'He really put us on the map' - champion sire and stayer Kayf Tara dies aged 28

Kayf Tara, the dual Gold Cup and Classic hero for Godolphin and 11-time British champion National Hunt sire, has died at the age of 28.

The son of Sadler's Wells, who passed away peacefully in his field at Overbury Stud, had been continuing to make his mark as recently as Saturday, when his son Edwardstone landed his third Grade 1 victory in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown.

Kayf Tara's tremendous record at stud features jump racing celebrities such as King George VI Chase and Stayers' Hurdle hero Thistlecrack, Champion Chase winner Special Tiara, Irish Gold Cup winner Edwulf, top-class hurdler Thyme Hill and Hennessy Gold Cup winner Carruthers.

His first winner came when Ruby Wine struck in the Listed Ballymacoll Stud Stakes on the Flat in 2005.

Kayf Tara was bred by Meon Valley Stud and purchased by Darley from the Tattersalls Houghton Sale for 210,000gns in 1995. He won on his second start at three for Sir Michael Stoute and Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, after which he was transferred to Godolphin and the yard of Saeed bin Suroor.

Thistlecrack: top-class hurdler and chaser just one of Kayf Tara's brilliant progenyCredit: Mike Hewitt

His first top-level triumph came in the 1998 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, in which he defeated Double Trigger by a neck in a memorable battle, while he also landed that season's Irish St Leger from the previous year's St Leger winner and Derby runner-up Silver Patriarch by two lengths.

Kayf Tara, a son of Irish Oaks heroine Colorspin - a daughter of Meon Valley's wonderful matriarch Reprocolor - won four of his five starts the following year, including the Irish St Leger again, this time by eight lengths from Yavana's Pace, and the Goodwood Cup by four lengths.

His last year in training in 2000 saw him win the Gold Cup for a second time, once again in gripping fashion by a head from Far Cry, and the Yorkshire Cup.

He arrived at the perfect time for Simon Sweeting, who was leasing Overbury from the Holland Martin family, and was introduced at a fee of £3,000 for the 2001 breeding season.

Kayf Tara had impeccable credentials as a full-brother to the top-class Opera House, winner of the Coronation Cup, Eclipse and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1993 for Stoute, in the maroon silks of Sheikh Mohammed.

The pair were also half-siblings to Zee Zee Top, herself a top-level winner in the Prix de l'Opera and dam of dual Group 1 winner Izzi Top, as well as Spinning The Yarn, the dam of Moyglare Stud Stakes winner Necklace, and Hardwicke Stakes third Highland Dress.

Simon Sweeting and Kayf Tara shortly after the dual Gold Cup winner's arrival at Overbury Stud in November 2000Credit: Edward Whitaker

Kayf Tara would go on to attain legendary status as a sire, and Sweeting said on Thursday: "This is a very sad day for all of us at Overbury.

"Kayf Tara really put us on the map and I feel incredibly fortunate to have been with him through every step of what transpired to be an extraordinary career as a jump stallion, in which he won more championships than any other British National Hunt sire in history.

“I remain immensely grateful to Sheikh Mohammed and the Darley team for entrusting him to us. He’s been such a great servant to the National Hunt game and to Overbury Stud, where he was looked after for most of his time by Dan Matty. We will miss him terribly.”

Sam Bullard, Darley’s director of stallions, added: “We are all very grateful to Simon Sweeting and his team at Overbury for taking such great care of Kayf Tara for all these years, and we are very proud of the enormous contribution he has made to National Hunt racing and breeding in Britain and beyond during that time.”

Kayf Tara was pensioned from stallion duties in 2020 due to declining fertility and spent his final two years in retirement at Overbury.

His last public appearance came when parading at the Gloucestershire stud in September, when Overbury's new recruit Golden Horn was introduced to breeders.

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