“Pivotal rose from humble beginnings at stud to become one of the most successful stallions worldwide, at one time commanding a fee of £85,000. Although he has become a noted sire of sire, significantly through the French champion Siyouni, it is through his daughters that Pivotal has flourished, as a tally of 26 Group 1 winners attests.” Nancy Sexton

A multiple Champion Broodmare Sire in Europe, Pivotal was responsible, in 2019 only, of 12 group 1 wins through 8 of his daughters, an impact which has lived on again at the top level in more recent years, over trips ranging from 7 to 12 furlongs, thus displaying the same wide-open versatility he showed as a sire. The only broodmare sire able to measure up with Pivotal in the late 2010s was Galileo.

Back in 2022, renowned French pedigree analyst Thierry Grandsir predicted a logical affinity between Golden Horde and mares with Danzig in their pedigrees. Indeed, Golden Horde’s first winner Moorea is out of a mare by Poet’s Voice, whose damsire is Chief’s Crown, a member of the Danzig tribe. Then came Eurasia, produced from a Myboycharlie mare – a grandson of Danzig. His third winner Dos Mukasan, a first homebred winner for Nurlan Bizakov, is out of an Exceed and Excel mare – yet another Danzig-line sire. In England, Golden Horde’s other impressive maiden winner, Qarlyga, out of a Frankel mare, nailed it on while also underlining the proven combination of Golden Horde’s damsire Pivotal with Sadler’s Wells-line mares. Among these, daughters of Galileo particularly stand out  thanks to a good few Group 1 winners in recent years, highlighted by two consecutive winners of the 1000 Guineas bred on this cross, Love and Hermosa.

And of course, on the sire side of the equation, Dark Angel has amply demonstrated how Galileo genes successfully splice with his own, the undisputed poster boy of this nick being Angel Bleu, while things seem to be working out the other way around as well, as Havana Grey seems to prove without doubt.

“She was an ingenue, a champion, and a perpetual presence at the top of the game. She brought with her new faces who displayed unfettered joy at their good fortune. For three solid seasons, she criss-crossed the continent, laying waste to the idea that fillies were as delicate as fine china. Best of all, she’s still here, a reminder that some good things can last very close to forever.” Jay Hovdey

Golden Horde’s second dam, the Irish River mare River Saint, is the half-sister to one of America’s greatest champions fillies, Serena’s Song (Rahy). Interestingly, both fillies were sired under a strong French influence, Rivers Saint’s sire Irish River and Serena’s Song paternal grandsire being both winners of the Gr.1 Grand Critérium, which would later be renamed to honor the memory of the late Jean-Luc Lagardère. Nearly half a century later in 2024, Golden Horde’s half-brother Camille Pissaro made his Group 1 breakthrough in this very race to become their dam Entreat’s second winner at elite level !

The winningest North American filly at the time of her retirement, Serena’s Song has amassed an outstanding record of 17 graded Stakes wins, notably becoming the first filly to win the Gr.1 Haskell Stakes against colts. Quite naturally, she became an Eclipse Award winner, and went on to become a very successful broodmare whose influence spans across the Atlantic. She was introduced to the Hall Of Fame in 2002.

A rare thing at the time, she ran Lasix-free and the last time we heard, she was living her best life at age 32.

Introduced to the British calendar in 2015 as a readymade Group 1 in order to “create a more balanced programme and better opportunities for high-class sprinters”, the Commonwealth Cup, run at Royal Ascot over six furlongs for three-year-olds only, celebrated its tenth running in 2024.

Filling up a blank in the program which had forced talented juvenile sprinters into retirement due to an obvious lack of racing opportunities facing their own age class, the Commonwealth Cup has undoubtedly fullfilled its promise of channeling the cream of three-year old sprinters, with such talented winners as Muhaarar, Caravaggio, Advertise, Golden Horde or Amercan speedster Capanelle. Moreover, in its ten years of existence since its inaugural running, the Commonwealth Cup’s winners have already supplied 2 winners, 1 second and 2 thirds of the coveted Gr.1 July Cup in their first encounter against their elders.

Only three European horses born in 2017 appear in the 2020 IFHA’s World’s Best Racehorses Rankings in the Turf Sprint Division.

All three are now standing at stud. In 2025, they are listed at: 
• Earthlight €12,500
• Lope Y Fernandez £7,500
• Golden Horde €4,000