Wings Of Desire to join South African stallion ranks

Wings Of Desire - winner of the Dante Stakes, fourth in the Derby and second to Highland Reel in last year's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes - has been purchased by Heversham Park Farm in South Africa, where he will stand the 2018 breeding season.

The deal was brokered by bloodstock agent Richard Venn.

The four-year-old son of Pivotal was trained by John Gosden for owner-breeder Lady Bamford, and had six starts as a three-year-old, earning a career-high Racing Post Rating of 119 for his second to Highland Reel.

Wings Of Desire has a true Classic pedigree as a brother to fellow Royal Ascot scorer Eagle Top and the Oaks-placed The Lark, out of a Listed-winning half-sister to Pivotal's dual Oaks heroine Sariska, champion three-year-old filly in Europe in 2009.

"We have been searching for a Classic-type sire for a considerable time," Fred Brons, director of stallions at Heversham, told the Sporting Post.

"The difficulty that we encountered in our search was that we did not want any hand-me-down sires, while insisting on stallion prospects that had solid pedigrees, performance and conformation.

"Wings of Desire ticked all of these boxes with the added bonus that he preferred going that was good-to-firm, thereby enhancing his appeal to South African breeders."

A fee for Wings Of Desire will be announced at a later date.

Download our special 16-page guide to the new US sires for 2018, headed by Arrogate, Classic Empire and Gun Runner