Classic winner The Gurkha returns to stallion duties in a new location

Group 1 winner The Gurkha has been given a second chance as a stallion at Roveagh Lodge Stud in County Galway.

The Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Sussex Stakes winner by Galileo had stood at Coolmore since his retirement following surgery to repair a displaced colon in 2016, but had been removed from the roster for 2022.

However, a place has been found for him at Stephen Harris's farm in Kilcolgan, alongside Fuisse and Monitor Closely. Roveagh Lodge Stud manager Oscar Cherek confirmed that the nine-year-old arrived in Galway on Thursday and covered his first mare on Friday morning.

"He was put straight to work and got on with the job right away," said Cherek.

The Mediterranean was the most expensive yearling by The Gurkha, selling for €525,000 at Arqana in 2019Credit: Patrick McCann

Roveagh Lodge only began operating as a stallion farm last year with the acquisition of Great Voltigeur winner and St Leger third Monitor Closely, who is an Oasis Dream half-brother to the late Mount Nelson, and Fuisse, successful in the Prix du Moulin and a brother to Group 1 winner Full Of Gold and Grade 1 Prix Alain de Breil winner and sire For Fun.

"We have been breeding here for a number of years and there are about 50 mares on the farm. We will be covering a lot of our own mares with The Gurkha but he is available for outside breeders too," Cherek remarked.

The move west from Tipperary was set in motion when Harris and Cherek inquired about The Gurkha's availability from Coolmore and eventually led to his relocation to the beautiful Galway Bay area.

His oldest runners are four this year and that debut crop was his largest with 117 registered but his numbers dropped off each subsequent season and he has only 21 juveniles registered with Weatherbys. He covered just six mares last season.

"He is kind of an enigma isn't he?" said Cherek. "We will be able to monitor him here especially when he will be covering so many of our own mares."

Three-year-old Imperial Fighter, trained by Andrew Balding for Michael Blencowe, is the best of his offspring on RPRs with a rating of 110 following second-placed finishes in the Acomb and Autumn Stakes.

Balding also trains The Gurkha's best daughter on RPRs, the Listed Stand Cup Stakes winner Invite.

His unbeaten three-year-old daughter Tosen Lydia could provide him with a boost this season as his stud career undergoes rehabilitation. The Joseph O'Brien trainee made a winning reappearance at Naas last weekend and holds an entry in the Irish Oaks.

The Gurkha is bred on the outstanding cross of Galileo and Danehill Dancer which has produced champions such as Minding and her Irish 1,000 Guineas-winning sister Empress Josephine, as well as the Group 1-winning milers Circus Maximus and Alice Springs and the Classic winners Serpentine and Sovereign.

The Gurkha fends off Galileo Gold (left) and Ribchester (right) in the Sussex StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker

His pedigree is an excellent one nurtured by the Wertheimers; his dam Chintz won the Group 3 C L Weld Park Stakes and has produced the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes third Queen Nefertiti and Woodland Garden, who was second in last season's Listed Oyster Stakes. Both of them are, like The Gurkha, by Galileo.

Chintz is out of the French Listed winner Gold Dodger, a Slew O'Gold half-sister to Arc winner Solemia and to Brooklyn's Storm, the second dam of Prix Marcel Boussac and Prix Saint-Alary winner Silasol.

Galway's equestrian heritage has been long secured due to the global exploits of the Connemara pony but it does not have a reputation as a source of high-class thoroughbreds on the Flat. With the acquisition of a dual Group 1-winning miler, the team at Roveagh Lodge is hoping to change perceptions and give breeders better options.

"It is great for breeders in Galway and the wider West of Ireland region to have access to a Flat stallion of his quality. There wouldn't be many stallions with as good a race record and pedigree as The Gurkha in Galway," was Cherek's understated assessment.

The Gurkha is available to breeders in Galway, and beyond, at a fee of €3,500.

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