The image of Kingman powering through the gears in the Sussex Stakes is a worthy depiction of the capabilities of an elite Thoroughbred at full flight.
The Thoroughbred is an animal geared towards speed; it is an attribute that stands tall over everything that breeders have sought to produce during centuries of cultivation. Prince Khalid Abdullah’s outstanding record as a breeder was such that his Juddmonte Farms have produced better horses than Kingman, notably Frankel. Yet very few possessed the kind of acceleration that propelled Kingman to four G1 victories during a championship season in 2014.
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John Gosden on Kingman and his success at stud: Read part 2 of this feature here
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Kingman’s pedigree is laden with quality, beginning with his dam, the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches heroine Zenda. In turn, she was a Zamindar half-sister to Juddmonte’s champion sprinter and Middle Park Stakes winner Oasis Dream and descended from the famed Juddmonte foundation mare Bahamian.
Few people had a better insight into this family than John Gosden, who had previously handled the careers of both Zenda and Oasis Dream. He would also send out Kingman’s elder half-brother, Remote, to land the Tercentenary Stakes at Royal Ascot just days before Kingman himself burst onto the scene with a scintillating debut victory at Newmarket.
Such was the authority of that debut score on the July course that Kingman was immediately installed as low as 5/1 for the following year’s 2000 Guineas. A subsequent wide-margin win in the Solario Stakes merely consolidated the idea that Gosden’s Clarehaven yard housed a G1 winner in waiting.
Remarkable finishing kick
As it turned out, Kingman was to suffer his only defeat in the 2000 Guineas, a race in which the principals were probably at a disadvantage by racing away from one another across the width of the track. But that remarkable finishing kick was on full show throughout the rest of the season, taking him five lengths clear of the chasing pack in the Irish 2000 Guineas, propelling him past his Newmarket conqueror Night Of Thunder in the St James’s Palace Stakes and sealing authoritative victories in the Sussex Stakes and Prix Jacques les Marois.
Each was achieved with a degree of dominance but, for many, the Sussex is the race that sticks in the mind, with Kingman clocking a time of 10.22 between the two and one furlong poles to run down Toronado.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but, if speed and the ability to accelerate at a flick of the reins is a highly desirable aspect of the Thoroughbred, then Kingman stood an excellent chance of succeeding at stud. Added to that, he was the highest-rated son of Invincible Spirit, by then already regarded as an emerging sire of sires, while close relations Oasis Dream and Beat Hollow were already well established as G1 sires. Oasis Dream, in particular, has long acted as an important element to the health of British breeding.
There was also the knowledge that Kingman would receive superb support from Juddmonte itself. In possession of one of the deepest broodmare bands worldwide, Juddmonte will always throw its weight behind its young resident stallions and often with great rewards; Warning (by Known Fact), Quest For Fame (by Rainbow Quest), Xaar (by Zafonic) and Rail Link (by Dansili) are just some of the stars bred and raced by Juddmonte out of the early crops of its stallions.
Kingman was no different. In a well executed piece of symmetry, a Juddmonte homebred trained by John Gosden set the wheels in motion with an impressive debut success on Newmarket’s July course in June 2018. Calyx was Kingman’s very first runner and ten days later at Royal Ascot, he pushed his sire to greater heights with a display of raw speed to land the Coventry Stakes over subsequent G1 winner Advertise.
There were, of course, major expectations attached to Kingman. A championship career at the track had resulted in an opening fee of £55,000 and the support of some of Europe’s best breeders alongside that of Juddmonte. Of the 48 yearlings who made it to auction, 39 sold for an average of 235,256gns, including a filly who sold as part of the Ballymacoll Stud dispersal for 1,700,000gns to Moyglare Stud Farm.
When Calyx sprang to prominence so early into the following season, it sparked the beginning of a frenzy for the stallion that gained further momentum as other stakes-winning, first-crop 2yos emerged, namely Persian King (defeated Magna Grecia and Circus Maximus in an excellent edition of the Autumn Stakes at Newmarket), Poetry (won the Criterium de Vitesse at Chantilly), Sangarius (won the Flying Scotsman Stakes at Doncaster) and Look Around (won the Star Stakes at Sandown).
By the end of 2018, 23 of his first crop had won. Many were based in Europe but the group also included a smattering of successful representation in Japan.
Waiting in the wings
It takes a special stallion to sire a Classic winner in his first crop and Kingman achieved just that through Diane Wildenstein’s homebred Persian King, who justified the hype with a smooth win in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains for Andre Fabre.
