Yearling buzz and prices augur well for Earthlight's first runners this year

It may be foolhardy to choose a stallion who will have his first runners this year as one of our Sires of 2024, but the buzz created by Earthlight's yearlings at the sales last autumn was unmistakable.

Hype is unquantifiable but numbers most certainly are. Earthlight's fee for his first season at Darley's Irish base was €20,000. His yearling average in 2023 was €102,328, which is five times their covering fee, with a little spare change. The median price for the 65 sold of the 78 that went under the hammer was €75,000.

A domino effect from the debut success of another Darley son of Shamardal, Blue Point, could be at play and it's not stretching the bounds of credibility to state that Blue Point's electric first crop with two individual Group 1 winners would have some impact on the progeny of other Shamardal sons, but Earthlight's first crop performed well when they were tested by market conditions as foals.