Frankel colt Last Kingdom one of two new stallions for Kooringal Stud

European Group winner Last Kingdom will be just the second son of champion Frankel to go to stud in Australia when joining Kooringal Stud's roster alongside Sandbar, the stakes-winning older three-quarter brother to Golden Slipper Stakes winner Farnan.

Angus Lamont, stud manager of the southern NSW operation, announced the acquisitions and was excited by the prospects of both Last Kingdom and Sandbar, the latter seen as a key speed influence in the Riverina stallion ranks.

Last Kingdom won three races in succession in France as a three-year-old, including the Prix Daphnis at Maisons-Laffitte for Andre Fabre, before being sold for a big sum to Hong Kong owner Tang Ming Hei.

He won a further two races during his three-season Hong Kong stint and was retired after a brief Victorian campaign earlier this year for Mornington trainer Logan McGill before subsequently bought through Inglis Digital by Kooringal Stud client Thomas Lau for stud duties.

“Obviously there’s not many of the Frankels about [in Australia] and he is on fire,” Lamont said.

Frankel: red-hot sire is making a significant impact in AustraliaCredit: Edward Whitaker

“Last Kingdom was bought by a client in Asia who is looking to expand his operations over there and he has a number of mares himself to send to him, but we’re opening him up to outside mares as well.

“He’s got grand dreams of getting quite a number of horses overseas every year and also racing in Australia.

“It’s fantastic to have his support and we’re thrilled to be able to stand the horse on his behalf.”

Last Kingdom, who was a US$500,000 purchase by Nawara Stud at the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the winning European mare Compelling, who is also the dam of the Grade 3-placed winner Ivyetsu.

The stallion’s second dam is Ireland and Great Britain’s champion two-year-old filly of 1994, the Phoenix Stakes winner Damson, herself a half-sister to Group 2 winner Requinto and the Group 3-placed Independence Day.

Frankel is the sire of three Group 1 winners in Australia this season, namely Metropolitan Handicap winner Mirage Dancer, Vinery Stud Stakes and Australian Oaks winner Hungry Heart and Saturday’s convincing J J Atkins Plate winner Converge. He has also had three Royal Ascot winners so far this week including Hampton Court Stakes winner Mohaafeth and Wolferton Stakes scorer Juan Elcano.

Frankel has Eminent standing at Brighthill Farm in New Zealand for NZ$7,500 (approximately £3,770) while Frankel My Dear is standing at Bombora Downs in Victoria on a fee on application basis.

Lamont also believes Sandbar will prove ideal for breeders targeting the lucrative BOBS incentive scheme which is predominantly aimed at two and three-year-old racing in NSW.

“It is a fantastic scheme and if your horses are mature and you’re getting them up and running early, you’re going to find out pretty quickly whether they’ve ‘got it’ or not,” Lamont told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“He’s a lovely individual himself. He has nice, neat joints. He’s a real typical two-year-old son of Snitzel.”

Trained by Brad Widdup, Sandbar was an A$650,000 (£352,700) Magic Millions Yearling Sale graduate who went on to win four races, including the ATC Lonhro Plate at two as well as the Rosebud Handicap at three.

At two, he also won his maiden at Canterbury in January 2018 before his Lonhro Plate success, while he was also runner-up to Written By in the Pago Pago Stakes and finished eighth in that year’s Golden Slipper, won by Estijaab.

Sandbar, whose sibling Farnan will stand for a fee of $55,000 (£30,000) at Kia Ora Stud at Scone this year, is one of six named foals out of John Singleton’s Group 3-winning mare Tallow, now owned by Phoenix Thoroughbreds.

“I have been looking for a horse by a decent sire and he ticked many boxes, he was a multiple stakes winner at two and three,” Lamont said.

“He raced in some handy races and around some pretty good horses, so there’s the form around him and his pedigree excited us.

“I love Street Cry mares and Snitzel speaks for himself. Farnan was obviously a champion two-year-old and it’s a real two-year-old family, which gives breeders something a bit different compared to the staying pedigrees that we’re offering with the other boys on our roster.”

Kooringal Stud will be offering breeding rights in Sandbar who will stand for an introductory fee of $8,800 (£4,775), while Last Kingdom has had his fee set at $6,600 (£3,580).

Sandbar was purchased by Kooringal Stud on the Bloodstock Auction online sale for an undisclosed price while the US-bred son of Frankel, Last Kingdom, was bought through an Inglis Digital sale.

Sandbar is a Listed-winning three-parts brother to FarnanCredit: Jenny Evans

Sandbar and Last Kingdom join Prized Icon, who has his first crop yearlings at the sales next year, and The Brothers War, the sire of high-class Phillip Stokes-trained stakes-winning sprinter Ancestry, on the Kooringal Stud roster.

The addition of the two stallions to the Kooringal roster comes soon after fellow southern NSW farm Twin Hills Stud announced it would stand Peltzer, while Dissident would relocate to Riverdene Stud and that Bowness Stud at Young has D’Argento entering his second season after covering 152 mares last year.

“It certainly is a good place to have a mare. You look at the horses who are reared and bred in the Riverina, we certainly hold our own,” Lamont said.

“A lot of hype goes around about Hunter Valley horses and places like that, but there’s plenty of better pastures and places to rear your horses down here.

“There’s nice, big open areas and we’re starting to see good results and it’s great to see other farms in the area really backing themselves and having the clients who are coming to the area and supporting the studs.”

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