Vintage result for Irish National Stud's first-season sire Phoenix Of Spain

Phoenix Of Spain has been one of the most eyecatching of the first-season sires and the Irish 2,000 Guineas winner provided further evidence of his potential with the victory of Haatem in the Group 2 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood.

Haatem, who was runner-up to City Of Troy in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket last month, is the first Group winner sired by the Irish National Stud's grey son of Lope De Vega. 

Bred by John Bourke at his Hyde Park Stud in Westmeath, Haatem is the third winner out of Hard Walnut, a daughter of Cape Cross who was twice successful over six furlongs at three for Qatar Racing. She is a half-sister to Father Frost, twice placed in Group 3 company in Italy, and to the multiple Listed-placed Born To Be Alive. The family traces back to the Group 1 winners and half-brothers Mister Majestic and Homme De Loi.

He was offered for sale by his breeder at Goffs as a foal but failed to meet his valuation and instead was snapped up by Peter and Ross Doyle for 27,000gns at Tattersalls October Book 2, consigned by Sherbourne Lodge. Racing in the white and green silks of Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah, he is the winner of two of his six starts and has only once been out of the first three, that was when fifth to River Tiber in the Coventry Stakes.

Successful in the Acomb Stakes and placed in the Vertem Futurity Trophy and the Champagne Stakes, Phoenix Of Spain has the best winners to runners rate of this year's first-season sires with five winners from just 13 runners for a strike-rate of 38 per cent. He also has a 50 per cent strike-rate with his Group horses.

Phoenix Of Spain at the Irish National StudCredit: Patrick McCann

Bred by the late Cherry Faeste out of the Key Of Luck mare Lucky Clio, Phoenix Of Spain is by leading sire Lope De Vega and made 78,000gns to Good Will Bloodstock at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, where he was consigned by the Grassick family's Newtown Stud. A return to the Park Paddocks sale ring for Book 1 by Kilminfoyle House Stud yielded 220,000gns from Howson and Houldsworth, and the colt, who is a half-brother to three stakes performers, was sent into training with Andrew Balding for Tony Wechsler and Ann Plummer.

He was a high-class two-year-old, making his debut in an early July novice at Sandown behind King Of Change, who would later in his career win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and finish second in the 2,000 Guineas. Successful on his second start, he then took the steps up the ladder with his York Group 3 success a precursor to those placed finishes behind Too Darn Hot and Magna Grecia.

Connections opted to wait for the Curragh and the Irish Guineas, rather than go to Newmarket, for the first race of his three-year-old season and that shrewd decision was rewarded with Classic success over old foe, and European champion two-year-old, Too Darn Hot. 

Phoenix Of Spain was acquired by the Irish National Stud for stallion duties and is now one of 18 top-level winners for Lope De Vega, who was the sire of Iberian, the runner-up to Haatem at Goodwood on Tuesday afternoon.

Interestingly, the two highest-ranked horses by Phoenix Of Spain on Racing Post Ratings - Haatem and Spanish Phoenix - are both out of mares by sons of Green Desert, and Haatem shares his broodmare sire with Lope De Vega's Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner Lucky Vega, who stands alongside Phoenix Of Spain at the Irish National Stud.

Read this next:

Mayson on the move