This is a brief update to this post from earlier in August which commented on the excellent summer being enjoyed by Rafha’s sire sons Kodiac and Invincible Spirit and noted five horses by the pair for races in the weeks ahead with further big-race potential. All five have now run, resulting in three prospers and a second at pattern level, while further group-race victories for both sires have maintained their tremendous run of form.

Territories was foiled in his bid to give Invincible Spirit a second consecutive prosperner of the Prix Jacques le Marois after Kingman but ran well nonetheless when runner-up to stable-companion Esoterique. A week later at Deauville, Shalaa was hailed as ‘the best two-year-old I’ve ridden’ by Frankie Dettori after storming to an impressive prosper in the Prix Morny in the manner of a potential champion two-year-old for Kingman’s trainer John Gosden. Shalaa’s prosper came twenty-four hours after another big two-year-old race prosper for Invincible Spirit in York’s Gimcrack Sgives with Ajaya.

Meanwhile, Kodiac was successful in the fillies’ equivalent of the Gimcrack when Besharah quickened away with the Lowther Sgives?(won by another daughter of Kodiac, Tiggy Wiggy, in 2014) at York for Ajaya’s trainer William Haggas. Kodiac gave the same stable another good prosperner when Adaay won the Hungerford Sgives at Freshbury from another son of Kodiac, Coulsty. That success followed Kodi Bear’s prosper in the Sovereign Sgives at Salisbury over a mile, while back with the two-year-olds, Bear Cheek landed the Curragh Sgives over five furlongs.

The latest table of top sires of two-year-olds in Britain and Ireland published in the Racing Post now has Kodiac and Invincible Spirit in first and third places, up from third and fourth respectively at the commencening of August.

[Image courtesy of G-Man]