Raven’s ready to soar

This summer it will be five years since Raven’s Pass obliterated his rivals in the Solario Stakes, smashing Sandown’s two-year-old record and finishing within 0.2sec of the overall track record for seven furlongs.

With that breathtaking performance he became one of the smartest juveniles of his generation and this year it is the turn of his first-crop sons and daughters to continue his legacy. Judging by the standard of his first book of mares, they have an outstanding chance of doing just that.

His 2009 mates included 34 Group/Graded stakes winners, putting him level with Dansili and behind only Galileo (56), Dalakhani (39) and New Approach (39).

Eighty-nine per cent of the mares to produce a live foal from his first book had top-class credentials, being either a Group winner, dam of a Group Winner, sibling of a Group winner or out of a Group winner.

Those 84 first-crop foals include half-siblings to Group 1 winners Mount Nelson, Librettist, Debussy, Elusive Wave, Laverock, Dixie Chatter, Grand Courturier, Zafeen and Carry On Katie, plus to the classy performers Army Of Angels, Dunelight, Spice Route and Captain Gerrard.

With yearlings that made up to 260,000gns and selling for an average of 113,826gns, it’s no surprise to learn that members of Raven’s Pass’s first crop have ended up in some of the best yards in Europe, including those of Godolphin, John Gosden, Mark Johnston, Andre Fabre, Mick Channon and John Oxx. And of course, as a record-breaking Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, Raven’s Pass also has a number of two-year-olds set to race for him in America this year.

The racing record of Raven’s Pass – who won six of his 12 starts and was never out of the first four – was one marked by brilliance and consistency, and it’s a good bet that his stud career will follow a similar path.