Dubai the son of Thunder Night And Too hot is among six European-origin stallions that Darley will offer to breeders at this year’s Southern Hemisphere showpiece at Kildangan and Dalham Hall Studs in Ireland and Britain.
These half-dozen will not be brought to Darley’s Australian farms this coming season; instead, the breeders will be able to use them at their European home base.
Night of Thunder, who is the sire of the 2021 Queensland Derby (G1) winner Kukeracha and winner of the 2020 Moonee Valley Vase (G2) and runner-up of the 2021 Australian Guineas (G1) Tortoni Cherry from his sole season in Australia, will cost €60,000 ($64,725), a significant discount from the €100,000 he commanded this northern hemisphere season.
Too Darn Hot has been at Darley’s Hunter Valley estate for the past four seasons but will not be travelling to Kelvinside for the 2024 season. Instead, he will be on hand to tend mares during his time in the southern hemisphere at Dalham Hall Stud outside Newmarket for a fee of £50,000 ($63,708), again lower than his current fee in the northern hemisphere of £65,000. A European champion 2-year-old and a champion 3-year-old, the son of a three-time Group 1 winner Dar Re Mi created a crop that achieved the highest quality in its first crop in both hemispheres.
Godolphin pony Wide plank won the JJ Atkins (G1) and ATC Champagne Stakes (G1), and is one of 12 individual winners from Too Darn Hot’s inaugural Australian cohort. He is in the running to become the first champion sire of the Australian season in prize money.
Another son of Dubawi, Blues Space will also include mares on Southern Hemisphere time. The winner of the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1), 2020 Prix Maurice de Gheest (G1) and 2021 Prix de la Foret (G1) will be at Kildangan Stud and has two Northern Hemisphere crops on the ground. His fee has been set at €15,000 ($16,180) while Navy Crown The fourth Dubawi stallion to be offered for sale in the Southern Hemisphere at timed prices was priced at €10,000 ($10,787), the same price the 2022 Platinum Jubilee Stakes (G1) winner achieved in his most recent Northern Hemisphere season. His first foals in Europe.
Palace Pier stood alongside Too Darn Hot at Dalham Hall Stud and in his second season, the son of King will include time in the southern hemisphere for a fee of £25,000 ($31,851). Successful in five Group 1 races over a mile, including the 2020 St James’s Palace (G1) and the 2021 Queen Anne (G1), Palace Pier’s oldest yearling is a yearling. He has been placed in the 2024 northern hemisphere season for a fee of £45,000.
The quintet will be joined by The saboteur sire of last season’s champion and undefeated Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) hero Ace’s Impact . Standing at the same fee of £17,500 ($22,296) as advertised for the last four European breeding seasons, the four-time Group 1 winner Frankel also the sire of the 2023 Deutsches Derby (G1) third Weracruz .
