Recent results show that Shirocco is a sire for all seasons

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Both codes, both hemispheres, both as sire and grandsire: Glenview Stud stalwart Shirocco has really shown his versatility in the past week.

The strapping son of Monsun has, it’s fair to say, fluctuated in popularity over the years, both in his first Flat role for Darley and more recently in a jumps capacity in County Cork.

Shirocco covered books of 127, 139, 160 and 128 in his first four seasons at Dalham Hall and Kildangan Studs between 2007 and 2010, which dropped to 74 in 2011 but rose again to 121 and 103 in 2012 and 2013, bolstered by a significant number of National Hunt mares.

Thanks to the emergence of Annie Power, Art Of Payroll, Lac Fontana, Minella Rocco and Red Sherlock from those Darley conceived crops, he was given a rapturous reception by Irish jumps breeders when he switched to Glenview Stud in 2014, and attracted 284 mares onto his dance card that year.

Shirocco remained in high demand for the following two seasons, when he covered books of 280 and 249, but since the retirement of Annie Power he has perhaps just lacked a household name on the track and his annual tallies of matings have come in at 164, 120, 92, 183 and 118 in the past five years.

It’s worth pointing out here, that while Shirocco might not have been represented by a superstar of Annie Power’s magnitude in recent years – which is clearly a lot to ask, anyway – he has nonetheless distinguished himself as a consistent source of talented jumpers.

Third Wind: Pertemps winner represented an several excellent result for his sire at last week's festivalCredit: Grossick Racing

Results from the Cheltenham Festival last week reminded us of that, as the sire’s five runners at the meeting yielded Pertemps Final winner Third Wind (bred by owner Mouse Hamilton-Fairley during his last year at Dalham Hall Stud) and narrowly beaten Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle runner-up Queens Brook (bred by Richella Rohan during his debut season at Glenview Stud).

Third Wind and Queens Brook are among a haul of 37 black-type National Hunt performers by Shirocco, and they continue a strong season for him in which he is sitting in fourth place in the leading sires’ table.

It's easy to forget just how long it takes for a jumps stallion to establish himself, and I would venture that it's still relatively early days for Shirocco's purely National Hunt-bred crops – even in spite of it being as long ago as 2014 that he joined Glenview Stud.

That much was illustrated by the fact that four of his five-strong delegation to the festival – Dysart Diamond, Good Time Jonny and Grumpy Charley, as well as the aforementioned Queens Brook – were seven-year-olds from his first Irish-conceived crop.

So I wouldn't rule out Shirocco climbing higher in the sire standings in the near future as he has more jumps-bred crops competing at the same time, and subsequently enjoying another spike in popularity in his twilight years.

For all this talk of Shirocco’s prowess as a jumps sire, his achievements in the Flat sphere shouldn’t be overlooked.

He has delivered two northern hemisphere Group 1 victors in Brown Panther and Windstoss, three Group 2 winners in Arrigo, Grand Vent and Wild Coco, and five Group 3 scorers, including one of his most admirable performers in the three-times Melbourne Cup-placed Prince Of Arran.

He supplied another standout in Epsom and Curragh Oaks runner-up Shirocco Star, and also made hay in his shuttling trips to Brazil, where he left four individual Group 1 winners.

Shirocco is the damsire of last season's dual Classic hero Hurricane LaneCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Shirocco has more recently been making his presence felt in Flat racing through his daughters. Most notably, Philippa Cooper has bred triple Group 1 hero and Arc third Hurricane Lane out of Listed winner Gale Force, and Meon Valley Stud has bred Group 2 winners Al Suhail and Telecaster out of Shirocco Star.

Shirocco is also the broodmare sire of Montefilia, a daughter of Kermadec who is the new darling of Australian racing after gaining her fourth Group 1 victory by beating Very Elleegant, no less, in the Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.

Montefilia was bred in Australia by the late Geoff Russell, the breeder of sprint sensation Sole Power, out of the very useful Bana Wu.

The mare, bred and raced in Britain by Russell before her export down under, was trained by Andrew Balding to win just the one race – a ten-furlong Newbury maiden at three – but by that point she had already finished third in the Coral Distaff and fourth in the Rockfel Stakes, and she would later also take third in the Wolferton Handicap and Fortune Stakes.

Shirocco’s influence on the Flat might not be confined to his daughters, either, as German Derby and Preis von Europa winner Windstoss has commenced his stallion career at his birthplace of Gestüt Röttgen in Germany this year.

His breeding appeal is enhanced by the fact that he is a half-brother to another German Derby winner in Weltstar, and is out of a winning half-sister to another Preis von Europa scorer in Well Made. His second and third dams, Well Known and Well Proved, were both champions in Germany, too.

Jumps breeders are also fortunate to have access to a son of Shirocco, with Group 2 winner and Group 1 runner-up Arrigo – notably a half-brother to the late, lamented Adlerflug – having joined Yorton Farm last year.

That operation’s eye for a stallion was showcased to great effect at Cheltenham last week as two of the meeting’s most brilliant winners, Honeysuckle (by the late Sulamani) and Constitution Hill (by buzz horse Blue Bresil), were conceived under its auspices.

Blue Bresil is now also based at Glenview Stud, and he will no doubt be receiving the lion’s share of mares visiting the breeding shed there this season.

But his older colleague Shirocco, a truly top-class horse who has made a big impact in jumps and Flat racing, still deserves his fair portion of patronage.

What do you think?

Share your thoughts with other Good Morning Bloodstock readers by emailing gmb@racingpost.com

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Pedigree pick

Nothingtochance, who is set to make her debut in the mares’ bumper at Southwell on Monday (2.10), represents the best of British jumps breeding as a Kayf Tara full-sister to none other than newly minted Arkle winner Edwardstone.

Like her brilliant brother, the five-year-old is in the care of Alan King and is owned by Robert Abrey and Ian Thurtle, who bred the siblings out of Cottenham point-to-point winner Nothingtoloose.

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Good Morning Bloodstock is our latest email newsletter. Martin Stevens, a doyen among bloodstock journalists, provides his take and insight on the biggest stories every morning from Monday to Friday