Photo: supplied
Novara Park Stud in Cambridge has announced that Group One performer and multiple Group Two winner The Foxes will join the stallion roster this season at an introductory fee of 10,000+GST.
A high-class son of Churchill, The Foxes was a stakes winner every year in a career that spanned the ages of two and five, competing at the highest level for trainer Andrew Balding.
Bred by Barronstown Stud, The Foxes is one of six stakes winners among 12 winners from blue hen Tanaghum, whose other stakes-winning offspring include Group One winner Matterhorn, Group Two winner Bangkok, Group Three winner Tactic and Listed scorers Perotan and Yaazy.
Bought for 440,000 guineas (NZ$1.15 million) as a yearling, The Foxes won five of his 17 starts with a further four placings, with his victories ranging from 1400m to 2100m.
A winner over 1400m and a mile at two, The Foxes was a strong winner of the Gr.2 Royal Lodge Stakes (1600m), defeating subsequent Group One winner Dubai Mile.
At three, The Foxes won the Gr.2 Dante Stakes (2100m), defeating White Birch, before finishing fifth in the Gr.1 Derby (2400m) won by Auguste Rodin.
Runner-up in the Gr.1 Belmont Derby (2000m), The Foxes returned to the UK to finish fourth in the Gr.1 Juddmonte International (2050m).
Campaigned at the highest level internationally, The Foxes was also fourth in the Gr.1 Hong Kong Cup (2000m) behind star gallopers Romantic Warrior, Liberty Island and Tastiera.
Demonstrating his enduring class and toughness, The Foxes produced a superb effort at his second-to-last start when finishing a close second to the nine-time Group One winner Rebel’s Romance in the $2.5 million Amir Trophy (2300m), Qatar’s premier race.
The flashy son of Churchill signed off in style by winning the Gr.2 Huxley Stakes (2100m) at his final start with a sizzling turn of foot.
“The Foxes is living proof that legendary blood still breeds true at the very highest level,” Novara Park Stud’s Luigi Muollo said.
“He retires to stud with an outstanding race record that marks him as one of the most consistent and high-class middle-distance performers of his generation, having competed successfully in England, Ireland, North America, Hong Kong, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
“The Foxes was exceptionally consistent and won at Group or stakes level in every year of his racing career.
“If you can breed horses that can race over multiple seasons, that’s really going to keep the breeders interested as well as the buyers.
“He is a striking bay stallion of exceptional quality — athletic, well-balanced, and powerfully built with a commanding presence, a beautiful shoulder, and the scope and substance to stamp his stock with speed, stamina, and commercial appeal.”
His sire Churchill has quickly established himself as a highly successful son of Galileo at stud, with the dual Guineas winner the sire of elite level scorers Vadeni and Blue Rose Cen in Europe and Gr.1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) winner Attrition in Australia.
The Foxes is out of Tanaghum, a Listed-placed daughter of Darshaan who in turn is out of Gr.1 Irish 1000 Guineas (1600m) heroine Mehthaaf, a descendant of the legendary blue hen Fall Aspen.
“The Foxes is bred on the exact same Sadler’s Wells sire line over a Darshaan mare that produced the outstanding sire and sire-of-sires High Chaparral,” Muollo said.
“Breeders will also love the depth of this pedigree. He carries a second dam by the legendary Nureyev, the same influential broodmare sire that powered Zabeel to greatness.
“He brings not only his own proven Group race ability and international class, but also the proven sire family running through a remarkable broodmare line whose progeny continue to deliver elite performers across multiple generations.
“At his fee of $10,000+GST, he represents outstanding value for a proven international Group performer, and importantly, he’s exactly the type of tough, versatile stallion New Zealand breeders have built their success on.”
