Blueblood 3YO Dubawi colt Delacroix has been retired and the dual Group I winner will stand at Coolmore in Ireland in 2026.
As a two-year-old, Delacroix broke his maiden at the Curragh in August earning TDN Rising Star status, became a Group winner when landing the Autumn Stakes and missed out on a Group 1 success by just a nose in the Futurity Stakes.
After two facile Derby Trial wins at Leopardstown in the spring, Delacroix was sent off favourite for the Derby.
Things didn’t go to plan at Epsom and he was dropped back in trip for the Group I Eclipse Stakes at Sandown where he displayed a devastating turn of foot to defeat Ombudsman from a seemingly impossible position.
“What he did at Sandown, you don’t see horses do that,” commented his trainer Aidan O’Brien.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse do what he did.”
That burst of acceleration was again seen to great effect in the Irish Champion Stakes, when Delacroix put the race to bed in a matter of strides, swooping to the front two furlongs from home.
The Eclipse/Irish Champion Stakes double has previously been achieved by notable stallions like Sadler’s Wells, Giant’s Causeway, Sea The Stars and current young gun St Mark’s Basilica.
“Delacroix is a gorgeous horse, undoubtedly the best-looking son of Dubawi we’ve ever seen,” said Coolmore’s David O’Loughlin.
“He’s out of one of America’s greatest racemares of recent times and was an exceptionally sound, tough and talented racehorse with a lethal turn of foot. Dubawi’s sons like Night of Thunder, Too Darn Hot, Zarak and New Bay are all excelling at stud and Delacroix was higher-rated than any of them. His pedigree is free of Sadler’s Wells, Galileo, Danehill and Green Desert so he will be a very important outcross for Coolmore and many of our clients.”
Delacroix is out of $8millionmare purchase Tepin who was twice champion grass mare in North America. In 23 starts she won no less than 13 races including six at the highest level and defeated a top class field in the Queen Anne Stakes over the straight mile at Royal Ascot.
Sadly Tepin only had four foals before her untimely passing but two have scored at the highest level, the other being Grateful, a Group 1 winner in France.
A stud fee for Delacroix will be announced at a later date.
