Barney Roy a potential Group 1 star for Excelebration

BARNEY ROY (GB) - 2014 bay colt

Every year there are a few freshman sires who make a quick start with blacktype horses, whereas others make less of a splash in that arena but may show signs that it is with their three-year-olds and older horses that they will make the greatest impact.

Excelebration (by Exceed And Excel) fell into the latter category, which is what one could reasonably have expected before the season even began.

He showed talent at two but was considerably better at three and four, a triple Group 1-winning miler whose record would have shone brighter had he not had the misfortune to be a contemporary of the great Frankel.

So far it is his Banstead Manor Stud rival who is leading the way among the stallions whose first crop are now aged three, the son of Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) having notched up his eighth individual pattern winner just days ago. Frankel already has a classic-placed runner to his name and several others with classic prospects, but Excelebration also has a son who has exhibited Group 1 potential.

WATCH: Barney Roy sticks to his task under James Doyle to defeat Godolphin's other runner Dream Castle in the Greenham Stakes. pic.twitter.com/IONvRMc0pU

— Racing UK (@Racing_UK) April 22, 2017

Barney Roy ran only once as a juvenile but created a favourable impression when taking a mile maiden on good ground at Haydock in late September. He beat Fujaira Bridge by three and three-quarter lengths, earning an official rating of 91 and a Timeform one of 94P.

His classic potential was advertised with his seasonal reappearance in the Group 3 JLT Greenham Stakes at Newbury, one of the races in which his sire had chased home Frankel just a few years before.

Dream Castle hit the front two out and looked set for victory, but Barney Roy came with a strong run in the final furlong and kept on well to win by two lengths in a good time, exhibiting an eye-catching long stride.

The result may have been closer if the runner-up had waited a bit longer before making his move but both colts look like potentially top-class prospects. They finished four lengths clear of the third, Zainham, and Timeform awarded the pair ratings of 121p and 115p respectively.

We already know that Barney Roy stays the mile and that he could become a star over that distance, but it is possible that this will be as far as he will want to go, even though he is out of a daughter of Galileo (by Sadler's Wells).

His dam, Alina, was unplaced, he is her first foal, and she is a daughter of the pattern-winning miler Cheyenne Star (by Mujahid). That profilic filly won eight times in Ireland, including the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes over seven furlongs at Leopardstown and a three-quarter-length defeat of Heaven Sent in the Group 3 Ridgewood Pearl Stakes over a mile at the Curragh.

Charita (by Lycius), the third dam of Barney Roy, won the Listed Garnet Stakes over a mile at Naas and that half-sister to Group 1-placed Group 2-winning Italian miler Stanott (by Mukaddamah) has an unraced daughter of note because that one, Boa Estrela (by Intikhab), gave us Gordon Lord Byron (by Byron).

One of the most popular Irish-trained horses of recent years, that gelding's current figures are 15 wins from 71 starts with his tally including victory in the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock, Group 1 Prix de la Foret at Longchamp, Group 1 George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill, and Group 2 Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot.

The Tom Hogan-trained seven-figure earner was bred by Roland Alder, his highest annual Timeform figure has been 126, and he has already run four times in 2017, at the age of nine. He was unplaced twice over six furlongs at Meydan, a half-length runner-up over the same trip at Dundalk in March, and last of five in the Group 3 Group 3 Gladness Stakes, won by Diamond Fields, over seven furlongs at Naas last month.

Barney Roy, who was bred by Eliza Park International Pty Ltd, made just 30,000gns in Newmarket as a foal and £70,000 when known as lot 128 at the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale nine months later. This Richard Hannon-trained bay is now owned by Godolphin, he is bred to be a top-class miler, and all the signs we have seen so far suggest that this is exactly what he could become.