Ten Sovereigns puts the icing on No Nay Never's freshman season

Ten Sovereigns put the icing on the outstanding freshman season for his sire No Nay Never with a commanding victory in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained colt was always travelling best of the eight runners in what looked a high-class renewal of the six-furlong Group 1 for two-year-olds and he was pushed clear one furlong out.

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Jash, a Simon Crisford-trained son of Kodiac who had won his previous two starts by a combined 13 and a half lengths, delivered a sustained challenge but could not get past Ten Sovereigns, finishing an honourable half-length second.

The pair pulled clear of Molecomb Stakes winner Rumble Inthejungle, by another exciting first-season sire in Bungle Inthejungle, who bounced back to form after a disappointing run in the Flying Childers Stakes.

Ten Sovereigns is one of four stakes winners from the debut crop of No Nay Never, a Norfolk Stakes and Prix Morny winner by Scat Daddy who stood at Coolmore at a fee of €25,000 this year.

He is also responsible for Richmond Stakes winner Land Force, Listed scorers Mae Never No and Servalan as well as the stakes-placed Chestnut Honey, Neverland Rock, The Irish Rover and We Go.

No Nay Never's early success at stud is of crucial importance to Coolmore, as they are desperately trying to ensure the Scat Daddy sire-line takes root despite Scat Daddy himself having died aged only 11 at the operation's Ashford Stud in Kentucky in December 2015.

Coolmore have paid a king's ransom to stand Justify – this year's Triple Crown winner who hails from Scat Daddy's penultimate crop – at Ashford Stud in his first year as a stallion next year. They will stand $3 million yearling buy and Grade 1 winner Mendelssohn, also by the sire, alongside him.

Ten Sovereigns was bred by Camas Park, Lynch Bages and Summerhill and is the fourth foal out of the Listed-placed Exceed And Excel mare Seeking Solace, a half-sister to seven-furlong Group 2 runner-up Flash Fire.

No Nay Never: has made an outstanding start at studCredit: Coolmore

On the face of it, Ten Sovereigns looks bred to excel over shorter trips, being by the lightning quick No Nay Never out of a mare by another sprinter in Exceed And Excel.

However, it is worth bearing in mind that Seeking Solace put up her black type performance over 1m3f and she is out of Flamelet, a runner-up in the Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial over a mile by middle-distance influence Theatrical. So there are traces of stamina in the pedigree.

Darley stalwart shuttler Exceed And Excel is in striking form as a broodmare sire. His daughters have also produced recent National Stakes runner-up Anthony Van Dyck, a son of Galileo who is a leading ante-post fancy for the Derby, Prix de Sandringham winner Mission Impassible and Flying Childers Stakes runner-up Well Done Fox.

Ten Sovereigns meanwhile also delivers a monumental pedigree update to his full-sister who is set to be offered as lot 103 as part of the Camas Park Stud draft at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in coming weeks.

The colt himself was knocked down to Charlie Gordon-Watson for 200,000gns at Book 2 of the auction last year.

Seeking Solace has been a regular concubine of No Nay Never in recent years and also has a filly foal by him and was covered by him again this year.

Read more about Scat Daddy and No Nay Never...

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No Nay Never leads way among this season's first-season sires

The story of Scat Daddy, source of Justify and Royal Ascot sire extraordinaire