Juvenile champion and high-class miler Toormore

TOORMORE (IRE) - 2011 bay horse

Europe's juvenile champion in 2013, when Timeform rated him 121p, this grandson of Nureyev joins the team at Dalham Hall Stud.

His half-brother Estidhkaar (by Dark Angel), who was also a leading juvenile and high-class miler, begins his career at Tara Stud and it will be interesting to see how the stallion careers of the brothers compares.

Toormore extended his unbeaten record to four when beating The Grey Gatsby by two lengths in the Group 3 Craven Stakes at Newmarket but then finished unplaced in both the Group 1 2000 Guineas and Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes.​

He was odds-on when beaten a neck by Es Que Love in the Group 2 Lennox Stakes that July, was 1/5 when only third in a Group 2 contest in Turkey, but put up a much better effort when finishing a one-length third to Charm Spirit in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on his final start that season. Timeform rated him 125.

Toormore was a neck runner-up to Night Of Thunder in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes on his return to action at four, finished fourth to Solow in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes and then beat Dutch Connection by three-parts of a length in the Group 2 Lennox Stakes at Goodwood.

Two months later he added the Group 2 Topkapi International Trophy over a mile at Veliefendi, in Turkey, and then finished third to Make Believe in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret, ending the year on a Timeform rating of 122.

He only made the frame once from seven starts as a five-year-old, when beating old rival Dutch Connection by a neck in the Group 2 bet365 mile at Sandown, but he was not disgraced when fourth to Tepin in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Ascot or when filling the same position behind The Gurkha in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.

As noted above, Toormore is a half-brother to talented Estidhkaar. The pair are out of the unraced mare Danetime Out (by Danetime), who is a half-sister to the Group 3-placed Easaar (by Machiavellian), and their grandam, Matila (by Persian Bold), is a winning daughter of the Group 3 Curragh Stakes winner Peace Girl (by Dominion).

That mare, who was the joint champion juvenile filly in Ireland in 1987, is the grandam of the Group 3 Jockey Club Cup scorer Hawridge Prince (by Polar Falcon), of Listed Heron Stakes winner Hero's Journey (by Halling), and of several who have been blacktype placed, and she was a half-sister to the Group 3 Norfolk Stakes runner-up and prolific winner Runaway (by Godswalk).

There are plenty of other talented horses to be found in the family, including the Group 2-placed stakes-winning juvenile Pool Music (by Forzando), Grade 2-winning miler Mr Napper Tandy (by Bahamian Bounty), Group 2 winner and Group 1 Champion Stakes runner-up Insatiable (by Don't Forget Me), and Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Seazun (by Zieten), but those horses are remotely connected to Toormore.
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He should prove popular in his new role and he looks a likely sort to get some smart juveniles, high-class milers and, with the right mares, also the occasional talented sprinter or middle-distance horse.

TOORMORE (IRE) – b.2011 – Arakan – Danetime Out, 7 wins inc National Stakes (Gr1), Lennox Stakes (Gr2), bet365 Mile (Gr2), Vintage Stakes (Gr2), International Topkapi Trophy (Gr2), Craven Stakes (Gr3), 2nd Lockinge Stakes (Gr1), Lennox Stakes (Gr2), 3rd Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Gr1), Prix de la Foret (Gr1), International Topkapi Trophy (Gr2). Sire in England. First foals in 2018.