'I don't think you can get enough of him' - Al Shira'aa mares set for the very best

If Al Shira'aa Farm presence on the sales circuit over the last few years is anything to go by there will be plenty to look forward to for Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan's operation, both on the track and in the breeding shed.

The black and red silks have already been carried to a number of Group/Graded-level successes and there is no telling just how far the team will climb with some exciting mares and race fillies set for high-profile coverings this season.

Chief among them is Mutamakina, a daughter of Nathaniel who was a Listed winner in France for Carlos Laffon-Parias and who also finished second to Sottsass and Terebellum in a brace of Group 2s.

Transferred to Christophe Clement's barn in America in November 2020, the now seven-year-old won four Graded races headlined by the Grade 1 EP Taylor Stakes.

Manager Kieran Lalor says: "She was an exceptional racemare and is heading to Wootton Bassett. The sire is high on our radar having gone from rags to riches and he has already got a Group 1 winner [Zellie] out of a Nathaniel mare.

"Al Riffa is out of a Galileo mare so it's a good cross, and you'd have to imagine with all those top-class Coolmore mares they are sending it'll go from strength to strength."

Kieran Lalor: "She's going to Frankel having won two Listed races and finished second in a Group 1 on Arc day."Credit: Laura Green

Another high-class performer in France was Jannah Flower, a well-related daughter of Olympic Glory who was twice a stakes winner and also second to Sea La Rosa in the Group 1 Prix de Royallieu in October. The five-year-old starts at the very top with her first covering this year.

Lalor says: "She's going to Frankel having won two Listed races and finished second in a Group 1 on Arc day.

"I'd be fairly confident in saying she was capable of winning a Group 1 and were it not for a small injury we'd have probably kept her in training, but we decided to retire her.

"She's got a good pedigree being a half-sister to Fleeting, a Group 2 winner who was second in the Irish Oaks and Prix de l'Opera. Frankel of course needs no introduction, he's a sire we want to try to send as many top mares as we can to each year. I don't think you can get enough of him - for us, more is better!"

Al Shira'aa has a daughter of Frankel who has retired to the paddocks, Group 2 Prix de la Nonette winner Rumi, who also landed the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux for Laffon-Parias.

The Ecurie des Monceaux-bred five-year-old, a €700,000 purchase from Arqana's August Yearling Sale, will have a date with her sire's studmate Kingman.

Lalor says: "She's a typical Frankel in that she possesses all his physical qualities, as well as always wanting to try. She was a Group 2 winner in France and was unlucky not to add a few more Group wins, while she was definitely Group 1 quality.

"Kingman is a sire we like to use and I think will keep getting better and better. He's doing well with Galileo mares, including Fillies' Mile winner Commissioning, and Noble Truth is a Group winner out of a Frankel mare. I think that cross and the reverse of it is one we will hear plenty more of."

Kingman: will be visited by Rumi for her first coveringCredit: Asuncion Piñeyrua

Kingman's Group 2-placed daughter Sicilia is carrying to Frankel and will then head over to Kildangan Stud for a tryst with rising star Night Of Thunder, whom Lalor has every faith in.

"He's a top-class son and heir apparent of Dubawi and I think he could be the best value stallion at that kind of level," he says. "His progeny are as tough as nails and all the trainers want to have them. It makes sense to use him as much as we can.

"Sicilia was unlucky not to be a black-type winner having been Group 2-placed. She has a lovely yearling by Kitten’s Joy. She is a tall, elegant mare. She's correct, narrow through her chest, so we thought the Night Of Thunder covering would be a good physical for her as well as the cross."

Another Irish-based sire in Lope De Vega will also receive some of Al Shira'aa's blue-blooded mares, among them Lady In Lights, a Dansili half-sister to world champion three-year-old and Dewhurst Stakes winner St Mark's Basilica and 2,000 Guineas and Vertem Futurity Trophy winner Magna Grecia.

Lalor says: "She's by Dansili, who is a favourite broodmare sire of ours, while she's in foal to Kingman. Her first foal is a filly by No Nay Never who we've retained and looks quite precocious.

"Lady In Lights has got a lovely yearling by Lope De Vega, who has already produced a couple of Group 1 winners out of Dansili mares in Sweet Lady and Capla Temptress. It's a pretty potent cross and it was an easy decision to return to him. She's a mare we're excited about."

Lope De Vega: "It's a pretty potent cross and an easy decision to return to him."Credit: Patrick McCann

Celestial Beast is another regally bred individual as a Kitten's Joy full-sister to Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner and Lanwades sire Bobby's Kitten. She will head over to Dalham Hall Stud for a date with Palace Pier.

"She's a mare we've got in France and is a lovely compact type with plenty of speed influences in her," says Lalor.

"Palace Pier was one of the best horses of his generation and, in my opinion, one of the best looking horses at stud. I went to see him when he retired and I was blown away by him.

"We've committed a mare to him every year and Invincible Spirit has done well with Sadler's Wells, while Kingman has Commissioning out of a Galileo mare. Hopefully Palace Pier appreciates the same influences and he'll complement her physically as well."

Two of Al Shira'aa's mares are set to travel further afield for their coverings, including the Group 3-placed winner Silvestri, a €380,000 Arqana purchase and a daughter of Siyouni out of a Montjeu half-sister to Grade 1 winner Talco.

Lalor says: "She was second by a whisker in a Group 3 as a three-year-old and we sent her to the USA, which we tend to do if we think we can upgrade them across the pond. It also gives us the option to bring some mares back in foal to stallions over there.

Triple Crown hero Justify will pay court to SilvestriCredit: Edward Whitaker

"She will visit Justify, who has done well in Europe so far from limited opportunities. Scat Daddy was a huge loss but he's left us with plenty of opportunities with his sons and grandsons.

"You'd have to think the likes of Ten Sovereigns and others will have a good shot at it, so we're excited to bring her home in foal to Justify."

Empire Maker mare Miss Jessica J is owned in partnership with Gainesway and will visit Spendthrift Farm's world-class Into Mischief, a cross that has already produced Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun.

Lalor says: "Miss Jessica J never made it to the track but showed plenty of potential in training. She's a fabulous looking mare and Into Mischief's a stallion who needs no introduction and is a dominating force over there."

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