Darley is delighted to announce the winner of the 2024 first-season sire competition.
Many congratulations to Redmond McGrath, who has won a case of champagne for making the closest prediction of the total number of winners by last year's first-season sires: Earthlight, Ghaiyyath and Pinatubo. He also correctly predicted that Earthlight would be the first of the Darley freshmen to record a winner.
All three young sires made extremely promising starts to their stud careers, with Pinatubo crowned Timeform's Champion first-season sire having recorded five Black Type horses including Stakes winner Tipinso and G2 Vintage runner-up Wolf Of Badenoch.
Earthlight's daughter Daylight flew the flag for her sire, finishing second in the G1 Cheveley Park and third in the Morny, while Ghaiyyath colt Gethin was allotted the highest Timeform rating of any juvenile debutant in 2024 with a six-length victory first time out. Ghaiyyath is also responsible for 109-rated Stanhope Gardens, a close second in the G3 Autumn Stakes.
Darley's 2025 freshmen are Palace Pier, Space Blues and Victor Ludorum and all look to have an exciting year ahead of them. This year's first-season sire competition will open ahead of the new flat turf season so keep an eye on your inbox for more details!
