NIGHT OF THUNDER FEE SOARS TO EUROPEAN RECORD €450,000 AS BOW ECHO STARTS AT £65,000

Night Of Thunder will cover at €450,000 in 2027, more than double his current fee, after Darley unveiled its European stallion fees on Tuesday. The figure makes the Kildangan Stud sire the most expensive publicly advertised stallion in European history, while his unbeaten son Bow Echo will begin his stud career at Dalham Hall in Newmarket for £65,000.

Night Of Thunder stood at €200,000 this year. There is a caveat to the record: Irish fees are quoted including VAT, whereas Frankel and Dubawi, both at £350,000, are quoted without it. Even so, the rise reflects a remarkable campaign in which the son of Dubawi retained his British and Irish champion sire title, sired six Group 1 winners and reached 100 individual stakes winners late last month. A colt by him also fetched 4.6 million guineas at Tattersalls Book 1, a European yearling record.

Three star recruits

Bow Echo retired unbeaten after landing the 2,000 Guineas, St James's Palace Stakes and Sussex Stakes this summer, only the third horse since the Pattern was introduced to complete that treble without defeat. Darley's director of stallions Sam Bullard called him "arguably the best commercial stallion prospect to retire to stud in recent years".

Two more new arrivals head to Kildangan in County Kildare. Notable Speech, winner of seven Group or Grade 1 races including the 2,000 Guineas, Breeders' Cup Mile and this year's Lockinge, starts at €40,000, while Ombudsman, as previously announced, will stand alongside his sire at €45,000 once he has run in the Japan Cup.

Ups and downs across the roster

Dubawi stays at £350,000 at Dalham Hall. Blue Point, sire of four-time Group 1 winner Blue Bolt, rises from €100,000 to €130,000 after his best year yet, and Ghaiyyath's fee doubles to €40,000. Too Darn Hot moves the other way, trimmed from £100,000 to £75,000, with reductions also for Rosallion (£30,000), Palace Pier (£20,000) and Pinatubo (£15,000).

The announcement came a day after Juddmonte kept Frankel at £350,000 for 2027, confirming that the very top of the European stallion market is now led from Kildangan rather than Newmarket.