Cover image courtesy of Darley
Former shuttle sire Night Of Thunder (Ire) will be crowned the Champion Sire in Great Britain and Ireland for 2025. Which of the shuttle sires faired well with their first and second Northern Hemisphere crops?
Night Of Thunder is the champ
In 2025 Night Of Thunder becomes the fourth different horse in four years to be crowned Champion Sire across Great Britain and Ireland. Dark Angel (Ire) won in 2024, Frankel (GB) in 2023, and Dubawi (Ire) in 2022.
In 2021, Frankel won his first title, taking the mantle from his own sire, the great Galileo (Ire), who won 11 titles in succession from 2010 to 2020. Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) won in 2009, and Galileo achieved his first in 2008.
Galileo isn’t far away, with Night Of Thunder being by Dubawi out of a Galileo mare.
Dubawi brings in a new sire line to cross well with Galileo, being a son of Dubai Millennium (GB), who traces to Mr Prospector (USA) via Seeking The Gold (USA). Dark Angel is a son of Acclamation (GB), best known locally for his fantastic Hong Kong champion Romantic Warrior (Ire), and Dark Angel is out of a Machiavellian mare.
Dubawi (Ire) | Standing at Darley, UK
While there is still a month to go in the calendar year, the official Flat season in Great Britain and Ireland has ended with the focus shifting into jumps racing in that region.
In Great Britain in 2025, Night Of Thunder sired 16 individual stakes winners who won 21 stakes races, and as at November 25, he had progeny earnings of £6,134,263 (AU$12.4 million).
In Ireland, his three individual stakes winners won four black type races and his progeny earned €842,755 (AU$1.5 million).
The son of Dubawi enjoyed five individual Group 1 winners in 2025, led by Ombudsman (Ire) who won the G1 Juddmonte International Stakes and G1 Royal Ascot Prince of Wales's Stakes. Juvenile colt Gewan (GB) won the G1 Newmarket Dewhurst Stakes, and 3-year-old filly Desert Flower (Ire) won the G1 1000 Guineas.
Night Of Thunder’s other two Group 1 winners in 2025 were in America, those being G1 Keeneland Jenny Wiley Stakes winner Choisya (GB), and G1 Saratoga Just a Game Stakes winner Dynamic Pricing (Ire). Globally, Night Of Thunder had 32 individual stakes winners in the 2025 calendar year.
Night Of Thunder | Standing at Darley, UK
Among the top 10 on the Great Britain/Ireland chart are two sons of Galileo, and two sons of Shamardal (USA), while Dubawi sits in third behind his son, Night Of Thunder.
| 1 | Night of Thunder (Ire) | Dubawi (Ire) | 176 | 95 | 155 | 19 | 6,859,832 | $12,210,501 |
| 2 | Wootton Bassett (GB) | Iffraaj (GB) | 221 | 108 | 154 | 16 | 6,318,843 | $11,247,541 |
| 3 | Dubawi (Ire) | Dubai Millennium (GB) | 139 | 61 | 88 | 17 | 4,667,174 | $8,307,570 |
| 4 | Frankel (GB) | Galileo (Ire) | 178 | 81 | 117 | 13 | 4,563,860 | $8,123,671 |
| 5 | Sea the Stars (Ire) | Cape Cross (Ire) | 193 | 80 | 116 | 7 | 3,560,382 | $6,337,480 |
| 6 | Lope de Vega (Ire) | Shamardal (USA) | 208 | 91 | 128 | 9 | 3,518,617 | $6,263,138 |
| 7 | Kingman (GB) | Invincible Spirit (Ire) | 185 | 77 | 107 | 8 | 3,390,058 | $6,034,303 |
| 8 | Australia (GB) | Galileo (Ire) | 111 | 31 | 50 | 3 | 3,067,604 | $5,460,335 |
| 9 | Mehmas (Ire) | Acclamation (GB) | 267 | 113 | 171 | 3 | 3,016,210 | $5,368,854 |
| 10 | Blue Point (Ire) | Shamardal (USA) | 161 | 70 | 114 | 5 | 2,908,780 | $5,177,628 |
Table: 2025 Champion Great Britain/Ireland sires
Sea The Stars (Ire) leads the French Champion sire table, with recently deceased Wootton Bassett (GB) sitting in second on both the Great Britain/Ireland and France tables. Wootton Bassett’s son Almanzor (Fr), who now resides permanently in New Zealand, made the top 10. And continuing the growth of the Dubawi sire line, his son Zarak (Fr) sits in eighth.
