Harry Angel a Group 2-winning son of Dark Angel

HARRY ANGEL (IRE) - 2014 bay colt

Dark Angel's (by Acclamation) rise in the stallion ranks has been remarkable and in 2016 he finished in fourth place in the combined Ireland and UK sires' championship title race.

His plethora of stakes performers during the season included Harry Angel, a £44,000 Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale graduate who was bred by Cbs Bloodstock and who earned a 110 rating in the recently published Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings.

The Clive Cox-trained colt lost out by a nose in a five-furlong Ascot maiden in early May 2016 and was only seen out once more after that, when beating Perfect Angel by two and a half lengths in the Group 2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes over a furlong farther at Newbury four months later.

Timeform rated the performance 113p and he is an intriguing prospect for 2017.

Whether he will be a sprinter, a miler, or one of those horses capable of performing with credit in both divisions, remains to be seen. He has shown plenty of pace in his first two starts, but his pedigree suggests that a mile will be within his range.

Dark Angel has proved his ability to get both sprinters and milers and this young son is out of a mare who was placed at both six furlongs and a mile. Beatrix Potter (by Cadeaux Genereux) has also produced the 10-furlong winner Golden Journey (by Nayef), she is by a sprint champion who stayed a mile, and she is out of the stakes-placed seven-furlong winner Great Joy (by Grand Lodge).

That older mare is also the dam of the dual Group 1-winning miler Xtension (by Xaar), who won the Group 2 Vintage Stakes and was placed in both the Group 2 Coventry Stakes and Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes before going on to star in Hong Kong. He stands at Rathbarry Stud in Ireland and his oldest progeny are yearlings.

Great Joy is a half-sister to the mile listed scorer A La Carte (by Caerleon) and to Bally Souza (by Alzao), who is the dam of the Listed Round Tower Stakes winner and Group 1 National Stakes runner-up Wathab (by Cadeaux Genereux), and their dam is an unraced daughter of the mighty Spectacular Bid (by Bold Bidder).

There are plenty of blacktype horses to be found under the fourth generation of the family, starting with fourth dam Avum (by Umbrella Fella), and it is her Grade 3-winning daughter Baroness Direct (by Blushing Groom) who is the grandam of Grade 1 star and successful sire Stephen Got Even (by A.P. Indy), and third dam of multiple Grade 1-winning filly Artemis Agrotera (by Roman Ruler).

Avum's best son was the US Grade 2 scorer Minneapple (by Riverman) and she was also the dam of the pattern-placed French stakes winner Lyphard's Princess (by Lyphard), who was in turn, the dam of the Grade 2 Ohio Derby scorer Private Man (by Private Account).

As a pattern-winning son of Dark Angel, it is likely that Harry Angel has already caught the interest of some of those looking for a future new stallion recruit and, of course, any additional success for him in 2017 will also serve as an advertisement for his Group 1-winning 'uncle' Xtension.