With an impressive draft of 29 yearlings coming under the hammer at Nationals later this week, there has been plenty talk about the quality of the Lancaster Bomber ‘squadron’.
While he left just two crops before his sad premature passing, Lancaster Bomber, the only Gr1 winning son of War Front, Claiborne’s ‘International Super Sire’ to stand at stud in South Africa, left us plenty to get excited about.
Drakenstein and the Syndicate that owned him are confident that his progeny will make a meaningful impact because he covered many of the best mares in the stud book.
This dual Irish Champion Older Horse of 2018 was trained by Aidan O’Brien. He competed against the best in the world and won or placed in 8 Gr1 races. He was precocious enough to win over 1400m at only the second time of asking at 2yrs before finishing runner-up to Churchill in the stallion-making Gr1 Dewhurst Stakes and the Gr1 Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf.
The Breeders Cup raid to USA as a juvenile was the start of an impressive international campaign.
Back in the UK at 3yrs he finished close runner-up to Churchill in the Gr1 2000 Guineas and 2nd to Barney Roy in the Gr1 St James Palace Stakes.
Back across the Atlantic again to finish 2nd in both the Gr1 Woodbine mile and the Gr1 Breeders Cup Mile. A well-seasoned globe-trotter he raced successfully in UK, USA (at 2 & 3), UAE and HK (at 3yrs).
He trained on at 4yrs to win the Gr1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh over 2100m and was also 3rd in the Gr1 Lockinge.
His Timeform Ratings were top-notch throughout his career: 113 at 2, 122 at 3, 123 at 4.
War Front, son of the legendary Danzig, has already produced 8 champions, 23 Grade 1 winners, 12 millionaires, including Lancaster Bomber who won over £1m. He is the number one sire in America by percentage of graded stakes winners.
He is the sire of 536 winners (73%), 102 stakes winners and 75 stakes placed with earnings of over $106m. At the end of the 2021 season War Front was Leading Sire (Lifetime) in USA by % of Black Type winners with 14.2% stakes winners/runners and 24.7% black type horses.
War Front is already an established Sire of Sires. He has 16 sons at stud that have produced stakes winners!
Lancaster Bomber’s dam produced five winners, four stakes winners. It is rare for any mare to produce one Gr1 winner; Lancaster Bomber’s dam produced two!
Lancaster Bomber’s half-brother Excelebration won three Gr1 races and was rated the 3rd best miler in Europe behind Frankel in 2012.
He retired to Coolmore and sired multiple Gr1 winner Barney Roy from his first crop. Barney Roy won 8 races from 2 to 4 years including four Gr1’s and was placed in 5 more Gr1 races. Excelebration has sired 256 winners (62%) and 23 stakes horses who have earned over $21m at time of writing.
See the catalogue for the BSA National Yearling Sale here
Original article by Sporting Post