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His shuttle days are, for now, on hold but Darley stallion Epaulette is quickly becoming a real dual hemisphere success story.
A week after siring his eighth stakes winner in Brisbane, Epaulette took his black type tally to nine when the Joseph Murphy-trained $YO gelding Insignia Of Rank (Epaulette x Let Me Shine by Dixie Union) won the Listed Celebration Stakes on the Irish Derby card at the Curragh.
Epaulette, by Darley's former noted sire Commands, is a half-brother to Helmet, the son of Exceed And Excel who now stands in Germany.
Like Helmet, Epaulette has enjoyed shuttle seasons but did not return to the northern hemisphere this year. He is standing at Darley's Kelvinside Stud in the NSW Hunter Valley on a fee of $27,500.
Insignia Of Rank's black type success came a week after the promising Godolphin 2YO gelding Kordia (Epaulette x Cherry Lodge by Grand Lodge) won the Listed Winning Edge Stakes at Eagle Farm.
Godolphin trainer James Cummings summed up the high opinion held of Epaulette and his rising star as a notable sire.
"We've got a lot of young stallions on the roster and Epaulette is one of the horses that is starting to shoot the lights out. That's great for us," he said.
Epaulette was a multiple G1-winning sprinter whose first crop stakes winners included the star South African G1 winner Soqrat and Group-winning fillies Meryl, Khulaasa and She Shao Fly.
Epaulette has sired 55 winners of 79 races and $3.5 million in Australia this season with his leading performer being the G2 winning 3YO Military Zone.
* TALTENTED mare River Racer gave the Danehil sire Hidden Dragon his eighth stakes winner on Saturday when she won the Listed Glasshouse Handicap at the Sunshine Coast.
The 5YO River Racer (Hidden Dragon x Royal Yangtze by Royal Academy), passed in for $12,000 at the Magic Millions March Yearling Sale, has now won $528,525 prize-money from five wins and 11 placings in 31 starts.
Her dam Royal Yangtze has produced four other winners. She is from the G3 winner Our Yangtze River (Zabeel) from the family of G1 winners Riverina Charm and Benfica.
Royal Yangtze has an unraced 2YO by Hidden Dragon, a yearling colt by Sizzling and a weanling filly by Hidden Dragon. She was covered in 2018 by Better Than Ready.
