Siyouni is one of 27 Group 1 winners by Cheveley Park Stud's sprint star and outstanding stallion Pivotal (by Polar Falcon) and he achieved his top win at the age of two, taking the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere-Grand Criterium over seven furlongs at Longchamp.

He failed to win from six starts as a three-year-old but was placed in both the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat and Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp and improved his Timeform rating from 117 to 122. Being a high-class son of the sire of Kyllachy and out of a stakes-winning half-sister to Group 1 star Slickly (by Linamix), he went to stud as a promising prospect.

The fee for his first four years at Haras de Bonneval was just €7,000, but since then it has soared and he will busy this season at €75,000. Classic and triple mile Group 1 heroine Ervedya heads his current tally of 20 stakes winners, a roll of honour that also includes the Group 1-placed pattern winners Le Brivido, Siyoushake, Spectre and Volta, recent Australian Group 2 scorer Aylmerton, and this afternoon's impressive Group 3 Prix Vantaux winner Barkaa.

Of course, Siyouni is also the sire of Laurens, the Karl Burke-trained filly who held on in game fashion for a narrow victory in the Group 1 bet365 Fillies' Mile Stakes at Newmarket in October. This came a month after she beat Dark Rose Angel by a head in a blanket finish for the Group 2 William Hill May Hill Stakes over the same trip at Doncaster.

​Laurens, who was bred by Bloodstock Agency Ltd and made £220,000 at the Goffs UK Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale, made a winning debut over seven furlongs at that same venue in mid-July and her only other start to date came at Deauville in August when she chased home Polydream in the Group 3 Shadwell Prix du Calvados.

It is fair to say that she was lucky to win the Newmarket race, as the Aidan O'Brien-trained runner-up September met with trouble in running and just failed by a nose at the line. Timeform, who had her on 105p before the race, raised her only to a mark of 112 – her official handicap figure is 113.

Laurens, a half-sister to two National Hunt winners, is the fourth foal out of Recambe (by Cape Cross), which makes her inbred 4x4 to Danzig (by Northern Dancer). Her dam's siblings include Listed Newmarket Stakes winner and top Hong Kong performer Salford Mill (by Peintre Celebre), and her grandam is the stakes-placed Razana (by Kahyasi).

That daughter of triple winner Raysiya (by Cure The Blues) is a half-sister to four blacktype producers, one of whom was herself a listed winner and two of whom are of particular note.

Profit Alert (by Alzao), a full-sister to stakes winner and blacktype producer Raysiza, is the dam of the high-class miler Shifting Power (by Compton Place). He won the Listed European Free Handicap and Listed Royal Windsor Stakes, he chased home Kingman in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas, was a one-length runner-up to Charm Spirit in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat, and was third to Custom Cut in the Group 2 bet365 Mile at Sandown.

Ribot's Guest (by Be My Guest), the other mare of note, was unraced, but her son Mickdaam (by Dubawi) won the Group 3 Chester Vase and her daughter Kinnaird (by Dr Devious) won the Group 1 Prix de l'Opera before going on to success at stud.

Kinnaird is the dam of Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes winner Berkshire (by Mount Nelson), who is in his first season at Haras de Sorelis in France, and she is the grandam of young Coolmore stallion Ivawood (by Zebedee).

That grandson of Invincible Spirit (by Green Desert) won both the Group 2 July Stakes and Group 2 Richmond Stakes as a two-year-old, was a nose runner-up to Charming Thought in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes that autumn, and filled third place in the Group 1 2000 Guineas and Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas the following spring, both won by Gleneagles. His top-priced first-crop foal made 105,000gns in Newmarket in late November.

Laurens holds entries in the Group 1 Qipco 1000 Guineas, Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas, Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas), Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary, Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks), and Group 1 Darley Irish Oaks.

She needs to improve quite a bit on her two-year-old ratings to be up to winning any of those, but she is arguably bred to be better at the age of three than she was as a juvenile, and there is every reason to hope that she can figure prominently in the best mile to 10 and a half-furlong fillies' races of 2018, possibly also staying 12 furlongs.

Heavy ground can make form unreliable and can exaggerate superiority, but it was hard not to have been impressed with Barkaa's performance in winning the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux over nine furlongs at ParisLongchamp this afternoon, on what was her turf debut.

The Fabrice Vermeulen-trained bay hit the front early in the straight and pulled clear of her rivals to win by four lengths from last year's Group 3 Prix d'Aumale scorer Soustraction, who was running for the first time since finishing out of the frame behind Wild Illusion in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac in October.

Barkaa, on the other hand, was race-fit. She made a two-length winning debut over 10 furlongs at Marseille Pont-de-Vivaux in November, followed-up with a short-head success over that same course and distance in mid-December, finished third over a mile at Cagnes-sur-Mer in January and then won a listed contest over that same track and trip three weeks later. All four of those races were on fibresand.

A €66,000 graduate of Book 2 of the Arqana Deauville Yearling Sale, Barkaa was bred by Jean-Pierre Columbu and she is a daughter of Haras de Bonneval's rising star Siyouni (by Pivotal). His eldest offspring are six years old, his 20 stakes winners include Group 1 stars Ervedya and Laurens, recent Australian Group 2 scorer Aylmerton, and several who have been Group 1 runners-up, namely pattern winners Le Brivido, Siyoushake, Spectre and Volta.

