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A landmark Group 1 success for the sire at the Royal meeting

Nunnery Stud resident Tasleet served another reminder of why he must be considered one of the best value sires in Britain and Ireland when his first-crop son Bradsell recorded back-to-back Royal Ascot victories by striking in the King’s Stand Stakes on Tuesday.

The three-year-old colt, trained by Archie Watson for Victorious Racing, was a clear-cut winner of the Coventry Stakes at the meeting last year, before sustaining an injury in the Phoenix Stakes.

Bradsell has shown remarkable resilience to come back this season at three with all his old spark, travelling incredibly well in both thirds in the Commonwealth Cup Trial and Sandy Lane before relishing the drop down to five furlongs in the Group 1 King’s Stand.

He raced prominently under Hollie Doyle in the always hotly contested Group 1 event, and showed real courage to hold off the triple Group 1 heroine Highfield Princess.

His trainer reported after the race that he will likely be kept to the minimum distance in the near future now, with the Nunthorpe featuring prominently among his immediate targets.

Bradsell was bred by Deborah O’Brien out of the Listed-winning Archipenko mare Russian Punch, and was bought by Blandford Bloodstock from Mark Grant Racing for £47,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale before being sold privately in a big-money deal once he had revealed his talent.

Tasleet, a fast and tough son of Showcasing who carried the Shadwell silks to score in the Duke of York Stakes and finish second in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, Haydock Sprint Cup and British Champions Sprint, has sired the winners of 40 races from his first two relatively small crops bred off a fee of just £6,000.

He has also delivered American Sonja, an easy all-the-way winner of the Listed Prix Volterra at Longchamp this month, Wildfell, unbeaten in four starts this season, the smart Mustajaab and Skysail, both of whom hold entries at Royal Ascot this week.

In spite of all that early success, Tasleet was still available at his original fee of £6,000 this year.