| 1 | Sea the Stars (Ire) | Cape Cross (Ire) | 58 | 23 | 36 | 7 | 5,641,068 | $10,041,101 |
| 2 | Wootton Bassett (GB) | Iffraaj (GB) | 111 | 41 | 56 | 12 | 4,360,211 | $7,761,176 |
| 3 | Frankel (GB) | Galileo (Ire) | 50 | 20 | 29 | 5 | 2,949,921 | $5,250,859 |
| 4 | Lope de Vega (Ire) | Shamardal (USA) | 88 | 40 | 59 | 10 | 2,447,999 | $4,357,438 |
| 5 | Le Havre (Ire) | Noverre (NZ) | 109 | 50 | 76 | 3 | 2,099,203 | $3,736,581 |
| 6 | Siyouni (Fr) | Pivotal (GB) | 101 | 47 | 57 | 6 | 2,066,989 | $3,679,240 |
| 7 | Goken | Kendargent | 115 | 54 | 82 | 1 | 1,766,933 | $3,145,141 |
| 8 | Zarak (Fr) | Dubawi (Ire) | 118 | 55 | 72 | 4 | 1,725,300 | $3,071,034 |
| 9 | Almanzor (Fr) | Wootton Bassett (GB) | 114 | 36 | 44 | 1 | 1,669,785 | $2,972,217 |
| 10 | Zelzal (Fr) | Sea the Stars (Ire) | 120 | 51 | 64 | 1 | 1,582,877 | $2,817,521 |
Table: 2025 Champion French sires
The Classic generation
The eight major Classic races in Great Britain and Ireland were dominated by Galileo’s sons. Frankel who won the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas with Lake Victoria (Ire) and both the Oaks with Minnie Hauk (Ire).
Australia (GB) sired Lambourn (Ire) who won both the Irish and English Derbys.
The two male Guineas went the way of Ruling Court (USA) (Justify {USA}) who won the G1 English 2000 Guineas while the Irish version was won by Field Of Gold (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). As mentioned earlier, Night Of Thunder’s Desert Flower won the G1 English 1000 Guineas.
The late Wootton Bassett (GB) | Image courtesy of Coolmore
But it was Wootton Bassett who won the Champion 3-Year-Old Sire title in both Great Britain/Ireland and across all of Europe with a dominant performance. After his untimely death earlier this year, his sire sons will be well sought after.
Wootton Bassett achieved nine individual Group 1 winners in 2025, and of those, his 3-year-olds were G1 Goodwood Nassau Stakes and G1 Pretty Polly Stakes winner Whirl (Ire), G1 Prix de la Foret winner Maranoa Charlie (Ire), G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Henri Matisse (Ire), G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp winner Sahlan (Ire), and G1 Chantilly Prix du Jockey Club winner Camille Pissarro (Ire).
