Frankel and Attraction to meet again to repeat ring success

The mating that produced the most expensive yearling by dual world champion Frankel to sell at public auction is set to be repeated again this year as the Duke of Roxburghe sends his star mare, dual 1,000 Guineas heroine Attraction, to the superstar sire.

Attraction's colt by the son of Galileo was snapped up by Shadwell for 1.6 million guineas at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last year. He has been named Elarqam and is in training with Mark Johnston.

The Duke of Roxburghe said: "It's going to the well twice but her Frankel colt was an outstanding looking colt who was much admired by everybody. He was very athletic and with the year that Frankel had last year, it looked like a no-brainer to return.

"It was an obvious choice and also to see if we could repeat what happened before. We're looking forward to seeing the colt hit the track and it's exciting that he's gone to Mark Johnston.

"Attraction is due any minute now to Invincible Spirit and we believe she'll be having a filly, which I'd be delighted with."

The 16-year-old daughter of Efisio has produced six winners from nine foals including Group 3 scorer Fountain Of Youth and the Grade 3-placed Cushion.

She is joined in the duke's broodmare band by Cushion, a seven-year-old daughter of Galileo, who will cross the Irish sea to be covered by Coolmore's Fastnet Rock having delivered a colt foal by Zoffany.

The duke said: "Fastnet Rock has had a very good couple of years and seems to have nicked very well with Galileo mares. It seemed a fairly obvious mating to go with based on that and it's very exciting."

Attraction is out of the late Pursuit Of Love mare Flirtation, who died in 2013, and the duke has been able to continue her line through the star mare and three of her half-sisters at his Floors Stud.

Titivation, a ten-year-old daughter of Montjeu who won once for Michael Bell, delivered a colt by exciting young sire Siyouni earlier this year but the duke has chosen to rest her for a season.

Fusion, a seven-year-old daughter of Cape Cross, was among the first book of mares for top-class miler Gleneagles last year and, having foaled an "attractive" filly by the son of Galileo, is to be covered by Acclamation.

"He's a well-proven sire who is capable of getting an early two-year-old and he's a commercial sire too," said the duke. "We felt we'd taken the foot off the pedal a little bit having had the Lope De Vega before which is very nice and Gleneagles this year.

"She's going to a commercial sire who isn't so expensive and is a decent horse who gets very good stock."

The Grade 3-placed Federation, a nine-year-old daughter of Motivator, was barren to Zoffany last year but was to be covered this weekend by Haras de Bouquetot's exciting new recruit Shalaa.

The duke said: "Shalaa is a very exciting prospect and I know he's been very busy and popular. [His sire] Invincible Spirit looks like he could be a sire of sires and he's a very exciting horse to have gone to stud this year."

Outstanding miler Kingman has already covered two of the duke's broodmares - Merry Jaunt, an eight-year-old Street Sense half-sister to Hollywood Derby winner Seek Again, and Comic, a 21-year-old Be My Chief mare who is the dam of the Group/Grade 1 winners Laughing and Viva Pataca.

"Merry Jaunt has had a very nice filly by Dark Angel and she's been scanned in foal to Kingman which is very exciting," said the duke. "She actually had a Kingman foal last year which sadly died, so we went back again this year.

"Comic was sadly barren to Invincible Spirit but she's safely in foal to Kingman, which is very good news. She's getting on a bit and I think she might be coming to the end of her days breeding. This may well be her last foal. I've owned her in partnership with the Duke of Devonshire and we've had a lot of fun with her.

"Kingman was such an exciting and successful racehorse and I'm looking forward to his stock coming through."

Zoffany is another stallion to have covered two mares owned by the duke recently in Lady Glinka, an unraced nine-year-old Galileo sister to Mikhail Glinka, and the Listed-winning Azamour mare Twitch.

The duke said: "Lady Glinka was barren last year and is in foal to Zoffany. Twitch is as well, and I thought he was a nice solid horse to get her off to a good start. Twitch is also owned with the Duke of Devonshire and she's a very courageous mare.

"Zoffany is able to get horses across various spectrums of distances and he will have had a very good book of mares in the last year or two. We may not have seen the best of him yet."

Completing the matings for this year is Scarborough Fair, a seven-year-old daughter of Pivotal who delivered a Kingman colt recently and is to be covered by triple Classic winner Camelot.

The duke added: "Scarborough Fair is a Pivotal mare from the family of Berkshire and Ivawood. Camelot could be an exciting addition to the stallion ranks. He's a horse that I haven't used but I bought a yearling by him last year and have got a mare in foal to him so I'm actually committing to the cause."