Why selling Kingman yearlings has been a licence to print money this season

Every Kingman yearling that has changed hands at auction in Europe this season has done so for a price that exceeded the sire's £55,000 covering fee in 2017, so it could be claimed that breeding to the son of Invincible Spirit that year was a licence to print money.

That is said with tongue firmly in cheek, of course, as we all know the associated costs of production, from buying broodmares to rearing stock and not forgetting the many assorted bills that come with running a stud.

There has also been little wriggle-room for some, such as the filly out of Kambura sold to Longways Stables at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale for £70,000, and three others have failed to reach their reserves including Haras des Capucines' filly out of Ashiyla at Arqana August, for whom bidding reached just €50,000.

There is, needless to say, also the larger portion of the European yearling sales season still to come and so statistics are subject to change. But still, as things stand, owners, trainers and their agents appear to have been swept up in Kingmania.

Some 15 yearlings from the third crop of Kingman have been sold across Europe in the last month at an average price of £367,150.

That is a 31 per cent increase on the figure for the second crop during the whole of last year, which took into account his 16 most expensive lots of 2018 – all of whom were sold at the forthcoming Tattersalls October and Goffs Orby sales.

There have been some blockbuster sales of Kingman yearlings in recent weeks, which has distorted the average price a little, but the median figure in 2019 so far – £252,000 – is 17 per cent in advance of last year. Again, the seven youngsters who sold for £500,000 or more in 2018 did so at auctions that have not yet been held this year, so the increase is all the more remarkable.

It was easy to predict that Kingman yearlings would be like gold dust this year, as he has made such a strong impression with his first two crops. By the time the curtain-raiser to the European yearling sales season, Arqana August, arrived he had already been credited with 12 black-type winners including such prodigious talents as Calyx, King Of Comedy and Persian King.

In case prospective bidders at Deauville were in any doubt as to the sire's gifts, his son Headman landed the Prix Guillaume d'Ornano across the road from the sales ground while inspections were well under way.

Kingman duly accounted for two of the top ten lots at Arqana, colts out of Miss Plimsoll and Gooseley Chope sold to Amanda Skiffington for €850,000 and €675,000. Only slightly further down the list, Alastair Donald bought colts out of Spin and Sotka for €600,000 and €400,000 apiece on behalf of King Power Racing.

Donald told reporters after signing the docket that Kingman “is setting the world alight and has become the new go-to stallion”.

To pour fuel on demand for the Kingman yearlings, the sire was represented by no fewer than three new black-type winners on the Saturday between sales at Deauville and Doncaster – the two-year-olds Boomer in the Prestige Stakes and Alligator Alley in the Roses Stakes, and the back-to-form three-year-old Raakib Alhawa in the August Stakes.

It was no surprise, therefore, that it was a Kingman lot who set a new record price at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale, with Coolmore's MV Magnier stretching to £440,000 for a colt out of Shamandar; that operation had already affirmed its faith in the stallion by paying 1,050,000gns for the most expensive yearling among his second crop, last month's Leopardstown maiden winner Cormorant, and through its acquisition of the rights to stand Calyx from next year.

Strong demand for Kingman produce continued through to Baden-Baden on Friday, when the one lot by the sire on offer at the BBAG Yearling Sale, a colt out of Weltmacht, was sold to Godolphin for €700,000 – the third highest price ever paid at the venue.

With Kingman standing at Banstead Manor Stud and thus being an independent entity whose progeny Godolphin, Coolmore and indeed all the leading players can fight over, his yearling average could conceivably increase further with prestigious sales still to come.

There is just one by the sire available at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale: a colt out of the Listed-winning King's Best mare Mary Boleyn, making him a half-brother to Listed-placed Clotilde. If he is physically up to scratch it is not inconceivable that he could break the auction record price set by the Kodiac brother to Adaay bought by Shadwell for €275,000 last year.

There are nine 'Kingmen' at Goffs Orby, including a three-parts sister to the exceptional racemare Moonlight Cloud; a colt out of Shreyas, a Group 3-winning half-sister to Creachadoir and Youmzain; and another colt out of I Am Beautiful, a Group 3-winning half-sister to Rumplestiltskin.

Palace Pier became an exciting new winner for Kingman at Sandown last weekCredit: Mark Cranham

The draft will surely prove popular, as will the sole representative of the stallion in the Sportsman's Sale, a filly from the immediate family of German champions Night Lagoon and Novellist.

There is a veritable cornucopia of Kingman yearlings at Tattersalls October Book 1, including – watch your bets! – two who are out of different mares both called Parle Moi. Among the other 39 on offer are half-brothers to Al Kazeem and Poet's Word, half-sisters to Cappella Sansevero, UAE Jewel and Viva Pataca, colts out of Bible Belt, Dynaforce, Islington and Nannina, and fillies out of Lustrous and Temida.

Book 2 brings another ten chances to acquire a Kingman yearling, including fillies out of high-class racemares Contredanse and Terre Du Vent, a colt out of Listed scorer Cruck Realta and a half-sister to Group 3 winner Chilean.

It will be interesting to see if the strength of demand for Kingman yearlings is maintained in the face of such high volume of supply, or whether that lofty average price achieved so far this season will come down a little due to dilution.

With several promising two-year-olds having won their first races in recent days – including the highly regarded Palace Pier and Longchamp scorer Glengowan – it is reasonable to think that the licence to print money is not going to expire any time soon.

The big topic of debate whenever two or more industry figures or enthusiasts are assembled nowadays is what Kingman's fee might be next year. An increase on his current mark of £75,000 is inevitable and a journey into six-figure territory looks odds-on.

One thing is for sure. Those breeders who used the sire at £55,000 in 2017 and 2018 and at just £20,000 more this year must be feeling pretty pleased with themselves.

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