Various others were waiting in the wings. In addition to Calyx, who returned to action with a victory in the Pavilion Stakes at Ascot, Gosden had charge of King Of Comedy, who won the Heron Stakes at Sandown prior to running a close second in the St James’s Palace Stakes, and the listed winners Private Secretary and Twist ’N Shake.
Abdullah’s colours, meanwhile, were carried to victory by the Roger Charlton-trained Headman in the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville and the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Sangarius in the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Among the better fillies, Nurlan Bizakov’s homebred Nausha won the Musidora Stakes at York.
In all, that 116-strong crop has yielded 15 stakes winners so far.
The momentum has continued since then.
In Palace Pier, Kingman has thrown a miler capable of emulating several of his own achievements. Yet another trained by Gosden, this second-crop standout made rapid headway through the ranks last season to win the St James’s Palace Stakes on his fourth start and the Prix Jacques les Marois on his fifth.
Growing appreciation Stateside
Further afield, Fearless King landed the German 2000 Guineas while the British-bred Domestic Spending underlined a growing appreciation for the stallion Stateside with victories in the Hollywood Derby and lucrative Saratoga Derby. He was purchased out of the Tattersalls October Sale by agent Mike Ryan, who returned the following year to source the G3-placed 2yo Public Spending and the well-regarded Aqueduct maiden winners Amortization and Technical Analysis with owner Klaravich Stables. Each is trained by Chad Brown.
Meanwhile, the decision to keep Persian King in training reaped rewarding successes in the Prix d’Ispahan and Prix du Moulin. Another older representative, Roseman, fell only a head short of becoming another G1-winning miler for Kingman in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.
As for his current crop of 3yos, they contain five stakes horses, led by the Radley Stakes winner Love Is You. Others, such as Monsoon Moon, feature in the ante-post lists for the British Classics, while enough promise could be gleaned from the maiden wins of Banglalore, Divine Light, Kings Prince, Mystical Air, Ready To Venture, Simons King, Tawahub and Wirko to think that they are worth keeping an eye on in better company.
Now a ten-year-old, this relatively young horse boasts 29 stakes winners and 48 black-type performers, good for a figure of 18 percent black-type performers to runners. He also has three sons at stud.
Calyx was the first to retire as a new recruit to Coolmore for the 2020 season. Understandably, he was well received in his first season, when he covered over 160 mares at a fee of €22,500.
Nor did it take long for Persian King to fill when his retirement to Haras d’Etreham at a fee of €30,000 was announced late last year. France is also home to Headman, who stands at Figerro Breeding Farm for €2,800.
All the while, Kingman’s commercial standing continues to grow. He boasts seven million-guinea or euro yearlings, including a half-brother to Galileo Gold who realised 2,700,000gns to Oliver St Lawrence on behalf of Fawzi Nass at last year’s Tattersalls October Sale. Now named Akhu Najla, he is in training with Roger Varian.
Kingman also hit the headlines in Australia only last month as the sire of a colt who sold for A$1.8 million to Tom Magnier at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Kingman’s current 2yos, which averaged close to 400,000gns as yearlings, were bred in the final year that he stood at £55,000. He covered a large book in 2019, the year he rose to £75,000, and another 179 mares in 2020 when his fee was doubled to £150,000.
It was an outstanding book, one that consisted of 100 stakes winners, among them Attraction, Peeping Fawn, Sariska, Seventh Heaven, Sky Lantern, Taghrooda and Treve, alongside producers of the ilk of Kind (dam of Frankel and Noble Mission), Dar Re Mi (dam of Too Darn Hot), Cabaret (dam of St Mark’s Basilica and Magna Grecia), Flèche d’Or (dam of Golden Horn), Darkova (dam of Almanzor), Pearling (dam of Decorated Knight), Sunday Times (dam of Newspaperofrecord) and Wonder Of Wonders (a Classic-placed relation to Galileo and the dam of the Classic-placed So Wonderful).
Apart from the fact that Kingman is a pure breeding bay, it is notable how a typical Kingman is usually recognisable, often by the way it carries itself. Indeed, an essence of that acceleration which was so evident in Kingman himself is often a weapon within the armoury of his better stock.
Tomorrow: “He was the most charming horse to be around. It was like having a big cuddly bear around the place” - John Gosden goes into detail about Kingman