Darley stallions dominate in the National Day Cup

Shamardal’s son Hawkesbury takes UAE Listed contest ahead of Sharpalo and Forjatt

The Darley stallions recorded a 1-2-3 in the Listed National Day Cup on Sunday, 3 December when Shamardal’s sons Hawkesbury and Sharpalo filled the first two places in the one-mile contest, while Forjatt (Iffraaj) took third.

The Satish Seemar-trained Hawkesbury was settled in mid division under Patrick Cosgrave and making progress two furlongs out, took up the running a furlong from home and ran on superbly to win by two and a quarter lengths.

Hawkesbury is out of the G1 Falmouth and G2 Lowther Stakes winner Nahoodh, who is closely related to King’s Best’s Group-winning son Not Just Swing.

Shamardal, who stands privately at Kildangan Stud in Ireland, boasts an excellent 11 per cent Stakes winners to runners. He is responsible for 18 G1 winners to date, including Lope de Vega and Mukhadram.