Via stud fee or breeding right, why it's looking a good call to have marched along with Soldier's

Amid the noise of clinking glasses of rose and trade in Royal Ascot runners at the Goffs London Sale last month, it may have been missed that a breeding right in Soldier's Call was sold for £80,000, which is more than 12 times the advertised fee of Ballyhane Stud's first-season sire.

The transaction was conducted in much the same manner as the Flying Childers winner has gone about his stud career, unobtrusively but successfully, with the sales mounting up and the winners accruing.

At last autumn's yearling sales, his first crop made a successful debut, with 88 of the 96 youngsters offered at the major European sales changing hands at an average of €33,180, which was slightly more than three times greater than the fee at which they were conceived. The median for the 88 came in at €25,500; three of those yearlings achieved six-figure prices, while 17 sold for in excess of €50,000.