The Queen's Dartmouth retired to Shade Oak Stud

Hugely tough and talented performer Dartmouth, who carried the silks of the Queen to victory in two Group 2s, has been retired from racing and will take up covering duty at Shade Oak Stud in 2018 at a fee of £3,000.

Dartmouth ran 20 times for trainer Sir Michael Stoute, winning eight races – including the 2016 Hardwicke Stakes, when an iron will saw him get the better of the redoubtable Highland Reel; and the 2017 Yorkshire Cup, in which he came with a strong late run to outpoint St Leger heroine Simple Verse.

He retires from the racecourse having amassed £683,300 in earnings and with a peak Racing Post Rating of 121.

He also twice reached the frame at the highest level, having finished runner-up in the Canadian International Stakes and third in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and won races from the age of two to five.

Bred by Darley, the son of Dubawi is out of the Group 3-winning Galileo mare Galatee, meaning Dartmouth is a half-brother to the dual 1m4f Group 2 winner Manatee and 1m7f Listed winner Gaterie.

"Dartmouth has been on our radar as a potential stallion for some time and I was delighted when John Warren asked me to stand him," said Shade Oak Stud owner Peter Hockenhull.

"He proved himself a tough, sound horse with a tremendous will to win; but he is also a really good-looking, dark bay whose sire, Dubawi, is one of the world’s great stallions and whose grandsire, Galileo, is one of the greatest sires and broodmare sires in thoroughbred history. He has all it takes to be a top-class sire."

Dartmouth will join Black Sam Bellamy, Fair Mix, Lucarno, Recharge, Scorpion and his former stablemate and fellow Hardwicke Stakes scorer Telescope on the Shade Oak roster.

"With young stallions like Dartmouth and Telescope standing here, along with two of the best proven jumps sires in the country, Black Sam Bellamy and Scorpion, I really believe that no stud in Great Britain has ever offered a better selection of top-class sires available to NH breeders," added Hockenhull.

The Queen's racing manager John Warren also commented on Dartmouth's move to Shade Oak.

"The Queen has a great deal of admiration and affection for Dartmouth and I am delighted that he will be given an excellent chance to prove himself as a stallion at Shade Oak," he said. "Some of the Queen's mares will certainly be visiting him. Not only is Dartmouth a really good-looking horse with a great pedigree, but he was also an exceptionally brave, tough and genuine horse with real determination.

"He won races every season from two to five; he won four Group races and placed in two Group 1s; and, when he outfought Highland Reel to win the Hardwicke in the week of the Queen's official 90th birthday, his 'never say die' attitude gave us all enormous pleasure."

"Dartmouth was a quality, clean-limbed, good-actioned colt who showed great tenacity in many tough finishes, as when he put his head down and charged for the line to win the Hardwicke," said Stoute. "As well as having racing ability, a great pedigree and the ideal combination of looks, enthusiasm and soundness, he also has an excellent temperament."

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