During his time on the track, Coolmore’s Churchill (Ire) had the world at his feet, dominating the 2016 2-year-old season in Europe, before living up to the potential he showed as a juvenile in his Classic season, securing victories in both the G1 English 2000 Guineas and the Irish equivalent.
Since retiring to Coolmore’s Irish base in 2018, Churchill has been steadily making his mark. With his first runners in Europe, he was responsible for 26 winners from 85 starters and they were led by stakes scorers Ladies Church (GB), who landed the Listed Marwell S., Listed Criterium du Fonds Europeen de l'Elevage scorer Vadeni (Fr) and Snaffles (Ire), winner of the Listed Star Appeal S.
Last year he finished second to his barnmate Caravaggio (Ire) in the leading First Season Sire standings in Ireland by earnings, but as expected, this year his progeny have really found their groove, propelling the stallion to the sort of heights that was expected of him when he took up stud duties alongside his legendary sire Galileo (Ire) five seasons ago.
Continuing the winning groove
With a significant amount of the season left to go, Churchill’s Northern Hemisphere winner count stands at 52, 45 of them from his first crop, and he has already added a further three new stakes winners to his tally, with Queroyal (Ger) landing the Baden-Baden Derby Trial, Il Grande Gatsby's (Ire) Listed win in Italy, while Perotan (Ire) provided the stallion with his sixth overall stakes winner, and fifth this season, when she kept her unbeaten record intact in the Listed Her Majesty’s Plate at Down Royal on Friday.
Two of his stakes winners from 2021 have gone on to upgrade the Listed success they tasted last year. Vadeni is now a dual Group 1 winner having snared a victory in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, which the French-based colt duly followed up in his first overseas raid when beating a high-class field in the G1 Eclipse at Sandown and is now many people’s idea of the best 3-year-old in Europe.
Meanwhile, Ladies Church, the stallion’s highest earner in 2021, has also taken significant improvement since her juvenile season, turning her Listed success into a Group 2 triumph in the G2 Sapphire S. at the Curragh.
The stallion’s burgeoning list of stakes-winning progeny looks certain to keep growing, with a further five black-type performers among his offspring, including the Charlie Fellowes-trained Grand Alliance (Ire), who was narrowly denied victory in the G2 King Edward VII S. at Royal Ascot in June and is a horse his trainer has mooted as a possible candidate for the G1 Melbourne Cup in the future.
With 24 winners under his belt in the UK so far this season, Churchill is currently leading the Second Season Sire standings in Britain by both winners and earners.
Exciting times on the horizon
In his first year with runners in the Southern Hemisphere, the stallion has been represented by five winners from just 16 starters and should his career charter the same course in Australia as it has done in Europe the stallion could be in for an exciting 12 months as his juveniles enter their 3-year-old season.
The Danny O’Brien was a trainer who homed in on Churchill at the sales in 2021, buying three yearlings for an aggregate of $340,000 and, Thesecondatportsea, one of those purchases is already winner. The trainer purchased the filly from Coolmore for $140,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and she became the fourth Australian winner for the stallion when she broke her maiden at Geelong on July 1.
Gallery: Churchill (Ire) yearlings purchased by Danny O'Brien at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale
Thesecondatportsea finished third at Sandown-Hillside last Wednesday and Ben Gleeson, assistant to O’Brien, told TDN AusNZ the track did not really suit the filly and that she was still learning her trade, but will certainly take improvement from her early education on the racetrack.
“She is still very raw and has a lot of maturing to do,” he said. “The way she hit the line, she is clearly a very tough filly and I think that is what Churchill is throwing, they are clearly tough horses. I think by the autumn she should be a fully furnished, beautiful, imposing type that Churchill can throw.
“I think, given the way they are going in Europe, it will pay dividends to be patient with them and give them time.
