Selecting first-season stallions is always a leap into the unknown but those breeders who supported Iffraaj in his first year at stud in 2007 will doubtless be pleased that they did. The fact that he's out of a half-sister to the great Cape Cross and a fine-looking individual will have made the selection process a little easier and the results of Iffraaj and his close relation in the last few weeks certainly make for exciting reading, with the freshman now heading the list of all his European counterparts with 14 individual winners.
King David won first time out in Deauville on Friday, 9 July, before Bay Of Fires, Musharakaat and Rafella initiated a treble the following Wednesday. For Bay Of Fires, an early Racing Post Yearling Bonus winner, it was her second victory, this time in a Conditions race, her win earning her the Timeform rating of 77p.
Another dual scorer is Thursday's winner Wootton Bassett, who led home an Iffraaj-sired one-two from the 85p-rated Forjatt. He has run only twice and remains unbeaten and on a mark of 91p. Rated just above him are Waltz Darling and Zacynthus, both on 92p, the latter being one of two black-type horses for Iffraaj having been placed in the Prix Roland de Chambure at Longchamp after a debut victory at Newmarket. Waltz Darling is another unbeaten colt from his two starts at Ripon and Newcastle.
And what of Cape Cross? Well, the image of his son Sea The Stars bursting down the straight at Longchamp in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe will burn long in the memory of his many fans. This week another Cape Cross colt, Behkabad, made a similar move down that same stretch of turf, this time in the Grand Prix de Paris, considered now by many to be the real French Derby. It doesn't require too much of a leap of imagination to see him repeat that feat on the first Sunday in October. Just like so many before him he's a Cross that certainly works.