| 1 | Wootton Bassett (GB) | Iffraaj (GB) | 139 | 64 | 94 | 12 | 6,555,537 | $11,668,856 |
| 2 | Frankel (GB) | Galileo (Ire) | 91 | 52 | 78 | 10 | 5,315,732 | $9,462,003 |
| 3 | Sea the Stars (Ire) | Cape Cross (Ire) | 94 | 53 | 78 | 3 | 4,834,069 | $8,604,643 |
| 4 | Dubawi (GB) | Dubai Millennium (GB) | 65 | 42 | 68 | 15 | 4,251,761 | $7,568,135 |
| 5 | Australia (GB) | Galileo (Ire) | 50 | 18 | 27 | 4 | 3,239,068 | $5,765,541 |
| 6 | Kingman (GB) | Invincible Spirit (Ire) | 93 | 57 | 82 | 11 | 3,178,161 | $5,657,127 |
| 7 | Lope de Vega (Ire) | Shamardal (USA) | 101 | 55 | 80 | 7 | 2,906,879 | $5,174,245 |
| 8 | Mehmas (Ire) | Acclamation (GB) | 161 | 84 | 134 | 3 | 2,565,656 | $4,566,868 |
| 9 | Victoire Pisa (Jpn) | Neo Universe (Jpn) | 65 | 31 | 71 | 4 | 2,535,014 | $4,512,325 |
| 10 | Night of Thunder (Ire) | Dubawi (Ire) | 76 | 49 | 86 | 7 | 2,133,148 | $3,797,003 |
Table: 2025 Champion 3-year-old sires in Europe, as of November 25, 2025
The emerging second season stallions
Sergei Prokofiev (Can) will be crowned the Champion Second Season Sire in Great Britain and Ireland, and will achieve the same title for all Europe. The son of Scat Daddy (USA), who was a Group 3-winning juvenile and added a Listed win at three, has been a little bit of a surprise. In 2025, he sired the G1 Flying Five winner Arizona Blaze (GB), as well as the non-black type but rich Harry’s Half Million by Goffs winner Song Of The Clyde (GB) who earned £445,18 (AU$902,000) in 2025.
| 1 | Sergei Prokofiev (Can) | Scat Daddy (USA) | 129 | 49 | 70 | 1 | $1,923,179 | $3,423,259 |
| 2 | Ghaiyyath (Ire) | Dubawi (Ire) | 116 | 49 | 81 | 4 | $1,776,429 | $3,162,044 |
| 3 | Mohaather (GB) | Showcasing (GB) | 104 | 42 | 70 | 1 | $1,666,510 | $2,966,388 |
| 4 | Hello Youmzain (Fr) | Kodiac (GB) | 123 | 56 | 76 | 3 | $1,642,495 | $2,923,641 |
| 5 | Pinatubo (Ire) | Shamardal (USA) | 114 | 46 | 66 | 4 | $1,610,083 | $2,865,948 |
| 6 | Persian King (Ire) | Kingman (GB) | 123 | 42 | 60 | 4 | $1,601,671 | $2,850,974 |
| 7 | Sands of Mali (Fr) | Panis | 80 | 32 | 46 | 3 | $1,532,342 | $2,727,569 |
| 8 | Wooded (Ire) | Wootton Bassett (GB) | 91 | 33 | 50 | 1 | $1,219,454 | $2,170,628 |
| 9 | Touch the Wolf | Kurtiniadis | 42 | 20 | 48 | 2 | $1,121,421 | $1,996,129 |
| 10 | Romanised (Ire) | Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) | 103 | 33 | 45 | 2 | $1,042,223 | $1,855,157 |
Table: 2025 Champion Second Season Sires in Europe
In the top 10 by prizemoney across Europe, all 10 are by different stallions which shows diversity after years of dominance by Galileo.
Former shuttle horse Ghaiyyath (Ire) has had four stakes winners in Australia this spring. G1 Victoria Derby winner Observer, as well as Listed winners Different Gravy, Freedom Flame, and Yum. In the Northern Hemisphere, he has five individual stakes winners.
Group 2 winners The Padre (Ire) and My Highness (Ire) won in America and France respectively, while he added another Group 3 winner in France with Mandanaba (Fr). His Great Britain/Ireland stakes winner was Listed Newmarket Sir Henry Cecil Stakes winner Opera Ballo (Ire).