“I think, given the way they are going in Europe, it will pay dividends to be patient with them (Churchill's progeny) and give them time." - Ben Gleeson
“The unraced gelding we have, a horse called Gong Him Red, who trailed at Werribee on Friday is similar. The stallion really stamps them; their build, their head and their action there is so much Churchill in them. I was lucky enough to be in England at the time when Churchill won the Guineas and watched him race numerous times and I can see a lot of him in his progeny.
“We dived into them when he had his first yearlings at Magic Millions and we are so far liking what we are seeing. We will certainly be going back to the sales and buying Churchills again.”
Popular with breeders
In his first visit to Coolmore Australia, Churchill covered 140 mares at a fee of $27,500 (inc GST) and had three-figure books every year since his first foray Down Under with the stallion covering his biggest crop of 160 in 2022 and John Kennedy, farm manager at Coolmore Australia, told TDN AusNZ that lots of the same breeders have returned to the stallion year after year, which was a very encouraging sign.
John Kennedy (light blue shirt) | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
“He is a very exciting stallion and even more exciting given what he is doing in Europe at the moment. He was heavily supported in Australia by some very good breeders and lots of people have bred back to him off the back of the strength of his stock. It is great to see them hitting the track and starting to get good results.
“The people who had early success with him have come back to him this season and we feel like he is still good value. We are excited to stand such a good stallion in Australia.”
Kennedy is confident that the best is certainly yet to come from the stallion and expects his crop to improve as 3-year-olds.
“He suits the Australian style of mare and puts scope and quality into his stock and really stamps them. He is certainly a horse that is easy on the eye himself and it seems to have gone down very well with the Aussie breeders,” he said.
“He (Churchill) suits the Australian style of mare and puts scope and quality into his stock and really stamps them. He is certainly a horse that is easy on the eye himself and it seems to have gone down very well with the Aussie breeders.” - John Kennedy
“The reports we are getting from people is that everything he is doing now is a bonus and his 3-year-old crop are going to be the exciting bunch and we are very much looking forward to what he is going to do next season.”
Top-class, deep pedigree
Meanwhile, Lisa McMaster of Briarwood Farm, is a great admirer of the stallion and has supported him in the past and will send two mares to him this season again.
The pair of mares are headed by 2012 G1 New Zealand Guineas winner Rollout The Carpet (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), who McMaster looks after for a Hong Kong client while winning mare Olivia’s Game (Myboycharlie {Ire}), is also set to visit the stallion this spring.
Rollout The Carpet
“I love the fact that he has such a depth in pedigree. Rarely do we see in Australia stallions with that depth of pedigree through the female line. His second and third dam were obviously champions and the first dam was obviously Broodmare of the Year and placed at Royal Ascot," McMaster told TDN AusNZ.
“There is just such incredible depth throughout the pedigree and we’re lucky to have a horse like him out here. I think he was really well-supported last year and I truly believe whatever they do as 2-year-olds is a bonus because they are definitely going to improve as 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds.”
In 2020, McMaster supported the stallion with Redoute’s Choice mare Queen Of Peace and she produced a filly, who McMaster described as ‘lovely’, while they have a Snitzel mare - Tan Tat Flame - on the property who is in foal to the stallion.
“The filly out of Queen Of Peace is a lovely type and she has the Galileo markings and she is a lovely big, strong filly and we are really happy with her,” she explained.
“Obviously, we keep a very close eye on what he is doing in the Northern Hemisphere and he is going so well there, with one headline horse in particular.
“Obviously, we keep a very close eye on what he (Churchill) is doing in the Northern Hemisphere and he is going so well there, with one headline horse in particular." - Lisa McMaster
“The other thing I love about him, and it is a sign of a good horse, is that he is throwing sprinters and stayers and shows that there is things to come. He had a lot of speed himself and he is obviously injecting that element into his progeny and he looks to be a very versatile horse.
“We had had a couple of Churchills coming through here after they were bought at the sales, who are now rising 2-year-olds. The first thing that I noticed was that they were really outstanding types and you look twice at them, they all took your eye.
“He is throwing quality yearlings from a physique aspect and that is always good to see from a stallion. I think he has a huge future and I am very happy to have a few coming through the system.”