She is a half-sister to the multiple listed scorer My Old Husband (by Gentlewave) – who stays middle-distances – and to the stakes-placed broodmares Dumnonia (by Silver Frost) and Danse du Soir (by Nombre Premier), but these are the only blacktype horses on the page until you look under the fourth dam and find that she is the grandam of Irish Grade B-winning hurdler Bon Temps Rouler (by Hero's Honor).

Barkaa's dam, Dentelle (by Apeldoorn), notched up three wins and 11 places on the flat, was also placed once over obstacles and is out of Dryden (by Shernazar), an unraced daughter of one-time scorer Bedford Row. That mare, who was out of one-time winner Gnulia (by Margouillat), was a daughter of Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner R B Chesne, thereby making Dentelle inbred 2x3 to that son of the great Brigadier Gerard (by Queen's Hussar).

This is not the sort of distaff line that you expect to find on a horse who could play a leading role in the top French fillies' races, and yet Barkaa is a worthy holder of entries in both the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) and Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks).

It will be fascinating to find out just how good this filly is, and to see how she eventually gets on at stud given the light distaff side of her pedigree. Both parents make a contribution, of course, but it would be fair to say that the bulk of the credit for her talent and potential must go to her sire.

Siyouni (by Pivotal), a juvenile Group 1 star who was twice Group 1-placed over a mile at three, has made an exciting start to his stallion career. The oldest progeny of the Haras de Bonneval stallion are four, he has 10 individual stakes winners from his first two crops and they are headed by the triple Group 1-winning classic star Ervedya.

Seven of them have won at pattern level, four of those seven represent mares by Mr Prospector-line (by Raise A Native) stallions, and in addition to Ervedya, that quartet includes Souvenir Delondres, Trixia and Volta.

The latter is a three-year-old who is trained by Francis-Henri Graffard and who was bred by Thierry, Amaury and Mme Danille de la Heronniere. She was fifth and third in a pair of starts as a juvenile, won a mile maiden at Saint-Cloud in March, and then followed-up with listed success over the same trip at Chantilly last month.

On Sunday she impressed with a four-length victory in the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham over that same course and distance. It is fair to say that this did not seem to be a particularly challenging event for the grade, but she is clearly improving and could be able to hold her own in stronger company. She is certainly bred to achieve anything.

Volta is out an unraced mare called Persian Belle (by Machiavellian) and that makes her a half-sister to Calvados Blues (by Lando). That gelding won the Group 3 Prix des Chenes and the Group 3 Prix de Guiche and the races in which he has been placed include the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic and the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold Stakes, both at Meydan.

Her dam is out of the one-time scorer Nicola Bella (by Sadler's Wells) but is a full-sister to the Grade 2 Las Palmas Handicap winner Beautyandthebeast and a half-sister to Neatico (by Medicean). His list of pattern wins is headed by the Group 1 Grosser Dallmayr Bayerisches Zuchtrennen over 10 furlongs at Munich, he stands at Gestut Hof Ittlingen, which is where he was bred, and his first foals arrived this year.

Valley of Hope (by Riverman), who is the third dam of Volta, was unraced but she was out of Virunga (by Sodium), a Group 3 Prix de Mallaret scorer whose placed efforts included second in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks and Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary and third to Allez France in the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks).

Virunga has many notable descendants, starting with her sons Vin De France (by Foolish Pleasure) and Vacarme (by Lyphard). The former won the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois, and the latter was a talented juvenile who won the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes and was third in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes.

Their half-sister Vosges (by Youth) was third in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille before becoming the dam of Group 1 Prix du Cadran heroine Victoire Bleue (by Legend Of France) and grandam of the classic-placed Group 2 Prix Hubert de Chaudenay scorer Vertical Speed (by Bering).

Another of their siblings who deserves a mention is Vahine (by Alysheba), as she is the dam of the middle-distance Group 2 scorer Vendangeur (by Galileo), who is at stud in France, but the most notable of all of them, at stud, is the unraced Venise (by Nureyev).

The best of her sons was Vetheuil (by Riverman), who won the Group 2 Prix du Muguet and earned placings in the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois and Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan, but three of her daughters have produced Group 1 winners at stud and one of the trio was herself a high-class racehorse.

That was Verveine (by Lear Fan), the Group 2 Prix de l'Opera winner and Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks), Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary and Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac third whose offspring include two daughters that have won at the highest level. Volga (by Caerleon) took the Grade 1 E P Taylor Stakes in Canada, while Vallee Enchantee (by Peintre Celebre) got her top win in the Grade 1 Hong Kong Vase.

Verveine is also the dam of the Group 3 Grand Prix de Vichy scorer Victory Cry (by Caerleon) and those who have descended from her half-sisters Vallee des Reves (by Kingmambo) and Vanishing Prairie (by Alysheba) include the Group 1 winners Maids Causeway (by Giant's Causeway) and Vespone (by Llandaff) and also recent Group 2 Dahlia Stakes scorer Usherette (by Shamardal).

Those horses are but distantly related to Volta, but there is more than enough in even just the first two generations of her pedigree to show that she is a well-bred filly who has the potential to continue to do well on the track and also to make an impact at stud whenever her racing days come to an end.