Foals born from 15 April onwards more than hold their own among the very best racehorses in Europe.
In the four years to 2016, late foals accounted for 19 per cent of all G1 winners. And don’t think for a moment that they were all mature horses whose late birthdate was no longer a hindrance to their G1 triumphs.
Some of Europe’s finest G1-winning juveniles, including Air Force Blue, War Command and Dawn Approach didn’t see the light of day until after mid-April. That’s three Dewhurst winners in five years.
In all, there have been eight G1-winning two-year-olds in the past four years with a late foaling date. What’s more, the great Dawn Approach, who went unbeaten in seven races at two and three, first appeared on a racecourse almost a month before his actual second birthday.
There is of course an impressive roll of honour of older G1 winners, also born from 15 April: A Shin Hikari, Air Force Blue, Al Kazeem, Alice Springs, Astaire, Avenir Certain, Cirrus des Aigles, Cleo Fan, Dawn Approach, Declaration of War, Diamondsandrubies, Earl of Tinsdal, Free Eagle, Full Mast, Goldream, Guignol, Iquitos, Ito, Johannes Vermeer, Just the Judge, La Collina, Legatissimo, Lucky Speed, Madame Chiang, Magician, Mont Ormel, My Dream Boat, Our Ivanhowe, Pether's Moon, Potemkin, Prince Gibraltar, Qualify, Ribbons, Robin of Navan, Sea the Moon, Seismos, Silverwave, Style Vendome, Sudirman, Territories, Turfdonna, War Command, Zelzal.
If you have a late-foaling mare, please give the nominations team a call on +44 1638 730070 or +353 (0)45 527600 to discuss availablity to the Darley stallions.
