Blue Point, Champion sprinter elect and winner of a remarkable G1 double at Royal Ascot last week, has been retired from racing and will stand as a Darley stallion in 2020.
No European-trained horse had completed the King’s Stand/ Diamond Jubilee Stakes double since Diadem back in 1920, and perhaps even more remarkable was that Blue Point had won the King’s Stand last year too.
Blue Point was a very smart juvenile, breaking his maiden at the first time of asking, before winning his next race by an astounding 11 lengths. Blue Point went on to win the G2 Gimcrack by three lengths before finding only The Last Lion too good in the G1 Middle Park and making the frame in the Dewhurst.
He returned at three with victory in the G3 Pavilion Stakes at Ascot, where he broke the track record when beating Harry Angel, and returned to the Berkshire track to take third in the G1 Commonwealth Cup. He rounded off his three-year-old campaign with a win in the G3 Bengough Stakes, also at Ascot.
The highlight of his four-year-old campaign was his first G1 victory, and his first triumph in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. Facing a top-class field, he had no trouble in beating Battaash by nearly two lengths with horses including Mabs Cross and Lady Aurelia further behind.
This year, he has carried all before him, winning each and every one of his five starts.
A five-length victory in the G2 Meydan Sprint was swiftly followed by another wide-margin win, this time in the Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint. This set him up perfectly for Dubai World Cup night, where he once again dominated, this time in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint.
Blue Point was bred by Oak Lodge Stud and is out of Scarlett Rose, whose own sire Royal Applause won this very race back in 1997 (when run as the Cork and Orrery). A 200,000 gns yearling, Blue Point is a half-brother to juvenile Group winner Formosina.
With a Timeform rating of 132, he is the best performer to date by fellow Darley stallion Shamardal, who is already well established as a sire of sires.
Sam Bullard, Director of Stallions said, “Blue Point has been a truly outstanding racehorse throughout his career, and we are delighted that he will be standing as a Darley stallion next year.
“From his impressive Gimcrack win at two, right through to his unbeaten campaign this year culminating in last week’s outstanding G1 double, he has been a wonderful flagbearer for both Godolphin and his sire, our very own Shamardal.”
A fee and location for Blue Point will be set at a later date.
