'Fabulous racehorse and gentleman' Doyen retired from the breeding shed aged 22

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Michael Hickey has bid a fond farewell to former middle-distance superstar and solid dual-purpose sire Doyen, who has left his Sunnyhill Stud after a decade of sterling service.

The 22-year-old son of Sadler’s Wells, who stormed to wide-margin victories in the Hardwicke Stakes and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes as a four-year-old, has retired to his owner and breeder Sheikh Mohammed’s Kildangan Stud just a 20-minute drive further west in County Kildare.

“He’d lost his fertility and only got two mares in foal this year,” says Hickey. “I tried putting him on a couple of my own young mares in June, just to make sure, but it wasn’t happening. When Kildangan found out they said they’d happily have him back and give him an enjoyable and stress-free retirement there.

“It’s a shame, as we enjoy having a fabulous racehorse like him around the place, and he was a gentleman to deal with when he got to know you. He was always very well-behaved during showings and on the Stallion Trail, and people really took him to their hearts.

“But if he'd still been here next breeding season and not covering mares, he would have got upset seeing the other boys go off to the covering shed. It wouldn’t have been fair.”

Doyen is impeccably bred, being not only by Sadler’s Wells but also out of Prestige Stakes winner and Prix de Diane runner-up Moon Cactus, making him a full-brother to Oaks heroine Moonshell.

He lived up to that pedigree by taking the Prix du Lys and running fourth to Dalakhani in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for Andre Fabre at three, and twice dazzling at Ascot, first when slamming the Hardwicke field by six lengths to set a new course record and then when beating US challenger Hard Buck by three lengths in the King George, having been switched to Saeed bin Suroor at four.

He was initially retired to Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket, where he spent three seasons, and later moved to Gestüt Auenquelle in Germany, where he stayed for another three years. In 2012 he was snapped up to stand at Sunnyhill Stud, which had lost its great jumps sire Old Vic, another by Sadler’s Wells, the year before.

Doyen undoubtedly did his best work as a Flat sire in Germany; hardly surprising, of course, that breeders there managed to get more of a tune out of a slower maturing, stoutly bred middle-distance celebrity. His spell at Auenquelle brought about his sole Group 1 winner Turfdonna, who landed the Preis der Diana, as well as Group winners Adoya, Good Donna, Vif Monsieur, Virginia Sun and Wild Chief.

The best Flat performers to emerge from his earlier stint standing in Britain, meanwhile, were Group 3 scorers Camborne and Lady’s Purse, as well as the useful Bea Remembered and Quiz Mistress.

Doyen really was a dab hand with fillies and mares, and interestingly many of his best daughters have also excelled at paddocks. Turfdonna is the dam of Japanese Grade 2 dead-heater Elizabeth Tower; Good Donna is the dam of dual Group 3 winner Grocer Jack; Virginia Sun is the dam of high-class US export Virginia Joy; Lady’s Purse is the dam of the smart Masekela; and Bea Remembered is the dam of Group 2 winner Stormy Antarctic.

Doyen was unable to fill Old Vic’s shoes at Sunnyhill Stud – precious few could match the success of one of the best jumps sires to have stood in Ireland – but he established himself as a decent source of runners over obstacles nonetheless.

He has only the two Grade 1 winners to his name, Battleoverdoyen and Beacon Edge, but a host of other classy performers including Andy Dufresne, Golden Doyen, Hurricane Harvey, Kumbeshwar, Magic Daze and Valdez.

“Doyen probably didn’t get the recognition he deserved, because his percentages were always very high and he got some very good horses,” says Hickey of the stallion, who covered 50 mares last year and 63 in 2020. “He was unfortunate that one or two of them were lost before they reached their full potential.”

Battleoverdoyen: one of two Grade 1 winners for DoyenCredit: Patrick McCann

The Sunnyhill Stud roster now comprises recent retiree Fifty Stars, an Australian Group 1 winner by Sea The Stars and a half-brother to top hurdler Whiskey Sour, and the longer-serving Lucky Speed, a German Derby winner by Silvano.

“Fifty Stars was a very tough racehorse, but then he’d have to be to have run more than 30 times in Australia on all types of ground, and to have won five Group races before retiring sound,” says Hickey.

“He’s a lovely horse and a great walker, and he covered 80 mares or so in his first book with some very nice names among those – stakes winners, other winners, and close relations to both.

“We’ll have to wait now and see what his foals look like. If they’re good there’s no reason he shouldn’t go on from there. There’s plenty of speed in his pedigree, and as he won over seven to ten furlongs I’d say he’s ideal for slower types of mares.”

As for Lucky Speed, whose small first crop of five-year-olds contains 15-length Ballindenisk point winner Top Speed, Hickey says: “He’s going to be short of runners because he’s been short of mares, but he’s a lovely horse who gets lovely looking stock.

“He wouldn’t have covered many this year or last, as people are waiting to see what he does on the racetrack. He’s had about ten runners, and I think seven have earned money by finishing in the first five, but we’re still waiting for a few more winners to come along.

“So he’s in a transitional period and will have to do it the hard way, but fingers crossed it happens for him because he’s a beautiful horse with a wonderful temperament and he comes from a good female line that goes back to Bellypha.”

With Fifty Stars’ first runners a long way in the future and Lucky Speed sadly having been underused, it’s just as well the pensioned Doyen will continue to produce lots of winners to bridge the gap between the generations in the years ahead.

Larusso was an easy winner of a Sedgefield novice hurdle for Stuart Edmunds only on Wednesday, and looks to hold significant promise, while the lightly raced recent Tramore scorer Doyenna bids to follow up for Lorna Fowler in a handicap hurdle at Down Royal on Friday.

What do you think?

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“The main thing is the whole business revolves around winners and a lot of winners means a lot of happy owners. Hopefully we can continue doing the same thing,” says Mark Johnston as he reaches the remarkable landmark of training 5,000 winners.

Pedigree pick

I find it intriguing that out of all the Qatar Racing-owned two-year-olds by the operation’s short-lived champion Roaring Lion, the obvious and emblematic name of Lion Cub was reserved for the James Fanshawe-trained filly who makes her debut over a mile at Thirsk on Friday (2.20). Do they perchance think she’s a bit special?

I wouldn’t encourage others to base their betting decisions on second-guessing connections’ naming choices, but Lion Cub also has a pretty impressive pedigree as it happens.

She is a half-sister to four winners – including Qool, Quintada and Maybe Today, who all struck on their racecourse debuts – out of Premio Lydia Tesio heroine Quiza Quiza Quiza, a rare top-notcher in Europe for her sire Golden Snake.

The dam was bought by Qatar Racing’s David Redvers for 50,000gns when she was carrying Lion Cub at the Tattersalls December Sale of 2019, which doesn’t look a bad bit of business for a Group 1 winner in foal to a great talent like Roaring Lion.

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