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Standing at: Darley Northwood Park, VIC
Blue Point (2014)
Breeding: Shamardal - Scarlett Rose by Royal Applause
Standing at: Northwood Park, VIC
Fee: $44,000 (inc GST)
Blue Point - a superfast son of the late Darley stalwart Shamardal (Giant's Causeway) - is an exciting addition to Darley's Northwood Park roster where he will stand for an introductory fee of $44,000 (inc GST).
Blue Point is famed for landing the rare Royal Ascot double when he was victorious in the King's Stand (Gr 1, 5f) before adding to the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) to his record four days later.
Trained by Charlie Appleby, Blue Point announced himself firmly on the scene by winning the Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) at York by three lengths at his fourth start in August 2016 having won his first two starts over six furlongs in June and July. After placings in both the Middle Park (Gr 1, 6f) and the Dewhurst Stakes (Gr 1, 7f) later that season he returned at three with victory in the Pavilion Stakes (Gr 3, 6f), where he broke Ascot's six-furlong track record in the process. He then finished a close third in the Commonwealth Cup (Gr 1, 6f) at Royal Ascot.
As a four-year-old the son of Shamardal (Giant's Causeway) landed his first victory in the King's Stand and also posted a good third in the Nunthorpe Stakes (Gr 1, 5f).
Unbeaten in all five of his starts in his five-year-old season, a winning streak that started in Dubai with a victory in the Meydan Sprint (Gr 2, 1000m), a win he would follow up by landing the Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint (Gr 3, 1200m) and the Al Quoz Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m).
However, the entire's crowning glory came last season at Royal Ascot - when he landed his second win in the King's Stand and then matched Choisir's (Danehill Dancer) 2003 feat of following up in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes later that same week. He retired the winner of 11 of his 20 career starts and earnings of over £2.5 million.
Blue Point retired with a Timeform rating of 131, and is currently standing his first northern hemisphere season at Kildangan Stud in Ireland.
He is out of the Royal Applause (Waajib) mare Scarlett Rose, making him a half-brother to 2010 Railway Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) winner Formosina (Footstepsinthesand).
Scarlett Rose herself is a half-sister to multiple Group 3 winner Tumbleweed Ridge (Indian Ridge) and Tumbleweed Pearl (Aragon) - the dam of Group 2 scorer Gilded (Redback), who in turn produced Listed winner Fort Del Oro (Lope De Vega).
His father Shamardal shuttled to Australia between 2005-2010 and has left his mark on the Australian breeding landscape, siring 26 Australian-bred stakes winners, including five Group 1 winners in Faint Perfume, Maybe Discreet, Delectation, Able Friend and Captain Sonador.
Meanwhile, his sire son Lope De Vega, who stood in Australia for four seasons, has an equally impressive record in the country and is represented by 17 Australian-bred stakes winners, headed by three Group 1 scorers with two of them, Santa Ana Lane and Gytrash, being out of Fastnet Rock (Danehill) mares.
