Reigning Champion Sire Night Of Thunder continues to go from strength to strength and on Monday, 5 October he added a 30th 2026 Black Type winner to his record when his son Shaihaan took the Navigation Stakes at Killarney.
The Donnacha O’Brien-trained three-year-old raced close to the pace throughout the 11-furlong contest, before delivering his challenge inside the final furlong. He kept to his task superbly in the closing stages to win by three quarters of a length.
Shaihaan wins the Listed Navigation Stakes @KillarneyRaces pic.twitter.com/nwoZ3TLyUG
Shaihaan was bred by Sunderland Holdings Inc and is out of the Stakes-winning Sea The Stars mare Sea Of Faith. The dam is a full sister to G1 Sydney Cup winner Shraaoh and multiple Group winner and G1-placed Raheen House.
Night Of Thunder is enjoying yet another banner year, siring Bow Echo, who recorded the highest 2,000 Guineas race rating since Frankel and retired to Darley unbeaten after victories in the G1 St James’s Palace and G1 Sussex.
His son Ombudsman will also join the Darley roster for 2027 and is Europe’s highest-rated horse following his second consecutive victory in the G1 Prince Of Wales’s at Royal Ascot.
Just yesterday, Miss Scott became his sixth G1 winner of the year when victorious in the Prix de l’Opera on Arc day at Longchamp and he is currently atop the Leading Sires’ table in both Britain and Ireland and Europe.
