From staying supremo to stud career - what can Stradivarius bring to the table?

There is not much more that can be said about Stradivarius, staying supremo on the track for so many years and one of the most popular and durable performers we have had in modern times.

But what might be next for the son of Sea The Stars when the curtain comes down on his glittering track career?

Many gloomily look to what has happened to previous super stayers such as Yeats, or even top-class middle-distance performers like Crystal Ocean, who retired straight to Coolmore's National Hunt ranks.

Current commercial realities mean Stradivarius is unlikely to find a Flat roster, though that has not stopped breeders sending Flat mares to Crystal Ocean or the like in recent years.

It is worth noting the eight-year-old is no mere plodder; he has a turn of foot that has propelled him not just to the top of the stayers' tree but has enabled him to win over a mile as a two-year-old, and at various distances ever since, and it would be nice if breeders supported him with a mix of mares from both codes.

Surely a multiple Group 1 winner who is tough, tenacious and talented - not to mention sound and consistent - deserves support even if he is deemed commercially unfashionable?

There must be some breeders out there who would rather support such a stallion prospect than one who either retired after winning a Group race at two or failed to prove their soundness and longevity.

A horse of Stradivarius' talent and breeding should be given every chance to be a success, ideally with Flat runners as well as National Hunt. Certainly, his stud fee will not prevent a diverse set of breeders from the chance to utilise him.

A homebred of Bjorn Nielsen, Stradivarius is a half-brother to two classy middle-distance types in dual Group 3 German winner Persian Storm, a son of Monsun who later went hurdling with Gary Moore, and the UAE Group-placed Rembrandt Van Rijn.

The trio are out of the Bering mare Private Life, a winner and Listed-placed from a mile to a mile and a half. Private Life is out of the Sadler's Wells mare Poughkeepsie, a daughter of Oaks, Prix de Diane and King George heroine Pawneese.

Private Life's siblings include stakes winners in Parisienne and Pretty Tough, while it is also the family of Prix du Jockey Club and Grand Prix de Paris scorer Peintre Celebre and Prix Ganay winner Planteur, now the sire of Stradivarius' foe, the dual Group 1-winning stayer Trueshan.

However he fares against Trueshan and co next month when bidding to emulate Yeats as a four-time Gold Cup winner at Royal Ascot, this season is set to be his last - let's hope the Flat features in his next chapter, and ideally through support not just from his owner-breeder.

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