The Dubawi son Night Of Thunder wins his first European champion sire title. The decisive moment came when Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) won the Champion Stakes (Gr.1) and collected £737,230 for the victory.
Night Of Thunder now holds a lead of almost $1,250,000 over Sea The Stars. Only four Group 1 races remain in the season on the European stage, and all of them are at the lower end in terms of prize money. Sea The Stars would virtually have to win twice over in every one of them to change the championship, and I am happy to state that it is not going to happen.
Night Of Thunder has been first or second in the standings for almost the whole season, and it is above all two world-class horses, Bow Echo and Ombudsman, who account for around a third of the earnings.
Bow Echo, who has been retired from racing, went to post three times this year and won all three Group 1 races over the mile. First the classic 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, then the St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr.1) in Royal Ascot week, finishing with the Sussex Stakes (Gr.1) at Goodwood. He ends his career unbeaten in six starts and must be the obvious choice as Europe’s ”miler” of the year.
The other big star, Ombudsman, won four of his five starts, three of them Group 1 races. As with Bow Echo a future at stud awaits, but before that there is one last run in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (Gr.1) in the United States.
Night Of Thunder has several other big stars this year, and at the same time a high strike-rate that shows genuine depth. Measured per individual runner he also has the highest earnings of them all.
For Kildangan Stud in Ireland it is an outstanding triumph as well, and it will be interesting to see what the fee for Night Of Thunder turns out to be in 2027. He belongs at the very top of the world elite alongside Frankel and his own sire Dubawi.
Here at home everyone of course knows him as the sire of Great Wish.
