Night Of Thunder going down a storm with excellent early statistics

This article was first published in September 2019

Extreme caution is called for when analysing a young sire's performance midway through his freshman season. There are many two-year-old races still to be run, and even then it is yet to be proved that the progeny can train on and flourish at three and beyond.

That said, the statistics compiled by Night Of Thunder throughout 2019 have been so commendable that it is difficult not to jump to the conclusion that he will turn out to be an excellent conduit of class.

Most strikingly, the 2,000 Guineas and Lockinge Stakes hero has supplied 22 winners from 35 runners in Europe for a strike-rate of 63 per cent. That statistic is a remarkable exhibition of quality in quantity; according to Racing Post data, the next best figure for a first-season sire with a double-digit tally of runners belongs to Muhaarar on 38 per cent.

The son of Dubawi is also the only freshman to have been represented by three individual stakes winners – Under The Stars in the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes and Molatham and Thunderous at Listed level. He has three other black type-placed performers besides, the most recent addition being Lady Penelope, runner-up in the Listed Harry Rosebery Stakes at Ayr on Friday.

The most powerful proof of the ability being passed down by sires is the table produced by this newspaper ordered by percentages of runners in Britain and Ireland with Racing Post Ratings of or in excess of 80, 100 or 115, available to view on our website under the statistics tab.

Night Of Thunder's early achievements are writ large on this chart. It shows the sire has had 16 offspring from 30 runners rated 80 or higher, at a clip of 53 per cent. That puts him one point behind Galileo and Sea The Stars, and is streets ahead of his freshman peers; Gleneagles is next best on 37 per cent, while Muhaarar is on 35 per cent.

Order the table by progeny rated 100 or higher and Night Of Thunder is level-pegging with Gleneagles, both on four out of 30 runners for a strike-rate of 13 per cent, but the point remains that no other first-season sire has been able to lay a glove on the Darley colour bearer for the breadth of smart, if not all of them yet top-notch, progeny he has delivered.

If Night Of Thunder were able to maintain the production line of runners achieving such respectable ratings he would distinguish himself as a highly valuable sire in an industry where the resale market for form horses is so strong, with demand from acquisitive owners in Britain and Ireland as well as from agents buying for Hong Kong, the Middle East and Australia.

Indeed, this month John Murphy sold Think Big, a homebred Down Royal winner and Listed fourth by the sire with an RPR of 95, to Charlie Gordon-Watson Bloodstock acting on behalf of Qatari clients for €100,000 at the Goffs Champions Sale; not a bad bit of business considering the sire stood his first season at Kildangan Stud at a fee of €30,000 and the horse had earned around €23,000 on the track.

Molatham: among a trio of early stakes winners by Night Of ThunderCredit: George Wood

Buyers at the early fixtures on this season's yearling sale calendar appear to have taken the hint. Eight lots by Night Of Thunder have sold for an average of around £74,000 and median of £46,000, up from figures of £65,000 and £42,000 for all his debut offspring sold at that age in 2018.

Alex Elliott has bought the two priciest members of the sire's second crop so far, a half-brother to the useful pair Captain Dunne and Classic Blade who cost £200,000 at Doncaster and an €85,000 filly at Baden-Baden.

Vendors of Night Of Thunder yearlings in the coming weeks must be feeling pretty pleased with themselves, assuming their sale offerings are physically up to scratch.

The thorny subject of conformation is germane to discussion of Night Of Thunder because the stallion himself is far from the perfect model, as his yearling price-tag of 32,000gns in a season when the Dubawis sold for an average of 124,000gns demonstrates.

But then Dubawi is not always known for siring stunning individuals, and the market was largely indifferent to his early stock before it became apparent that he so often instils his offspring with abundant class and willing attitudes – qualities that Night Of Thunder himself displayed in his racing career.

The fact that Night Of Thunder's highest rated performer Under The Stars was knocked down for just 6,000gns as a yearling suggests he too might be apt to throw horses whose talents belie their looks, although word from breeders on the sire's first foals was always conspicuously complimentary and the average and median prices for his debut offerings were not too shabby overall.

The first more concrete clue that Night Of Thunder might be siring gifted athletes came at the breeze-ups. The stallion's praises had been sung loudly by several vendors as they put his youngsters through their paces over the winter and he became one of the talking points at the Craven Sale after Godolphin bought three colts by him for 375,000gns, 300,000gns and 260,000gns.

Under The Stars: Group 3 winner was valued at just 6,000gns as a yearlingCredit: Edward Whitaker

All three purchases made sums a fair way in advance of their foal or yearling prices, with the most expensive pair among the trio – Path Of Thunder and Expressionist – having won races and the other, Global Storm, looking a winner in waiting after finishing placed in strong contests on all three starts.

Not only does the rise of Night Of Thunder provide a welcome reminder that it is the racecourse and not the ring that matters most in breeding, but it is also doing wonders for Dubawi's reputation as a sire of sires after Makfi fell short of lofty expectations and Poet's Voice proved to be able but inconsistent.

Furthermore, the stallion's success is broadening a bloodline that had been narrowing to a dead end in Europe.

He was the only foal produced by the Listed-placed Galileo mare Forest Storm, who in turn was one of only two female offspring of the Desert Prince mare Quiet Storm before her sale to India during the bloodstock recession in 2009.

Quiet Storm was one of just two fillies born to Hertford Castle, a daughter of Reference Point and Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Forest Flower, who herself had modest success as a broodmare; consequently Night Of Thunder's racecourse exploits resulted in next to no gratefully received pedigree updates for breeders in Britain and Ireland.

Another upshot of Night Of Thunder's success is the poser it sets Darley about his future fee and location. A price hike is inevitable but after standing his first two seasons at Kildangan Stud in County Kildare and switching to Dalham Hall in Newmarket for 2018 and 2019, where next?

Seeing as it is Irish breeders who have been responsible for the bulk of Night Of Thunder's winners – albeit the exciting Flying Scotsman Stakes scorer Molatham was bred by Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket – they might be expecting to have him back with profile enhanced next year.

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