Like Night Of Thunder, Ghaiyyath is a son of Dubawi out of a Galileo mare. One ponders whether he will return to Australia in 2026…
Ghaiyyath (Ire) | Standing at Darley, UK
Three other shuttle sires made the top 10 of the second season sire list in Europe, being Hello Youmzain (Fr) who shuttles to New Zealand, Pinatubo (Ire) and Wooded (Ire).
Both Pinatubo and Wooded’s oldest Southern Hemisphere crops have just turned two, while their first European crops are 3-year-olds. Pinatubo enjoyed four stakes winners in 2025, and he has five in total. His best is G2 Prix de Malleret winner Qilin Queen (Ire), while the others are Listed winners.
Wooded, a son of Wootton Bassett, has only one stakes winner to date, but what a horse to have. Woodshauna (Fr) won the G1 Prix Jean Prat and placed in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest.
Wooded (Ire) | Standing at Swettenham Stud
Many eyes have been on Sands Of Mali (Fr) who added three stakes-winning 3-year-olds in 2025, led by Royal Ascot Group 1 winner Time For Sandals (Ire). Subject to an ownership dispute, Sands Of Mali was recently purchased by Yeomanstown Stud via a silent auction run by Tattersalls Ireland. The son of Panis (USA) is from the Mr Prospector (USA) sireline and has five individual stakes winners at this point in his career.
Wootton Bassett is the Juvenile King
Even though Starspangledbanner sired both the Cartier 2-Year-Old Colt of the year with Gstaad (GB) and Cartier 2-Year-Old Filly of the year with Precise (Ire), he remains in second place on the Champion 2-Year-Old Sire in Europe table for 2025 behind Wootton Bassett. Wootton Bassett sired nine individual juvenile black type winners to Starspangledbanner’s seven across Europe this year.
| 1 | Wootton Bassett (GB) | Iffraaj (GB) | 95 | 269 | 67 | 9 | $3,368,006 | $5,995,051 |
| 2 | Starspangledbanner (USA) | Choisir | 72 | 253 | 46 | 7 | $1,997,070 | $3,554,785 |
| 3 | Starman | Dutch Art (GB) | 104 | 356 | 52 | 5 | $1,687,798 | $3,004,280 |
| 4 | Mehmas (Ire) | Acclamation (GB) | 114 | 405 | 58 | 4 | $1,664,926 | $2,963,568 |
| 5 | Night of Thunder (Ire) | Dubawi (Ire) | 45 | 110 | 27 | 5 | $1,440,134 | $2,563,439 |
| 6 | Ardad (Ire) | Kodiac (GB) | 110 | 467 | 53 | 5 | $1,366,479 | $2,432,333 |
| 7 | No Nay Never (USA) | Scat Daddy (USA) | 50 | 178 | 37 | 4 | $1,340,977 | $2,386,939 |
| 8 | Havana Grey (GB) | Havana Gold (Ire) | 69 | 258 | 45 | 3 | $1,083,898 | $1,929,338 |
| 9 | St Mark's Basilica (FR) | Siyouni (Fr) | 53 | 148 | 22 | 3 | $883,120 | $1,571,954 |
| 10 | Space Blues (Ire) | Dubawi (Ire) | 53 | 189 | 25 | 2 | $824,530 | $1,467,663 |
Table: 2025 Champion 2-Year-Old Sires in Europe, as of November 25, 2025
Two sons of Dubawi make the table with Night Of Thunder and Space Blues (Ire), while the remainder are by a range of stallions.
Starman and St Mark’s shine as first season sires
More often than not, the horse who is crowned Champion First Season Sire will go on to have a successful career. They may not always reach the dizzying heights of a complete Champion Sire title, but they usually continue to get good quality horses over their career.
Starman (GB) will win the Champion First Season Sire title in Europe. The son of Dutch Art (GB), from the Machiavellian sire line, has had five stakes winners in his first crop of 204 juveniles. His best horse is Venetian Star (Ire) who won the G2 Newmarket Duchess of Cambridge Stakes and G3 Royal Ascot Albany Stakes, then went to France to add the G1 Deauville Prix Morny.
