It's farewell to the Flat but almost certainly hello to a new champion sire

Prize-money of £315,000 is up for grabs at Doncaster on Saturday afternoon as the curtain comes down on the Flat season.

The British campaign follows the Irish season – which finished at the Curragh last Sunday – into mothballs, and the sires’ title door has all but closed.

The advantage of Yeomanstown Stud’s Dark Angel over a pack led by Darley’s Dubawi is such that, come the end of the year, it would be a huge shock if the 19-year-old is not crowned champion sire for the first time.

Dark Angel’s prize-money total in Britain and Ireland for 2024 stands at more than £4,850,000, with Dubawi just past the £4,450,000 mark, ahead of father and son Galileo and Frankel. 

Galileo is on the heels of Dubawi, but the gap to Frankel is a little bigger. 

Dark Angel has been particularly well-served by Charyn this year, with four of his five wins coming in Britain, notably the valuable Queen Anne and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, but the propulsion to the sires’ title has come as much through quantity as quality.

He has had 1,400-plus runners – not the highest total as Kodiac and Dandy Man have had more, but still way in excess of his nearest challengers, as is to be expected of course given the difference in stud fees between Dark Angel and £350,000 duo Dubawi and Frankel, with the late Galileo reputedly higher again on a private basis.

Dark Angel has never stood for more than €85,000 – he has been at €60,000 for the past four years and it was announced on Thursday he would remain at that fee for 2025 despite a stellar campaign.

First things first, though, who is going into bat for him and Dubawi on the final day of the Flat season? (Galileo doesn't have anything on Saturday, while Frankel is realistically a bit too far behind.)

On the basis that every little bit counts, Dark Angel does have a couple of good shots at winning the £20,000 nursery at Doncaster through Nad Alshiba Green and Station X.

Nad Alshiba Green could make a small but still valuable contribution for Dark Angel at DoncasterCredit: Edward Whitaker

The former, trained by Mick Appleby, has won two of her last four starts, although this six furlongs is certainly at the top of her range for now, while the Bryan Smart-trained Station X was a last-time-out winner over the trip and champion apprentice Sean Dylan Bowen was an early booking.

On a related footing, it must be an ongoing regret for all concerned with Doncaster – and, indeed, for many who follow Flat racing throughout the turf season – that the jockeys’ titles aren’t part of Saturday’s farewell festivities. 

The Lincoln and Futurity Trophy meetings aren’t in that equation either, as they used to be, before the British Champions Series and British Champions Day narrowed the goalposts.

Back to Dark Angel. He also has one in the £45,000 handicap that follows the nursery, in the shape of another last-time-out winner, Strike Red. The Richard Fahey-trained six-year-old also had a rider booked early, in his case Billy Garritty.

As for 2022 champion sire Dubawi, one thing to note about his challenge is that, with the heavy concentration of his stock at Godolphin, the operation behind him do somewhat have it within their gift to propel him to the title, should he get to within hailing distance of Dark Angel.

That scenario is unlikely, however, and most of Charlie Appleby and Saeed bin Suroor’s charges will already have been roughed off for the year or put in storage for the Dubai Carnival. 

If it's not a factor this time, that's not to say it couldn't be next year.

As it happens, while Dubawi is represented at Flemington and Abu Dhabi on Saturday, his only domestic support comes at Chelmsford. 

It is in the Essex track's most valuable contest, a £25,000 handicap, and his son Intricacy does look to have a good chance, however, that description is going too far when it comes to the prospects of his sire claiming a second championship.

It’s a dark time of year for those not into jump racing. But it’s also a Dark Angel time of year, and the likelihood of a blue-collar champion sire is something worth saluting as we head into the winter.  

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