West End Girl win just a taste of what's to come for late-developer Golden Horn

Few areas of the bloodstock world come under as much scrutiny as young sires. Opinions are formed quickly, regardless of whether they ultimately come to be right or wrong, which makes the evaluation of first-crop stallions all the more interesting and precarious.

The breeze-up community were crowing the name Night Of Thunder long before the two-year-old sales season swung into action and were vindicated when his first juveniles averaged 111,042gns in the ring. Since then, the Darley stallion has continued to impress, notably as the owner of a winners to runners strike-rate that has rarely dipped below 50 per cent all summer.

Among the others, Gutaifan heads the pack numerically as the sire of 18 winners, while Gleneagles sits atop the standings by earnings with a haul close to £300,000, a figure buoyed by stakes horses such as Royal Lytham, Southern Hills and Precious Moments.