Starman (GB) | Standing at Tally Ho Stud, Ireland
Another French Group winner for him is Green Sense (Ire) who won the G2 Chantilly Prix Robert Papin. In Ireland, Starman sired G3 Leopardstown Tyros Stakes winner North Coast (Ire) and in England, Venetian Star was joined by dual Group 3 winner Lady Iman (Ire) and Listed winner Leading Dancer (Ire).
Shamardal looks to be an influence on the juvenile table with his son Victor Ludorum (GB) sitting in fifth spot, while two sons of Shamardal’s best sire Lope De Vega (Ire) also achieved top 10 finishes. They are the shuttle sire Lucky Vega (Ire) and Lope Y Fernandez (Ire).
Lucky Vega is an interesting case study as his first season at stud was in Australia, so he has 3-year-olds here, and first crop juveniles in the North. The Yulong-based sire has two stakes-winning juveniles in Europe this year. Lam Yai (Ire) won the Listed Doncaster Prospect Stakes. His other is German Listed Hannover Youngster Fillies Cup winner Only Luck (Ire). His Australian crops are led by brave filly Within The Law.
Shuttle sire St Mark’s Basilica (Fr), a son of Siyouni (Fr) from the Pivotal (GB) sire line, made it to second on the First Season Sire table in Europe. His best Northern Hemisphere juvenile Diamond Necklace (Ire) won two Listed races in Ireland and provided him with his first Group 1 winner when she travelled to France and won the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac. He has three individual stakes winners in total, the others being G2 Doncaster May Hill Stakes winner Aylin (Ire) and Listed winner Thesecretadvisary (Ire).
St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) | Standing at Coolmore
St Mark’s Basilica sits third on the Champion First Season Sire table in France behind fellow shuttle horse Victor Ludorum and Starman.
Palace Pier, who only shuttled for one season to Australia, is a son of Kingman (GB) who has four stakes winners from his 114 first crop foals in Europe. He is fourth on the European first season sire table. His progeny are led by G2 York Lowther Stakes winner and G1 Newmarket Cheveley Park Stakes-placed Royal Fixation (GB). A Bit Of Spirit (Ire) won the G3 Sandown Solario Stakes, while in Italy Dr Omran (Ire) won the G3 Roma Premio Guido E Alessandro Berardelli. Listed winner Morris Dancer (Ire) rounds out his stakes winners to date, and of note both Morris Dancer and A Bit Of Spirit are out of Dubawi mares.
| 1 | Starman | Dutch Art (GB) | 104 | 38 | 52 | 5 | $1,687,798 | $3,004,280 |
| 2 | St Mark's Basilica (Fr) | Siyouni (Fr) | 53 | 18 | 22 | 3 | $883,120 | $1,571,954 |
| 3 | Space Blues (Ire) | Dubawi (Ire) | 53 | 18 | 25 | 2 | $824,530 | $1,467,663 |
| 4 | Palace Pier (GB) | Kingman (GB) | 51 | 9 | 15 | 4 | $666,143 | $1,185,735 |
| 5 | Victor Ludorum (GB) | Shamardal (USA) | 53 | 14 | 18 | 0 | $522,309 | $929,710 |
| 6 | Nando Parrado (GB) | Kodiac (GB) | 50 | 18 | 27 | 1 | $475,184 | $845,828 |
| 7 | Supremacy | Mehmas (Ire) | 69 | 16 | 21 | 1 | $473,004 | $841,947 |
| 8 | Lucky Vega (Ire) | Lope de Vega (Ire) | 46 | 21 | 29 | 2 | $468,903 | $834,647 |
| 9 | Sadler's Joy (USA) | Kitten's Joy (USA) | 20 | 12 | 21 | 2 | $399,562 | $711,220 |
| 10 | Lope y Fernandez (Ire) | Lope de Vega (Ire) | 60 | 20 | 23 | 0 | $300,643 | $535,145 |
Table: 2025 Champion First Season Sires in Europe as of November 25, 2025
