2026 nomination fees for the 23 stallions who will stand on the Darley European roster next year have been announced following another excellent year both on the track and in the ring. Between them, the stallions have sired the winners of 19 G1 contests, 66 Group races and 125 Stakes races including the Prince of Wales’s, Juddmonte, Irish Champion, Eclipse, Lockinge, Darley Dewhurst, 1,000 Guineas and the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Four of the stallions (Night Of Thunder, Dubawi, Blue Point and Too Darn Hot) have had a yearling sell for over £1 million in 2025, with Night Of Thunder’s €3 million filly breaking the record at Arqana August.
Once again, the roster is headed by Darley flagbearer and the best stallion ever to stand in the UK, Dubawi, who remains at £350,000. This year he reached two new milestones, siring his 300th Stakes winner and 200th Group winner and Notable Speech became his fourth G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner in just five years last Saturday.
His son and heir, Night Of Thunder, has enjoyed a truly spectacular year and will be crowned Champion sire in the UK and Ireland in December. He will stand at a fee of €200,000 following yet another outstanding season that saw him sire five individual G1 winners including Europe’s leading older horse, Ombudsman, Classic heroine Desert Flower and Darley Dewhurst winner Gewan. He is also the only stallion this year to have seven-figure yearlings sell in Britain, Ireland and France.
Four exciting new stallions have been added to the European roster: Blue Point’s European Champion Miler and three-time G1 winner Rosallion (£40,000), European Champion two-year-old Shadow Of Light (€17,500), Champion sprinter Inisherin (£12,500) and Farhh’s exceptional miler Tribalist (€6,000).
Night Of Thunder is not the only stallion to strengthen the Dubawi dynasty, as Too Darn Hot (£100,000) is exactly matching his sire’s 35 Group wins at the same stage of his career. His first-crop star Fallen Angel took her tally of top-flight wins to five this year, while Tornado Alert became the second G1 winner from his second crop in July.
Blue Point’s fee remains at €100,000 having sired no fewer than 29 Stakes performers worldwide in 2025, headed by Group winners Samangan and Sky Majesty, plus G1-placed duo Blue Bolt and Rayevka and of course the aforementioned Rosallion. He is becoming an exceptional sire of sprinter/ milers: Blue Point’s progeny have won 38 Stakes races in the northern hemisphere at a mile or less – unsurpassed by any other stallion this century at the same point in their career. He has also enjoyed another successful sales season with a million-guineas Book 1 colt and a €675,000 top lot at Goffs Orby.
Palace Pier (£32,000) and Space Blues (€15,000) have both made superb starts to their stud careers, with Palace Pier siring seven individual Black Type performers (three of whom are Group winners) while Space Blues became the fastest stallion from the Dubawi line to sire a G1 winner when Power Blue took the Phoenix Stakes.
Ghaiyyath (€20,000) has continued to build on his strong start with Classic filly Mandanaba, plus impressive G2-winning two-year-old My Highness. Just last weekend he sired his first G1 winner when Observer stormed to victory in the Victoria Derby.
Sam Bullard, Director of Stallions said, “It has been another outstanding year for our European roster and we couldn’t be prouder of our new Champion sire Night Of Thunder and are as ever, extremely grateful to the breeders, without whom such success would not be possible.
“The 2026 roster offers breeders a range of opportunities to tap into two of the best sire lines in the world plus a superb group of both young and proven stallions, and to have three Champions to retire this year in Rosallion, Shadow Of Light and Inisherin is hugely exciting.
“We look forward to discussing mating plans in the coming weeks and of course, welcoming breeders to both Dalham Hall Stud and Kildangan Stud to see the stallions for themselves.”
For a full list of fees, click here.
