Yorton Farm recruit Group 1-winning son of Adlerflug for 2023

Yorton Stud has given British breeding a shot in the arm with its acquisition of Ito, a Group 1-winning son of leading sire Adlerflug.

Bred by Gestut Schlenderhan from that stud’s famous Our Ivanhowe family involving eight generations of black-type mares, Ito has been bought by Yorton in a deal engineered by bloodstock agent Richard Venn.

David Futter of Yorton Farm said: “We are very excited to have acquired Ito, whose profile speaks for itself.

“He’s a Group 1 winner out of a mare, Iota, who won the Group 1 Preis der Diana [German Oaks] and he’s a full-brother to In Swoop, the German Derby winner and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up.

“Ito is a gorgeous-looking horse, standing 16.2 hands and getting very good-looking stock, and his temperament is exactly what we look for in a stallion – to us, that is as important as their race record. He won as a three-year-old, excelled at four and held his form at five."

Futter added: “The sad death of Adlerflug last year was a blow to breeders, but Ito provides a wonderful opportunity to get into that sire’s precious bloodline.”

In 2015 Ito became Germany’s champion older horse following an easy win in the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Bayern and a close second, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin.

He also won Group 2s at Baden-Baden and Cologne, and a Listed contest at Hoppegarten.

Initially retired to stud in his homeland, Ito’s oldest crop are now four-year-olds. At Yorton he will stand alongside Gentlewave (by Monsun), Masterstroke (Monsun), Linda’s Lad (Sadler’s Wells), Pether’s Moon (Dylan Thomas) and Arrigo (Shirocco).

His fee will be announced in the near future.

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