Diktat trained on to win three further G1s at three including the Darley July Cup at Newmarket, earning him a rating of 133.
Joining him on 133 is another Derby winner in Workforce, a son of King’s Best, who also doubled up in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and Champion miler Excelebration, who hails from Exceed And Excel’s third European crop.
