Milan gains first jumps sire title in season shortened by Covid-19 pandemic

Milan has gained his first jumps sire championship in a season shortened by the cancellation of racing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Grange Stud stallion is left leading the table with Horse Racing Ireland having officially closed the 2019-20 National Hunt season last week, and the British Horseracing Authority announcing that jump racing will not return to Britain until July.

Milan supplied 70 winners who amassed £1,908,347 in prize-money during the term.

LEADING JUMPS SIRES GB & IRE 2019-20

Milan £1,908,347 in progeny earnings
Flemensfirth £1,660,581
Stowaway £1,617,588
Oscar £1,505,892
Yeats £1,437,102
King's Theatre £1,420,409
Westerner £1,400,507
Presenting £1,304,129
Beneficial £1,277,094
Gold Well £1,234,065

Click here to see the full table

Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Santini, last-gasp Paddy Power Chase winner Roaring Bull and Davids Charm, who made hay in valuable hurdles last summer, were the chief contributors to the sire's pot.

The fact that five sires broke the £2 million mark in progeny earnings in 2018-19 and four did the same in 2017-18 suggests there was still a lot to play for in the closing weeks of the jumps season.

But, in fairness to Milan, he held a healthy lead of around £250,000 over his closest pursuer, the reigning champion Flemensfirth, when jump racing came to a halt in Britain and Ireland.

He also led his peers by number of races won, on 105, and was represented by the joint-highest tally of black-type winners, with 11 matching the feat of Flemensfirth.

Stowaway finished in third position, one place ahead of Oscar, who features in the top five on a remarkable 11th occasion. Yeats achieved his best ever finish in fifth.

Santini: the leading earner for Milan in the 2019-20 seasonCredit: Edward Whitaker

Grange Stud manager Albert Sherwood paid tribute to the sire power of Milan, who is standing his 17th season at the operation at a fee of €10,000.

“He was a five-length winner of the St Leger by Sadler's Wells and is from the excellent family of Kahyasi, so it's fair to say hopes were always high for him,” he said.

“He's lived up to expectations by providing top-class jumpers year after year, and so the champion sire title is well deserved. As the likes of Santini and Monalee showed this past year, he puts a lot of class into his stock.

“It bodes well for the younger St Leger winners from the Sadler's Wells line that we have here. Leading Light, by Montjeu, has his first four-year-olds this year and has started to get some nice winners in point-to-points, and then we have Galileo's son Capri just starting out; he of course beat Crystal Ocean and Stradivarius at Doncaster and has been impressing visitors with his physique.”

Milan with jockey Mick Kinane and owner Michael Tabor after his St Leger successCredit: Edward Whitaker

Milan, who turned 22 this year, hails from the same crop of Sadler's Wells as Galileo and was a stablemate of the great sire at Ballydoyle.

He had 22 rivals behind when he won a Curragh maiden on his sole start at two and ran second to Galileo in the Ballysax Stakes on his three-year-old bow, before finishing third in the Prix Lupin, fifth in the Prix du Jockey Club and fourth in the King Edward VII Stakes.

Milan really hit his stride in the second half of his Classic season, taking the Great Voltigeur Stakes and St Leger in emphatic style. He was a fair fifth behind Sakhee in the Arc before notching his peak Racing Post Rating of 128 for running a close second to Fantastic Light in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

His long service under the Coolmore National Hunt banner has yielded a host of high-class jumps performers, including Grand National hero One For Arthur and Champion Hurdle winner Jezki.

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